Luke 11:29-54

When you read Luke 11:29-54 (especially the 7 woes), what you might notice is that it's not that Jesus is such a social or political revolutionary (He is first and foremost the Son of God and our spiritual messiah, He is about our souls), but those who opposed Him, the Pharisees & teachers of the law- they were all about social & political power and prestige when THEY'RE the ones who should've been concentrating on the spiritual.

It's kind of like how those who claim to oppose class warfare are usually the ones who've already been benefiting from waging war on the poor.

Jesus makes clear that God desires mercy over sacrifice, sincerity over lip-service, a real relationship with Him rather than just fiercely identifying yourself with Him. Repentance and regret over the sins of our ancestors rather than fancy memorials. And justice, liberty, and equality rather than institutionalized religious elitism.

I can see participants in the reformation seeing Luke 11:29-54 as applying to the church of the renaissance as much as to the Pharisees. We need to read it as if it applies to us in the 21st century West too.

Turned Upside-Down, and Back Again

Players meant to be their own playwrights
Branches blocked out the sun, denying saplings sunlight
The tenants foreclosed on the landlord
The clay criticized the potter

But for our sake the God became a priest
The Divine became a prophet
The last shall be first
The dispossessed and the untouchable
became precious belongings and firmly embraced siblings and kin
Aliens became neighbors
The disaffected and disenfranchised found their voice and were listened too and heard
Widows and barren women became mothers
Orphans became heirs

The king of kings became servant of all
The innocent became the atoning sacrifice
His death conquered death

The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone
So that the scattered could become gathered
The many could become one
The divergent could become equal
Disciples became friends
Followers became leaders
Members parts of the whole

Students became masters
Fishermen altered the course of civilization
Revolutionary became establishment
and the persecuted began persecuting
Pilgrims sought religious freedom in order to be able to establish theocracies
and the lions are thrown to the christians

Great cartoon about gnats

(click here to view)

John Branch San Antonio …Jul 20, 2010 EditorialCartoonists.com

^{Matthew 23:23-24}

23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

This is a great cartoon illustrating some of the problem with the institutional thinking of our churches, clergy and leadership in Western Christianity today. I don't mean to pick on Catholicism. I think that there is plenty of gnat-straining going on in the Lutheran church, and all our churches, frankly. Don't you love how Jesus sometimes used snarky sarcasm to make His points?

(click here to view)

Pat Bagley Salt Lake TribuneJul 20, 2010 EditorialCartoonists.com

Here's another great one about how Republicans are, once again, abusing religion as an expedient political tool for their advantage.