40 DAYS OF TESTING

Sunday's Gospel Reading from Matthew is also found in Mark and Luke. The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness in Mark. In Luke and Matthew, the Spirit leads Jesus. Being driven and being led are very different descriptions. The former conjures an image of Jesus going with hesitation, even reluctance. The latter paints a picture of readiness and willingness. 

The number 40 denotes a long time in Scripture. It rained 40 days and nights during the time of Noah. Forty years separated the crossing of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan River. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tested. Matthew and Luke add that he fasted. This narrative is the basis for the 40 days of Lent.

Many imagine that Jesus was alone in the wilderness during those 40 days of testing. He was not. The Synoptics say Jesus had company. Wild beasts. Angels. And Satan. God's surprises abound in the wilderness! 

My friends, let us never forget. Satan did not betray Jesus. Judas did. Satan did not deny Jesus. Peter did. Satan did not plot to arrest and kill Jesus in secret. The chief priests and scribes did. Satan did not abduct, torture, abuse, and murder Jesus. The Romans did.

Satan is not behind the War on Terror. Satan is not responsible for the economies of death and destruction that pervade our world. Nor is Satan responsible for the Genocide against the Palestinians, or for the human trafficking rings of Epstein and his fellow pedophiles. We all know who are responsible and should be held accountable for all these. 

Students of "Redeemer/Hero Myths" know that heroes and heroines undergo exhaustive and exhausting testing and trial to help prepare them for their mission. These tests usually come in threes: physical and mental trials, a descent into death (or near death), and moral testing. Luke had Yoda. Neo had Morpheus. In this rite of passage, Jesus has Satan. 

Who among us wants to spend 40 days in the wilderness being tested by Satan? Jesus went. Took the tests. And passed all three.

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*Art, "Is Jesus the Spirit Brother of Satan?" (from Christianitydotcom).

THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS

Amy Jill Levine and Peter Haas, my Jewish teachers in graduate school, taught that one of the best ways to understand the TaNaKh-- especially the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and the Nevi'im (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve [Hosea to Malachi])--is to focus on who speaks for God in these traditions. 

In the Torah (Law), God speaks through Moses. In the Nevi'im (Prophets), God speaks through Elijah and the rest of the prophets. For Sunday's lection on the Transfiguration, God tells Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus. God speaks through Jesus.

Dear Friends, please take note. None of these three spokespersons of the Most High are Christian! Not one! Those of us who take pride in calling ourselves Christian should stop thinking that we have exclusive access to God. 

God speaks through anyone God chooses. Don't ever forget: God spoke through Balaam's donkey. God especially speaks through those whose lives proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, liberation for the oppressed, and God's Jubilee of justice!

These days, God speaks most loudly from under the rubble in Gaza. 

God speaks through anyone and anything God chooses. God always has. God always will. 

*art, "The Transfiguration," JESUS MAFA, 1973 (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives).

The Little Bitch who taught Jesus a Lesson

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THE CHURCH AND ITS CALLING

The Church as "Body of Christ" and "Bride of Christ" are Pauline metaphors. There are more metaphors and three of my favorites come from Jesus: Salt. Light. A grain of wheat. 

The first two come from Sunday's Gospel Reading from Matthew. The third is Johannine. We have heard so many homilies about these three. We are the salt of the earth, we give flavor to life. We are the light of the world, we push away the darkness. We are a grain of wheat, we need to bear fruit... We feel good about being salt, light, and a grain of wheat. 

We are so comfortable with these interpretations we miss what those metaphors demand from us: all require self-sacrifice; all require emptying; all require dying...

Salt dissolves. Light burns out. No seed ever sees the flower. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  

We should never forget what Jesus commands us: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." We should never forget what his earliest disciples remind us: "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another." 

My friends, the church was not called to live forever. The church was called to die. 

We should never, ever, forget that we follow an Executed God. There can never be a resurrection without a crucifixion.

*art, "Shine," by Mike Moyers (from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library digital archives).

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GOOD NEWS FOR THE POOR

The Beatitudes in Sunday's Reading from Matthew are declarations about those whom God favors. Each is an affirmation that God takes sides, that God plays favorites. And God’s favorites are the last, the least, the lost, and the left out. Luke's version declare both blessings and woes. 

The first of these, and possibly the best known, is "blessed are you who are poor". 

"Poor" here refers to people who are destitute, people who are so poor that begging and stealing become options for them to survive, people who are drowning in misery.

Two ways to become destitute in the first century were to lose land and to lose one's place in their family. For most people, land was not just property; land was life. Family identity was exceptionally important in the ancient world. People were known as the "son of" or "daughter of" their father, or mother, or clan. War, slavery, and indebtedness left people widows, orphans, and refugees. War, slavery, and indebtedness left people destitute, displaced, and dispossessed. 

