Episodes
-
In this episode, Abraham and Sarah have to go to Egypt because Canaan has been afflicted by a famine. When they get there, Abraham urges Sarah to tell everyone that she is his sister rather than his wife. He was worried that the Egyptians would kill him to get to her. Sure enough, Sarah was whisked off to Pharaoh’s house. At that point, the Lord afflicted Egypt with plagues. An irate Pharaoh demands that Abraham take his wife and leave immediately. In the meantime, Abraham is greatly enriched because of all the presents that the Egyptians had given him.
-
In this podcast, I treat the treatment of Melchizedek according to the Epistle to the Hebrews. In that letter, he has an outsized role. He is not just any high priest. He is a high priest that is not related to any other Israelite priest. Because he has no genealogy, he is taken to be an eternal priest. Christ is the high priest who embodies Melchizedek’s role.
-
Missing episodes?
-
This is an odd story in the Abraham cycle. It involves a huge coalition of rival kings who go to war against each other. In the process, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, gets captured, along with the rest of his family and considerable property. Abraham feels compelled to rescue his nephew. This he does. On his way home, though, he is met by the king of Sodom and the king of Salem, who is named Melchizedek. Melchizedek blesses Abraham using the name of his Canaanite deity. Abraham combines the name of this deity with the name of the Israelite God (YHWH). The only other place where Melchizedek appears in the Old Testament is Psalm 110.
-
In this final episode, Jesus continues his debate with Jews who were considering was Jesus was saying. The more outrageous (from a Jewish perspective) Jesus was in the claims he made about himself, the more heated the debate became. Jesus demonized the Jews. The Jews returned the favor. The episode concluded when the Jews thought Jesus had been heretical and blasphemous, and therefore picked up stones to throw at him. Somehow, Jesus hid and got out of the temple unscathed.
-
This material is based on John 7-9. In this episode, right after Jesus deals with the woman caught in the act of adultery he begins teaching in the temple. A handful of Jews start believing in Jesus. But that did not mean that they understood him. They are confused about Jesus says about who sent him, where he soon will be going, why no one will be able to find him, etc. Typical of this Gospel, much of what Jesus says is cryptic.
-
In this episode, Jesus has been teaching in the temple, impressing those listening. Many of them think either that Jesus is “the prophet” or even the Messiah/Christ. This hubbub leads the Pharisees to send officers to arrest Jesus. But no one bothers him. When the officers explain why they did not arrest Jesus, Nicodemus enters the fray. He wants to know why Jesus is not being given a fair hearing. But Nicodemus is simply criticized by being asked whether he came from Galilee. The story is then interrupted by a story seemingly out of context: the incident with the woman caught in the act of adultery.
-
This story is narrated in John 7. In this episode, Jesus’ own biological brothers urge him to attend the Feast of Tabernacles which will be held in Jerusalem. At the time, Jesus was in the Galilee area in the north. He had been facing hostility in the south. Jesus tells his brothers, “No.” Later, Jesus goes to the Feast. At first, he does not nothing openly. Later, he shows up in the temple and teaches. This prompts the people to express their opinions of Jesus, which ranged from those who thought he was a good man and those who thought he was leading the people astray. Though the people in the temple were surprised that Jesus seemed so educated, he argued that had nothing to do with formal education. Instead, he seemed literate, so to speak, because of the One who had sent him.
-
In this last installment, the Ark of God comes back to Israel. This allows an opportunity for repentance and amendment of life. Prior to this, a number of Israelites were struck down for looking in the Ark! When Israel is repenting, the Philistines try a sneak attack. But God prevents them. When Israel’s army went up against the Philistine army, the results were disastrous. When they confronted the Philistines while Samuel was praying for them, they won easily.
-
In this episode Eli’s daughter-in-law goes into premature labor due to the Ark of God’s being captured. She dies in childbirth, but is able to name the baby. The name, Ichabod, means “The Glory is Gone.” As the episode continues, the Philistines gloat about the ark. But it wreaks havoc in Philistia for six months, at which time the Philistines send the ark back to Israel. They do it in such a way that it eliminates any chance that the damage done by the ark was coincidental.
-
It is based on 1 Samuel 4:1-18. In this episode, Samuel is poised to speak, but says nothing. In fact, he does not even appear in what follows. Instead, Israel and Philistia square off in battle. Inexplicably, Israel loses. Figuring that God had not shown up, the Israelites make sure that God appears by bringing the Ark of God into the next battle. Israel nevertheless loses again. Worse, Eli’s two sons are killed and Philistia captures the Ark.
-
It is based on 1 Samuel 3. In this episode, Samuel begins as an apprentice priest and ends up as a prophet recognized by all Israel. In the story itself, God calls out to Samuel four times. The first two times, neither Samuel nor Eli have a clue about who is speaking. The third time, though, Eli perceives that the voice belongs to God. When God calls to Samuel for a fourth time, the deity announces judgment on Eli’s priestly house, primarily due to the egregious behavior of his two sons. Samuel has to deliver this bad news to Eli. The episode concludes by letting us know that God has replace a dominant priestly ministry with a dominant prophetic ministry.
-
It is based on 1 Samuel 2. In this episode, Hannah prays. In this prayer she not only praises God but also presents God as a God of reversals. Simply, God trumps human conventional power with unconventional power. After the prayer, we learn that Samuel is growing religiously, that Eli blesses Hannah and her husband, that this blessing eventuates in more children, that Eli’s sons were corrupt priests, and that the priestly House of Eli will soon experience judgment.
