It is hard to read this portion of the Gospel without tears coming into my eyes. I think it’s Jesus saying, “Simon, Simon, listen!” that gets to me - it’s so urgent, so full of passion and hope. Jesus knows that he only has a few hours left, and that if his disciples are going … Continue reading Luke 22:24-46 The Urgency of Hope
The disciples knew, of course, what was coming. For weeks and weeks Jesus had been talking about Jerusalem, and how he would be arrested, tortured, and killed there. He also told them that he would rise from the dead, but that was so strange and mysterious that their minds couldn’t rest on it, but instead … Continue reading Luke 22:1-23 The Last Supper
We want to be prepared for disaster. We stockpile food and clean water, learn survival skills, build bunkers. Well, I don’t, but some people do. Disaster-preparedness is seen as a positive good in our society, and maybe it is, but it’s worth asking what it costs us. Jesus is very confusing about preparedness in this … Continue reading Luke 21:1-38 Be Unprepared
As Jesus teaches in the temple, many of Luke’s themes of power and control, and the way that these things contrast with the dream of the transformation of the world, come to the fore. It’s no accident that John the Baptist’s name comes back into the narrative. As you’ll remember from the beginning of Chapter … Continue reading Luke 20:1-47 Beware the Scribes
There’s a very real way in which Jesus’ actions as he enters Jerusalem are political theater. He stages an entrance that is very similar to a Roman triumph, when a returning general would parade his troops through the streets and show off his captured enemies. And the people of Jerusalem were used to these triumphs, … Continue reading Luke 19:28-48 Oppression and Transformation
KPB Stevens 