In John 12, Jesus reflects on the meaning of his death on the cross. His crucifixion exposes the unjust and corrupt way the world is ordered. Systemic evils like racism and misogyny are forms of Scapegoating carried out by the principalities and powers. Jesus disarms the powers by defeating their greatest weapon: the fear of…
If we don’t understand the broader story framework of the Bible, even a verse as familiar as John 3:16 can be misunderstood and its message distorted. Far too many people think that the story the Bible is telling is about personal behavior, knowing the right information about Jesus, and going to heaven when we die.…
Jesus’s temple protest reveals God’s heart for the oppressed and Jesus’s critical eye toward structures in society that exploit the poor. This passage challenges those of us who are more inclined to avoid conflict to speak truth to power. But it’s important to note that Jesus’s table-flipping isn’t for “both sides”—all tables are not the…
In this message, Pastor T. C. preaches on Jesus’s baptism and wilderness temptation (Mark 1), belovedness, and observing Lent. Like Jesus, we are grounded in our belovedness, against which no weapon can prosper.