Human beings are tribal. Even in the United States, where community has evaporated, we find a way to pick sides. Driven by primal instinct, we worship, unflinchingly, the twin gods of ideology and brand, allowing fear and greed to control our fate. The Apostle Peter is no different. He too wanted to pick a side. Peter’s…
Category: The Bible as Literature
Simon, Bar Jonah
Over the years, we’ve insisted on the biblical principle that the integrity of the teacher is irrelevant to their function. To illustrate this point, God repeatedly chooses sinners, like the Prophet Jonah, to spread his word. Insofar as they repeat the words of Scripture, the one who teaches Scripture has no bearing on the mission….
It’s Time to Take a Stand
Beginning with the genealogy in chapter 1, the Gospel of Matthew challenges its addressees to rethink their understanding of the words “king” and “kingdom.” Now, in chapter 16, as they enter a city named after Philip of Macedon, the chips are down. If Peter truly understands the lesson of the bread and can discern the…
The Bread of the Gospel
Faced with stubborn teenagers, a wise parent is steadfast and repetitive. Nothing under the heavens—save the feet of those that preach the gospel—is more beautiful than a parent who disciplines through repetition. By patiently and stubbornly repeating a wise statement, the parent inscribes wisdom in such a way that it can never be erased. Maybe…
A Sign From Heaven
In good times and bad, in peace and at moments of crisis, an evil generation seeks a sign. We want a sign that the good times will keep rolling. We want assurances that the crisis of this moment will come to an end. That’s why we’re “an evil generation”—because we look for signs in the…
On the Way
Whenever we encounter a repeat of any biblical parable, the first and most important question is to ask why the author is repeating this story here, and secondly, how they have have changed certain elements of the story in order to make their specific point. This question is even more curious when the repetion happens…
Up on the Mountain
When Scripture deals with the question of healing, it’s tempting to think of modern medicine, which places its focus on the wellbeing of an individual body. But the very nature of the physical body is what makes it so useful for making the Bible’s point: just as a human body is made up of several…
If I Were a Rich Man
Some people have to work two jobs or more to make ends meet. They can’t afford childcare or healthcare. Each day, they battle the same frustrations and emotions that each of us carry inside, with the added misery of poverty and disadvantage. The working poor live among us, hidden in plain sight. Yet, those of…
Thank You, God of the Universe
The way students are formed in the contemporary West makes it difficult for our minds to accept the empirical truth of functionality. There are many reasons for this, none more insidious than our desire to control the world through our assessment of it. In doing so, we can’t but enshrine something wicked as our good…
The Problem of Fundamentalism
When the scribes and the Pharisees complain that the Lord’s disciples do not wash their hands, even if they are referring to Exodus 30, their understanding of the washing of hands is rooted in ignorance and fundamentalism. When the Lord deals with the question of clean and unclean in the Bible, do we really think…