7 October 2010
Psalm 131, 132; Micah 3:1-8; Acts 24:1-23; Luke 7:36-50

Justice has always been a prime consideration for God. Among the Lord’s people justice shall reign and it was intended to be blind justice, preferring no one according to their place in society, whether poor or rich. The law is just in that it provides for everyone, the poor in the land shall be able to glean the fields, the edges of the field shall not be harvested by the owner so that the poor will have something. All the land is to revert to its ancestral ownership every 50th year so that it is recognized that the land belongs to the Lord who has given it to tribes and families, it is not theirs to sell in perpetuity. Here, Micah says that there is no justice in the land. The accusation is incredibly strong, “…tear the skin from off my people, and their flesh from off their bones; who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a caldron.” This is no simple miscarriage of justice, it is beyond measure. Because none have spoken against it, there will be no signs or words of prophecy other than Micah’s who alone has power because he speaks truth.

Simon the Pharisee has shown Jesus no respect at all in failing to offer basic hospitality, much less the hospitality due to visiting dignitary. When a well-known person was entertained in a home the windows were left open so that the community could hear what this person had to say, eavesdropping was not considered bad manners, thus the presence of this woman of ill-repute. She apparently sees the disrespect shown to Jesus and begins to do extraordinary things to rectify the slight. When she wipes his feet with her hair she has truly crossed a line in a culture that only allowed a woman to let down her hair in the presence of her husband in private. The intimacy of the scene is shocking in its details. The parable Jesus tells shows that he knows her and he also knows Simon and if Simon missed the point, he could hardly fail to miss it when Jesus applies it. Simon too is a sinner, like the woman and forgiveness is forgiveness, whether small or great.

The high priest and the others assume flattery will get them everywhere and employ it liberally before stating their case against Paul. Paul refutes their accusations and attempts again to divide them along lines of belief in the resurrection from the dead. Why did Felix have an accurate knowledge of the Way? It seems he saw that the case had not been made on which he could convict Paul and his granting him certain freedoms and the ability to have visitors attend his needs shows which way he was leaning in the matter of justice.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard,
upon the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life for evermore.