{"id":46952,"date":"2024-09-30T10:35:05","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T14:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/?p=46952"},"modified":"2024-10-01T17:33:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T21:33:32","slug":"reading-luke-backwards-and-confronting-the-bounds-of-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/resources\/news\/reading-luke-backwards-and-confronting-the-bounds-of-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"\ub204\uac00\ubcf5\uc74c\uc744 \uac70\uafb8\ub85c \uc77d\uc73c\uba70 '\uc81c\uad6d\uc758 \uacbd\uacc4'\uc640 \ub9c8\uc8fc\ud558\uae30"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Gospel writer Luke set out to provide an \u201corderly account\u201d of the life of Jesus. Yet reading the story backwards yields insights we can appreciate even more today, said Eric Barreto in the second plenary address at \uc2a4\ud29c\uc5b4\ub4dc\uc2ed \ub9cc\ud654\uacbd<\/a> on Sept. 24. The annual conference is presented by the \ubbf8\uad6d \uc7a5\ub85c\uad50\ud68c(\ubbf8\uad6d<\/a>) \ubc0f \ubbf8\uad6d \ubcf5\uc74c\uc8fc\uc758 \ub8e8\ud130\uad50\ud68c<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barreto is the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at \ud504\ub9b0\uc2a4\ud134 \uc2e0\ud559\uad50<\/a>. He said he proposed this topic as a Lenten adult education series at the church he attends. To his surprise, they took it on, reading Luke\u2019s account of the cross on the first Sunday of Lent and working backwards through the text.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Palm Sunday, we were in Mary\u2019s arms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

From a stewardship standpoint, Barreto encouraged listeners to pay attention in particular to Luke\u2019s crucifixion narrative. Look at what it says about what it means to live within (and resist) the bounds of empire, he urged. Also notice how community is key, not secondary, to the good news of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Here are a few highlights:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The meaning of the cross<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

Eric Barreto speaks at Stewardship Kaleidoscope 2024 in Portland, Oregon<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The crosses we see at churches or wear around our necks meant anything but hope in Jesus\u2019 time, Barreto said. A cross was a threat of humiliation and excruciating death at the hands of a violent empire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cross is the strangest of good news: the defeat of death with death, eternal life purchased with the death of God\u2019s son, forgiveness shared in a place utterly devoid of mercy,\u201d Barreto said.<\/p>\n

No one story can capture its full meaning. Luke wrote for an audience who\u2019d heard the story before, but something compelled him to bring it to life in a new way.<\/p>\n

A tale of trauma and grief<\/strong><\/p>\n

The power of the state to seize and destroy weighs heavily in Luke\u2019s account of the crucifixion, Barreto said.<\/p>\n

Two individuals were crucified along with Jesus. One taunted him. The other said Jesus was innocent and the two criminals had been condemned justly.<\/p>\n

Jesus told both: \u201cToday you will be with me in paradise\u201d \u2014 not just someday, but today.<\/p>\n

That was \u201can audacious promise,\u201d Barreto said.<\/p>\n

Others present at the crucifixion agreed Jesus was innocent; he was not the first innocent person to be crushed by an empire and would not be the last. Some were there for the spectacle of a public execution. Some went home beating their breasts in agony.<\/p>\n

Barreto then showed photos of migrants at the border, a demonstration following George Floyd\u2019s murder \u2014 Floyd had \u201cthe weight of empire on his neck\u201d \u2014 and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cross shows us the depth of our own inhumanity,\u201d Barreto said. \u201cWe have trusted empires\u2019 violence all too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rethinking sacrificial giving<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus warned of the scribes who walk around in long robes, commanding respect and grabbing the best seats and places of honor. He also said they \u201cdevour widows\u2019 houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he saw a widow place two coins, all she had to live on, in the treasury along with the gifts of the rich.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo often we read this as a stewardship text exhorting sacrificial giving,\u201d Barreto said.<\/p>\n

On the heels of what Jesus had just said about widows\u2019 houses being devoured, it could be read as the widow\u2019s \u201chouse\u201d being devoured by an empire demanding a lot of those who have little and little of those who have a lot.<\/p>\n

The one who dared to believe<\/strong><\/p>\n

An angel visited a presumably young, poor, uneducated woman in the middle of nowhere in the empire. Mary was naturally perplexed at being called \u201cfavored one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn what way is she favored in this world?\u201d Barreto asked.<\/p>\n

Though perplexed, Mary was unafraid even when the angel described what was being asked of her. To dare to believe what the angel was telling her was dangerous, he said. Perhaps asking \u201chow can this be?\u201d was not about conception but about how a world-upending prophet could come from her circumstances.<\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s powerful song when she visits her cousin Elizabeth is not a one-off, Barreto said.<\/p>\n

Someone, after all, had to teach Jesus how to walk, talk, pray and believe in the God of Israel. It\u2019s not hard to believe his mother might have sung that song to him over and over, Barreto said. You can hear Mary\u2019s voice when Jesus speaks, but the beginning of his ministry is not the beginning of his story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis started when one woman believed, when one woman trusted God\u2019s promises and said yes to God,\u201d Barreto said.<\/p>\n

Maybe reading Luke\u2019s story backwards can help us trust God as we confront our bounds of empire, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis old, old story is never really done with us,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gospel writer Luke set out to provide an \u201corderly account\u201d of the life of Jesus. Yet reading the story backwards yields insights we can appreciate even more today, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46954,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46952\/revisions\/46954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}