Matt 8 , Mark 2-4, Luke 7 - Come Follow Me with Sam

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The Forgotten Centurion

In the contemporary western sphere, our power structures are much less rigid than in Roman times. The romans were in a sense a civilization of order incarnate. They aren't known for world bending inventions or philosophies (although they did have inventions and they did build philosophy), but their ability to standardize, expand, and apply their order to the world was what set them apart. Where kings and princes either burned their way through or else trusted to the sole ability of leaders, the romans systematized. In their armies, they believed that the training and flexibility of the division would overcome the failings of a given leader, in their economic system, they connect roads, cities, and ports, and regulated trade throughout the mediterranean. In their political hierarchy, they locked in a tax base rather than building a slave empire (not saying there weren't slaves, just saying that they were more focused on ruling people than mastering them).

When the roman world fell, order fell with it, and the mediavel and Mediterranean world became a bunch of squabbling fiefdoms built on the back of the the roman system.

In my Mind, when the Centurion comes to Jesus, he is representative of this man of order, and this view of the world. He is order incarnate in the material, temporal world. From whatever experience he recognizes that Christ is order incarnate in the spiritual and physical/elemental sphere. Thus he says, in essence 'in my stewardship, I command, and am obeyed. Your stewardship is over the earth and all things therein and creation itself. You command, and I know in these things you will be obeyed.'

Some cryptic verses

These verses seem strange but have great meaning for me now

19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will ^afollow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, ^asuffer me first to go and bury my father.

22 But Jesus said unto him, ^aFollow me; and let the ^bdead bury their dead.

To me, Jesus is trying to clue them in on what this is going to take. If you want to follow Christ, its going to take everything. To the first, Christ is saying, 'You do realize that this isn't a frat club, its you giving up everything and becoming a wanderer?' To the second, Christ is saying, 'There is nothing cultural that is more important than the work, nothing that even comes in comparison.'

my best interpretation anyway. Feel free to comment below

This is very similar to Luke 7 verses

25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously ^aapparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.

26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.

Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath?

When Christ heals the man's hand on the sabbath, he has to speak to the church leaders and pharisees and remind them if it is lawful to do good on the sabbath, essentially reminding them that forbidding the works of God on the Lord's day is not a place they want to work themselves into. Today on the sabbath question itself, I see much more openness to disrespect the sabbath rather than super-spect the sabbath, but in other areas of our lives, we could do better at doing the Lord's work rather than simple Christian motion.

No comment necessary - if you get it, you get it

33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

35 For whosoever shall do the ^awill of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Time to offend some people

And whatever you do, don't be too judgemental on what I am about to say. Remember there are levels upon levels of Christ's teaching, and we aren't here to necessarily box people in, but to learn from what we see (and what we see is what we are ;)

Okay, so most of us, when we think of the parable of the sower, compare that to missionary work and accepting the gospel, and that is fine and true and good.

The parable also applies to us in the gospel, where ever we are at.

First type of ground is too hard, and the birds come and snatch it. These are they who have hard hearts, and make place for a portion of the word, as Alma said, but do not nourish or water it. They are satisfied with what they have and need no more. Thus they perform the cultural motions without ever tasting the true fruit of the gospel, or else they find their niche in the church but never learn more about the actual gospel. This is like him to whom Christ responded 'Let the dead bury the dead'.

Second type of ground is too stony, there is no depth. These are good people who feel the light of the gospel and have potential but they never seek deeper, not because of hardness, but because of laziness, or ignorance, or whatever. When they are challenged on gospel facts, or have difficulties come, they have only been playing on the surface anyway so they don't stand much chance against the storm.

Third type of ground is filled with weeds and thorns. The church becomes for them a bit of window dressing in their lives as they fill it with objects, or with travel, or with their investment portfolio, or with other vices. They too aren't really here. They are doing whatever their heart is on, and church is just another hobby in their social colorwheel.

Fourth type of ground is good ground where the seed has water and strength, is nourished, takes hold, sinks roots deep, and turns all its leaves to the sun. Some produce thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, some 100-fold.

So after avoiding the vices, the big question is -how do I get to that 100-fold number? How do I be that person that Christ can count on as the salt of the earth, of the fullest of savor?

quidquid latet adparebit, nul inultam remanebit.

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