character – Page 19 – 300 words a day

seeing inflection

I wish we could see inflection. Or hear it, actually. The inflection of the Biblical text. The tone of voice when a handful of religious leaders say to Jesus, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” (Matthew 12:38). The amount of wistfulness or sarcasm or wondering or eagerness to learn. There had […]

by Jon Swanson

Careless words

Jesus healed a man who couldn’t see and couldn’t speak. He condemns some men who could. The former had a demon, an evil spirit, an agent of satan. The latter accused Jesus of working for satan. The former caused people to begin to ask serious, thoughtful questions about the identity of Jesus, about his role […]

by Jon Swanson

dancing and dirges

Picture a group of children. They are the kind of children that are pretty sure that they are the center of the universe. They are the kind of children that think they can tell everyone else what to do. They are the kind of children who think that they are the measure of what is […]

by Jon Swanson

friend of Judas

We know little about Simon the Zealot. I mean, we can read about the Zealots as a political movement in first century CE Israel. We can read about their desire to throw Rome out, to take Israel back. But we know little about him other than that he is listed with the twelve disciples every […]

by Jon Swanson

follow me.

Matthew could have made it complicated. Matthew could have made it clear. Matthew is telling the story of his own decision to follow Jesus. He could have provided lots of background about what his life had been like, what his business practices were. He could have provided us with pictures of his heart, his soul, […]