Luke 24:36-53 The last verses of the Gospel of St. Luke are the final measures of the greatest symphony ever written. We have been in the final movement of St. Luke’s Symphony for several chapters now, and here in verses 36-53 we have the final resolution and bringing together of all the themes and actions Luke has introduced earlier in his masterpiece. In these several verses, St. Luke actually reaches all the way back to the Old Testament, to Moses,... Read more
Luke 24:13-35 The disciples on the road to Emmaus are a picture of how Jesus normally comes to us and makes us His disciples. It all happens quickly for these privileged disciples, who have already begun a life with Jesus, but the same basic path to discipleship is ours as well. In the first place, before this story begins, these two have already been introduced to Jesus. When people become disciples of Jesus, it is usually because someone else has... Read more
Luke 23:50-24:12 I love Joseph of Arimathea! It would be easy in this passage, with the empty tomb just around the corner, to completely forget about Joseph of Arimathea and what he has to say to us this morning. I love the roads less traveled in Scripture because they contain so many scattered jewels that I have not stopped to appreciate before. One of the most important things we first realize about Joseph of Arimathea (from St. Matthew’s account) is... Read more
Luke 23:39-49 The presence of God is so thick in these 11 verses that if we all had the endurance we should really meditate together on each single verse! Thank God we will have other occasions in the course of meditating on the whole Bible to come back to this sacred place. It will seem odd that I am choosing to meditate not on the death of our Lord, but there is something God is leading me to see in... Read more
Luke 23:26-38 “They laid hold of a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian . . . and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.” If you thought that what God, through the mouth of St. Luke, was showing you so far was heavy, just wait! Who, as a Christian, cannot be moved by the scene of Simon of Cyrene carrying the Cross of Jesus Christ, not just in a figurative way, but literally carrying the... Read more
Luke 23:13-25 This is an upside down world! Atlas may have held the world on his sturdy shoulders, but Adam did him one better: he turned it upside down. Down is up and up is down in Adam’s fallen world. The least godly proclaim themselves to be the greatest, and the last people that are likely to turn to God end up first in most things. Our moral compass which should point straight up to God instead only points back... Read more
Luke 22:63-23:12 “Are you then the Son of God?” This was the question asked by the council which consisted of both chief priests and scribes. Jesus’ answer is simple and explosive: “You rightly say that I am.” In other words, “You are right in saying that I am the Son of God.” But Jesus’ answer could also be construed to read: “You rightly say that I AM,” for in Greek it reads “ego eimi” which some scholars believe should be... Read more
Luke 22:47-62 “Surely it is not I, Lord!” Surely I am not the disciple who will betray You. That is what we all say whenever read this passage, for we cannot help but have our hearts burn within us when we read of the betrayal of our Lord once again. First, we read of betrayal by Judas, one of the 12. How terrible this betrayal is! How chilling when we read, in St. John’s account (John 13), that the devil... Read more
Luke 22:31-46 What a privilege it is to pray with our Lord Himself! That is exactly what we are doing here this morning in Luke 22: praying with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. In fact, what we are participating in this morning is nothing less than the Lord’s Prayer in action. In the Garden, Jesus is living out and praying through the one prayer He commanded His disciples to pray: the Lord’s Prayer. In so doing, the Great Teacher... Read more
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Monday of 13th Sunday After Trinity – 2 Corinthians 1
2 Corinthians 1 “As you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.” In verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 1, St. Paul gives us the pattern for the Christian life which was also the pattern of the life of Christ: if we partake of suffering, we will also partake of glory and consolation. Now taken out of context I suppose this could be something a good Buddhist could say. For Buddha, the fundamental truth was... Read more