Things Are Not What They Seem

Lesson
#7
Things Are Not What They Seem
(6: 17 7: 50)
In a very nice literary move, Lesson #6 opened with Luke moving Jesus
rejec>on at Nazareth to the beginning of his public ministry, rather than
toward the end, as MaDhew and Mark have it, foreshadowing Jesus
condemna>on and death at the hands of the Jewish and Roman
authori>es in Jerusalem.
Lesson #6 then introduced seven vigneDes of Jesus teaching and healing,
illustra>ng his increasing popularity with the crowds, followed by three
ques>ons regarding fas>ng and working on the Sabbath, ques>ons that
planted seeds of discontent that will grow into erce opposi>on as our
story con>nues.
Lesson #6 closed with Jesus assembling his twelve Apostles.
As we enter Lesson #7 we must ask ourselves: What did people expect

of Jesus? Unlike Jesus portrayal as a ery revolu>onary in the Gospel
according to Mark, Luke portrays him as a profound moral and ethical
teacher who says, rather meekly: Blessed is the one who takes no
oense at me (7: 23). To this point in Luke, Jesus is far from the
confronta>onal rebrand we meet in the Gospel according to Mark.
Lesson #7 alternates Jesus teaching with miraculous healings, including
raising the widow of Nains son from the dead. Like the rst seismic
rumblings deep beneath the earth, barely no>ceable, we are moving
toward something big, something that will shake the very founda>ons
of the earth.
Lesson #7 presents a carefully

structured, 5-part sequence:
1. that opens with Jesus teaching the
Sermon on the Plain;
2. con>nues with Jesus healing the
centurions servant;
3. escalates to Jesus raising the widow
of Nains dead son;
4. claries Jesus iden>ty and purpose
through a visit from John the
Bap>sts followers; and
5. concludes with a dinner party at the
home of Simon the Pharisee.
A_er Jesus appoints his Apostles on

the Mount of Bea>tudes in our
closing scene of Lesson #6, he came
down with them and stood on a
stretch of level ground (6: 17), the
very same place he stood when he
got into Peters boat to teach and
where he called Peter to become a
sher of men, earlier in our story (5:
1- 11).
Luke sets the stage for Jesus
teaching in 6: 17-19.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of

the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the
coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and
to be healed of their diseases; and even those who
were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because
power came forth from him and healed them all.
(6: 17-19)
Jesus is gathering huge crowds

from a 100 mile area, Tyre and
Sidon to the north (in Lebanon
of today), Judea and Jerusalem
to the south.
eople
are
Not mPe.

swarming in from everywhere!
And power came

forth from him.
Oooo! I wish I had
been there!
Then Jesus begins his Sermon on the

Plain.
Drawing heavily upon MaDhews Sermon on the
Mount (MaDhew 5-7) Luke recasts MaDhews
material, elimina>ng references to the Mosaic law
(e.g., You have heard it said [in the law] . . . but I
tell you . . .) and highligh>ng Jesus more universal
teachings (e.g., Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you.), teachings more relevant to
his gen>le audience.
By shi_ing the loca>on of Jesus teaching from the
Mount of Bea>tudes at the top of the hill to the
plain at the boDom, Luke clearly separates the
two teachings, deec>ng aDen>on from
MaDhews Jewish version and emphasizing the
universality of Jesus message in Lukes version.
The Sermon on the Plain is a simply

structured, 5-part teaching:
Introduc>on (20-26)
1. Love your enemies (27-36)
2. Stop judging others (37-42)
3. Proof of inten>on (43-45)
Conclusion(46-49)
As MaDhew began his Sermon on

the Mount with nine clever and
memorable bea>tudes, (5: 3-12),
so Luke begins his Sermon on the
Plain with four clever and
memorable bea>tudes (20b 22),
balanced by four clever and
memorable woe to you statements
(24-26), the en>re unit pivo>ng on a
proclama>on (23).
10
Blessed are you who are poor,

for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you . . . (20b-22)
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day. Behold, your reward will be
great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same
way. (23)
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled no,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you . . . (24-26)
11
Nicely done, Luke!

