Luke – references in Science & Health part 5

(corrected version!!)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our days could be free of anxiety, concern, or worry?  We all know that these states of thought are not helpful and yet most of us still indulge them from time to time.  What if we could be entirely free of the stress of worrying?  Perhaps Luke chapter 12 has some answers for us.  (By the way, did you know there is a most interesting book called “How to stop worrying and start living” by Dale Carnegie?)

Verse one sets the scene: “an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another” had gathered together, when Jesus began with this first lesson: “Beware ... the leaven¹ of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”  Is he telling us to watch our thinking?

  And don’t you love this: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body...” and then (surprisingly): “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear...”  Do you think he had their attention at this point?  Whoa...what do we need to be afraid of?  “Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell...”  Might this be an instruction to beware of the thoughts that send us into a spin, plunge us into a state of anxiety, guilt, destructive criticism, anger, agitation?

But then Jesus gives us the solution!

  “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” God loves and values each of us!!!

 

·        Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  (I love the article “Student debts: a spiritual solution” by Edward Little in the Christian Science Sentinel Oct 8, 2012 p. 14-15 which seems relevant on this point.)

S&H 442: 26 “Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; for it your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” This truth is Christian Science.”

·        Luke 13:10 - 16 Jesus was the master Teacher.  He “was teaching in one of the synagogues² on the sabbath” when along came a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years.   Well, how dare he contemplate healing her on the Sabbath³, say the indignant⁴ Pharisees.  And Jesus replies: “Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

 

S&H 495:6 “If sickness is true or the idea of Truth, you cannot destroy sickness, and it would be absurd to try.  Then classify sickness and error as our Master did, when he spoke of the sick, “whom Satan hath bound,” and find a sovereign antidote for error in the life-giving power of Truth acting on human belief, a power which opens the prison doors to such as are bound, and sets the captive free physically and morally.”

 

·     Luke 14:10, 11 Jesus talked about everyday events.  Here he speaks about being invited to a wedding, but the lesson is about our spiritual progress.  “...when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship⁵ in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.  For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

               S&H 11:5 Mrs. Eddy uses the paragraph heading “Remission of penalty” for this paragraph: “A magistrate sometimes remits the penalty, but this may be no moral benefit to the criminal, and at best, it only saves the criminal from one form of punishment.  The moral law, which has the right to acquit or condemn, always demands restitution before mortals can “go up higher.”  Broken law brings penalty in order to compel this progress.”

 

·     Luke 17: 21 Here is Jesus again speaking with the Pharisees: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, the kingdom of God is within you.”

 

S&H 476:28 “When speaking of God’s children, not the children of men, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you,” that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God’s image is unfallen and eternal.”

 

S&H 573:30 (Mrs. Eddy is here speaking of Revelation 21.)  “There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away.  When you read this, remember Jesus’ words, “The kingdom of God is within you.”  This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.”

 

S&H 576:21 “This kingdom of God “is within you,” – is within reach of man’s consciousness here, and the spiritual idea reveals it.  In divine Science, man possesses this recognition of harmony consciously in proportion to his understanding of God.”

 

Words you may like to know more about:

 

¹Leaven (Greek: Zuma)

metaph. of inveterate mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect others

 

Leaven is applied to that substance which is small in quantity, yet thoroughly pervades a thing by its influence. The NT uses it in both a positive (cf. Mat 13:33) or negative sense (e.g., "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump").

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2219&t=KJV

 

²Synagogue

1) a bringing together, gathering (as of fruits), a contracting

2) in the NT, an assembling together of men, an assembly of men

3) a synagogue

a) an assembly of Jews formally gathered together to offer prayers and listen to the reading and expositions of the scriptures; assemblies of that sort were held every sabbath and feast day, afterwards also on the second and fifth days of every week; name transferred to an assembly of Christians formally gathered together for religious purposes

b) the buildings where those solemn Jewish assemblies are held. Synagogues seem to date their origin from the Babylonian exile. In the times of Jesus and the apostles every town, not only in Palestine, but also among the Gentiles if it contained a considerable number of Jewish inhabitants, had at least one synagogue, the larger towns several or even many. These were also used for trials and inflicting punishment.

AV (Authorised Version) — synagogue 55, congregation 1, assembly 1

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4864&t=KJV

 

³Sabbath

There are some very inspiring articles about the Sabbath in the Christian Science periodicals.  One is THE SABBATH DAY by HELEN L. YOUNG from the January 15, 1910 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel which begins: “The revelation of the Sabbath as a day of rest seems to be the first law of conduct unfolded to human thought, for in the second chapter of Genesis we read that "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it;" showing that the consecration of the Sabbath seems to go back to the dawn of human consciousness, for when the Bible was written men were already observing the Sabbath, and it was not a new institution.” Visit your local CS Reading Room or go to jsh-online.com to find the whole article.

·       4Indignation | Define Indignation at Dictionary.com

dictionary.reference.com/browse/indignation

noun strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base; righteous anger.

 

⁵Worship (Greek: do'-ksä)

1) opinion, judgment, view

2) opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone

a) in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honour, and glory

3) splendour, brightness

a) of the moon, sun, stars

b) magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace

c) majesty

1) a thing belonging to God

a) the kingly majesty which belongs to him as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity

2) a thing belonging to Christ

a) the kingly majesty of the Messiah

b) the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ; the majesty

3) of the angels

a) as apparent in their exterior brightness

4) a most glorious condition, most exalted state

a) of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was raised after he had achieved his work on earth

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1391&t=KJV