tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553896531179747942.post-23837880454988824752007-05-02T21:21:00.000-07:002007-05-07T15:10:50.469-07:00The Gospel according to Luke<br />Chapter 7:36 - Chapter 8:3<br /><br /><em>Theme: To have no illlusions about ourselves, to realize who and what we are, and at the same time know that God accepts us, is to taste the kingdom of heaven.</em><br /><span id="fullpost"><br />A theme constantly in Jesus' teaching and obviously very near to his heart was the necessity for forgiveness in human relationships. The day the disciples asked him to teach them to pray, Jesus put the issue of forgiveness at the heart of our relationship with God. In two simple and inseparable petitions he teaches us for all time that forgiveness is conditional. We cannot find forgiveness unless we ourselves forgive.<br /><br />I mention this because something very like that is the heart of this episode. At a meal given in the Graeco-Roman fashion in affluent Jewish houses it was customary for the guests to lie on couches while strangers were allowed to stand around the edges of the room. Because this part of the space was covered it would also be shadowed. The people given permission to stand around could be poor or they might have some other need, something about which they wanted to attract the attention of a prominent guest.<br /><br />In this case there is a woman in the shadows who wishes to express gratitude to Jesus for something she has received from him. Luke recalls how she does this effusively and passionately. Jesus' host is appalled by her behaviour and our Lord notices this.<br /><br />From what Jesus says, we can assume that he and this woman have had a previous encounter. She is known in the community as a sinner. It is possible, though we have no evidence, that this could have meant prostitution. Whatever the woman's struggle, it is obvious that Jesus has made all the difference in her life, perhaps making it possible for her to deal with the angers and resentments, perhaps even the self hatred, that may have been part of her daily struggle.<br /><br />Anger and resentments - even self hatred - are part of the lives of many people. To get across his point Jesus tells a story of a debtor who, having been forgiven a great amount, turns and refuses to forgive a tiny debt owed to himself. Jesus' message is quite simply that the greater someone's sense of being forgiven, the greater his or her gratitude will be. Jesus then applies that to our inner lives. The key statement he makes is in verse 47 - "I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little".<br /><br />This theme is central for Jesus. We hear him speak of it again in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in the temple. We hear it again in the story of the two sons, the story we often mistakenly call the parable of the prodigal son.<br /><br />In every case, what Jesus seems to be trying to get us to understand is that to realize without illusions who we really are, to realize how little we can claim to be, yet at that same moment to realize that we are accepted by God precisely on these terms, is to discover the secret of inner freedom and self acceptance. To taste this is to taste the Kingdom of God.<br /><br />This is the Good News for this week.<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script expr:src='"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/OneMansJournal?i=" + data:post.url' type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Herb O'Driscollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15131608054218451967noreply@blogger.com