1 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,900 Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Daily gospel 2 00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:17,600 exegesis podcast and we're doing just that we're looking at the 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,100 Gospel reading from today's mass and we're looking at what Jesus 4 00:00:22,100 --> 00:00:24,400 was saying, what the gospel author was trying to say, and 5 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,200 we're trying to get it, the literal sense. 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,900 That's always where we want to start when we're studying the 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,600 Bible. And so, today we're going to 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,700 hear from Luke chapter 9 verses 22 to 25. 9 00:00:37,300 --> 00:00:41,400 Jesus said to his disciples, the son of man is destined to suffer 10 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,800 grievously to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and 11 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,700 scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third 12 00:00:49,700 --> 00:00:54,700 day. Then to all he said, if anyone 13 00:00:54,700 --> 00:00:58,600 wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,500 take up his cross every day and follow me. 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,900 For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it but anyone who 16 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:10,800 loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. 17 00:01:11,700 --> 00:01:16,000 What gain then is it for a man to have one the whole world and 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:23,200 and to have lost or ruined, his very self So, challenging 19 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,100 teaching in here and we're hearing from Luke's version, but 20 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:28,800 you'll hear very similar versions in Mark and Matthew as 21 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,000 well. So let's start by talking about 22 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,400 the context. So just before this in Luke 23 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,300 chapter 9, Jesus is asked his disciples. 24 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,800 Who do you say that I am? And of course Peter answers. 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,400 You are the Christ. And then Jesus tells them not to 26 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,000 tell anyone that he is the Christ, and then it leads 27 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,400 immediately into this. So this is kind of the second 28 00:01:50,500 --> 00:01:53,500 half of Jesus sentence that were about to hear his just finish 29 00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:55,900 telling the disciples. Don't tell anyone I'm the 30 00:01:55,900 --> 00:01:59,300 Christ. And then he says the son of man 31 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:04,800 is destined. So Jesus teaches them things 32 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,400 that these things from the perspective of Prophecy so think 33 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,500 about the words, he used destined, so he's about to tell 34 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:14,600 them some things that has to happen to the son of man. 35 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:18,100 Now it's not really, it doesn't use the word. 36 00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:20,300 I he doesn't say these, things must happen to me. 37 00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:25,400 He says According to God's Plan of Salvation as made clear in 38 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,300 the Old Testament. All of these things that he's 39 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:31,100 about to list must happen to the son of man. 40 00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:36,200 So the word must have another translation of destined Jesus 41 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,800 wants his disciples here to understand that these things 42 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,500 must happen. And they won't be accidents or 43 00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:43,400 tragedies though. They might appear to be when 44 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,500 Jesus dies. It looks all very tragic, but 45 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:49,000 Jesus wants them to be able to recall what he's about to tell 46 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,100 them that these things must happen. 47 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,700 When here it talks about the son of man, that's an image from the 48 00:02:54,700 --> 00:02:58,600 Old Testament, particularly The Book of Daniel and the son of 49 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,600 man in the Book of Daniel is a figure of both humiliation and 50 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,800 glory. And so Jesus used the name, son 51 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,800 of man for himself quite a bit and in some cases it talks about 52 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,600 humiliation. And in some places it talks 53 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,800 about Glory So what are the things that Jesus says must 54 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,900 happen to the son of, man, there's a whole list of them. 55 00:03:17,900 --> 00:03:20,800 He's destined to suffer, grievously, to be rejected by 56 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,800 the elders, and chief priests and scribes, and to be put to 57 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,600 death and stir. And to be raised up on the third 58 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,100 day. So to suffer grievously, Jesus 59 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:33,400 starts to tell them about the rejection that he's going to 60 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,100 face. And he's going to be rejected by 61 00:03:36,100 --> 00:03:38,300 the elders and the chief priests and the scribes. 