[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, July 13, 2025, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
[00:00:23] This week's episode is entitled: Who Are Our Neighbors? And in these readings, we will expand our understanding of who exactly should be considered our neighbor. As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
In a society that has become divided along political and social ideologies, we often distance ourselves, albeit unintentionally, from what Jesus teaches in the Gospel… consider this week's Scripture a refresher course on living and loving as good neighbors.
[00:00:55] I have one other thing I would like to say before we pray together. I'm very excited to celebrate a milestone this week. I began this podcast a year ago explaining the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Cycle B, which featured the Gospel of Mark. Today we begin Season Two observing the same occasion in Cycle C, featuring the Gospel of Luke. Thank you for journeying with me for this past year, and I hope that you have gained as much from listening as I have from researching, preparing, and presenting these episodes for you.
[00:01:31] So let's begin.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of your Son, for how he teaches us to live, and for how he teaches us to love. Help us to be as generous in extending our love to others as you are in extending your love to us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:59] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Our Gospel this week is from Luke 10: 25-37.
[00:02:10] “[B]ehold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your might, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this, and you will live.’ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.” Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed mercy on him.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
[00:03:58] This passage follows closely after last week's passage - what we missed, when the Lectionary omitted verses 21-24, was Jesus' prayer to the Father. We know that Jesus spends a great deal of time in prayer to the Father, Luke is very clear about that. In the prayer we miss, Jesus thanks the Father for hiding knowledge from the wise and the learned, but revealing that same knowledge to little ones. I include that detail here because it sheds light on today's passage. The lawyer who questions Jesus would have been considered wise and learned among his peers, while Jesus’ disciples would have been the little ones to whom his teachings are then revealed.
[00:04:50] Remember, we are in the part of Luke's Gospel called the Travel Narrative and by that Luke means that Jesus is on his final journey to Jerusalem and to his own Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
[00:05:05] That is the entire framework upon which the remainder of Luke's Gospel is presented. Every place Jesus travels, every person he encounters, everything he says now plays a part in preparing his disciples for the events that will take place in Jerusalem. So, with that in mind, let's listen to what Jesus has to say…
“[B]ehold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the test,”
[00:05:36] Now, a lawyer could have held many positions in Jewish society at the time… he may have been a scribe, he might have been a Pharisee, and he was definitely a scholar of the Mosaic Law.
[00:05:52] And when Luke tells us that this lawyer put Jesus to the test, he can mean either that he's actively challenging Jesus, or he just simply wants to engage Jesus in a debate. And what does the lawyer say?
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
[00:06:12] Notice how he addresses Jesus - as teacher. The lawyer is showing Jesus the proper respect of one who possesses knowledge of the law.
[00:06:22] And the question he poses is the opening salvo in their debate. This is a particularly poignant question since Jesus, as I mentioned, is on the way to his own Death, but it was also a commonly debated topic at the time.
[00:06:41] “[Jesus] said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’”
[00:06:47] So Jesus' initial response indicates that he is aware of the lawyer's expertise and is basically saying - you've studied the Law… how do you interpret it? Now, we know from reading and studying Scripture ourselves that when Jesus responds to a question with a question of his own, he is inviting that person to go deeper… to look beyond simple explanations and search for more profound truth. The lawyer, however, doesn't know that, even though we do.
“And the lawyer answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’”
[00:07:34] That seems like a simple and straightforward answer, but it's much more complex than it first appears.
[00:07:42] The lawyer has presented Jesus with a summary of two commands from the Mosaic Law. The first part of the response (dealing with love of God) comes from Deuteronomy 6, but that's actually part of a larger passage called the Shema Israel, which is Deuteronomy 6: 4-9.
[00:08:04] And that is the centerpiece of Jewish morning and evening prayer. Now, this can all be a bit confusing, so bear with me. In the original passage from Deuteronomy, we read that love for God should come from our heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy says might rather than strength) but here the lawyer adds to that mind as well. Probably because the Septuagint, a very early Greek translation of the Jewish Bible dating between the third to the first century BC, translates the word heart as mind.
[00:08:48] And remember, in biblical times, the heart was seen as the seat of wisdom and understanding. So, what the lawyer is attempting to do here is present an all-encompassing response to Jesus’ question. He is doing his best to dazzle Jesus with his knowledge. Now, the second part of his response, dealing with love of neighbor, comes from Leviticus 19.
