Actions Over Words
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Actions Over Words
Herb Montgomery | September 25, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the Gospel of Matthew:
Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
“ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. (Matthew 21:23-32)
The encounter between Jesus and the chief priests and elders in our reading this week is a deeply political confrontation disguised as a theological question. Jesus has entered Jerusalem, challenged the economic practices of the Temple, and openly taught the people there. The chief priests and elders, the leading authorities within the Temple state, approach him and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things?” Their question is not merely about religious credentials. It is about power: Who gave Jesus permission to challenge the established social, economic, and political order?
In Jesus’ time, the chief priests and elders represented the institutions that governed religious life and exercised significant political and economic influence. The Temple was more than a place of private spirituality. It was a center of wealth, power, sacrifice, taxation, and social hierarchy that answered directly to Rome. But in the Jesus story, Jesus challenges the Temple state’s practices. Those in authority recognized that his message threatened more than theology; it also threatened systems that benefited from inequality and control.
Jesus responds to these leaders by asking them about John the Baptist: “Where did John’s baptism come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” This question exposes the leaders’ political calculation and concern for authority, but they do not openly answer Jesus. The passage says that if they acknowledged John as a prophet, they would have to explain why they rejected him. If they denied John’s legitimacy, they feared the people’s reaction: the people believed John to be a prophet.
Their silence reveals an important lesson: unjust systems often protect themselves with calculating actions rather than truth. The leaders don’t ask, “What is right?” They instead ask themselves, “What will happen to us if we give this answer?” Their concern is preserving their position.
Jesus exposes that kind of leadership. In Jesus’ social vision, genuine authority is not established simply by holding an office, possessing institutional approval, or maintaining control over others. Authority must be measured by its relationship to truth, justice, and the service of the people most affected by the system. John the Baptist had no Temple office, no institutional power, and no elite credentials. Yet the people recognized his prophetic authority because he spoke truthfully and called people in his society to change their unjust practices.
This passage challenges the assumption that political and religious leaders should automatically be trusted simply because they occupy positions of authority. Jesus doesn’t teach blind obedience to institutions. Instead, he exposes institutions that have become more concerned with protecting themselves than with serving the people.
Ultimately, the chief priests and elders answer, “We do not know.” Jesus in turn refuses to answer their question. Those who refuse to honestly confront injustice are often incapable of recognizing genuine moral authority when it stands before them.
The meaning of this story is therefore profoundly relevant to our time. Jesus confronts a leadership class that has confused institutional power with moral authority. He exposes the way that those in power can become trapped by fear of losing privilege and public support. And he reminds us that true authority is found not in titles or status, but in courage, truth, justice, accountability, and a commitment to the well-being of the people.
Next in this reading, we encounter Jesus’ story of the two sons. This story carries a powerful message because it challenges the tendency of religious and political authorities to judge people according to their social status, reputation, or outward words rather than according to their actual lived transformation. Jesus tells the story as his response to the chief priests and elders, the powerful leaders of the temple state. These leaders were not merely religious figures in the modern sense. They also possessed social, economic, and political influence. Their authority allowed them to define who was righteous, who was sinful, who belonged, and who stood outside the boundaries of respectable society.
In Jesus’ story, the first son initially refuses his father’s request to work in the vineyard. His words are disobedient. Yet he later changes his mind and goes to work. The second son gives the correct answer at first. He says, “I will, sir,” but his words are never followed by action. Jesus asks which son actually did what the father wanted, and the answer is obvious: the one whose actions ultimately answered the father’s request, even though his first response in words was wrong.
The significance becomes unmistakable when Jesus identifies tax collectors and prostitutes as those entering the kingdom of God ahead of the religious authorities. These were people whom the elders and chief priests had labeled as morally inferior. Tax collectors were often associated with exploitation and collaboration with systems of imperial domination. Prostitutes occupied a deeply stigmatized social position and were frequently treated as though their identities could be reduced entirely to their social status. Both groups were marginalized, judged, and excluded by those who considered themselves righteous.
But Jesus’ words radically overturn that social hierarchy. He refuses to accept that social respectability is the same thing as righteousness. Those who have been publicly labeled as sinners are capable of hearing a call to justice and participating in the work of justice. Meanwhile, those with religious authority may speak the language of obedience while refusing to change their behavior.
