Author: thebarefootevangelist

Kids Korner: Following Jesus can be hard (August 17th)

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Read Luke 12:49-56 with your family.

One of the things we teach children is to be nice like Jesus was nice. But anyone who has been bullied or ignored can tell you sometimes being nice is not always the best answer.

The lesson today is very hard for adults to hear, so it can be even tougher for kids. God who is loving and kind is bringing fire? God is saying families will be seperated? Why is Jesus saying this will happen.

Well, Jesus did not say it WILL happen, Jesus said it WAS happening. As more and more people started to follow Jesus, their family did not always agree. The people who followed Jesus had a new vision of what the future could be like if we changed how we treated each other, and that scared a lot of their families and friends.

Jesus does bring division, but not because Jesus is mean. Jesus brings division because following God’s path turns us away from following the world’s path, and a lot of people really like the world’s path. After all, the world’s path is the one that tells them they can have all the money they want, they can live however they want, we don’t have to worry about strangers, and that people in trouble did that to themselves.

Following Jesus is going to be hard at times, but the end where everyone has enough to live and be happy, really is worth it.

Who wrote the Gospels?

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After last week’s blog post I got to thinking about how much people know about the Gospels in general. Sunday School education really doesn’t get into it, and most Sunday School teachers have never been taught the differences and assumed histories of the four Gospels in the first place.

We have four Gospels in the New Testament, or Christian Scriptures canon. We can only assume why these four were chosen while so many others were not, because the criteria has been lost to time. This is a good place to look if you want to see many of the other writings in Early Church history, including what was known as Gnostic writings (not all books or letters excluded from the Christian canon are considered Gnostic).

The four Gospels were written anonymously. We can only guess at who the writer, or writers, based on how they wrote, the words and language they used, and any historic or geographical references we might be able to identify. That is not a lot to go on, so most Christian scholars today stick with the names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, names that were assigned by the early church.

Matthew was named after the disciple Matthew who was described as a wealthy Hebrew who was once a tax collector, Matthew 9:9, 10:3. This fits with the Gospel of Matthew having the most references to the Hebraic tradition and language. It is believed this scripture was written for the Hebraic-Christian community in Antioch, around 80 CE (Common Era). They would have been a small but wealthy group of early followers living in a large Hellenistic city. Matthew is the first Gospel we see because of its length, not because it was written first or is the most accurate or important.

Mark is named for a companion of Paul who also knew Peter, and travelled with Paul on his early missionary trips. His name pops up in several places in Paul’s letters, or the letters people assume Paul wrote. {Colossians (4:10), Philemon (1:24), and potentially 2 Timothy (4:11)} This makes Mark one of the first known people to share the word of Jesus outside of Peter and Paul, which would fit as the writer of the first Gospel. This Gospel was probably written in Rome, around 60-70 CE, just before or just after the Roman government destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem and kicked all the Hebrews out of that territory. What makes Mark unique is that it is styled after a Greek play that assumed the audience would respond to the open-endedness of the play by deciding their own conclusions.

Luke was originally named after a reference in pseudo-Pauline letter Colossians (meaning people thought Paul wrote it, but scholars today do not agree). The reference was to a physician named Luke, Colossians 4:14. They thought it had to be Luke because of all the stories about healings, but today scholars are no longer convinced of that. They think it is more likely that Luke was just a very well educated Greek convert to Christianity, because the Gospel is written in very advance Greek, and he would be considered the first historian of the church. The writer of Luke also wrote the Book of Acts. Scholars can’t agree about where Luke was written, but they do agree it was in a very wealthy Hellenistic centre within easy travel to Jerusalem, around 90 CE.

John has a slightly different story. Throughout the Gospel of John, we read about the Beloved Disciple, but there is no name attached. Then at the crucifixion Jesus tells John to take care of his mother, Mary, when he sees her standing beside the “Beloved Disciple”, John 19:26-27. Modern feminist scholars think putting John in that story came afterwards and that the Beloved Disciple was in fact Mary Magdalene. There are a number of reasons to think this might be the case, given books outside the Christian canon that highlight Jesus and Mary of Magdalene’s close relationship (and no, I do not think they were married or in a romantic relationship, I think Mary of Magdalene was old enough to be his mother). Also, how full her story is at Resurrection, and that there was a final chapter added after the book was completed that highlighted Peter, a disciple who was known to have issues with Jesus’ close relationship with Mary Magdalene. This Gospel was believed to be written in Ephesus, around 100 CE.

