Tag: Jesus

Baptism of Christ – Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

December 28, 2015

Epiphany 1 – It’s easy to fake repentance, and even great deeds, as Jesus said in Matt 7. “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” Ouch! Their faith was not real. It looked great from the outside, but had no inside. So how can we tell what’s real beauty and what’s just good make-up? How can we tell real repentance from following the crowd? How can we tell wheat from chaff? … More Baptism of Christ – Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Luke 2:41-52

December 14, 2015

Every parent has lost a kid in the supermarket (though not usually for three days). It’s a horrible feeling when it happens but, somehow, it’s quite comforting to know that it happened to Jesus too.

I love Mary’s reaction – it’s exactly what any parent would say today – people don’t change. But Jesus’ reply is the interesting one. “In my Father’s house”. … More Luke 2:41-52

Micah 5:2-5a

December 7, 2015

Advent 4 – God knew, from before the start of time, that we would mess up. And God planned, from before the start of time, that Jesus would be the solution. He always had in mind to have divine Jesus be born as a human baby, live as a human child, suffer and die and rise again. This was not God panicking over what to do about sin. This always was Plan A. … More Micah 5:2-5a

Luke 21:25-36

November 16, 2015

So we are living in the time between times, the time of preparation. We are not standing around doing nothing on the off-chance that Jesus is coming back next week, but neither are we so bound up with our lives here and now that we forget about our lives there and then. … More Luke 21:25-36

Mark 13:1-8

November 2, 2015

In 1806, a chicken started laying eggs with “Christ is coming” etched into the shell. Now, the burning bush was weird, granted, and you’ve got Balaam’s donkey and all, but why God would want to make a major announcement via a hen’s bum beats me. … More Mark 13:1-8

Mark 9:38-50

September 21, 2015

Woah! there’s some seriously heavy stuff in here. Drowning, chopping off hands and feet, everlasting fire and immortal zombie maggots! Why is Jesus going so over-the-top here? Surely he’s being a bit heavy-handed? … More Mark 9:38-50

Mark 8:27-38

September 7, 2015

His ministry was going well, everyone was talking about him, he was trending on Twitter – so why on earth did he try to shut people up when they had finally worked out who he was? And why, oh why, did say all that rubbish about getting in trouble with the law and being killed when there was still so much work to do. Jesus clearly wasn’t seeing straight. … More Mark 8:27-38