This story therefore warns against a faith that is satisfied with correct language, public declarations, performance, religious credentials, or moral reputation as ends in themselves. Justice requires more than saying the right things. It also requires actual choices in direction toward justice and away from injustice. So a person or institution may claim to love the poor while supporting systems that keep people poor. They may speak about peace while benefiting from violence. They may proclaim equality while excluding marginalized people. Like the second son, they may say, “I will,” while never entering the vineyard.
The vineyard in the story can be understood as a symbol of the work necessary to create a more just world. We have work to do: feeding people, challenging oppression, repairing harm, dismantling systems of exclusion, and building communities where those who have been pushed aside are welcomed and valued.
The story calls us to actions rather than to mere claims. The first son changed in his choices, not just in his words. The tax collectors and prostitutes labelled sinners by the elite power brokers of Jesus’ society responded to Jesus’ calls to justice. Those whom society deems as “less than” are often the first ones to do so. This story challenges communities today to stop confusing respectability with righteousness and to measure faith not primarily by what people claim to believe but by whether they are willing to change and join the work of love, justice, and liberation.
I want to share one last word regarding one of the two communities that are specifically named in this week’s reading: sex workers. The spirit and example of Jesus in the Gospels should lead us to pursue justice for sex workers by refusing to treat anyone as disposable, morally inferior, or beyond the reach of dignity and compassion. Again and again, Jesus moved toward people pushed to the margins by religious and social systems. Rather than condemning them, he shared tables, restored dignity, and challenged those who used morality to justify exclusion. Following Jesus in this context means listening to sex workers, defending their humanity, and working for their safety and freedom from violence and exploitation. It means challenging poverty, stigma, and systems that deny people meaningful choices. Jesus calls us to stand with those society marginalizes and to build a world where every person is treated with compassion, justice, and sacred worth.
Justice for sex workers begins with recognizing their full and equal humanity. Too often, sex workers are spoken about as problems to be solved, moral failures to be condemned, or victims without agency. When we commit to justice, we reject this dehumanization and insist that no person loses their dignity because of how they survive economically.
Sex workers, like all workers, deserve safety, freedom from violence, access to health care, housing, and legal protection. They should be able to report abuse, exploitation, assault, or theft without fearing humiliation, discrimination, or punishment. Justice also requires confronting the economic conditions that produce poverty, homelessness, inequality, discrimination, and lack of opportunity and so make survival increasingly difficult. A just society should expand people’s options rather than punish them for the options available to them. Justice must also distinguish between respecting the agency of adults and opposing exploitation, coercion, trafficking, and abuse for everyone. Protecting vulnerable people should never require stripping others of their humanity.
At its heart, justice asks us to see sex workers not as disposable people at the margins, but as neighbors. Their safety matters. Their voices matter. Their needs matter. Liberation means creating a world where no one is exploited, criminalized for surviving, or denied dignity, and where every person has the resources, justice, and freedom necessary to flourish.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 40: Actions Over Words
Matthew 21:23-32
This story therefore warns against a faith that is satisfied with correct language, public declarations, performance, religious credentials, or moral reputation as ends in themselves. Justice requires more than saying the right things. It also requires actual choices in direction toward justice and away from injustice. So a person or institution may claim to love the poor while supporting systems that keep people poor. They may speak about peace while benefiting from violence. They may proclaim equality while excluding marginalized people. Like the second son, they may say, “I will,” while never entering the vineyard. The vineyard in the story can be understood as a symbol of the work necessary to create a more just world. We have work to do: feeding people, challenging oppression, repairing harm, dismantling systems of exclusion, and building communities where those who have been pushed aside are welcomed and valued. The story calls us to actions rather than to mere claims.
Available on major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/actions-over-words
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Free Sign Up Here
The Last Shall Be First
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
The Last Shall Be First
Herb Montgomery | September 18, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’
So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:1-16)
Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard is traditionally read as a lesson about God’s grace. Those who come late receive the same reward as those who have worked all day. But the parable also raises profound questions about economic justice, human dignity, and the unequal distribution of resources. Jesus tells of a landowner who repeatedly goes into the marketplace to hire workers, some at dawn, others at nine, noon, three, and finally five in the afternoon. At the end of the day, everyone receives the same wage, and those who worked all day complain that those who worked only one hour have been treated as equals.
