Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Remembering Mark is remembering someone who wrote much of others but not himself. He apparently came from a family of believers (as Peter went to their house when he was freed from prison), and later joined the Apostles on their journeys. Later in Acts 15, Mark's failure would become a point of argument between Paul and Barnabas, so much so that the two parted company and Mark and Barnabas res...

One of the reasons the story of Jesus is so believable is because it tells of so many failures. Jesus didn't come to destroy his enemies and establish an army that couldn't be stopped. He rode into town on a donkey and recruited faulty, fallible people to take up the cause after his own shameful death. Peter was no exception. His betrayal was poignant because this is the same Peter who Jes...

The way Jesus handles his final hours before the arrest is important. Of course, he doesn’t run away and hide. He moves forward with purpose, connected to the Father, knowing the fulfillment of Scripture. He also makes sure to confirm that he is not leading an armed rebellion, both because this is not the heart of God and because his followers might have been killed. Violence is the work of the cr...

This scene is not only the prelude to the crucifixion, but also the resurrection. Jesus talks about the perfume preparing him for death, but he also talks about drinking new wine in the Kingdom. You cannot have one without the other, because this is God's whole plan. The redemption of mankind is critical in the crucifixion, but not just so we will have eternal insurance. It is also important b...

Jesus talking about his return is an idea that has been interpreted in many different ways, but the fact that he asks his followers to believe that he will return and that they should be expectant of this event is fairly universal. This is more than a neat trick, it is the fulfillment of the Kingdom in its completeness. As Jesus was resurrected, so will all things be made new in him, a new Heaven...

Much has been made in many sermons about this widow who gave all she had to the church. Rightly so. The fear of living without money is prevalent for many of us, and our material possessions sometimes own us as a result. The widow was among the lowest in the ancient world, and she did not mind making herself lower still by giving away her possessions. Such would also be the case with Jesus, as he...

Jesus has a view of God's future that is difficult to explain to those who refuse to see things any way but their own. The Sadducees deny the resurrection, and the Pharisees and Herodians are so mired in legalism that they want to define Jesus based on his interpretation of the law. It's a shame. If they had taken a moment to step away from that entrenched point of view, they might -- like...

Jesus is unloading some pretty heavy truth on the religious leaders. Just like the vineyard tenants, they were give charge over what was God's. Also like the tenants, they have abused their power. The keys to the Kingdom are being taken away from them and being handled by the "vineyard owner" directly, in the form of his Son. Of course, Jesus did have one more chapter to that story,...

Jesus is doing many symbolic things that point to the kind of Kingdom he’s building in this passage. He starts by riding on a donkey colt as he enters Jerusalem, which is both funny and ironic. Most victors, coming home from war, would have rode in on the biggest war horse they could find to show their triumph. Jesus seems to be both poking fun at that establishment and turning it on its head. And...

Suffering is part of being a disciple, but it is not without meaning. Jesus suffered, and James and John would as well. Suffering is a lesson we learn to both understand the heart of God, but also to share in the sufferings of others.

It's tempting to think that Jesus was condemning the rich man for being rich, but that's not the case. There were wealthy people throughout the early church, and many of them played important roles. Jesus points out with this man what the difficulty is: the man's wealth is the most important to him, or he might lay it down as Jesus asked. The apostles did this, and did so immediately....

Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and prophets, so it is symbolic that he appeared with Moses and Elijah and then was left to himself. God ordained the Law and the prophets as a starting point, but it was inadequate. Jesus gave meaning to God's play by showing what it looked like when it came to life.

The disciples seem still to want to be in charge, to control the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish. Of course, they have it wrong. It is not a Kingdom to be controlled and regulated, or that would just be legalism all over again. Instead, the Kingdom of Jesus is made to be shared and expanded. This is why Jesus was so eager to include those who work in his name: he is the key, and that remains...

Peter rebuking Jesus was quite a gutsy move. Not only was Jesus the Son of God, but he was also Peter's teacher. Jesus responds by rebuking him in return, but of course that's not the end of Peter's story. He will make many more mistakes, but then he will be the leader of the new Church. Maybe brashness has a place in the Kingdom after all.

Jesus certainly honors those who approach and ask for what they need. The Gentile woman he appears to insult sees her child healed, and the mute man who is brought directly to him is made whole. Perhaps that willingness to come to Jesus shows that those who wish to be healed have bypassed all other options and come to Jesus, who does not leave them in the cold.

Jesus didn't have much patience for those who inflicted rules on others while showing no love. The spirit of the law was to help the people learn God's heart, not merely follow the rigor or a set of laws. Jesus put breath into that law and showed them a new way, and the face of God himself was their guiding light.

The resurrection of Jesus means more than God’s power shown in the Son, it means our own future. Jesus is the pattern of the resurrection that will come true for all things, and we are included in that if we are part of his body. He is risen indeed!

Jesus laid a full day in the grave, which also happened to be the Jewish Sabbath. This was God’s rest day from the beginning of creation, so it is fitting that life was being brought back to God’s Son as the Sabbath is meant to bring life to us.

The arrest and trial of Jesus is full of irony. His accusers seem to acknowledge who Jesus is, and Jesus seems content to let them do the talking. He is walking a prophetic road now, completing the work that he came to do. We want to rush ahead to the resurrection, but this is an important moment too. Jesus is doing more than just walking to the gallows, he's showing the humility and love of G...

Jesus's washing of his disciples feet was highly unusual. The job was usually reserved for the lowest servants, and would certainly not have been performed by someone in authority. Jesus is redefining authority in his Kingdom. Not that he sought power, but that he came to serve.

Is Jesus abandoning the earthly family he was born into? Of course not. Later, at the cross, caring for his mother is right at the front of his mind. But he is giving those in his Kingdom a new kind of family, a bond that comes though him and binds us together in a Spirit of love.

(Sorry I'm late... I messed up my scheduling!) What was the difference between being close to Jesus and being just outside his inner circle? Time with Jesus himself. The disciples didn’t have any special skills that made them superheroes, but they did have the benefit of more time in the presence of Jesus. With that increased amount of time witnessing what the Word looks like when it is given...

There’s a big difference between Jesus’s approach to the Sabbath and that of the religious leaders who used the law to control others. Jesus got to the heart of the law, which was to bring the life God intended to man, but just get better at avoiding error. That life was none other than Jesus himself, and those who tried his way found it a much less oppressive path.

Matthew seems like a pretty logical choice if you’re looking for disciples. He knew the government, and he knew how to keep books. But was that the reason Jesus chose him as a disciple? It’s fun to think that maybe the reason Jesus picked him was because Matthew had a crowd of friends around him that weren’t particularly interested in religion. That’s the kind of people Jesus wanted to talk to, an...

What kind of king doesn't want a big audience? The kind that comes to show what God looks like among humanity, and that's exactly what Jesus was. He didn't want to fill arenas so he could be heard talking (and there weren't microphones anyway!), but he was interested in building the Kingdom in people, one person at at time.