Spark Cast

We all have an innate impulse to assess and judge others. It is almost second nature. This may be part of the reason why the Way of Jesus is tremendously frustrating. Rather than accept any labeling, opinions, or condemnations, Jesus defers to observation, experience, and the “truth of the matter” as the judge, and focuses on what he (and we) can do, rather, to bring salvation, “rescue” to the cosmos.

As is often the case, our familiarity with these teachings of Jesus can blind us to the real challenge of His call to lay down our lives.

Mary's extravagant act of anointing Jesus with perfume is an ode to a much broader movement of Jesus and the Gospel elevating the presence and voices of women.

People were puzzled about Jesus’ identity in the Gospels and are still today. In John 10, people ask Jesus, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Through the Gospel of John we have encountered people’s confusion over Jesus’s role and identity. One of the biggest metaphors Jesus used to address this — the “Good Shepherd” — poses the question, “Now that I know who the Good Shepherd is, how do I figure out what he wants?”

In the thick of a debate with religious leaders about Jesus’ identity, he claims, “Before Abraham was, I am.” They disagreed (and tried to execute him on the spot for it). Was Jesus saying he was God? What person in their right mind could possibly believe that about themselves?

In John 9 Jesus heals a blind man. It's a miracle! Yet, not everyone who was there saw Jesus for who he is - The Messiah. They were blind. But there is more to this text for those who are willing to consider digging deeper into the biblical story, for people who are disabled, and how non-disabled people may be blind.

When we think of Jesus as the “light of the world”, we often think of the sharp contrast between light and dark, true and false, and whether we’re saved in the light or lost out in the darkness. Jesus’ claim that he is the light of the world is actually much bigger than that, and it tells us deep truths not just about who Jesus is, but about who we are and what our purpose on earth is.

The radical nature of Jesus' love protects a woman that was caught with a man who wasn't her husband. Some religious leaders want to stone her to death. This text raises many questions: What does this story mean? Why does Jesus help this woman? What was Jesus writing in the dust? What caused the religious leaders to walk away? We will learn that Jesus helps those that are having stones thrown at them. He is a Stone Catcher.

Why is following Jesus and living out the law seem so contradictory to Christians, then, and now?