Luke 6

Luk 6:2
And certain of the Pharisees said to them,
Why do you do that which is not lawful to do
on the sabbath days?

I always get a perverse thrill when someone challenges
The System.

What is it about me that enjoys rebellion?
That resists authority without hesitation?
It almost feels like a reflex sometimes.

I know it is not always a good thing
to stir the pot
but I'm warped that way.
I tend towards the radical,
and I'm not sure why.

Maybe it's not such a bad thing.
Maybe free thinkers is what made this country great.
My heroes are those who rise above the herd
and make their own decisions.

But then again, maybe it IS a character flaw in me,
because the feeling is too extreme to be healthy.

Right now I think I am a well-balanced kinda guy,
but I can look back only a few years
and see a very self-centered
"can't tell me nothin I don't already know"
stubborn
"don't tell me what to do"
and if you try I'm gonna ask
"why?"
kinda guy.

...and I know I still have some of that in me.
(maybe alot)

Luk 6:11
And they were filled with madness,
and talked with one another
as to what they might do to Jesus.

yeah.

I can see the good part of that trait in Jesus.
(my hero)

-=-=-

Well I was gonna skip right to the cool part where
He gives us the Sermon on the Mount,
but I got stuck right here:

Luk 6:13
And when it was day,
He called His disciples.
And He chose twelve of them,
whom He also named apostles:

why?

Is it not sufficient to have hordes of disciples?
Is he showing us that some are more favored than others?
That there are ranks?
I wonder what he said to them.
"I choose you!"
For what?

Maybe He knew that his time on earth was limited,
and he was preparing others to carry the torch.
But that's too easy to see in hindsight.

I'm trying to put myself in the moment
of what was happening right then and there.

Its not like he needed help,
because right after that it says:

Luk 6:19
And all the crowd sought to touch Him,
for power went out of Him and healed them all.

If he healed them ALL,
what did he need helpers for?

hmmm...
I know he did this immediately after
spending the night in prayer to God (Luk 6:12).
That gives it more weight in my mind.
That it wasn't done "on a whim",
or a spur of the moment kind of decision.

I think there is something I should be seeing here,
but I'm not seeing it.

I can't imagine Jesus needing a support group.
or a buffer zone between himself and "regular" people.
or even rewarding the best "wanna-be's"
or "freeing himself" to do more important work.

Of course, I'm trying to make him wear human weaknesses
because that's the kind of motives I would have
for naming my followers.

No, there has to be something more.

I'll let that brew for awhile...

-=-=-

OK, I'll restrain myself to two short notes about
the rest of this chapter (The Sermon on the Mount)

woe!

Luk 6:24
But woe to you who are rich!
For you have received your consolation.
Luk 6:25
Woe to you who are full!
For you shall hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now!
For you shall mourn and weep.
Luk 6:26
Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you!
For so their fathers did to the false prophets.

This is so discouraging to me....
I am rich,
I eat well,
I love to laugh,
men speak well of me.

Can't I enjoy my blessings in this world
without being punished for it later?
Can't I just have a simple life with no wants or needs?
Do I have to be miserable to make it?

Well, that's one note.

Here's the other:

I was at lunch with some guys that I work with,
who were also in a weekly bible study group with me,
and I casually mentioned that I had a hard time deciding
whether to lock my car doors when attending church services
(or any other time for that matter)

They looked at me like I was crazy.

I wonder how most christians interpret this verse:

Luk 6:30
Give to everyone who asks you,
and don't ask him who takes away your goods
to give them back again.

I wonder what our judicial system would be like if
we really lived that way.