Understanding the Jesus of the Gospels

Luke 23, offered to the Harmony Presbyterian Church on November 24, 2013

There is something peculiar about the telling of the Gospel story this morning. I mean – as Luke tells it.

In both Matthew and Mark at the end while Jesus is on the cross, Matthew & Mark, both in very judgmental ways, provide accounts of how Jesus was taunted especially by the leaders of the Jewish people and the Romans guards. In their accounts, they squarely place blame for what is happening on these two groups of people.

In Matthew, he tells us, “The chief priests, the leaders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses also made fun of Jesus.” They said, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself.”

Marks tells us that the soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross gambled for his clothes and also nailed a sign over his said reading, “This is the King of the Jews”. They did not do this to honor him but to mock him. That is how both Mark & Matthew record it.

In John, John weaves a tight theological connection between the death of Jesus on the cross and that of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb on what John tells us is the Passover holiday for the Jewish people. John says to us, “The next day would be both a Sabbath and the Passover. It was a special day for the Jewish people.”

Luke however, neither seeks to place blame on the Jews and the Romans nor does he seek to make theological connections. Rather, Luke goes in a completely different direction, and it is one most appropriate for this Christ the King Sunday.

What is it that Jesus does that Luke wants to bring to our attention? Did you catch it? It happens twice. Did anyone hear it? Let’s read it again. The first is in verses 34-35. Let’s pick it up right before that…

“…they nailed Jesus to a cross.” [The execution had begun.] “They also nailed the two criminals to crosses one on each side of him.” [This gruesome exhibition of state justice was a spectacle that was meant to instill fear – not only in those being executed but in the people, as well.]

 Here in the midst of this horrid show, Jesus says, “Father, forgive these people! They don’t know what they are doing.”

Then again in verse 43. Let’s pick it a line earlier, The criminal said to him, “Remember me when you come into power.” Here while the life is draining out of him, Jesus replied, I promise that today you will be with me in paradise.” First, he forgives and now he gives comfort. At this moment when he is just a brief time from expiring, Jesus seeks to give comfort to a man who is obviously frightened and afraid. “…you will be with me in paradise.”

What Jesus has done here becomes Luke’s focal point. It becomes a powerful message.

Jesus forgives.

Here he is, the King of Kings, dying as the result of being brutally beaten by Roman soldiers at the behest of the Jewish leaders. These are the two groups that Matthew and Mark have bitterly accused of being responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion and death. But Luke doesn’t go there. Luke turns us in a different direction. He shows us why Jesus is God’s Messiah. Luke tells us what it is about Jesus that is so extraordinary. He shows us a man breathing his last breath. And what does that man do? He forgives.

With all the horrible things going on around and happening to Jesus, Luke could bring us to focus on Jesus’ pain and suffering but instead Luke directs our attention on forgiveness.

Now, I find this extraordinary. This is Christ the King Sunday in our lectionary. Next Sunday we begin the advent season. Thursday is Thanksgiving. We’ve got a lot going on. And let’s face it, we would all like to hear a nice warm and fuzzy “Thanksgiving” themed sermon. It is easy to gloss over or miss the significance of what this Gospel lesson is telling us. But if you stop for a while and listen, you can hear the Spirit stirring beneath the surface. You can see the ripples on the water moving out from the center washing over us.

This Sunday is supposed to be glorious celebration of who the Christ is. Christ is King. Like the crowds in Luke’s narrative only a couple of days before, we should be waving banners or palms and singing “Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” This is our Christ. This is our King.

But why then does our lectionary bring us to the end, to Jesus’ death? Is there no other passage we can read this Sunday? Can’t we read again the story of the procession into Jerusalem? Can’t we read the stories of all of that pomp, and victory, and glory? Why does Luke bring us to his end? Why his crucifixion story?

It is because we need to see what kind of King Jesus was. He was not a king of triumphant marches through city gates that we saw on Palm Sunday. He was not a victorious king who rides on great white steeds. He was not a king that would lead great conquering armies. He was not that kind of King at all.

He was a King who never forgot who he was and whose he was.

He was the Son, the begotten of the Father. They are of the same Spirit. He had the Father’s heart. And to the end he showed the Father’s love and compassion. He did not call upon armies of angels to rescue him from the cross. Instead, he prayed for the forgiveness of the people who were beating and taunting him and he gave comfort and forgiveness to the fearful man at his side begging for some solace before his death. He showed mercy.

Now it is easy to gloss over this because we take it for granted how great and wonderful Jesus is and was. But taking the story for granted is exactly what Luke won’t let us do. If Luke’s understanding of the story of Jesus was just a rehashing of what we expect and already know, he could have used the same narrative as Matthew and Mark. He would have blamed the Jews and Romans and satisfied our baser instincts to assign blame and exact justice.

But it would not be the kind of Justice the Father expects from us.

