John Oliver and Jon Stewart gave me a moment of zen the other day… I thought you might enjoy it!Happy Hanukkah! Read more

A New Kind of Narrative: Letting Jesus redefine stories across timeThe call to follow Jesus is given to every Christian in this life’s journey. He does not call us onto an easy road but his call has an authority to overcome. We serve the same Jesus who rebuked the systems of oppression, and overcame them. He now calls us in his life giving mission of peace. These verses give us a picture of the depth of that calling. He is… Read more

This week we have been looking closely at Luke 9:51-62. So far we have examined Jesus’ Rejection in Samaria in great detail and now we are examining the three “would-be” disciples. All the pieces to this pericope are pointing to something really amazing. Let’s start putting them all together and see what kind of picture begins to emerge. Verse 57 This encounter happens along the journey. Jesus is in the process of fulfilling his mission. Although Jerusalem is not mentioned… Read more

We continue our Series on Luke 9:51-62 today with a word study… Before we get into a verse by verse examination of the text of the three would be disciples in Luke 9 there is a word used in this passage that is fairly uncommon in the New Testament we should look at. The word ἄροτρον appears only one time in the New Testament, and that is in verse 62. It occurs in the Septuagint in 1 Chronicles 21:23, Sirach… Read more

After Jesus’ rejection in Samaria we find him once again on the road in Luke 9: 57. This passage is an important piece of the story of Jesus and the way of life he calls his disciples to. The text is not explicit about where Jesus is heading specifically, but we do know he continues to head generally toward Jerusalem. In this passage he interacts directly with three would be followers of him. These interactions do have a parallel in… Read more

As we have seen there is quite a bit of background going on in the story of Jesus’ rejection in Samaria. I now lets start putting the pieces together. Find a Bible, open up to Luke 9:51-56 and follow along as we go verse by verse through the text. Verse 51 This passage is a clear break in the overall narrative of Luke, which is why scholars use it to point to the travel narrative.1 When Jesus sets his face… Read more

The travel narrative begins with the brief encounter where Jesus is rejected in Samaria, and rebukes his disciples after they ask if they should burn the Samaritan village. There are a few things we know. Jesus is either in or heading toward Samaria. We know Jesus is planning on staying in a village in Samaria, but he is denied. There is no record of Jesus interacting with the village directly, but his movements are known to the Samaritans. The interaction… Read more

“Follow me.” With these words Jesus invited his earliest followers to leave the life and story that defined them, and to take up his. It is a call that has been given and responded to by countless others throughout history, some have said yes and others have said no, but for many the response has been “hold on a minute.” There is something about Jesus’ call that keeps people uneasy. The problem with Jesus’ call is he doesn’t explain fully… Read more

Scholars recognize a shift in Luke’s gospel with the phrase “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51 ESV). After this point Jesus seems to be always heading toward Jerusalem. Because of this many have called it “the travel narrative.” The travel narrative here is not all that dissimilar to many of the travel narratives that gained popularity in the Twentieth Century. Like “Travels with Charley” by… Read more

The first Day of advent is drawing to a close. Light the first candle and sing a song… This one’s always a classic.Can you think of a time when you waited for something or someone? Read more