So I'm taking Scriptures III for this first part of the summer which covers the Gospels and Acts...well...actually just Mark and Luke...but it's still really good.  I've really enjoyed this class!  First of all one of my favorite professors is teaching it and secondly I get to sit next to Kelly!  So Dr. Arterbury has been really stretching our understanding of the Gospels, having us look very critically at their material, what they share, what they don't share etc.

We looked at the Good Samaritan story this past week.  Now, I'm not going to lie, I was a little cocky here.  I mean it's the Good Samaritan...I've only heard this story a million times!  But Dr. A had us look at it in a new way...

Have you ever noticed that Luke places the Good Samaritan story right before the Mary and Martha story?  (The one where Martha "flips" out b/c Mary won't help in the kitchen...")  Growing up I always heard that Martha was trying "too hard" to please Jesus and she needed to get her priorities straight.  Now I think that's a fair interpretation, but what about what we had just learned as readers through the Good Samaritan story?  That story clearly shows us that we are to help our neighbor, and that everybody is our neighbor.  Most people try to work this out by saying that Martha was going overboard...really though?  I mean this was Jesus, she was just trying to make his stay nice...the Samaritan went through a lot more work to take the man half-dead to an inn and payed 2 denarii (2 days wages) for a complete stranger!  That sounds a little "overboard" to me...so what is it then?  These stories seem so confusing!

This is where Dr. A just looked at us and told us to start thinking.  I just peered over my Bible, figuring that the answer had to be there somewhere.  Everyone was pretty quiet, except for a few guesses every now and then, but none of us were on the right track.  He told us to look at the section as a whole.  Jesus talks to the Lawyer, lawyer asks what gives us eternal life...love the Lord, do unto others...Good Samaritan story...Mary and Martha.  WHERE IS THE ANSWER!  Finally I looked up and said "Jesus is not our neighbor" before I could stop myself.  Dr. A looked at me with a smile and said "Go on Katie..."  To be completely honest I was in shock...did I really say "Jesus is not our neighbor?"  am I going to be kicked out of seminary?  Certainly that's a heretical statement...I just repeated what was said in the Lawyer's story, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and do unto others."  If Jesus corrected Martha it must be because she wasn't supposed to show mercy to Jesus, she was just supposed to love him, like Mary was doing by sitting at his feet.  

whoa!  What a statement!  Jesus is saying that he is the Lord.  Can you imagine what the people in that house must have thought?  That is quite a bold statement to say around your Jewish friends who are all waiting for a king-like Messiah.  I reflected on this passage for the rest of the day.  All God asks of us is to Love him, like Mary, to sit at his feet, listen, and love.  There are no works mentioned, the most important thing is to Love God.  It seems so simple!  How can it possibly be?  But that's what it says.  

This is why I love seminary.  It's just awesome to look at passages you have read your entire life and see them in a brand new, refreshing, way.  The stories never get old because there is always something to learn.

I also like seminary because my professors always like to point out the "pro-women" passages.  And the Mary-Martha story is a big one.  In the ancient world, the act of sitting at someone's feet was to say that they were your teacher and you were their student/disciple.  Mary had the boldness to sit at Jesus' feet, something that a woman would never do.  In a sense she was saying, "Jesus I want to be your disciple" and he praised her.  Luke has MANY passages like this, situations where as people today we don't think anything of it, but in Luke's time would have been huge statements against the cultural norm.  So cool.  

Ok, I'm done...hopefully I can post more things on here as the weeks go on.  A lot is happening!  I mean I'm getting married in 14 days! wow!  In fact all i have to do is write a 12-15 page paper (already have 3) and go to three more days of class before I go home on Friday!  Life is so good right now.  I am so blessed!  

I leave you with 2 pictures from our "luau" a few weeks ago!