4th Sunday of Advent: Luke 1:39-55
Luke records part of the visit between Mary and Elizabeth including Mary’s song. There are many themes in this text. Here I’m looking at the extraordinary experience they share in their pregnancy. Perhaps this was answered prayer for Elizabeth, whereas for Mary it was more of a surprise. God saw them both. They were given the great responsibility to raise a child who would make a difference.
Continue reading
23rd Sunday after Pentecost: Mark 12:28-34
The Gospel of Mark shows us the perspective of the teachers and religious leaders through this interaction. We can see some of what they thought about Jesus. They’re vetting this grass roots teacher. Jesus didn’t have the lifelong education and training they had. He didn’t go to seminary, he wasn’t affiliated with a mega-church, and the fringe people in society were drawn to his teaching. The religious leaders needed to check out his theology because their people were listening to Jesus. Continue reading
21st Sunday after Pentecost: Mark 10:35-45
The disciples are once again discussing who gets to be the greatest. Not long before this, Mark 9 describes a conversation where Jesus is telling the disciples about the persecution he will face and at that time the disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest. Right before this interaction, Jesus tells them he will be handed over to be killed. This request is their response.
Continue reading
17th Sunday after Pentecost: Mark 9:30-37
While Jesus is teaching his disciples that his path involves a spiral of rejection and persecution, they miss that part of the lesson entirely. Instead they immediately discuss amongst themselves which of them is the greatest. Continue reading
Do you ever wonder if there were scribes and Pharisees hanging around at the fringes who weren’t abusing their power? I wonder how they felt when Jesus said things like,
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:2-4)
Why is Jesus speaking so categorically? Why is he lumping in the hard-working, caring-for-people Pharisees with those that are abusive and out of control? Continue reading
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
When my husband and I start getting excited about some new endeavor, we get carried away talking about the plans. At some point one of us quotes a one liner from the movie True Stories, “I personally believe I can see Fort Worth from here.” It’s kind of obscure as far as jokes go, but we’re poking fun at the way our imagination wanders—as though saying what we’ll do makes it so. Unlike this quip, these verses in 2 Corinthians say we are something new. What we had been is now gone. This is an unbelievable claim! Continue reading