Luke 18:31-43

Surrendering Control (3) – Integrity through Failure

Luke 18:31-34 - Jesus Foretells His Death

³¹ He gathered the twelve around him, and said,

“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem,

and the things that have been written by the prophets about the Son of Man

are going to be fulfilled.

³² He will be handed over to the Gentiles,

and he will be mocked and shamed and spat upon.

³³ They will flog him first and then kill him.

And on the third day he will rise again to life.”

Jesus gave no indication of his own response to his pending doom. Was he fearful? impatient? Was he longing for the fulfilment of his baptism? There was almost a sense of quiet acceptance of the inevitable. Jesus understood that his stance on the side of the dispossessed and oppressed was a threat to the Roman occupying power. Any regime of love, when translated into structures of justice, would serve to threaten radically those obsessed with power and control. Jesus’ message certainly was subversive, though he was not interested personally in setting up alternative political structures.

The unrestrained violence of the Gentile authorities, along with their need to mock and shame, would betray their own insecurity.

Jesus stared total failure in the face. His only hope lay in the conviction of his own integrity and the commitment of God to the cause of the Kingdom. These he had learnt from his deep and prayerful reading of the history of Israel and his reflection on the writings of the prophets. Messengers of love, justice and non-violence had always been threats to the power-elites.

There is a consistency in human nature. People who are unable to handle their own inner problems tend to vent their violence on scapegoats. The whole familiar practice of sacrifice had probably originated as an instance precisely of this mechanism.

Many other Jews in Israel, particularly the Pharisees, shared Jesus’ faith in the resurrection of the just. But no one had risen to tell the story, and the timing of resurrection was left in the hands of God: for the third day, the day of God’s intervention.

³⁴ They could comprehend none of this.

The message was hidden from them,

and they did not know what he said.

The inability of the disciples to read the heart of Jesus would have been a deep source of loneliness for him. The disciples were not alone in their unconscious inability to face the writing on the wall. The tendency is deeply rooted in the human psyche.

Faith as Way to Salvation (2)

Luke 18:35-43 - Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar Near Jericho

³⁵ As he was getting close to Jericho,

a blind man was sitting beside the way begging.

Jericho was situated on the main pilgrim route from Galilee to Jerusalem, chosen by most pilgrims in order to bypass Samaria. Jericho was within a day’s walk of the capital.

Mark had carefully situated the event in his Gospel to indicate that by the conclusion of his public ministry Jesus had covered everything he could for his disciples to gain full insight into his message. The blind man symbolised the potential disciple, at last able to see. Luke’s treatment was less detailed, but perhaps still made the same point.

³⁶ He heard the crowd passing by

and asked what it was all about.

³⁷ They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was approaching.

³⁸ He shouted out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹ The passers-by warned him to keep quiet,

but he just shouted out more loudly,

“Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The blind man referred to Jesus with the title Son of David. In the context of the times, the title carried overtones of political monarchy. The blind man, of course, still could not see.

Luke had felt free to use the title Son of David on the occasion of the angel’s annunciation to Mary, but then he was working from the standpoint of the time when he was writing to Theophilus, fifty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. By then there was no danger of the title being understood politically. In his creative treatment of the Infancy Narratives, Luke was concerned with emphasising meanings, not recording history.

From Luke’s angle fifty years after the death of Jesus, it was clear what kind of king Jesus was. He was a king who had been crucified because, in a world that could not function as a regime underwritten by love, he had to be removed by the power elites and all those with vested interests in the exploitation of the poor of the world. His kingship was not recognised by the world’s powerful but was vindicated by the creative God who raised him from death.

⁴⁰ Jesus stood still and directed that he be brought up to him.

When he got close, he asked him,

⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?”

He said, “Lord, I want to see again.”

⁴² And Jesus said, “See once more!

Your faith has saved you.”

⁴³ Immediately he saw again,

and he followed after him praising God.

And all the people who witnessed it gave praise to God.

By now calling Jesus Lord (the title reserved really for the risen Jesus), the beggar had already moved to faith. His faith opened him to receive sight. More than that, it opened him to receive insight. He saw the significance of Jesus’ person and message and, once duly enlightened, he could become symbol for every disciple: he followed him, glorifying God. His salvation consisted not so much in the restoration of his physical sight as in his recognition of the essence of discipleship and his inclusion in the community.

Nexy >> Luke 19:1-10