The crucial detail is that the workers hired later were not necessarily lazy. They had been standing in the marketplace because no one had hired them yet. Their inability to work was not a personal failure; it was the result of an economic system in which their ability to survive depended on someone else giving them an opportunity. For a day laborer, one unemployed day could mean an empty table for the family. So the landowner’s decision to pay them a full day’s wage provides more than mere generosity. It also provides the workers with economic dignity and ensures that their families will have what they need to live.
This parable challenges the idea that justice means giving people exactly what they have earned according to a narrow calculation of productivity. The workers who labored all day believe fairness requires them to receive more than those who worked less. But the landowner responds that they have received the wage they had agreed. His generosity to others doesn’t diminish what they have received. Their sense of injustice arises not because they have been deprived, but because someone else has been given an opportunity to live with dignity.
The story also challenges a deeply rooted social assumption that human worth can be measured by economic contribution. Modern societies often distinguish between the “deserving” and “undeserving,” rewarding people for their productivity while blaming those who cannot find work, cannot work, or have been excluded from economic opportunity in any way. Jesus’ parable turns that logic upside down.
The landowner asks the early workers, “Are you envious because I am generous?” Can justice be reduced to competition over scarce resources? If everyone has enough, must someone else have less?
The parable ultimately imagines an economy organized around human need rather than human competition. It suggests that justice is not simply about rewarding the strongest participants in an economic system but about ensuring that those who have been left standing in the marketplace are not left without bread.
“The last will be first, and the first will be last” is therefore more than a spiritual slogan. It is a challenge to systems that rank human beings according to their wealth, productivity, status, or privilege. Jesus presents a vision of community in which dignity is not earned by being the most productive person in the room but is something every person deserves.
On a related note, fairness is often described as giving everyone an equal opportunity to compete in our economic system. At first glance, this sounds fair: establish the same rules, open the same doors, and allow each person to succeed according to their ability, effort, and choices. But equal opportunity to compete is not the same thing as justice. A race can have the same starting line and still be profoundly unjust if some runners arrive already carrying burdens that others do not.
A society organized primarily around competition inevitably creates winners and losers. When everyone is told that the rules are fair simply because everyone has been given the same opportunity, that puts responsibility for success and failure almost entirely upon each individual. Those who succeed are celebrated as deserving, while those who struggle are often blamed for not trying hard enough. Yet people do not enter life with equal resources, equal health, equal education, equal safety, equal social connections, or equal freedom from discrimination. Treating unequal circumstances as though they were equal does not produce justice. It often disguises injustice.
In our parable this week, justice asks a different question: What does each person need in order to flourish?
This is not an argument for treating people unequally because some are more valuable than others but precisely the opposite. Every person possesses equal worth, and because they do, justice takes their particular needs seriously. Equality says, “Everyone gets the same.” Justice says, “Everyone matters enough to receive what they need.”
A child who comes to school hungry does not only need the same opportunity to learn as a child who has eaten breakfast. They also need food. A person without access to healthcare does not just need the same opportunity to purchase it as someone with abundant resources. They also need care. A community historically denied investment might finally be given the same invitation to compete for resources. But it may also require restoration and repair.
The vision of justice in our reading this week moves us away from being a society obsessed with winners and losers and toward becoming a community concerned with whether everyone has enough. We would not ask, “Who won?” but, “Who was left behind, and what do they need now?”
The gospel’s vision of justice repeatedly moves in this direction: justice isn’t merely the absence of discrimination at the starting line. It is also the active work of removing barriers, repairing harm, sharing resources, protecting the vulnerable, and creating conditions in which every person can flourish. True justice won’t simply make competition fairer. It challenges the assumption that human flourishing should be a competition at all.
Throughout history, human communities have experimented with economic arrangements that challenge the idea that justice requires everyone to receive the same amount or that everyone should simply compete for resources. Although few historical societies perfectly embodied the principle of “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need,” many developed economic practices in which people contributed what they could offer while community resources were distributed according to what members required.
Some of the earliest examples can be found in traditional communal societies. Many Indigenous communities organized significant portions of economic life around reciprocity, communal responsibility, and shared access to essential resources rather than individual accumulation. Hunting, fishing, farming, childcare, and other forms of labor were frequently understood as contributions to the wellbeing of the whole community. Those who were unable to contribute because of age, illness, or disability were not necessarily regarded as economic failures. Community survival depended upon caring for people through the different stages of life.