None of this is absolute history, but rather conjecture based on how each book was written. Scholars hope that someday there will be more discoveries of ancient texts that will give us more information.

Sunday Reflection – August 10, 2025

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Possessions that possess us

Luke 12 32 My little group of disciples, don’t be afraid! Your Father wants to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves moneybags that never wear out. Make sure your treasure is safe in heaven, where thieves cannot steal it and moths cannot destroy it. 34 Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

35  Be ready and keep your lamps burning 36  just like those servants who wait up for their master to return from a wedding feast. As soon as he comes and knocks, they open the door for him. 37 Servants are fortunate if their master finds them awake and ready when he comes! I promise you he will get ready and let his servants sit down so he can serve them. 38 Those servants are really fortunate if their master finds them ready, even though he comes late at night or early in the morning. 39  You would surely not let a thief break into your home, if you knew when the thief was coming. 40 So always be ready! You don’t know when the Son of Man will come.

Kids Korner: Stop focusing on stuff (August 10th)

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Read Luke 12:32-40 with your family.

Sometimes when we read stories in the Bible, we can easily pictures ourselves being there. As fun as that is, it is easy to let our imagination build a whole picture and we miss what Jesus was trying to teach. It happens to adults all the time, too.

When Jesus talks about being ready and using the word picture of people waiting by the door, he is really talking about keeping our heart open to seeing God in people and places all around us. We can do that anywhere.

Jesus also talks about getting rid of everything we owned. That was hard to hear from Jesus, and it is hard to hear today. Some of the early followers of Jesus did give everything away, and then they needed to rely on others to buy them food and give them a place to live. So we have to use common sense when reading this passage.

Jesus was trying to make us realize that when we focus on stuff, we are not focusing on God or finding ways to help God’s people.

So when you find yourself more interested in what you own rather than other people, maybe it is time to think about what you really need, and get rid of some of the things that are just a distraction.

Are the Scriptures lying to us?

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In the first few centuries, those in educational leadership in the church tried to conflate or harmonize the Scriptures. In this past century Biblical scholars have been trying to untie those assumptions. So what does that really mean?

I was chatting with someone this week who asked why in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist pretended to not know Jesus, when we all know he was Jesus’ cousin. Interesting question, and takes a little bit to unpack. This blog post will only look at one of many characters than need attention, however, the first answer is no, the Scriptures are not lying to us.

The early church tried to line up all the Gospels, and where they did not line up well, they were forced to line up so the same story was assumed across all four Gospels. The problem is, all four Gospels were written by different people – unknown to us, and only given names because of this harmonizing process by the early church – and were written in different locations around Galilee and Israel in the first century of the Common Era (CE).

Mark was first, written around the time of the destruction of the second temple, so either just before or just after 70 CE (I am more convinced of the argument that it was just before). He was telling a narrative in the Greek tradition of playwriting that expected the audience to complete the final act either in their imagination or through action. If you look at the end of Mark you can see the story just stops, but at two different times others tried to add on endings, one to mirror Luke, and another that has confused scholars ever since.

Matthew came next, somewhere around 80 CE, and he was raised in the Hebrew tradition. No other Gospel has as many references to Hebrew Scriptures or practices as Matthew.

Luke followed around 90 CE. He was once considered to be a doctor because of all the healing stories included. Modern scholars have decided he was not a doctor, but was probably the earliest historian of Jesus, at a time when no one was really an historian like we understand them today, Luke just used better material to tell his story. Luke is written in the most elevated Greek, which suggests he might have been a convert to Christianity.

These three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are known as the Synoptic Gospels or storytelling Gospels. They have many stories in common, but each is told with differing details. Even the story of the nativity, which today is told as one story, is told differently in the Gospels. Mark doesn’t have it, Matthew had the wisemen and star, and Luke had the angels and shepherds.

The Gospel of John is completely different. While the Synoptic Gospels gradually reveal that Jesus was the Messiah, John comes out of the gate proclaiming this truth, and then spends the entirety of the Gospel proving it like Jesus was on trial. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus is big and bold and never hides, unlike the Synoptics where Jesus is always trying to slip away or go unnoticed.

If we prioritize Luke, John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins. But that is the only Gospel that tells us they are related. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist had never met Jesus but he did have a conversion experience and then became a messenger of God. Mark and Matthew have John the Baptist as the wild man living in the desert, a reference to Isaiah’s prophecy.