62 00:03:38,300 --> 00:03:40,200 So that's the Jewish leaders at the time. 63 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,500 In that culture, who should have accepted Jesus, as Messiah as 64 00:03:43,500 --> 00:03:46,000 the Messiah, they're the ones that are going to reject him. 65 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,300 To be put to death and to be raised up on the third day, 66 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,800 since I think about it. This is all a very specific 67 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,200 prophecy. Jesus is telling them some quite 68 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,100 specific things that are going to happen to him. 69 00:03:58,900 --> 00:04:02,200 Now, to be raised up on the third day, that is very, you 70 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,000 know, Jesus could have been raised up on seven days 71 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:06,800 afterwards or even just one day afterwards. 72 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,400 So, why does Jesus? You could say, Jesus, picks 73 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:12,500 three days, why does he choose to stay in there for three days, 74 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,800 there's probably a few reasons, one of them, I think Taps into 75 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:22,000 Hosea, 6122. And if we think about 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,100 recapitulation. And so, one of the things Jesus 77 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:27,100 does in his ministry, is he recapitulates the story of 78 00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:29,700 Israel. So things that happen to Israel 79 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,200 are things that happened to Jesus. 80 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,300 So they were tempted in the wilderness. 81 00:04:33,300 --> 00:04:35,100 Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. 82 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,700 They spent time in Egypt and Jesus spent time in Egypt and 83 00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:41,900 that comes out really clearly in the Book of Matthew in 84 00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:44,300 particular. And here's another place where I 85 00:04:44,300 --> 00:04:49,000 think it might be happening. So Hosea, 6122 says he will he 86 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,500 will revise revive us after two days on the third day he will 87 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:55,600 raise us up to live in his presence. 88 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,800 So in the context of Hosea that talks about God raising up 89 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,400 Israel after suffering, So, Jesus appears to apply this 90 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:06,800 specific Hosea prophecy to himself. 91 00:05:08,300 --> 00:05:11,100 And he's basically saying the whole Destiny of Israel is going 92 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:13,500 to soon. Be summed up in himself, he's 93 00:05:13,500 --> 00:05:16,700 going to suffer just as Israel suffered but then be raised up 94 00:05:16,700 --> 00:05:19,900 on the third day. So in the case of Israel, it was 95 00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:23,100 a metaphor as in, in three days, God will raise you up. 96 00:05:23,100 --> 00:05:26,400 That's kind of a metaphorical thing, but Jesus is going to 97 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,900 take that and it appears is going to fill that fulfill that 98 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:32,300 quite literally, it's quite an interesting thing, isn't it? 99 00:05:32,308 --> 00:05:36,100 If you haven't heard that Hosea prophecy, it does seem like this 100 00:05:36,100 --> 00:05:42,900 is a case of Jesus fulfilling. A very obscure Prophecy from the 101 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:44,500 Old Testament. That not a lot of people know 102 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:47,600 about. So that's one reason why Jesus 103 00:05:48,100 --> 00:05:51,000 must be in the grave, for three days. 104 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,600 So, it's interesting, Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen 105 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,100 to him. He knew how the timeline was 106 00:05:56,100 --> 00:06:00,100 going to go and he hopes that his disciples would recall these 107 00:06:00,100 --> 00:06:03,400 prophecies when they happened, but unfortunately, they didn't, 108 00:06:03,500 --> 00:06:06,500 but the angels in the Tomb did recall this. 109 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:10,800 So if you go to Luke, Even the angels recall, this specific 110 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,400 prophecy that we're hearing now, verse 23 and our ships, then to 111 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,000 all he said. So now what he's about to say is 112 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,200 a message for the crowds and is going to speak quite plainly. 113 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,400 Not in Parables like he usually does. 114 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,000 He says, if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, so in that 115 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:29,800 culture was common for people to follow. 