​Text: Luke 5:36-39 (NRSV)
 
36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’”
 
Parables:Parabolic methodology is a powerful tool of communication, which Jesus adapted to share the Good news  in an effective and informative manner. He wanted every section of the society to understand the greater truths in simple forms of expression, so he used comparison methods to make the truths tangible. Theology is not a lofty discourse within the academic and intellectual domains; rather it is the articulation of life in every living experience. One of the limitations in most of our Christian  theological and spiritual deliberations is the lack of witnessing its connectivity with the real praxis of Christian calling. Sometimes the Church is understood only by its “walls” which is an absolutely negative paradigm of Jesus' view. The  pedagogy of Christ fascinates us even today, because our model teacher still stands  tall, as he did what he said and said what he did.  So the word and deed of Jesus matched without any variation, and thus, we say he is the true embodiment of God’s Word, The LOVE. 

The  above text is the continuation of an argument that Jesus had with the Pharisees, since they rejected the modalities and the vibrant ideas of Christ, who differed from the unrealistic and old philosophical and pragmatic descriptions in the religious Jewish life. In simple words, when Jesus earned opposition for his new proposals and interpretations on law,life and culture, the love for the old lifestyle hindered the Pharisees from changing. For such an obscure mind, even the best communicator Jesus failed in the unbearable reality. The saga is so self-evident in many domains because the stereotypical mindset will resist any change and will not heed to the reality. Thus, many times the Christian practices become outdated, due to their lack of understanding and the attitude of being the so-called custodians of God. Jesus, the victor from the cross,  assures his followers to carry on with this mission of telling the truth concerning Love, consistently even at the cost of death. However, in the face of arrogance and ignorance, the power of Jesus’ words empowered them to communicate the good. Christian Mission becomes valiant only when it  challenges the odds and does not succumb or compromise to the establishment that dominates people and the real servants of God. Many times ministry has become an enterprise for  self-sophistication and narrows the larger and longer trophy of grace from God. 

Jesus is called the new Moses because he interpreted the Ten Commandments in his context, which belittled the then religious leaders because of their closed mentality and their deafness to the gospel of Love- Christ himself. His interpretation derailed them from their old run and they felt uncomfortable to change. “This is our way, and we will be like this”- was their mindset and that attitude of denial instigated telling this parable of the new wine in the old wineskins!

This parable helped the disciples to understand a new way of spirituality because Jesus' gospel communicated a holistic perspective that nailed the love in the furious hearts of the Pharisees. But they were blind to the voice of God because of their attachment to their own culture which was rooted in the past glory and legacy. They took pride in Abraham and Moses and denied  Jesus who manifested the traits of the office of prophets, kings and priests.  

Change is the only phenomenon that never changes because life is not static but dynamic. Jesus was able to clarify to them their cowardice in not accepting the change. The possibility of  courage in God, having faith in God will dare you to  any situation with a sense of openness to truth. Jesus also alarms them not to bend or stretch in their spiritual exercise to serve two masters because their loyalty will be a laughing stock. The point is very lucid and transparent, calling the disciples and the people of God to be loyal to God and to one’s self to bring transformation in an unjust society.  
Since Jesus' leadership was so challenging he earned many sobriquet (nicknames) among the religious leaders, for example, “ Nazareth Jesus”,“Jesus the Galilean”, “Son of Mary” etc. However, they never regarded him to be worthy  because of his roots and family. The Jews from Judea saw their own brothers from Galilee as insane, because of their proximity to temple and wealth. Temple became their private property and they monopolized the whole activity centered on the temple. When Jesus interacted and attempted to bring or suggested change they became so indignant over the ultimate teacher. However Christ understood them and his pedagogy never ceased to be a directive for life in truth. The call of the church being Christ's own sacramental body envisions us to take on the call to influence the closed world to be open for the new changes and depend on God for our journey.

 May God bless these words. 

Text: Luke 5:33-35
Fr. Abi John.
 
The prophetic and passionate leadership of Jesus brought a lot of resonance in the socio-economic and political life of Jewish people. His new teachings on law and the hermetic apparatus was so popular among masses because it was very pragmatic. Jesus’s pedagogy always acknowledged his practice and the Expected Messianic Regime apparently was ubiquitous in his words and deeds. The hopeless received hope and were enlightened to discover themselves in a true way of living, grounding their faith in YAWH (the living God).
 
The affirmative approach of Jesus brought everyone near to God, in other words God became closer to people. Jesus’s expression of “God as Father” shed great light on the understanding of God with a personal touch. Jesus’s hospitable and receptive nature in the context of bigotry and discrimination breached the barriers created by the rigid understanding of Jewish leadership.
 