No. Instead of pointing a wagging finger and telling us that is where the blame lies, Luke tells us to look at our King. See – really see – what he does and what he is about.

Love, Compassion and Forgiveness.

Now, we as Americans are preparing for Thanksgiving Day. It is a singular holiday in our culture. At the same time, we as Christians are preparing for the rebirth of the Advent Season and the coming of the Christ, again on Christmas morn.

How does Luke prepare us to do that?

How does this lesson from Luke prepare us for Thanksgiving & Advent?  How does seeing our King as a beaten, dying man help to prepare us for Thanksgiving and Christmas and make our celebrations of these times meaningful revelations of the Light of Christ?

Look upon the King, Luke tells us. If not for his forgiveness, we would have nothing. If not for his forgiveness, we would not be giving thanks. If not for his forgiveness, we would not have the rebirth of Christmas. If not for his forgiveness we would not have new life.

“I am the life and the way. Without me, you have nothing.”

Here’s another thought I would like you to think about. Luke understood it. Luke knew it. And as a follower of Christ, he could have done nothing with it. He could have kept that understanding of who the King was for himself like a light hidden securely under a basket. But he didn’t. He wrote his Gospel and uncovered that light for us and that light flooded the darkness with God’s love, compassion and forgiveness.

Luke didn’t hide it. He shared it with you. Now, what will you do with it?

(compiled from the texts of the four Gospels)

Offered to Mt Freedom Presbyterian Church – July 30, 2000

Background: John the Baptist, the son of Elizabeth and cousin to Jesus, had been arrested by Herod, the king. Herod had John beheaded. John’s disciples took the body and placed it in a tomb. Then they went to tell Jesus what had happened. [Matthew] It was the time of the Passover Feast. [John]

The Story:

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, is beheaded while in prison by Herod. John’s disciples took the body and placed it into a tomb. When they had done this, they went and told Jesus what had happened.

Now when Jesus had heard this, he withdrew in a boat to a lonely place.

But when the crowds heard this, they followed him. They had heard of the signs that he had performed on those who were sick and diseased. So, they went ahead of him on foot from out of the towns along the shoreline.

The Passover Feast of the Jews was at hand.

Now when Jesus came ashore, he saw the great throng and had compassion for them for they were like sheep without a shepherd. John had been a shepherd to many of them but now he had been taken from them. To offer comfort, Jesus spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and cured many of those in need of healing.

When it was evening, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place ad the hour is late. Send the crowds away to the villages so that they can buy something to eat for themselves.

But he answered them, “They need not go away. You give them something to eat.” Philip answered him, “200 denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to eat just a little.” And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother came to him and said, “There is a lad who has five barley loaves ad two fish. But what are these among so many?” Jesus said to them, “Bring them to me.” He ordered them to have the crowd sit down in companies of 50 and 100 on the grass.

Jesus took the loaves and the fish into the midst of the crowd and he looked up to heaven to give thanks to God. There in the midst of the thousands he prayed over the small gift of one who was willing to share all that he had. And when he had finished praying, Jesus blessed and broke the loaves and fish and then gave it all to his disciples to set before the crowd.

And all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples took up their baskets and gathered enough food for the twelve. Now those in the crowd numbered five thousand men. When the people had seen the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is come into the world.”

Immediately, he made the disciples go ahead of him to the other side of the lake while he dismissed the crowd. Then he went up to the mountain by himself to pray.

Sermon Message: What Gifts Can We Bring?

I believe the Bible is alive.

I hope that with that statement I have raised a few eyebrows. Perhaps, an initial reaction might be, “What do you mean by that? The Bible is a book. How can you say that it is alive.

That is the idea that I want to examine with you today because I believed that understanding that the Bible is alive is a critical first step to knowing who the Living God is and what our response as believers in the Christ should be. It ultimately will bring us closer to and understanding of what this Bible story means for us today.

We know that the Bible is filled with stories of great faith, great deeds, miracles and the great Truths of our Faith. It chronicles the history of the failures of the chosen people to follow God’s law and even at times to understand it and God’s unfailing love and devotion to the promises God had made to his people. It records God’s covenants, the promise of salvation and the ultimate sacrifice of Love that has saved us and reconciled us to God.

Now, if that is all that it is, it would be a magnificent anthology. It would be as Hollywood has dubbed it, “the Greatest Story Ever Told.” But if that is all it is, then it would simply be a book. One with a front cover that you can open, page through – read when you are moved to and then when you are done, set it aside. Perhaps, if you are lucky, you might feel something extraordinary – some kind of closeness to the characters in the stories, some sense of the depth of God’s love foe you. Perhaps.

But there is more to this book than that. Even its name, “Holy Bible, isn’t enough to convey its true meaning. We call it the Word of God. If we remember the opening of the Gospel of John, we read that, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The word that the Gospel writer John refers to is none other than the Christ. It is the Christ that is the Word of God. And as John details for us, “…it is the Christ that gives life to the world.” It is the Christ that is the light of the world, and the darkness has not overcome it – not the darkness of death, not the darkness of evil. The Christ is alive.

