From seeing to believing

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In today’s gospel we see Jesus in an encounter with the Pharisees as time rapidly approaches the events we know as Holy Week. The Pharisees and other religious leaders have had about three years of reports, stories, encounters and more about this itinerant preacher from Galilee. How is it that the son of a carpenter is so well versed in Scripture and such a gifted orator? What about the reports of healings, driving out demons, healing leprosy, and all the demonstrations over the power of nature? The pieces of the puzzle are all there waiting to be joined into one clear mosaic. He is the one who teaches with new authority, who commands the power of the sea, the one who implies he has the power to forgive sin! But they just can’t put it together. They just can’t see it. Continue reading →

Change in the air

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The German Reformation had its unique beginnings. Germany before the Reformation was prospering. All classes, except for the knights, were enjoying a better standard of living than ever before. Population throughout Germany had risen, education had spread, literacy was growing, and the princes, bishops and the Holy Roman Emperors were patrons of scholarship and the arts. The humanist movement in Germany was welcomed by the aristocracy, the intellectual community, and the German church. Continue reading →

Foolish Wisdom

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Today is April 1st the traditional day for pranks and jokes ending with the classic: “April’s Fool.” The exact history of the celebration is shrouded in speculation and mystery, but historians have their “best guess.” Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1. Continue reading →

Sin no more

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent, Year C. In yesterday’s post all the accusers and the crowd of people had left the scene. This prepares for the fourth and final stage of this story–Jesus’ response to the woman (vv. 10-11). He straightens up and asks for a report of what happened, as if he had been totally oblivious to what took place as he concentrated on his writing. He does not ask her about the charges but rather about that aspect of the situation most heartening to the woman: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? (v. 10). Continue reading →

Jesus’ Response

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent, Year C. In yesterday’s post we left the scene with the scribes and Pharisee awaiting Jesus’ answer: “So what do you say?” When he heard what the teachers of the law said, Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. This action has been variously interpreted. Some say Jesus was embarrassed to be confronted by a promiscuous woman (unlikely); others, that it was a ploy to gain time to think how best to answer. Some suggest that he was writing the sins of the accusers, a tradition that goes back to St Jerome and which later appeared in 10th century Armenian gospel manuscript. Continue reading →

Put to the test

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent, Year C. The gospel for the day is the well-known “woman caught in adultery.” In John 7 the Feast of Tabernacles is underway. Jesus has been publically teaching in the Temple precincts, arousing the interest of the people and the concern of the Jewish religious leadership.  The leadership meeting presumably took place on the last (and seventh) day of the feast. They are discussing what to do with Jesus – and murder seems to be on their minds (7:1).  Early the next day, Jesus is coming early to the temple to teach on the morning of the added eighth day of the feast, which was a day of rest (Lev 23:39). Continue reading →

Background and Context

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent, Year C. The gospel for the day is the well-known “woman caught in adultery.” Interestingly, it does not seem as “well known” in ancient times. It does not appear in the earliest manuscripts of John’s gospel yet it appears in well attested manuscripts. Is it not original to John? Is it a later addition? St. Augustine held that it was authentic but scribes, thinking Jesus was too lenient on the adulterous woman, simply did not copy it into their manuscript. The technical specialists will debate the topic – probably until the second coming, but even the hardest critics admit that the sense of the story is Johannine is its “feel.” Continue reading →

Empathy and karmic balance

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“A man had two sons …” (Luke 15:11) – such is the beginning of the beloved and well-known Parable of the Prodigal Son. But you know Scripture doesn’t come with titles for such things. That’s just what the parable has always been called. But we could call it something else. The Parable of the Waiting Father? Or perhaps the Parable of the Petulant Older Brother? I guess it all depends on what draws your interest and attention. What about you? Where are your thoughts drawn: to the younger son’s selfish greed, the older son’s arrogant fury, or perhaps the patient father’s extravagant love? Continue reading →

Being prodigal?

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I have had a life-long interest in etymology, the study of the origin of words and phrases. I subscribe to the Merriam-Webster “Word of the Day”, not for the definition, but for the etymology of the word. I think it was in my first year of theology, the word “prodigal” came up. I thought to myself, “I know that one, it means having lived a less than worthy life, a sinful life.” – probably based on the older brother’s assessment of his wayward, wandering younger sibling.  Who knows? Perhaps the older brother was correct, but the word prodigal means “a profuse or wasteful expenditure.” Continue reading →