15-Nov-20 Matthew 25:1-13 Matthew chapter twenty-five, is for me, at least right now, the most frightening chapter in the entire Bible. It is a chapter that irritates us in the deepest parts of our souls. It is a chapter that we have desperately tried to ignore. It is a chapter that challenges us to engage […]
Category: Gospels
Strangely Warmed
01-Nov-20 Luke 24:13-43 It was just a couple of guys, followers of Jesus, heading home after what must have been the most disappointing week of their lives. They no doubt had been present on Palm Sunday, when Jesus had marched with his disciples into the city of Jerusalem, and hopes were certainly high that Jesus […]
Ah, the Poor: What To Do?
11-Oct-20 Matthew 26:1-16 The disciples were on to it. That alabaster jar of very costly ointment could have been sold, and the money could have been used to help alleviate the struggle of some poor person’s life. As Jesus reminds us, poverty is ever before us. There is no escaping it. Followers of Jesus have […]
By What Authority?
20-Sep-20 Matthew 21:23-32 It has already been a tough week for Jesus. He is in Jerusalem; it is the last week of his life. He’s already tipped over the tables of the money changers, and cursed a fig tree into oblivion, and it is only Monday. And now, he’s gone into the temple to teach, […]
13-Sep-20 Matthew 20:1-16 Sometimes it is fun to tell a story backwards. If I had been hired first thing in the morning, I would be feeling pretty fine right about now. I would be overflowing with joyful anticipation. Things don’t get much better than this. This is gonna be really good. I’ve been out there […]
The Forgiveness Challenge
30-Aug-20 Matthew 18:21-35 The debt incurred by the first servant in this parable is so unimaginably and so ridiculously absurd that it is impossible to calculate it in normal human terms. It is big, really big; it is a debt so large that it would take thousands and thousands of life-times to pay it back. […]
The Resurrection Community
09-Aug-20 Acts 2:1-21 They were called the Resurrection Community. By the time that Jesus was crucified, there were about a hundred and twenty people who were regular and committed followers of Jesus. And it is this Resurrection Community, this gathered fellowship of believers who are all together in one place as the events of Pentecost […]
Is This Not Joseph’s Son?
28-Jun-20 Luke 4:16-30 Is this not Joseph’s son? Up until the moment that somebody asked that question, Jesus had been doing pretty well. The crowd in the synagogue had been moved and awed by what Jesus had to say, and quite frankly, Jesus had said some pretty awesome things. Verses 18 and 19 are a […]
On Being Cured and on Being Whole
Luke 17:11-19 May 24, 2020 There is a huge difference between being cured, and being made whole. Lots of people experience a cure, but not everyone is made whole. All ten of the lepers in our passage today got just exactly what they were looking for from Jesus. Only one of them, however, gained the […]
Do Not Be Afraid
Mark 6:45-52 10-May-20 The text says that Jesus intended to pass them by. In Mark’s Gospel, this is the second time that the disciples have been in trouble in a boat. On the surface of all things, that doesn’t make much sense to me, because these guys are fishermen by trade. Boats are their thing. […]
