The so-called thief on the cross is called a criminal in Luke’s Gospel. Other gospels use a word for rebels, violent insurrectionists. In Luke, he is a κακοῦργος - evil-doer, malefactor.
One of these criminals mocks Jesus. The other, whom tradition names Dismas, has been observing Jesus. It has changed him.
Read MoreLuther once called the emperor “that poor mortal maggot sack … who is not certain of his life for a single moment” [LW 59 p95]. His point was the exalted rulers can suddenly die, and they cannot truly defend us. At that time, the Ottoman Empire was the great military threat. But Luther saw this in theological terms. The forces of Islam were attacking, and this, he believed, was divine judgment, because the Holy Roman Empire, and the Pope, placed their trust in money and arms, not the Word of God. To place your trust in horses or men—that is, to place your trust in armies—is to trust in maggot sacks. …
Read MoreIt’s disturbing to discover everything is rigged. Naïve, you thought physicians and teachers and media and politicians and pastors told the truth. One day you realize so much is a lie.
This isn’t a new problem. “All men are liars,” the Bible says….
Read MoreYou and I – we’re not living; not all the way, not as we should. Part of us yearns to return to the strong man. We’re like Lot’s wife, looking back to Sodom. Or the Israelites talking about the good food back in Egypt. We’d like a foot in both camps. Be a disciple of Jesus, but not too much. Leave a little room for a bit of hedonism….
Read MoreWhat He did not assume, He did not redeem. This was said about the necessity of Christ taking on our human nature. But perhaps we could even suggest it about the experience of sorrow, fear, dread. “He must thus also undertake the grief in order to overcome the sorrow and not exclude it” [Ambrose]. The Lord Jesus experiences all of our difficulties and troubles. And in all of it, He teaches us also how to bear up in the hour of trial: “Not My will, but Yours, be done.”
At this time, such a notion is incomprehensible to the disciples. So when the soldiers come, they think this is the long-awaited moment when the war for liberation begins….
Read More“Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.” “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.” “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.”
Something happens when you say that a few hundred times in a day. You realize the problem is bigger than me or you, or the scandal du jour….
Read MoreWhat did Satan find in Judas? While Satan asks for Peter, to test him, Satan is not able to enter him. Nor the other disciples, despite their weaknesses. But “Satan entered Judas.” Something is found in Judas that creates an opening.
It may have been greed. We know he loved money, and would steal from their treasury.
Might Satan find an opening in you? …
Read More“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem.” The term we is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
It’s like when a sportsball fan says, “We won the game.” The guy saying it didn’t win anything. The team he roots for did. But he associates himself with the team. When the team wins, he wins….
Read MoreThis is the second time I’ve made this particular mistake. A few years ago I bought a book by Victor Davis Hanson called Who Killed Homer? Since we have a wonderful classical school, I try to periodically read books on classical education, and the subtitle seemed to say it was: “The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom.” But the book was about how classics departments at American universities are captivated by LGBTQ ideology, and PhD candidates write dissertations with titles like, “Marxist Postcolonial Genderqueer Themes in The Odyssey.” I’m glad I read the book, but it wasn’t what I thought I was getting.
I made the same kind of mistake last month….
Read MoreMan is held in the thrall of grief. It is an anticipated grief. We see the world perishing. We love, and see we will lose that love.
And we cannot control this. We can try. We can write contracts and pass bylaws but people are sinful, people are fickle. Friends betray us….
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