Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-october-31-2024
Luke 12:1-12
Warnings and Encouragements
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
It seems like the best passages for our Reflections are the nice, neat stories – preferably short ones – where something interesting happens, and there’s a happy ending where Jesus teaches a clear lesson for us to take away.
Today’s reading isn’t one of those. It’s a passage that deals with a variety of subjects that don’t really seem to have that much to do with each other. So naturally, a Reflection based on this passage will seem sort of choppy and disconnected. But even so, the passage includes some important teachings by Jesus (and aren’t they all important?), so we need to take time to work through them.
Actually, the structure of the reading as a bunch of teachings on various topics gives us a chance to stop and review what the New Testament scholars say about how the gospels were compiled. As you might remember, the first of the gospels was Mark, which is understood to have been the eyewitness account of Peter, as he told it to a man named John Mark. Church history says that Peter and John Mark took great pains to be accurate in setting down the life and teachings of Jesus, but that they never claimed to have all the teachings in the order Jesus spoke them. Later, when Luke and Matthew compiled their gospels, they used the basic structure from Mark and inserted additional stories and teachings in ways that seemed logical to them.
The reason I’m reviewing all this is that I suspect that the passage we’re reflecting on today isn’t a group of sayings Jesus said together. It seems more likely that Luke has grouped together some things Jesus taught his disciples on various occasions.
The first teaching in the passage warns the disciples to guard against “the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The metaphor of yeast seems particularly appropriate to the point Jesus is making. If you introduce a little bit of yeast into the dough, it will spread through the whole loaf. So you can see why Jesus would use it as a metaphor for hypocrisy. If the leaders of a community of faith tell people to be humble but are arrogant themselves, that arrogance spreads. If the leadership counsels frugal living but loves wealth and luxury, materialism becomes the standard practice. If the leaders are hypocrites, their hypocrisy spreads like yeast spreads through a loaf.
Then Jesus warns us against thinking we can get sin without being found out. Sins done in secret often wind up being shouted “from the roofs,” he says. And Jesus was speaking two thousand years before tabloid journalism and social media. So those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus should bend over backwards to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
Next, Jesus tells us we don’t have to live in fear, even of those who might try to kill us for our beliefs. According to church tradition, just about all of the first disciples would be martyred as Jesus was. But Jesus reminds us that the powers of this world can only threaten us in this world. On the other hand, God’s power extends far beyond this world. So what Jesus says here is a word of encouragement – a reminder that God never loses track of us, and that those who strive to follow Jesus are precious in his sight.
Jesus also makes a promise: that those who “acknowledge” him before the world will be claimed by Jesus as his own in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, if we don’t want to be associated with Jesus in this life, Jesus will honor that wish in the heavenly kingdom, as well.
This paragraph closes with a teaching that confuses and worries some people. Jesus says that “anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” People sometimes worry that they might ‘blaspheme against the Holy Spirit’ accidentally and be condemned to hell. But the scholars say that Jesus was talking about people who said his ministry was empowered by Satan or who otherwise refused to acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry. Those scholars say if you’re committed to following Jesus and to growing in your faith and serving others in his name, this isn’t something you need to worry about.
At the end of this reading Jesus gives the disciples a word of encouragement for the times when they might face persecution. He says they shouldn’t worry about being able to give carefully thought-out answers to the questions they face. He says the Holy Spirit will guide their testimony when the time comes. And that really did happen – in the Acts of the Apostles, there are several stories in which apostles unexpectedly find themselves giving powerful witness to what God has done in Jesus.
We should take that to heart, I think. We tend to think we need to be able to give an articulate theological response if someone asks what we believe. But a simple answer about what God has done in our lives and in the lives of those around us will do. And we can trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us in that answer.
So as we said when we started this Reflection, this passage gives us various, apparently unrelated teachings of Jesus, but all of them have something important to say to us as we live our lives in faith.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the many ways Jesus spoke into the lives of his first disciples, and for the way he speaks into our lives through the scriptures. By your Spirit, use his words to mold us into people who are more and more useful to you. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
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