“Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” John 11:4 We’ve seen over the past few weeks instances of Jesus’ radical love that transformed those around Him.  Radical means: “relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of…

Luke 19:10: The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”  Zacchaeus was a tax collector.  Tax collectors were the most hated among the Jews because they collected tax for the Roman government, their oppressors. But they also did their fair share of stealing from people by taking more tax than…

Radical Love: A Servant’s Heart “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 Jesus taught His disciples many things during their time together.  In the last week of His life, He taught them the lesson of…

“Jesus said: Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:48,50 There are many who are not named in the gospels.  That doesn’t make them any less important.  The nameless woman in Luke 7 comes in while Jesus is having dinner with a religious leader, Simon.  She is thought to…

“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:11 “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 The religious leaders were bent on getting a reason to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing.  They brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Him for judgment. According to the law,…

“Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” Luke 6:9 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of…

Radical Love: The Hated Samaritans “The Samaritan woman said to Him, How is it that [a]You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan [and a] woman, for a drink?—For the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans”. John 4:9 The story of Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman is one of my favorites.  I love…

Navaho Nation“And they sang a new song, saying:“You are worthy to take the scroll    and to open its seals, because you were slain,    and with your blood you purchased for God    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”Revelation 5:9 The history of the indigenous peoples of America is well known. The pain of their oppression is felt in the…

 “They hated Me without a cause.” John 15:25 Radical: “relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough”. During the sixties, my Uncle Ernie Chambers was branded a radical because he battled in word and deed against the unjust treatment of the Black community in Omaha. He fought established institutions to try…