Luke Chapters 6, 7 and 8

Joyce Voysey

Well I got myself a bit bogged down trying to figure out each of the apostles’ stories.  A big reminder I had was that the prominent ones had been disciples of John the Baptist.  Then in Chapter 7 I found that “...all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptised of John” (7:29).  Had all those multitudes been baptised by John?  Earlier in the Chapter John had queried whether Jesus was the promised Saviour whom he (John) had been sent to proclaim.  Jesus cited his works to verify that indeed he was – he had just restored a man to life.  Jesus sets out John’s mission and says of him, “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.

Back to Chapter 6.  It is a marvellous rendition of the main points perhaps of the Sermon on the Mount.  We have the Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, etc. – all guidance on how to live a Christian life.

Chapter 7 closes with the story of Simon the Pharisee’s entertaining Jesus, and Mary’s anointing him.  Of course, this holds a prominent and loved place in Christian Science teaching, as it is metaphysically covered in the opening pages of the Chapter Christian Science Practice in Science and Health. Mary Baker Eddy tells us that this woman was Mary Magdalene, though this is not evident from the Bible narrative.  However, Chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as the first among the women who ministered to Jesus; women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.