It is Jesus’s crucifixion that is his decisive criticism of the royal consciousness that must have order. Jesus was not killed by the rabble but by the religious and political authorities of the day.
The Prophetic Imagination – Criticism and Pathos in Jesus of Nazareth Read More »
Into this abyss of suffering, the prophet of hope and amazement begins to speak with the words “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God.” Isa. 40:1. Jeremiah’s Rachel who refuses to be comforted (Jer. 31:15), has been answered.
The Prophetic Imagination – Prophetic Energizing and the Emergence of Amazement, pt.2 Read More »
The working example (which I assume Brueggemann had in mind in 1978) of this penetration of despair, is the civil rights movement, and specifically, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech:
The Prophetic Imagination – Prophetic Energizing and the Emergence of Amazement, pt.1 Read More »
Jeremiah also grieves because, like Isiah, he is speaking to a people who simply cannot and who simply refuse to hear. The Royal Consciousness has closed the ears to hear the words of the prophet.
The Prophetic Imagination – Prophetic Criticizing and the Embrace of Pathos, pt.2 Read More »
At a more fundamental level, Brueggemann writes that prophetic critique must be grounded in pathos. He points out that the royal management consciousness that is rooted in practicality and reasonableness leads to apathy, or the denial of experience, emotions, empathy, and imagery.
The Prophetic Imagination – Prophetic Criticizing and the Embrace of Pathos, pt.1 Read More »
The word Mark uses for “transfiguration” is metamorphoses, the title of Ovid’s poem. In Mark’s use of this term, like his use of the word “gospel” to open his work, he wants us to see that Jesus is Lord and God, not Ceasar.
Epiphany – The Transfiguration, Mark 9:2-13, pt.2 Read More »
The Transfiguration shows us Jesus’ metamorphosis from an itinerant preacher and healer in Galilee into the fullness of his purpose and being as the Messianic Son of God to be crucified in Jerusalem as the ransom for many.
Epiphany – The Transfiguration, Mark 9:2-13 Read More »
In Mark, the problem in the human condition is that we are overcome by those things that seek to pull us into non-existence (i.e. sin). Jesus’s mission is to restore us to the fullness of our creation. His mission is to eliminate and overcome those defects in spirit and body.
Epiphany – Exorcisms and Healings – Mark 1:21-2:12, pt.2 Read More »
In Mark, Jesus is the one that does battle on our behalf against the spiritual hosts of wickedness to free us from this present evil age. Mark is apocalyptic. Jesus is the challenge to the dominion of evil.
Epiphany – Exorcisms and Healings – Mark 1:21-2:12, pt.1 Read More »
In those jars, we have the Eucharistic wine that purifies the world of its sins. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John 1:29. Jesus is the good wine.
Epiphany – The Wedding at Cana – John 2:1-11, pt.2 Read More »
