Day 231 – Take Up Your Cross

Today’s reading: Luke 9:1-26

Lot’s of interesting short tidbits to take note of today.

First, is the first verse of the chapter:

And he called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases Luke 9:1

Notice, Jesus specifically and formally conveys this power to the Apostles.  This authority does not come from their “faith alone” but a specific grant of authority from Jesus.  Personally, I like to think this might be where Jesus formally made the Apostles deacons of the Church.  Although, I certainly don’t think we can say that definitively from this passage we do see in Acts 8, that after being made a deacon Phillip had similar authority.

Second, note in Luke’s account of the feeding of the 5,000:

And he TOOK the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he BLESSED them, and BROKE them; and GAVE to the disciples to set before the multitude And they did EAT, and were all filled: and there was taken up that which remained over to them of broken pieces, twelve baskets Luke 9:16-17

This is the same pattern of actions that occur in the other accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 and at the Last Supper, showing that all the events are connected.

Third, we see Luke’s account of Peter’s confession of faith.  Here, Jesus tells them that he must suffer and die.  Then Jesus says,

And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me Luke 9:23

It always strikes me that, when people remember and quote this verse, they often leave out the word “daily”.  This is again another example of Jesus rejecting the idea that we are saved by faith alone and that good works play no role.  As Catholics, we state again that we can only accomplish good works because we are one with the body of Christ and his grace empowers our works to be meritorious.  However, it is clear that Jesus calls us to seek to be servants and do good works for others daily.

Tomorrow: Luke 9:27-45