Fear
-
This week’s gospel comes to us as a final exam—not a random teaching. That context, in the last days, is central to our understanding of it.
-
The dark parable Jesus tells challenges us, not to learn what to do, but to recall and do what we’ve already learned from him.
-
This dynamic of showing up and doing because it’s the thing is at the heart of the gospel and Easter itself.
-
When we hear Jesus’s apocalyptic talk, we often shut down. Which means we avoid hearing the good news itself.
-
We hear Jesus talk about division and the destruction of the Temple with a sense of fear while he offers hope.
-
Over and over again, Jesus tells us to not be afraid. So why is it that we insist on using fear as a justification?