introduction to biblical interpretation – Jesus @ 2 am blogs and podcast

God, Self & Other – Luke 12: “We Have Seen Strange Things…” (Resurrection, Part 1 – Jesus Heals a Paralytic)

June 16, 2017June 16, 2017Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

Jesus’s miracles are never mere exhibitions of power, meant only to demonstrate his divine identity or access to power. While they do this, they are far more – they are embodiments of the Kingdom of God. In Jesus’s presence, an ailing creation is made whole, broken humanity made new.

In this episode we look at a profound moment in Jesus’s ministry – the healing of a man afflicted by paralysis and a demonstration of paradigmatic example of faith (in the acts of the man’s friends). The afflicted man is, of course, healed and in ways that foreshadow the greater Kingdom this is yet to come.

This sermon was originally preached on Easter Sunday 2016 – just in case you were looking for an Easter sermon in mid-June. 😉

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God, Self & Other – Luke 11: Love Beyond Every Boundary (Healing a Man with Leprosy)

June 14, 2017June 14, 2017Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

If you’ve ever wondered how far the grace of God extends, the short answer is: beyond every imaginable barrier and boundary.

In this episode we look at Luke 5:12-16 – a short, but dramatic, encounter between Jesus and a man afflicted with leprosy. In the ancient world, few conditions were more feared or carried greater stigma. And Judaism held strict rules about contact between lepers and literally everyone else. Yet Jesus crosses every prohibition of fear and piety to take confer healing to a child of God in need. It is a first glimpse of what theologians refer to as “the great exchange” – Jesus taking what is ours (the curse of sin) and making it his, taking what is his (shalom) and making it ours.

To anyone who has ever thought themselves “too far gone” to be welcomed by God, this is yet another reminder that there is no such condition.

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God, Self & Other – Luke 10: How Honest Faith Begins (Calling of Peter, James and John)

May 17, 2017May 17, 2017Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

True faith doesn’t happen in an instant. At least it didn’t for Peter…or James or John (Jesus’s innermost circle)! Honest faith is a process that unfolds over a lifetime, and contains elements of wonder, doubt, confusion, awe, more confusion, agony, guilt, healing… This up-and-down, in-and-out journey is the authentic process of transformation (sanctification), and is the message we are to proclaim to the world.

In this episode we look Jesus’s calling of his first disciples and the manner in which their life of faith began. It’s a lesson in the realities of the Christian life and the gospel to which every disciple bears witness.

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