As I write this, I am freshly returned from a whirlwind of a week in the North of England. During this trip, I visited many locations deep in meaning, whether for reasons of faith, history, or beauty. So even though it was not a true pilgrimage, in that the whole trip was not spent to … Continue reading Thoughts on a Pilgrimage (of sorts)
After a few weeks ‘off’ talking about Jesus’ parables, today we return to regularly scheduled Sunday programming reflecting on the lectionary readings. But today’s Gospel reading acts as a nice bridge, since it connects to the conflicts and themes that instigated Jesus’ parables of grace in Luke 14 and following. It’s a story about the … Continue reading The Spirit of Control Versus the Spirit of Freedom: A Reflection on Luke 13.10-17
I was away last week on vacation, and you'll be hearing a lot more about that starting next week. But here's my pop-culture roundup for the past couple weeks, plus some thoughts on the wily and elusive 'pop boy'. Roundup Music While the announcement of the new Taylor Swift album has understandably taken up a … Continue reading Culture Roundup (August 23, 2025): Whither the ‘Pop Boy’?
Well, our long journey this Summer through the Parables of Jesus has come to an end. Today I’d like to quickly touch on the major themes of the series, and how they are all brought together in the last set of parables recorded in Matthew. We began the series by defining parables and exploring what … Continue reading Kingdom Stories: Concluding Thoughts
The final parable Jesus utters in Matthew is not actually much of a parable. We call it the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, but other than referring to them in passing, the sheep and the goats have nothing to do with it and he’s almost entirely devoted to explaining it. It’s as though … Continue reading The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
Matthew Root 