Our gospel today, the Parable of the Talents, is part of a discourse that Jesus delivered at the Mount of Olives. It is a series of three teachings about being ready for the coming of the Reign of God. This gospel was written about 50 to 70 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and Matthew was writing to an audience of Christians who were trying to figure out how to live their lives, as they waited for Jesus to return. The Parable of the Talents immediately follows the related story about spiritual vigilance that we read last week,...
One thing you can say about Jesus is that He treats the women He meets as worthy and autonomous human beings. He affirms and uplifts women and always seems to be going out of His way to talk to them. He believes women have the same capacity to accept and understand the significance of His teachings that men do. He encouraged women to interact with Him and to personally respond to His religious and social teachings. Among others, we see this in the stories of the hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:25-34) and the woman at the well (John 4:1-26, 39-42), who...
The gospel this morning is the beautiful and familiar story of the disciples that meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It is one of my favorite accounts of the resurrection. This blog post explores the Emmaus story, focusing on its four scenes: Encountering Jesus, Jesus Listens and Interprets Scripture, Recognizing Jesus, and Returning to Jerusalem. Encountering Jesus on the Road to Emmaus 13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself...
