For mankind, justice is closely linked to getting what you deserve; what we sometimes call a quid pro quo, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. This is the cause and effect which makes up so much of our legal system and is in keeping with our Judeo-Christian values. It is retributive…

In his fifth woe to the Pharisees, Jesus contrasts justice, mercy and faithfulness to a fastidious accounting of tithes, and assigns not just qualitative superiority but quantitative superiority as well. Weight is a measurable commodity. Jesus places more weight on justice, mercy and faithfulness than he does on tithing; though he is quick to add,…

In his book Journey to the Common Good, Walter Brueggemann wrote: “The great crisis among us is the crisis of the common good, the sense of community solidarity that binds us all in a common destiny. It keeps together—the haves and the have nots, the rich and the poor. But we face a crisis about…

To understand what Jesus means about the weightier matters of the law, today we will break down the components that Jesus mentioned, and look at them individually. What is justice? What is mercy? What is faith?—as they are taught by Jesus? Our focus will be on the first of these, on justice—where it comes from,…

Today, we’re moving on to the fifth of the “woes” Jesus conferred upon the Pharisees. We are not leaving our former topic of blindness behind entirely, because as we’re going to see, over the next few woes Jesus repeats the indictment that they are (spiritually) blind men, blind fools. Here is the context: “Woe to…

The blind man in Mark 8 was healed twice by Jesus. It was a double dose, industrial strength kind of miracle. On re-reading the story, I discovered something that I hadn’t seen before, which I thought might shed some light on our conversation. And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to…