God was always scaled on the top of a hierarchical religious paradigm and the gulf between the people and religious leadership was purposefully professed by the Jewish religious brokers to maintain the Status Quo. I feel that normally structures are created to appropriate the life in a given set of society bounded by its culture, tradition, politics, etc. But such structures corrupt themselves when served with vested interest. The Pharisees and Sadducees became the mediators and accelerated their command in the holistic domain of people, and did not reflect their stewardship in helping the people to come closer to God rather alienated people from God. Mediocracy created its own norms and regulations and manipulated God as an unreachable being, which resulted in the purity and pollution laws; eventually ritualism gained its momentum and became a tool to subdue people.
 
Jesus sitting with the sinners conveyed a new style in the spiritual trajectories of Jewish paradigm. Luke’s theological motif of soteriology is nailed in Jesus’s response to the self-righteous religious leaders, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” exposits the love of God for sinners.
 
Finding fault and labeling people became the prime duty of such rigid and psychic leaders and their ostentatious attempts were seized by the model of Jesus. Their dialogical and mean attempts to accuse Jesus were devastated by his appropriate questions and responses. When they failed to compete with his ideological or spiritual construct, they were so mean to assault his behavior and way of life. They generated a great antipathy and they were restless. Such methods display their quality and reflect the nature of the establishments. Character assassination is a powerful tool to defame any popular celebrity. Jesus too faced it because he was a super star of his time.
 
With the above orientation I like to map three verses for our today's bible study: Luke 5:33, 34, 35.
 
Fasting and Feasting
The following statement, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking” was the accusation on Jesus and his crew as if they were insane. This was an attempt to portray Jesus as an obstreperous and a strange leader. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus registers the pretentious nature of Pharisees while fasting and praying. The Old Testament talks about the act of penitence through fasting and praying a quality of spirituality, I vouch for it, because I feel only when there is abundance one can fast. What about a poor person who slogs for a meal? The meaning to him will be very offensive and rude. The team of Jesus predominantly constitutes poor and for them fasting was a problem, because of their economic variances. As a son of man Jesus’s feasting invites the world to feed the poor with abundance, reflecting the act of God. (Barnie Parker’s reflects God’s face to people). The church is called to prioritize our activities in catering the poor to realize God’s abundance.
 
“If Jesus is the Bridegroom, who is the Bride?”
I will attempt to explain the above in a figurative methodology through philosophical engagement. This is an analogy of the relationship between Jesus and the people of God. Jesus used similes to convey the meaning very powerfully. Bride - Bridegroom analogy was so powerful in the book of Hosea, Gospels as well as in Solomon's writing. This great relationship is embarked on a family relationship because they considered and believed in the family unit, as an institution of God. Turning the pages to creation will certainly fix our eyes on the sinless life of a couple when they were with God. By mythefiying or imagining the people as bride makes Jesus as bridegroom, a new Adam, a sinless Adam, who mutually feasts on the table of God. The table of Man is always hierarchical, partial and deceitful. I acknowledge that this analogy has its limitations in the eyes of the feminist readers, but when we interpret the text in a context, we can understand that Jesus used an accommodating interpretation in a matriarchal society. Without Jesus we cannot feast? Feasting with Jesus invites us to die for him too. A feasting community with Christ, will feed people with love of God even by self-emptying. The sacramental rituals call us to feast with the lord to pass the abundance of life to all.

​Beloved in Christ,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. On this day people meditate on the Way of the cross which has 14 stations to remember the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and some churches meditate on the Words from the cross. Today I would like to share a few thoughts on the last seven words of Christ from the Cross.
 
Introduction:
The movement of Jesus Christ created enormous changes in the lives of people and accelerated everyone to turn to God contemplating their purpose of living. His new contextual hermeneutics on law, scripture, traditions, rituals, customs and culture was anthropocentric, especially concerning the suffering masses. A lacuna prevailed between the establishment and Jesus, as he nailed the unethical practices of the religious domain in his teachings. The establishment was threatened by the movement of Jesus which opposed human exploitations and discriminations. He prioritized his mission to the needy and his religious teachings were embedded with ethics of life that incorporated the whole world as one God’s family. He appealed to the dominant subjects with a moral demand and had a dream of establishing the reign of God In abundance. Eventually, he became an eyesore for the religious leaders and their jealousy crucified him on the Cross. The truth was hidden and the falsified accusations fabricated on Jesus made him look like a political traitor and a religious heretic. The dominant powers were determined to ruin the life of Jesus because they felt his existence was a threat. Yes, Jesus was a threat to the normal order or the establishment. In fact, we can say that the embodiment of God became a threat to them. However, even in such an ominous situation the dependency of Jesus on God became a key for the whole humankind to navigate their spirituality. He taught some lessons while he was hanging on the Cross and thus became an ultimate teacher who professed love even at the point of death.     
 
