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
Location is everything in this fairly disturbing passage, and the potential for anti-semitism is rife. So the first thing that must be said is that we should read it an internal critique, a Jew criticizing other Jews, and as we read it we should consider a mental parallel - what if an outsider Christian launched … Continue reading Luke 19:1-27 Zacchaeus and Rahab
A blind beggar calls out to Jesus as he and the disciples are approaching Jericho. Jesus heals him of his blindness. In this story, Luke is telling us that we can only really see when we come into contact with the divine. Sight is not about our eyes but our souls. True sight is seeing … Continue reading Luke 18:18-43 The Blind Man’s Calling Out
KPB Stevens 