Same person, three different backstories, all telling us about a person who told others to prepare, Jesus was coming.

So are the Scriptures lying? No. We have to look at each Gospel as a stand alone story.

Sunday Reflection – August 3, 2025

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Earth riches that do not last

Luke 12 13 A man in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.”

14 Jesus answered, “Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?”

15 Then he said to the crowd, “Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.”

16 So Jesus told them this story:

A rich man’s farm produced a big crop, 17 and he said to himself, “What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.”

18 Later, he said, “Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. 19  Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’ ”

20 But God said to him, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?”

21 “This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.”

Kids Korner: Greed (August 3rd)

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Read Luke 12:13-21 with your family.

What does greed look like? Often with children we show that greed is keeping all the cookies or not sharing them equally. But what does it look like in the world?

Greed looks like some people and countries having too much food while other people and countries not having enough.

Greed looks like some people being able to see a doctor and others being told there are no doctors or the doctors are too expensive so they cannot see them.

Greed is all around us. Our television and movies show us that greed is okay, but in God’s world greed is never okay.

There is enough for everyone in this world, we just have to share what we have.

Do we still call ourselves Christian?

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Over the past few years I have seen many people announce on social media that they are no longer calling themselves “Christian” because of who the term has been associated with in movies and in the mainline press. The word “Evangelical” has received similar treatment. Those in the middle and on the progressive edges of society that still hold true to the teachings of Jesus can often be found twisting themselves in knots to get the proper language that both defines as well as differentiates.

We have to stop and reflect on that practice.

Why should we, those who have read the Bible, or the Gospels at least, be the ones to change ourselves and separate ourselves from 2000 years of tradition?

While not all of that history is positive (insert any reference to the Spanish Inquisition and The Crusades here), much of it has been. We have seen the spread of health care and education, minority rights… in fact all the hallmarks of a progressive social democracy can be found in the origins of Christianity. And if we are being historically faithful, even before that with the Hebrew people.

It has been proven over and over again that when good people try to tinker with language or give up our identification, those who are twisting that identification want more. There gets to be a point when we have nothing left to give up.

So before we get to that point this go around, because let’s face it, everything we are seeing today has been done before (spoiler: the fascists always lose in the end), let’s just not. There is no need to give up our words, or give them away to people who want to destroy the positive found in those words.

To be “Christian” is to be a follower of Christ. We can call ourselves that, can’t we?

To be “Evangelical” means to be people who tell the story of the Good News. We are still doing that, aren’t we? In fact that is why this website is called The Barefoot Evangelist.

We should not give up who we are to appease those who do not represent us. We need to use those words and titles even more, proving what they really mean. Words have power.

Sunday Reflection – July 27, 2025

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More than one way to follow Jesus

Luke 11 When Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray.”

2 So Jesus told them, “Pray in this way:

‘Father, help us
    to honor your name.
Come and set up
    your kingdom.
3 Give us each day
    the food we need.
4 Forgive our sins,
as we forgive everyone
    who has done wrong to us.
And keep us
    from being tempted.’ ”

5 Then Jesus went on to say:

Suppose one of you goes to a friend in the middle of the night and says, “Let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine has dropped in, and I don’t have a thing for him to eat.” 7 And suppose your friend answers, “Don’t bother me! The door is bolted, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you something.”

8 He may not get up and give you the bread, just because you are his friend. But he will get up and give you as much as you need, simply because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.

9 So I tell you to ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you. 10 Everyone who asks will receive, everyone who searches will find, and the door will be opened for everyone who knocks. 11 Which one of you fathers would give your hungry child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 12 Which one of you would give your child a scorpion if the child asked for an egg? 13 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks.

Kids Korner: Prayer (July 27th)

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Read Luke 11:1-13 with your family.

Prayer is something that is supposed to be a regular part of our faith life, but it scares a lot of people.

How do I do it? Does it matter? What if I ask for the wrong thing? What if I make God angry?

I can promise you the last one will never happen. Prayer or asking for something we do not really need will not make God angry.

Prayer is just a conversation. Jesus made it easy for us by telling us that prayer is like being a child and asking a parent for what we need. God will only give us good things.

And if we are in trouble or having a hard time, prayer helps us remember that God is already with us and supporting us. Prayer is for us to get used to talking to God. God already knows what is happening.