There’s been a battle of sorts waging within Christian theology over the past few decades about the cross. The basic question behind this controversy is: Who put Jesus on the cross? The dominant strains of theology in the West over the past thousand years or so have said, essentially, that it was God the Father … Continue reading Whose Cross is it? A Reflection on Acts 5:27-32
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! This traditional Christian Easter greeting is, when it comes down to it, everything you need to know about our faith. For us as Christians, everything is about Easter. Easter changes everything. If Christmas is like D-Day, Easter is VE-Day; if Christmas plants seeds, Easter is the … Continue reading The Game-Changer: A reflection for Easter Sunday, 2022
I have to admit that I groaned a little when I saw that today's Gospel reading was from John 17. It's actually a beautiful passage in its own way, recording Jesus' impassioned prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane in the hours before he was arrested. But, with its stream-of-consciousness style, which loops back on itself … Continue reading A Prayer for the People of God: A Reflection on John 17.6-19
Today is Ascension Day, which commemorates the end of the forty days of Jesus' earthly appearances after his resurrection, and his ascent into heaven. The story itself, as related in the Acts of the Apostles, is as simple as it is odd: As they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him … Continue reading A Glorious Inheritance: A Reflection on the Feast of the Ascension
The world often seems impossibly divided. 'Left' and 'right', 'East' and 'West', 'North and South', Black and white, 'sinners' and 'saved' — such divisions, oversimplified as they are, seem to govern much of our public discourse. As frustrating and even frightening as this may be, it is also a very human state of affairs. We … Continue reading A New People: A Reflection on Acts 10.44-48
Matthew Root 