Month: April 2019

Luke 19:11-27 It sounds like a chidren’s bedtime story, the kind that begins, “Once upon a time….” “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.  So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.”  (A mina was about three month’s wages.)… Continue reading A Man of Noble Birth

Luke 19:1-9 “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he…” I remember singing that song.  In fact, it may have been one of the first songs I ever learned as a child in church. It speaks of Jesus specifically reaching out to a rich man who was “small in stature,” and… Continue reading A Wee Little Man Was He

Luke 18:35-43 One of the things I learned early on in seminary was that when a particular event in Jesus’s life is recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke – all three, the Synoptic Gospels – pay attention. Well, the healing we have been examining over the last few days is one of those events. What… Continue reading Following and Glorifying

In Mark’s account of the healing of Blind Bartamaeus (Mark 10:46-52) we have the same request we talked about yesterday: “Lord, I want to receive my sight.”  Lord, open our eyes. There is a detail of the story that has always struck me. It is the part about the blind man “casting away his garment”… Continue reading Casting Our Garments Away

Matthew 20:29-34 29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” 31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the… Continue reading Lord, Open Our Eyes

We have been looking at the material that is unique to the Gospel of Luke, in the section leading up to Jesus and his followers final entry into Jerusalem.  And so it begins… We hear of how the Son of Man will be delivered unto death on a cross We hear the disciples insist they… Continue reading And So It Begins….

It is a wonderful parable. It tells it of two men who “went up to pray,” – one who wants to show off how righteous he is before God – and the other you feels unworthy to do anything but seek God’s mercy and grace. According to Jesus, the one who went home from the… Continue reading Two Men Went Up To Pray….

For a couple of weeks our church is exploring the topic of forgiveness. It’s interesting that, as it turns out, today’s scripture passage selection is on the same subject.  (See Luke 17:1-6) First, Jesus spoke of how we are called to forgive others who offend us – even up to 7 times in one day… Continue reading Forgiveness and Faith