The first followers of Jesus never stopped considering themselves as Jews. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah and they were living out their Jewish faith in light of God’s intervention in the life and ministry of Jesus. The success of the mission among the Gentiles, the non-Jews, caused them to re-think what their faith in Jesus… Read More »

The Book of Leviticus contains what is usually called the Holiness Code. Holiness in this context does not so much deal with morality as it does purity. Purity is not about sin but more like contagion.  The Israelites should choose not to eat certain foods or use certain items to demonstrate their dedication to the… Read More »

On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. was speaking in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King said he had been to the mountaintop and looked over and seen his people arriving in the promised land. He added: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned… Read More »

Even though it is listed as second in the structure of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Mark is in all likelihood the oldest of the written gospels, composed about 70AD. The text itself does not mention the author but ancient tradition has named Mark as the evangelist. Which Mark? There are several in… Read More »

Saul said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Faith in is not an idea, a catechism, a theory. It is personal. It is about the complete identification the believer has with Jesus. The gap between heaven and earth has closed. As Jesus shared our life, we share… Read More »

Apparently, the gospel arrived in African before it came to Europe! Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians. In Acts 8 we have the story of the deacon Philip converting this Ethiopian, from a country of east Africa, to the faith. The presumption… Read More »

According to the Acts of the Apostles after the martyrdom of St. Stephen “a severe persecution” broke out in Jerusalem. People fled.  Those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. What was intended to surpress the nacent Jesus movement had the opposite effect of spreading the word. St. Luke uses geography to illustrate how… Read More »

The crowd challenged Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?” This is v. 30 of chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. The first fifteen verses of the chapter are the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and the fish to feed the five… Read More »

Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me … because you ate the loaves and were filled.” In any human interaction there is a tendency to ask “what do I get out of it.” Jesus warns the people that is the wrong question. Yesterday there was young mother in Church… Read More »

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Wouldn’t it be great to have a burning heart? All too often we feel like we are just going through the motions, particularly when it comes to church. The author Annie Dillard says that… Read More »