R4J Movement I complete!

It’s well past July 4th, but I’m committed to updating the Reborn on the Fourth of July podcast serial. If you want to listen to the first full movement (of five), just click on the episode below, or find the whole series wherever you listen to podcasts!

Going through the Sunday lectionary in this season after Pentecost, I haven’t been able to get Luke 10 and the Parable of the so-called “Good” Samaritan out of my head. It is so well known that I think some of its significance is lost. Read closely, it discloses the animosity Jesus has toward the clerical class of Judea, over and above any interest he has in confronting Roman imperialism. The ‘goodness’ of the Samaritan is implied but never stated, much like the religiosity on trial is implied rather than explicit. A lot going on between the lines doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

In Luke 9 Jesus begins his final journey toward Jerusalem. Ironically, that is the same (so-called) holy city the fabled traveler is coming from. Jesus has corrupt Judean religiosity in his crosshairs. The two antagonists are both Levites, the only Israelitical clan that could serve as priests. Although the first is identified as a priest, it’s not impossible that the second is as well. The third character is a Samaritan, which heightens the religious tension Luke’s account of Jesus sets up.