Very God, very human.

CHAPTER 5. GALILEE CONTINUED.
From the Appointment of the Twelve to their Mission.
AD 30 to 31 (probable dating).

Luke 6:17 to 9:6 Mark 3:20 to 6:6
Parts of Matthew 5:1 to 13:58 but see note at head of Chapter 4.


5.1 THE MANIFESTO OF THE KINGDOM.
(Luke 6:17-49. Matthew 5 - 7.)

Jesus made goodness exciting.

Fiction usually needs a touch of evil to give it spice, even though people who have been on the receiving end of evil in real life will agree it is not nearly so attractive as it is made out to be. The trouble is, neither is goodness. It is all too easy for good people to sink into being moralists - boring, insipid and cold.

When religion is added to moralisation it becomes even duller. Religion says, “Keep these rules and you might just be able to pull yourself up to a level at which you can form a relationship with God. Failing that, you may at least manage to appear sanctimonious in front of other people.”

Jesus presented goodness the other way round, a lifestyle which flows naturally from knowing God. Heaven was re-invading earth and its own heavenly lifestyle was pouring into its recaptured territory.

After choosing the twelve Jesus took time for some intensive instruction. They needed to know the manifesto of the kingdom for which they had been appointed ambassadors. He took them to a flat plateau in the hills and gave them what has come to be called the sermon on the mount, though it was probably a collection of His teaching from that period.

Seizing the Initiative.
Back in Daniel’s time God had promised a kingdom which would start from small beginnings and grow until it filled the whole earth. Now in this tiny nation, overrun and ruled by the mighty Roman empire, a handful of working men were told how to begin.

First they were to seize back the initiative from their conquerors. Roman law imposed on its defeated peoples a harsh law called the law of Aggareuein by which any Roman soldier or official could require a man to carry a load for him, up to one mile. It was not the task which was so resented but the right to demand it. Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” Who then will be the conqueror?

Who forgives a wrong has avenged it; who loves an enemy has defeated him; who turns the other cheek has beaten the bully. Those who show their strength by their gentleness will inherit the earth.

As for the old moral law which the disciples had been taught from childhood; no need to keep it or break it, just leave it behind and live tuned in to Heaven. The meticulous righteousness of the religious leaders was not good enough for this kingdom. Supersede it. Dream the impossible dream. Reach the unreachable star.

As for earthly wealth, what use will in be in Heaven? Store up your treasure there, where it is safe. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be.

It is all so delightfully impractical; a lifestyle which is exacting, exhilarating, exhausting, exciting and exasperating but never dull. Goodness has become an adventure. And yet this adventure, Jesus concluded, is the way to build your house safely upon rock, while every other lifestyle will prove in the end to be founded on sand, and will fall down in a storm.

5.2 A CENTURION.
(Luke 7:1-10. Matthew 8:5-13.)
Capernaum had a synagogue the building of which had been sponsored by the local Roman Centurion. This officer lived just outside the town and was responsible for law and order in the area. His men had guarded Matthew's tax booth. When crowds flocked to hear Jesus, their discreet presence on the outskirts watched for possible disturbances. He had seen from a distance all the events of the preceding year.

Evidently he was drawn to Judaism, no doubt comparing it favourably to the confused worship of many gods in Rome. He had not, however, gone as far a becoming a full proselyte; so he could not worship in the building he had paid for; but he heard what went on in it, including the teaching of the one who “taught with authority, not like the scribes.”

When Jesus returned with the twelve there was a delegation for Him, Jewish leaders from that synagogue with a message from the Centurion. His servant was seriously ill. Did Jesus heal gentiles as well as Jews?

The synagogue leaders pleaded his case. “This man,” they said, “deserves your help. He loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.” Clearly relationships between Jews and Romans were better in Capernaum than in most of the country. Even so it was assumed by all concerned that Jesus would be reluctant to help a gentile. The Centurion assumed it himself.

In a conquered nation, people have different ways of clinging to their identity. One is to despise their conquerors. Romans were not only resented as oppressors, they were regarded as morally inferior; so that it would defile a good Jew (especially a preacher) to go into a gentile house.

Jesus had no such inhibitions, He said, “I will come and heal him.”

