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Showing posts from March, 2021

Beneath it all, God knows we are just frail humans who don't understand.

  Jesus' last week of his life in first-century, Roman occupied Jerusalem was not a good one.  Jesus met with scandal, pressure from opponents, misunderstanding, a hasty nighttime trial, beating, humiliation, and a grueling death. He was among friends who misunderstood him, and worse, some of his closest friends turned on him.  Peter denied knowing Jesus. Judas betrayed him. In the gospel of Luke, the two events happen side-by-side, first Judas, then Peter.  Judas pretends closeness with Jesus, greeting him with a kiss. Peter stays at a distance, unsure of whether he wants to be associated with Jesus or not. Some people think Judas' offense was worse. He handed Jesus over to be crucified. Well, Peter played the coward. Judas, it seems, misunderstood Jesus and made a poor judgment call that merely helped out events that were already in motion. Peter simply cowered out of selfish fear. However you evaluate their actions, they both turned their backs on and abandoned t...

Stay the Course. Don't Freak Out. The Sky is NOT Falling -- Jesus

  During Jesus' final days in all of the gospels, he warns his disciples about earthly political and physical turmoil.  "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars...nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7 / Mark 13:7-8) "...there will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues (pandemics)...." (Luke 21:11) This is interesting because most earthly kings in Jesus' context were pronounced "king" and given the mantle of authority because  they had brought political and national peace. They conquered. They brought war to an end. Wars and conflict were no longer something to fear, at least for the ruling kingdom. And if they truly were appointed by God's authority, then the God/Gods would honor them and not allow things like earthquakes, storms, famines, or sickly plagues.  If the ruler couldn't secure peace politically and nationally, then they weren't worthy of the title or the job. If ...

Uplifting the Insignificant, Ruling from the Grave

  During Jesus’ last week, several things unfold that the gospel writers use to illustrate significant things about Jesus and what he was about. One of these is the anointing of Jesus. You can read it in Matthew 26:6-13 . The story goes that Jesus was at a dinner party, enjoying company of his friends and others. Sometime during the course of the meal a woman shows up and pours a jar of expensive perfume oil on Jesus’ head.  It’s a slightly strange scene if you’re not familiar with the context. First of all, pouring oil on one's head wasn’t all that strange in the first century. Using oil on one’s head was a thing of hygiene or cleanliness. There wasn’t the convenience of showering daily with a nice botanical shampoo. Oil was the way to keep clean and fresh. Now, especially in the Jewish community, pouring oil on someone’s head was a reminder of the anointing of kings and priests – significant leaders appointed by God. This is what Matthew has in mind. This isn’t just ...

Life Might be Busy, But Often Our View of It is Boring (it doesn't need to be)

  I find it interesting about our human minds that good weather tends to make many of us feel good, energized, and happier, while rainy weather (usually for more than one day) can steal the energy and feeling of happiness. Now, I recognize this is not the case for everyone, but it is a general trend among people. At the most basic, this just goes to show that our moods and feelings, even our energy levels and sense of purpose, often depend on circumstances. This varies from individual to individual, but I suspect something deeper is going on as well. Maybe this is because much of the cultural mentality of our modern world has lost a sense of transcendence and wonder. Our modern cultural mindset is one that generally sees this world as a mechanistic place to be controlled and mastered to fit our lives. We have lost what some sociologists and psychologists refer to as "enchantment" (on more of that, click here ). This world has become a pretty boring, closed system. And because...