Spark Cast

We continue in our conversational format, discussing the parable of the Fig Tree, Mustard Seed, and Yeast. Rather than blaming "sin" for the bad things that happen, the teachings of Jesus look to a hopeful imagination of what could be, and nurtures and nourishes that growth in each of us.

What are the threads that are pulled through the "sign of Jonah," the "good eye" and the exhortation of the Pharisees? In this conversation we tease out several possibilities and options.

Pastors Kevin, Danielle, and Omair discuss various elements of Luke, chapter 11. Through various perspectives, we see once again the radical and revolutionary message of Jesus, and discuss the various difficulties and challenges that emerge when faced with his teachings.

This week we discuss chapter 10 of Luke, the sending of the seventy, and the Good Samaritan. We discover yet again, the amazing commission of love, as an extension of God's story and work throughout history, and a radical revolution for how to even think about the command to love in the first place.

We are struck, yet again, with a difficult, but profound teaching of Jesus to "take up your cross." Set in the original historical context of crucifixion, this command of Jesus is as powerfully transformative as it is convicting.

John the Baptist back from the dead? Elijah returned? Another prophet from long ago? Jesus’ followers, critics, and everyone in between tried to connect (or disconnect) who Jesus was with who they expected the Messiah to be. People had all kinds of hopes in the triumphal––sometimes literal––return of some of these famous figures of Israel’s past to usher in the unending era of God’s reign. Where did these hopes come from? Who did Jesus think he was relative to these figures, and how does that affect how we understand Jesus today?

Apart from the miracle of the resurrection, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only other miracle told in all four Gospel accounts. What made this miracle so significant in the minds of the Gospel writers that everyone made certain it would be told and retold for generations? And what does this miracle teach us today about Jesus and ourselves?

The last words spoken on the cross, "It is finished," holds an ironic poetry, in that this is exactly what everyone thought. The movement of Jesus, the hopes and expectations of the people, they were all done. Crucifixion spoke the last word, and the burial was the end of the movement. Except, in Jesus, there is always another Word that comes after the last word.

In Luke 9, Jesus' commission to his disciples to "take nothing with you," has significant implications for the ministry they were to accomplish and is a model for us to consider today.

While we conclude this series, we persist in our commitment to question asking as a means of pursuing the deepest wisdom of God's world.