Healings and Parables in Luke – Chapter 8
Joyce Voysey

About Jesus parable of the seed sown in various places (in chapter 8) – by the way side,  upon a rock, among thorns, in good ground: we humans are inclined to try to classify ourselves in one of those areas, but couldn’t we honestly classify ourselves as being in any one of them in different situations?  Don’t we sometimes find that the fowls of the air steal away our inspiration, or that it withers away for lack of depth of ground for it to flourish in, or is choked with thorns?  But we must not fuss, because some falls on good ground and is grandly fruitful.

Question: What do the thorns represent? 

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.

Luke Chapters Five and Six

Joyce Voysey - Monday September 17

In my consecutive reading of Mary Baker Eddy’s Prose Works I am now reading Retrospection and Introspection (Ret.).  This morning I came to page 30 where the chapter title is Foundation Work. The opening sentence strengthens the point made in my entry to this blog on September 6^th, that our work in Christian Science is warfare: “As the pioneer of Christian Science I stood alone in this conflict, endeavouring to smite error with the falchion of Truth.  The rare bequests of Christian Science are costly, and they have won fields of battle from which the dainty borrower would have fled.  Ceaseless toil, self-renunciation, and love, have cleared its pathway.”

There are references in Science and Health which refer to the warfare between Spirit and the flesh.  (See for instance page 288:6, and page145: 28.)  In Mrs. Eddy’s Address before the Christian Scientist Association of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, in 1893, titled Obedience, we find (Miscellaneous Writings p.118) a list of some of the errors we are battling: Self-ignorance, self-will, self-righteousness, lust, covetousness, envy, revenge….  But then she joyfully tells us to “Be of good cheer; the warfare with one’s self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you, - and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory.”

Luke Chapter Four
Joyce Voysey

Chapter 4 brings us to Jesus forty days in the wilderness where he fasted and was “tempted of the devil.”  The authority of Science and Health tells us, “Since Jesus must have been tempted in all points, he, the immaculate, met and conquered sin in every form” (p. 584:14-16).   Here we have a prime example and authority on how we meet and defeat the temptations that beset us in our human experience. 

Right here I became somewhat bogged down with trying to find out what authority there is for calling Jesus the Exemplar. 

John the Baptist
Joyce Voysey

John the Baptist doesn’t seem to have a very good press.  Of course, he wasn’t around for Luke to interview all those years later.  And neither were Zacharias and Elisabeth, I guess.  So I wonder who, besides Mary, Luke did interview about their experience.

John’s mission was to prepare the people for the coming Saviour, a hugely important mission.  Hundreds, if not thousands, came to him in the desert for baptism, and to be told of the need for redemption. 

John and Jesus
Joyce Voysey

In the marvellous account of the birth of John, his naming, and the wonder of the people far and wide at this historic event, I found a little something of interest.  A very little something in light of the wonderful story being told, but there we have it – my curiosity about minutiae.

Regarding the writing tablet Zacharias used to write the name of his special son, JOHN: it seems that writing tablets were made of wood which was covered with wax. (Bees-wax?)  The picture of these reminds me of eBooks of to-day.  There could be a series of tablets which could be attached to each other to form volumes.  The writing implement was a pointed stylus.

I wonder, did Jesus write on tablets?  We are told he worked as a carpenter.  Did he consult plans drawn on tablets?

Why did Luke write Jesus' story?
Julie Swannell

 

Readers might find the following excerpt helpful concerning the opening paragraphs of Luke.  This is from Kenneth Taylor’s The Living Bible, a brilliant and delightful paraphrase prepared with the motive of helping his ten children understand the Bible!  This rendering seems to bring us right into the picture – as if Luke were speaking to each of us directly, telling us exactly why he’s decided to give us his own account of recent important events.

Dear Friend who loves God: Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses.  However it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you, to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

I especially like his motive, to “reassure you of the truth”.

Good news! Luke chapter one
Joyce Voysey

What good news the angel Gabriel has for Zacharias – his son is to be someone very special who would ‘make ready a people prepared for the Lord’, the promised Messiah.  No wonder he was blinded by the magnitude of this revelation.  Elisabeth does indeed conceive: she secludes herself for five months, glorying in the honour which has been placed on her, and perhaps avoiding criticism of her conception in her old age, quite a concept to accept!  Oh! Five months, I suppose it was possible to actually hide the physical evidence for that length of time.

