Messiah
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A New World
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9 min read
The Transfiguration comes as a strange interlude. But its brevity reveals its true purpose is to reorient the disciples to their new journey.
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They took up stones again
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8 min read
Their confusion over expectations of the Messiah isn’t Jesus’s fault.
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Rethink the Gospel for Advent 3B – Who are you?
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5 min read
Advent 3B | John 1:6-8,19-28 Two weeks in a row, the preacher gets to deal with John the Baptizer. And some of the elements sound repetitive. The quote from Isaiah, the preaching and preparing of the way, for instance. It is a subtle switch from Mark to John. And yet, while we might have the…
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Changing the Image of Jesus
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8 min read
When Peter calls Jesus the Messiah, he gets the right answer the wrong way. A pattern we repeat in our fear of chaos and of intimacy. Proper 16A | Matthew 16:13-20 If you’ve ever watched a painter work a canvas, you see the very transformation of absence into presence. The white canvas gets swirled and…
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Identity Politics
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9 min read
While Jesus tries to help them see what he is up to, they struggle to get past his identity. Even his closest followers are confused by who he is supposed to be. How fighting over the nature of Jesus prevents us from following Him.Proper 8C | Luke 9:51-62 Who is Jesus? Last week, we…
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Getting behind Jesus
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9 min read
This is the first movement in the turning point, the turning away from the early life of Jesus and toward his destiny. The turning away from safety and toward the danger of the cross. The turning away from home and toward Jerusalem. Jesus turns toward Jerusalem before his followers are ready Proper 19B | Mark…