It was after this, as Jesus and His disciples made their way out of town towards the officer’s residence, that another message reached them. “No need to come to my house. It is not a proper place for a Jewish preacher. But I do know authority when I see it. I live by it, obeying orders and having mine obeyed. Speak the word and my servant will be healed.”

Capernaum was the town where Jesus was known for His authority - to preach, to overcome demons, to heal, to call people to follow Him, to forgive sins. The Centurion was the other authority figure in the town, holding secular authority but recognising spiritual authority. Jesus took him at his word and the servant was healed. What followed, however was yet another shake up in the disciple’s thinking. It was one thing to do a favour to a gentile, especially a friendly one; it was another to acknowledge gentiles alongside Israel.

The teaching of the Rabbis had much to say about the great final feast laid on by God at the end of the world. The picture was of the faithful Jewish people who had received and obeyed God’ law, sitting as guests at the great cosmic banquet. In the darkness outside, filled with envy, were the gentiles. After commending the Centurion’s faith, Jesus went on to use the coming banquet legend as a parable.

“Many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven - it is not an exclusive event. Gentiles will be there as well as Jews, and some who thought themselves privileged will be in the darkness outside.”

It would be stretching the parable beyond its limit to say this was a message of hellfire. It simply picked up an existing picture from Christ’s Jewish heritage and used it in reverse. He had said something similar in Nazareth and nearly been lynched for it; not so in Capernaum where He was a well established figure. Even so, He shocked them.

5.3 AUTHORITY AND POWER.
(Luke 7:11-17.)

The Centurion had been right to speak of authority rather than power. Down the ages people have craved power and tried to obtain it by force of arms or sheer muscle, by political intrigue or by making a magician’s bargain with the forces of evil. The temptation of magic has always been power without responsibility; power without the right to use it; power which bypasses authority. Human attempts to regulate power by the rule of law are constantly frustrated by the cunning of those who find ways and means of getting their own way.

A superficial observer, watching the activities of Jesus Christ, might have said, “There is a man with power,” but wiser commentators reported, not power but authority. Power was there already, here was one who had the right to use it.

Here too was one who had the character to use it right. He had come through the temptations in the wilderness, all about misuse of power. He was acclaimed as one who spoke with authority, carried authority with Him, but He used it only under the direction of the One He called “My Father”.

He had now called twelve men to give up their careers to become His trainees, and early in their training they saw His authority in action on a new level.

Authority over Death.
They passed a funeral procession. A widow had lost her only son. Funerals are occasions when human society gives the best it can, it shows respect, seeks to comfort the bereaved, carries out the task with a combination of efficiency and care. Yet human society at its best has nothing to give in the face of death.

Jesus walked up to the grieving woman and her dead son. The procession paused expecting that this popular celebrity was coming to say a few words of comfort, well meaning no doubt but as ineffective as the rest of them. They had reckoned without His authority.

He told the young man to get up. He did.

They all believed in principle that God had power over life and death. It was not the existence of the power which astonished them but seeing it in action. Here was the kingdom of God, His rule and authority, not at a distance but right there beside them.

Before the twelve were sent out on their mission they would see a few other examples of the authority which was going to be delegated to them. But some messengers had arrived. Apparently they had seen the young man raised from death and now came forward with their question.

5.4 ARE YOU THE ONE, OR SHOULD WE WAIT FOR ANOTHER?
(Luke 7:18-35. Matthew 11:1-19)
All this time John the Baptist was in Herod’s dungeon. He was an open-air character, now confined to a tiny underground cell; a prophet who had lived for his vocation, cut off from contact with the people to whom he had been sent.

He was allowed visits from his friends, former disciples, some of whom it seemed made the journey regularly to and from Galilee. Herod ruled both Perea and Galilee but lived in Perea, south east of Jordan where he had an isolated fortress. Communication was restricted. News of what Jesus was doing came to John only through those few messengers.

One thing must have been central in all the Baptist’s thoughts. “Have I wasted my life? If Jesus is really Messiah, my work was worthwhile. I prepared the way for Him. But is He? Is He?” and morbid doubts challenged the very declaration he had himself made so boldly when he introduced Jesus to his followers.

Two of John’s friends now approached Jesus. John had sent them to ask, “Are you really the coming one, or must we wait for another?”