Early Christian communities also provide an important historical example. The book of Acts describes believers sharing their possessions and distributing resources so that people within the community received what they needed. The point was not that everyone possessed identical property but that material abundance was used to address material need. Wealth was understood relationally, and having more created an obligation toward those who had less.
Monastic communities later developed another form of economic commonality. Benedictine and other religious communities often held property communally, assigned work according to members’ abilities, and provided food, shelter, healthcare, and other necessities. Individual monks did not generally accumulate wealth as independent competitors. Their labor instead supported a shared life in which the community assumed responsibility for its members.
In the modern era, cooperative movements have offered another important example. Worker cooperatives, mutual-aid societies, and various forms of communal ownership have sought to organize economic life around shared responsibility rather than maximizing individual profit. Members contribute labor, skills, or resources while receiving benefits through collectively established arrangements.
The kibbutzim of Israel provide a particularly notable modern example. Many early kibbutzim practiced communal ownership, shared labor, and collective provision of housing, food, education, and other necessities. While these communities changed considerably over time, their early organization deliberately attempted to replace competitive individualism with economic solidarity.
We shouldn’t romanticize these examples. Each community experienced conflicts, inequalities, exclusions, and practical difficulties. Yet they demonstrate something important: the competitive market is not the only way human beings have organized economic life. Across history, communities have repeatedly recognized that people possess different abilities and also different needs.
Justice, therefore, can mean more than giving everyone an equal chance to compete. It can mean creating an economy in which people’s differing abilities, including whether they can work all day or not, contribute to the common good and the necessities of life are treated as responsibilities we share with one another.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 39: The Last Shall Be First
Matthew 20:1-16
Throughout history, human communities have experimented with economic arrangements that challenge the idea that justice requires everyone to receive the same amount or that everyone should simply compete for resources. Although few historical societies perfectly embodied the principle of “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need,” many developed economic practices in which people contributed what they could offer while community resources were distributed according to what members required. Our reading this week challenges the idea that justice means giving people exactly what they have earned according to a narrow calculation of productivity. It doesn’t ask who is deserving or undeserving. It’s asks, “Who got left behind? And what do they need to also thrive?”
Available on major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-last-shall-be-first
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Liberation Shared
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Liberation Shared
Herb Montgomery | September 11, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-34)
Our reading this week begins with Jesus’ instruction to forgive “seventy-seven times” (sometimes translated “seventy times seven” or 490 times). This teaching is often understood as being about unlimited personal forgiveness. Yet within the larger context of Jesus’ ministry, the command can also be read as a radical challenge to social patterns that allow resentment, retaliation, exclusion, and cycles of violence to define human relationships. Jesus is not simply asking individuals to be more patient with one another; he is imagining a community organized around restoration rather than revenge.
The teaching comes in response to Peter’s question about how many times one should forgive someone who repeatedly sins against them. Peter’s suggestion of seven times already sounds generous, but Jesus dramatically expands the number. His point is not that forgiveness has a mathematical limit. Traditional interpretations of this passage teach that forgiveness is to become our way of life: that we should refuse to keep a ledger of offenses and reject the assumption that every injury must be repaid.
I want to consider this passage instead through the lens of justice work. Societies often preserve injustice through cycles of punishment and retaliation. Individuals and communities remember wounds, inherit grievances, and pass anger from one generation to another. Political and religious systems can even use these grievances to justify exclusion, domination, and violence. Jesus’ teaching has the potential to interrupt that cycle by insisting that the future does not have to be controlled by the injuries of the past.
But, most importantly, forgiveness should never be confused with ignoring injustice, excusing abuse, or demanding that victims simply endure continued harm. We can understand Jesus’ forgiveness instead as refusing to allow wrongdoing to have the final word. We can create possibilities for accountability, reconciliation, and transformation without making vengeance the foundation of communal life.
In this sense, Jesus’ command to forgive seventy-seven times is also profoundly political. It calls communities to imagine justice not as mere punishment for wrongdoing but as restoration of relationships and creation of conditions in which people can change. Forgiveness becomes an act of resistance against cycles of hatred and retaliation, and it includes a commitment to a different kind of social order, one grounded in mercy, dignity, reconciliation, and hope.
A word of caution about forgiveness is necessary here. Forgiveness can be a profound act of healing, but requiring forgiveness and reconciliation from those who have been harmed without first providing restitution, accountability, or reparations can itself become a form of oppression.
