Luke 21:25-36

The Gospel this week is Luke’s version of the passage from Mark that we looked at last week, so I decided to look at more general themes

Redemption. How do we understand redemption?

The Greek word used here as you probably know is the word used for purchasing the freedom of a slave. So it is about being set free, by someone else, and at some cost to them. It is about being set free by Jesus: freedom from death, freedom from sin, freedom to become a citizen of heaven. These are some of the ways that redemption is understood in scripture and traditional theology.

A more contemporary expression might be that it is about freedom to become by true self, freedom to live in a counter-cultural way, freedom to be empowered.

Or we may take a lead from some feminist theologians who either question the need for redemption altogether, or point out that traditional interpretations have ignored the experience of women, or that they have actually been damaging to women (by encouraging women to remain subservient or to accept abuse).

For me personally, faith has certainly been liberating, but frequently authority figures in the RC Church advocate approaches which I find neither helpful nor meaningful.

To return to this Gospel passage, the meaning is clearly that when the world is falling apart, then redemption is drawing near. This brings me to my second theme

Signs of the times How do we understand the times we are living in? I think that there is an unaccustomed precariousness in our understanding of the world. Many people question the future. The old confidence that things would just go on getting better has really gone. Are we more open to God when disasters occur? Can we find a narrative for our own times which doesn’t ignore the ecological crisis and the many wars and injustices in the world, but which finds a positive way through?

Sorry this is all questions. But these are offered as topics to ponder. One more theme

Stay awake The word Buddhists use for enlightenment also means ‘awakening’. I like to think that there is a way that we need to wake up to the presence of God, because God is always coming into the world.

Questions for reflection:

1. 1) What are your first reactions to this text? What about your first reactions to the season of Advent?

1. 2) Is redemption a central concept in your faith? Can you say what it means to you? Do you have alternative ways of understanding the Gospel?

1. 3) How are we ‘set free’ by the Gospel

1. 4) How do we see God coming into the world?