Jesus always took John the Baptist seriously. He affirmed him repeatedly. He had cut short His first campaign rather than risk overshadowing John. He had not recommenced His main public work until John was arrested. Later as we shall see, John’s death had a profound effect on Him. Now He took care that John’s messengers should go back with a convincing answer.

He took them with Him, we do not know for how long, probably several days, enabling them to see all that he was doing, “The blind see, the lame walk, infections are cleared, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and alongside all this, the poor have good news preached to them.” This was a quote - not directly from the Old Testament but from its interpreters, a quote subsequently found in the writings of the Essenes among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. (Some have argued this proves that John was connecteed with the Essene sect, but all it really proves is that the quote was well known and used by both.)

He sent John’s messengers back to reassure the prisoner, not merely with an answer but with evidence.

Then once more He preached about John, declaring him to be a prophet and more than a prophet, the greatest born. He added that even so, to be in the kingdom of Heaven at all is a finer thing than being the greatest of prophets.

He quoted a childish jingle or nursery rhyme:
We play at weddings, sound the flute
You will not dance but stand there mute.
We play at funerals, sing a dirge
But you stay silent on the verge.
If you won’t join in whatever we do
How can we come and play with you?

“John,” Jesus declared, “lived the life of a stern ascetic and you said he was mad. I can enjoy a meal and a drink; so you call me a glutton and a boozer.”

5.5 THE WOMEN OF THE GROUP.
(Luke 8:1-3.)

We come now to the feminine side to the travelling group of disciples; to an incident which, in the apparent absence of the apostles, had to be ascertained from the women. Once again it is Luke who records the feminine point of view.

Luke 8:1-3 names three women and mentions others without naming them, who travelled with Jesus and the apostles on their tour of towns and villages. There was Susanna of whom nothing more is known.

There was Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. She would have been wealthy, but vulnerable, her husband having a dangerous position in proximity to the powerful and fickle ruler. Joanna was present at the tomb on Easter morning.

And there was Mary Magdalene. Of all the characters in the Gospels, none is so fictionalised as Mary Magdalene. She is made out to be a reformed prostitute, she is confused with Mary of Bethany, with the unnamed woman in John 8 and with the unnamed woman in Luke 7. She was none of these.

Modern fiction has gone further and made her out to be in love with Jesus, married to Him, mother of His children and venerated in much the same was as some venerate His mother. There is no evidence for any of these fantasies.

We do not even know that she was young. Quite easily she could have been in the same age group as His mother. Certainly she had a great affection for Him and the possibility of her feeling she was in love with Him is realistic, but she would have known all along that He was committed to celibacy. (We will come to Her meeting with Him after the resurrection in due time.)

The present point is that these three women were among the travelling group. The culture being what it was, men and women would have had limited opportunities for conversation except when together as a group. There was a feminine camaraderie separate from that of the men.

And from that camaraderie, Mary heard what was going on and later reported it to Luke (a physician was less inhibited by the culture than other men.) The story of the woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee is one which the male apostles apparently did not witness, but the women would have welcomed her and so the story was remembered.

A Matter of Manners.
(Luke 7:36-50.)
Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to a meal, but was not a good host. There was no water to wash feet which were tired from the hot and dusty road. There was no anointing oil or kiss of welcome.

The guests reclined on their left elbows, eating from the low table with their right hands, feet stretched out behind them. The outer doors were open for ventilation and anyone could come and go.

Suddenly she was there, a known local prostitute standing behind Jesus by His outstretched and unwashed feet. She must have heard His preaching and like many others, responded to it. He already had the reputation of being a friend of outcasts including quisling tax collectors and prostitutes.

While the Pharisees were silently moralising about her former lifestyle, she was equally horrified by their flagrant bad manners. Very well, she would do something about it. One skill she had left over from her former profession. She did know how to give a relaxing foot massage.

Anointing with perfumed oil was a normal action in those days, an honour and a comfort to a guest. On a later occasion Jesus was anointed by Mary of Bethany, using an extravagantly expensive ointment. This woman used the ordinary stuff. What was special about her was that she gatecrashed a Pharisee’s home and made up for his lack of courtesy.