And if the Christ is alive, then the Word of God is alive. And if the Word of God is alive, then the Bible is alive. It is more than a written record, a chronicle or story line. It is the Word of the Living God.

And, if the Word of God is alive then what we read has to be more than a written record, a history or an anthology of stories. What happens in our lives as we interact with the Bible has to be active and alive, as well. The Bible cannot simply be what was. It must be what is. In other words, the Bible must be for us a proactive force in our lives, and we must react to it. We cannot close the cover on this book and lay it aside when we are done reading from it.

Let’s look at how this story of the Five Thousand might help us to understand how that might be.

In our lesson today, we heard about a miracle in which Jesus performed some 2,000 thousand years ago. If the Bible is alive today  [and I say to you that it is], then that 2,000-year-old miracle has to be alive and working our lives today – as real now as on the day that Jesus performed it.

As we experience the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, I would suggest to you that two miracles took place that day. There was the obvious miracle in which Jesus takes a meager portion of food and physically creates a fest for the multitudes. This is the miracle on the surface of the story. It is the one we learn about in Sunday School as children. Jesus stood over the five loaves of barley and the two fish and created a bountiful meal for the 5,000 people in that place and time. And that is all real because the Christ is the Word of God that was with God in the beginning and who spoke creation into existence giving life to all things.

Bit if ALL that happened that day was that Jesus took the meager offering and created a miracle feast then all it would be is a magnificent story – a miracle of Truth that validates our belief that Jesus was the Christ. But it would be a miracle that would be frozen in time, not to be repeated, not to be relived. And that would be an unfortunate loss for us. Because I think the point of the story that Jesus wants us to learn is in his response to the disciples when they ask him to dismiss the crowd and send them off to find food in the villages. He said to the, “There is no need to send them away. You feed them.”

There is second miracle. It is a miracle that calls upon the power of the Holy Spirit of God. It is a miracle that through the power of the Holy Spirit can be relived today. It is a miracle that through the power of the Holy Spirit working through us can be relived today, every day.

In this second miracle, Jesus receives a meager gift from one single person. And to display how lowly it was, our story tells us that in a crowd of thousands of adults, it came from a child. In a crowd of thousands, one gave while others held back.

Now, if you are still paying attention, you should be asking yourselves, “What do you mean by ‘held back’?” Nothing in the story suggests that any of the thousands was holding anything back.

Well let’s take a closer look at who was in this crowd of five thousand. There were of course Jesus’ disciples and followers. These were perhaps a few hundred. Then there were people from the surrounding towns and villages who had heard that the miracle working prophet, Jesus, was in the area. They spontaneously dropped what they were doing and rushed out into the countryside to see the miracles and healings that everyone was talking about. This Messiah was on a nearby hill, let’s go see what all the talk is about. This portion of the crowd was probably ill-prepared to be away from their homes for any length of time. They grabbed a cloak and maybe some water and rushed out.

But there was a third element in the crowd that day. In his Gospel, John tells us that the season of the year were the days leading up to the Passover Feast. At Passover, Jews throughout Palestine would pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The population of the city would swell from a quarter million to over two and a half million visitors. Those people were on the road from their homes to Jerusalem. It is this portion of the crowd around Jesus that would have been traveling with provision for the long journey. That is, they had brought food to sustain them for the many days they were on the road. From out of these our young boy came forth with his five barley loaves and two fish.

It was these travelers on pilgrimage to Jerusalem that caused the crowds to swell to such huge numbers. The text tells us that there five thousand men. But we can assume that women and children were also in the crowd since whole households usually traveled together. We can guess that the true size of the crowd listening to Jeus on the mountain side was upwards of twenty thousand.

Now Jesus was tired and exhausted still reeling from the news that John, his cousin, had just been executed by Herod. He was seeking a lonely place where he could grieve alone with God in prayer. But he saw before himself a crowd flocking to him like sheep without a shepherd. For many in the crowd, their shepherd, John the Baptizer, had been taken away. So, Jesus had compassion on them. He let them come to him even in his hour of need. He taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed their brokenness.

Now as it got late in the day, the disciples want him to dismiss the people so that they could return to the villages to buy something to eat. And we already know Jesus’ response, “No. You feed them.”

How, Philip asked him? “Where are we to get food for five thousand? Do you want us to go out and buy the bread. That would cost at least 200 denarii. We don’t have that kind of money in the treasury.

No, of course not. Jesus knew the people and what the possibilities were. No. He asked them, “How many loaves do you have. Go see.”

Go out into the crowd and see what they have to share. So, the disciples went through the crow and came back. Andrew came to him and said, “there is a lad who has five barley loaves and two fish.” Out of a crowd or twenty thousand people, they came back with one meager offering from one small boy.