The Tanakh (what Christians call the Old Testament) over and over and over challenges the Israelites to care for widows, orphans, and refugees. War, slavery, and indebtedness were all part of the structures and systems of evil that made the rich richer and the poor miserable. Alas, things have not changed. With development aggression, things are tragically worse! 

During the time of Jesus, the 1% owned and controlled the land and practically everything else. Half of the population was slowly starving to death. Life expectancy was 28 years.

When the Gospels talk about the poor, they do not mean the rich who are spiritually poor. Poor does not include the wealthy who live in poor relationships nor the powerful who feel poor. The poor that the Gospels talk about are people who have to beg God in prayer to give them the food they need today because surviving today is how they get to see tomorrow. 

There are people who love to pray this prayer while they have cupboards--or even storehouses--of food enough for a week, a month, a year, or until The Second Coming. These people are NOT poor.

*art, "The Sermon on the Mount," JESUS MAFA, 1973 (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives).

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THE PARABLE OF THE "BAD" SAMARITANS

We love the Parable from Luke 10. Most of us identify with the Samaritan. We name our institutions after him. I know of a Good Samaritan Hospital, a Good Samaritan Church, and a Good Samaritan Multi Purpose Credit Cooperative. I'm sure you all know more. 

But things have tragically changed. An evil culture of impunity has enveloped the world. We live under societal, political, and institutional conditions where perpetrators of crimes—particularly those with power and privilege—are rarely held accountable, investigated, or punished. The powerful and the privileged now label Good Samaritans "Bad". 

Despite the label, Good Samaritans still exist and persist. Despite the red-tagging , vilification, harassment, and demonization,  they continue helping the wounded along the world's bloody ways. 

Some of them exist, persist, and resist! And are labelled, not just "Bad", but as "Terrorists". 

ICE executed two of them. Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Both were 37. 

We all need to put a stop to this evil culture of impunity. NOW!!!

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GO FOLLOW. GO FISH.

Friends, many among us used to sing a song that went, "I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me." I haven't heard this song sung in years. Probably because we have stopped fishing for people. Why is that? We have stopped FOLLOWING JESUS.

What have we done instead? We praise Jesus. We worship Jesus. We proclaim Jesus. We declare, "Christ above all!" We do everything in our power to make other people look like us; pray like us; act like us. We have stopped doing what Jesus told us to do in order to fish for people. FOLLOW HIM! 

Why is that? Because following Jesus is hard. It is easier to praise, worship, and proclaim Jesus than to follow him. It is very dangerous. It means loving our neighbor, which includes the unlovable and, yes, our enemies.  It means taking up the cross. It means going against empire. It means being red-tagged, vilified, and demonized. It means being crucified. It means offering one's life as a ransom for many. 

Jesus is, right now, waiting for you and me to follow him to Galilee. By the sea. To go fish for people.

Friends, another song comes to mind. We have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back! 

*Art, "St. Peter and St. Andrew," by Peter Koenig (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives)

GOD IS NOT IN HEAVEN ANYMORE. PART TWO

Last Sunday's Gospel Reading on the baptism of Jesus reminded us that, in Scripture, God does everything possible to live among God's people here on earth--whether it is God descending on Sinai, journeying with the Israelites via the tabernacle, taking residence at the temple in Jerusalem, and fulfilling the promise of "Immanuel". 

This Sunday's Johannine Reading resonates with the same theme: God finding ways to live among God's people here on earth. The number of sermons and commentaries on "The Lamb of God" is voluminous. But contemporary Hebrew Bible scholarship-- especially on the Priestly Tradition in the Pentateuch--can help us better understand the meaning of "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Whether it is about Mount Sinai, the  Tabernacle, the Jerusalem Temple, and eventually, the territories of ancient Israel and Judah, the blood that is offered as purification (or sin) offerings acts as ritual detergent. "Sins" make God's dwelling places "dirty". The offerings and its related rituals (washing hands, bathing, etc.) make sure that God has a welcoming place God can call home among us.

Remember when we were children? Remember all the rituals we did to keep our homes clean and welcoming? Remember all the times we had to wash up, bathe, brush our teeth, and wear fresh clothes when we were expecting guests? 

In other words, my friends, the blood of the lamb makes the whole world, including you and me, spotlessly clean so that God can dwell among us. For the Christian, Jesus is the reason the whole world is cleansed. For the Christian, Jesus is the reason God is not in heaven anymore. 

Praise the Lord!

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*image, "The Lamb of God" at the Basilica dei Santi Cosma e Damiano (Rome, Italy), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.

