Family Issues in Jesus' Sayings - Luke 12:13-15, Etcetera

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”  Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Lk 12:13ff NIV)

This passage also appears in Gospel of Thomas (saying 72), but without the warning to 'guard against greed.'  Instead, GTh has Jesus ask his disciples, "Amen, am I a divider?"  Also, GTh doesn't have prepositional phrase, "between (or "over") you," in Jesus' original response in Luke.  Additional witness of GTh to this interchange increases likelihood of its standing in the life of Jesus.  DeConick includes logion 72 in the "kernel" portion of GTh, which she dates "prior to" 50 A.D.(1)  Since this dialog is unparalleled in other NT gospels, it may have come to Luke via word of mouth.  Together, the two gospels point to early oral tradition as the medium which brought this encounter to them.  Luke 12:15, admonition contra avarice, may be supported as authentic teaching of Jesus of Nazareth on the basis of coherence with Mark 7:22 (greed or covetousness defiles) and similarity to Q saying at Matthew 6:25//Luke 12:22-23 ("life [psyche] is more than food").(2)

The interjection imploring Jesus to oversee a bequest mentions a "brother" (GTh "brothers"), which brings a family matter to the attention of Jesus.  It is not uncommon for disputes to arise concerning inheritances among surviving family members.  Laws, lawyers and courts help to settle such matters.  Provision for proper execution of estates is made in the Law of Moses (e.g., Num 27:8-11).  Though improper disposition of property could ruin a family and the assistance of a rabbi to counsel a family here is reasonable, Jesus deflects the request by exempting himself from such a role (i.e., "arbiter" or "divider").  Why?    

Jesus' strident refusal to become involved in an issue of fairness or justice for a family is akin to other gospel teachings on the requirements of God's kingdom.  

• A scribe came and said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.  Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air, nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Mat 8:19f) 
• Another of his disciples said to him, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said to him, follow me and leave the dead to bury their dead (Mat 8:21f)
• Said another, I will follow you Lord, yet first allow me to bid farewell to those at my home.  Then Jesus said to him, None laying hand upon plow and looking backward is fit for the kingdom of God (Lk 9:61f)

Home and the details of family life are to be set aside in Jesus' mission of  leading people to God's kingdom.  

Jesus' own family, his mother and brothers, were looking for him and sent word to Jesus to come to them.  Jesus' response - "Who are my mother and my brothers?"  "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother" (Mk 3:31-35 NIV).  Jesus' own family relations "were strained" (3) because of his dedication and focus on God.                                  

Notes

1. April DeConick, The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation (London: T & T Clark, 2007), pp. 8, 228      
2. The Jesus Seminar understood Lk 12:15, not as genuine saying of Jesus, but a "Lukan comment."  See Robert Funk and Roy Hoover, The Five Gospels (NY: Macmillan, 1993), p. 338 
3. Helen Bond, The Historical Jesus (London: Bloomsbury, 2012), p. 112.  Cf. Lk 2:41-52; Jn 7:1-9

Alienation

 People who don't know God are like people who don't know themselves.  People are alienated and don't realize.  The kingdom of God is within you!

Reminiscence

 Today, while I was waiting for waffles to pop out of the toaster, a memory surfaced that I've recalled more than a few times in the past.  It's a memory of a morning years ago at our family summer house on Green Island down the shore.  Mom was in the kitchen and breakfast was already on the table when I came downstairs from the bedroom.  It was a sunny, summer day and we had guests, Uncle Phil and Aunt Phyllis.  Uncle Phil, I remember, had been suffering with an illness, so it was good that he was able to come down the shore and stay a few days.  Everyone else had eaten already and I reached for a new cereal box that had just been opened. The plastic bag inside the box had been ripped open in an awful way, indicating that someone had struggled with it.  I asked Mom about this and she said Uncle Phil had opened it and I was disgusted.  This feeling of disgust I soon got over and I felt bad for Uncle Phil, understanding that everyday things became difficult for the elderly.  It is this emotion of disgust that has caused the memory of that morning to be preserved liminally, often arising into consciousness when certain signals happen, such as this morning, when I put the waffles in the toaster, pieces broke off onto the countertop, eliciting a brief feeling of disgust.  Mom and Uncle Phil have died (r.i.p.), Daddy had died years before that long-ago morn (rest in peace, Dad).  This quiet reminiscence is tinged with longing - for the past not to have ended and for the present to be somehow different.  I guess the feeling or longing is really for eternity, where time is not and loved ones are always near.         

A Ray from Heaven

 Sister Susan had a Mass said in memory of Rizzuto family deceased on Sat. 3/9/24, 5:30pm (vigil Mass).  March 9th is Dad's birthday.  Mass was attended by myself, Susan, Anne Marie.

Years ago, Sue made a donation to her church, St. Aloysius, Caldwell, NJ, to cover cost of ten Mass books (include liturgy and hymns), but since then, has been unable to find one in the pews with her dedication inscribed inside front cover.  On March 9, 2024, she finally found one - inside front cover was printed, "In memory of Dr. Paul J. Rizzuto by Susan Mello" - in pew where we happened to sit.  Sue was happy.  She showed it to me when I arrived late.  I said "wow."  Our Dad was a hard-working man and we remember him with love.  Rest in peace, Dad.  May Mom and brother Michael also rest in peace.  Aunt Ida and Aunt Mill too, rest in peace.  Thank-you God.   