[00:09:10] The scholar links those two commands together because, although they are found in different books, they both begin with the words “you shall love.”
[00:09:21] So that explains where the lawyer's answer to Jesus originated.
“And [Jesus] said to him, ‘You have answered right; do this, and you will live.’”
[00:09:35] So Jesus, by those words, recognizes that the scholar's answer is thorough and knowledgeable… but more than knowledge is required.
[00:09:46] Yes, the scholar gave the correct answer, but knowing the right answer and doing the right thing are two different matters entirely. And we have to think back to the original question the lawyer asked: “what shall I DO to inherit eternal life?”
[00:10:08] So, Jesus has returned the all-encompassing analysis that the lawyer presented him with an all-encompassing response.
“But [the lawyer], desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”
[00:10:28] This is where things get tricky! Luke tells us the lawyer wants to “justify” himself… that should be a red flag. What that means is the lawyer wants to limit the law's impact, that he actually wants to lessen his own liability in any situation.
[00:10:50] And anytime we - as mere humans - try to put limits on God's commands, we are asking for trouble.
[00:11:00] Then the lawyer poses another question, and we have to decide if he's really seeking clarification or is this just another attempt to reduce his own personal liability? His question, of course, is, who is my neighbor?
[00:11:17] Now, at the time of Jesus, a person's neighbor would have been pretty narrowly defined as a member of one's own race or group but… the lawyer quoted Leviticus 19:18. Jesus turns to Leviticus 19: 34, which says: “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as a native among you.” In other words, if you're going to live by God's law, stop putting limits on it. God himself told you that.
[00:11:53] So not only is Jesus’ answer not what the lawyer expected, but Jesus then goes even further by using a parable to illustrate his point.
[00:12:05] This is possibly one of the most famous parables of all of Jesus’ teachings, and it is found only in Luke. He begins…
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,”
[00:12:19] Now, that's about a 17-mile journey, which would have been a significant distance at the time, nearly an entire day's travel if a person were walking.
[00:12:34] Jericho is actually northeast of Jerusalem, but it is at a much lower elevation, which is why Jesus says the traveler was going down from Jerusalem.
“and he fell among robbers,”
[00:12:49] That was by no means unheard of… the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was treacherous and steep, there were blind turns and narrow passages where thieves could hide. In fact, at the time of Jesus, it was often referred to as the Bloody Way or the Bloody Road because it was so inherently dangerous.
[00:13:13] “[robbers] stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”
So, Jesus is telling the lawyer… this traveler, this man, fell prey to the very real risks of a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho - but the real question is… what now?
“[B]y chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.”
[00:13:40] When we hear the words “going down that road,” they tell us that the priest was leaving Jerusalem. Priests were assigned to serve specific terms in the Temple and their job was to offer sacrifice. Leviticus 21 and Numbers 5 are both very specific that priests of the Temple avoid ritual impurity… and contact with the dead body would have made the priest ritually impure. The problem with that is the priest didn't know for certain that the man was dead. But clearly that was his assumption.
[00:14:17] Jesus, you will note, offers no particular excuses for or condemnation of the priest's behavior - it was simply accepted.
[00:14:28] “So likewise the Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”
Again, the real issue is the ritual impurity that would have come about from contact with a dead body.
[00:14:43] The Levite would have also worked at the temple in Jerusalem, maintaining order and services in the temple. We are told that the priest was leaving Jerusalem… we aren't told which direction the Levite was traveling - whether it was to or from Jerusalem. But again, the direction of travel is not what's important. The issue of ritual impurity is what is important.
[00:15:09] Jesus used those two men as examples for the type of behavior that should have been an example for others. And the avoidance of ritual impurity was well accepted in Jewish culture. I'm sure that Jesus Jewish audience found absolutely no fault with their behavior, even though we, with our modern ears tend to judge them pretty harshly.
[00:15:40] Jesus goes on…
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where [the man] was;”
[00:15:47] In any other story, the next traveler along that road would most likely have been a common Israelite… Jesus instead offers a surprise twist. And FINALLY - his listeners must have been thinking - here at last is the real villain in this story!
[00:16:06] We simply cannot understand how scandalous a Samaritan hero would have been to a Jewish audience.
[00:16:18] Jews did not associate with Samaritans, Jews and Samaritans were actually hostile towards each other, and Samaritans were viewed by Jews as foolish at best and traitors at worst.
