BibleWorm

Episode 633 The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

This week we read Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. What a rich and evocative story about wealth, and suffering, and isolation – about excess and need and compassion.  What blocks the flow of compassion in the different scenarios of this story, and in our own world – when is it a chasm, and when is it just a gate? What is the difference between having been told something, and knowing it – and how do we cross THAT chasm? What happens when we build a life that insulates us from all suffering – our own, and that of others?

Episode 632 Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son (Luke 15:1-32)

This week we’re reading the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son as told in Luke 15:1-32. While these stories are sometime read separately, we find that reading them together puts them in a different light, one that draws our attention to the value of each individual, the importance of the whole community, and especially the tendency of the kingdom of heaven to break out into a party. Whoever we are—whether the one who has wandered off, the one who made poor decisions, or the one who feels overlooked and unappreciated—we are invited into the party, too. Come one, what are we waiting for?

Episode 631 A Lament over Jerusalem (Luke 13:1-9, 31-35)

This week we read Luke 13:1-9, 31-35, a text that raised the biggest of questions for us. What exactly is the connection between sin and death that Jesus is getting at when he talks about the the Galileans who died at the hand of Pilate, or that freak accident with the tower? How does it hit readers for Jesus to explicitly name his imminent death as central to his purpose in going to Jerusalem, rather than letting us think of it as an unfortunate side effect of his work? We really felt the pull of his lament for Jerusalem – his deep knowledge of what is possible and what is meant for this holy city, and also his awareness of how the world has pressed it in another direction. His outcry rises up from the gaping chasm between them.  And our world, too, is broken in so many ways. So in this broken world, what does the fact of our death mean about how we should live?  

Episode 630 Two Sisters and a Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-42)

This week we’re reading two stories that are often read separately, the Good Samaritan parable and Jesus’s visit with Mary and Martha as told in Luke 10:25-42. The Good Samaritan has us thinking about the question of our obligations to our neighbors in need. When a lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?,” Jesus responds with a story that seems to dispense with the category of neighbor altogether, instead insisting that one must show compassion to whomever is in need. The Mary and Martha story leads us to think about the legitimate tasks of ministry and how they can sometimes be a distraction from listening to Jesus, which is the one thing a divine voice has commanded in this Gospel.

Episode 629 Set Your Face and Go (Luke 9:51-62) ASH WEDNESDAY SPECIAL EPISODE

Our reading for Ash Wednesday is Luke 9:51-62–a real pivot point in Luke’s story. Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem, and the story gains a sense of focus, momentum, and urgency. Should we be surprised, then, that he wastes no energy on anger or retaliation when the Samaritans won’t host him? Should we be surprised that he asks people he encounters to follow him right there onthe spot, without a care for the people and responsibilities they leave behind? That’s a hard ask to understand if we’re just talking about your average Tuesday. But Jesus isn’t in ordinary time anymore.

Episode 628 A Transfiguration and a Failed Healing (Luke 9:28-45)

This week we’re reading the stories of Jesus’ transformation on the mountain top and the disciples’ failed attempt to heal a possessed boy as told in Luke 9:28–45. We discuss the significance of Jesus’s transfiguration and the importance of the command from the heavenly voice, “Listen to him!” We talk about the appearance of Moses and Elijah and the coming Exodus that Jesus will undergo in Jerusalem through his crucifixion and resurrection. And we wrestle with the urgency Jesus must feel, knowing that the end of his life is near, and his frustration at the disciples’ inability to exercise the power he has given them. We wonder what power has been given to us, and whether we, too, might be able to cast out the demons that surround us, if only we could learn to believe.

Episode 627 A Sinful Woman and an Unmoved Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50)

This week, we are reading Luke 7:36-50, where Jesus, a Pharisee named Simon, and a woman who is a sinner come together at a dinner party. The emotional intensity of this story is hard to overstate. As the woman cries over Jesus’s feet, we wonder – what is the tenor of emotion that has cracked her open? Is it guilt & pleading? Gratitude or vulnerability? Is it longing?  Jesus says that her faith has saved her, but what can we say about her faith from this short story where she never speaks? And how is it that she is laid bare in Jesus’s presence, when the dinner host seems so ... calm?

Episode 626 Are You Really the One? (Luke 7:18-35)

This week we’re reading Luke 7:18-35. John the Baptist has been in prison since Jesus’s baptism, so he hasn’t been able to witness any of Jesus’ ministry for himself. Now he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he is really the Messiah or if John should look for another. Imagine John, the great disciple preparing the way for the Lord, suddenly doubting his faith in Jesus. Rather than make a declaration to John, Jesus tells John that the blind see, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. That should be enough, Jesus seems to say. Among all our squabbles about who Jesus is or isn’t, who he should be or shouldn’t be, all that matters is that the hurting are being healed and that poor are receiving good news. 

Episode 625 A Centurion's Slave and a Widow's Son (Luke 7:1-17)

This week, we are reading Luke 7:1-17 – stories of two miraculous healings, both of which seem to focus more on the person who is well, who is concerned or bereaved, than on the person whose body is failing. What might that tell us about the nature of healing, or faith, or community? And of all the suffering one might alleviate, why does Jesus respond to these two cases? One, an Israelite woman who mourns her son, one a Roman man concerned for his slave. A powerful person and a vulnerable one. Is there a system at play? Is that even the right question? 

Episode 624 Sabbath Controversies (Luke 6:1-16)

This week we’re reading three stories of Jesus told in Luke 6:1-16. In the first two, Jesus is in a dispute with some Pharisees about observing the Sabbath. In one story, Jesus seems to claim authority over the Sabbath, given his identity as the Son of Man. In a second story, Jesus presses the boundaries of mercy, healing a man on the sabbath even though he is not in life-threatening danger, creating anger among the Pharisees. Then, in a third story, Jesus calls the twelve apostles who will carry on his ministry after his death and resurrection. Together, these stories make us think about the relative importance of sabbath and mercy, the extent of our obligation to engage with our community on its own terms, and the danger that accompanies apostleship, both for the twelve and for Jesus himself.