In today’s gospel reading we find Jesus attending worship at his home congregation in Nazareth for the first time since he left. One can almost imagine the scene as the familiar – and yet now somehow unfamiliar – Jesus takes his old place in the synagogue. The sweet elders of the congregation surround him, excited to hear how the boy they saw grow up has faired in the world. The men Jesus grew up with fish for stories of life outside of little Nazareth; tales of danger and adventure. For others, it is as if time hasn’t passed; Jesus is – frustratingly – still treated as the carpenter’s boy. As anyone who has left home for a time and then returned can attest, the scene Jesus finds himself in is already setup to be a charged situation. Jesus, however, has done a lot more than study a semester at Judah State or take a month abroad in Rome.
Read more...This chapter starts with a newly baptized Jesus being lead by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days. After being tempted by the devil and successfully overcoming him, Jesus returns to his ministry in Galilee teaching and healing as he goes. After an undisclosed amount of time, Jesus finds himself in his home village of Nazareth where he takes his customary place in the synagogue on the sabbath to read from Hebrew scripture. Jesus recites passages from Isaiah 61 and 58 pointing towards the purpose of his incarnation. Verses 21 to 30 all takes place within the synagogue and document the congregation’s reaction to Jesus’ proclamation of fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah and his interpretation of what their reactions will be to the reality of who he is contrasted to the reputation and expectations that have preceded him.
Read more...The parable of rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31 raises many uncomfortable questions about wealth, poverty, salvation, judgment, and the nature of the afterlife. Most uncomfortable for me, is the parable’s apparent ease with the idea of the rich man being tormented in Hades.
In the narrative, torture is introduced abruptly without comment and neither Lazarus nor Abraham seem to have a problem with it. The rich man is dead, buried, and being tormented in Hades all within one quick declaration in vv.22b - 23. Lazarus makes no plea for mercy with Abraham on the rich man’s behalf in the parable. Indeed, Lazarus remains completely silent during the entire afterlife exchange between Abraham and the rich man. Abraham throughout his entire discourse with the rich man shows no repulsion to what is happening. On the contrary, Abraham makes it clear in v. 25 that he knows the rich man is “in anguish.” This he notes, as matter of fact.
Read more...The parable found in Luke 8:5-8, Mark 4:2b-9, and Matt 13:3b-9 titled the “Parable of the Sower” by Snodgrass1 is much better titled the “Parable of the Soils” as it is called in Burton’s2 early 20th century gospel harmony, because the point of this parable has very little to do with the sower and everything to do with dirt.3 Snodgrass provides sufficient evidence that the nimshal found in Matt 13:18-23, Mark 4:13-20, and Luke 8:11-15 fits well within the bounds of what Jesus would have taught to his disciples.4 The explanation of the parable in the text makes it clear that Jesus and the Evangelists saw the seeds in the parable as a metaphor for God’s word being preached to God’s people. The soil represents those who Jesus’ message is preached to and their receptiveness to that message. A person with the qualities of good soil will listen to Jesus’ message, work to understand it, and put Jesus’ teachings into action in her or his life.5
Read more...The interrogative parable found in Luke 11:5-71 is best interpreted not only in the assurance given in v. 8 and Jesus’ sayings about the Father’s faithfulness in answering prayers in vv. 9-13, but also by Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer in vv. 2-4. Snodgrass notes that the parable and the Lord’s Prayer are connected because in each a request for bread is made.2 The connection goes much deeper than bread. The parable is used to connect the words of Jesus’ prayer to the mode they should be prayed in.
Read more...Though the Gospel of Thomas separates the parable of the mustard seed1 and the parable of the leaven2 and Mark does not have the parable of the leaven entirely3, the pairing of the parables in Luke and Matthew bring the similarities of both to light. The parables are connected in that both are about the small acts of women and men who, when paired with the mysterious acts of God, bring forth the Kingdom of God in the present world.
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