by Mason Puckett

Romans is full of complex theological teaching – about sin and atonement, about law and grace and justification, about Spirit and flesh. But the apostle Paul has not written any of this complex theology for its own sake. It’s all adding up to something: a church. A church composed of people from different ethnic, social, and religious backgrounds who now bring different religious priorities into the church. All the rich, dense teaching that Paul offers in Romans takes on a…

Here is the real drama, the central dramatic foundation from which all other story is derived. It is the drama that occurs within the most secret crevice of the human heart, where the deadliest battle is being fought. We are pulled to conform to the present world in its present age of sin. And we are pulled to be transformed into the image of Christ, set free from sin. How aware are we of the forces that tug on us…

Luke 2 tells the story of Mary and Joseph losing track of their 12-year-old Jesus when they leave Jerusalem and Jesus quietly stays behind. By the time his parents realize he’s missing and conduct their search for him, it’s more than three days. They finally find him, upbraid him, and return home with him. And somehow, Mary comes to “treasure” this in her heart, Luke tells us. Apparently, Mary eventually decides that that time she lost her son was something…

The opening of Luke’s Gospel draws us to contemplate the promise that Christ is coming into our midst. Coming into our lives. Entering into our day. Invading our space. Such a promise is bound to make some of us leap for joy, and make some of us sweat. Sooner or later, Christ will pierce his way into our lives. When that finally happens, will we be ready for him? Will we make for good hosts when he gets here? Luke…

After Jesus was born, how many people do you think walked right by Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, totally oblivious to the fact that this baby was in fact the Christ, the hope of Israel? Do you think you would have known? Be honest. In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph bring a month and half old baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem (40 days, according to Torah custom). This is normal for newborn boys in Israel. Even though Mary…

The season of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is a time to be honest about everything that’s still broken, all the healing that hasn’t happened yet. When Christmas finally comes, we will praise the God who has come into our midst, but until then, we remain in the language of Advent, in which God’s transforming work in and around us isn’t done yet. While the season of Advent makes room for the sourness of not-yet-healed brokenness, it…

Malachi, the final of our Minor Prophets and the final book of the Old Testament, addresses Jerusalem at a time when the temple has been rebuilt as Haggai initially sought out. The priesthood is back in full swing and the temple has once again become the center of Jerusalem’s religious life. But there’s a problem: the priesthood is doing a pretty bad job. Under the priests’ leadership, the Israelites’ worship is lazy and indifferent, their sacrifices and prayers devoid of…

“On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. On that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more, and I will remove from the land the unclean spirit.” (Zechariah 13:1-2) A cleansing is taking place, says the prophet Zechariah on God’s behalf. God’s people will have their sin washed away,…

“Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.” – Haggai 1:8 With these words the prophet Haggai initiates the building of a new temple in Jerusalem. The original was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC. Those living in or around Jerusalem were then taken as captives to live in Babylon. But now (after Babylon’s fall at the hands of…

“I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the LORD. I will sweep away humans and animals, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea.” (Zephaniah 1:2-3) Here are the first words we get from the ninth of our Minor Prophets. There is no preamble. No icebreaker. From the first breath the prophet takes, there is undoing. We see Genesis 1 happening in reverse. At the word of God, creation is folding back…

In the Minor Prophets, what we mostly encounter is a word from God to the people of God. But Habakkuk is more conversational. Before God can offer his own word, the prophet jumps in. “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2) The prophet looks around and sees insidious violence done to God’s people when they are at their weakest. The people are praying, praying to the God who sees the downtrodden,…

Nahum is the book Jonah wished he could have written. While Jonah was called to wrestle with the abundant mercy of God toward the wicked city of Nineveh, Nahum is the one to prophetically announce Nineveh’s impending downfall. “Concerning Nineveh… the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries… they will be cut off and pass away.” (Nahum 1:1, 2, 12) “The LORD is slow to anger” was Jonah’s complaint (Jonah 4:2), taken from a famous poem in Exodus 34. Nahum draws…