Luke 8:40-56 “Who touched Me?” That’s the question Jesus asked the woman with the flow of blood. He asks a similar question of us today: “Who will touch Me?” What happened when the woman with the flow of blood touched Jesus? We should begin by examining her condition. Her flow of blood made her ritually unclean, which, at least in part, explains her shyness before the Lord. Her flow of blood had made her weak and lifeless, but, because... Read more
Luke 8:26-39 The Christian life is a human exorcism in slow motion. Because the speed at which God delivers us from ourselves is often slow, we often miss what God is doing in our lives. What would your life look like if you took it and sped it up so that a day passed in a second? If you could imagine this, a year would pass in about six minutes, and a lifetime of 80 years would pass before your... Read more
Luke 9:28-45 My all-time favorite opening sentence from a work of fiction (even better than “Call me Ishmael.”) has to be the first line from Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It goes like this: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.” Kafka proceeds, in a perfectly deadpan, Buster Keatonesque fashion to describe the sad fate of this transformation on the life of Gregor Samsa. This morning, however, we... Read more
Luke 9:18-27 “Who do you say that I am?” I want you to try and answer Jesus’ question today, but without words. You can’t say, with Peter, “The Christ of God” or “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” You can’t say, “He is the second person of the Trinity, both God and man.” And you can’t say, “My personalLordandSavior.” I want you to see if you can answer Jesus’ question, “Who Am I?” by reflecting on... Read more
Luke 9:1-17 In this morning’s lesson, I see not just one but two miracles. The first miracle is one we’re all familiar with. We’ve all heard and thought about the miracle of Christ providing enough food for 5000 people from a few loaves of bread and fish. But where is the second miracle in the Gospel this morning? It’s what I call not the Feeding of the 5000 but the Feeding by the 12. The hidden miracle in the feeding... Read more
Luke 8:16-25 “For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” What’s up with this passage? Is this the same Jesus they’ve been telling us about? He sounds like a kind of Robin Hood in reverse. He seems like a kind of tsilaicos (socialist in reverse), saying that the rich will grow richer and the poor will grow poorer. If this seems shocking or... Read more
Luke 8:1-15 When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a mad scientist, mixing up different colored potions to unlock the mysteries of the universe. I guess my son Charlie must have gotten my genes because lately he’s wanted to know all about chemicals. Of course, the fun part about chemistry isn’t all the technical stuff – it’s to see how chemicals react. In Luke 8, Jesus Christ challenges you to consider perhaps the most important reaction between... Read more
Luke 7:36-50 I wonder sometimes if we really understand or remember how great the forgiveness of God is in our lives. If we’re Christians, then surely we’re aware of how great God is and how grave and serious even a single sin against the Almighty and Holy One is. Surely we’re aware of the many times we have sinned against our Lord either by doing what displeases Him or not doing what does please Him. Yet the tragedy of this... Read more
Luke 7:18-35 I think God is trying to tell me something! Once again, in Luke 7, we find people going out to meet Jesus and see who He is. In this case, it is the messengers of John the Baptist, and once again we find people diligently searching for Jesus Christ and investigating who He is and what He has done. This shouldn’t be surprising, since Luke himself was one who took in hand to set in order a narrative... Read more
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Monday of 5th Sunday in Trinity – Luke 9:46-62
Luke 9:46-62 “But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.” Well, that seems like a petty reason to reject Jesus! To understand what this means, especially to us, it’s always wisest to look at the larger context. At the beginning of Luke 9, Jesus sent out the 12, which is, in itself, a step up in the process of discipleship to which Jesus calls His disciples. After they have returned, He recruits... Read more