Jesus is constantly reshaping the thinking and actions of his followers. They/we are works in progress. The work is never done. In this passage, Jesus is making his way towards Jerusalem and the cross. On the way, he makes preparations for a visit to a Samaritan town, but he is not [...]

Who was the first missionary among non-Jewish peoples? The answers we are likely to receive from this question are either the apostle Peter or the apostle Paul. But as this story makes clear, neither of them was the first. It was the man who was delivered from a battalion of demons! Immediately following his deliverance, [...]

Jesus is invited to a dinner party. At this party an uninvited woman who had lived a very tough, Luke says sinful, life comes and pours tears and perfume on Jesus’ feet. The dinner host, a Pharisee, sees this and is disturbed. He doesn’t understand, because he did not capture the marvel of [...]

As part of Webber’s Ancient-Future series, Webber develops an informed understanding of spirituality that sweeps the history of the church. He shows ways in which biblical spiritualities have become captive or diluted by culture, and more importantly he develops ways in which the contemporary church, attuned to the impulses of culture, might recapture [...]

THE COMPASSION OF JESUS This brief story is full of drama. We can imagine Jesus approaching the village of Nain with his disciples and crowd of followers coming face-to-face with the crowd of mourners as they made their way out of town for the burial. Luke describes both groups as “large crowds” – not only large, [...]