Coming out of Holy Week, Mark 15 has stuck with me. Pilate puts a choice before the crowd. Jesus, a Messiah of sacrifice, of service, of a Kingdom that comes not through domination but through death. And Barabbas, a violent insurrectionist who was guilty of murder. In many ways, he very well might have been the type of strongman many expected the Messiah to be. Of course, as the story goes, when presented with the choice of who to release back to them, the crowd chooses Barab

Jesus once asked a question that remains dangerous for Christians to answer too quickly: “Who do you say I am?” (Mark 8:29). It is dangerous precisely because it is possible to answer it correctly and still be profoundly wrong. Mark 8 exposes that danger and has become increasingly relevant in our Trump-era Christianity.  Seeing but Not Seeing In Mark 8, Jesus heals a blind man in two stages. At first, the man can see—but only partially. “I see people; they look like trees wa

As we look to another MLK Jr. Day, there have again been concerted efforts to discredit and marginalize the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some have sought to portray him primarily as an adulterer or a Marxist, thus feeling justified in denouncing him . Others have questioned the necessity of the Civil Rights Act and the movement as a whole. Others seek to undermine MLK Jr. Day by either marginalizing it or outright rejecting it.  Ultimately, these have all