Marriage, Prophecy, and Angels
Joyce Voysey

One of my first impressions on reading through the early books of the Bible, was that it seemed to be very important which woman a man married.  Of course, I am reminded of this because Luke starts us on his story about Jesus by talking about Zacharias, and straightaway tells us that his wife was Elisabeth, a daughter of Aaron.  Zacharias is a priest doing his roster of appointed priestly duties.  There was a roster for these duties created by David, called courses – Zacharias’s course being called Abia.  Rotation in office it was really, and there were 24 of these courses; it is thought that the Abia one would have had Zacharias on the job in April and October.

Was Elisabeth of a higher ‘class’ than her husband, by virtue of being a daughter of Aaron?

Dummelow tells us on page 737 of his great work of commentary on the Bible, that: “The rise of Christianity was preceded by a long period of four hundred years, during which prophecy was silent, and the religious guidance of the nation passed to the rabbis and the scribes, who made void the Law of God by their traditions.”  Fancy that!

Debate

This afternoon I attended a session of the Brisbane Writers Festival.  Six distinguished writers and speakers debated the topic: Reading the Bible is good for you. The arguments for and against were very interesting and I came away pondering the topic and arguing on both sides of the question. 

Map: The Roman Empire after the birth of Jesus

 

Click on the map to enlarge

Luke, the “embedded” correspondent

Joyce Voysey

In quietly pondering Luke and his writings, I’ve come to think of him as a reporter who was “embedded” with Paul in a way similar to war correspondents of our day.  Which begs the question, “Could we consider Paul’s travels and work among the Gentiles as taking part in warfare?”  It seems we can. 

In II Corinthians we find Paul explaining, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” II Cor. 10:3-5.

And Science and Health has several references under “warfare.”  For example:

Australia and the cross of Calvary

Joyce Voysey

Before I start on Luke, may I add a few facts I found when consulting Historical Sketches by Clifford Smith?  Mr. Smith starts out by talking about New Hampshire the way it was in Mrs. Eddy’s early days – in 1840 to be precise. 

He says there were 5,000 inhabitants in Concord, the capital of the state.  Concord was famous for its stagecoaches; it had a number of societies, agricultural, musical, Bible, and missionary, besides four or five bookstores, at least three newspapers, and a literary journal!!!

In 1840 Bow, which was the Baker’s town, had 1,000 inhabitants, a meeting house, ten district schools, and fifteen mills of different kinds.  (As an Australian, I can’t but want to compare those figures with towns of similar size in Australia.  I wonder how I would go about doing that for Brisbane in 1840.)

What a vibrant mental atmosphere was prepared in New Hampshire for the reception of Christian Science by one of its offspring!  However, one wonders what God has prepared for Australia, which has “the Southern Cross in its skies, - the Cross of Calvary, which binds human society into solemn union” Science &Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p.475:30-32.

Listening

As mentioned in another column here, I had a note from a reader of last month’s book “Christian Science in Germany”, who felt that the secret of the successful healing work recounted in that book was that the author LISTENED.  

As authority, our book club member sent a remarkable and beautiful poem by Helen R. Quitzow called “In A Christian Science Sunday School” from the May 1966 issue of The Christian Science Journal which readers can find at any Christian Science Reading Room or at the JSH-online website, http://jsh.christianscience.com/.  And we have permission to reproduce a snippet below.

 

poem
	IN A CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SUNDAY SCHOOL - The Christian Science Journal Source: journal.christianscience.com After her first visit to the Sunday School,A tiny child said,"I sat still for a very long time."That was all.After a second visit, she said,"I listened."And that too was all.Jesus said to the damsel he called not dead but sleeping:"Talitha cumi; . . . Damsel, I say unto thee,...

Reading the Bible together

I always feel that reading the Bible is like coming home.  It’s somehow authentic, honest.  It reveals.  It challenges.  It stirs.  It comforts.

Some years ago, a young Chinese passer-by popped her head into our Reading Room door (in the south west of Sydney) and said: This door is never open!  We replied: Well, it’s open now.  She responded: Do you do Bible study here?  We said (after a short pause): Yes of course.  Come along on Wednesday nights.

Well, she came, many times.  And so, to accommodate her request, we included some time for reading the Bible together in our regular mid-week meetings.  We sat around in a small circle, each with our Bibles, taking turns to read 5 verses each.  Our new friend, a Buddhist, has a Christian mother back in China.   She wanted to understand.  She asked about Revelation; we suggested starting with something a bit easier and chose one of the Gospels.  She read from a different version from the rest of us, and was unfamiliar with lots of the pronunciations, but it was so wonderful to journey together in this reading.

That reading together changed us, and changed the church.