[00:16:34] “and when [the Samaritan] saw him, he had compassion,”
[00:16:38] At this point, Jesus' audience would have been stunned! Prior to this parable, the only other occurrence of the word compassion in Luke's gospel is Luke 7, when Jesus “had compassion” on the widow of Nain and raised her son from the dead. The model of behavior that Jesus attributes to this Samaritan has thus far only been shown by Jesus himself.
[00:17:11] That is the reason why the early Church Fathers (particularly Augustine and Origen) identified Jesus as the Good Samaritan. And not only did they see Jesus as the Good Samaritan, but they saw the Church as the inn, the place where the wounded man was sheltered.
[the Samaritan] went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”
[00:17:44] We do not think biblically, especially not Old Testament biblically, but Jesus’ audience did, and they would have understood that reference immediately. They would have realized right away that he was referring to 2 Chronicles 28, where Samaritans helped 200,000 captives from Judah in much the same way… they clothed them, fed them, anointed them, and then transported them on their own donkeys to Jericho! Which, by the way, is most likely where the Samaritan was headed and where the inn was located. There wouldn't have been any other inns along the Jericho Road… it was too dangerous. So, the city of Jericho is probably where the Samaritan took the wounded man.
[00:18:40] “And the next day [the Samaritan] took out two denarii”
[00:18:44] Again, we aren't steeped in the knowledge of the culture of the time - we have no idea how much money that is, but it was actually quite a significant amount! A denarius was a Roman silver coin in use from about 270 BC until around 240 AD and, at the time of Jesus, it represented an entire day's wages. So, two denarii meant two days wages.
[00:19:14] “and [the Samaritan] gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”
Not only does the Samaritan use his own resources to aid the injured man, but he also enlists the help of the innkeeper, assuming that the innkeeper will continue to care for the injured man after the Samaritan leaves and pays him to do so. Remember I said that the early Church fathers saw the inn as the Church? Well, that's why - the Church provides help and healing to those in need, just as the inn became a place of help and healing for the injured man. We, as members of the Church, donate our money to the Church so that she can continue her work in the world. And that's what the Samaritan did… he made a donation to the innkeeper so that the innkeeper would care for this wounded man - just as we give of our wealth, our treasure, to help the Church achieve her mission in the world today.
[00:20:23] Next, we get to the heart of Jesus’ parable, when he asks the question…
“Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
Jesus, with those words, invites the lawyer - this scholar of the law - to interpret the parable himself.
“[The lawyer] said, ‘The one who showed mercy on him.’”
Notice, though, the lawyer cannot bring himself to say that his enemy - the Samaritan - did well. He says: “the one” not the Samaritan… the one.
[00:21:02] “And Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
With those words, Jesus drops any pretense that this has been solely about familiarity with or knowledge of the Mosaic Law. His command to this lawyer is simple and direct: “Go and do likewise.” Which actually echoes, if you think back, to what he said to the lawyer before he even began the parable.
[00:21:31] It was not enough for the lawyer to just know the right answer, he had to do the right thing. Jesus issues that same challenge to us today! The behavior of the Samaritan… the kindness, the aid, the compassion shown for the injured man… may have been based upon knowledge of the Old Covenant, which we can see in the references to Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and 2 Chronicles, but that's only the beginning.
[00:22:08] In this parable, Jesus teaches the lawyer, and by extension us, that love of God MUST - in no uncertain terms - MUST be accompanied by love of neighbor. The two are inseparable, they cannot be limited, and words alone are not sufficient; words must find their fulfillment in action.
[00:22:38] And in the midst of all of this, Jesus redefines the concept of neighbor… a neighbor can no longer be narrowly defined. A neighbor is not just someone who looks like we do, who lives where we live, or who thinks like we do. No, no, no!
[00:23:04] What Jesus is saying is that if someone who is perceived to be an enemy, as the Samaritan was in this passage, if an enemy can be a neighbor, then everyone is our neighbor!
[00:23:20] Meaning that the downtrodden, the immigrant, the homeless, they are all our neighbors! People whom we may disagree with on a religious basis, they are our neighbor!
[00:23:37] Meaning that when our political and social ideologies differ from the message Jesus has for us, then we must be willing to discard them and realign our own thinking because we have been led down the wrong path.
[00:23:59] That is a big ask in our divided society… so, are we up for it?
[00:24:06] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Deuteronomy 30: 10-14.
[00:24:12] “[Moses said to the people:] ‘[I]f only you would obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.’”
