Author: trob

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commands there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor [Romans 13:9-10a, NIV]. About a dozen years ago, during a long period of time in which I taught the “Sola Scriptura” adult Sunday school class at Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church, we had an occasion to discuss one of the best-known of Jesus’ parables — that of the “Good Samaritan” — found only in Luke’s Gospel [Luke 10:25-37]. We took time to discuss an important contextual…

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life [Matthew 16:21, NIV]. Back in my Wake Forest undergraduate years, now half a century ago, I had a favorite Ancient History professor with an unusual first name and several idiosyncrasies. His name: Cyclone Covey. “Cyclone” was not a nickname, but rather the name given him by his parents. He had two PhDs: one in Music, the other in Ancient History.…

“But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” [Matthew 16:15] When the Roman authorities forcefully put down the abortive Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 A.D., they leveled Jerusalem, and destroyed the Temple. Some reports even say the Romans sowed salt in the ground so as to prevent crops from being subsequently grown. Having rid themselves of the Jewish menace, or so they thought, the Romans went to a special place to celebrate: Caesarea Philippi — the seat of Roman power in the area, the spot where the temple to the pagan god, Pan, has been constructed, the place that represented all the trappings and powers…

The Gospel reading appointed for this upcoming Sunday [Matthew 15:10-20, 21-28, RCL, the 11th Sunday After Pentecost] provides us with, by my count, the third consecutive “withdrawal” narrative about Jesus. Two weeks ago, we learned that, prior to feeding the multitude, Jesus had attempted to withdraw, perhaps to process the death of John the Baptist. In last week’s narrative, in which Jesus miraculously walks on the water, He had retreated to the mountain for centering prayer and communion with Yahweh. This week, following a heated argument with some Pharisees and “teachers of the law,” He withdraws to Tyre and Sidon [15:21]. No sooner has he done so, than he runs…

Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, Listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. [Isaiah 55:1b-2]. Last Tuesday, I had my “AWV.” For you non-Medicare folks, “AWV” stands for “annual wellness visit.” As many of you know, an AWV isn’t an annual physical; the stern lady at the front desk will remind you if you use the wrong words. “Medicare doesn’t reimburse for physicals; it’s a wellness visit.” I passed with flying colors, but that isn’t the reason I’m mentioning…

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it” [Matthew 13:45-46]. For those of us sticking to the Gospel readings during this hot and humid July, we’ve been bombarded or blessed — it depends upon one’s viewpoint — with powerful parables of Jesus. Two weeks ago, there was the parable of the farmer who apparently didn’t care how he broadcast his seed. He risked sowing some seed where a “successful” crop was unlikely. Last week, we had a somewhat nonchalant farmer who, when told that an enemy…

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like someone who planted good seed in his field. While people were sleeping, an enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat and went away. When the stalks sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.” “The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’” [Matthew 13:24-26, 28b]. Jane sometimes says, “Tom has 4,012 stories and he tells them over and over again.” One of my absolute favorites occurred a bit more than three years ago. In March 2017, grandson Everett — son of Blair and Sarah — was to be baptized at Trinity…

”But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ …” [Matthew 11:16-17]. Folks in and around Jerusalem during the first century A.D., like folks who live today, were surrounded by choices. Some chose to accommodate the Roman authorities by keeping their heads down and paying their taxes. Others took jobs collecting those taxes. Some devoted their lives to theological study and to Yahweh; others rarely graced the Temple or synagogue, devoting their lives instead to Bacchus, the Roman god of…