Pastor's Writings

The disciples want to know where they sit on the ladder. That is how the old world works. The law ranks us, first and last, better and worse, and leaves the conscience unsure. Jesus does not answer by hoisting the lowly onto the high seats. He puts a child in the middle of them. The point is not tha...

From this moment he begins to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and on the third day be raised. Peter, fresh from his Spirit-given confession, takes him aside and rebukes him: “Far be it from you, Lord!” It is not just Peter speaking. Satan himself is us...

Jesus does not ease the disciples into the storm. He compels them into the boat, dismisses the crowds, and leaves them to battle the wind and waves alone. Then, in the dead of night, he comes walking on the water. Without a word he is pure terror, a phantasm, a ghost, something divine and therefore ...

The disciples had a perfectly reasonable plan. “Send the crowds away so they can buy food for themselves.” Measure the need, calculate the shortfall, and let the marketplace sort it out. Jesus will have none of it. “They need not go away,” He says. “You give them something to eat.”

With five loaves a...