Wishful Thinking

 A wish is a desire for something vouchsafed to a Higher Power in the secret chamber of a person's heart.  A wistful person has hope of fulfillment by that Divine Providence.  Is God the end-product of years of wishful longing, going back to prehistoric times?  Did humans make gods and the supreme God in their hearts and minds because of their needs, which needs we weren't able to satisfy on our own?  Yes, of course and this is how God made us.  [However, God, in the Bible, commands no idols for his people; Ex 20:1ff.]  

   

Nice Little Video (link)

 https://youtube.com/shorts/3-2d-OiJRwo?si=80VpCKokTdW9b3sX

Music is touching. 

Jesus the Nazarene: Man in History and Eternity

 Teacher, preacher, healer, Jesus of Nazareth, lived and died in Roman Palestine long ago, but is well-known today and through the centuries because of traditions and writings handed on by his followers.  Peter, John, Paul and Mark are among the names of Jesus' followers and from them we learn that Jesus came to the people of Israel to announce the coming kingdom of God (Mk 1:15).  God' s kingdom, its mystery, its invisibility, its power, its spread, was the message of the Nazarene.  Jesus was dedicated to God, whom he called "Father," and taught his disciples many things about God.  To read the gospels and study them is to learn about the mission of Jesus.  Outside Scripture are other writings, such as 'Didache,' Letters of Ignatius and Gospel of Thomas, that contribute to historical grasp of message and mission of Jesus the Nazarene.   

Mission of Jesus and Ends of Man

  

Without meaning and purpose in life, people suffer anomie, become listless with a sense of worthlessness. [1]  A growing child is educated, directly and indirectly, through interaction with people and surroundings and will discover purpose for herself.  Meanings, values, life-purpose, may be adjusted, discarded and replaced.  The purpose that lasts, becomes firm in heart and mind, provides direction in decisions to be made.  Remembering one's overall purpose in life, thinking about accomplishing it day after day, making needed changes in understanding purpose (vocation, calling), is a necessary focal point in reasoning.

To be happy or at least, content, is a goal of man (male or female).  A father might say to his son, 'respect yourself, son and have respect for others.  Son, a person must work to make a living.  I don't care what your career or work is, be happy in your work.  All honest work is important.'  Peace, happiness, contentment, do not seem to be the default position of people, rather, our default seems to be waiting, waiting for something.  This waiting or looking for something, from infancy to old age, indicates a basic lack in human being.  This human lack or empty space inside self may be called 'soul.' [2]

Following is an excerpt from Gospel of Mark, chap. 1 (NIV):

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

The phrase, "why I have come," in verse 38, shows Jesus' raison d'etre; he prays, travels, in order to proclaim a message.  The 'praying' shows the connection to God in Jesus' mission.  The heart of Jesus' ministry was to bring God and people together.

Another end of man is death.  Jesus integrated death, his own future death, into his teaching.

The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Lk 9:22) 

Death, proper end of fallen man, should be part of self-examination and self-understanding.  Sixteenth century English poet John Donne, expresses a Christian viewpoint on the matter.

Death be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

. . .

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Here is a passage from Matthew's Gospel, chap. 22, in Good News Translation:

The Question about Rising from Death

23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses said that if a man who has no children dies, his brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children. 25 Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All of them had married her.”

29 Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power. 30 For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. 31 Now, as for the dead rising to life: haven't you ever read what God has told you? He said, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God of the living, not of the dead.”

33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.

Jesus represents man in history.  He was firm in purpose and had a large impact on his society.  We can read two-thousand-year-old documents about him.  Jesus also stands in for man in eternity.  

..he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. (Acts 2:31f)

By means of this Spirit, disciples of the Nazarene bear witness to a way transcending death, leading mankind to a heavenly realm.  Jesus, "his whole life presupposes the reality of God.." [3]  

Notes

[1] "Among my patients from many countries, ... a considerable number ... were suffering ... because they could find no meaning in life or were torturing themselves with questions.."  C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul (NY: Harcourt, 1933), p. 231; see online article, 'Worthlessness' (2019) at goodtherapy.org 

[2] See, S.E. Frost, Basic Teachings of the Great Philosophers (Garden City: Doubleday, 1962), chap. VI, 'The Soul and Immortality,' "Death is a universal experience."  "But the human mind has never been content to let the matter rest.."  "Early man had his dreams."  "This was probably the beginning of a belief in the human soul." (pp. 153f); ancient Greeks discussed 'soul' (psyche or psuche), such as presocratic thinkers, Thales (6th century B.C.), who "seems to have believed that the soul was something that produces motion" and Pythagoras (6th cent. B.C.), who is reported to have told someone whipping a puppy to "stop, do not beat it, for it is the soul of a dear friend" and held doctrines of immortality of soul, as well as, transmigration of souls, cf., Jonathan Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy (London: Penguin, 1987), pp. 64, 82, 86;  see, also, online article, 'Ancient Theories of Soul' (2009) at 'Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'   

[3] R.T. France, I Came to Set the Earth on Fire: A Portrait of Jesus (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1975), p. 170