Jewish people celebrated the feast of “Purim” this week. “Purim” means “lots” in Hebrew and refers to the Persian empire’s wicked prime minister Haman’s decision to cast lots to determine when to exterminate the Jewish people (Esther 3:7). The biblical book of Esther recounts this ordeal and how divine providence, not chance, delivers the Jewish people from Haman’s attempted genocide through Queen Esther. There is no mention of God anywhere in Esther. Even so, it is quite clear that luck... Read more

My ninety-three-year-old mother passed away on Sunday, February 23. The memorial service was this past Sunday in the city where she was born and where she and Dad raised my sister, brother, and me. Mom and Dad were not successful by society’s typical standards of greatness. They had no fame or fortune. But while they did not epitomize such greatness, they did embody goodness. In that case, they were hugely successful. In fact, they have helped me redefine success. How often... Read more

The Book of Esther does not mention God anywhere, but it is obvious that divine providence permeates the book. God preserves the Jewish people while under hostile Gentile rule in a foreign land. The Fast of Esther and Purim, which the Book of Esther documents, highlight God’s people’s suffering and deliverance from their enemies in the Persian Empire. Whether it is providential or coincidental, the Fast of Esther and Purim overlap with the Christian season of Lent and International Women’s... Read more

During Lent, we remember Jesus’ forty days of fasting and temptation by the Devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). We learn a great deal about how to boost our spiritual immune systems from observing Jesus’ interaction with Satan. There is much talk these days about vaccinations and immunizations given the fears of a pandemic surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. Those whose immune systems are weak are more prone to contract a disease. While by no means full-proof, Harvard Medical School provides... Read more

Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain recorded in Matthew 17:1-13 serves as a fitting transition from Epiphanytide to Ash Wednesday and Lent this week (Refer here for an earlier post on the Transfiguration and here for one on Ash Wednesday). It also serves us well in coming to terms with the need to be booths or temples of the Holy Spirit rather than confine Jesus and God’s Spirit’s operations to a building or place. According to Matthew 17, Jesus had just... Read more

It is easy to become indifferent to others’ sorrows and sufferings when we live in relative comfort surrounded by modern-day conveniences. It is also easy to discount and become indifferent to our own sorrows when a prosperity gospel culture of celebration and happiness surround us. On Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, we should lament the loss of lament in the American church today. Soong-Chan Rah writes, The American church avoids lament. The power of lament is minimized and the underlying... Read more

The Feast of the Transfiguration occurs on August 6. Still, today we join with others across the globe in highlighting the Transfiguration as the culmination and close of Epiphanytide and transition to Lent. All three Synoptic Gospels highlight the Transfiguration. We will focus on its appearance in Matthew chapter 17. As a precursor, Matthew 16 includes Jesus’ confession of Jesus as the Christ, Jesus’ rebuke of Peter for resisting Jesus’ claim that the Lord must suffer and be killed by... Read more

One of the most striking features of Jesus’ ministry is his extraordinary patience with ordinary people like you and me. Ordinary Time in which we find ourselves presently in the Church Calendar is when the mystery of Christ penetrates every area of our lives so that we grow into Christ’s fullness. For those of us who think we have already attained fullness and graduated in Jesus’ leadership school, we should ask ourselves how patient we are with those we lead.... Read more

One of the striking, paradoxical, extraordinary features of Jesus’ way and teaching is that those who do not resist his commandment, but submit to it, find rest. Just the opposite occurs for those who resist Jesus’ commandment. When Jesus’ yoke of discipleship rests on us, we rest. When we throw it off, we experience heaviness of soul. Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus as saying: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon... Read more