Now comes the second miracle. Jesus too the offering and placed in from of himself for all to see. Now this is the exciting part. Jesus stood in silence over the offering and raised his head to God in prayer. To offer a blessing of thanksgiving to God before eating was a typical Jewish thing to do. Jesus prayed but not just a prayer of thanksgiving but also a prayer that God’s Holy Spirit enter into the hearts of each person there. In silence he prayed while the magnificent power of God’s Holy Spirit entered into each of the people’s hearts and touched them and moved them and stirred them to shared what they had. And by the time that Jesus had finished his prayer, there lay before him food enough for all to wat and be satisfied.

Now that’s a miracle of Biblical proportions – one prayer touching twenty thousand hearts; one prayer moving a mountainside of stone-cold selfishness to share. It is a miracle that is alive with the Spirit of God. Working within the hearts of every person present. It is a miracle wider in scope with long ranging and everlasting effect. It is a miracle that reaches out across the centuries and through the Spirit of the Living God seeks us out and stir us.

The miracles of the Bible are not singular events frozen in time. They must be alive. For us to experience the meaning of Christ’s teachings, his miracles must be alive and at work in God’s people today.

We are called to respond to Jesus’ prayer today just as the crowd on the hill in Palestine two thousand years ago. Jesus prays for us to be stirred to a miracle just as he did then. How is that Jesus prays for us to be stirred? What resources do we possess that Jesus calls us to share?

In order to answer that question we should look to the needs of the communities that surround us. In our own Presbytery, there are several local missions with whom we can share our resources. There are soup kitchens that seek to feed the hungry. There is the Interfaith Council for the Homeless. There is Habitat for Humanity. Both of these missions seek to provide homes for the homeless. These missions need our resources in order to further their work as God’s hands and feet – working to heal the brokenness of this world. Our participation in these missions is the response to Jesus’ prayer that he asks the Spirit to bring forth. Our response keeps alive the miracle on the mountainside in Palestine.

Personally, as individuals and corporately as a Church we, who profess faith in Jesus as Lord, are called to respond to Jesus’ prayer. What resources do we have to share? What gifts can we bring? How can we keep the miracle of the living Word of God alive?

Luke 13: 10-17 / Offered at Berkshire Presbyterian Church – August 24, 2025

In today’s good news story from the Gospel of Luke, we are told about the last time that Jesus is recorded as teaching in a Synagogue. It is significant that we be aware of what is going on in Jesus’ ministry because this is evidence of the fact that Jesus was beginning to be denied access to the religious centers in Judah. The religious authorities as we will see in this passage were aware of this Rabbi’s radical teaching and his flaunting of the Law and were building up a resistance to his presence and his teachings. Certainly, the word about him was getting out – not only to the people but to the religious authorities in the surrounding towns and villages, as well.

So, let’s examine what Luke is telling us in today’s story. The first thing to observe is that Luke isn’t retelling one of Jesus’ typical parables or discourses. Instead, Luke is relating a story of a real “event” that he believed stood out as one noteworthy in Jesus’ ministry. Now remember that Luke was not an original member of Jesus’ inner disciples or even a follower in the entourage that followed him. In the scheme of things, he was a late comer who heard the stories about Jesus and was called by God to write them down to preserve them for us. So why did this event make such an impression of Luke that he felt it needed to be recorded. I think that as Luke was listening to the disciples relate the things about Jesus that impressed them, this story was foremost.

Luke tells us that Jesus is teaching in a local Synagogue on a Sabbath day when a woman comes near, passes by and it is evident that she is physically impaired in some way. She is hunched over unable to stand erect. We don’t know much more than that – other than Luke saying that she was possessed by an evil spirit. Further, Luke tells us that this had been the woman’s plight for eighteen years.

Jesus calls the woman over to him and simply pronounces, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” Now this curing of the woman’s ailment is different from some of Jesus’ other healings. In other stories, we hear Jesus say, “Your faith has set you free.” Or we are told of epic battles between Jesus and the demons who possessed people. Recall the story of the wild man living in the tombs who was possessed by a legion of demons and who pleaded with Jesus not to send them into the abyss so instead he sent them into a heard of swine.

Neither of things happens in Luke’s story of the afflicted woman. In this story, the woman is just a passerby – perhaps she is walking by the crowd of followers trying not to be noticed. Remember in ancient times if you were afflicted with some malady, some disease, then it was assumed that you were being punished by God for your sins and hence you were considered unclean. And if you were unclean, you were not permitted to enter into a religious center – a Synagogue. So, perhaps, in an effort to go unnoticed, the woman is quietly passing beyond the eyes of the people.

So, what happens? Jesus calls to the woman. She does not go to him first like woman in the crowd that reached out to touch the tassels of his robe; or the parents of the young woman who came to Jesus to plead for their daughter who was ill and dying; or like the Centurion who came on behalf of his servant. In all of these instances, Jesus remarks that it is the faith of those who came to him that redeems and saves them. Faith was the basis of these lifesaving miracles.

