Kitten vs Doberman

The gospel for this week comes again from John 6:56-69.  We have five of these in a row.  John 6 is an interesting chapter because in it Jesus drives to the heart of his message in speaking especially to his disciples, and many of them can’t handle it.  They leave. I have discussed the gritty,…

For Proper 15B the gospel reading is John 6:51-58, which continues from the previous reading.  In that reading, Jesus barely got started with the gritty physical metaphors, and the people were offended and resistant.  This theme of offense will surface many times in portion of John in which Jesus is addressing the crowd in general….

Ephesians is such a great epistle, but I want to just mention one verse:  So then put aside what is false and let each one speak the truth to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. — Ephesians 4:25 The polite lie is a common means of keeping tempers cool.  We do it…

Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Peter opens the proclamation of the gospel. Psalm 16 Celebration of deliverance. 1 Peter 1:3-9 The outcome of the testing of our faith. John 20:19-31 Jesus appears to the disciples and the doubting of Thomas.

One of the fascinating themes of the gospel of Mark is the interaction between Jesus and the demons.  There are many surprising things, but one of these is that the demons react to Jesus just because he shows up.  Another is that one of the things the demons want to do is identify Jesus.  Why…