John 20:1-16Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).Colossians 1We look at Jesus and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Jesus and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . .Christ was supreme in the beginning and -- leading the resurrection parade -- Christ is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe -- people and things, animals and atoms -- get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of Christ's death, His blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what God does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of God, giving Him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.

John 20:1-16Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).Colossians 1We look at Jesus and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Jesus and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . .Christ was supreme in the beginning and -- leading the resurrection parade -- Christ is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe -- people and things, animals and atoms -- get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of Christ's death, His blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what God does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of God, giving Him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.

John 20:1-16Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).Colossians 1We look at Jesus and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Jesus and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . .Christ was supreme in the beginning and -- leading the resurrection parade -- Christ is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe -- people and things, animals and atoms -- get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of Christ's death, His blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what God does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of God, giving Him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.

John 20:1-16Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).Colossians 1We look at Jesus and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Jesus and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . .Christ was supreme in the beginning and -- leading the resurrection parade -- Christ is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe -- people and things, animals and atoms -- get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of Christ's death, His blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what God does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of God, giving Him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.

-Mark 3: 20-29-“As if to underscore the seriousness of what he has just said, Jesus concludes with a solemn “Amen” saying. He now deals the final blow to the debt code: blanket pardon. But there is one exception: mistaking the work of the Holy Spirit for that of Satan. As Juan Luis Segundo puts it: The blasphemy resulting from bad apologetics will always be pardonable…What is not pardonable is using theology to turn real human liberation into something odious. The real sin against the Holy Spirit is refusing to recognize, the “theological” joy, some concrete liberation that is taking place before one’s very eyes.This is what the scribal class cannot “see.” Thus by the close of his defense, Jesus has turned the tables completely upon his opponents: it is they who are aligned against God’s purpose. To be captive to the way things are, to resist criticism and change, to brutally suppress efforts of humanization – it so be bypassed by the grace of God. –Ched Myers-Mark 11:1-22-Zechariah 9:9-But the Palm Sunday street theatre tugs at our elbow to make a different point. He makes the poor his priority; he puts into practice the justice of God himself, and so he brings the peace of God himself.As we hold that picture in our minds and look we realize why it is that, while the crowds are shouting Hosanna!, Jesus is sobbing his heart out. The sun is shining, the crowds are cheering, Jerusalem the golden is before him in all its majesty - but with his prophet's eye he can see the disaster coming. He can hardly get the words out.If only you'd known - yes, you, even now - the things that make for peace - but you've shut your eyes. And it's too late. They are coming - Pilate is coming, the monsters are coming, the brutes and the beasts are taking over the garden, and they will trample everything in their path, because you didn't know the moment of your visitation. You didn't recognize the time. You didn't understand the play. You were living in the wrong story. You were looking for the wrong sort of king. You wanted war and I was leading you to peace. In our case, you were wanting a kingdom in heaven, and I was offering you one on earth; and by opting for the heaven-only one, you have abandoned earth to the monarchs and the monsters who still take the sword and will perish by the sword. You didn't know the time of your visitation - in other words, as some translations explain, your visitation by God himself. This was the climax of the play they wanted to be part of. But nobody had imagined that when God came back he would look like a young prophet, in floods of tears, riding on a donkey.Now all this leads, of course, into sermons that might be preached later during Holy Week. The extraordinary twist in this story is that, having announced judgment upon Jerusalem for refusing God's way of peace, Jesus went ahead, embodying simultaneously the love and the judgment of God himself, to suffer the Roman horror he had predicted for his people. - Wright-“Thus Jesus calls for an end to the entire temple system – symbolized by his “overturning” (katestrepsen, which can also mean to “destroy”) of the stations used by these two groups. They represented the concrete mechanism of oppression within a political economy that doubly exploited the poor and unclean. Not only were they considered second-class citizens, but the cult obligated them to make reparation, through sacrifices, for their inferior status” - Myers

