Reflection for the Week

Picture the Risen Lord lightheartedly greeting His baffled friends and followers. Mary Magdalene mistook Him for the gardener. (“Mary!”) Two disciples heading to Emmaus thought that Jesus might be the only one around who didn’t know the things that had occurred in the past few days. (“What sort of things?”) Mistaken for a ghost, the Lord asked the Disciples for something to eat. When He appeared on shore and Peter jumped into the water, what could the Lord say? Peter and John later found themselves in hot water but told authorities th

Six days before Passover, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus hosted a dinner for Jesus. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive, perfumed oil. At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of the Disciples. Through Him, the Lord’s followers learned the value of serving one another. After the Lord’s arrest, Pontius Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but the Jews insisted that calling Himself a king and God’s Son constituted offenses against Caesar and God. After the Crucifixion and burial, an angel appeared at the Lord’s tomb. The guards were petrifi

Jesus saved a woman caught in adultery when He challenged anyone without sin to hurl the first stone at her. The Lord proclaimed that anyone who kept His word would never die. He said that He had seen Abraham and told the Jewish people that God, His Father—their God!—sent Him. They wanted to stone Him. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests and Pharisees feared that everyone would come to believe. The Lord and His Disciples left the area to lay low for a while, leaving people to speculate whether the coming Passover cel

Frustrated with people refusing to believe without seeing a miracle, Jesus declined to go with a royal official to heal his gravely ill son. The official had faith that healing could occur sight unseen, and his son lived. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would become the Mother of Jesus, she went from fear to pondering and finally to faith-filled acceptance. Guards sent to seize Jesus let Him go, because no one had ever spoken like the Lord did. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, recommended hearing Jesus before

A scribe asked Jesus to name the greatest Commandment. The reply to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength seems to leave no room for love of neighbor. But wait! Peter wanted to know if Jesus expected him to forgive someone as many as seven times, and Jesus said seventy-seven. Love overflows our hearts. Having learned of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph needed reassurance. An angel provided it. People knew what Mosaic law required and what the prophets had taught, but they needed more. With complete lesson plans, Jesus came as Te

In grade school, “show and tell” lets children learn by listening and seeing. Our Lord advised listening to the Pharisees but not following their show of hypocrisy. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus had no sooner told the Twelve of His looming Crucifixion than the mother of James and John asked Him to promise her sons places of honor alongside Him in the Kingdom. Despite Jesus’ example, even His friends had trouble seeing how humble and lowly service fit together with greatness. In a parable, the father welcomed his prodigal son home in high

Pharisees focused on the letter of the law. Jesus spelled out what it meant. Treating people the way we want to be treated will not always come easily, though. We move away from poverty, isolate the sick, dehumanize the prisons, and fear a stranger standing on the welcome mat. We can ask God for anything, but He knows that many things would leave us wanting. We can knock, even on the trapdoor of sin, but Jesus provided the keys that unlock the door of heaven for us. How often do we long for specific answers to our prayers and seek the Lord only