“Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by  whom they come!  It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.  Be on your guard!  If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.  And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!.”  (Luke 17:1-5)

Immediately following, what I think to be one of the most powerful parables of the Gospel, Luke’s single tradition telling of ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’— is Luke’s sixth use of ‘faith’ as Jesus uses it; now… by the Apostles.  It is a conglomeration of both a triple tradition, ‘On Causing Sin’ and a double tradition, ‘On Forgiveness’ that have not been previously viewed, in that Luke stood alone in recording the petition, “Increase our faith!”

Jesus has told of a rich man who, while tormented by the flames of hell has a change of heart— If Lazarus could be sent to his father’s house to warn his five brothers they would repent.  Father Abraham, Jesus says, told the rich man, “if they listen not to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead”.  While ‘the parable’ is most always used in public hearing, here the chapter breaks to indicate that we have now entered a private hearing for the benefit of his disciples.  I found these teachings so masterful that I chose “The Parables with Private Interpretation In Mark” as my area of dissertation research while matriculating in the New Testament Biblical Studies Doctoral program at Drew University.  In ‘private interpretation’ (identified in Mark as ‘keys to the Kingdom’) on the meaning of ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’ parable, Jesus speaks to the disciples ‘On Causing Sin’ and ‘On Forgiveness’.

I re-posted a piece that came across my Facebook feed this week. The caption reads: “GOP Senator on Trump’s Second Term: ‘We are all Afraid’ and Retaliation is Real’.  Lisa Murkowski spoke about the chilling effect of the president’s actions while speaking at a summit in Alaska this week.”  The picture used is one of her being hounded by reporters as she just walks with her head and her eyes hung low with a look of defeat on her face.

‘Skandala’ is the term used here of which Jesus warns of a retribution ‘worse than death’ for the offender.  One sure indication of the difficulty in understanding ‘this thing’, is when so many translations use a different word— (KJV) offenses; (RSV) sin; (NRSV) stumbling; (NJB) falling, etc.; while the word itself translates ‘scandal’.  A peculiar etymology in how far ‘skandala’ has come from it’s original Greek usage.  It’s biblical usage is controlled by the theology of Judaism and is absent from Greek thought and literature. Noteworthy is Kittel’s discussion on this word written by Stahlin, “What is at issue in ‘skandalon’ is the relation to God.  The skandalon is an obstacle in coming to faith and a cause of going astray in it.  As in OT it is the cause of both transgression and destruction, for a fall in faith is a fall in the absolute sense.”

I am often asking persons as they stop me and our conversation turns to counsel: ‘what does vision mean’?  I remain amazed at this being an almost foreign word, not so much it’s loss of meaning to the political and societal life, but it’s void of meaning in the religious life.  Stands to reason that we are seriously approaching a total and complete state of godlessness in our ‘—cracy’ AND in our ‘—ism’.

“The eyes of the soul of the multitudes are unable to endure the vision of the divine.”  (Plato)

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”  (Jonathan Swift)

“Sight is what you see with your eyes.  Vision is what you see with your mind.” (Robert T. Kiyosaki)

“The more I use my strength in the service of my vision the less I am afraid.”  Aundre Lorde.

“And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it.”  (Habakkuk))

You will (passively) ‘skandalon/scandal’, offend, sin, stumble, fall, but— to be the cause (actively) of skandalon carries with it a fate!  For— “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea”.

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