Jesus – Page 9 – 300 words a day

Advent 19: Spectators

A shore can make a great amphitheater. Not the kind of shore that is sand for a thousand feet, not a beach, but a shore. Kind of rocky, a hill creating a bowl, that kind of shore. And so, with that kind of shore in mind, it is possible to imagine a crowd listening to […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 18: Away

It’s okay to hide. Sometimes, anyway. We looked at some people searching for Jesus yesterday. He had spent the night healing people, whatever illness they brought to him. When day came, he left for a secluded place. He needed some rest. And then the people came looking for him, wanting him to stay and keep […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 17: Focus

Jesus had boundaries. He had never read the book, “Boundaries”, not having created the authors of that book yet. However, he knew that doing everything and being always with everyone was outside his reason for being. So he went away. The text at the end of the fourth chapter of Luke suggests that he had […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 16: Authority

I am aware of the dangers of authority, or perhaps more accurately, of authoritarianism. There is a tremendous danger in rigidity, in rejection of individuality, in rampant conformity. Religion is frequently associated with authoritarianism. When we read in Luke 4 that the people “were amazed at his [Jesus’] teaching, for his message was with authority,” […]

by Jon Swanson

Advent 15: The familiar

For the past couple weeks, we’ve been talking about the people who expected someone. After all, that’s kind of the theme of advent: people expecting a deliverer, people expecting the return of a deliverer. But it’s impossible to skip over a group of people who were expecting things the wrong way. Jesus comes home for a […]