While Jesus was enjoying the unaccustomed luxury of having His road-weary feet made comfortable, the Pharisees were enjoying the self righteous feeling of superiority. If this man were really a great prophet He would not accept such attentions from a known prostitute. So Jesus used a simple parable to break through the host’s defences (also, by speaking to the host he was taking attention away from the woman, for which she was no doubt thankful.)

“Simon, a creditor had two debtors, one owed him five hundred, the other fifty. When they could not pay he freely forgave both. Which of them will love him most?”

The answer was too easy and Simon fell straight into the trap. “I suppose the one he forgave most.”

“How right you are.” Simon had really let himself in for it now. He had thought himself morally superior to the prostitute had he? Very well, he was asking for it! But before embarrassing Simon, Jesus did him the courtesy of distracting attention from him. He turned and looked at the woman.

“Simon, you never gave me water for my feet, or greeted me with a kiss, or anointed me with oil. This woman has kissed my feet, washed them with tears and anointed them with ointment. She loves a lot you see. Those who think they have little to forgive, love little.”

Before she left He assured the woman, not only of forgiveness, but of being valued and appreciated; while Simon was left with the oblique assurance that there was forgiveness on offer, even for self righteous pharisees.

5.6 ACROSS THE LAKE AND BACK.
(Luke 8:22-56. Mark 4:35 - 5:43. Matthew 8:23-34. & 9:18-26)
The boat in which Jesus travelled was referred to as “the boat” - probably Peter’s but certainly part of Zebedee & Sons’ small fishing fleet. It was the one regularly made available, complete with crew, to take Jesus and the disciples to various destinations on the lake shore.

One day they were sailing from Capernaum (north west) to Gadara, (south east) when
a sudden storm blew up and was apparently fiercer than usual because even the experienced fishermen were frightened. Maybe they had overloaded the boat or failed to observe the weather signs, or maybe it was simply a freak which took them by surprise. They were used to looking to Jesus for leadership but He, trusting their seamanship, was snatching a short sleep on the way. Mark, alert to small visual details, says he was asleep “on a pillow”.

There were at least four experienced fishermen on board. Was it one of the landlubbers who woke Jesus in panic? And how often it is the lot of a leader to be challenged “Don’t you care! Aren’t you going to DO something! We shall all be drowned!”

How little they realised what lay ahead for them in years to come when, obedient to their Master’s command to “go into all the world” they would sail in all directions - Ephesus, Corinth, Rome and one of them (Thomas) across the Indian Ocean in an Arab cattle boat to Kerala. If they were going to be terrified by storms their whole future mission would be in doubt. This storm was a vital part of their preparation.

Jesus spoke to the wind and waves as if to a yapping puppy, “Quiet there!” and when the storm was replaced by a great calm He turned to the disciples. “Minifaiths!” ( A single word translated “Oh ye of little faith.”) They could have trusted the seamen and they could have trusted God, knowing that Jesus trusted both well enough to go to sleep. To cope with their lack of faith, and prepare them for future voyages, Jesus did one of His most startling miracles yet. They responded, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?”

A Man called Legion.
(Luke 8:26-39, Mark 5:1-20, Matthew 8:28-34)
Arriving on the far shore they were met by a pathetically demented man who nevertheless had enough control over his own actions to run to Jesus for help. Inhabited by many devils and so calling himself “Legion” he had lived among tombs and proved untameable.

Suddenly the tables were turned on the spirits. Now they were the frightened ones. They asked permission to go into a nearby herd of pigs, but the only command they got from Jesus was the one word “Go.” He never argued or negotiated with spirits, even to the extent of saying “Yes all right you can go into the pigs if you like.” That was their affair. His command was to leave the man and they left him.

Matthew tells us there was also another man healed, but it was the one called Legion who, suddenly sane and free, begged to be allowed to come with Jesus. The local people, however, asked Jesus to leave the district. Before He went He commissioned His new disciple to go back and tell his own people what God had done for him. (See 6.8 for sequel).

Jairus and his Daughter.
(Luke 8:40-56, Mark 5:21-43, Matthew 9:18-26.)
If the tour of Gadara had been cut short, there were those in Capernaum who were thankful. Jairus, ruler of the synagogue where Jesus so often preached, now waited anxiously for the return of the healer. His own twelve-year-old daughter was dangerously ill.

