New Testament

Luke 19:1-10

/ timmacbride

Last week, we worked our way through the stories in Luke chapter 18. In every story we saw a pattern: the person of high status (whom you’d expect to be the “winner,” according to first century culture) ended up being the “loser” in the story, at the expense of the person of low status. The score ended up being 5-0 in favour of the underdog, powerfully illustrating a central theme of God’s kingdom: that the rich and powerful will miss out, but the poor and powerless will enter.

Except that’s not the full story.

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Luke 18:31-43

/ timmacbride

This week we’re looking at the short stories in Luke 18, and keeping score as to who “wins” in each story. Here’s the recap so far in table form:

Story Winner Loser
18:1-8 Poor widow Rich litigant and unjust judge
18:9-14 Tax collector Pharisee
18:15-17 Children Adult disciples
18:18-30 Disciples Rich ruler
Total: People of low status – 4 People of high status – 0

Today, we have two stories. And at first glance, the first one seems to break the flow. The status-reversal pattern Luke has set up (see above) seems to be sidestepped when Jesus chooses this moment to again remind his disciples of his impending death.

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Luke 18:18-30

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This week we’re looking at the short stories in Luke 18 – each individual story, as well as the big picture. We’ve been keeping score as to who “wins” in each story. So far we’ve seen a rich litigant, a Pharisee, and some adults (the disciples) unexpectedly in the “loss” column. By contrast, a poor widow, a tax collector, and little children scored a “win.” The score is currently: low status people – 3, high status people – 0. Today, we get a slightly longer story; the famous one about a rich young ruler.

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Luke 18:9-17

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This week we’re looking at the short stories in Luke 18 – each individual story, as well as the big picture. We’ve been keeping score as to who “wins” in each story. Yesterday, we saw the poor widow (someone of low status ) win an appeal for justice over her (probably rich and important) adversary, wearing  down the unjust judge in the process. The score stands at: low status people 1, high status people 0. Let’s find out what happens in today’s two stories.

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Luke 18:1-8

/ timmacbride

1438677138213Last week, the speaker of the Australian Federal Parliament resigned over a scandal involving her use of travel entitlements. (I mention this for the benefit of international readers; if you’re local, you can’t have missed it!) Among other things, this speaker was renowned for ejecting opposition members from the parliamentary chamber. One 1438613360290of the newspapers put together a mosaic of her face, made up of smaller pictures of the 400 members of parliament she had ejected over the past two years. A close-up view is on the left, and the full mosaic on the right. Some very clever, painstaking work. (In the future, it’ll take some convincing for me to believe journalists when they say they’re understaffed.)

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Acts 8:1

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We conclude our current series in Acts with one final verse, that kind of belongs to chapter 7 anyway. (Yes, we’ve gone from 54 verses in yesterday’s post to one in today’s. We need a bit of a rest after yesterday.) And it’s a very significant verse, coming straight after Stephen’s martyrdom:

8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

You might remember in our look at Acts as history, we saw how historians liked to show the impact speeches had on the events of history. Here, Stephen’s speech has an immediate impact. It brings down great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, so that many of the believers were scattered.

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Acts 7 – Stephen’s Speech

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Last week, we looked at the example of Stephen as the first martyr to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Today, we’re going to read the speech that got him killed. It’s a long bible reading – and the longest recorded speech in Acts (so Luke must think it’s important). We’re going to read it today with a minimum of explanation. It’s basically a recount of the history of God’s people, but spun in a way that turns that history into an indictment on the Jewish leadership (Stephen’s accusers).

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Acts 6:8-15

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Yesterday’s story (about how the church solved the tension between Hebraists and Hellenists over the distribution of food to widows) also introduced the next important figure in Acts: Stephen. He was one of the seven Hellenists chosen to oversee the care of widows. Today, we find out he’s also a passionate evangelist.

6:8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

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Acts 6:1-7

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In any romantic relationship, you remember the “firsts.” First date, first kiss, and – inevitably – first fight. Here in Acts 6, after the almost idealistic start (Pentecost, and the almost-too-perfect community described in Acts 2) we get the first hint of significant conflict within the fledgling church. And, as is sadly so often the case, the issue flares up along cultural lines.

6:1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

We need a bit of background to get exactly what’s going on here (and to appreciate the boldness of the solution they came up with).

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Acts 4 & 5 – the truth will shine

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Today, we wrap up our week-long look at the showdown in Acts 4 and 5, and draw some lessons from it.

The truth will shine

Because the way Luke’s told this story, he’s trying to say something to his reader, Theophilus. Probably a wealthy, educated man. Someone who knows his history of Greek philosophy. Someone who knows the story of Socrates – how he was accused of leading the people astray; how he was opposed by jealous rulers more worried about their own power than the truth; how he, famously, refused to give in to intimidation – he must obey the gods rather than humans; and how ultimately, history vindicated him. The truth prevailed. A generation later, Socrates’ rational style of teaching had become the foundation of Greek philosophy.

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