The TMP Podcast

Easter is the beginning of God’s new creation. We don’t have to wait. It has already burst in. And the whole point of Gospel’s accounts of the resurrection is that we who believe in Jesus are to become, in the power of his spirit, not only beneficiaries of that new creation but also agents. As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15.58 “So, my dear family, be firmly uns

The disciples found themselves going back to their old occupations even after they had interacted with the Risen One. In fact, right after a kind of ghostly upper room encounter, Simon, who had been given a new identity as Peter, declared “I’m going fishing…” to which a good number of them said, “We’ll go with you.” This was their old job. They were Fishermen before t

Thomas was absent when Jesus first appeared to the disciples in the upper room. Whereas the other disciples exclaimed that Jesus was risen from the dead, Thomas is not so sure. Instead Thomas says, ““Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week passes by where Thomas remains skeptic

Luke tells a story of two disillusioned disciples walking the Emmaus road away from the holy city, where they had watched their hope die a gruesome death right before their eyes. These two disciples were a part of a reformed movement within Judaism. They believed that Jesus was the one who was going to restore the glory of Israel, mostly by kicking out the Romans and restoring the

The opening verses of Luke’s account of Resurrection Sunday are full of surprise, astonishment, fear and confusion. There is the shock of the empty tomb. There is astonishment of the announcement from the angels who proclaim to the women, “He is not here. He is risen.” There is the woman running to tell the others of this good news that Christ is risen. All of this reaches a

Jesus, the Suffering Servant, has called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” With this last cry, Jesus breathes his last and dies upon the cross. Both Isaiah & Luke have repeatedly told us that the Suffering Servant is innocent. He has done no wrong. So why is it then that “it was the Lord’s will to cause him to suffer?” We know that G

Jesus begins the week of his passion and death with a series of enacted parables. The first is his Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. Unlike Pilate who entered the city from the west riding a warhorse, Jesus entered the city from the east riding a lowly donkey in a deliberate embrace of Zechariah’s prophecy about a humble king who would come to teach peace to the nations. As he ent

In the passion week leading to his betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard owner renting out his land to some tenants. Jesus is drawing from the prophet Isaiah, who had also compared God’s creation of Israel to a landowner who planted a vineyard. The vineyard owner eventually sends messengers to collect on what is due. The tenants reject each messenger an

In the parable of the Tax Collector & the Pharisee, Jesus tells the story of two different people who go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee is a good man. He is not a crook, not a womanizer, or a drunk. He faithful to his wife, patient with his children, and steadfast with his friends. He fasts twice a week and tithes on everything. The tax collector on the other hand was one

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is story about a wealthy man who has a beggar outside his gates. The beggar is named Lazarus. He is covered in sores and longs to eat what falls from the rich mans table. Both men die. Lazarus is taken to Abraham’s side and the rich man is in Hades in torment. We should not think that Jesus’ purpose in this parable was to bring a definiti