116 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,100 Rabbis, they'll be rabbis traveling around if there's if 117 00:06:33,100 --> 00:06:36,000 one of the Jews liked what they heard from a rabbi, they could 118 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,900 choose to follow that. Rabbi So Jesus says, if anyone 119 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:43,200 wants to be a follower of mine, now notice that even the 120 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,300 language there if anyone wants to be a follower of mine and 121 00:06:46,300 --> 00:06:48,100 then he goes on to say what they have to do. 122 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,400 So notice that implies a choice. Jesus says if you want to be a 123 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:55,700 follower of mine then you have to choose to do it, you have to 124 00:06:55,700 --> 00:06:58,300 do a certain thing, it's not an automatic thing. 125 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,700 Jesus tells them what the conditions are. 126 00:07:01,700 --> 00:07:06,100 Let him renounce himself. So renounce is a legal term, 127 00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:09,800 which signifies complete disarmament Jesus. 128 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,100 He doesn't mean just letting go of selfishness and attachment 129 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:18,100 but it appears to mean a radical abandonment to Jesus, even being 130 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:21,200 willing to give up, one's life to give up his life. 131 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,500 Jesus says, let him renounce himself, take up his cross. 132 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,200 So the Jews would have been quite familiar with this idea of 133 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,400 taking up their cross. Because every day, they would 134 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,200 see the Romans crucifying the Jews that was quite common. 135 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:35,500 And to the do taking up your cross. 136 00:07:35,500 --> 00:07:39,700 Meant making sacrifices and bearing, heavy burdens now, 137 00:07:39,700 --> 00:07:42,800 interestingly, Simon of Cyrene would literally do this later. 138 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,600 He would take up a cross and follow Jesus, so that's in 139 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:52,100 23:26. And then look at the phrase here 140 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,700 that the other gospel writers don't have to take up his cross 141 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:01,000 every day so that emphasizes the importance of renewing, the 142 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,500 commitment to follow Jesus every single day. 143 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:06,900 Even in small matters complete abandonment to God every single 144 00:08:06,900 --> 00:08:09,400 day. So probably when Jesus spoke 145 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,200 this originally he did say take up his cross every day. 146 00:08:12,500 --> 00:08:15,500 It's just that Matthew and Mark felt that it wasn't necessary to 147 00:08:15,500 --> 00:08:18,000 include that phrase but Luke kept it in there. 148 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,500 Jesus says, and follow me. So he says his followers must be 149 00:08:24,500 --> 00:08:27,100 willing to experience suffering just as he experiences 150 00:08:27,100 --> 00:08:30,300 suffering, his just told them about how the son of man has to 151 00:08:30,300 --> 00:08:32,700 suffer. And now the whole point is 152 00:08:32,700 --> 00:08:35,200 making his, if you want to be a disciple. 153 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,500 You also must suffer Justin similar to the way that he just 154 00:08:38,500 --> 00:08:41,700 described. So Jesus is communicating to his 155 00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:44,300 disciples, the radical demands of discipleship. 156 00:08:44,300 --> 00:08:49,200 He wants them to know that it's not going to be easy, verse 35. 157 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:53,400 Jesus goes on, Anyone who wants to save his life, will lose it. 158 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,100 So the word life there can be interpreted different ways 159 00:08:57,100 --> 00:09:01,300 because it is psyche in Greek and that can mean Soul. 160 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,700 So, Jesus here could be two saying, two different things. 161 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,000 He could be a warning against denying Jesus at the point of 162 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,100 death. So he says, one must literally 163 00:09:10,100 --> 00:09:12,900 be willing to give up their life and become a martyr. 164 00:09:12,900 --> 00:09:16,000 That could be what he means or he could be warning against 165 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,500 worldliness and self-protection he's saying, you need to give up 166 00:09:19,500 --> 00:09:22,300 your attack. Attachments in your life, and if 167 00:09:22,300 --> 00:09:24,300 you don't, that's going to lead to Eternal death. 168 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,900 But on the other hand, anyone who loses his life, for my sake, 169 00:09:30,300 --> 00:09:33,500 and the other gospels adhere and for the sake of the Gospel. 170 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,000 So again, this refers to either being martyred, so choosing to 171 00:09:38,008 --> 00:09:41,000 be martyred or choosing to give up, one's life and possessions. 172 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,000 And in fact, later in Luke, we'll hear from some teachings 173 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,300 of Jesus where he talks about the importance of giving up, 174 00:09:47,300 --> 00:09:52,300 possessions Anyone who loses his life, for my sake. 175 00:09:52,300 --> 00:09:55,800 So, Jesus is basically saying the only way to truly, preserve 176 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,000 your life. Is by giving up your life. 177 00:09:59,300 --> 00:10:02,100 It's kind of a bit of a paradox, but that's what he's saying, you 178 00:10:02,100 --> 00:10:04,800 need to give yourself away to Jesus. 