Matthew
592 results found.
Because I'm happy?
If you happen to read the Message translation of Matthew’s beatitudes, you’ll notice that instead of saying “blessed” the word is “happy.”
Sunday, October 26, 2014: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18; Matthew 22:34-46; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
We have, in fact, been given a simple code for living.
Sunday, October 19, 2014: Isaiah 45:1-7; Matthew 22:15-22
It often feels like a rhetorical game, this question of what belongs to God.
Reading ourselves reading the Bible
The hyperbole, violence, and abrupt scene changes in Matthew’s parable of the wedding feast have driven most interpreters to treat the story allegorically—thereby turning it from a dangerous puzzle to a reassuring message in code.
Sunday, October 5, 2014: Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46
Jesus' parable of the so-called "wicked tenant farmers" is a textbook illustration—a parody, even—of the economic and political dynamics of empire.
Sunday, September 28, 2014: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Matthew 21:23-32
Ezekiel steps right into the middle of a group of people busy at that most ancient of activities, going back to Eden: the blame game.
Sunday, September 14, 2014: Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35
Church folks will not always agree—nor should we.
by Joann H. Lee
What the Prodigal Son story doesn't mean
The Prodigal Son is often read to mean that God loves sinners, whereas the Jews thought God only loved the righteous. This makes no sense.
Sunday, August 17, 2014: Genesis 45:1-15; Matthew 15:21-28
Joseph knows what he is seeing. His brothers do not.
by Rufus Burton
Theology and misconduct: The case of John Howard Yoder
Yoder defined violence in terms of violating someone's dignity. This sounds ready made as a description of his own abusive behavior.
by David Cramer, Jenny Howell, Paul Martens, and Jonathan Tran
Theology and misconduct: The case of John Howard Yoder
Yoder defined violence in terms of violating someone's dignity. This sounds ready made as a description of his own abusive behavior.
by David Cramer, Jenny Howell, Paul Martens, and Jonathan Tran
Reoriented cravings
Years ago, at a denominational gathering, I heard a visitor from the global South say the following about North American Christians:
They have so many things. They don’t need anything. Yet it seemed like the people were very thirsty, like they were in a desert and we were bringing them drops of water.
These words refuse to leave me.
In the place of Jesus: Insights from Origen on prayer
Growing in prayer is not simply acquiring a set of special spiritual skills. It is growing into Christian humanity.
Sunday, August 3, 2014: Matthew 14:13-21
The people are hungry. Jesus' solution is even more improbable than the disciples' solution.
Gems of story
I was startled earlier this year when news anchor Peter Mansbridge called someone a Good Samaritan on The National, the flagship nightly newscast of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I was surprised that in our secularized, multifaith society, newswriters assumed that listeners would understand an allusion from the Bible.
On second thought, I was less surprised.
Sunday, July 27, 2014: Matthew 13: 31-33; 44-52
Six words of scripture always transport me to an amazing place: “The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”