If you can not find the truth right where you are, where
else do you expect to find it?
~Ralph Waldo Emerson: (1803 – 1882) American essayist, lecturer, and poet
~Ralph Waldo Emerson: (1803 – 1882) American essayist, lecturer, and poet
Gospel Text: (Lk
9:7-9)
Herod the tetrarch heard
about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.
Standing before
Pilate in the Pretorium, the very heart of political power, Jesus bears witness
to the truth that real power is not the ability to coerce others, but the strength
to love; that true control is about self-sacrifice; that real life is found only
through death itself. In doing so Jesus turns our human values upside down and
proclaims a new and radical form of kingship. He does not coerce, but rather
invites a response. In this encounter with Pilate, Christ offers an example for
all Christians, who like Christ are called to bear witness to the truth through
their lives. Prompted by the Roman inscription placed above the crucified
Jesus’ head, his enemies taunted him “if you are the King of the Jews save
yourself!”
In other words,
real kings save themselves first.
Luke’s Jesus
responds to their taunt by instinctively taking care of someone else first, the
criminal crucified next to him. Throughout Luke’s passion narrative, no matter
how much pain Jesus is suffering, he’s always concerned for others.
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