Four men approach Jesus with a paralytic. It’s an incredibly familiar story, told in a couple of different settings in the gospels. But did you notice what comes out of Jesus’s mouth? As it’s translated here, “Take heart” (Matt. 9:2b), or (more accurately), “Stay courageous.” “Your sins are forgiven.” And he also says, “Your sins…

Several years ago, I had organized a Good Friday service that was a combination of music and meditations. And my music director brought in a young viola player for an obligato part in a choral piece. I went up before the service to introduce myself, and we chatted for a little bit. As might be…

In the eleventh chapter of Matthew, Jesus, as he often did, used an analogy to communicate truth. In this case, the analogy is one the nation of Israel had heard again and again, that of a yoke. The Yoke That Oppresses And of course you know what a yoke is. It’s a bar with a…