There are times when it seems Jesus is a bit insensitive to his family. At the wedding at Cana in Galilee, when His mother, Mary, asks Him to help with the wine shortage, He responds, “Woman, what has this to do with me?” In our account above, the Lord seems to dismiss His mother and His brothers, asserting that only those who hear the word of God and do it are His mother and His brothers.

Although I grew up spending lots of time on my grandparents’ farm outside Mt. Auburn, Indiana, I would never presume to be a farmer. The only time my Grandpa Barker let my brother and I drive his tractors, was when he needed help spreading rich, healthy manure on the fields.

Our passage today manifests the width and breadth of the kingdom of God, and God’s intention that all are welcomed into the Church regardless of their gender, social class or ethnicity.

Allow us to dive into some interesting history, given our reading today from 2 Chronicles. Because of our close relationship with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, the largest Lutheran church body in the world, we have had the chance to send visitors to Ethiopia regularly. It is interesting to learn the history of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia which lasted from Menelik I in the 10th century B.C., for 3000 years uninterrupted. How did Solomon exert such an influence in Sheba/Ethiopia?

Clearly, there were those in Jesus’ time who struggled with the identity of this holy man. John the Baptizer, himself, questioned at times. “Are you the chosen Messiah?” John wants to know. He is impatient and it seems he is confused.

Our reading today includes the healing of the centurion’s servant and the raising of the son of the widow of Nain. Both focus on the power and authority given to the Lord Jesus by His Father in heaven. The centurion who lives his life under the authority of the Roman empire recognizes and respects authority when he sees it.

I love the account of the building of Solomon’s Temple and its dedication. How moving to hear that as soon as the king finished his prayer of dedication, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.”

In a way, all of human life is addressed in Jesus’ words above. There are blessings and woes in every life. We are hungry, we weep, we are hated and reviled, we are rich, we are full, we mourn. In all of this we find blessing and woe. And then, there are those who are our “enemies.” There are those who may curse us or strike us, even when we have had the best of intentions. And what does the Lord require of us?