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The exile looms large in the Old Testament, and for good reason: it marked the symbolic and material destruction of everything that structured Judahite identity and faith. When Nebuchadnezzar ordered King Zedekiah blinded and deported (...)

My children are in the habit of asking, when they hear about a person in the news that they don’t know, “Is he a good person or a bad person?” I usually try to explain (...)

The most obvious preaching text for Ascension Sunday is Acts’ account of Jesus’ ascension itself (Acts 1:1-11). But because the opening of Acts is the lectionary text for the church’s mid-week Ascension Day celebration (May (...)

Conflict arises in Acts for the first time in this passage.  It’s a story that follows immediately on the heels of last Sunday’s reading, in which Peter, with John at his side, preaches a sermon (...)

The first five chapters of Acts revolve around the Temple in Jerusalem (Acts 2:46; 3:1-10; 4:1; 5:20-24, 42). In Acts 6, Luke’s narrative turns toward Jews from the wider Diaspora whose common language is Greek. (...)

When interpreting Acts, especially the speeches it contains, it is important to pay attention to how this peculiar book communicates its theological understanding of what’s going on in the post-Easter world.  That’s a big topic, (...)

This reading is designated for “Palm” Sunday.  But I feel the need to draw our attention to the elephant in the proverbial room: there are no palm branches in Luke’s Gospel. None. Not a single (...)

If anything, belief in Jesus’ resurrection should get us to see things differently. Based on what he says in Acts 10:34-43, what does Peter, a chosen witness to Jesus’ resurrection (verses 40-41), see differently? What (...)

Mark 11:1-11 depicts Jesus as a long-awaited king. It does this in both obvious and subtle ways, and with a heavy dose of tension and irony. It helps to recall that, for Mark, the very (...)

Some preachers avoid the e-word while others do not, yet we are all evangelists. We all long to proclaim Jesus in the most appealing terms possible. Few messages appeal more than the inclusive Jesus, the (...)