Sometimes details make me wonder. As we read Matthew’s story, Jesus is carrying his cross. A man from Cyrene, named Simon, is forced to carry it for him. That’s it. We know where Simon is from. We know what he did for part of an hour of one day of his life. If we look […]

There are others that are mentioned in stories about Jesus. There are his followers, the twelve and seventy-two and thousands. But then there are the others. Judas, one of the twelve, ended up as one of the others. He expresses remorse, but he never looks for Jesus or the rest of the followers. He killed […]

I would never, ever suggest that I am anything but a true blue follower of Jesus Christ. I would never hesitate; if someone said, “you sound like a hick. I bet your one of those Jesus-following disciples,” I draw myself up straight, look them in the eye and say, “you betcha.” It wouldn’t make a […]

Anyone can stay calm when there is no stress. (Well, almost anyone). Staying calm in the middle of chaos is much more challenging. Staying calm when facing death is, well, peculiar. In a short time (20 minutes maybe), here’s what Jesus does. He finishes a time of prayer and wakes up his team, the ones […]

Jesus and his friends get to a familiar place. They get to a garden, a cultivated place, in Gethsemene. Geographically, it is at the bottom of the Mount of Olives, a short way from Jerusalem. They ate supper together, and then went for a walk. It’s hard to talk about this story. Jesus tells eight […]