Luke 6:17-26 Mark Twain famously said that it was not the bits of the Bible that he couldn't understand that caused him problems, but the bits that he did. Today is one of those passages. It is difficult. Not to understand, but to live. How does one preach on this passage to a congregation when most of us, and I include myself very much in this, are materially rich and well fed? You will notice that the passage begins with the words, ‘Jesus came down with them’. He has been up a mountain where he has been praying, and he calls to him those who he chooses to be his 12 disciples. Now he comes down and stands on a level place, and the people flock to him. They come to listen to his teaching and to receive his healing. Power comes out of him. And then we are told, ‘Jesus looked up at his disciples’ Having come down from the mountain to the people, he now sits down and looks up at the disciples. So here is Jesus ministering with astonishing power, in words and actions, but from a posit...
Luke 2:22-38 If you go into an Orthodox church, often in front of you, where the sanctuary rail would be, is a large panel on which rows of icons are placed – the iconostasis. One of the rows on the iconostasis is called the festival row and on it are scenes from the life of Mary but mainly of Jesus. And today we are looking at the icon of the presentation or purification. The audio of this talk can be found here. On the left, we have Joseph and Mary. Behind them is the temple. The red drape in iconography shows that we are looking at what is going on inside the building, even though the main characters are shown standing in front of the building. PURIFICATION Mary and Joseph have come into the temple. Joseph is holding in his hands two birds, pigeons. The pigeons are a sacrifice for the purification of Mary, which the law required for a mother after she had given birth. Why was a woman thought to be ritually unclean after giving birth? Indeed, why was Mary unclean after the birth of ...