This week's gospel occurs only in Luke. At the start of his gospel, he writes: "... I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus..." (Lk 1: 3). This leads me to think that Luke records this passage as being relevant to Theophilus who must have been a rich man in order to fund Luke in his research and the production of the gospel. Not only the gospel, of course, but also the Acts of the Apostles. To produce these books, written on vellum (fine leather) by four scribes, simultaneously receiving the dictation of the evangelist, was an expensive business. (This also explains why it is impossible to get back to the one "original" version since each scribe would have made a slightly different version recording what the evangelist said.) Theophilus is exhorted not to vaunt himself over the community, of which he was an important member, rather: "For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." (Lk 14: 11) In this way he would be imitating Christ, as we are also called to do as missionary disciples. St Paul put it this way: "Let each of you look not to his own interests, but to the interests of others. let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, whom, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross." (Phil 2: 4- 8)
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