When religious communities or even our larger society tell victims to “forgive and move on” while perpetrators retain their power, wealth, status, or privilege, forgiveness is no longer freely chosen. It becomes a demand placed on the wounded for the comfort of those who caused or benefited from their harm.
Reconciliation without justice can preserve the very conditions that produced injustice. If stolen property is not returned, if exploited communities receive no restoration or reparations, if institutions responsible for discrimination face no accountability, and if those who suffered are expected simply to forgive, then reconciliation can become a mechanism for erasing history rather than repairing it. This kind of reconciliation asks the injured to bear the continuing consequences of wrongdoing while relieving the wrongdoer of the responsibility to make things right.
But true reconciliation requires more than an emotional transformation in the victim. It also requires transformation of relationships, structures, and material conditions. Apologies matter, but an apology without changed behavior is empty rhetoric. Confession matters, but confession without accountability is another way of avoiding responsibility. And forgiveness may eventually be possible, but it cannot be demanded as the price of being heard or respected.
There is a profound difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. A person may forgive while still maintaining boundaries, demanding justice, or refusing to restore a relationship that is still unsafe or exploitative. Reconciliation requires mutual participation. It cannot be created unilaterally by asking the harmed person to surrender their legitimate claims.
So justice asks a prior question first: What must be repaired? Restitution, reparations, truth-telling, accountability, institutional change, and the restoration of dignity may all be necessary before reconciliation can become genuine.
Forgiveness should be an act of freedom, not another burden imposed upon the oppressed. When we demand forgiveness without justice, the language of reconciliation can become one more tool by which the powerful ask the wounded to absorb the cost of their wrongdoing.
In our reading, though, Jesus tells a story about a king and a servant who owes an enormous debt. This story is not simply a lesson about personal forgiveness. It is a powerful critique of economic injustice, unequal power, and a social order in which debt can become a weapon against human dignity.
The first servant owes the king an amount so enormous that repayment is essentially impossible. His debt has placed his entire family at risk: the king orders that the servant, his wife, his children, and everything he owns be sold. This is what happens when financial obligation is valued above human life: people become less important than their debts. Jesus’ story exposes the cruelty of an economic system in which poverty is treated as a moral failure and indebted people are punished rather than restored.
The king, however, does something radical. He cancels the man’s debt. He does not merely reduce the payment or extend the deadline. He releases the servant completely from an obligation he could never have realistically repaid. Mercy breaks the power of debt. The king embraces a kind of Jubilee for this debtor.
But the story takes a disturbing turn. The same servant who has been liberated from an un-payable debt encounters someone who owes him a much smaller amount. Instead of extending the mercy he has received, he grabs the man, demands payment from him, and has him imprisoned. The contrast is intentional. The servant has experienced liberation but refuses to become an agent of liberation for anyone else.
Jesus therefore exposes a profound injustice: those who have been forgiven by systems of power can sometimes become defenders of those same systems after gaining a little power themselves. In the story, the servant moves from victim to oppressor. His experience of mercy does not transform him because he understands mercy as something only he deserves, not as something he owes to others.
The outrage of the other servants is equally important. They see the injustice and refuse to remain silent, and they report what happened to the king. Social justice requires more than private compassion; it also requires communities willing to recognize exploitation, name it, and confront it.
The story challenges the idea that forgiveness means allowing injustice to continue. The servant who refuses mercy is held accountable because forgiveness does not erase the responsibility to confront exploitation. Indeed, as the story suggests, mercy and accountability belong together. The king’s cancellation of the first debt creates an expectation that the recipient will participate in a community governed by mercy rather than domination.
Jesus concludes by calling his followers to forgive “from your heart.” In a justice reading, this means refusing to reproduce systems of punishment, humiliation, and exclusion against those who are vulnerable. It means recognizing that human beings are more valuable than what they owe.
The deeper challenge of the parable is therefore not simply, “Can you forgive someone who hurt you?” This parable asks us: What kind of society will you help create because you have experienced mercy? Will you use whatever power you possess to collect debts, enforce punishment, and preserve hierarchy? Or will you use it to release people from burdens they cannot bear?
