Yesterday, we started looking at the story of Jesus at Simon’s house in Capernaum, where a “woman of ill repute” poured perfume on his feet and wiped them with her hair. (You need to read that post before beginning today’s. ) After Jesus’ parable about the man who had been forgiven a great debt vs… Continue reading An awkward-turtle moment in Capernaum – part 2 (Luke 7:34-50)

Are you familiar with the awkward turtle? If you’re over 40, you’re probably not. At 43, I’m technically too old to know about it, but for more than a decade I was a pastor to young adults. Keeps me young. And well-informed when it comes to useless information about youth culture. And one of the more useless… Continue reading An awkward-turtle moment in Capernaum – part 1 (Luke 7:34-50)

The next story in Luke chapter 7 flows out of yesterday’s dialogue between Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist. You’ll remember that John sent them to check whether he had it right – that Jesus was indeed bringing in the kingdom, since there was still…ahem…one prisoner, Mr. Jesus, who had not been released. What’s going… Continue reading John, Jesus, and the Jews (Luke 7:24-35)

Continuing our series in Luke chapter 7, the next story is another healing one: 7:11-12 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she… Continue reading One Prophet to Another (Luke 7:11-23)

Today we begin a series in Luke chapter 7. And the first story in the chapter is about Jesus doing a favour for a Roman centurion, whose faith Jesus commends in the strongest possible terms: 7:9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I… Continue reading The Centurion’s Faith (Luke 7:1-10)

Last week, we worked our way through the stories in Luke chapter 18. In every story we saw a pattern: the person of high status (whom you’d expect to be the “winner,” according to first century culture) ended up being the “loser” in the story, at the expense of the person of low status. The… Continue reading Luke 19:1-10

This week we’re looking at the short stories in Luke 18, and keeping score as to who “wins” in each story. Here’s the recap so far in table form: Story Winner Loser 18:1-8 Poor widow Rich litigant and unjust judge 18:9-14 Tax collector Pharisee 18:15-17 Children Adult disciples 18:18-30 Disciples Rich ruler Total: People of low status… Continue reading Luke 18:31-43

This week we’re looking at the short stories in Luke 18 – each individual story, as well as the big picture. We’ve been keeping score as to who “wins” in each story. So far we’ve seen a rich litigant, a Pharisee, and some adults (the disciples) unexpectedly in the “loss” column. By contrast, a poor… Continue reading Luke 18:18-30

This week we’re looking at the short stories in Luke 18 – each individual story, as well as the big picture. We’ve been keeping score as to who “wins” in each story. Yesterday, we saw the poor widow (someone of low status ) win an appeal for justice over her (probably rich and important) adversary, wearing  down the unjust… Continue reading Luke 18:9-17

Last week, the speaker of the Australian Federal Parliament resigned over a scandal involving her use of travel entitlements. (I mention this for the benefit of international readers; if you’re local, you can’t have missed it!) Among other things, this speaker was renowned for ejecting opposition members from the parliamentary chamber. One of the newspapers… Continue reading Luke 18:1-8