The Galileans Herod has had killed have not behaved any better or worse than other people; they were not worse sinners than whose to whom Jesus addresses his words. God does not always punish sinners in this life. Accidents and acts of brutality may constitute no particular moral judgement. We are sinners. We stand in need of God’s mercy. We must repent [ … ]

The parable teaches us that we must be ready, because we do not know when Christ will come to us, for the final account of our lives. This is a warning, edging our lives with the unpredictable. One positive effect of this parable is that it helps us to remain alert to the present moment. While it is easy to allow our thoughts to drift from where we are here and now, to recall the past, to worry or hope for the future, or to slip into daydreams and fantasy altogether, it is when we bring our attention to this very moment of time that we find sharpness, significance, and vibrancy in our life. We may realise just how extraordinary this great gift of life truly is, and feel empowered to live well and offer ourselves wholly to God. When we are attentive to this moment in time we may walk with Jesus [ … ]

Jesus tells us to be vigilant. In Christ’s time, when the Jews would usually wear long, flowing garments, it was the practice to hitch them up, to gird oneself, in order to be ready to perform certain kinds of work. To gird oneself, therefore, and to keep lights burning, meant to be ready for action. Before the flight from Egypt, at the moment of the Passover, the Israelites had to gird themselves, to be ready to be able to leave immediately (Exodus 12:11) [ … ]

In the clamour of people crowding to be near to Jesus, one man comes to Jesus with a problem which is entirely his own and has nothing to do with his or anyone’s spiritual life. He asks Jesus to use his influence to solve a family dispute about material possessions, the family inheritance, by telling his brother to divide the inheritance fairly [ … ]

Jesus works so hard to overcome division and to bring people together. Jesus always in his teaching is breaking down the petty divisions that keep people apart: he drives a sword through ready made social definitions and prejudice, saying instead that we are all human beings, called to be together and to be with God, as God’s chosen [ … ]

Jesus teaches his listeners the parable of the unjust judge in order to affirm for them the efficacy of prayer. If even this unrighteous judge will grant the widow’s request, he tells us, how much more will God vindicate his elect, and speedily. We are called upon by Jesus to live a life of prayer – to express and to strengthen our faith through prayer and to channel our ever enriched faith into further prayer. This is the way to orient our lives to God [ … ]

Today’s parable may seem to us to be very strange. Fired for corruption, for being wasteful with the rich man’s property, the dishonest steward goes on to compound the error with outright criminality, marking down the debts of the rich man’s debtors in order to secure future favours. And Jesus praises him! [ … ]

The publicans (tax collectors) and other sinners are drawn to hear Jesus’ teaching. Perhaps they feel Jesus offers hope to them especially. While the scribes and Pharisees, despising sinners, find Jesus behaviour as he mixes with such people to be utterly objectionable, Jesus receives all humanity with love, understanding and, where there is faith and repentance, forgiveness. It is as if the people know that they are not condemned but can be accepted by Jesus. He offers them hope [ … ]

Jesus’ listeners continue to think that Jesus is journeying to Jerusalem there to inaugurate an earthly, political Kingdom of God, to expel the Roman power and restore an only ever briefly realized independent nation state in the Promised Land. Jesus speaks this parable, which is similar to the parable of the talents, in order to teach his disciples that they are not very soon to see an instant transformation in the world and that they have a lot of work to do. Their calling is not to be to lord it over others; it is to serve and do the utmost with the gifts they have received through walking with Jesus, to magnify the faith and preach the Gospel to the whole world [ … ]