Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Matthew’s gospel we read this story: “When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Matthew we read, “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For... Read more
In both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels we read this analogy: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27 cf. Luke 6:47-49) The gospels of Matthew and Luke each incorporate this saying into the climax of their accounts of Jesus’s wisdom teachings. Matthew lists it as the last teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and Luke includes it at the end of the Sermon on the Plain. Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Luke’s gospel we read, “The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. Over the last two weeks I witnessed many of my friends argue the wrongness of what is taking place on U.S.’s southern border. I watched online as many of the people they attend church with argued on behalf of the U.S.’s actions. I read thin arguments which did little to veil the bigotry from which those arguments flowed. These are Christians who ironically also worship... Read more
We need to be honest. There are things in the Sermon on the Mount that are difficult to accept, especially for people in social locations of privilege and power, especially here in America. Those of us who are privileged in the status quo always find the teachings of Jesus difficult, whereas those who are who are less privileged tend to resonate with Jesus’ teachings in thee gospels and hear them as good news. Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. When we speak of the fruit test in the gospels, three passages come to mind: Luke 6.43-45: “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in... Read more
“It’s not enough to simply offer a gospel that only offers divine forgiveness of sins. A gospel that is faithful to the Jesus story must include people forgiving people. It must include a redistribution of power and resources so that everyone has what they need not simply to survive but also to thrive. It must include reparations alongside reconciliation. It must include access and inclusion where the vulnerable have been excluded. A gospel that is faithful to the Jesus story must include material, holistic liberation.” Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s or sister’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother or sister, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. There is an age-old adage, “Like teacher, like student.” In the gospel of Matthew we read: “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!” (Matthew 10:24-25, cf.... Read more
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