Palm Sunday to Good Friday, a frenzy of adulation turned suddenly to condemnation. How should we explain this sudden change? Did the crowd realise that Jesus wasn’t the messiah they expected so thought it best to crucify him? Hardly. Perhaps each crowd – Palm Sunday and Good Friday – was made up of different individuals? … Continue reading "From Adulation to Condemnation"...
read moreCountry of first asylum, or first refuge, is usually a neighbouring country to which a refugee flees. In the face of great challenge, even reported challenge, writing often becomes the place of first refuge for novelists and poets as they seek to make sense of the challenging experience. Rilke expresses it this way: Everything conspires to silence us, Partly with shame Partly with unspeakable hope....
read moreIt is noticeable that Stephen, the first Christian martyr we know of, ends his life without voicing revenge. (Acts 7:60) In this he mimics Jesus. (Luke 23:34) What a gift to bequeath a world so full of malice and revenge! He has seen through the justifications that allow us to act out our rivalries and … Continue reading "The Martyrdom of Stephen as Recapitulation of the Gospel"...
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