No. In this instance, Luke tells us that Jesus initiates the contact and calls the woman to him.

What was unusual about this? Well first, it would have been unusual for a woman to be up front in a Synagogue. Usually, it was the men who were up front, and the women were delegated to a place in the rear. So, for Jesus to call this woman to the front was unusual. For a Rabbi to associate with a woman he did not know speaking to her in public was an even greater departure from accepted norms.

Why would Jesus do this? Was Jesus purposefully trying to break norms by calling the woman to the front? Remember that I had told you that Jesus was being squeezed out places of worship because he was considered a radical who flaunted or ignored the Law. What was he doing here? Was he simply breaking a norm? Or was it one more way for Jesus to show how far removed the views of the authorities concerning the Law were from how God viewed the Law. The interplay here is important because it reveals to us some understanding about what is to follow.

Why would Jesus do this? Did he consider the Law to be obsolete, out of fashion, no longer relevant? No. I don’t think that was Jesus’ purpose or message. After all, he had told us that he had not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it; that not one jot or tittle of the Law would be changed.

But what I do think Jesus was doing was to draw a very clear and wide distinction between how God viewed the Law and how the religious authorities of Jesus’ time viewed, used, and even abused the law.

What was the purpose of the Law that God gave to Moses. It was to join together a loose confederation of nomadic tribes into a cohesive community whose first purpose was to have a righteous relationship with the Lord.

When Moses gave the people the Law that God had handed down, he told them what it was for and how to use it. In Deuteronomy 6, Moses gave the people the Shema.

Let me share it with you:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord alone is our our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

I think the most important thing that Moses told the people in the Shema is that the Law was to be written upon their hearts. And I think that is the distinction Jesus was making in how the religious authorities viewed the law and how God viewed it.

Take this instance of the woman trying to enter the Synagogue unnoticed and unseen. She didn’t want to be noticed because the religious authorities might have used the law to exclude her. Certainly, from the comments made by the President of the Synagogue in the story, we can gather that he was offended by Jesus calling her to him and curing her of her ailment.

This religious leader of the people would use the law as he understood it – to prevent this woman, this unclean woman from gaining healing – from coming to the Lord to receive his grace and mercy and healing touch. He would have kept her tethered to her pain.

I think what Jesus was doing here was exhibiting to all that in this man’s case, the Law was not written upon his heart. It may have been written upon his forehead; it may have been written upon his doorpost; but it was not written upon his heart. That was the difference between the religious authorities of Jesus’ time and God. God’s Law is written upon the heart of God. Its basis is God’s compassion and love, God’s desire for justice and the healing of God’s Creation through the extension of God’s Shalom. In this story, the Synagogue leader was only concerned with their own man written rules about the Sabbath and how Jesus was breaking them.

He admonished the crowds surrounding Jesus. Telling them that they have six days to come and be healed – remember according to the law, healing was defined as work – and other than trying to save a life no one was allowed to heal on the Sabbath. So, he chastised them not to come to the Synagogue on the Sabbath to be healed. And, indirectly, he was criticizing Jesus for doing the work – by healing the woman.

Now, his complaints and criticisms probably had some reception with those whose interpretations of the law were equally narrow and egalitarian. Their law was unforgiving and harsh. This religious leader was perfectly comfortable to force this woman to live in pain rather than allow her to come to the Lord to be healed.

I think I can feel Jesus’ rage building in his heart. What was his response?

You hypocrites!

Now let me stress this to you. Luke puts an explanation point at the end of Jesus’ outburst. You hypocrites! That’s in bold face font and in italics. You hypocrites!

“Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie your oxen and donkeys from the manger and lead it away to give it water?”

Now let me explain the point Jesus was making here. The Rabbi’s of the time believed and taught that it was cruel to leave animals tied up, unable to go for the water that they thirsted for on the Sabbath. They taught that it was not work but compassion to water their livestock. Therefore, the leaders of the Synagogue probably all untethered and watered their animals before going to Synagogue that day. Then when faced with the plight of this woman they quoted the law saying that she and Jesus had violated the law in his act of healing. They would provide water that their animals thirsted for, but they would deny the woman the healing that she thirsted for. They condemned Jesus for untethering this woman from her pain.

Can you imagine Jesus’ outrage? You hypocrites!

“This woman is a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has beset with this ailment. Should she not be set free from her bondage on this Sabbath day?” Should she not be shown the same compassion that your law provides for your livestock?

You hypocrites!

In the end, Luke tells us that when Jesus had slapped them down and put them in their place, their shame was revealed to the people and the entire crowd rejoiced at the wonderful things Jesus was doing. Presumably, Jesus went on healing that day.

Luke doesn’t specifically tell us that, but I think we might read that into the story.

This whole incident in the Synagogue that Luke tells about this morning, what does it reveal to us about “the Law” that God gave Moses – that was written upon God’s heart and that was supposed to be written upon the hearts of his people.