His whole ministry can be encapsulated as “Kingdom Of God”. In modern terms we may call it the “Reign of God”. While summing up the ministries of Jesus, theologians categorize those under three dimensions, 1. Teaching Ministry 2. Healing Ministry and 3. Exorcism. Jesus was in a haste to spread the word of God, because the living word in him was creative, redemptive and transformative. Jesus is the true and living Word.  Even today, his words give meaning to our lives and profoundly invite us to realize God in us and others. The meditation of the Cross and Jesus is a perpetual call for us to actively participate in God’s will in our context.  
 
His words from the Cross apparently declare the moral appeal of God to the whole human race for a redemptive life. All the Four Gospels record the passion of Christ and especially the words he uttered on the Cross. However none of them records all the words. While aggregating the last seven words from all the Gospels has been a contribution of the early church fathers. I would like to reflect on the last seven words of Christ with certain moral and spiritual obligations.  
 
 First Word On the Cross: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) 
 Praying Jesus: Even at the Cross Jesus exhibits his teaching in action. Here he prays for those who crucified him. Praying for enemies (It is a relative term) witness the absence of gulf between his preaching and practice, faith and action, worship and witness. The religious and political establishments failed to understand God and their purpose of life. Instead they crucified Jesus. In such a context, Jesus pleads with the father to forgive their ignorance and arrogance. This explicitly reveals Jesus' love toward all for a redemptive purpose. He started embracing those who crucified him through Love. This prayer elucidates that God calls us to be the agent of God’s embracing love, not only during pleasant situations but even at times of great ordeal. When we are pinned to God, the unceasing love of God will connect us to the whole world to lament over the dominant and oppressive structures for God’s forgiveness. How do we pray? Do we lament over the odds of society which crucifies the truth and justice for the selfish and narrow intuitions? I see this as a divine protest against the odds of society through moral resistance. Word of Jesus shows us a new way to love by praying for others.  
 
Second word on the cross: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) 
Accepting Jesus: Two more were crucified with Jesus one on the left and other on the right. When Jesus prayed for the offenders one was transformed and the other was confused. The Words of Jesus give us clarity of life if we apply them in our lives. The living word reverses us from our sins and opens us to God. The two thieves were also identified as revolutionaries. The zealots were identified as terrorists, some theologians acknowledge these two men as Zealots, because they were much concerned about the ends and not the means. But for Jesus both means and ends are important. When one thief pleaded to Jesus with a sense of repentance by saying “Lord, remember me in your kingdom,” Jesus replied with the assurance that He would be with him in paradise. Jesus accepts us completely when we turn to him by acknowledging our faults for doing things in our own selfish way. For God both the means and the ends are important and thus Jesus always tells us that he is the way of life. Being truthful even at the times of difficulties will be our loyalty towards God.
 
Third Word on Cross: “Woman, behold, your son. … Behold, your mother.” (John 19:26-27) Demanding Jesus: When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, he said the following words, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” I feel a great figurative speech is hidden in this word, if we consider the image of Jesus' mother as the destitutes and the vulnerables of society and the disciple as the Church we can draw an extensive meaning for this text.  Discipleship envisages us to be caretakers of such subjects whose lives are at unrest. Caring for the poor, orphans, widows and all the destitutes is the primary demand because such subjects congregate God’s own family. Church is one of the vehicles to display God’s care. The third word on the cross heeds to the “diakonia” of the church. The quality of servanthood is to heal the suffering from their pathos is the new demand that Jesus pronounces on cross. As a universal church do we feel connected to the people who are in need? Do we extend our true love to them as God’s true family?
 
Fourth Word from Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Redeeming Jesus: Jesus not only spoke but also sang on the cross. He sang psalm 22;1 and questioned God for all the unjustified sufferings. Questioning God is one of the faculties of faith and God gives us the freedom of expression. We have to remember God is not a dictator but a friend. Here the tone of Jesus should be understood as the voice of the voiceless who suffer due to oppressive structures because as Son of man Jesus represents the suffering masses. Jesus on the cross is the true manifestation of the victims of the manipulative power mongers and aggressive imperial notions. Our spirituality necessitates us to search for God's point of view in the midst of suffering. While bearing the cross, Jesus was oscillating in the uncanniness of human behaviors that estranges God from people. The pathological expression of Jesus apparently highlights his advocacy for the voiceless. There are people who are in chaos unjustifiably, and are desecrated as well as fail to express themselves for a sustainable change. Their hopes are devastated by the display of fear and terror by authoritarian structures in different domains. They are “No People” who are crucified in everyday life situations and this word demands us to advocate for such deserving people of God. For Whom do we advocate today? !!!
 