GOV. JOSEPH, KING DAVID, KING SOLOMON, AND PRES. TRUMP

Many times the church turns to the Bible to find biblical characters who embody ideal leadership. Many times the church find the wrong models. Like Joseph, David, and Solomon. 

Genesis 47 tells us of how Governor Joseph oppressed the Egyptians. He introduced a famine relief system that required that all the people give up all their money, their livestock, their land, and their freedom so that they do not starve to death. 

2 Samuel 11 details how King David raped Bathsheba and had Uriah, her husband, killed in battle so that he, David, can possess her. 

1 Kings 9 and 2 Chronicles 8 tell us how King Solomon enslaved both the Canaanites and his own fellow Israelites. He replaced the tribal confederacy with 12 economic zones and introduced forced labor to undertake his infrastructure projects for the Lord.

Friends, these are explicit in the biblical text. 

Tragically, we have been so enamored with Joseph the Dreamer, David the Slayer of Goliath, and Solomon the Wise that we do not see the stark truth before our very eyes. People suffered and died under their leadership. 

The same applies to Donald Trump. Millions are so enamored, actually blinded by the trifecta of myth, mysticism, and MAGA that they cannot see the truth of his dictatorial, fascist, and violent regime. People have suffered and died under this administration. People will continue to suffer and die. 

Lest we forget, Joseph, David, Solomon, Trump, Netanyahu, and, yes, Marcos and Duterte all believe in God. They all believe that God is on their side. But even Satan and his minions believe in God. King Herod who executed John the Baptist believed in God. Even the Chief Priest, Joseph Caiaphas--who collaborated with Pilate to have Jesus executed--believed in God. 

I'm pretty sure that ICE Agent Jonathan Ross, who murdered Renee Nicole Good, believes in God as well. Adolf Hitler certainly did. 

Belief in God does not excuse these men from the evil they have done. And in the case of the aforementioned heads, and former head of state, the evil that they continue to do.

The untold suffering and senseless deaths of people will go from bad to worse because terrorists occupy the White House, Malacanang Palace, and many halls and corridors of power.

My friends, they need to be stopped. And the sooner the better. 

*Image: OBJEKTIV, 9 January 2026 (American Attack on Venezuela)

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GOD IS NOT IN HEAVEN ANYMORE

Yes, you read that right. God is not in heaven anymore. God has stopped watching from a distance.

There are so many people who are fixated on going up to heaven. There are those who do most of what they do in order to secure themselves a place up in heaven. There are also those who believe that investing their 70 to 80 earth years on "heavenly" endeavors--putting numerous bills in the offertory, donating land, building air-conditioned churches, and making sure that everyone accepts Jesus as their Personal Lord and Savior--will get them a reward in the afterlife that spans eternity. A mansion over the hilltop. 

Then there are those who read their Bibles, pray everyday, and grow, grow, grow in the realization that many times in scripture, God does everything possible to live among God's people here on earth. Whether it is coming down to liberate God's people from slavery, descending on Sinai to give the Law, journeying with the Israelites via the Tabernacle, taking residence at the Temple in Jerusalem, and fulfilling the promise of "Immanuel", God wants to be with us.

Given the choice, God wants to come down. We, on the other hand, want to go up. 

Sunday's Gospel Reading from Matthew talks about the baptism of Jesus by John. Mark and Luke have parallel versions. Only Mark reports that the heavens were torn or ripped apart when the Spirit descended upon Jesus. Sunday's text resonates with divinity's need to come down. The passage says that the Spirit descended like a dove. I would like to believe that the Spirit tore or ripped the heavens apart because the Spirit could not wait to leave heaven for earth. 

And, do not forget this, ever: the Spirit that came down has not gone back up to heaven. Because Jesus is still here. The Risen One is still down here on earth, particularly in places and spaces where we do not want him to be; in places and spaces where we are afraid to go. He is waiting for us to join him as he works among the destitute, the discriminated, the disenfranchised, the dehumanized, the occupied, and the silenced.

My friends, God is not in heaven anymore. God has stopped watching from a distance.

*art, "John baptizes Jesus," JESUS MAFA, 1973 (Cameroon), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.

THERE IS A BRAMBLE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

 

Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, “Reign over us!”

But the olive tree said to them, “Shall I leave my fatness with which God and people are honored, and go to wave over the trees?”

Then the trees said to the fig tree, “You come, reign over us!”

But the fig tree said to them, “Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?”

Then the trees said to the vine, “You come, reign over us!”

But the vine said to them, “Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and people, and go to wave over the trees?”

Finally all the trees said to the bramble, “You come, reign over us!”

