Hmm...

I was reading in Luke today and came across an interesting tidbit. At the end of the story of the healing of the demon possessed man (Luke 8) Jesus tells the man to go and tell what God has done for him. Here's the text

38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39"Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Notice that the man's response is to go and tell what Jesus has done for him. Is this a subtle way of telling us that the man recognized Jesus as God?

What makes this story even more interesting is that Luke precedes it with Jesus calming the storm and his disciples asking, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and water and they obey him?" Their answer seems to come in the demon possessed man going and telling what Jesus/God has done for him. Not only that but the story just after the demon possessed man is about a woman who touches the edge of Jesus' garment. This touching is a way of saying that she believes Jesus is the Messiah. So the question of "who is this" is answered by he is God and he is Messiah.

Finally, it's fun to note that in chapter 9 we find Herod wondering who Jesus is as well. Luke has already given us the answer, but the one in power, the high and the mighty does not know.

Getting rid of the Furniture

Good news from our house--the hospital bed will soon be gone! Linda started sleeping in our bed again last night and believes that the hospital bed in the living room is no longer needed.

Linda went to church twice yesterday. She is able to walk around the house without crutches. So we are making progress. She still tires quickly, but we are confident that her strength will slowly return.

Thanks for all your continued prayers.

Those Pigs

My New Testament reading for the next few days is in the book of Mark. This morning I came across that odd passage where Jesus sends the evil spirits into the pigs and they dash down the side of the hill into the sea of galilee. Always the question--why? Why does Jesus let the spirits go into the pigs, why does he let the pigs die? Mark 5

Here's one reason (there are always others, the Bible is rich in multiple meanings). If you remember the name of the evil spirit is legion. Legion, of course, is Roman military term that speaks of a group of soldiers. In this area of the country there had been Roman legions who had carried out cruel and painful attacks on the people. This demon possessed man was probably suffering from that horrible experinece and it opened him up to demon possession. The idea that flows from this is that when Jesus has this legion go into the pigs, the pigs become a roman legion or roman pigs. These pigs then dash into the sea or the abyss--in doing so they show that God rules over and can destroy Roman which has abused people rather than rightfully carrying out their ruling task (cf. Romans 13). The story then, is a political statement of who rules, who reigns and who wins and what the world will look like when all is set right (the demon possessed man is now in his right mind). It is also a story of resistance to this world of hope because the people of the land ask Jesus to go.

How it's going

Just a quick update on Linda and all of us. Linda had a good day yesterday--which typically means not as good of a day today. Which so far has turned out to be true. She is very sore in that upper left leg area and moving slowly this morning. At the same time imagine my surprise and joy when she took several steps without crutches or walker yesterday! So we keep moving forward.

As for me, I'm a bit tired. So in a moment of laziness I drove to work today instead of riding my bike. I think a couple of nights of sleep and mornings of getting up at about 7 instead of 6 will get me up and going again.

Chris is having a great time at Calvin in their ready for life program. He loves what they are doing and loves getting out of the house.

Thanks for the meals this week--they have been awesome.

Noise

As I was doing the morning dog walk today and listening to Genesis I found that as cars went by I had to turn up the volume on my cassette player to hear the words--at times the words were simply drowned out by the volume of the cars. This set me to thinking: What is it that drowns out the very words of God in my life so that I don't hear them? Busyness? TV? Preoccupation with other things? Something to think on for all of us--just what is it that makes it so we stop hearing the very words of God? What is it that gets us listening again?

A bit from 2 Kings 1-2

With Linda laid up my time for Bible reading has changed a bit. I'm now Bible listening more than Bible reading (I remembered this morning that the Bible was made first to be listened to, only later to be read). My Bible listening happens in the mornings when I walk our two dogs--not my favorite activity, but it needs to be done. Since I take these walks not only for the dogs but also to get myself in shape for next summer's trip to Israel I usually walk about 3.5 miles which gives me some significant listening time.

Anyway, a few days ago I was listening to the story of Elijah and Elisha. As I listened to the last days of Elijah's life before going to heaven I realized something: the second to the last miracle performed by Elijah is centered around the destruction of soldiers who profane the name of God by not honoring Elijah as a prophet. After this we find that King Ahaziah who has treated Elijah with contempt (by sending these soldiers) dies without an heir i.e. there is no life in him. After this Elijah parts the waters of the Jordan and is taken up in the whirlwind. When Elijah is taken up Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit. This request is granted by God. The next thing we see is Elisha parting the waters with Elijah's cloak. Then we find a rather odd little miracle story about Elisha healing the water of Jericho. It is odd, that is, until we see that it is a story of life given to those who are obedient to God--notice that the water will no longer cause death or miscarriage (King Ahaziah had no children, was miscarriage involved?). Then the next story we discover is that odd story of the children who call Elisha "baldhead" and are attacked by the bears. It too seems odd until we see it in parallel with the destruction of the soldiers. As they had dishonored God's prophet, so these children are dishonoring God's prophets in a significant way. Since the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha we would expect no other result than the punishment of those who speak this dishonor.

So here's the picture

Elijah Dishonored/ punishment Elisha Dishonored/Punishment
Ahaziah, has no offspring/life because he disobeys A city with faithful people receive new water that gives life/ no miscarriages
Elijah parts the Jordan Elisha parts the Jordan

Back to Work

I got back to the office yesterday. Kind of an odd thing after being gone and doing the nursing deal for the last few weeks.

Linda continues to have good days and bad days. Yesterday was one of those bad days, a lot more pain and discomfort. At the same time in the midst of her pain she took three steps without crutches or her walker--so progress is being made. She has the most discomfort in her upper left leg. We think that there is some muscle damage there. Pray for healing for that leg.

Other than that, no real news from our house. We just keep taking the steps of the healing process and are thankful for all the concern shown.