Thursday, November 3, 2011

Luke 9:62

"But Jesus said unto him, No one, having cast his hand on the plow, and looking into the things behind, is well-placed in the realm of Placer."  The last few verses of Luke 9 are exchanges between Jesus and those who seem to want to embrace this new realm. After reminding one person that even foxes have holes, but that he does not, Jesus then encourages another to "from-let" the dead, to allow the deadness of life to stay buried.  In the last exchange Jesus notes that once we have our "hand on the plow", we cannot look "into" the things behind.  We can look back, but we cannot focus on the past, we cannot look "into" what we've left behind.  If we do lose focus on the present moment (by looking backwards too intently), then we are "un-placed" in Placer's realm.  The Etymological New Testament allows one to see the connection between the verb and the noun in this last verse of chapter 9.  Often rendered "fit" ( a good translation), it ultra literally refers to how well placed we are in this new placing realm.  The word doesn't imply that we are totally unfit.  We simply need to ensure that we are better placed in our lives to live in this new way, this new realm.

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