JESUS’ REJECTION; OUR ACCEPTANCE
The Christian faith is full of paradoxes, statements which contain opposites but which are nonetheless profoundly true. For example, Christians proclaim that God’s Son is at once fully human and fully divine. Another is that Christ died so that we might have life. And that the Cross, the sign of terrible human cruelty, is the greatest sign of God’s love. Here’s a few…
WHEN SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED
The reading from Luke 4 began with verse 14, “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.” So Jesus began to teach in the synagogues of Galilee and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the…
WHEN JESUS WAS INVITED TO A WEDDING
It is one of the best known passages in Scripture. Three days after Jesus called some disciples to follow him, and Nathanael confessed Jesus as the Son of God, there was a wedding in Cana, not far from Nazareth. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. At some point in the wedding…
THE STRENGTHENING WORD
We sometimes get caught up in the question about who is greatest in any field of endeavour. “Who was the greatest Canadian?” “Who was the greatest President or Prime Minister?” “Who was the greatest hockey player or baseball player of all time?” “What was the greatest rock band?” And all this can lead to an interesting, if endless, discussion. Now there is no question…
OUR LIGHT HAS COME
It would seem odd today if I wished you a “Merry Christmas.” We celebrated it nearly two weeks ago. But tomorrow millions of Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas. So we can wish them a Merry Christmas. And maybe it’s good that there are two different days for celebrating Christmas. That at least keeps the witness to Christ’s birth…