As soon as it was known that the boat was on its way back, Jairus hurried to the shore to meet it. He was one of a crowd but driven by his child’s urgent need reached the front and called to Jesus when He disembarked, “Please come, my daughter is sick.”

Hassled and hindered by the throng as usual, Jesus set off for His friend’s house. Jairus fretting with every moment’s delay.

There was one delay, probably not long or critical but it no doubt seemed so to the worried father. A woman wanted healing but wanted it anonymously. With a partly superstitious belief that even a touch of His cloak could do the trick, she crept up to Him, touched the hem of His coat and tried to slip away quickly.

Jesus knew that if He left it at that, it might not be long before she was telling people, “His coat healed me.” Miracles involve a relationship with God, magic does not. Jesus had to establish the difference; so He called out, “Who touched me?”

The woman came forward and heard Him say, “Daughter, go in peace, your faith has healed you.” Faith is a relationship. There was no magic in Christ’s healing, only a relationship with God and a flow of health-giving power. (Again the different characters of the writers comes through in this incident. Luke, restrained and courteous and a physician himself reports factually that the woman had spent everything on physicians but none could cure her. Mark, more forthright says that she had suffered many things from many physicians and was not helped but rather grew worse.)

At last the group hurried on towards Jairus’ home, only to be met with the news that the girl had already died - and the predatory professional mourners who must have gathered when an imminent death was expected, had begun their wailing, for which they expected largess after the funeral. The fact that they laughed when Jesus said she was only sleeping shows they had no interest in giving genuine comfort to the bereaved.

He left most of the disciples to hold the crowd at bay while He took inside only Peter, James and John and the parents. There were no lengthy prayers. “Talitha Cumi” were the Aramaic words which burned themselves on Peter’s memory so that he repeated them exactly when telling Mark the story. “Come on lass, up you get.”

Then it was, “Give her some food. Tell no one,” and a quick getaway. The people outside could go on thinking whatever they liked.

Jesus had frequently told those He healed to tell no one - especially in the early stages of His work. By this time it hardly mattered because all knew Him as a healer. But He had good reason for restraining gossip about this particular miracle. It was the last, or almost the last, in this phase of His public life. A major change was coming. He was about to send out the twelve as six pairs of touring preachers and healers.

5.7 THE SECOND VISIT TO NAZARETH.
(Mark 6:1-6. Matthew 13:53-58.)
First however, there was one visit to make. Jesus went back to Nazareth, this time accompanied by His disciples. His previous visit had ended in a near-lynching. It made sense to try once more in the hope of leaving better relationships behind Him.

There was no mob violence this time and once again there were some who marvelled at His preaching and at the reports they had heard of His miracles. He was a celebrity now; but to them He was still the carpenter and the son of a carpenter. They knew His Mother, His four brothers and His sisters. As yet His brothers did not believe His claims.

Without these two passages we would never have known that Jesus and Joseph were carpenters.

There were a few healings during that visit, but not many. He was restricted by their lack of faith. At least Nazareth’s last memory of Him was better than it had been.

5.8 THE MISSION OF THE TWELVE.
(Luke 9:1-6. Mark 6:7-13. Matthew 10:1-15.)

(Matthew 10:15-42 is a collection of other teachings Jesus gave to prepare the apostles for their long term mission ahead. Matthew makes no attempt to follow a chronological order; so he puts these in at this stage.)

It is from Matthew that we learn who was paired with whom. Mark merely states that they went out in pairs.

The pairing given by Matthew is:-
Peter with his brother Andrew
James with his brother John
Philip with his friend Nathanael Bartholomew.
(This was the team of six who had accompanied Jesus on His first Judean campaign.)

Matthew with Thomas
James minor with his brother Jude (Alias Thaddaeus)
Simon the Zealot with Judas Iscariot.

They were to go to towns and villages preaching and healing. Jesus gave them authority to cast out evil spirits. He told them to carry minimum baggage, waste no time and restrict their mission to the Jewish community. Later He would give them The Great Commission to go to all nations; but they were still learning and not yet ready for that challenge. This mission was kept simple.

They all returned together. That was simple enough to arrange because their return was timed for just before Passover.

Herod Antipas celebrated his succession day just before Passover and the return of the twelve coincided with the shocking news of John the Baptist’s execution.

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