...the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations...
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
The Gospel of Luke is a gospel for both insiders and outsiders. For the insiders, it grounds Jesus' ministry in the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation, in glorious canticles, miraculous scenarios, and insightful parables. Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah of Israel's hope, and all things necessary to human salvation are encapsulated in this Good News.
And human salvation includes...well...everyone! If you're human, then you are saved by the Incarnate God in Jesus the Christ. In this verse from the end of Luke's gospel, the Risen Jesus is in the midst of the disciples, and is helping them to understanding the meaning of his presence, providing insight from the entirety of scripture, He said that things were written about him in the "Law of Moses," or the what is known as the Torah, in the books of the Prophets, or what we call the Nevi'im, and the Psalms, which is held in the Ketuvim or wisdom literature. In other words - all of what we Christians sometimes refer to as the Hebrew Scriptures.
The ground for faith in God's love of humanity is made evident in the life, ministry, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is our faith. However, it is not our faith to hold to ourselves. It is also our commission that we share that faith with others.
And this is where Jesus' ministry jumps from Jerusalem to all of creation - that we share the gospel that all sins are forgiven, that we are called to change our motion to be what God has created us to be. This is not just a Gospel for believers; it is a Gospel for all humanity.
We are charged that we are to share with others that when they are loving God and loving one another, then they are doing as God has created them to do. When we fail to live into our design; when we deny that we are created, when we ignore the gift of our own lives, when we refuse to change paths of our lives, when we reject that others are also created by God, when we reject God's diversity in creation, when our arrogance refuses to allow for God's forgiveness of others, when we cease to allow our faith to inspire us to move and act on behalf of God's desire for right mindfulness and right action - we are not heeding the invitation of the Risen Jesus to preach his name and his Good News to all.
It is a full challenge to respond to Jesus' charge. It is a charge that we must embrace each day of our lives. It is the Way to the Truth and the Life that we find in our Savior.
It is our celebration of the Resurrection of the Messiah.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
In the joy of our eternity,
Shawn+
- Luke 24:46-47
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
The Gospel of Luke is a gospel for both insiders and outsiders. For the insiders, it grounds Jesus' ministry in the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation, in glorious canticles, miraculous scenarios, and insightful parables. Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah of Israel's hope, and all things necessary to human salvation are encapsulated in this Good News.
And human salvation includes...well...everyone! If you're human, then you are saved by the Incarnate God in Jesus the Christ. In this verse from the end of Luke's gospel, the Risen Jesus is in the midst of the disciples, and is helping them to understanding the meaning of his presence, providing insight from the entirety of scripture, He said that things were written about him in the "Law of Moses," or the what is known as the Torah, in the books of the Prophets, or what we call the Nevi'im, and the Psalms, which is held in the Ketuvim or wisdom literature. In other words - all of what we Christians sometimes refer to as the Hebrew Scriptures.
The ground for faith in God's love of humanity is made evident in the life, ministry, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is our faith. However, it is not our faith to hold to ourselves. It is also our commission that we share that faith with others.
And this is where Jesus' ministry jumps from Jerusalem to all of creation - that we share the gospel that all sins are forgiven, that we are called to change our motion to be what God has created us to be. This is not just a Gospel for believers; it is a Gospel for all humanity.
We are charged that we are to share with others that when they are loving God and loving one another, then they are doing as God has created them to do. When we fail to live into our design; when we deny that we are created, when we ignore the gift of our own lives, when we refuse to change paths of our lives, when we reject that others are also created by God, when we reject God's diversity in creation, when our arrogance refuses to allow for God's forgiveness of others, when we cease to allow our faith to inspire us to move and act on behalf of God's desire for right mindfulness and right action - we are not heeding the invitation of the Risen Jesus to preach his name and his Good News to all.
It is a full challenge to respond to Jesus' charge. It is a charge that we must embrace each day of our lives. It is the Way to the Truth and the Life that we find in our Savior.
It is our celebration of the Resurrection of the Messiah.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
In the joy of our eternity,
Shawn+
