We’re continuing on the road with Jesus this summer and a large crowd has joined us. As though to weed out a few folks, Jesus decides to remind them what following along with him truly means. What seems like disparate instructions and examples are actually tied together by one central purpose: look out for the…
I love how this scene opens with a note about how closely Jesus was being watched. When you’re watching someone else very closely, you can miss the thing right under your nose: that they are closely observing you as well. But the dinner guests and hosts probably thought nothing of the way they were acting…
To tell you the truth, this encounter is the Ordinary Time text that strikes the most fear into me as a church professional. The ease with which this synagogue leader takes out his frustration about the “wrong business” being done on the Sabbath, the way he automatically goes into the mode of stealing the woman’s…
As we continue in a time of great polarity and hostility, many of us know all too well the feeling of “father against son… and daughter against mother.” Does Jesus’s own frustration make us feel any better about the situation? Not really. But his commitment to the struggle can bolster our own. Jesus’s teaching and…
“Do not be afraid… You also must be ready…” These opening and closing statements from Christ tie this week to last week’s passage. The lectionary skips over another meaningful message about our possessions and our fears and hones in on our stewardship, or being rich towards God through our obedience. Last week, the rich farmer…
Jesus is speaking to a rather large crowd that is eager to hear from him—according to 12.1, they are even trampling one another to get close. Somehow, a voice from that crowd rises above the rest and the question asked and sparks Jesus’s warning about greed. What Jesus says about greed relates to what he…
This rich collection of Jesus’s teaching on prayer is made all the more significant given the passage that we looked at last Sunday. At Martha and Mary’s house, Jesus encouraged the women to sit at his feet and choose the better portion, being with God. Now, Jesus describes a practice of being with God in…
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