In Luke 7, Jesus continues to travel and heal the sick. In Capharnaum, Jesus is led to a Roman Centurion who has been good to the Israelites. When Jesus arrives, the centurion sent messengers to Jesus as he neared the centurion’s home, “Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof. For which neither did I think myself worthy to come to thee; but say the word, and my servant shall be healed.”
Receiving the centurion’s message, Jesus answered, “Amen I say to you, I have not found so great a faith, not even in Israel.”
After this, Jesus continues to heal the sick, raises a young man from the dead. Apostles of John the Baptist come to seek Jesus and learn if he is truly the messiah, to which Jesus tells them to report what it is thy see.
All this time, the Pharisees and lawyers grow in resentment to Jesus. To his criticisms of perceived excess and affiliation with sinners, Jesus responds, “John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and you say: He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking: and you say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.”
Though despising him, Jesus eats with one Pharisees, and while there, a poor woman and sinner bathes his feet with oil, and while the Pharisees asks why Jesus allows her to touch him, knowing what she is, and Jesus speaks a parable of a debtor who forgives two people of what they owe: one great and the other small, and asks the Pharisees which the debtor loved the most. The Pharisees answers the one who’s greatest debt is forgiven. Jesus agrees and goes on to explain, and tell of all the woman did for him, while the Pharisees himself did none of the same, and ends by forgiving the woman of her sins and saying, “Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less.”
In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the seed, “The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other fell still upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon good ground; and being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundredfold.”
The disciples ask Jesus to explain his meaning, and Jesus tells, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the way side are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. And they that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.”
Next, Jesus and his disciples set sail for the far side of a lake to continue preaching, and while there, a storm rises and the disciples fear they will die. Asleep, the disciples woke him and, “he arising, rebuked the wind and the rage of the water; and it ceased, and there was a calm. And he said to them: Where is your faith?”
On the far shore, Jesus frees demons from a man possessed, Legion—for many devils possessed him—and casting the demons into a herd of swine, the herd ran into the lake and drowned. After, Jesus continued his preachings and working of miracles for those who came to bear witness.
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In Luke 7, the interaction with the centurion is special to me because, two thousand years later, it is the centurions words we—those reading that are Catholic—recite in preparation for receiving of the host during Holy Communion: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only to say the word and my soul shall be healed.” The centurion’s words and demonstration of faith are something we repeat every time we prepare ourselves for communion.
To the criticisms and character destructions of Pharisees and lawyers against men of God, calling John a devil and Jesus a sinner by association, this passage demonstrates again, powers of the world will do what they can to deconstruct and reduce outside sources of power, especially those that give others Hope and empower them to become their own full spirits. When this happens, in our lives, and to those we know: keep doing right. Even when history does not remember, the continuance of right and living and being examples of faith are what sustain mankind through our dark ages and allow us to regenerate in times of prosperity.
Today, world shapers speak of many troubles ahead: climate change, food shortage, energy shortage, a need to transform mankind. In all the problems proposed, their solutions, despite promised words, shape conditions for greater tribulations. Elimination of fossil fuels does not create a free or cleaner energy source. It taxes an energy system that can not sustain the new demand, and in collapse—and time it takes to make a drained battery operable, man loses his fluidity and ability to move freely. Fixed in place, without resources, Man is no longer free and entirely dependent on the provisions of his controllers and conditioned to a false benignity of rulers that neither love nor respect those they control but use for their own enrichment—no different than we with livestock.
God’s love is free-will. To those who will to deny free will and the empowerment of their fellow man to exercise this manifestation of God’s love: there is no love at all.
Reductions of fertilizers in agricultural production (enacted and protested today in the Netherlands, and just passed in Canada)—in a social and cultural system of urban centers requiring resources from external places—will be the manifesting agent of food shortages predicted by the very social shapers that intentionally disrupt production methods. The answer and solution of these same shapers: change our diet—eat bugs instead of meat. A hell on earth because we are ungrateful for our present bounty and allow Godless shapers to distract our sight from all the richness our present lives afford—which is proven possible and entirely supportable before our living eyes; if we deny shapers the opportunity to disrupt and dispirit.
The shapers of the world shut down economies and human interaction for a year, and still seek masking and hiding of simple self-expressions for an illness that—in spite of all the marketing and promotion—is no different in effect today as then; only the sold lens of perception has been changed.
A world without God (or It’s guiding ideal) and lived faith can become very dark very fast. If our hearts and spirit manifest what becomes, the only future and end state of nihilistic principles is chaos and self-annihilation necessary to manifest the nothingness it professes Man and Creation to be.
To what end are the shapers of our present world directing us?
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In chapter 8 and the parable of the seed; in our own lives, have we not seen, or been ourselves, examples of each of these conditions of spirit? Have we not seen, or been, ones who hearing and knowing the Good—seed or word of God—are quickly distanced from it by our own sins: addictions, lusts, wants, anger, hate…whatever it may be in each of us. Have we not lived, or seen, moments of shallow elations, when we believe receiving a sense of God is enough; but without roots, our faith and elations fast turn to despair, like seed on rock that allows no depth for roots? Have we not lived among the thorns, allowed our own self-interests, enjoyments, pleasures, fun distract us from the greater purpose in our lives which is to bear fruit and further a Good in this world beyond the timeline of ourselves? Have we not lived the Hope that, perhaps—just maybe—we might finally be prepared and ready to produce fruit and the purpose for which we are cast and scattered as seed and souls within this world?
I believe I’ve lived moments and periods of each, and Hope still that I may bear whatever fruit it is I’m intended to produce before my time is done.
When God calms the storms, and Jesus asks his disciples, “Where is your faith?” how many times in life do we allow storms to fill us with fear—foresee and dream the worst—when an affirmation and procession of action in faith is all we really need to calm our life-tempests?
I used to let storms get to me. I always expected the worst. Borrowing a lesson from the Beatitudes—everything is a blessing, especially our trials—I worry less and believe God will shape and allow what is to be. I don’t have to control or run from the storm, but act in the capacity I am able to navigate and keep faith that God will clear the skies when proper faith is proven.
What do you think?