Well, we've looked at Surprising Texts and Strange Texts and now I want to look at Subtle Texts in connection with Lent. As is the case with most Subtle Texts, it takes someone else to point it out to you, so today's reflection is surely not my own. (It comes from the blog of a prof/friend of mine.) Also, to follow Beth C.'s lead in emphasizing dialogue and working out mission through the text together, I only ask the questions...we need to arrive at the answers together. Anyway, here's the reflection.
In chapter 4, Luke records Jesus' temptation and rejection in Nazareth and work in Capernaum. In Capernaum, in the temple, no less, Jesus drives out the demon first recorded by Luke. Could it be that Luke puts this account of Jesus' work for God's Kingdom in the temple because we too often focus on where the Kingdom isn't coming in other areas to the neglect of our own? Could it be that Luke is putting the issue in the face of those who were to embody God's Kingdom most accurately--those in the temple? Are there those needing the power of God's kingdom on the doorstep of our own church?
It becomes quite easy for us to think of people in our own lives who we need to minister to...but most of the time that ministry burns out quickly. We are not meant to achieve God's Kingdom on our own, nor can we embody it by ourselves. To answer the questions above, we have to think in terms of our church--not just our individual lives; that's the only way sustained ministry happens--together.
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1 comment:
hey opticalwaveguy, i think you have overly read into "subtle text." the subtleness of the text was not meant to question the historicity of luke, but to see why he would structure his gospel as he has done--including some thing while excluding others. the subtlety of the text is not in how it's written, but in how we have come to read it.
the Protestant church has made a career of emphasizing subtle texts and affirming them as essential. this is not what i have done.
i trust i have used a charitable (gracious) hermeneutic in reading your comments, as i hope you have done in reading the original post.
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