• The Story of Easter

    The Story of Easter

    This is a big story. A story dealing with life and death and even the very idea of life itself. A story of escape and narrow victory. A story of perseverance and redemption. And in the end, we find new hope and new life. A story of a man who wasn’t just a man dying…

  • Do This and Live

    Do This and Live

    After working our way through the great symbols of Holy Week: the palms and the Triumphal Entry on Sunday; the shutting down of the Temple on Monday and Teaching there Tuesday; the anointing of Jesus and the betrayal plans of Judas on Wednesday; the Last Supper and the washing of feet on Thursday; the Cross…

  • A Task

    A Task

    A Task (Day 40 of A Simple Lent) | Saturday A TASK by Czeslaw Milosz In fear and trembling, I think I would fulfill my life Only if I brought myself to make a public confession Revealing a sham, my own and of my epoch: We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs…

  • True Love

    True Love

    Love for the Lawless and Crucifying the Blameless Good Friday C |  Luke 22:39-23:56 Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.   WHEN I FIRST DENIED JESUS When I first…

  • When Evil Wins

    When Evil Wins

    I never could wrap my head around “Good Friday”. Bad Friday made more sense. These days, Evil Friday speaks to me even more. There is nothing good about the crucifixion. Save your fancy atonement theories for another day. And don’t get antsy and start talking about a resurrection. Get your butt back here and sit…

  • Betrayal & Desertion

    Betrayal & Desertion

    The writer of Mark doesn’t condemn Judas. Not like the others. They need Judas to kill himself or bear the brunt of a Godly vengeance: the scapegoat for his betrayal. Like a true villain, more heinous than Pilate (they can’t wait to get him off the hook), more vile than the leadership Jesus spent three…

  • Wicked Tenants

    Wicked Tenants

    I despise this parable. I always have. Hate, violence, and murder. Images of incarceration and indentured servitude. These are indeed wicked tenants. But I’m not sure the vineyard owner isn’t a little bit wicked too. The fence, the watchtower, the going away and letting them fend for themselves. I find the parable deeply troubling. And this…

  • By What Authority?

    By What Authority?

    Who authorized Jesus to teach? We shouldn’t forget that the chief priests and the scribes (in other words the Temple leadership) ask Jesus a pretty fair question: ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’ They didn’t authorize this. They don’t know him. Who is Jesus to…