In this portion of Israel’s history we will need commentary to sort out who is the cause of what; and what today’s brief fable signifies. The vulnerable thistle approaches the tall, strong cedar with a useless proposition. This likely illustrates the foolhardy policies and actions of the leader Amaziah who threatens the powerful Jehoash. Because Amaziah experienced victory over the Edomites and he now believes he can do anything. He makes a common mistake – he believes in himself and follows his own ego rather than taking counsel from God. The result of this bluster and imprudence is turbulence and it spells the end for Amaziah. Yet in the end – and here is where we see God’s goodness – God saves the faithful people despite their foolhardy leaders.
It is likely that each of us can point to a time when we have been the thorny thistle threatening the mighty cedar; and if we are honest, we will also remember the turbulence that followed. In our ego-driven culture we are inculcated in the thinking that we can do anything we put our minds to. We can make more money, be more beautiful or handsome, buy a larger home or car, have the most current technology – and all of this will make us more popular and happy. This, of course, is the thinking of the threatening thistle. And it is false. How much more prudent it is to turn to God rather than bluster our way through life.
We see a clear choice before us today. We can act as the foolish leaders do or we can turn to the God who created us in love – to be loved. We can threaten others as the thistle does, or we can act in mercy, compassion and fidelity as God does. And so we pray . . .
Our loving God is waiting to rescue us from the threats of the world. Open our ears that we may hear God’s word.
Our tender God is waiting to heal us in love. Open our eyes that we may see God in others.
Our compassionate God is waiting to transform us in joy. Open our hearts that we may act in and through God. Amen.
Supposed Eye of the Needle Gate in Jerusalem, Israel
We know the story of Jesus saying that one must unload possessions before entering the kingdom; and the reference to “the Eye of the Needle Gate” in Jerusalem is a tempting one. Scholars do not agree on the translation between Greek and Aramaic so today we have the opportunity to ponder varying theories; yet, no matter the opinion, we have the gift of this image to ponder.
What does Jesus mean when he says it is difficult for the rich man to enter into the kingdom? What are the possessions we must jettison? And who are those who must unload the camel they have burdened with a heavy load?
When we consider the word possessions, we might imagine our worldly gain of property, objects and wealth. We might also consider our long-held beliefs, prejudices, or misconceptions. And we might reflect on the people we cling to or depend on more than we rely on Jesus. What have become the encumbrances we insist on owning and controlling?
Eye of the Needle Gate in Jerusalem, Israel
The camelwe have encumbered might be close relatives or friends, colleagues or co-workers, communities or churches. Where have we placed the burdens we insist on carrying? Whom have we asked to share the encumbrances we insist on moving from place to place as we move through life?
Finally we consider the gatethat stands before us promising prosperity and comfort just beyond our reach . . . the eye of the needle that asks us to winnow and trust . . . the slender door that blocks our line of vision forcing us to believe in someone who is just beyond our line of sight.
The load, the beast, and the door we want to transit.The elements of this image of the camel passing through the needle’s eye call us to evaluate our relationship with Christ and the world. They persist on urging us forward into the unknown. They present to us an opportunity to learn more about ourselves, and the love Christ offers us today and all days.
Tomorrow, Jesus is the Light.
To learn about the discussion regarding the translation of this verse, click on the images or visit https://www.pinterest.com/pin/317926054924875118/ and http://dustoffthebible.com/Blog-archive/2016/07/17/5-popular-sermon-myths-that-need-burned-at-the-steak/
More about the discussion surrounding the translation ofhttps://www.gty.org/library/blog/B150914/frequently-abused-verses-what-is-the-eye-of-a-needle this verse, see
Luke 33:22-30: The Narrow Gate and the Great Reversal
Friday, June 6, 2025
The Siq Pathway into Petra, Jordan
We know this story so well! Jesus calls us to witness to injustice, but he does this by calling us to The Great Reversal.
He went on teaching from town to village, village to town, but keeping on a steady course toward Jerusalem.
When a bystander asks how many will be saved, Jesus replies – and he replies to us today when we wonder if our enemies will perish or thrive . . . “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention”.
This was the wisdom my parents taught us. As we work for justice, we must let God worry about God’s business while we examine our willingness to bend. We move toward Jerusalem as we learn to fit ourselves through the narrow gate of The Way.
When Jesus’ followers protest that surely they will be on Jesus’ guest list, he reminds them – and us – that although they believe they have known him all their lives . . . “Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me”.
How do we come to know Jesus better so that we do not find ourselves out in the cold, watching asoutsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south to sit down at the table of God’s kingdom? How do we conduct ourselves so that all the time we are not outside looking in—and wondering what happened?
This is the Great Reversal: the last in line is put at the head of the line, and the so-called first end up last.
