Church Blog (Page 9)

The first half of the Gospel of John is often called “The Book of Signs” because of the large role that Jesus’ miraculous signs play in the story. And Jesus is clear as to why he performs them – that we may believe, not just that Jesus is a powerful guy, but that God himself is powerfully present and active in the world. One of these is the healing of a lame man at the pool of Bethesda. This man hasn’t…

Allow me to state the obvious (but not as obvious as it seems): the Gospel of John is a story about Jesus. Why is that something that needs clear stating? Because sometimes we need reminding that Jesus is not just a teacher with some good ideas and advice. Jesus is not an instrument by which we achieve happiness and success (which would reduce him to a pawn in our narrative and needs). He is nothing less than the focal point…

John is clearly eager to follow up Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus with Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. The two characters are perfect opposites. Nicodemus is a respected Jewish rabbi. This unnamed woman is a lonely Samaritan outsider (an outsider to the Jews and even to her own people). And yet, she is the one who listens to Jesus and learns and grows, while Nicodemus, for being a renowned “teacher of Israel,” can’t comprehend…

John begins his letter to the Church (1 John) by talking about how the forces of light and dark pull on us. The dark promises to keep our secrets for us and thereby make us look clean. But the light of Jesus promises to actually cleanse us. John learned to talk like this, of course, from Jesus who, throughout the Gospel of John talks a lot about light and dark. But these aren’t just words or convenient metaphors. They are…

    In the Gospel of John chapter 1, we see the excitement of those who meet and follow Jesus. John the storyteller, Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathaniel. They knew immediately what a special and exciting thing it is to be a follower of Jesus. And now that John begins his letter (later in the New Testament) with, “We declare to you what was from the beginning! What we have heard! What we have seen with our eyes!” (1…

In John 1, we begin with a mind-blowing, densely theological, poetic prologue (vv.1-18). Then we meet John the Baptist (not to be confused with the author of the present Gospel) whose sole concern is making sure we fix our eyes completely on Jesus. And then we see Jesus begin to gather his disciples. The Gospel of John here in chapter 1 paints a picture of what it looks like to be utterly captivated by the presence of Jesus. Two of…

The beginning of a new year is a good opportunity to think not only about beginnings, but endings as well. A path is trodden more wisely when we already have an idea of where the path is leading us. As we take our first steps into 2023, let us look to where our story finds its ultimate destination, something which the book of Revelation is more than happy to show us. Another word for Revelation is apocalypse. We need not…

When we talk about Christmas, we’re talking about the incarnation, about the fullness of God being found to be suddenly and mysteriously human. We Christians get to point at Jesus, someone poor, homeless, gentle, controversial, and despised, and say, “That’s who our God is.” Christmas and incarnation are the good news that God is not far away. God is near, intimately near. And actually, in order to talk about Christmas, we can turn to Matthew or Luke as we often…

In Acts 17, Luke characterizes Athens as a place where people “would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new,” a whole city that treats ideas like commodities, traded every day for the gratification that comes from hearing something new and interesting. This gratification is just one more idol alongside all the others Paul encounters in Athens. He’s here waiting for Silas and Timothy, and in the meantime will converse with people all over town. He quickly…

In Acts 8 we meet two interesting characters. Philip the apostle and Simon the magician. Philip is preaching and healing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Simon is someone in touch with the spiritual realm to also do incredible things. Likely he’s doing many of the same things Philip is doing through the power of the Holy Spirit. But Luke shows us that there’s a great difference between the two. Simon’s magic results in his own personal glory. But…

By Acts 6, the Jerusalem church so far has become known primarily for two things: proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus, and being a source of radical generosity. As we’ve already seen, people like Barnabas are selling everything they own, liquidating all their assets, and bringing it to the church, trusting that that money will end up exactly where God wants it. And until chapter 6, it’s kind of looked like this was being done perfectly.    But now, a new…