Not me.
It sure is!
12
Introduc>on (20-26)
Conclusion(46-49)
13
The Love your enemies sec>on

consists of ve, 2-part balanced
statements:
1. Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you (27);
2. Bless those who curse you, pray for those
who mistreat you (28);
3. To the person who strikes you on one
cheek, oer the other one as well, and
from the person who takes your cloak, do
not withhold even your tunic (29);
4. Give to everyone who asks of you, and
from the one who takes what is yours do
not demand it back (30);
5. Do to others as you would have them do
to you . . . (31-36).
Listen to Luke 6: 21-36 in context:

14
A_er opening with Lukes clever and

memorable bea>tudes and
woes, Lukes love your enemies
sec>on elevates Jesus teaching to an
impossibly high moral and ethical
plain, a standard that is not
restricted to the covenant
community of Israelone under the
Mosaic lawbut one that applies
universally.
Luke then shi_s the focus from the
high standards of ones own
behavior to not judging others
behavior.
15
Introduc>on (20-26)
Conclusion(46-49)
16
Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Blind Leading the Blind (distemper on canvas), 1568.
Museo di Capodimonte, Napels, Italy.
17
18
The Greek word translated

hypocrite is uJpokrithvV
(hoop-ok-ree-TACE).
It means actor, one who
wears a mask, pretending to
be someone he is not.
Jesus uses the word as a
scathing insult.
Greek theater mask (terracoDa), 1st century BC.

Louvre Museum, Paris.
19
Introduc>on (20-26)
Conclusion(46-49)
20
In the end, what you believe and what you say

must manifest itself in your ac>ons.
Chris>an theology is clear, as St. Paul says: For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and this
is not from you; it is the giX of God; it is not from
works, so no one may boast (Ephesians 2: 8-9).
Yet, St. James says: What good is it, my brothers,
if someone says he has faith but does not have
works? Can that faith save him? (James 2: 14)?
The old Reforma>on bug-a-boo of faith vs.
works is a false dichotomy: a genuine saving
faith will always manifest itself in a life of ac>ve
love, or a life of good works. Faith and works
are like breathing in and breathing out: you cant
have one without the other.
Listen to Jesus:
21
A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor

does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every
tree is known by its own fruit. For people do
not pick figs from thorn bushes, nor do they
gather grapes from brambles. A good person
out of the store of goodness in his heart
produces good, but an evil person out of a
store of evil produces evil: for from the
fullness of heart the mouth speaks.
(6: 43-45)
22
Introduc>on (20-26)
Conclusion(46-49)
23
Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, but not do what I

command? I will show you what someone is like who
comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a person building a house, who dug
deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood
came, the river burst against that house but could not
shake it because it had been well built. But the one
who listens and does not act is like a person who built
a house on the ground without a foundation. When the
river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was
completely destroyed.
(6: 46-49)
24
Jesusthe carpenter
knows what hes talking
about!
25
When Jesus nished his Sermon

on the Plain he walked a short
distance north along the shore of
the Sea of Galilee, returning home
to Capernaum.
On arriving, a delega>on from the
synagogue met him:
Listen to Luke 7: 1-10.
26
Roman Centurion

A Roman Legion consisted of 6,000 men and was divided into ten Regiments, each
having a name. Cornelius, the Centurion at Caesarea Mari>ma who summons St.
Paul in Acts 10, is a member of the Italian Regiment. Each Regiment consisted of
600 men. A Centurion commanded a 100-man unit in a Regiment. All legionnaires
were professional soldiers serving 25-year terms. Athough not exactly analogous, a
centurion was similar in rank to a career mid-level ocer, a Captain or Major, in
todays Army or Marine Corps.
27
Capernaums 4th-century synagogue, built over the remains of

the original 1st-century basalt structure.
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas
28
Would a Roman centurion have had the

meansor the desireto have built the
synagogue at Capernaum?
Although Roman soldiers were generally disliked (or
despised!) by the Jewish popula>on, there were notable
excep>ons; for example, a_er speaking with Peter at
Caesarea, the Roman centurion Cornelius and his family
are bap>zed and become the rst gen>le converts
(Acts 10).
Capernaum sits along the great Great Ri_ Valley, a
divergent tectonic plate boundary, prone to frequent and
severe earthquakes. Indeed, a massive earthquake on
January 18, 749 (referred to in Jewish sources as The
Seventh Earthquake) destroyed Capernaum, along with
several other ci>es in Galilee and Judea, including
Scythopolis [Hebrew = Beit Shean], one of the ten
decapolis ci>es men>oned in Scripture.
A centurion would probably not have had the nancial
means to build the synagogue at Capernaum, but he
and his 100 men could certainly have provided labor for
its construc>on or rebuilding.
29
We read in our next sec>on:

Soon aXerward [Jesus] journeyed
to a city called Nain, and his
disciples and a large crowd
accompanied him.
(7: 11).
30
Capernaum !
Nazareth !
Nain !
About 9 miles south of Nazareth.
31
Nain [Nein], today a small Arab village in the Galilee.
32
Lucas Cranach the Elder. The Rise of the Young Man of Nain (altarpiece), 1569.
Town and Parish Church of St. Marys, Lutherstadt WiDenberg, Germany.
33
So far, Jesus has:

1. taught the Sermon on the Plain;
2. healed the centurions servant; and
3. raised the dead.
The three episodes escalate in

signicance and intensity,
promp>ng John the Bap>st to send
two of his disciples north to Galilee
to ask Jesus: Are you the one who
is to come, or should we look for
another? (7: 19).
Read the story in 7: 18-35.
34
Why would John

have such a
Not me.
ques>on
about Jesus?
That is strange!
35
John EvereD Mallais. Christ in the House of His Parents [The Carpenter Shop] (oil on canvas), 1849.
Tate Britain, London.
36
The ques>on, Are you the one who is to

come, or should we look for another? (7:
18-19) suggests that although John knows
Jesus quite wellthey are rela>ves, a_er all,
and at Jesus bap>sm the voice of God
iden>ed Jesus as Gods son, with whom he
is well pleased; nonetheless, John seems to
expect very dierent behavior from Jesus,
more along the lines of the ery prophet who
will come before the day of the Lord comes,
the great and terrible day (Malachi 3: 19).
If we are correct about the Essene inuence
on Johns thinking, the War Scroll, found
among the Dead Sea scrolls, may shed light
on Johns expecta>ons.
37
War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness [War Scroll], 1QM, 4Q491-496.
Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
38
The War Scroll was among the rst 7 scrolls

found in Cave #1 by a young Bedouin boy in 1947.
It consists of 19 columns, but is missing the
boDom por>on of each, as well as the nal page
or pages of the composi>on.
The Essenes had a decidedly apocalyp>c world
view. The War Scroll tells of a great baDle
between the Sons of Light and the Sons of
Darkness, led by a great leader, a son of David.
Although the war lasts 40 years, the scroll
focuses on the nal days, much like Homers Iliad.
A_er 6 bloody engagements, in the 7th the great
hand of God shall overcome [Belial, the leader of
the Sons of Darkness] and all the men of [his
forces shall be destroyed forever] (1QM 1: 14-15),
ushering in a new and righteous Kingdom.
39
Did John think

Jesus would be the
leader Not
of that
me.
baDle?
Makes sense
to me.
40
Perhaps so.
But Jesus was doing something very
dierent. Rather than appearing as
the ery prophet in Malachi 3: 19
who brings the great and terrible
day of the Lord, Jesus brings the
blessings of Isaiah 61the very
passage he read and preached upon
at the synagogue in Nazareth: he
brings good news to the
aicted . . . liberty to the
capcves . . . comfort to those who
mourn.
41
Moving to our nal sec>on, Jesus

has just been in Nain and he
receives a dinner invita>on from
Simon, a Pharisee.
He accepts.
And we have the story of Jesus
pardoning the sinful woman who
stands behind him weeping,
bathing his feet with her tears and
anoin>ng his feet with ointment
from an alabaster jar.
Read Luke 7: 36-50.
42
Peter Paul Rubens. Feast at the Home of Simon the Pharisee (oil on canvas), c. 1620.
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
43
Who is the sinful

woman in this
Not me.
story?
Not Mary
Magdalene,
thats for sure!
44
Jose de Ribera. Mary Magdalene (oil on canvas), c. 1641.

Prado Museum, Madrid.
45
Mary Magdalene is NOT a pros>tute

nor is she the sinful woman of Luke 7:
36-50.
As far back as the 4th century Mary Magdalene (or
Mary of Migdol, a village a liDle south of
Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee) was
conated with the sinful woman of Luke 7, as well as
with Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus.
Pope Gregory the Great in his Homily #33 con>nues
and enshrinesthe error:
Mary whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John

calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom
seven devils were ejected according to Mark. What
did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices.
For the next 1,900 years the Western church

con>nued the erroneous cona>on, lis>ng Mary
among the great repentant sinners and patroness of
wayward women and pros>tutes.
46
Migdol !
Nain !
Bethany !
Three dierent stories; three dierent towns; three dierent women!
47
1. How does Lukes Sermon on the Plain dier

from MaDhews Sermon on the Mount?
2. Why would the centurion feel that he was not
worthy to enter under Jesus roof?
3. Jesus raises the widow of Nains dead son.
Does anyone else raise the dead in Scripture?
4. Why would John the Bap>st ques>on
whether Jesus was the one he expected?
5. Why did Simon the Pharisee invite Jesus to
dinner?
48
Copyright 2015 by William C. Creasy

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