The Monastery in Petra, Jordan
Jesus is telling us that the answers to our questions stand before us, but perhaps we cannot see his simple solution because we are too interested in the business of others. Perhaps we are so occupied with examining the faults of others that we close our eyes tightly against the clarity of Christ’s response. Jesus clearly tells us here that the invitation to the feast is the narrow gate that admits the last first and the first last. The entry to celebration is the slim door that asks us to behave differently, to examine ourselves to find what we must change in order to experience true joy.
With immense patience, Jesus teaches moves toward Jerusalem, teaching us what we need to know.
With profound wisdom, Jesus demonstrates The Great Reversal, urging us through the narrowest of doors.
With intense compassion, Jesus invites us to eternal peace, showing us The Way through the slenderest of gates.
Tomorrow, the eye of the needle.
When we compare THE MESSAGE translation of these verses with others, we discover the peace we seek . It is just beyond the narrow gate that is Christ.
To reflect on Matthew’s story of Jesus, the Rich Man, and the narrow gate, and to learn more about how to get through “the eye of the needle,” visit The Narrow Gate page on this blog at: https://thenoontimes.com/the-narrow-gate/
Learn more about Petra at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra
This reflection is adapted from thoughts written on February 23, 2009; and it reminds us that Christ is The Life we seek to live. It calls us to find our lives in Christ through prayer.
Saints and scholars have written much about the life of the soul. We have been told through Scripture, and through the Creator’s revelation to us, what we can expect when we enter into honest and authentic relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit settles into the temple nest that we prepare to abide with us with her compassionate healing. The Creator guides us to the potential molded with us at our inception.
What more can we say about our interior life? How do we connect with Christ to better life the life that is our hope? What can we do to improve this life, to bring ourselves to fruition so that our inner life might blossom in our exterior life of thanksgiving and joy, even in the face of misery?
Today’s Meditation in MAGNIFICAT is from Philoxenus, a fifth/sixth century Syriac writer and theologian. It is about prayer and how we come to God through prayer.
Theodorus Philoxenus Sotericus
One should be secretly swallowed up in the spirit in God, and one should clothe oneself in God at the time of prayer both outwardly and inwardly, set on fire with ardent love for him, and entirely engulfed in all of him, entirely commingled in all of him, with the movements of one’s thoughts suffused with wondrous recollection of God, while the soul has gone out in love to seek him whom she loves, just as David said, “My soul has gone out to you”.
The soul goes out in wondrous recollection of God.
God enters into the soul.
The interior life becomes a dialog with God in which all worries, woes and fears can be opened in trust.
The interior blooms.
This blossoming becomes evident through the exterior.
Our actions demonstrate our wondrous recollection of God.
This afternoon, let us raise our voices together in a communal prayer so that we might illuminate the world with our wondrous recollection of God.
Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 23.2 (2009). Print.
The Books of Chronicles, Samuel, Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah all record the events of the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Israel from its founding with Saul and David through to the Babylonian Exile. The point on the timeline where we find today’s reading is after the ten northern tribes secede to form the Northern Kingdom of Israel, leaving the two southern tribes to form the remnant Southern Kingdom of Judah with the old capital of Jerusalem. Today’s confrontation between king and prophet takes place just after the division of the kingdom and just before the death of Ahab. The Chronicler writes with a particular emphasis on Yahweh’s fidelity to the faithful – even when the faithful turn away and fall to worshiping idols. The writer wants the people to remember their heritage, to remember that they would be successful as a nation only if they were faithful to the covenant they had with God, and to remember that truth has a way of revealing itself.
Ahab and his wife Jezebel hunt down prophets to exterminate them; they cannot withstand the truth their own seers bring to them. As we recall from our reflection on Naboth’s Vineyard, we know that Ahab and Jezebel use any means to take what is not theirs. They lie, bribe, coerce, plot, scheme, and murder. And with all their attempts to ignore and hide the truth, they end their days in violence that kicks back on them. They suffer the consequences they have wished on others.
It is with a certain amount of irony that we hear Ahab say, “When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?” Ahab and Jezebel lie, believing they can bend reality to their will. They scheme, believing they control the universe. They bribe and suborn, believing they hold ultimate power.
King pits himself against Prophet – Ahab versus Micaiah – deceit in competition with light – damnation against resurrection. We remind ourselves that when we turn away from a truth we do not want to hear, we take our first step onto a path of sure destruction. If we twist and spin truth to fit our perspective, we walk away from the very lesson that will bring us redemption, union, and happiness.
This is the lesson of the prophets, that when we ignore truth, we only postpone the lessons we come to this world to learn. When we avoid truth, we refuse to walk the way of resurrection and light.
