Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Two by Two

"Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit." Lk 10:1

The gospel, while liberating and energizing, is also intimidating and difficult. It should not surprise us that Jesus sends his disciples in pairs to prepare the ground for his ministry. They are to go before him, announce his coming and bear witness to his power. Jewish law demanded there be two witnesses to prevent errors and confusion. Two people speaking the same truth could be believed, and Jesus wanted to insist that he was faithful to the Torah and the fulfillment of it.

Whenever we are challenged to do something new, to change how we think and behave, we resist. We say something like: Why change when something works? Why fix what isn't broken? Denial can be a powerful defense. When we don't want to face the broken parts of our own lives or the structure of the church, we deny it, assure everyone that we can adjust or tweak it while continuing to function of three cylinders.

When Jesus saw this in the Jewish community of his day, he invited them to reinterpret the Torah. He was a Jew after all, and came to fulfill the freedom God had granted to his people when he liberated them from slavery in Egypt, but when the Jews resisted, Jesus did what he later told his disciples to do. He wiped the dust from his feet, brought his message to the whole known world, and made us the beneficiaries of God's benevolence.

Today, face what is broken in your life and ask God for help.

What most needs attention in your life?

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