What do we learn about what the purpose of God’s Law is and how to use it and how to live it and how that differs from our law? The Apostle Paul tells us that when “the Law” [that is the Law with a capital “L”] is written upon our hearts then we are no longer slaves to the law [that is with a small “l”].

What does that mean? I think it means this, when we live our lives reflecting God’s love and compassion, then God’s Law comes alive in us and becomes the driving force in our lives. Then God’s Law lives in our hearts and is reflected out into the world. God’s Holy Spirit breathes into us a desire to live in God’s justice and God’s Shalom sharing it with a world in need of being untethered from its brokenness – in need of healing.

Jesus broke the rules because he wanted us to understand that the Law was created to display God’s love and compassion for us. That is how Jesus came to fulfill the Law – to complete it with God’s love.

Thank you, God, for being so loving.

John 6: 24-35

I had spent my working career as a salesman. Dirty word, I know. But I was one of the good guys.

As a salesman, the question, “What have you done for me lately?” was the reality check that sales managers would use to bring a successful salesperson back down to earth. You might have concluded a difficult negotiation and booked the biggest, most lucrative sale in decades for your company – but then on the next day – the day after everyone had been slapping you on the back and congratulating you on what a great job you were doing – your sales manager will confront you and tell you, “That was yesterday. This is today. What have you done for me today?”

Having this image as a backdrop to today’s Gospel lesson, let’s consider how Jesus and the people who are following him interact. In this scenario, Jesus is our top salesperson. He is on the road traveling from town to town making his presentations about God, his Father and the story of God’s steadfast love for his Creation and his chosen people. And he has been successful at it. He is attracting crowds wherever he goes, and their numbers are growing by the day.

If we look back in the lectionary, what precedes today’s lesson is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Now that head count was of the five thousand men who were in the crowd. But if you consider that these crowds were on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, you would also know that these men were probably traveling with their wives and families. Conservatively, we could say that the crowds numbered closer to twenty thousand. Now that would be on the day of the recorded feeding in John’s Gospel. Perhaps on the day that we are learning about in today’s lectionary – the day after the feeding – those numbers are continuing to grow. After all, now the word is spreading – there was free food being served. Hey, if you sit and listen to this Rabbi teach, afterwards, they serve you a meal. It’s not the fanciest buffet, but it is all you can eat.

Well now you’ve got this crowd. This huge crowd is looking around and searching for Jesus and their next meal. They can’t find Jesus, but they do see his disciples sneaking off to cross the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. So, they take off by foot around the shoreline and eventually they find Jesus there in a Synagogue.

They ask him, “Why did you leave?” “Where did you go?” “How long have you been here?” “Oh, and by the way, what’s for dinner?”

Jesus decides it’s time to get down to brass tacks. He quite frankly says to them, “…the only reason you are here is NOT because you have seen signs but because you were fed.”

You see, that is the beauty of Jesus. We can’t hide from him. We can’t put on any airs or pretense. Well, we can but they just don’t work with him. He see right through us just like he did with the five thousand. “The only reason you are here is because I fed you, not because you saw the signs that I did and not because you heard anything special in what I said. But because I fed you.

Now a lot of Christian evangelists and missionaries subscribe to that theory. Bring the people in, feed them and when their bellies are full preach to them the word of God. Their thinking is that no one can hear you when they are crying out for food. And admittedly, it works – to a degree.

Well, Jesus is the one who started that – but he doesn’t allow it to string out. He won’t become the people’s waiter. Yes, he has fed them but now he challenges them. “If you labor for the food that perishes, you are wasting your time. If you are looking for the things of this world, you are wasting your time. Work instead for the food which will give you eternal life.” That is a right relationship with God. “That is the food that the son of Man can give to you. God has set his seal upon Him.”

Wow! Food that gives eternal life. Now you’re talking. How do we get that?

Jesus’ answer, “Believe in him who God has sent.”

Now picture this. Jesus is probably standing right in front of them. There’s a crowd around him and he’s probably got his arms outstretched and he says, “Believe in Him who God has sent.” In other words, believe in me. I have shown you the signs, haven’t I? Believe in me.

And how does the crowd respond? What does this crowd that has been fed until its collective bellies were full say to Jesus in response? “Then what sign will you do for us that we may see and believe in you?” The day before they were ready to seize him to make him king. Today, they respond by saying, “What have you done for us lately?”

Jesus and his disciples may have tried to remind them of the food that was miraculously catered out to them the day before, but they retort, Moses [our greatest prophet] gave us manna that fed the entire Hebrew nation for the entire time that they wandered in the wilderness. What do you think? That we will follow you because you fed a mere five thousand – once. Really, Jesus, you’ve got to do better than that. We want to see bigger and better signs that you are God’s Messiah.

What have you done for us lately? Prove yourself. Show us signs that you are truly God’s Messiah.

