Starving, grimed with the dirt of the pig sty, the Prodigal Son came to himself. Maybe he hadn’t really believed in himself until that moment - believed that there was a real self, a soul, that was being obscured by all of the needs and wants of his false self. He had been living a … Continue reading Luke 15:11-32 When He Came to Himself
After Jesus calls the disciples to the near-impossibility of leaving behind their families (Jesus says they should hate their families, just to let the toughness sink in), Luke’s Gospel seems to make an abrupt turn. The Pharisees point out that the people who Jesus is hanging out with aren’t rigorous at all in their faith … Continue reading Luke 15:1-10 Being Sought After
I am not a disciple of Jesus. I have not given up family, and home, and possessions, for his sake. It is important to admit this from the outset, to set aside the hypocrisy and vanity of claiming that I’m something that I’m not. The handful of people who followed Jesus were better at this … Continue reading Luke 14:25-35 Asking for Terms of Peace
We have talked about how the Christian response to fear and to the loss of political and social power is present-mindedness, superrational hope, and a willingness to enter into suffering. Now we come to the final response and expectation, the release of identity. Again, Jesus is with the Pharisees, although now he’s banqueting with them, … Continue reading Luke 14:1-24 The Death of Identity
Yesterday I talked about how Jesus’ teachings provided an alternative to the other types of Judaism being practiced at his time. In an anxious world that was predicting its own destruction, Pharisees worked at mutating their religion so that it could survive, Sadducees doubled-down on the old ways and traditions, Zealots sharpened their weapons and … Continue reading Luke 13:22-35 The Narrow Door of Suffering
KPB Stevens 