Relevant Jesus

Jesus going into the city: it involves donkeys, cloaks, and a whole lot of history. This time, both the Old Testament and Roman propaganda collide, and we get to see Jesus as King and as one whose heart is broken…

Lepers and Samaritans – When Jesus encounters these types of people, the stories explode with meaning. Listen in to see how Luke weaves these together…

A disciple wants to follow Jesus, so he comes up to him and says, “First, let me go bury my father.” Jesus’ response has always bugged me: “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Frankly, it sounds like Jesus is being rude. What could that possibly mean? As it turns out, Jesus could be making a snarky remark about burial practices, and a whole lot more. Tune in to Relevant Jesus to find out how deep this rabbit hole goes…

The temptations of Jesus takes us back through the history of the God’s people, where Jesus demonstrates his deep, intimate connection with the narrative of the Old Testament. When Jesus and Satan quote the Torah against each other, they are doing more than quoting rules - there are stories behind these rules that dramatically shape what Jesus is doing, leading up to the realization that he is, in fact, the Messiah. That, and I tell a few bad jokes during the show. Really. They’re terrible.

Luke and his peculiar list of countries in the second chapter of Acts…. Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, weaves through his writing some ideas and themes that are easy for us to miss in the 21st century. The funny thing is that they seem innocent, making the Christian movement appear like a harmless group of people wanting to love everyone. I say this is “funny” because they aren’t innocent; they’re dangerous. Not violently, of course, nor are they revolutionary in that obnoxious “take back the country/empire for Jesus” mentality. Instead, Luke sets up an ideological war with an Empire that announced “tidings of great joy” because they saw themselves as the ones to establish peace on Earth. And that’s just the beginning…

This belongs to that.

What did Jesus really mean when he said to "turn the other cheek"?

The parable of the Good Samaritan is discussed.

The story of Jesus and Zacchaeus.