BibleWorm

Episode 123 Mark 5:21-43 Jesus Heals Two Women

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Mark 5:21-43, the story of a synagogue leader’s daughter and a woman with a twelve-year flow of blood. They wrestle with Jesus countering the expectation that a privileged person’s needs should be addressed first, what it means that a woman receives healing from Jesus without him knowing it, and whether faith is really enough in a world marked by suffering and pain. Also, they wonder whether Jesus might have made a good fifth Beatle.

Episode 122 Mark 5:1-20 Jesus Heals a Man Possessed by Unclean Spirits

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Mark 5:1-20, the story of Jesus casting out unclean spirits from a man in Gerasa. They consider the theological and political implications of the story, ask who might be considered outcast from our own societies, and discuss why the townspeople ask Jesus to leave them alone. Also, a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! 

Episode 121 Mark 4:1-34 Parables of the Kingdom

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson interpret Mark 4:1-34 in which Jesus teaches about the kingdom of heaven in a series of parables. They discuss the promise and problems of interpreting parables, what it means that Jesus says he teaches in parables so that people will not understand, and how the seed parables depict the kingdom of heaven taking root in the world in unexpected and uncontrolled ways. Also, they explain why you shouldn't keep Jesus under the bed.

Episode 120 Mark 2:1-22 Community and Conflict

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Mark 2:1-22, the healing of a paralytic, eating with tax collectors and sinners, and picking grain on the sabbath. They talk about sin and forgiveness, Jesus's mission to those excluded from community, and the painful rending that sometimes happens when we try to do something new within old institutional structures.

Episode 119 Mark 1:21-45 The Beginning of Jesus's Ministry

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Jesus’s first public teaching, his first public healing, and his first exorcism of an unclean spirit.They talk about what it means to teach with authority, how preaching sometimes takes precedence over healing both in Jesus’s ministry and in our own, and the comforting knowledge that even Jesus sometimes became exhausted by the demands of his ministry.

Episode 118 Mark 1:1-20 Baptism and Call

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Mark 1:1-20, the introduction to Mark's Gospel including Jesus's baptism, temptation, and the call of the first disciples. They discuss the narrative pace of Mark that frustrates reflection, the counter-imperial call of the Gospel, and how lovely it would be for Jesus to come along and repurpose  your fishing skills.

Episode 117 Luke 2 Christmas Eve SPECIAL EPISODE

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss the story of Jesus's birth as told in Luke 2:1-20. They discuss God's revolution of peace taking place in the mundane realities of life, the imperial backdrop for the good news of the Gospel, and the mysteries of faith that are revealed and confirmed only in community. Also they sing a little.

Episode 116 Luke 1 The Birth of John the Baptist

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1. They discuss its orientation toward the future and its theme of preparedness, the notion of the Gospel taking root in the wilderness, and the significance of the angel Gabriel telling Zechariah to talk to the hand.

Episode 115 Ezra 1 and 3 Rebuilding the Temple

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Ezra 1 and 3. The people are released from Exile to return to Jerusalem, where they find the Temple in ruins and the altar torn down. They discuss the importance of ritual in connecting the people with God and with each other, the mingling of joy and sorrow that attends to new beginnings, and the urgency of pressing ahead even when the situation seems overwhelming.

Episode 114 Isaiah 40 Comfort My People

Dr. Amy Robertson and Dr. Robert Williamson discuss Isaiah 40, a vision of comfort for the people at the end of the exile. They discuss who is supposed to comfort whom, why Isaiah refers to the Persian king Cyrus as "my messiah," and how recovery from trauma requires a community. Also, there are robot voices.