Day 66: NT Luke C10: Disciples are We; Blessed are We, Be Good to Our Neighbors!

Jesus said to his Seventy-Two Disciples: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it.”

I often think of how blessed I am to be living out the dreams of my ancestors and especially those of my Mom and Dad who only wanted a better life for their children. They sacrificed and I benefited.

I think it was in the late 1700s when the Reistetter’s left Germany to settle the eastern lands of what is now Slovakia. In the little town of Lipany as a testimony of the German presence, the Reistetter surname is mentioned in the first written church records in 1802.

My ancestors endured there for another hundred years before all four of my grandparents born there came here as relatively young people. And my parents were born American as was I.

So when I hear freedom spoken and see freedom lived, though never perfectly either by opportunity or opportunist, I am blessed. I am truly blessed and need to take notice of the pause between my breaths and the space between my thoughts to let The Holy Spirit fill me completely with peace, joy, and freedom!

 

WOW, Seventy-Two Disciples???

I thought there were only Twelve Disciples?

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them forth two by two before him into every town and place where he was about to come. And he said to them: “The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few… Go. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves… Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a son of peace be there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have; for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house… and cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you…’ He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.”

Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name…” but Jesus replied: “But do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven.”

Real disciples who Jesus directed to cure the sick and let them know about the kingdom of God.

Aren’t we all destined to be disciples and do good in our lives?

Why do we let pomp and circumstance, organizational structure, positions and assigned, yet not apparent in personal relationships, power somehow tell us we don’t have the power to cure the sick, the power to cure ourselves?

A woman named Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. And she had a sister Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to his word.

Martha was busy about much serving: “Lord is it no concern of thine that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her therefore to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her: “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

If we are present, clear and focused on things above versus only things on this earth why don’t we chose the best parts of life that cannot be taken away from us? Why don’t we come from the inside-out in our thoughts, words and actions and disregard the influence, the subtle manipulation, the outright contempt of this secular world we live in?

So we live in a legalistic society of ‘sue or be sued?’

Not according to Jesus and this one lawyer he interacted with:

A certain lawyer: “Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?”

Jesus replied: “What is written in the Law? How dost thou read?”

Lawyer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

Jesus: “Thou hast answered rightly; do this and thou shalt live.”

Lawyer, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answered with The Good Samaritan Parable: “A certain man was going down to from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell in with robbers, who after both stripping him and beating him went their way, leaving him half-dead… a certain priest was going down the very same way, and when he saw him, he passed by… and likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him passed by… But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came upon him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion… and he went up to him and bound up his wounds… he brought him to an inn and took care of him… And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more thou spendest, I, on my way back, will repay thee.”

Jesus to the Lawyer: “Which of these three, in thy opinion, proved himself neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

Lawyer: “he who took pity on him.”

Jesus: “Go and do thou also in like manner.”

Disciples are we; blessed are we, so let’s be good to ourselves and our neighbors!

Day 66: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Disciples are We; Blessed are We, so Let’s Be Good to Ourselves and Our Neighbors!

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 10.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 10:  Jesus appoints seventy-two disciples; Instructions for their mission; The impenitent towns; Return of the disciples; Jesus draws men gently to Himself; The great commandment; The good Samaritan; Martha and Mary.

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them forth two by two before him into every town and place where he was about to come. And he said to them: “The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few… Go. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves… Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a son (or typo sign?) of peace be there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have; for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house… and cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you…’ He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.”

Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name…” but Jesus replied: “But do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven.”

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it.”

A certain lawyer: “Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?”

Jesus replied: “What is written in the Law? How dost thou read?”

Lawyer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

Jesus: “Thou hast answered rightly; do this and thou shalt live.”

Lawyer, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answered with The Good Samaritan Parable: “A certain man was going down to from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell in with robbers, who after both stripping him and beating him went their way, leaving him half-dead… a certain priest was going down the very same way, and when he saw him, he passed by… and likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him passed by… But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came upon him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion… and he went up to him and bound up his wounds… he brought him to an inn and took care of him… And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more thou spendest, I, on my way back, will repay thee.”

Jesus to the Lawyer: “Which of these three, in thy opinion, proved himself neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

Lawyer: “he who took pity on him.”

Jesus: “Go and do thou also in like manner.”

A woman named Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. And she had a sister Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to his word.

Martha was busy about much serving: “Lord is it no concern of thine that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her therefore to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her: “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

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