The bramble said to the trees, “If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.” (Judges 9:8-15)

The tree is a common metaphor for Ancient Israel. In the parable, trees go seek for a king. The Olive, the Fig, and the Grape are asked. All say, no. All are much smaller than the Cedar of Lebanon and are, therefore, incapable of “waving over” or reigning over them. All three know the purpose of their creation and were not tempted to covet a role that was not theirs.

Finally, they ask the Bramble.

Scholars tell us that bramble are opportunistic and insatiable. They are capable of sucking the life out of other trees. Moreover, they have the capacity to deprive other trees of sunlight and starve them to death! 

There is a Bramble in the White House. It is opportunistic and insatiable. It has sucked the life out of thousands among the people it has sworn to protect and serve. Every day, its minions and programs, anti-poor, anti-youth, anti-life, deprive the most vulnerable and the basic masses of the fullness of life that God wills for God’s children.

Its marching orders echo that of Caiphas, the High Priest who collaborated with Pontius Pilate in the murder of Jesus of Nazareth. Caiphas told his minions, "It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed."

These days, we call this pre-emptive strike. 

Thus, it is better to eliminate "enemies" in order to arrest the dangers they pose on the the American White Way of Life. It is better to do strategic attacks against sovereign countries to make the world safe from drugs and drug lords. And secure these countries' oil reserves in the process. It is better to criminalize dissent, demonize resistance, and curtail basic freedoms than to have the whole nation destroyed by godless and leftist ideologies. It is better to have one man or a few thousand men, women, children abducted, jailed, deported, or killed for the good of the majority than to have Trump and his ilk's MAGA way of life derailed. 

There is a Bramble in the White House and it needs to be cut down. Now.

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*Photo from Prospect Magazine

DO YOU BLEED?

The Bible is a library. It is multivocal and pluriform. The Canonical Gospels are good examples. They begin their narratives in different ways. Mark starts with an adult Jesus who is baptized by John in the Jordan. Matthew has a birth narrative that features Magi who follow a star and spend two years searching for the child. Jesus was already a toddler when they reach Bethlehem. Luke's version has angels announcing the birth and shepherds visiting Jesus as a newborn baby lying in a manger. John's origin story, which is Sunday's reading, begins in "The Beginning."

Many people who memorize Bible verses know John 1.1 (with Genesis 1.1 and, almost everyone's favorite, John 3.16). The Word became Flesh and lived among us. God has stopped watching from a distance. 

Stories of Gods taking on human form abound in many of the world's mythologies. Many of the heroes of ancient peoples were demigods or super humans. For the Gospel of John, when the Word became Flesh, the Word was totally and fully Flesh. In other words, God was not Superman disguised as Clark Kent. God was Clark Kent. God bled.

For the Gospel of John, God Incarnate gets tired and thirsty; eats and drinks with family and friends; experiences love and loss, and cries, like all of us. God Incarnate takes the side of the poor, feeds the multitudes, experiences betrayal, and suffers torture and crucifixion by empire. Like many among us. Especially these days. 

God bleeds. God dies. God is one of us. 

My Friends, to believe in the incarnation is to embody justice, accompaniment, solidarity, and life-giving, like Jesus did. The incarnation required a warm body: Jesus’s. The incarnation still requires warm bodies: yours and mine. 

Especially these days! 

*photo of a newborn baby from shutterstock images. ID 223586497. 

SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM THE "HOW MANY SQUARES DO YOU SEE?" COMMUNITY

 

https://a.co/d/0Bki8bT

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!

It is time we took another road. Over and over again we take the same road. We never learn. We imagine that doing the same thing will change the outcome. It never has. It never will. 

The Empire strikes back--always. In the case of the Magi, innocent children were massacred. And innocent children will continue to die as long as we try to save Baby Jesus from Herod. We should stop. He is not a baby anymore. He also does not need saving. The Magi did that already.

The Empire always strikes back. There are more Herods today. They are purveyors of war. Last year alone, over 2 trillion US dollars were spent on the arms industry. Over half a trillion more was spent in the illegal drug trade. The War on Terror and the War on Drugs have left a trail of suffering and death on the innocent. Over 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have been massacred by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza and the West Bank using US-made arms and weapons of mass destruction.

Thus, you and I need to be wiser. We need to be Magi-er. We need to be more sensitive to the warnings in our shared dreams. We need to know when to beat swords into plowshares--and when to beat plowshares into swords. We need to take other roads.

We need to do all these to make sure that the massacre of the innocents in the Holy Land and elsewhere ends now! 

We need to make sure that those responsible--the Herods, Trumps, Netanyahus, Marcoses, Dutertes, and their ilk--are made accountable. 

We need to act, wherever we are, right now!

["Scene of the Massacre of the Innocents," Leon Cogniet, 1824]