-Mark 3: 20-29-“As if to underscore the seriousness of what he has just said, Jesus concludes with a solemn “Amen” saying. He now deals the final blow to the debt code: blanket pardon. But there is one exception: mistaking the work of the Holy Spirit for that of Satan. As Juan Luis Segundo puts it: The blasphemy resulting from bad apologetics will always be pardonable…What is not pardonable is using theology to turn real human liberation into something odious. The real sin against the Holy Spirit is refusing to recognize, the “theological” joy, some concrete liberation that is taking place before one’s very eyes.This is what the scribal class cannot “see.” Thus by the close of his defense, Jesus has turned the tables completely upon his opponents: it is they who are aligned against God’s purpose. To be captive to the way things are, to resist criticism and change, to brutally suppress efforts of humanization – it so be bypassed by the grace of God. –Ched Myers-Mark 11:1-22-Zechariah 9:9-But the Palm Sunday street theatre tugs at our elbow to make a different point. He makes the poor his priority; he puts into practice the justice of God himself, and so he brings the peace of God himself.As we hold that picture in our minds and look we realize why it is that, while the crowds are shouting Hosanna!, Jesus is sobbing his heart out. The sun is shining, the crowds are cheering, Jerusalem the golden is before him in all its majesty - but with his prophet's eye he can see the disaster coming. He can hardly get the words out.If only you'd known - yes, you, even now - the things that make for peace - but you've shut your eyes. And it's too late. They are coming - Pilate is coming, the monsters are coming, the brutes and the beasts are taking over the garden, and they will trample everything in their path, because you didn't know the moment of your visitation. You didn't recognize the time. You didn't understand the play. You were living in the wrong story. You were looking for the wrong sort of king. You wanted war and I was leading you to peace. In our case, you were wanting a kingdom in heaven, and I was offering you one on earth; and by opting for the heaven-only one, you have abandoned earth to the monarchs and the monsters who still take the sword and will perish by the sword. You didn't know the time of your visitation - in other words, as some translations explain, your visitation by God himself. This was the climax of the play they wanted to be part of. But nobody had imagined that when God came back he would look like a young prophet, in floods of tears, riding on a donkey.Now all this leads, of course, into sermons that might be preached later during Holy Week. The extraordinary twist in this story is that, having announced judgment upon Jerusalem for refusing God's way of peace, Jesus went ahead, embodying simultaneously the love and the judgment of God himself, to suffer the Roman horror he had predicted for his people. - Wright-“Thus Jesus calls for an end to the entire temple system – symbolized by his “overturning” (katestrepsen, which can also mean to “destroy”) of the stations used by these two groups. They represented the concrete mechanism of oppression within a political economy that doubly exploited the poor and unclean. Not only were they considered second-class citizens, but the cult obligated them to make reparation, through sacrifices, for their inferior status” - Myers

-Mark 3: 20-29-“As if to underscore the seriousness of what he has just said, Jesus concludes with a solemn “Amen” saying. He now deals the final blow to the debt code: blanket pardon. But there is one exception: mistaking the work of the Holy Spirit for that of Satan. As Juan Luis Segundo puts it: The blasphemy resulting from bad apologetics will always be pardonable…What is not pardonable is using theology to turn real human liberation into something odious. The real sin against the Holy Spirit is refusing to recognize, the “theological” joy, some concrete liberation that is taking place before one’s very eyes.This is what the scribal class cannot “see.” Thus by the close of his defense, Jesus has turned the tables completely upon his opponents: it is they who are aligned against God’s purpose. To be captive to the way things are, to resist criticism and change, to brutally suppress efforts of humanization – it so be bypassed by the grace of God. –Ched Myers-Mark 11:1-22-Zechariah 9:9-But the Palm Sunday street theatre tugs at our elbow to make a different point. He makes the poor his priority; he puts into practice the justice of God himself, and so he brings the peace of God himself.As we hold that picture in our minds and look we realize why it is that, while the crowds are shouting Hosanna!, Jesus is sobbing his heart out. The sun is shining, the crowds are cheering, Jerusalem the golden is before him in all its majesty - but with his prophet's eye he can see the disaster coming. He can hardly get the words out.If only you'd known - yes, you, even now - the things that make for peace - but you've shut your eyes. And it's too late. They are coming - Pilate is coming, the monsters are coming, the brutes and the beasts are taking over the garden, and they will trample everything in their path, because you didn't know the moment of your visitation. You didn't recognize the time. You didn't understand the play. You were living in the wrong story. You were looking for the wrong sort of king. You wanted war and I was leading you to peace. In our case, you were wanting a kingdom in heaven, and I was offering you one on earth; and by opting for the heaven-only one, you have abandoned earth to the monarchs and the monsters who still take the sword and will perish by the sword. You didn't know the time of your visitation - in other words, as some translations explain, your visitation by God himself. This was the climax of the play they wanted to be part of. But nobody had imagined that when God came back he would look like a young prophet, in floods of tears, riding on a donkey.Now all this leads, of course, into sermons that might be preached later during Holy Week. The extraordinary twist in this story is that, having announced judgment upon Jerusalem for refusing God's way of peace, Jesus went ahead, embodying simultaneously the love and the judgment of God himself, to suffer the Roman horror he had predicted for his people. - Wright-“Thus Jesus calls for an end to the entire temple system – symbolized by his “overturning” (katestrepsen, which can also mean to “destroy”) of the stations used by these two groups. They represented the concrete mechanism of oppression within a political economy that doubly exploited the poor and unclean. Not only were they considered second-class citizens, but the cult obligated them to make reparation, through sacrifices, for their inferior status” - Myers