Adapted from thoughts recorded on February 25, 2007.
Bartolome Esteban Murillo: Return of the Prodigal Son – National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Yesterday we shared concepts from Hispanic life and culture as we explored the paradox of Jesus’ death and rising. Examining the dichotomy of humanity and divinity shared in one person, we invite visitors to share their own experience of duality in the comment bar. Today, part two of our post brings us more resources to search for clues to our own duality.
Golden Age mystics bring us liminalprose and poetry: Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross, and the trances of Teresa of Avila. One of Europe’s earliest and oldest universities with Fray Luis de Leon in Salamanca, moves education forward while horrific wars with the French, the Turks, the British, and the Americas give birth to an endless list of bifurcations. Existentialism moves forward through the works of Miguel de Unamuno and his Atheist’s Prayer. If we ever want to meditate on choosing between two roads or living in multiple realities, we only need to dip into Hispanic culture.
In today’s citation we have just finished hearing Jesus speak about beatitude, and the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law with the new Law of Love. We have just heard him say that he abides with the broken in spirit, heart and body rather than the wealthy, famous and powerful. We have heard him urge us to knock, ask and seek rather than to comply, give up, or remain silent. Now, he points out to us the dualities that always lie before us. There are always at least two roads; false and true prophets either lure or teach us; real and unreal disciples urge to follow someone or something; evil and good shepherds kill or give life; and we might choose two types of homes to build in a kingdom we are invited to form. We have choices to make, roads to travel, spirits to test and deeds to perform in Christ’s name.
When Christ calls, we will recognize his voice. Let us answer with courage and love.
When we call, Christ will recognize our voices. Let us persist in hope and fidelity as we share Christ’s Easter joy.
Francisco de Zurbaran: Saint Francis in Meditation – The National Gallery, London, U.K.
We must practice listening in the here and now for the shepherd’s voice. We must practice calling out Christ’s name to ask for help. We must rehearse how we will both receive and grapple with answers. We must practice dialog with God. We must ask the Spirit’s help to suffer well so that others and we may live forever. For there is no other redemption, no other saving grace, no other blessing than following the Voice of the Shepherd. There is no other Way but to make a single harmony of the dual song of God’s Call and The Faithful’s Response. Let us practice this duet with our God each day.
We are on the eve of the Fourth Sunday of Easter when we will revisit the parable of the Good Shepherd. Let us prepare to knock on the doors the world closes to us. Let us ask the difficult questions the world throws at us. And let us forever seek the merciful justice Christ shows us in the duality of his being.
We invite you to share dualities you find in your own lives in the comment bar.
Adapted from a reflection written on January 12, 2009.
Visit John 10:1-18 for the parable of the Good Shepherd.
More information about the University of Salamanca is at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Salamanca
Follow links here to learn more about how others lived their experience of duality.
To dive into the world of Spanish artists in the Golden Age of abundance and scarcity, spend time with the art of three outstanding painters: Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
The mystic poetry of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila is in the same moment challenging and consoling. Explore here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/st-john-of-the-cross and https://www.poetseers.org/spiritual-and-devotional-poets/christian/teresa-of-avila/prayers-and-works/index.html
We are about to close the third week of Eastertide, a time of dichotomy, paradox and challenge. How is it that Jesus the human lived and walked among us, was born of a woman, suffered, died and was buried, yet rose in divine form to show us his wounds and to remain with us forever? How do make sense of this seeming contradiction? How do we allow this incongruity to shape our lives? How do we share this surprising and healing conflict bring harmony to our lives? Today and tomorrow we reflect on these thoughts in a double post.
I am accustomed to using the word dualityin my AP Literature class with students since it is the over-arching theme and technique of Spain’s Golden Age – a time of great abundance and great depravity, great discovery and great abuse, great hope and great corruption. The Inquisition was winding down, mystics seemed to come out of the walls, with Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila being prominent, while conquistadores wrote fantastical chronicles about the New World. Art, music and drama made Spain the center of the universe. A baroque dance of intertwining, opposing, harmonizing threads counterpoint and imbue one another with a newness not seen in single lines of music, simple poems, or lonely themes. Golden Age Spain understood how to straddle the worlds of excess and scarcity, how to live in liminal space and thought.
