Jesus enters Jerusalem in a triumphant procession and then cleans the Temple of those who have perverted it. Now it begins. Now we are at the beginning of the eight monumental...

The plot to kill Jesus, the Last Supper, travel to Gethsemane, betrayal, trial, denial, Pilate, crucifixion, death, burial. Reading these chapters of Mark may take more time than the usual reading...

Christ emptied himself, taking the form of a slave" (AP). I often express dismay that the Bible does not include musical notation for its many hymns and songs. My imagination wants...

“I trust in you, O LORD . . . My times are in your hand.” Psalm 31 is a psalm of lament, and we see the depth of that lamentation in...

The Lord helps the servant despite the effort by others to humiliate the servant. Christians see Jesus in the four Servant Songs. The third Servant Song begins by describing the servant...

The rejected stone is now the cornerstone. Let us rejoice! Imagine a group of pilgrims standing before the walled old city of Jerusalem singing, “Open to me the gates of righteousness,...

“The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.” Later in this chapter we read that Judas Iscariot went to these...

God’s new covenant is endlessly exciting. It is dripping with good news. It has consequences for our bodies and beings. And it’s a promise we cannot reciprocate. As we keep score...

Here we have one of those moments in the Gospels where we get a partial glimpse of the Trinity at work. Jesus and God are separate but connected. There is clear...

Wheat has so much to teach us. My spouse has three strands of wheat tattooed on his forearm. For him, it captures the idea of shalom, God’s reign of peace, where...