I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb Today is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday”.  As the 4th Sunday in the Easter Season, each year, our lectionary directs us to readings which draw us into one of the grand metaphors that run throughout Scripture – that Christ is our Shepherd, and we the people are his sheep, his flock.  This is a picture that begins with the first shepherd, Abel.  It is seen in the lives of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  God leads his people Israel, his flock, through the wilderness to the green pastures of the Promised Land.  The kings of Israe ..read more

  The Spiritual, The Material, and Jesus Every year, right after Easter, we have the reading that is often called, “Doubting Thomas”.  For whatever reason Thomas missed the first appearance of Jesus in the locked room, and only a week later did he get his wish – to see and touch Jesus and even put his hand’s in Jesus’ side where the spear had pierced him.  Thomas confesses his faith, “My Lord, and my God!” and Jesus commends him for seeing and believing, but even more those who do not see and yet believe. You’ve maybe heard some treatment of this text which sort of downplays t ..read more

The First Word:  Luke 23:34 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[b] And they cast lots to divide his garments. The first word out of his mouth was a prayer.  A prayer to the Father, not for himself, but for his enemies, his oppressors, the perpetrators of his demise.  Yes, for the Romans, the Jews, the bloodthirsty crowds Jesus prayed.  But also for you and me, whose sins put him on that cros ..read more

  50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” The C ..read more

Sometimes people will say, “Pastor, I want to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”  Or maybe your kids will say to you, “Dad, I want to ask you for something but you have to say yes”.  Another like it is, “I want to tell you something but you have to promise not to be mad.” Well it’s hard to make such a promise before you know what you’re agreeing to.  The asker maybe is trying to soften the blow a bit, or prime the pump to test how generous or patient you are feeling.  In any case, that’s what James and John seem to do with the request they br ..read more

Simon of Cyrene Mark 15:16-22 16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters),2 and they called together the whole battalion.3 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compelled a ..read more

  The Servant Girl 15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they wer ..read more

  Annas and Caiaphas – John 18:12-14; 19-24 12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have ..read more

  Romans 5:1-11 Today we are going to take a more expository, verse-by-verse approach to this Epistle reading from St. Paul in Romans chapter 5.  I encourage you to follow along as we do so. So far in Romans he has laid a strong case for how we all stand condemned in our sins because of the law, but then moved on to explain that a righteousness apart from the law is revealed to us – a righteousness by grace through faith in Christ.  Now he continues unpacking the implications of that for the Christian.  There are so many different ways to look at this thing that God does ..read more

  Mark 14:(48b-50) 51-52 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled. 51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. __ "John Mark" We continue our Lenten focus on some of the “minor characters” or “supporting cast” of the Passion Narrative.  Today, we come to the Garden ..read more