tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post5903315573052276278..comments2024-03-28T02:24:59.003-07:00Comments on Left Behind and Loving It: Mercy Withheld D. Mark Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-60060986852969295212022-09-22T20:08:24.702-07:002022-09-22T20:08:24.702-07:00The parable reminds me of “The Great Divorce” by C...The parable reminds me of “The Great Divorce” by CS Lewis and a little of “Resurrection” by Flannery O’Conner. And Robin Williams’ movie “What Dreams May Come.” (I think that’s the title.) Mercy at the center of the law also leads back to the scoundrel mismanaging money, who at least <br />knows that mercy is a way to win friends and influence people. And if we don’t really “get” that mercy is at the heart of the law and Gospel we won’t be convinced by Jesus being raised from the dead. Poor us...we need God’s transformative redemptive work in our lives or we are truly lost in a hell of our own making. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-29506564265871708482019-09-29T09:49:43.902-07:002019-09-29T09:49:43.902-07:00Every three years, I find something else to commen...Every three years, I find something else to comment on! The question Randy asked in 2013 occurred to me as I read the passage this time - was the rich man able to accept Jesus, when Jesus went to hell to preach to the damned? CS Lewis' The Great Divorce shows the souls in a sort of merged purgatory/hell as able to be taken across the "great chasm" whenever the preaching starts to sink in, to see if they have come to the point where they can actually accept it and go to Heaven. I really like that idea, to the point where it has become a part of my theology.Carynhttps://carynw.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-48413035702424528932019-09-22T14:40:32.398-07:002019-09-22T14:40:32.398-07:00I guess there are several of us who rummage throug...I guess there are several of us who rummage through your old posts. Anyhoo... You said "Don't hate me for this..." <br />How could I hate a brother, especially one that has been of such great help to me in interpreting the Word! Even so, it seems as if Jesus is intentionally stripping Lazarus of all agency (in this story that he made up) to highlight the contrast that comes later, when the Rich Man is stripped of agency and is reduced to begging like Lazarus once did.Jim Jannottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11011357939370487892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-10054214273910491902016-09-25T18:40:33.968-07:002016-09-25T18:40:33.968-07:00Thanks, Caryn. It's always a delight to hear f...Thanks, Caryn. It's always a delight to hear from you.D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-72931230457557225962016-09-25T11:10:38.283-07:002016-09-25T11:10:38.283-07:00I saw your commentary last week for this time arou...I saw your commentary last week for this time around, and BOY was it helpful! This one is very good, too, although it's a much easier text.CarynWhttps://carynw.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-41843558899049524472013-09-29T15:41:37.480-07:002013-09-29T15:41:37.480-07:00Thanks Randy and Caryn!
BTW Caryn, last week'...Thanks Randy and Caryn! <br />BTW Caryn, last week's text was a doozy. I ended up taking the approach that the manager was not 'dishonest' per se, but was mismanaging in a system that was fundamentally dishonest (Note that Jesus speaks of 'dishonest Mammon" later in the text.) What he was supposed to do is to demand payments that would have impoverished the debtors. By mismanaging - letting them carry the debt instead of demanding it in full - he angered the owner. By settling at less than the complete debt, he enabled them to avoid forfeiting their lands, although at the expense of the owner. I think many of us who work within systems that can be onerous toward others find ourselves in that very situation at times. Jesus suggests that even the owner can give begrudging respect to a manager who 'mismanages' for others' good. <br />I'm not totally satisfied with that reading, but it seems to be one possibility that many of us can still identify with. "Doing the wrong thing in a wrong system" seems kind of Niebuhrian. From Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343191370740534861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-24913141218054015572013-09-29T09:33:38.809-07:002013-09-29T09:33:38.809-07:00Like Randy, thankful and relieved to see you back....Like Randy, thankful and relieved to see you back. I REALLY missed you last week - this is the best place I've found for wrestling with difficult texts.CarynWhttp://www.xanga.com/CarynWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-79105430195240243302013-09-29T04:10:53.911-07:002013-09-29T04:10:53.911-07:00Here's an interesting tidbit from Plato's ...Here's an interesting tidbit from Plato's Georgias, 4th century BCE regarding the realm of Hades (who is sometimes called Pluton): <br />"Now in the time of Kronos there was a law concerning mankind, and it holds to this very day amongst the gods, that every man who has passed a just and holy life departs after his decease to the Isles of the Blest (Nesoi Makaron), and dwells in all happiness apart from ill; but whoever has lived unjustly and impiously goes to the dungeon of requital and penance which, you know, they call Tartaros." <br />This tradition seems to have been merged with the Abrahamic tradition in our story to have the bosom of Abraham as the place of the righteous, and torment as the dwelling of the unrighteous. From Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343191370740534861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-44713568075086506922013-09-28T20:48:55.085-07:002013-09-28T20:48:55.085-07:00Thankful (and relieved) to read your posts again, ...Thankful (and relieved) to read your posts again, Mark. Yessss, of course "Mercy is the meaning of the law and the prophets" - and the meaning of Jesus himself, too, eh? Mercy is the essential that the Pharisees overlooked and now we seem to be doing the same. Lord, mercy us! BTW, did the rich man receive mercy when Jesus "descended into Hell"? - RandyRandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02403010038806448215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-35194972879236347162013-09-28T13:15:44.669-07:002013-09-28T13:15:44.669-07:00WOW! That was incredibly helpful. I was struggl...WOW! That was incredibly helpful. I was struggling with the text. The eternal now adds an interesting dimension. It all happens now and the implications.....<br /><br />Thank you so much. Much grist for the mi.. RosemaryRosemarynoreply@blogger.com