Luke’s Pragmatic Attribution of the Term Savior
The Lukan reference to Jesus of Nazareth as ‘Savior’ has more to do with the later Christian community’s need for eschatological reconsideration than the author’s Christological perception. Read More »
A Tale of Two Meals
Setting: Jesus’ Table Meals vs. Religious Broker’s Table Meals. These meals clashed at Simon the Pharisee’s House (See: Luke 7). In this story we find a 1st century religious elitist named Simon extending a shared meal invitation to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus accepts, and journey to Simon’s house.
I can easily imagine Jesus facing his inner-circle of friends and trying to explain why he can’t join them at the evening meal, as originally planned. Read More »
The Difficult Parable of the Dishonest Manager
A recent chat with friends regarding peaceful, non-violent resistance of cultural norms led to one of the most difficult parables taught by Jesus. Luke 16:1-9 has stumped and mystified interpreters for years, if not centuries. Some argue that the real meaning of this parable is lost to us forever; others point to Jesus’ overarching penchant for non-violent subversion as the key that unlocks the real meaning and intention of this parable. Given the social, political, and religious setting in which Jesus was situated, I tend to side with those who cite subversion. Read More »
Roaming Immediate and Future Soteriology in Luke
There is no shortage of big and small talk regarding “apocalyptic themes,” “end times scenarios,” and the “anti-Christ” in North American Christian circles. It is an interesting phenomenon, to say the least. Perhaps Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have something to do with it? Maybe it is all of those late night Cable TV “prophets?” I really can’t cite one reason for the subject matter’s popularity in the United States. There are probably many reasons. I do know that there is plenty of contextual material to seriously consider before jumping willy-nilly into apocalyptic conclusions and preaching them as if they were the gospel itself (e.g., Jewish and Christian Sacred Texts, Culture, etc.). One example of this sort of material consideration follows: Read More »
