Jesus asks, “Have you understood all this?” Without hesitating, the disciples respond, “Yes!” Now that “Yes” coming from the very same disciples who only back in Verse 10 were asking, “Why do you teach in parables?” has to strike us as somewhat unbelievable. Add to that 2,000 years or so of church history with extended…

Who are you? Who are your people? Who are your kin? These are questions we’re asked in many different ways every day. Culturally, in the South, “Who are your people?” is an essential question—usually the first question a new person in town, or a new boy or girlfriend is asked. Think about it. We ask…

Today’s gospel reading is very familiar – the parable of the four soils. Many of us learned it in Sunday school. Millions enjoyed the graphic enactment of the parable in the movie “Godspell.” For centuries, paintings and stained-glass art have represented it. Easy to remember because of the vivid description, we readily envision an ancient…

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Come…

Today we read a story that can chill one’s soul, especially a parent’s. However, if we focus only on the topic of parent and child, and the emotional and precious quality of that relationship, we lose the profound heart of what the story of Abraham and Isaac is really about. The Book of Genesis contains…

According to the gospels, a big part of the ministry of Jesus was that he refused to be scandalized. First, he refused to be scandalized by garden variety sinners. Indeed, he was often seen in company with them: prostitutes, who sold their bodies, for example; or tax collectors who ripped people off. He knew full…

“Jesus went about all the cities and villages.” — Matthew 9:35 Scripture is replete with images and stories of journey. We could cite, for example, the epic journey of Abraham and Sarah from Ur in present-day Iraq – the center of ancient civilization – to what was to become the promised land of Israel. Later,…

The lectionary for today is filled with so many themes that one is overwhelmed with riches. There is old Abraham, the ancestor of the promise; the tax collector Matthew, Jairus and his dying daughter, and the woman Jesus encounters, as if by accident, on the way to heal Jairus’ sick child. And in the Epistle,…

Well, this is a rough gospel passage, isn’t it? It seems as if an awful lot of people are going to be disappointed when they come to enter the kingdom of heaven. It sounds as if Jesus is saying that even though some people think they’ve been doing good things, Jesus is going to say…