Luke 19:7, Matthew 21:31, John 1:11, Luke 7:34, Mark 2:17
There is a story of a public sinner who was excommunicated and forbidden from entering the church, He took his woes to God. "They won't let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner." "W...
Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? OT Foreshadowing While Luke’s account of the procurement of the donkey on which Jesus rides into Jerusalem has no precedent in the Hebr...
Luke 19:28-40, Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Zechariah 9:, Micah 6:8
The Paradox of Lent | AIM Commentary Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? OT Foreshadowing While Luke’s account of the procurement of the donkey on which Jesus rides int...
Mark 5:14-20, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 43:18-19, Titus 3:5, John 3:3
In the story of Jesus and the demon-possessed man in Mark 5:14-20, Jesus gives new life to that man. When the townspeople saw the result of Jesus’ healing – an entirely new man, almost unrecognizable ...
Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? A Hard Saying There are (at least) two leaps that Jesus’s listeners have to make here. One is the reality of the incarnation and the o...
Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? A Hard Saying There are (at least) two leaps that Jesus’s listeners have to make here. One is the reality of the incarnation and the o...
Lord, forgive us for saying that you are not enough. Though you give us shelter, food, clothing, and all that we need, we are not satisfied. We spurn your fatherly care like a petulant and ungrateful ...
Reflection “I took the money, I spiked your drink, you miss too much these days if you stop to think… waves of regret and waves of joy, I reached out for the one I tried to destroy,” sings Bono of Ju...
It was more than I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate Son of God, that only he who believed in him would have everlasting life…my reason was not ready to believe literally that Jesus by h...
The Showdown The key to understanding today’s passage is to be found in Jesus’ previous confrontation with “the chief priests and elders” in Matt. 21.23-32. There, the religious leaders of the Temple...
Matthew 21:33, Philippians 3:4b-14, Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20, Matthew 21:33-46, Psalm 80:7-15, Isaiah 5:2, Matthew 24:null
Preaching Commentary The Showdown The key to understanding today’s passage is to be found in Jesus’ previous confrontation with “the chief priests and elders” in Matt. 21.23-32. There, the religiou...
Psalm 118:, Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9, Luke 19:38, John 12:13, Ezra 5:null, Ezra 6:, Mark 12:10-11, 1 Peter 2:5, Deuteronomy 7:8, 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:26-27, Philippians 2:8-10
Introduction This guide is often read on Palm Sunday and it is especially interesting when read in light of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. All the gospels include a quotation of part of P...
Psalm 118:1-2, Luke 19:28-40, Psalm 118:1-2, 29-39, Psalm 118:null, Ezra 5:null, Ezra 6:, Mark 12:10-11, 1 Peter 2:5, Deuteronomy 7:8, 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:26-27, Philippians 2:8-10
Preaching Commentary Introduction As we use our acronym (AIM) for understanding the lectionary Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, we should remind ourselves that the lectionary texts are chosen very carefully t...
That which of all things unfits man for the reception of Christ as a Savior, is not gross profligacy and outward, vehement transgression, but it is self-complacency, fatal self-righteousness and self-...
It seems to me… that if it is possible … for human beings to choose to live more and more out of tune with the divine intention, to reflect the image of God less and less, there is nothing to stop the...
One of the earliest forms of Christian art isn’t a painting, sculpture or even a catacomb fresco. It’s a patch of graffiti on plaster, discovered in the Paedagogium on the Palatine Hill in Rome and da...
Jesus did not descend from the cross. He was powerless, delivered up to his opponents. There was a false and erroneous form of Christianity that refused to accept that. As early as the second century ...
John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-10, 1 Peter 2:24, Colossians 2:13-14
It was more than I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate Son of God, that only he who believed in him would have everlasting life…my reason was not ready to believe literally that Jesus by h...
Hebrews 4:16, Luke 18:9-14, James 4:6, 1 John 4:10, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:23-24
…there are two ways to fail to let Jesus be your Savior. One is by being too proud, having a superiority complex—not to accept his challenge [to accept what the gospel says about our unworthiness]. Bu...
1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Matthew 13:13-15, Acts 28:27, Hebrews 3:7-8, Jeremiah 7:24, John 10:27, Mark 6:52
Jesus is clear that it is dangerous to close one’s ears, eyes, and heart to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. In The Magician’s Nephew , a novel from C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series, Narnia i...
Matthew 25:35-40, John 8:1-11, Luke 19:1-10, John 4:1-26, John 8:10-11, Luke 19:10
In these acts of love Jesus created a scandal for devout, religious Palestinian Jews. The absolutely unpardonable thing was not his concern for the sick, the cripples, the lepers, the possessed . . . ...