Wow! They were a tough audience.

But what about us? How tough are we? Do we come in search of Jesus and the salvation that the Son brings kneeling prostrate before him in humble prayer or do we hand him a list of Honey Dos.

Think for a moment about what our personal prayers sometimes sound like:

          Jesus, help me to be successful.

Lord, hear our prayers.

Jesus, help me to get my children into the best schools.

Lord, hear our prayers.

Jesus, we need a bigger house in a better neighborhood.

Lord, hear our prayers.

Jesus, I need a raise.

Lord, hear our prayers.

Jesus, die for me and give me my salvation.

Lord, hear our prayers.

Jesus, what have you done for me lately? Prove to us that you are the Son of Man. Fill our bellies with our wants and demands, and we will believe in you. Is that what we sound like to Jesus?

Are we very different from the crowds who chased after Jesus for a quick meal?

But Jesus won’t play their game. He tells them flat out. Moses gave you nothing. It was God, my Father, who gave you bread in the wilderness. And it is the same God which gives you this bread – the bread that will give you eternal life. This bread comes down from heaven and gives new life to God’s Creation.

AHH! [a light goes on] a bread that gives eternal life. That’s the bread we want. “Give us this bread,” they say.

And Jesus responds to them; I AM the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. Whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

No tricks. No more signs. The show is over. It is time to believe.

Mel Prestamo, Elder PCUSA

Luke 12: 32-34, Offered to the Berkshire Valley Presbyterian Church, August 10, 2025

Jesus’ comments at the beginning of today’s good news story from Luke start with the words, “Do not be afraid…for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

That is the starting point isn’t it, for everything that Jesus is trying to teach us about the Father. That, it is the “Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” That sets the stage for everything we can come to know about the Father. In all Jesus’ lessons, all the parables he told us, all the insights he gives us about the Father all begin at, “…it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom.”

The Creator Father created the cosmos in his “good” pleasure and made it good, called it good. In each step of our Creation story in Genesis, our Creator God spoke into existence the elements of the cosmos from out of nothing and called them good. He created Light, night and day, the stars and the moons, all of the creatures that swarm under the seas and over the dry land. And God pronounced all of them good.  It was in the Father’s good pleasure that he created us, humankind – male and female – and placed us into the garden to walk with him and that was good. God blessed us, gave us stewardship over God’s creation and told us to go forth and multiply. That was good, until we screwed it up.

After humankind’s fall from grace into sin, our righteous Father called Abram to become the father of the nation to whom our steadfast God would make promises on behalf of all of God’s Creation and then strive to keep those promises even in the face of his chosen people’s constant betrayals.

The Father’s good pleasure has been and always will be to have a righteous relationship with you and to give you every opportunity to be with God through all eternity in God’s Kingdom.

This is our starting point – our jumping off point for today’s lesson in Luke.

Then Jesus builds on this premise by telling us how to take advantage of God’s good pleasure. But to understand what Jesus is saying here, we have to go back a bit in the lectionary to a parable Jesus taught perhaps just minutes before in real time. This twelfth chapter of Luke probably made more sense to Jesus’ listeners in real time than it might for us because our lectionary breaks these teachings up into separate passages. So, let’s go back to verse 13 when someone in the crowd surrounding Jesus calls out to Jesus, as a respected Rabbi, to be the arbiter of a dispute between two brothers over a family inheritance.

The voice calls out, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Ordinarily, this would have been the role of an elder or a Rabbi to listen to disputes and then in their wisdom make a decision, so that justice could prevail in disputes between the people.

But when presented with this request to settle a dispute over earthly wealth and possessions, Jesus’ response to the man is, “No. No way. Ain’t going to go there.”

However, Jesus, sensing an opportunity for a teaching moment goes on to tell them a parable about a rich fool. You will recall the story. The rich man has a bumper harvest and is faced with the challenge of what to do with this vast surplus in the harvest – which by the way God had provided him.

The rich man had many choices. He could have thought of all the people in need around him and shared a portion of his surplus with the needy. Or, he could have brought it to the Temple’s treasury to be used by the chief priests and elders. But he did neither of these. Instead, he decides to build bigger and better barns in which to store up this unexpected bumper harvest for himself.

In the parable, as Jesus speaks for the rich fool, the man uses the words, “I, my, and myself” ten times. Never once does the rich man consider the needs of anyone else other than himself. When he had built up all his new barns and stored away all of his surplus harvest, he remarks to himself that he now has everything he needs to live a long and happy life. So, he says to himself, “…relax, eat, drink, and be merry.”

Then God steps into the picture and chastises the rich man, calling him a “fool”, telling him that very night his life will be demanded of him. And then God asks, “then what will happen to the things you have prepared? Whose will they be?”

That reminds me of a quip. Would you like to make God laugh? Tell God your plans.

