REFLECTIONS TODAY In the intervening period from the time of Jesus’ ministry until the final age (the eschaton), what will be the dispositions of humanity? By alluding to the days of Noah and Lot, where people were immersed in immorality and depravity, Jesus warns his disciples of the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Kingdom of God can be described in three facets. First, in its Christological dimension—Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God in his person. The Kingdom of God is present in him: “If it is by the finger of God that [I] drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In driving the sellers of sacrificial animals and the moneychangers away from the Temple area, Jesus does not simply “clean” the Temple of those who make the area a “marketplace” during the Passover festival. If so, this will not displease the Temple authorities at all!...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus demands from his disciple total commitment. The priority of acting out God’s plan—the proclamation of the Kingdom of God — takes precedence over “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life” (v 26). Discipleship means...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Fire is used in Scriptures to symbolize God’s judgment where the just are purified and the evil ones destroyed (Mal 3:2-5). As metal is refined of dross by fire, so people are tested as genuine by life’s ordeals. Here, Jesus states that the purpose of his coming is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The prophet Zechariah was the son of the priest Jehoiada; he was ordered killed by King Joash of Judah for telling the people that because they have abandoned the Lord, the Lord has abandoned them. He was stoned “in the court of the house of the Lord” (2 Chr 24:21). King...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When Mary and his relatives come to speak to Jesus as he teaches the crowd, Jesus declares that his family is composed of “those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Lk 8:21). Jesus is not repudiating his mother and his family. But he emphatically declares that...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The apostle Matthew is believed to be the author of the first Gospel, although it is possible that another Matthew could have written it. His name means “gift of the Lord.” After healing a paralytic in Capernaum, Jesus calls Matthew to follow him. He responds...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus converses with Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, about things that are above, like the necessity of being born from above, which we refer to as baptism. Jesus knows what he is talking about, because he comes from above. The lifting up of Jesus, like that of the serpent in the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Peter utters these words to Jesus after hearing him preach and after catching a lot of fish when he lowered down the net in obedience to him. Peter is overwhelmed by the experience. At first, he is not supposed to go fishing again, for it is daytime. Yet, when he gambles his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Chapter 24 of Matthew’s Gospel is called the discourse on the “end times” since it deals with the coming of the new age (the eschaton) in its fullness, with events that will precede it, and with how the disciples are to conduct themselves while waiting for this event. Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY One of the things that plague most communities is the inability to handle confrontation, disagreement, and the mutual accountability when it comes to sin. Community living is very much part of human existence. A Christian formed in the ways of Jesus acknowledges his responsibility...
