We discuss three questions: 1. What is the challenging question about Jesus which Western culture seems to avoid? 2. How have churches made Jesus smaller than the New Testament portrait? 3. Why do the Gospels provide a proper place to begin a discovery of Jesus?

In this opening chapter, Wright has three sections. The first poses the first question above. The second challenges churches to clear any cultural noise out of their heads and attempt to hear the New Testament message about Jesus more clearly. The third section sees the Gospels as the natural location for Jesus' overarching claim to kingship.

Highly symbolic, Jesus enters the Temple and stops normal activity to teach about the corruption of the Temple and its demise. “Have faith in God” Jesus tells his disciples. But, why? The disciples believe in God. What is different about what Jesus is compelling them with?

The sermon reflects upon the need to exhort one another to prioritize the faith, realizing that God is working through us.

We’re there two entries into Jerusalem the day Jesus rode the colt? What kind of tension was mounting between the crowds and the Temple authorities? Was Jesus mocking something before his demonstration in the Temple? It feels like a revolt is probable. I compare it to the seismic shifting of the New Madrid quake in the Midwest in December 1811 through February 1812. The destruction of Jerusalem seems imminent because of clashing kingdoms.

Christmas is sentimental but it often limits the story of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. What does Luke teach us about Jesus’ birth and about the kingdom that being brought into the world? Are we continuing to tell the story of the kingdom or are we content to assume that culture is accomplishing that for us?

The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 conjures up familiar images. The word Samaritan now has a positive association but it didn’t when the lawyer tested Jesus. Why did the lawyer stand up to test Jesus? Was the lawyer asking about going to heaven? Why did Jesus use a parable to answer or rather, reframe the legal expert’s question?

I briefly comment on the Protoevangelium of James, the mythical birth story of Jesus from 200 years after Jesus. What exactly was Jesus’ manger? What exactly was the inn that had no room for the pregnant couple? How is Jesus’ kingdom distinguished from Caesar Augustus’ kingdom in Luke’s story and such humble birth circumstances? Do the nativity scenes we’re accustomed to symbolize the story behind God’s plan for Jesus to be the Messiah, the Lord, the Savior of the world?

Christmas is upon us! How well are the cultural depictions of the nativity of Jesus being translated today? The manger is a sweet sign for the shepherds, but what was unique about it?