Lord of the sabbath – Luke 6:1-11 – October 2

The Sabbath, the “Day of the Lord”, has been both bane and blessing.  As blessing, it served to remind God’s people of His provision of their needs, it reminded them of Whose they were, and it offered them refreshment in the midst of difficult living.  As bane, it became a heavy burden to keep it [...]

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calling all sinners – Luke 5:27-39 – October 1

A church I once belonged to had an adult fellowship group.  It was called “Saints and Sinners”.  Apparently, it was a fun group, enjoying each other’s company, as well as welcoming unchurched friends to join.  But the group name implied this distinction between the “religious” and “the rest of us”.  This was also a church [...]

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if you choose – Luke 5:12-26 – September 30

The way we react to the healing ministry of Jesus and His followers depends largely upon our past experience.  Some of us have experienced healing, medical or otherwise, which we can directly attribute to God.  Others of us are less certain, and still others have been hurt when we’ve been encouraged to believe in healing, [...]

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yet if you say so – Luke 5:1-11 – September 29

These guys knew how to fish.  They had toiled all night, the best time to catch the kind of school fish that were available in Genneseret, the Sea of Galilee.  It was clear that, whatever the reason, the fish weren’t around, at least not on the shore where they were most apt to be found [...]

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Authority – Luke 4:31-37 – September 26

“Authority” is not the best of words these days.  It conjures up for some images of repression, abuse, and malfeasance.  Unfortunately, most of us have negative pictures of power, rather than positive.  Like Jesus, we can say, the kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors [...]

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Scripture fulfilled – Luke 4:14-30 – September 25

As Jesus went back to his hometown of Nazareth, freshly empowered by the Holy Spirit, He fulfilled God’s Word in some striking ways.
Note that he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, as was his custom (Luke 4:16).  In fulfilment of the 4th Commandment, God the Son, in the flesh, continued to obey the [...]

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it is written – Luke 4:1-13 – September 24

As this story makes clear, and as the Bible clarifies, Jesus knew what it was like to be tempted and tested.  The writer of the Book of Hebrews says, [he] has been tested in very respect as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).  Jesus tangled with his own desires, the values of his world, [...]

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Spirit baptism with fire – Luke 3:15-22 – September 23

No wonder everyone was filled with expectation, questioning each other as to just who was this wild-man in the wilderness.  John, the Baptist, was a sensation, not only in that he was wearing the traditional prophet’s clothes and eating a prophet’s diet, but also in that he was uttering words not heard for generations, words [...]

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not to judge but to save – John 12:44-50 – September 22

If you ask the average person who doesn’t follow Jesus what she thinks of “Christians”, the first word that is apt to come from her will be “judgmental”.  For whatever reason, Christians seem to have been “tagged” with this label.
Perhaps it’s unjustified.  In today’s culture it seems as if we always need to be in [...]

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Becoming children of light – John 12:27-36A – September 18

As the darkness i beginning to swirl around Jesus, as it will eventually seem to overtaken Him in crucifixion and death, the Light is burning brighter.  Over the next chapters, if we haven’t already done so, we will see what Jesus is really “made of”.  As the darkness asserts itself against Him, we will see [...]

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