It's Personal

When people hear Luke 8:18, they assume it is talking about stuff.

But Luke, like the Book of Job, is not about stuff.

It is about darkness and light.

When people evaluate others—their first mistake is that they evaluate at all—they measure what others have. That is how the Duopoly assesses Job. They love him because he was rich, pity him because he was poor, judge him because he was self-righteous, or cheer him because he did not give up.

They experience the full range of human suffering, not through their own trials, but by observing and evaluating others.

They think they are something when they are nothing—wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Women and men who glory in the flesh; who glory in the suffering of others.

They are the Duopoly—the "both-sidesies" people.

Thus says the Lord: There is only one side; my throne in the heavens. It is mine, my kingdom rules over all, and I am not mocked.

Even what they think they have is already gone, fading before they can grasp it—lost in their foolish desire to measure it.

There is only one thing needful.

And it cannot be counted as loss, because it does not come from them.

That is why they think it has no meaning—because it is not of their making.

Those who think like them, who act like them, will become like them.

This week, I discuss Luke 8:18.

Show Notes

• ἔχειν (to have) and δοκεῖ ἔχειν (thinks he has)
  • 1 Corinthians 8:2
    • οὐδεὶς θεὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς “There is no god except one.” (oudeis theos ei mē heis)

• • • لَّا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ “There is no god but him.” (lā ilāha illā huwa; common phrase, e.g., Surah Al-Baqarah, 255)
    • שְׁמַע יִרָאֵל יְהוָה (אֲדֹנָי) אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה (אֲדֹנָי) אֶחָד “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (shamaʿ yisra'il, yahweh [adonai] eloheinu, yahweh [adonai] aḥad; Deuteronomy 6:4)

• • Galatians 6:3
• δοθήσεται (it will be given)
  • Romans 12:3
  • 1 Corinthians 4:7
• ἀρθήσεται (it will be taken away)
  • Romans 11:21-22
    • ἐκκόπτω (ekkoptō) “cut off, cut down” כ-ל-ה (kaf-lamed-he)
      • To complete, finish, or bring to an end. Destruction, annihilation, perishing.
  • 2 Corinthians 13:5
    • Luke makes 2 Corinthians functional in 8:18, reinforcing “the light” in 8:17 as an implement of testing. See my comments on the previous verse: φανερός / ב-ח-ן (bet-ḥet-nun) / م-ح-ن (mīm-ḥāʾ-nūn)

In Latin, “en-” and “ex-” are prefixes with distinct meanings:

The word “encounter” comes from the Old French “encontre,” which means “meeting” or “opposition,” and is derived from the Latin “in-” (meaning “in” or “on”) and “contra” (meaning “against” or “opposite”). At its root, “encounter” literally means “to meet against” or “to face.”

In contrast, the anti-biblical term “experience” signifies “going through a test” or “emerging from a trial.” It emphasizes the personal involvement and subjective perception of events, where meaning is drawn from one’s own reference point. This internalized perspective distinguishes experience from encounter, as it places the self at the center of interpretation, making it inherently self-referential.

I appreciate Father Paul Tarazi for highlighting this distinction and Matthew Cooper for further exploring the Latin etymologies with us—over coffee. ☕

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