Come Holy Spirit transform us
Come Holy Spirit energize our imaginations
Come Holy Spirit redeem us and our communities
Song “An Army of Ordinary People”
Loving God
We are made in your image
We pray for justice and peace
Believing in your love for us
We pray for an end to oppression
Believing you made us and our earth
We commit to protecting one another
And your world
Amen
We say the Lord’s Prayer in our own language
Reflection Luke 9:51-62
Jesus is headed for Jerusalem. He sends some disciples on ahead to prepare for his entry into a Samaritan village. The villagers reject Jesus' disciples and James and John want judgement for them. Jesus' response is to move on to another village. Followers of Jesus are about deliverance not judgement.
So Jesus has moved on from his Galilean ministry. Jesus is now focussed on moving towards Jerusalem (Samaria to Bethany). Much of this is unique to Luke. It also decribes the disciples failures.
The new journey begins, v51;
Samaritan opposition, v52-53;
Response of the disciples, v54;
Jesus' rebuke, v55;
On the move again, v56.
It appears to the Samaritans that Jesus is in a hurry to get away from them, the response of marginalised groups.
Jesus is aware of his impending death. "To set one's face in a certain direction" is a Semitic, Aramaic, Hebraic phrase. It means he his face to meet his destiny.
The Samaritans were partly of Jewish decent from intermarriage with Assyrians who settled in the region in the eighth century B.C. Purity laws are at play here. The Jews regarded the Samaritans as unholy, worse than a Gentile. When Jewish pilgrims had to pass through Samaria they sometimes suffered abuse. So Jews would tried to avoid Samaria when going to Jerusalem, much like the West Bank today. Jesus healing of the Samaritan woman is in contrast to all this. And attitudes to migrants and refuges today.
In the last part of the passage people express commitments to follow Jesus as they continue their journey, but he points out how hard that will be. Following Jesus means becoming a stranger and exile on earth, (Heb.11:13). The journey is not for the faint hearted.
Religious duty demands that a dead relative be buried. Left unburied, all the relatives would be ceremonially unclean. But Jesus response is let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. Jesus has a high bar here! A farmer who takes his eye off the mark will plough a crooked furrow, so look forward not back. If you are in two minds, you are not suitable for discipleship. Are any of us able to live up to this standard?! Amen
Song “Courage”
May the everlasting God shield us
East and West and wherever we go
And the blessing of God be upon us
The blessing of the Christ of Love
The blessing of the Spirit of Peace
The blessing of the Trinity
Now and for evermore. Amen.