Diego Velazquez: Las meninas – The Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain
We might name Spain the Crossroads of the World where northern Europe encounters Africa, the Middle East and the Orient, where the New World meets the Old. It is a peninsula and a people in the habit of welcoming invading hoards: Celts, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Germanic tribes, the Moors. Dramatic binary opponents are at work: the first democracy among the noble class with Fernando II is a counterpoint to the harsh Inquisition and the Counter-Reformation. The noble and gracious ideas of Carlos I/V Holy Roman Emperor are nearly annihilated by the fascism of Franco in the 20th century. The Jarchas are sung and written – beautiful love poems by women who yearn for their men at war. Science and philosophy are both welcome guests to this peninsular people who encourage the study of medicine, astronomy. In the XIII Century, Alfonso el Sabio (X) calls all known experts to Toledo to record what they know to form an early encyclopedias (Las Siete Partidas). They recorded rules for the games of chess, checkers and other strategic games; and the stories we treasure as children from the Grimm brothers to Scheherazade make their way to the Western World through this gathering of knowledge. In the modern era, Raúl Pateras Pescara invents the first truly flyable helicopter.
In a further dichotomy of reason and faith, this culture spawns scientists, rulers, theologians and philosophers. Both the Roman philosopher Seneca and the emperor Trajan are born in southern Spain. Miguel de Cervantes writes the first modern European novel, Don Quixote. In the new world, Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz eschews domestic life to enter the Order of St. Jerome and became one of the century’s most known and most loved poet/playwrights. Latin American writers present the world with groundwork for the Magical Realism movement, literature of deep fatalism and deep faith.
We invite you to share dualities you find in your own lives in the comment bar.
Tomorrow, living a life of duality.
Adapted from a reflection written on January 12, 2009.
Follow links here to learn more about how others lived their experience of duality.
To dive into the world of Spanish artists in the Golden Age of abundance and scarcity, spend time with the art of three outstanding painters: Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
The mystic poetry of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila is in the same moment challenging and consoling. Explore here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/st-john-of-the-cross and https://www.poetseers.org/spiritual-and-devotional-poets/christian/teresa-of-avila/prayers-and-works/index.html
Images from: https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/las-meninas/9fdc7800-9ade-48b0-ab8b-edee94ea877f and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siete_Partidas
I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.
These verses refer to our spiritual maturity, our willingness to empty our selves in order to allow Christ to enter. It is a common theme in Paul’s writings: being a slave for Christ.
Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won [the prize]; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.
So many times we look at ourselves, at people and at situations and we see only the defects, the weaknesses, the lacks, the wants. We will feel less frustrated and anxious if we accept what is before us, and pray for those impossible potentialities that we perceive. I believe that is what God does with each of us. God creates us with a maximum and minimum. When we fall, God stoops to raise us up, still dreaming of our best self. We need to dream of our best selves as well, and leave God’s work to God.
All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you. However that may be, let us go forward according to the same rules we have followed until now.
In Eastertide, we celebrate God’s presence in a special way. Today we have the opportunity to explore our response to Christ. When we are unable to rise to our potential, we call upon God for strength and renewal. When we find joy in our lives, we thank God the creator who has made us, Christ the Redeemer who saves us, and God the Spirit who heals us. When we consider our strengths and weaknesses as children of this loving God, we realize that God wants nothing more than for us to run with joy toward the goal of great union in Christ.
Today and all days, let us run straight toward the goal to win the prize. Let us run forward in Christ.
Adapted from a favorite written on May 1, 2007.
When we explore the story of Philippi, we learn that many retired military lived in the city. Perhaps it is for this reason that it was seen as a small version of Rome. Knowing this, we begin to see why Paul writes this letter in the context of competition and prize-winning. How might we put ourselves in this place, with these people, to hear the Word as spoken through Paul? How might we take in these verses to strength our resolve to run the good race?
When we compare translations of these verses, we are patient with our weaknesses and we bolster our resolve.
Click on the image to learn more about this ancient city. Image from: https://www.ancient.eu/Philippi/
In this second week of Eastertide, we continue to relive the Easter miracle of our resurrection. We re-visit the Gospel readings for the Easter Octave, and today we reflect on the false news that abounded in Jesus’ time just as it does with us today.
While [Mary Magdalene and the other Mary] went on their way, some of the soldiers guarding the tomb went back to the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened.
Wherever there is darkness, the light of Christ will pierce deceit and lies.
The chief priests met with the elders and made their plan; they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, “You are to say that his disciples came during the night and stole his body while you were asleep.
Wherever there is secrecy, the power of God will overcome plots and schemes.
And if the Governor should hear of this, we will convince him that you are innocent, and you will have nothing to worry about.”
Wherever there is hatred, the consolation of the Spirit will heal with justice and mercy.
The guards took the money and did what they were told to do. And so that is the report spread around by the Jews to this very day.
Wherever there is false news, we rely on the authority of God to lead us to the truth. We trust the model of Christ to ask with compassion. And we believe in the support of the Spirit to reconcile the world.
Click on the image to read about a case study of fake news by Shelly Palmer or visit: https://www.shellypalmer.com/2018/01/fake-news-case-study/
The Noontimes 