I don’t know why I'm finding the ending of Acts so anticlimactic. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading it through a contemplative lens, and there’s nothing very contemplative about what’s going on here. We get told about maneuvers by the Roman authorities to keep Paul safe, and there’s something of the potboiler about this section, … Continue reading Acts 23:12-35 Playing with status
Herod plays a strange role in Luke’s Gospel. Or one might say a mercurial role. He imprisons and beheads John the Baptist because he can’t stand John’s criticisms. Yet members of his court follow Jesus, or at least their wives do, as Joanna the wife of Chuza is named as one of the women who … Continue reading Luke 23:1-25 The Oddness of King Herod
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
“Consider the lilies of the field,” I told her as she sat in my office, agonizing about grad school. She was a college senior, diligent, intelligent, able to do many things. She had always held herself apart from the life of parties and play that most students indulged in, so she seemed a little strange … Continue reading Luke 12:22-59 Consider the Lilies of the Field
Jesus upends the lives and thoughts of the Pharisees, and they respond with anger. He sees that they’re angry, but instead of trying to assuage their anger, he ignores it and continues in his world-altering actions and teaching. He chooses disciples, and although he’s surrounded by a crowd of people, he begins his Sermon on … Continue reading Luke 6:1-26 Blessings and Woes
KPB Stevens 