179 00:10:06,300 --> 00:10:08,500 So some Scholars have pointed out, that what Jesus is 180 00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:12,000 requiring here is more radical even than a military General. 181 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,200 So a military General would say, you need to commit yourself 182 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,200 fully to the cause, but Jesus is basically saying you need to be 183 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,200 fully committed to me as a person. 184 00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:25,100 So Jesus says, anyone who loses his life, for my sake. 185 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:28,600 So again that refers either to martyrdom or giving up material 186 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,300 possessions, and attachments, that man will save it and Jesus 187 00:10:32,300 --> 00:10:34,600 here means will inherit eternal life. 188 00:10:36,700 --> 00:10:39,400 For the last verse here. Jesus uses some language that's 189 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:41,900 drawn from Commerce. So you'll hear words like profit 190 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:46,000 and gain and forfeit. So Jesus says what gain then is 191 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,700 it for a man to have won the whole world and to a lost or 192 00:10:49,700 --> 00:10:52,400 forfeited? His very self. 193 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,900 So that's a rhetorical question. And the answer to that question 194 00:10:55,900 --> 00:10:59,700 is none, there is no gain to have won the whole world were to 195 00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:02,700 Lose Yourself. So Jesus, he wants to get the 196 00:11:02,708 --> 00:11:06,600 crowds to focus on Eternal things rather than Earthly. the 197 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,800 things he's saying that if you want to be my disciple, You 198 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,200 cannot be attached to Earthly things. 199 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,200 You need to be a focused on Eternal things. 200 00:11:14,900 --> 00:11:17,900 He wants them to recognize that our life and particularly our 201 00:11:17,900 --> 00:11:21,300 eternal life, and our soul is more important than anything 202 00:11:21,300 --> 00:11:23,900 else. That's not to say other things 203 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:26,700 in life aren't good. So, there are lesser Goods in 204 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:30,000 life, but Jesus is saying that they should never take 205 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,600 precedence over your soul, the greatest good in life is to be 206 00:11:33,700 --> 00:11:37,500 United to God, and he says, you should never fall for that in 207 00:11:37,500 --> 00:11:41,900 exchange for a lesser good. And as Jesus says in a couple of 208 00:11:41,908 --> 00:11:46,500 chapters in verse in chapter 12, he says life does not consist of 209 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:49,400 possessions. So that's a consistent teaching 210 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:54,200 of Jesus in The Gospel of Luke So, an interesting passage where 211 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,700 does this appear in the catechism while because of that 212 00:11:56,700 --> 00:12:00,300 little phrase that Luke adds take up his cross every day, 213 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,600 that gets a mention in the catechism in paragraph 14. 35. 214 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,100 And that's in the section about the many forms of penance. 215 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,300 Here's what it says conversion is accomplished in Daily Life, 216 00:12:12,300 --> 00:12:16,200 by gestures of reconciliation concern for the poor, the 217 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:20,100 exercise in defense of justice and right by the admission of 218 00:12:20,100 --> 00:12:24,000 faults to no one's brethren Sorry to one's Brethren, 219 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,000 fraternal, correction revision of Life, examination, of 220 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,500 conscience, spiritual Direction, acceptance of suffering, 221 00:12:31,900 --> 00:12:34,900 endurance of persecution, for the sake of righteousness, 222 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,700 taking up, one's cross each day. And following Jesus is the 223 00:12:39,700 --> 00:12:45,200 surest way of pennants. So that's a really clear 224 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,200 teaching from the Catholic Church on how can we go about 225 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,200 doing Penance and making up for the sins that we've committed in 226 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:53,600 our life? So it lists a whole lot of 227 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,500 things reconciliation concern, for the poor admission of fault. 228 00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:00,000 Someone's Brethren fraternal, correction Etc. 229 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:04,600 But he says, the catechism says, the surest way to doing Penance 230 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:08,800 is by taking up, one's cross each day and following Jesus as 231 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,000 he commands us here in Luke chapter 9. 232 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:14,700 That's the end of today's podcast. 233 00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:17,000 I hope you learned something new and we'll see you again 234 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:17,500 tomorrow.