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After ministry in Galilee (4:17—20:34), Matthew’s Jesus enters Jerusalem.  He has announced multiple times that he will go to Jerusalem, the center of provincial Judean power (16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19). There the Rome-sanctioned and allied provincial (...)

The epistle lesson for the Second Sunday in Lent continues in Romans. After laying out his theology of sin and grace on the macro level in Romans 5:12-21, in Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 we see Paul’s (...)

As we continue through the gospel of Matthew, we have jumped ahead to another teaching discourse, this time landing in a series of parables on what the kingdom of heaven is like. Parables, central features (...)

On the surface, this week’s lectionary text is about people doing everything right. They are very religious; one would say, seeking God, and doing what they can to know God’s will and to draw near (...)

When, in Matthew 5:1, Jesus goes up the mountain with his disciples, we get our first glimpse of Jesus as an authoritative teacher. We know that Jesus is a teacher and a healer because the (...)

For all of the complexities and uncertainties surrounding these verses, the message is quite clear: trust that God’s work is liberating always, even in the midst of trouble and difficult circumstances.  The Book of Isaiah (...)

Is the second Sunday of Epiphany too early for disappointment and frustration? In a new year, just after celebrating Jesus’ birth and then baptism, we are confronted with prophetic frustration and impatience. As the Book (...)

As we celebrate the baptism of our Lord this week, it is worth considering what role Jesus was being baptized into. As I have been writing across the past several weeks, we may choose to (...)

The Bible does not come with instructions. When a Christian opens the Bible, literally or electronically, she does not hear the voice of Oprah Winfrey or James Earl Jones, telling her how to organize the (...)

Here is the promise: God is with us, so that we might live.1 God is with us, so that we might believe. God is with us, because it is hard to believe, and God knows (...)