Episode 12: "GAVE ROOSEVELT 7,060,017 PLURALITY", Luke 9 51-62

The Ordinary Times

An October 23, 1933 presidential election article from the times entitled, “GAVE ROOSEVELT 7,060,017 PLURALITY.” It was more than a story of what was won, it was a story of what was lost… and who lost it. If you listen to this podcast often, then you know where I am going with this. There is a parallel between this news story and the Good News narrative found in Luke 9 51-62. The part that may be surprising about our Bible story today is that it will conflict with how much of our storytelling is presented in Christianity. We often frame things in terms of “winning.” We speak of victory in Jesus, winning souls for Christ, conquering the flesh… the list goes on and on. But in today’s Scripture we will see Jesus encountering the politics of nationalistic and ethnic division, rethinking the relevance of biblicism and rejecting undisciplined discipleship… and he loses something in every case. In all of his success and wins, there was nothing that Jesus was afraid to lose.