Scripture (70)
  1. This is the wonder which is present in the calling of the disciples. Not how they drop their nets to follow Jesus, but that Jesus does not need to go far to find disciples. He chooses the people He lives among.
  2. This is what makes the reading from John so frightening and yet so exciting. Notice how Jesus appears. Not in miracles, not in marvels, but in relationships.
  3. Jesus did not need to be baptized. But he did it. Why?
  4. God reveals Himself to us in Word and Sacrament but sometimes these revelations happen in unexpected ways.
  5. Jesus offer us this vision of violence not so we might be drawn into it but so we might be drawn through it to come closer to Him.
  6. No, we may not be casting out demons, but the battle continues and all of God’s people are involved in it. At baptism, we are taken from the Kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of God.
  7. If anyone could be accused of squandering riches, it would be Jesus. The Pharisees have seen Him squander the blessings of God on tax collectors and sinners. He did it then. He does it now, for you and me.
  8. Jesus will be working in our feeble misguided efforts to reach out to the world. He governs our words and our deeds, no matter how awkward they might seem.
  9. We would expect Jesus to be delighted people have responded to the master’s invitation. Instead, Jesus asks these people to reconsider whether they should be following Him or not.
  10. The question that this text poses for us today is “What does it mean to believe in the resurrection?”