This week we’re continuing our reflection on the Bible’s raw and honest portrait of the human condition. We will look at the word “transgression” in the Bible, which refers to ways that people betray or violate someone’s trust. This concept provides us with an important perspective as we continue to lament and draw attention to the realities of racial injustice in our culture.It’s never pleasant to focus on our failures or the ways that we are complicit in the betrayal of others, but it’s necessary. Only then can we open ourselves up to the healing and forgiving love of God that transforms us into agents of justice and peace in our world.
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This day’s 
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I feel sorry for the Levites, the scribes and the Pharisees that were sent from Jerusalem to investigate all the commotion and buzz surrounding John, the one baptizing out in the wilderness at the Jordan River. Israel has a history of people coming along and claiming to be the Messiah – the people get caught up in the fervor and are just sure that this is the One to Come who will lead the army that throws off the yoke of the occupying army and re-establish the throne of David. The cycle is this: a self-professed Messiah appears, all the world runs to him, the revolution starts, foreign armies come and crush the rebellion, and in the end, it was a false Messiah. So, you can see why the Jerusalem authorities send investigators down to the Jordan river to ask John: who are you, what are your intentions. The religious authorities in Jerusalem have a responsibility to acclaim the Messiah when he comes, but there is this legacy of false messiah, misplaced hope, and people needlessly dying – all for naught. So…. They seek out John – once again wondering if the promise of the Messiah is true. 
30 Even all the hairs of your head are counted.31So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 
Death is always untimely. It comes crashing headlong into our lives and into our families. Even if death’s inevitability has been forecasted and known, its arrival remains untimely. There is always more we wanted to do or say. There is never enough time, only the time given us.
One moment of time out of a whole lifetime and Thomas is branded for life: Doubting Thomas. Ouch. And the funny thing is that the word “doubt” never appears anywhere in this Gospel passage. There are six perfectly good words in Greek to express doubt. None of them are used. The word that is used is “not trusting.” 
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