-Mark 3: 20-29-“As if to underscore the seriousness of what he has just said, Jesus concludes with a solemn “Amen” saying. He now deals the final blow to the debt code: blanket pardon. But there is one exception: mistaking the work of the Holy Spirit for that of Satan. As Juan Luis Segundo puts it: The blasphemy resulting from bad apologetics will always be pardonable…What is not pardonable is using theology to turn real human liberation into something odious. The real sin against the Holy Spirit is refusing to recognize, the “theological” joy, some concrete liberation that is taking place before one’s very eyes.This is what the scribal class cannot “see.” Thus by the close of his defense, Jesus has turned the tables completely upon his opponents: it is they who are aligned against God’s purpose. To be captive to the way things are, to resist criticism and change, to brutally suppress efforts of humanization – it so be bypassed by the grace of God. –Ched Myers-Mark 11:1-22-Zechariah 9:9-But the Palm Sunday street theatre tugs at our elbow to make a different point. He makes the poor his priority; he puts into practice the justice of God himself, and so he brings the peace of God himself.As we hold that picture in our minds and look we realize why it is that, while the crowds are shouting Hosanna!, Jesus is sobbing his heart out. The sun is shining, the crowds are cheering, Jerusalem the golden is before him in all its majesty - but with his prophet's eye he can see the disaster coming. He can hardly get the words out.If only you'd known - yes, you, even now - the things that make for peace - but you've shut your eyes. And it's too late. They are coming - Pilate is coming, the monsters are coming, the brutes and the beasts are taking over the garden, and they will trample everything in their path, because you didn't know the moment of your visitation. You didn't recognize the time. You didn't understand the play. You were living in the wrong story. You were looking for the wrong sort of king. You wanted war and I was leading you to peace. In our case, you were wanting a kingdom in heaven, and I was offering you one on earth; and by opting for the heaven-only one, you have abandoned earth to the monarchs and the monsters who still take the sword and will perish by the sword. You didn't know the time of your visitation - in other words, as some translations explain, your visitation by God himself. This was the climax of the play they wanted to be part of. But nobody had imagined that when God came back he would look like a young prophet, in floods of tears, riding on a donkey.Now all this leads, of course, into sermons that might be preached later during Holy Week. The extraordinary twist in this story is that, having announced judgment upon Jerusalem for refusing God's way of peace, Jesus went ahead, embodying simultaneously the love and the judgment of God himself, to suffer the Roman horror he had predicted for his people. - Wright-“Thus Jesus calls for an end to the entire temple system – symbolized by his “overturning” (katestrepsen, which can also mean to “destroy”) of the stations used by these two groups. They represented the concrete mechanism of oppression within a political economy that doubly exploited the poor and unclean. Not only were they considered second-class citizens, but the cult obligated them to make reparation, through sacrifices, for their inferior status” - Myers

Romans 12:1-2"The Five Whys"Matthew 4:111 John 1:92 Timothy 3:16-17

Romans 12:1-2"The Five Whys"Matthew 4:111 John 1:92 Timothy 3:16-17