Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. What happens when we have to choose between saving life and abiding by the law? In Mark, we read of Jesus asking a similar question, “Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.” (Mark 3:4) In this story in Mark’s gospel, Jesus contrasts that which is... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Matthew’s gospel, we read of Jesus saying, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14, cf. Luke 6:39) The earliest record of a saying like the one we’re considering today is more than 200 years older than the time of Jesus: “Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned,... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Mark’s gospel Jesus calls to Galilean fishermen, “‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will show you how to catch big fish.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:17-18, personal translation) Last week I was reminded of the hymn, How Can I Keep From Singing. Although this hymn has been around for quite some time in a minority of hymnals,... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In the gospels we read the instruction, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Luke’s gospel we read of Jesus teaching his audience, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36 cf. Matthew 5:48) We can split this saying into two parts. The first portion is obvious: the call to adopt “mercy” and apply it to the way we relate to each other. The second portion of the saying involves Jesus naming God as our “Father.”... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near!” (Mark 1:15) Does term “Kingdom” in the gospels have any relevance to us today? In early Hebrew scriptures, we find two opposing narratives about having a king. The book of Judges is a pro-king narrative, but in the book of Samuel, we read this story: “But when they said, ‘Give us a king to lead... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. In Matthew we read Jesus’ challenge of impartial love, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even gentiles do that?” (Matthew 5:46-47) In Luke’s gospel we read, “If you love those who love you,... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31) This saying of Jesus’ is almost universally referred to as the “the Golden Rule.” The Golden Rule has a broad and lengthy history, beginning, to our best understanding, in 5th Century BCE China. Karen Armstrong writes in The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions that “Confucius was the first to... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. Syracuse University’s Counseling Center defines marginalization as “the process of pushing a particular group or groups of people to the edge of society by not allowing them an active voice, identity, or place in it . . . Some individuals identify with multiple marginalized groups, and may experience further marginalization as a result of their intersecting identities.” This week I ask what the synoptic gospels... Read more
Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons at the right if you enjoy this post. I want to emphasize that the saying of Jesus we are looking at here was not instruction to renounce one’s rights nor to become 1st Century door mats. Rather it was a tactical strategy for them to use in the midst of persecution, respond to their persecutors with love (see Loving Our Enemies), and actively furthering their work toward a safer, more compassionate society for all. ... Read more
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