Fifth Word on the Cross: “I thirst.” (John 19:28)
 Advocating Jesus: Many preachers interpret this thirst as a spiritual one connecting to the soul. Yes I do see this as a call of Jesus to all of us but underpins it with the nature around us. The breach of do’s and don'ts with nature has encircled human life in agony and uncertainty. When Jesus said, “I thirst”, they soaked the sponge in a jar of wine vinegar and lifted it to Jesus' lips. The demand of Jesus was not heeded properly which exemplifies the alienation of human beings from nature, the true gift of God. Natural resources are abused and the proximity to it is monopolized by the consumerist markets and the number of people alienated from natural resources is alarming. Issues like global warming, climate change, air pollution, water pollution, and waste management need our persistent attention. Our spirituality should not be a consumerist spirituality, rather a complementing one in protecting our nature for the future. We need to evade the colonial mindset that treats nature as a commodity and should get a new perspective, treating it as a gift of God. If our minds are with God then we will take responsibility in protecting the natural resources which manifest God, if we abuse it we will make our future a hell. Discovery Channel has predicted that if we are not going to attend the OZONE LAYER DAMAGE, by 2065 the earth will become infertile because of the heat rays from the sun. Jesus wants to quench the thirst of nature too. Ecological concern is a spiritual concern and it is connected to God from creation. Do we thirst for a safe world?    
 
Sixth Word on the Cross: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Victorious Jesus: Everyone’s destiny is God and we are just sojourners in this world. God created the world for all and everyone has a role to play in their timeline. The purpose of life will be fulfilled when we live in truth and spirit and Jesus stood for truth and embraced all the oppositions on the cross and said that he had completed his task.  The meaning of the 6th word is extending the agenda of Jesus to the church to introspectively consider its works. Spiritually, We are the church and it is not a building.  Jesus’s mandate wanted us to be the true agencies of God in Christ, to display God’s abundant love to all. In a context of hate, bigotry, animosity the need of the hour is love. I can say that no man is a separate entity and absolute individualism is an illusion. Covid 19 teaches us a truth, that we are not even self-sufficient in an uncanny pandemic context. Such situations lead us to map our purpose of living in God. Life without the other is a false notion and thus navigating our purpose and engineering our duty to all makes life meaningful. Let us continue to be a beloved community to fulfill the call of our master Jesus Christ. Even in the context of death our faith will urge us to envision God’s victorious power, so let us have faith in God and continue to love one another to carry the baton of Jesus.
 
Seventh Word on the Cross: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
Depending Jesus: Jesus was always theocentric and God is always people centric. Jesus acknowledged that God is the beginning and the end of life. Three times Jesus addressed God the Father on the cross because he knew that human powers are limited and volatile. Being God-conscious helps one to generate hope. Jesus was always dependent on God. People of faith can face any situation because they trust only in God. Covid 19 poses many questions of human supremacy and nailed all of us to look to God for healing. Jesus was open to God because he accomplished his purpose on the cross till the last breath of his life. He was raised by God to show the magnitude of God’s power over evil and human manipulations. We are not sure about our future but sure about the one who holds our future. It is God the alpha and the omega of life. Submission to God will enable us to see the glory of God, because nothing is impossible for God. The last words of Jesus are commendable to trace his commitment to God even at death. Amen.
 
Friends let us continue to ponder the above thoughts for our spiritual and holistic enhancement and my Sincere and meaningful wishes for you for Easter. May the Power of God help us to have faith in God and follow the footsteps of his son and our Lord Jesus Christ to see God’s glory in our lives. The message of the cross gives us the strength to face the world in its ferocity and to embrace it with the love of God to realize the dream of God's beloved community.  Amen.

Text Luke 5:27-32
Fr Abi John 
 
Beloved in Christ,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It gives me great pleasure to share the following bible study notes for your thoughts and reflections. I would appreciate your reflections, additions, questions, comments, etc, in a couple of lines to add more color to our study.  
 
