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<DIV><FONT size=4>If we must stick with the lectionary, here is my hardest
question: <EM>Is Jesus tying faith to our persistence? </EM>In the Healing
of the Ten Lepers, Jesus ties faith to gratitude, but persistence and gratitude
are both actions initiated by the individual. Given my particular theological
slant, I have a hard time seeing faith as the result of the action of an
individual and not the sole action of God. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://thehardestquestion.org/yearc/ordinary29gospel/">http://thehardestquestion.org/yearc/ordinary29gospel/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Russell Rathbun, 2010 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Jesus begins his story by introducing a nameless
("some") judge in "some" city (18:2). Since the judge does not fear God, Jesus
probably has here in mind a Gentile judge. Since public service was not
considered by the Romans to be a profession, Roman magistrates received no
remuneration. The magistrate had the power of imperium within his jurisdiction.
The imperium is the supreme administrative power to interpret and execute the
law. Moreover, the magistrate dispensed justice by personal cognitio, his own
discretion. The isolated magistrate receiving no salary and having extensive
power in a small area with few guiding laws might easily abuse his
power.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28">http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Aída Besançon Spencer</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=TimesNewRomanPSMT>
<DIV align=left>Jesus' last question, with which the parable ends, is skeptical:
"When the Son of Man</DIV>
<DIV align=left>comes, will he find faith on the earth?" The implied answer is
no, he won't. Why?</DIV>
<DIV align=left>Because people don't believe. So the end of the parable is an
injunction to the listeners to</DIV>
<DIV align=left>pay attention to their own faith and to be an exception to what
Jesus clearly expects, that</DIV>
<DIV>when the Son of Man (that is, he) returns, he will not find faith on the
earth.</DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.gotell.org/pdf/commentary/Luke/Lk18_01-08_commentary.pdf">http://www.gotell.org/pdf/commentary/Luke/Lk18_01-08_commentary.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT size=4>Thomas E.
Boomershine</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT size=4>
<DIV>Craddock (<I>Luke</I>) concludes his comments on these verses with:</DIV>
<DIV>The human experience is one of delay and honestly says as much, even while
acknowledging the mystery of God's ways. Is the petitioner being hammered
through long days and nights of prayer into a vessel that will be able to hold
the answer when it comes? We do not know. All we know in the life of prayer is
asking, seeking, knocking, and waiting, trust sometimes fainting, sometimes
growing angry. Persons of such prayer life can only wonder at those who speak of
prayer with the smiling facility of someone drawing answers from a hat. In a
large gathering of persons concerned about certain unfair and oppressive
conditions in our society, an elderly black minister read this parable and gave
a one-sentence interpretation: "Until you have stood for years knocking at a
locked door, your knuckles bleeding, you do not really know what prayer is."
...</DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke18x1.htm">http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke18x1.htm</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><SPAN lang=EN><FONT size=4>Brian Stoffregen<BR>- - - -
-</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN lang=EN><FONT size=4></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN lang=EN><FONT size=4>Sometimes people emphasise this in a way that
makes God just a little too much like the judge: not really caring enough to
respond straight away, but needing to be irritated by much human effort in
prayer before relenting. Some people do have an ‘unjust’ image of God, perhaps
because they have only ever known those who can help them as at best aloof and
superior and at worst mean. We create images every time we speak about
approaching God. The style of our approach projects an image of the God whom we
approach. And then we inevitably conform ourselves to God’s image. This in part
explains cold and aloof attitudes in leadership. Greatness, God-likeness, as
Jesus reminds us elsewhere in so many ways, is about self giving and
responsiveness, about love and care.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><SPAN lang=EN><FONT size=4></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><SPAN lang=EN><FONT size=4><A
href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/LkPentecost21.htm">http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/LkPentecost21.htm</A></FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William Loader</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV>Some Pharisees have asked Jesus when the kingdom of God will come; he has
answered: it is already “among you” (17:21). Using examples from the Old
Testament, he has warned his disciples that its full coming will be sudden and
unexpected; many people will miss it, being preoccupied with worldly
affairs.</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/cpr29m.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/cpr29m.shtml</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>17:20-18:8</EM>: The theme of this section is fidelity
while waiting for the coming of the Son of Man.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>18:8</EM>: “faith”: Faith is a requisite for persistent
prayer: see v. 1.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/cpr29l.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/cpr29l.shtml</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>