Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
Sometimes the disciples ask Jesus how to do something his way. That’s what they are doing when they ask him how to pray. They want Jesus to teach them his way of praying.
And sometimes they ask for some kind of objective truth. Tell us what is right? That is something completely different.
The former puts the focus squarely on Jesus and the latter on some nebulous universal truth we assume just exists. Notably outside of Jesus.
We make the same mistake (albeit from a different angle) when we hear Jesus say, as he does in Luke 17, that we must rebuke a friend who offends and also forgive one who repents. Or, as he does this week, note that some of the people cured of leprosy didn’t turn back to him.
How often do we read these things looking for an objective and universal “right thing”? Something that we can trot out in every situation and know that is what we’re to do. Or worse, find ourselves judging Jesus for seeming to judge these people!
I generally have a hard time rebuking a friend. But I also, generally, do it easily, too. It really depends. More often than not, I think it depends on how much love is in my heart. Love for God. Love for them. And, yes, love for me.
With love,
Drew