On Wednesday of Holy Week we recall Jesus’ betrayal at the hands of his disciple Judas. It’s a sad story, of Judas’s disappointment about who Jesus was (and was not) and the resentment he allowed to build up in his heart. And so it stands as a warning to us, who also try to follow … Continue reading The Glory of God: A Reflection for Wednesday of Holy Week, 2022
Today’s Gospel reading, John 12.20-36, tells an interesting story — a small story, really, but with big implications. In the aftermath of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, some Greeks — likely ‘God-fearers’, a technical term at the time for Gentiles who were interested in Judaism but did not fully convert — come to the disciples … Continue reading Seeing Jesus: A Reflection for Tuesday of Holy Week, 2022
One of the geeky things I enjoy about the lectionary for Holy Week is that after all of the drama of Palm Sunday, on Monday we flash back a day or two, to a moment of peace between Jesus and his friends before he makes the final leg of his journey into Jerusalem. But in … Continue reading ‘Nice Things’: A Reflection for Monday of Holy Week, 2022
Every year at Passover, the Roman governor would travel up from the coastal capital at Caesarea Maritima (literally, ‘Caesar’s City by the Sea’) to Jerusalem. It was a symbolic reminder of Rome’s mastery as much as a practical reinforcement of local troops. And no wonder. It’s hard to imagine anything more unsettling for an occupying … Continue reading The Stones Would Cry Out: A Reflection for Palm Sunday 2022
One of the many important conversations that has emerged in our culture over the past decade or so is the conversation around ‘privilege’ — the structural advantages in a social and political system that make it easier for certain people to thrive based on factors such as class, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. This … Continue reading Paul on Privilege: A Reflection on Philippians 3.3-14
Matthew Root 