Neighbor. In almost every context except for Church, this is a word none of us have trouble defining. Invariably, if you ask a child or any person on the street, they’ll define it as the people who live next door, or maybe the people on their street, in their neighborhood, or even their city or town. When we here of a “neighborhood” shop or bar or park we immediately know what it is and who we’ll find there.
Read more...Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Days after cleansing the temple, the “chief priests and the scribes with the elders” approach Jesus to question him. In the last several days, especially, Jesus has made a direct and very public critique of how the temple is run. Throughout his ministry, he’s had even more things to say about the religious establishment in Jerusalem. We can only imagine what he’s been teaching in the temple for the last several days that have the people hanging “upon his words.” Those with clear institutional authority – the authority of God’s Holy Temple – want to know under what authority Jesus acts. Jesus answers with a parable.
Read more...There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo′am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
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On the surface Luke 13:1-9 is a little cryptic. There is a lot of talking about a lot of things that aren’t exactly clear or seemingly even related. Once the context of verses 1 through 5 have been made clear, however, its relationship to the parable of the fig tree becomes evident. Jesus is teaching the crowds that gather around him a lesson on God’s mercy towards fallen humanity and the expediency they should have for reconciliation with the Divine.
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 of the Growing Seed – so called by Snodgrass1 – found in Mark 4:26-29 at first glance appears to present an image of a careless and maybe not very intelligent man who aimlessly throws seed around, naps during the growing season, and then harvests whatever happens to grow. First impressions, however, are not always best. On a deeper analysis, the parable reveals an image of humankind participating in the building of the kingdom of God and enjoying the bounty of God’s blessings once his kingdom has been fully realized. In this short parable, Jesus not only answers the question of why things do not seem to have changed too much at the Son of Man’s arrival, but also why his followers should work to build the kingdom they thought would appear in an instant.
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