[00:25:04] The name Deuteronomy - the name of this book - is often taken to mean second law, and that is not really accurate. This book does not contain a second entire set of Mosaic laws. Rather, it is a repetition or restating of the law of Moses.
[00:25:25] In Jewish tradition, Deuteronomy is sometimes called the Book of Words, which is quite appropriate because it is essentially one long sermon given by Moses to the Chosen People before they enter the Promised Land.
[00:25:42] It is divided into four speeches or addresses, and the passage we hear today is part of Moses Third Address.
[00:25:53] So, let's listen to what he has to say…
[00:25:56] “[Moses said to the people:] ‘[I]f only you would obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law,’”
[00:26:08] God's Covenant with his Chosen People is a mutual expression of love and fidelity.
[00:26:18] God promised to be faithful to his people and to love his people and the Chosen People promised to faithfully observe God's law and to love God above all things.
[00:26:31] When Moses says the commandments and statutes are “written in this book” he is referring to a scroll on which the Mosaic Law had been written and which was stored next to the Ark of the Covenant in the Tent of Meeting. Moses goes on…
“if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
[00:26:57] So, what Moses is focusing on here is the importance of being obedient to God's law… that's what the Chosen People promised. They don't always live up to that promise… neither do we. In the verses that immediately precede this passage, God promises life and prosperity to the Chosen People in return for their obedience to his law, to the Covenant.
[00:27:25] “For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’”
Moses is reminding the Chosen People that God himself revealed his law to his people… through him - through Moses - on Mount Sinai. They did not have to go searching for it, they did not have to travel to some unreachable destination, nor undergo any great danger… the law was freely given to them. They did undergo a lot of hardships… those were largely their own fault.
[00:28:21] But God freely revealed his law to the people - gave it to them as a gift. And he's not trying to trick them.
[00:28:34] God told them what they should do and how they should ask. All he asks in return is that they do their part and remain faithful to the Covenant.
[00:28:47] Moses also dismisses the notion that the Chosen People cannot understand the law God has set before them… it is not above the heavens or across the sea, it is neither unintelligible nor out of their reach. In fact…
“[T]he word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”
[00:29:11] Meaning that not only is the law nearby through constant teaching and repetition, but it has actually become a part of the Chosen People… it shapes their speech, their thoughts, their reasoning, their emotions… it is part of their lived experience; it defines who and what they are, it defines their place in the world. God has prepared them to be obedient; therefore, Moses says, there is no excuse for disobedience.
[00:29:55] We, as Christians should hear - really hear - the same message! We have been given the gift of sacred Scripture, the Gospels are available to us to read, study, and hear as often as we like… we recite prayers to God, we sing songs and hymns that praise God, our hearts are filled with God's goodness, everything that God wants to give us is near to us… very near…. all we have to do is listen to and follow the teachings of Sacred Scripture, the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels.
[00:30:43] When we find that social or political pressures have caused our behavior to deviate from what Jesus teaches us, then it's up to us to realign our thinking and rededicate ourselves to living and loving as good neighbors.
[00:31:09] That brings us to our Responsorial Psalm, and for this week we have a choice between Psalm 69 and Psalm 19.
[00:31:17] My home parish will use Psalm 19, but I will go through both options here.
[00:31:22] The refrain for Psalm 69 is:
“Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.”
And here are the verses:
“[A]s for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your mercy answer me [w]ith your faithful help. Answer me, O LORD, for your merciful love is good; according to your abundant compassion, turn to me.”
“I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
“Let the humble see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the LORD hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.”
“For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall dwell there and possess it; the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.”
[00:32:31] This Psalm you may have been able to recognize as an Individual Lament. The Psalmist prays fervently to God, asking for his love and mercy and pleading for divine assistance and protection. And, as all Lament Psalms do, it ends with words of confidence saying that those who seek God will not be disappointed, and those who trust in God will live in peace.
[00:33:02] That takes us to Choice B for our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 19 (again, that's the one my home parish will use this week). And the refrain for that Psalm is”
“Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.”
And here are the verses:
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”
“The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.”
“More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”
[00:33:55] This is a Wisdom Psalm praising the gift of the Law and the many blessings enjoyed by those who faithfully observe it. The Psalmist clearly does not see the Law as a series of prohibitions or restrictions that weigh heavily on the Chosen People. No, no, no! It is clearly seen as a great treasure that imparts life, wisdom, and joy.
