Maybe that is where the saying “there but for the Grace of God goes I” came from?
Jesus: “…Galileans were worse sinners because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner.”
Jesus: “…Eighteen upon who the tower of Siloe fell and killed them; do you think that they were more guilty than all the other dwellers in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner.”
Bad things happen to good people… and good things happen to bad people!
Go figure, try to comprehend, but Jesus’ message is clear: repent of your sins now!
Although it seems like a weighty thing to do, in reality, as like a lot of experiences in the Spiritual World, it is a freeing thing to do and leads to a renewing of one’s spirit, one’s mind and eventually one’s body!
“I too, like someone seen to have suffered misfortune, might have suffered a similar fate, but for God’s mercy.”—is the meaning per Phrases.org.UK of the saying “there but for the Grace of God goes I.” Bet there is the deeper meaning of repentance to stay spiritually fit in life.
No need for repentance because evil is not real? Evil is real, Satan binds us for whatever reason.
A woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over and utterly unable to look upwards. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her: “Woman, thou are delivered from thy infirmity.” And he laid his hands upon her, and instantly she was made straight, and glorified God.
Rulers of the synagogue: “There are six days in which one ought to work; on these therefore come and be cured, and not on the Sabbath.”
Jesus: “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or ass from the manger, and lead it forth to water? And this woman, daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound, lo, for eighteen years, ought she to be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame; and the entire crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done to him.
And Jesus and our faith in things outside our own self frees us!
For Jesus said “for everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Jesus also said “if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And he who does not carry his cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple.”
Old Testament God or New Testament Jesus?
At first I was going to label it Old Testament thinking but then realized that this is Jesus speaking in the New Testament.
How can I hate everyone in my family so that I can be a disciple of Jesus?
And furthermore, if all members of my family want to be disciples of Jesus, then isn’t everyone hating everyone else? Who would be the peacemakers?
Jesus also said “so, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses, cannot be my disciple.” This I get, possessions, material things, especially in excess, have distracted me from the Lord from time to time in my life.
Maybe this is just a reminder that we must love our God first and all other things, including family harmony will follow that love of God. With Jesus in my heart I find it difficult to hate anyone, including myself, for more than a momentary and fleeting feeling of hate. Followed by anger which I let go and let God handle in my God Box.
Finally the upshot is that I am not God and can’t think like God. I repent! I have surrendered to His Will and do not have to understand everything. As long and Jesus is in my heart and I lead with that loving heart, all the rest will take care of itself.
If I can be the Splendid Spiritual Self, inspired by Jesus, that God wants me to be then the Ultimate Love of peace, joy and freedom will be present in me and in my life.
God’s TROML Baby am I!
Day 70: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Jesus tells You that unless you Repent, You will Perish in the Same Manner…
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 13-14.
Bible Notes:
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.
In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.
Luke Chapter 13: The necessity of repentance; A barren fig tree; A stooped woman cured on the Sabbath; The rulers of the synagogue are indignant; The mustard seed; The leaven; The narrow gate; Jesus and Herod; Lamentation over Jerusalem.
Jesus: “…Galileans were worse sinners because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner.”
Jesus: “…Eighteen upon who the tower of Siloe fell and killed them; do you think that they were more guilty than all the other dwellers in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner.”
Per Phrases.org.UK:
The meaning: I too, like someone seen to have suffered misfortune, might have suffered a similar fate, but for God’s mercy.
In recent times, this proverbial saying is often used without the literal belief in the Christian God’s control of all things and is used by believers and nonbelievers alike. It is frequently suggested to have been coined in a more pious and devout era. The story that is widely circulated is that the phrase was first spoken by the English evangelical preacher and martyr, John Bradford (circa 1510–1555). He is said to have uttered the variant of the expression – “There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford”, when seeing criminals being led to the scaffold. He didn’t enjoy that grace for long, however. He was burned at the stake in 1555, although, by all accounts he remained sanguine about his fate and is said to have suggested to a fellow victim that “We shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night”. End of Phrases.org.UK reference.
A barren fig tree.
A certain man, who had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, to the vine-dresser: ‘Behold for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down, therefore: why does it still encumber the ground?’
Vine-dresser: ‘Sir, let it alone this year too, till I dig around it and manure it. Perhaps it may bear fruit; but if not, then afterwards thou shalt cut it down.’
A woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over and utterly unable to look upwards. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her: “Woman, thou are delivered from thy infirmity.” And he laid his hands upon her, and instantly she was made straight, and glorified God.
Rulers of the synagogue: “There are six days in which one ought to work; on these therefore come and be cured, and not on the Sabbath.”
Jesus: “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or ass from the manger, and lead it forth to water? And this woman, daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound, lo, for eighteen years, ought she to be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame; and the entire crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done to him.
Jesus: “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his own garden; and it grew and became a larger tree, and the birds of the air dwelt in its branches.”
Jesus: “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and buried in three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”
Jesus: “Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able to… ‘Lord open for us!’… I do not know where you are from… I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity… but for yourselves cast forth outside… And behold, there are those last who will be first, and there are those first who will be last.”
Pharisees to Jesus” “Depart and be on thy way, for Herod wants to kill thee.”
Jesus: “Nevertheless, I must go my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou who killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to thee!… And I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you shall say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Luke Chapter 14: A man with dropsy cured on the Sabbath; Taking the first place at table; Poor guests; Parable of a great supper; The guests refuse to come; Other guests are invited; Leaving all to follow Christ; The man who built a tower; The king who went to war; Salt that has lost its strength.
Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees: “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?”
But they remained silent. And he took and healed him (certain man who had the dropsy) and let him go.
Jesus addressing the lawyers and Pharisees: “Which one of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him up on the Sabbath?”
And they could give him no answer to these things.
Jesus: “When thou art invited to a wedding feast, do not recline in the first place… lest perhaps one more distinguished than thou have been invited…’Make room for this man’; and then thou begin with shame to take the last place… but when thou are invited. Go and recline in the last place; that when he who invited thee comes in, he may say to thee, ‘Friend go higher!’ Then thou will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with thee. For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Jesus: “But when thou givest a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; and blessed shalt thou be, because they have nothing to repay thee with; for thou shalt be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
One of those at the table with Jesus: “Blessed is he who shall feast in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And he who does not carry his cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus: “So, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses, cannot be my disciple.
Jesus: “Salt is good; but if even the salt loses its strength, what shall it be seasoned with? It is fit neither for the land nor for the manure heap, but must be thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
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