The economy, inflation, spending money that isn’t there—got you worried? Surviving your retirement? Healthcare, sickness—concerned about these? Conflict and horrendous crimes, at home and abroad, terror attacks, urban chaos, drug…
Which of them would be the greatest. I don’t even know where to begin. Maybe at your high school graduation, there wasn’t any category, Most Likely to Succeed, but everybody…
It’s no accident, no coincidence, that temptation follows baptism. John offered a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jews were familiar with the forgiveness of sins: they gloried…
Prestige, status, honor, respect, deference—marks of power and authority. The authority comes by virtue of the office, the position. We tend to show respect and deference to a police officer…
The resurrection—one of the essentials of the Christian faith. I’m not really sure that a person can properly call him or herself a Christian without believing in Christ’s resurrection and…
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. …
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…
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…
Jesus is mean. We don’t like mean Jesus. Mean Jesus is too much for us. Can you imagine Jesus insulting someone or treating anyone like a second-class person? You don’t…
We want—and, indeed, need—time for ourselves. Self-care is important! And Christ shows us a model of sacrificial living that may well feel exhausting: when do I get time for me,…