Now after God chuckles at that man, God tells him that He has called the rich fool for his life. God then asks, what will become of the things that you thought were so very important to you in this world. You have stored up things that robbers can steal from you, that moths can invade, eat and destroy. In the purse that is your heart, you have stored up only things that will ultimately be stolen or rot away to dust.

Instead, Jesus tells us to store up treasures in our purses [in our hearts] – the kinds of treasures that will not rot away, – unfailing treasures in heaven where thieves cannot get near and moths cannot destroy. Build up our treasures by building up our relationship with God, Jesus is telling us. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In other words, where your focus is in this life – on a right relationship with God, there your heart will be also.

So now we have progressed back to our starting point in today’s reading. Once we have worked on building up a right relationship with God, Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid…for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

Now comes a verse that is probably the one that is most difficult for us to comply with. “Sell your possessions and give alms.” I know it is a difficult one for me. Sell my possessions? God, really? God, I already support my home church congregation. I already make gifts to multiple charities and care organizations. Heck, I even gave blood yesterday. Why would I still have to sell off my remaining assets? I’m hoping, No.

But, Jesus tells us, yes. If your possessions are going to distract you from knowing God; if your earthly wealth is going to blind you from seeing and knowing the God who has called you good; if we turn what God has created as good into an evil choice which leads us to choose to leave God’s garden, then yes, you need to sell that off and focus back on God.

And then, he tells us to rely on God to provide for our needs. I’m sorry. Let me be honest with you all, this is a big ask. And to be openly honest with you, I don’t know how to respond to this challenge.

I search my heart for an answer on how to make this work. So, I have to tell you, I need to be careful here not to go to Scripture looking for the answer I want. I hope that I am finding insight into Jesus’ wider meaning of how we should live out our discipleship.

When hearing today’s Word, I find myself also thinking of Jesus’ parable of the three servants. The ones whose master assigned talents before he went to travel abroad. The parable is that talents were distributed to each of them. The first is given ten and he doubles them. The second is given five and likewise, he doubles them. The third takes the one he is given and buries it in the ground. He is chastised as being slothful and lazy, having wasted the talent he was given. However, the two servants who invested their talents and made them grow are praised and rewarded.

How does this parable which encourages us to use our talents to the best of our abilities and make them grow balance against this teaching that tells us to sell everything and rely on God. Are we talking about Apples and Oranges or is there a message here which explains to us how to balance the two.

I think there is. So, let’s try to take a look at how that might work out.

Let’s look at the rich fool and the servants and what they were given and what they did with these gifts.

First the servants are given the talents by the master of the house. The premise here that Jesus is trying to stress to us is that the talents, the gifts we receive in this life come from God. The two servants never lose sight of where their talents come from and to whom they belong. The rich fool, however, never acknowledges where his surplus harvest comes from. He believes everything that he amasses in his lifetime comes from his own hands, his own work, his own efforts. Recall if you would with me that Jesus begins the parable of the rich fool with this opening line, “The ground of a rich man yielded an abundant harvest.” In other words, Jesus is telling us that God had caused the ground to yield up an abundant harvest. God is where all good things come from. But the rich fool never sees or acknowledges that.

Now in both of these parables, the two servants and the rich fool work feverously to make their fortunes grow. However, where the servants are working on behalf of the Master of the house, the rich fool is working solely for himself.

In the end the two servants return to the master all the proceeds of their efforts. They return to the master this wealth to be used as he sees fit. The rich fool, however, stores his harvest up for himself and no one else.

The focus of the servants of the master are to serve the master and make his household grow. The focus of the rich fool is to hoard, to store up, to lock away. Sharing or placing any part of his wealth – even a small portion [10%] – into God’s hands never crosses his mind. His focus is single minded. It is self-serving. He is focused on only one thing and one thing only – himself.

So, the point I guess I am suggesting is where is your focus? Is your focus on building up your personal wealth and setting it up apart from God as the rich fool did. Or is your focus on building your talents up so that they can be returned to God for God’s use?

So, Jesus presents us with this question still referring back to the rich fool. Obviously, the rich fool was concerned only with how to provide for his lifestyle and how to extend it longer into his future. Jesus’ question is, “Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life span?”

The answer of course, we cannot. We cannot live our lives as the rich fool did planning it out in the greatest of detail, not seeing God as having any part of it. Nor can we live our lives as the foolish servant did, in fear, burying the talents we have been given into the ground. Both were ignoring what God’s plans for them might have been.

Instead, I think we need to look at the two servants who took the talents that they were given and made them grow. The caveat however is where do we place our focus. Working for ourselves or working for God. Are we working out God’s plan?

Working out God’s good plan – which is to bring God’s Shalom to all of creation – should be our sole focus. That should be the treasure that we store up in our hearts. If that is where our hearts lie, then how we steward our resources using them for God’s good work will also be called good.

If so, if in God is where you store up your treasures, then I think it would be God’s good pleasure to give us our place in God’s Kingdom.

May it be so.