here is the link for today’s reading: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=323936743

 

Raising of Jarius’ Daughter 8:40-56

There is an awful lot going on in this pericope. As you read through this rather complex account, there are a few things that caught my attention that I thought were valuable to point out.

  • Jarius is leader of the synagogue, but still throws himself at the feet of Jesus.
  • The nature of Jesus’ healing is quite interesting, that he can unintentionally heal, but still know he is healing someone.
  • The hemorrhaging woman had surely been deemed incurable.
  • When he goes to raise the young girl form the dead, a few of the prominent disciples go with him.
  • In Luke’s retelling of the story, he does not include the aramaic that appears in the other accounts.
  • There have already been a few accounts of Jesus raising the dead, but this is the first time he tells them not to tell anyone, and this is after he specifically told the man who had been overcome with the legion of demons to tell everyone about what had happened.

Questions:

  1. What do you think the story of the woman suffering from hemorrhages says about the nature of Jesus’ power, and what does it say about the way that power manifests in the world today?
  2. Why do you think Luke (along with Matthew i might add) skips the Aramaic in the telling of the raising of the young woman? (see Mark 5:41)
  3. Why is Jesus all of a sudden concerned with whether people talk about what he did?

 

Instructions for the twelve 9:1-6

I have to wonder for how long the disciples were out healing. Thinking about that really shifts the time frame of the entire gospel narrative. Most say the Mission in Galilee lasted about three years, the quick pace of the writing leads modern readers to forget that, but there is so much of that time that is not reported.  And the disciples time away, given that travel was done by foot, it must have been a while.

I also have to imagine that those who first heard the Gospel of Luke way have known exactly what Luke was talking about when he said, “they went through the villages” and it might have had more significance, or maybe it was just a saying that was common, we will never we fully certain.

Questions:

  1. It’s pretty hard to imagine oneself just getting up, and wandering off trusting total strangers for food and lodging. Maybe none of us would feel comfortable doing that, but what are ways that we can live this out in meaningful way that are more doable?  How are ways we could more fully trust the spirit, in ways that work into our lives.
  2. What other lessons does this passage hold for the work of ministry in wider world.

 

Death of John the Baptist 9:7-9

This is the first time we really hear of Herod hearing about Jesus, even if Herod doesn’t understand at first what everyone is talking about.

Questions:

  1. Who might have been passing along these stories to Herod?
  2. How do you imagine this information being passed along?  with fear?  with excitement? with indifference?
  3. What do you think Luke means by “and he tried to see him”? Going back to the last question a bit, do you think Herod was fearful? Curious? Excited? Hopeful?