The Kingdom of God is like…Five Parables from Matthew’s Gospel (1)[Matthew 13: 34-52] Imagine you are attending a Bible study led by the Evangelist Matthew himself. It is about 85 A.D. Your classmates are Jewish Christian converts from Palestine and Syria. Since the...
‘Let them grow together until the harvest…’Five Parables from Matthew’s Gospel (2)[Matthew 13:24-52] In our last reflection, we considered the concerns that the Evangelist Matthew wishes to emphasize in his Gospel. First, he wants to point out that it is Jesus Himself...
‘This is how it will be at the end of the age…’Five Parables from Matthew’s Gospel (3)[Matthew 13:24-52] The skeletal remains of an ancient fishing boat recovered by archaeologists from the Sea of Galilee serve as a reminder that fishing was as essential as farming in...
‘New treasures as well as old…’Five Parables from Matthew’s Gospel (4)[Matthew 13:24-52] Among the 38 parables of Jesus gathered by the Evangelists we find some of the most memorable tales of all time, with striking characters and endings that pack a...
‘But who is my neighbor?’The Good Samaritan[Luke 10:29-37] A rabbi once challenged his disciples to recite the Torah, the Law of Moses, while standing on one foot. This caused great dismay, for the pupils knew that there are no fewer than 613...
‘This very night your life is being demanded of you’The Parable of the Rich fool[Luke 12:16-21] In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that verbal expressions of anger are a violation of the Sixth Commandment forbidding murder: ‘If you say, “You fool,” you will be...
