This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Jesus’ “Parable of the unforgiving servant.”[1] The passage is in verses 21-35 of chapter 18 of the Gospel according to Matthew. Click here to read it. Chapter 18 could be titled “Community prescription.”[2] It contains five pericopes.[3] Our passage is the last of them. I title it …
This Sunday, the lectionary will invite us to ponder our personal and communal responsibility for sin committed by others. The passage, Matthew 18:15-20, also teaches us about the onerous and blessed responsibilities of church leaders – do click now and read it. Why does Jesus care about sin? What is sin anyway? Why did Jesus …
The lectionary invites us this Sunday to ponder Jesus’ prediction of his suffering and death in Jerusalem, Peter’s reaction, and Jesus’ response. It reminds us we’re caught between a sentence now and in the future. The passage is Matthew 16:21-28. Most bibles split it in half and supply the headings “Jesus Foretells His Death and …
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This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder the gospel passage which many translations title “Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ” (Matthew 16:13-20). The passage features Jesus and Peter and “the disciples,” the twelve members of Jesus’ inner circle. It tells of a conversation between them. By this time, Jesus has performed miraculous healings, exorcisms, …
Was Jesus incredibly rude to a desperate mother? Why didn’t his biographers bury the story? This Sunday the lectionary invites us to ponder Jesus’ encounter with a desperate woman, reported in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 15, verses 21-28. The Gospel of Mark gives a parallel account, in chapter 7, verses 24-30. Matthew calls her …
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Why did Jesus water-walk but not teleport?[1] You know the report. After Jesus “fed the 5,000,” it was dark. But Jesus insisted[2] his disciples set off on a dangerous night journey across the sea (lake) of Galilee, without him, before he dismissed the crowds. There was a terrible storm. The disciples rowed for hours. They …
Why did Jesus enact the miracle of 5 loaves and 2 fish? There are four authorized accounts of the life of Jesus. Called “gospels,” they are named after their authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All of them report Jesus’ miracle of “feeding the 5,000 (men).”[1] The gospel reading for this Sunday is Matthew’s account …
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If it has feathers, it’s a bird. If it runs on tracks, it’s a train. If he plays a guitar, he’s a guitarist. If she ??? she’s a Christian? This Sunday, we will hear two parables told by Jesus. The text is in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. As I wrote …
The parable of the wheat and the tares (weeds) is one of the lections (readings) for this Sunday. Like all good parables, it doesn’t make immediate sense. Even after reading the explanation given by Jesus. It’s a parable, a simple story with deep, mystical meaning, often pushing the hearer into a corner, confronting him or …
“A year of colour and sex” is how the author puts it. He gushes. Over what? Over the abundant flowering of trees. In the jungles. He begins: It has been a year of colour and sex for the lowland rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia. This [2019] is a “mast year,” when dozens of tree species …
