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Live. Die. Live.
Like Peter, we think protecting the Messiah is a good thing. The right thing. Instead, Jesus tells us all to face death.
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Messianic virtue
Jesus rejects Peter’s protection; not because it is wrong, but because it itself is a rejection of true messianic virtue.
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Virtuous and Wrong — For Proper 17A
This week, we are reminded of the challenge of speaking up—that our certainty can make us wrong.
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Getting behind the hard-working Jesus
Few passages set in relief how our relationship to Jesus is influenced by our own behavior—and values.
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Between Proper 16 + 17 (Year A)
This week, we have the second half of a story many would prefer to never think are even connected in the least bit.
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Beyond the Right Answer
Peter mistakes Jesus’s talk about who he is as a question of identity. But Jesus is always talking about relationship.
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Tough Questions
When Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is, he invites his followers to dig past identity. And into what they have seen. what is Jesus inviting all of us into?Proper 16A | Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus asks his followers a pair of tough questions in this gospel. They aren’t complex, of course. Jesus isn’t…
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Repent of Power
In Matthew 16:21-28, we see not just a simple rejection of Peter for being stupid, but a rejection of the historic seducing power of power. Proper 17A | Matthew 16:21-28 Before he foretells of his death, Jesus warns his followers about the Pharisees. While it’s direct, it’s also cryptic and difficult. It’s a warning we’ve struggled to…