The New Testament in 90 Days

So we are drawing to the close of Paul's 2nd Letter to the Corinthians (though some people think it is actually portions of two different letters( and Paul is ratcheting up his rhetoric in the face of the competition:  the super-apostles.  Whether the problem is that those super-apostles are there, on the ground, or that the super-apostles just seem so, well, super:  strong, without flaw, awe-inspiring charismatic, inspiring -- or perhaps, all of the above, I don't know.  But Paul's  reputation among the Corinthians suffers b            y comparison.  He doesn't speak as well as they do  He doesn't cut as fine a swath as they do.  He does not have the mega-churches or large crowds that they do. So, what does Paul really have to brag about? Plenty, as it turns out. He can bring about the hardships and persecution that he has endured (and he does).  He can bring about how much he loves them (and he does). ...

I am tempted to begin at the end -- and focus all my attention on Chapter 15.  There's something about this chapter that makes everything else worthwhile.  There are many difficult things in Luke, as there are in Matthew and Mark.  But the sheer grace of chapter 15 -- the images of the father with his arms wide open, the woman searching everywhere for her coin, the shepherd looking high and low for just one out of 100 sheep -- make every difficult saying worth it. There's one catch, though:  you have to be lost.  If you are a wandering son, a coin gathering dust in a dark corner, a sheep out in the wilderness, Luke chapter 15 is good news.  If you are not lost, or you don't think you're lost, well, you might not understand what all of the fuss is about. I noticed reading these familiar stories again that the wandering son doesn't get to say his whole speech before his father interrupts him.  (The part about "treat me like one of your slaves..." the...

There are more parables and miracles now, though still some of each.  The parable of the workers in the vineyard is, depending on your point of view, either troubling or comforting.  Do you imagine yourself as one who has been working all day?  Or are you one of the last hired?  Is Jesus unfair or is he merciful?  I have heard both capitalists and socialists use this parable to their own ends.  (The landowners is a capitalist because he is free to hire whoever he wants and pay whatever he wants; he's a socialist because he is concerned not that anyone get rich, but that everyone gets enough.)  But I think this parable challenges all of our views of economics.  What do you think? Just now I am thinking about Matthew's use of the term, "the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew uses the word "heaven" not because he is primarily concerned with the hereafter, but because, as a good Jewish man, he doesn't want to over-use the name of God.  So the ki...