-
n this episode, only a single family is in focus: Elkanah and his two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was childless; Peninnah had sons and daughters. Peninnah made Hannah’s life miserable because of this circumstance. When the family was in Shiloh worshipping, Hannah prayed that her situation be reversed. Eventually, that prayer was answered and subsequently she gave birth to a son: Samuel. So far, only one family appears to be involved. But that is about to change, and change dramatically.
-
Text: Acts 1:15-26. In this story, Peter and the fledging community of Jesus’ followers needed to replace the disgrace Judas to ensure that the twelve apostles are able to sustain that number. Twelve is significant in that Jesus’ mission was to the lost house of Israel. The twelve disciples correspond to the twelve tribal units of Israel. The group did two things to discern God’s will: Pray and Cast Lots. The choice was Matthias, who is never heard from again. While this text should not be used to advocate using dice for ecclesiastical decision making, combining prayer and casting of lots at least suggests that we exercise considerable humility when discerning God’s will. Sometimes, knowing God’s will is maddeningly elusive.
-
In this Podcast, I suggest that the differences among these accounts are not the result of faulty eyewitnesses. Instead, they have to do with the differing theological perspectives of the various Gospels. Attempts to harmonize these texts are ill-advised. This is because harmonization creates a text that no one wrote or read. The Christian community canonized not a harmony of the Gospels, but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
-
This story is found in John 20—21. Mary Magdalen goes to the tomb, finds the stone rolled away, and dashes off to tell Simon Peter and another disciple. The two disciples run to the tomb themselves. They both notice graveclothes, but no corpse. The other disciple believed, but what he believed is unspecified. They then go home. Mary stays around and enters the tomb, whereupon she sees two angels. They want to know why she is crying. Right then Jesus appears, but is not recognized by Mary. Eventually, they speak and she recognizes him. She reports this to the other disciples. Later that day Jesus appears to the other disciples, showing them his hands and feet. They are pleased, but say nothing. Thomas is there later but doubt their report that Jesus is alive. He wants evidence. More than a week later, Jesus is with the disciples again, this time Thomas is present. Though invited to touch Jesus’ wounds, Thomas declares, “My Lord and my God.” In the last scene, Jesus prepares a breakfast of fish and bread for the disciples. Jesus’ offering of breakfast imitates Jesus previously feeding the multitude with fish and bread. The scene concludes when Jesus asks three times whether Peter loves him. Jesus says as much three times in response. Keep in mind that Peter had once betrayed Jesus by denying that he knew him three times.
-
This story derives from chapter 24. It begins with several women going to Jesus’ tomb with spices. When they arrive, the stone to the entrance has been removed. The women look it, but see no body. Instead, they encounter two men who want to know why the women are looking for the dead among the living. Astounded, the women go to the disciples and other followers of Jesus to tell them what happened. But they are not believed. On that same day, two from Jesus’ inner circle encounter Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. However, they do not recognize him until he eats with them. When they are telling the other followers what had happened, Jesus appears. He ensures that they know that his resurrection was a bodily resurrection. He also teaches the group what the Scripture says about him. The chapter ends with Jesus’ commissioning the group, followed by his ascension.
-
In this Gospel, the accent is on disbelief and doubt. The women who first went to the tomb were afraid to tell anyone what they had encountered, even though the young man in a white robe had told them that Jesus was risen. In the longer version of the chapter (Mark 16), the details are markedly different but the outcome is the same. Mary Magdalene did report what she saw but no one believed her. Then, Jesus appeared to a couple of people who subsequently told his disciples and other followers. But they were disbelieved, too. Finally, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples but had to scold them for being hard-hearted and lacking belief. Jesus then admonished them to preach the gospel, which would be accompanied by a number of dubious signs.
-
This is the first of a four-part series in which I deal with the various resurrection stories of the four canonical gospels. Matthew’s version is recounted in Matthew 28. Unique to this gospel, however, is the two earthquakes, one happening at the point of Jesus’ death (in Matthew 27) and a second one caused by a descending angel who rolled back the stone covering the tomb. Also unique is the incredible story that at the moment Jesus dies the tombs of many saints opened, whereupon these saints went into the city and appeared to many.
With Jesus’ resurrection, the angel who rolled away the stone told Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to go to tell the disciples that Jesus was no longer at the tomb. They were to tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. On the way, they encounter Jesus, who repeats the instruction. The account includes the episode in which soldiers are bribed to tell people that Jesus’ disciples came to steal his body. When the disciples finally see Jesus in Galilee, they worshipped him. But some doubted. -
In this presentation, Jesus explains what it means that he is the living bread that results in eternal life. There are overtones of eucharistic activities, revelatory ideas, and ways of relating to Jesus by means of this bread. Believing Jesus and eating his flesh and drinking his blood are part of this. Of course, the crowd does not get this teaching.
Jesus is an ordinary man—everyone knows him, and everyone knows his father and mother. How can someone so ordinary be living bread. It turns out that even disciples have difficulty with what Jesus is saying. Many of them abandon Jesus. Only the twelve stick around. However, Jesus points out that, though he has chosen the twelve, one of them is a devil! - Show more
