Quotes About Faith

For far too long Jesus has been the wedge that drives Christians and Jews apart. I suggest that we can also see him as a bridge between us.

In Israel's Scriptures, God's concern is not restricted to insiders: it extends to strangers, to slaves, to women, and to any who are oppressed, for we are all children of God.

For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

When church becomes a club, parables become pedestrian.

Jesus is about to give up his life, which requires determining what a life is worth. And that means we all have to determine what our own lives are worth. What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? What are our values, and have we lived up to them?

The Passion narrative asks much of us, and it also, through Jesus' example, gives us the knowledge that we can do what we are asked, and the assurance that we will succeed.

Holy Week is a time to think about risk, because that's what this whole Passion narrative represents.

During Lent you have the opportunity to think about your life alongside the life of Jesus, inviting inward transformation and then outward action.

On a more serious note, the idea that nothing is impossible with God can be a very difficult statement because it can give the impression that God could have acted when we needed healing or rescue.

According to Matthew, in order to understand Jesus, we must also understand King David.

Salvation was palpable. So, too, for the Gospels, the message of salvation, the good news, must be more than a postmortem fate. Salvation also occurs in the here-and-now.

Christians obtain yet another benefit in seeing Jesus in his Jewish context, for the recognition of Jesus's Jewishness and of his speaking in a Jewish idiom can also restore faith in the New Testament. Doing just a bit of historical investigation provides a much-needed correction to America's Christ-saturated, albeit biblically ignorant, culture.

Jesus of Nazareth dressed like a Jew, prayed like a Jew (and most likely in Aramaic), instructed other Jews on how best to live according to the commandments given by God to Moses, taught like a Jew, argued like a Jew with other Jews, and died like thousands of other Jews on a Roman cross. To

For a miracle to work, it should change those who receive it. The task now, and the joy, is to see how the miracle stories can work on us.

More, the name Bethlehem literally means "house of bread.

But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.

The star of Bethlehem is not about science; it is about the search for meaning.

Salvation means that there is respite from whatever oppresses in the community that hears, and lives, this Gospel.

Elizabeth's name likely derives from the Hebrew Eli, meaning "my God," the beginning of Jesus' cry from the cross ("My God, my God"). The second part comes from sheva, which is an oath. Thus, her name indicates that God keeps promises.

The shepherds function as a "sign" to Mary; they assure her, "yes, what you experienced was not a hallucination; yes, no matter how unbelievable everything has been, believe!

one always goes "up" to Jerusalem; one could be on the moon and still go "up" to Jerusalem

The Epistle to the Hebrews (13:2) warns, "Don't neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it.

In a single line, Luke tells us that Jesus is, like John, fully a member of the Jewish people, not just by birth, but also in the body.

Elijah, and John, will help in turning the people.