Author: Norm

“All things have been committed to me by my Father.” (Luke 10:22) Has there ever been any other human that could have said this?Jesus does not say this because He is God; God already has all things!This is the Son of Man, the coming human Messiah (Genesis 3:15, Daniel 7:13-14).The only other humans that could have said this…

I do not take these words of Jesus literally.I hear them in the context of Genesis 3, God’s curse on the serpent. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) We live in a world of snakes…

In the previous chapter, James and John wanted to send fire.Since the Samaritans rejected Jesus’s peace, they wanted judgment.Here Jesus explains how to handle rejection: move on, walk away.We are servants of love, not judgment. To wipe the dust is not to judge people.It is to leave people fully, without taking anything from them.They have…

Have you ever said this: ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you’?What would it look like for the kingdom of God to come near?These seventy two disciples were not Jesus, and He is the kingdom of God.Jesus had not yet come; these disciples were sent there first (10:1). I see the kingdom of…

About 10 years ago my children challenged me to participate in a triathlon.I was not fit for participating in a triathlon.This did not mean I could not do it, but I was not well-placed to do it.Not as I was, I needed to make some changes to do it.Thankfully with their encouragement, I eventually completed…

These words remind me of two songs I struggle to sing.‘I Surrender All’ and ‘I Have Decided to Follow Jesus’.The ideas behind these songs are good.But do they reflect the reality of my heart?I am not being critical of this disciple who comes to Jesus.But does he know what he is saying?Do we know what…

(Trigger alert, I will be addressing politics, rulers, and christians who sell out the gospel to them). Today’s reading deserves special attention.I sense that evangelical christianity needs to hear this.The Samaritans were viewed as a cult, a twisted version of Judaism.Perhaps like Mormonism or the Jehovah Witnesses are viewed today.Or like Islam, with its different…

I want to spend more time with these words.As you may know, there are Christian groups that I do not identify with.To use the disciples’ words, ‘I am not one of them’.Conversely, they are not one of me and my ‘group’ either.Though I refuse to belong to a specific ‘group’, I still have my kind…

These verses show how the disciples themselves did not get Jesus.They did not understand His teaching about the cross (vv.43-45).They did not understand His teaching about humility and being a servant (vv.46-48).And they did not understand His gracious welcome and openness (vv.49-50).Each of these show their failure to comprehend God’s way of greatness.The disciples wanted…

These words of Jesus do not sound loving, patient, kind or gentle?Who is Jesus speaking about, the man or his son, or the disciples?In other versions of this story, Jesus explains why the disciples struggled. “His disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by…