Daily Liturgy and Scripture

What if Jesus had shown up like Superman, leaping tall buildings and being bulletproof? That wouldn't be much help to us in our daily lives. Our Savior was tempted, hungry, beaten, sad, and killed. He joined us in our humanity to show us what humanity can really be. 

We all owe the person we've become to someone. Certainly Jesus was the Word incarnate, sent according to the plan of God... so why was John needed? Wasn't Jesus fine on his own? No. None of us is. Jesus didn't come to be a one-man show, dispensing wisdom and dispelling demons without needing anyone else. He came to share the work he shared with the Father, and he didn't even take for himself an in...

Under normal circumstances, a newborn baby and his family taking on the King of a country might have a predictable ending. Not so when the ruler sets himself against the will of God. And who does God use? Outsiders. Magi from the east, not even those from Israel. These are the travelers we remembered a few weeks ago when we celebrated Epiphany, and today we remember them again. God is at work in p...

Today's gospel reading is short, but pretty important. Joseph sometimes gets sidelined in the nativity, he seems like kind of a bystander. That certainly wasn't true. This little piece of the story of Jesus' birth is important because it gives Joseph a stake. Remember that whole list of names we read yesterday? Naming matters, and a Biblical man's name was often connected to his father. That God c...

Reading the list of fathers and sons for dozens of generations isn't exactly what most of us are after when we look for a verse to guide our lives. But don't miss the value in this: Jesus was connected to a real family. Not just a family, but a family full of scoundrels, prostitutes, and cheaters. This is a great relief. Even Jesus had some nuts in his family, and many of their stories are told th...

If I were Peter, this event would probably be the most important moment of my life. Peter was the most bold and outspoken of the apostles, but that moment at Jesus' trial when he denied knowing Jesus must have surely been hanging over his head. Three times he denied. What does Jesus do here? He asks Peter to affirm three times that he loves him. No mention of the failure, just an opportunity for r...

The way Jesus deals with Thomas should give us all hope. This man who walked with Jesus, who in John 11:16 called the disciples to go die with Jesus, now refuses to believe the resurrection until he sees Jesus for himself. It's easy for us to look down on him, think of him as being maybe one step above Judas. But that not how Jesus saw him. Thomas asked for proof, and Jesus gave it to him. The end...

It's interesting that the story of Joseph being thrown into a cistern comes together with Jesus's body being laid in a borrowed tomb. It seems that the two of them have more than a little in common. Both were abandoned and betrayed by those closest to them and both now find themselves in a hole in the ground. The literal darkness of both of those places is the low point before they started on thei...

The crucifixion is the center point of the Christian faith, and there's a lot going on in the story today. Not only is Jesus fulfilling scripture and resolving the gap between God and man, but many of the human players are revealing their true selves as well. When the religious leaders decree, "we have no king but Caesar," they actually aren't speaking the truth. Caesar isn't their king, but neith...

It's almost unthinkable to imagine preferring anything to Jesus. The crowd, wound up and calling for blood, preferred a violent revolutionary to the man who washed the feet of his own followers. But is it so unthinkable? Don't we have a list of things that we prefer to the humble Savior?

This is one of the most poignant moments of the ministry of Jesus: he is arrested, and his most fervent disciple denies knowing him. The whole enterprise was on the line: Jesus was entrusting the work of the gospel to the hands of those who were failing him. But the story didn't end there. Not to spoil the end of the story, but Jesus isn't through with us just because we fail. Certainly, Peter's f...

John 17 should be a verse to remember whenever we feel alone. If we are in Christ, we are never on our own. The fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is our constant fellowship, and we are held in that eternal embrace. In times we are afraid, feel abandoned, or think we have been forgotten, we have not. We are eternally known by the eternal embrace of Love.

Today, we remember the presentation of Christ in the temple, follow the law of Moses. This is something every Jewish family did, it was part of their role as members of the community. Even though Jesus would one day become the object of worship, this is a reminder that he was a real part of the human experience, and did not come to destroy the law. He said as much in Matthew 5:17. In this moment,...

This is what prayer is: Jesus gives us his name so that we can approach the Father. It's interesting that John records Jesus saying he will now speak plainly, and he starts by telling them exactly how prayer works. Is there anything more important? Jesus gives us the reason why it is. His apostles then, as today, will experience suffering. As they use the name of Christ to approach the Father, so...

Jesus continues to unfold the mystery of the Trinity to his apostles, even outlining what's going to happen after his death and resurrection. It was probably difficult -- and a little wacky -- to hear. He was going? He was going to send a spirit? That listened to him? And talked to them? Jesus acknowledged this. "You can't bear it now" is probably an understatement. But later, at Pentecost, when t...

Though it's hard to digest, Jesus gives a clear picture of what judgment really is in this verse from John. Those who belong to him will stay with him, even through eternity. But those who hate him also hate his Father. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one. There is no picking a favorite part. And even more so, Jesus identifies his followers as himself. If we are in Him, we are taking p...

It's interesting how listening, obeying, and loving are intertwined. Jesus weaves them together in this passage from John 15 like a tapestry. And what happens when we listen to Jesus, obey Jesus, and share the love he gives us? We are him as he is in the Father. It's an eternal partnership in which we are included as long as we abide in Christ.

It must have been a confusing time to be an apostle. Jesus was talking about leaving, and another Spirit coming after him. We have the benefit of centuries of theologians and church leaders who have helped us come to our knowledge of the Trinity, but this ragtag group of former fishermen and others didn't have that. They were getting it first hand, and it would only really make sense after Jesus w...

Jesus is enough. Even those who walked with him didn't always seem to grasp this. As they asked for more signs and more visions of God, Jesus still had to remind them, "I'm him. I'm God." And he is still the same for us today: not only in his miraculous revelations, but in the simple things.

A person's last words matter. Jesus realizes this is the last time he will have all his disciples gathered together before the crucifixion, so he needs to say something that will stick with them. He chooses this time to encourage them to love one another, and to be known for the love they have within their own group. That same love is what should define the church today.

Jesus seems to be contradicting himself here. He has said many times, such as John 5:30 and 9:29, that he is the judge. Why now does he say he doesn't? This is actually good news for us, because Jesus does not come looking to wield a hammer. He comes looking to show mercy. Still, a person's heart and their actions bring judgment on them, a product of their own doing. 

Mary's extravagant offering produces interesting reactions. For her part, she is making an unvarnished, unfiltered offering of love to her savior. But what does Judas do? He does some quick calculations in his head and figures out that they could have really done some good if they sold that "wasted" perfume. He wasn't wrong. But he wasn't right either, because that wasn't what needed to happen at...

What an awful mistake to set yourself against the Son of God. How could they miss who he was? That's probably a complicated answer, but some of it is in what they said as they discussed Jesus' growing fame: the people would follow him, and then the Romans would destroy their nation. That seems a bit harsh. Would the Romans really do that? Destroy the nation because someone new became popular? Or d...

In the raising of Lazarus, it's easy to get caught up in the spectacle. Jesus WAS raising a man from the dead, after all. And that's what everyone was focused on. Sometimes, it's the flashy stuff that we get caught up in. But in the midst of this, something bigger is happening: Jesus is showing what God is like. He's inaugurating the Kingdom. That might have been the quiet part, but it was certain...

"You don't believe me because you are not my sheep." That hits pretty hard. Those who know Jesus' voice, who are "his sheep," believe him. It seems pretty simple, but it's a bit more complicated when we work it out in the day-to-day. It's hard to stay a sheep. Believing Jesus for what he says he will do, even in the face of great difficulty, often requires faith that we may sometimes doubt we're c...