Who are tax collectors during Jesus' time? 
During the time of Jesus, the people of Israel were under the imperial and colonial rule of Rome. The religious leaders had their local autonomy in matters relating to the life of the people. The temple was at their control and the temple was not just a spiritual institution but it was the center of people’s holistic life. The subjects of the society were under two authorities, politically under Rome and religiously under Sanhedrin. Rome gave autonomy to the religious leaders to mitigate the revolts, because the religious beliefs were so sensitive and complex. In such a context Rome appointed some people to collect the taxes for their government and such collectors were called publicans or apostates. They were considered as proxies of Rome and gained hatred from the public. They imposed unredeemable taxes and had their loyalty to the Roman Imperials and gained more profit by unjustifiable taxes. They were seen as traitors and thieves of people and considered as defiled elements because of their association with the enemy, the Rome. The hostility over Tax collectors tagged them as Sinners. Here the tax collector was none other than Mathew, and the record from Mathew 9:9 substantiates the argument. Normally Jews will have two names and many theologians suggest the name
as Levi Mathew, who became the disciple of Jesus. 
 
Tax Booth 
I see these booths as the places that symbolically represent oppression and exploitation. People were under great oppression because the Roman government operated in a very systematic way at various levels to maintain their supremacy over the poor. Jews always believed in the rule of God- Theocracy. In reality their dreams were shattered by the foreign powers because of their military inefficiency and their ideological schisms. Rome was a superpower and these centers represented their authority over people, their work and earnings. People were drained by the taxes which made their life more miserable. The Taxes were collected in harsh methods. The people paid money to Temple to maintain their religious commitments and paid compulsory taxes, for their income and taxes were imposed on Custom goods. Even tolls were collected for the usage of Roads and bridges of that time. So, the people who indulged in such tax collections were socially abandoned by people, politically treated as traitors and religiously labelled as sinners. Mathew was sitting in that Booth to collect the taxes. But Jesus liberated him from his box and made him an agency of salvation, I mean an agent to liberate people from these worldly clutches that haunt life every day. We have to find such boxes and breach the forces that negate the freedom for us and others. 
 
“Follow Me”
Jesus said to Mathew “Follow me.” And he followed him without any question. The unconditional obedience of Mathew describes his agony over his work as well as his dissatisfaction over the colonial set up. His attitude highlights the aspiration to repent and begin a new life in God by following Christ. His immediate response explicits his search for a better way of life. Following Jesus is an opposite turn from the job he was assigned in. Jesus' movement offered abundance of life and catered to the exploited and the oppressed. It connected people socially and enabled them to realize the reign of God. The politics of power was defused by the power of Love for one another. Mathew believed in the words of Jesus which enabled him to envision the future. Apparently, the transition of Mathew to Jesus indicates a mystic and divine experience which cannot be comprehended in total, but it can be felt at a spiritual domain. Following Jesus is not simple, it requires one to turn from the world and prepares him/her to be an agency of Christ to offer life to the people in the world. It demands us to offer life to the lifeless not to overfeed the self-righteous or the privileged. Mathew left his lucrative employment, positions and his authority for Jesus because he affirmed the truth and chose the way of Christ, which calls our attention not to deepen our parochial attachments but to reach the reality of life and to enhance every human to have equal access over life. The disparities in life distribute ordeal situations and cause civic unrest. The movement of Jesus is the movement of Love engendering all of us for peaceful coexistence and sustainable living.
 
Jesus - “Friend of Sinners and Tax collectors?” 
Jesus extends his relationship to all and specially to transform the people who are socially rejected, politically muted, and spiritually decodified. Jesus ethics includes everyone and attends to the odds of the society with a moral appeal and not by force. Religion should be a moral obligation if not then it becomes another institution to display power to dictate. But the religion of the Pharisees was so complaining and judgmental. The Jesus Movement was very optimistic and open.    Religion of Jesus displays its roots in Love for others like self, which expresses the Love of God in total. Jesus indicates that “only the sick need the physician”, conveys, the mission of the church should always focus for the needy not the greedy. (The free Wifi at St. James’ and Barnie Parker Sharing food Shed at St. John’s are some of our novel expressions of doing missions at this COVID-19 crisis.  I would continue to urge you to contribute to such noble acts.) 
 
If we want Jesus to be our Friend, we need to be friends of the lifeless, and to have a heart to offer them the love of Christ. God’s abundance of life is not for a few but for everyone because it's an overflowing cup of Grace. Grace is a quality of being qualified not by our own merits but by God’s favor. Let us look unto God and follow Christ to be graceful to everyone. Let us continue to listen to God's voice and God’s call and follow God in Christ and that will suffice a good portion in our life.  May God Bless these words.