Luke provides another encounter between Jesus and those who oppose him. We sense the deceit in the moment and an attempt at entrapment. The encounter begins with a question is about ‘resurrection.’ They are  people who describe themselves being the ‘devil’s advocate’ in a discussion in which they have no belief or position. The ‘Sadducees’ here do not believe in the resurrection. 

The Wisdom reading debunks the harsh image people have of God. But, this God loves all that exists, and ‘holds nothing …..in abhorrence.’ God loves each person even those considered loathsome. What a difference it would make if could see each person and living things through the lens of God’s love - whether in terms of our criminal justice system; detaining innocent and vulnerable people in detention centres; providing proper services to the aged, people with mental illness or disabilities; the funding of armaments; and, allowing the big polluters of our environment continue!

‘Faith is always supposed to make it harder, not easier, to ignore the plight of our sisters and brothers. (Robin R. Meyers Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus, p. 165)’. Again, the scriptures reinforce God’s partiality toward ‘the oppressed...orphan...widow and the lowly.’

Again, a figure from the peripheries of society offers a lesson. She finds her voice and speaks up for herself. She is prepared to say what ‘she wanted whether she got it or not, because saying it was how she remembered who she was. It was how she remembered the shape of her heart…’ (Barbara Brown Taylor ‘Bothering God’ in Home by Another Way).

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus is in a hurry. In John, he seems to be in control.  In Matthew’s gospel, he does parables. In Luke, Jesus is forever crossing borders and finds himself in liminal places – always on the threshold having gone beyond the first step but not yet at the next one, and in the middle of things. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to meet his fate. He is ‘between Samaria and Galilee’ where there is nothing. It is a fancy way of saying that Jesus is at the border. And it is in this space that Jesus meets people. Jesus seems to be all about crossing boundaries, both physical and theoretical and will cross another to heal these men as we will see.