[00:34:21] In each stanza of this Psalm, some good characteristic is assigned to the Law which in turn grants some specific blessing to the people who observe it and are faithful to it.
The law is perfect - reviving the soul… The law is sure - making the simple wise… The law is right - rejoicing the heart…. and so on. This Psalm pairs quite well, as you can tell, with our reading from Deuteronomy - in which Moses assures the people that they know the law AND they have every ability to be faithful to it.
[00:35:01] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from Colossians 1: 15-20.
“[Christ Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
[00:36:06] Like Galatians last week, Colossians is unique among Paul's letters. Most scholars believe that it was written by Paul; a small number think it may have been written by Timothy with Paul's input. It was most likely written sometime between 60 and 62 AD, during Paul's imprisonment before his execution, making it a Captivity Letter. But at the same time, it was composed to counteract a teaching that came to be known simply as “the philosophy” which likely had its roots in traditional Judaism while also incorporating a smattering of other popular philosophies at the time… kind of a mishmash, if you will. That would allow us to classify it as an Occasional Letter. However, regardless of how it's classified or who actually put pen to paper to create it, Colossians serves as a bridge between Paul's life and ministry and those who continued his work after his death.
[00:37:25] This is the first of four passages we will hear from Colossians this summer, and this section of the letter was probably modeled on either an earlier Jewish hymn of praise for divine wisdom, or it may have been an early Christian hymn applying attributes of divine wisdom to Jesus. Either way, let's hear what the letter has to say…
“[Christ Jesus] is the image of the invisible God,”
In Christ's humanity, God's created beings are finally able to see the unseeable, to see the invisible life and love of God.
[00:38:13] Man was, of course, created in God's image but… Jesus IS the image of God - he is of one substance with the Father - which allows mankind to see the Father.
“the first-born of all creation;”
[00:38:35] We just heard - on Trinity Sunday - the passage from Proverbs 8, where Divine Wisdom was beside God from the first moments of creation “like a master workman” or like a co-worker. And Christian tradition closely links Jesus, the Logos, with both Divine Wisdom and the role of the master workman, or that co-worker, that's mentioned in the passage from Proverbs.
[00:39:07] “for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities all things were created through him.”
[00:39:23] Angels and heavenly beings represent the invisible realm; earthly authorities represent the visible realm… and everything (visible and invisible) was created by God. And we profess that in the Nicene Creed, right? We say: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, through him all things were made.”
[00:39:57] Paul goes on…
“all things were created for him.”
Meaning that Christ gives value and purpose to all of creation.
[00:40:10]” He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
[00:40:17] Christ is supreme over all creation - he is both its agent and its goal - the agent which sets it in motion and the goal toward which everything is directed. And through his gracious will everything is held together. Everything remains in existence because he wants it to, because he wants us to.
[00:40:48] “He is the head of the body, the church;”
[00:40:52] We hear this frequently in Paul's writings. Jesus' Mystical Body is the Church and Jesus is - always and forever - the Head of his Mystical Body, which highlights the unity of Christ and his Church here on earth.
[00:41:10] “he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,”
[00:41:14] Through his Resurrection he is the first-born from the dead.
“that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,”
[00:41:27] That is Paul's way of saying that Jesus was both fully God and fully human.
“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
[00:41:45] Jesus, through his Perfect Sacrifice on the Cross, reconciles mankind to God the Father.
[00:41:55] This passage is a description of the cosmic Christ who is ruler of all, the one who was present at the creation of everything, and who is the agent of its redemption and reconciliation. It may well have been used as a Christian hymn, but Paul certainly intended it to provide the theological knowledge that members of the Colossian community could use to combat the teachings of “the philosophy” that were circulating at the time and compromising the Gospel message - the Good News of Jesus. We can use Paul's words the same way today to combat anything that compromises the Gospel message… for us!
When we are encouraged by social or political ideologies to humiliate or shame others, Colossians reminds us that everyone and everything was created for Christ, and life with Christ has no place for humiliation or shame.
[00:43:18] If it becomes easy to go along with the negativity and divisiveness that can be so prevalent on social media, Colossians reminds us that Jesus reconciles all things in himself and life with Jesus has no room for negativity or division.
[00:43:44] If - at any time - our behavior, our thinking, our actions don't reflect the teachings of Jesus - they need to be discarded or realigned.
[00:44:03] That can be a huge ask – but I think, with Jesus’ help - we are all up for it!
[00:44:17] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God bless.
