Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! Rank ingratitude. Now, a parable isn’t supposed to cover all the details. It’s supposed to get across at least one, clear, main…
You’d think, after what had happened there just the day before, the Temple officials would be on the lookout to bar Jesus from the Temple: strict orders to the gatekeepers. …
Jerusalem, Jerusalem—people from all over were eager to come to Jerusalem: the city of David, vital heart of Jewish culture and learning, the site of the Temple. There was a…
Bethany is even closer to Jerusalem than Jericho, about two miles: a good walk. Each step brought Jesus closer to Jerusalem and all that would happen there, happen to him,…
Wasn’t it Kenny Rogers, bless his heart, who sang about someone believing in him? Then there’s that even older song about the paper moon: “It’s a Barnum and Bailey world…
The Sons of Thunder had it coming, not that Jesus owed it to them, of course. But who among them really was going to argue that he had outdone James…
My phone buzzes at odd, unpredictable hours, especially around the big holidays: amber alerts—child abductions. Often at those times of the year, it seems one parent is taking a child…
There’s just enough distance between Jesus and his followers as they walk along that, though their words aren’t distinct to him, Jesus can tell they’re arguing. The church continues to…
It can feel like there’s so much a Christian has to give up, to be a Christian. If it were just a matter of giving up things like kale, I…
General, later President Eisenhower and, a few years after, General Douglas MacArthur were both honored by ticker-tape parades. And no wonder—both had been at the strategic epicenter of bringing terrible,…