Good morning! Today in John 9-10, we see the life-altering effect of an encounter with Jesus on a man born blind, and on his community. When the man’s neighbors, parents and religious authorities all fracture into different camps based on whether or not they believe this to be a valid healing, Jesus then goes into a chapter of extended metaphors around sheep and the “good shepherd”, making the point in several different ways that what matters is not so much what one believes, but whether one recognizes in Jesus a true shepherd and follows him.
Author: Oby Ballinger
John 7-8
Good morning! Have you had your coffee yet today?? I find when reading the soliloquies of Jesus in John that I can quickly lose myself in the metaphors of these deceptively simple passages. Though the exact nature of the images and arguments tend to pile up in my head, what’s clear today in John 7-8 is Jesus’ antipathy for the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other Jewish authorities. While they present themselves as the ultimate authorities of Hebrew theological interpretation, Jesus claims his own identity with God as the final, definitive authority. As you can imagine, this does not go down well with the Jewish authorities, especially when he flatly contradicts them.
John 5-6
Good morning! Today we experience the beginning of what some people say is the best of John, and others say is the worst of John. Characteristically for this gospel starting today (John 5-6) and going forward, Jesus breaks into soliloquies that extend for most of a chapter or beyond. Today we also have the first “I am” statement, another consistent theme in this gospel that we’ll engage each day for nearly the next week.
John 3-4
Good morning! In today’s passage of John 3-4, we overhear Jesus have a several transformational conversations. When speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus offers a bridge to the traditional Pharisee by teaching about being born of the Spirit. With the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus creates highly non-traditional bridges across gender and ethnicity to connect on the theme of new life. While we do not immediately hear what results from the first conversation, the second one unlocks a chain reaction of witnessing and testimony that leads to a transformed community.
John 1-2
Good morning, and happy November! Can you believe we’ve been reading through the Bible since January 1st? We’ve made it through some barren and lush parts of the Bible together—I’ve been grateful for your company and encouragement of each other along the way! With just two months to go, today we begin the fourth gospel (John 1-2) before turning our attention to the happenings of the Christian community after Jesus’ resurrection.
Luke 23-24
Good morning! Happy Halloween! In the last two chapters of our latest gospel (Luke 23-24), we read the trials, crucifixion, burial and resurrection appearances of Jesus. Luke’s gospel gives us some stories essential to the Holy Week tradition and found nowhere else in the gospels.
Luke 21-22
Good morning! After characteristically lifting up an example from someone on the margins (the widow offering her two coins), the rest of Luke 21-22 focuses on the final words and actions of Jesus as he is arrested. We hear him describe future events and how certain (yet unscheduled) is the coming of the Son of Man. In the Lord’s Supper and what follows, Luke emphasizes Jesus’ awareness of everything that would take place, making all the more surprising his acceptance of imperfect people at the communion table and his healing of attacking foes.
Luke 19-20
Good morning! As we near the end of our tenth month of Daily Bible, we also approach Jerusalem with Jesus, nearing the end of the third gospel. Today in Luke 19-20, Jesus demonstrates his compassion for those who are social outcasts, exhorts his disciples to not languish in waiting for the Messiah’s return, and enters Jerusalem for his final week, quarreling with other Jewish leaders all along the way.
Luke 17-18
Good morning! Today’s selected chapters (Luke 17-18) convey—with no strict order—a series of sayings and stories about Jesus. Some of these are familiar passages and others are new accounts. All demonstrate key themes in Jesus’ ministry according to Luke, especially mercy to the outsider, persistence in the struggle for justice, and the imminence of the Day of the Lord.
The first and third of those emphases emerge in Luke 17’s verses. In the story of ten lepers healed, Luke emphasizes that the one who comes back to say thanks is a Samaritan. Luke also helps us see clearly the healed man’s faith playing a role in his healing, and the overall genuineness of his gratitude. The faith of this foreigner does powerful healing; it “has made you well”. We’ll read this same concern for unlikely outsiders in the next chapter, with stories demonstrating Jesus’ favorable impression of humble tax collectors (as opposed to showy Pharisees) and his regard for children. The other theme in this chapter is that one won’t be able to tell the arrival of the kingdom of God. It will be subtle and hidden, then suddenly unmistakable and fearful because of the cataclysm in it.
I dearly love the parable of the widow and the unjust judge that starts Luke 18. I’ve never forgotten a sermon I heard more than ten years ago on this text by United Church of Christ minister Ken Samuel. He described the woman following the judge around to his judge’s chambers, to the grocery store and finally to his own house. Her uncommon persistence seeks to achieve justice by multiple means. When power and inertia thwarts righteousness in the court, the woman finds other areas of leverage over the judge to make sure that she is heard. It’s her equivalent of shutting down highways or setting up a human barricade to stop a pipeline. Just so, every persistent prayer will find an answer, even if it’s not exactly the answer requested.
At the other end of this chapter, we have the by-now-familiar story of Jesus and the man who has kept all the commandments and wonders how else to assure his salvation. Notice that in this telling of the encounter, the questioner is not identified as a young man, we don’t read that “Jesus loved him” in reply to his statement of dedication to the law, and Jesus does not promise the sacrificing disciples a ten-fold return on their commitment, nor use the phrase “with persecutions”. Overall, Luke gives the impression of having trimmed off those “rough edges”, making this a smoother (though slightly less interesting) parable. Happy reading!
Please join discussion of this passage at the Daily Bible Facebook group, or comment below. The passage for tomorrow is Luke 19-20. Thanks for reading!
Luke 15-16
Good morning! We have several shorter passages today in Luke 15-16. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem continues with reflections on the caustic effect of money and its threat to worship of the one true God. But first, Jesus reflects in three different parables how God considers longtime-righteous versus wretched-but-rescued people in light of divine love.
Pastor Oby Ballinger 