Jesus’ kingdom is a community where mercy interrupts the machinery of debt, where human dignity is greater than financial obligation, and where liberation received becomes liberation shared.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 38: Liberation Shared
Matthew 18:21-34
The story challenges the idea that forgiveness means allowing injustice to continue. The servant who refuses mercy is held accountable because forgiveness does not erase the responsibility to confront exploitation. Indeed, as the story suggests, mercy and accountability belong together. The king’s cancellation of the first debt creates an expectation that the recipient will participate in a community governed by mercy rather than domination. Jesus’ kingdom is a community where mercy interrupts the machinery of debt, where human dignity is greater than financial obligation, and where liberation received becomes liberation shared.
Available on major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/liberation-shared
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Working Together for Liberation and Justice
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Working Together for Liberation and Justice
Herb Montgomery | September 4, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a gentile or a tax collector.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:15-20)
Our reading this week includes early Christian teaching about confronting someone who has wronged another. It offers insight into this early Jesus community: the community is grounded not primarily in punishment but in accountability, restoration, and community. “If your [sibling] sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.” The first response to wrongdoing is not public humiliation, gossip, retaliation, or exclusion. It is direct conversation. This establishes an important principle: people should be held accountable for harm, but accountability should seek to restore relationships and human dignity rather than simply punish.
The private nature of the first confrontation is especially significant. Public accusation can become a form of social violence, turning a person’s mistake into a permanent identity. Jesus instead encourages a process that gives the person an opportunity to listen, understand the harm, and change. Justice begins with the possibility of transformation. The goal is explicitly relational: “You have won them over.” The language suggests that justice is not merely about determining who is right and who is wrong; it is about recovering people and repairing community.
If the person refuses to listen, Jesus proposes bringing “one or two others” into the process. This introduces another important dimension of justice: testimony and accountability should not depend solely upon the power or perspective of one individual. Others are brought into the process so that “every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” In a healthy community, truth should be pursued through evidence, multiple perspectives, and responsible discernment rather than through rumor, accusation, or mob judgment.
The final step of bringing the matter before the collective group of Jesus followers makes accountability a communal responsibility. This third step implies that the original wrong was not a private, individual matter. This was a wrongdoing that damaged other people or the integrity of the community. Communities have an obligation to confront injustice rather than protect powerful people, preserve institutional reputation, or remain silent for the sake of comfort. Our reading this week challenges communities to develop structures in which harm can be named and addressed.
The final instruction, “Treat them as you would a gentile or a tax collector” creates a tension within the passage. On one level, it describes excluding someone from the community when they persistently refuses accountability. Social justice sometimes requires boundaries when continued behavior causes harm. Forgiveness does not mean enabling abuse, and reconciliation cannot be genuine without accountability.
At the same time, Matthew’s Gospel complicates any interpretation of exclusion as permanent rejection. Jesus repeatedly associates with tax collectors and outsiders, including those whom respectable society considers morally or socially unacceptable. Consequently, treating someone as an outsider should not mean treating them as less than human. Even in separation, we must hold space for the possibility of change and restoration.
Our reading this week presents collective justice as a process: confrontation before condemnation, testimony before accusation, community discernment before exclusion, and restoration before revenge. It challenges both individuals and institutions to resist the easy satisfactions of shame and punishment. True justice tells the truth about harm while still believing that people can change. It centers victims, protecting those who have been harmed without abandoning the possibility of redemption for those who have caused harm. In this sense, Jesus offers a vision of justice in which accountability and compassion are not opposites but are partners in building a healthier, more just, compassionate, and safe community with the hope of laying the same foundation for larger society as well.
Next, Jesus makes the statement, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” These words place remarkable responsibility in the hands of the community, and there is a risk they might be coopted. These words are not primarily about supernatural power or individual religious authority. They instead concern communities’ ethical responsibility to decide what relationships, practices, and systems will be upheld or released. Jesus presents the community as an active participant in creating the kind of world that reflects Love’s purposes.
The language of “binding” and “loosing” had important Jewish roots, referring to making authoritative decisions about what was permitted or prohibited and how people should live together. In our reading this week, however, these words occur within Jesus’ teaching about conflict, reconciliation, accountability, forgiveness, and recovering those who have been harmed or excluded. The surrounding context suggests that authority is not given for domination. It is given instead for restoration.
This distinction is essential to restorative justice. “Binding” can mean holding people and communities accountable to standards of justice. It can also mean refusing to tolerate exploitation, abuse, discrimination, or practices that diminish human dignity. A community can bind itself to principles of compassion, equality, truth, and mutual responsibility. Conversely, “loosing” can mean releasing people from conditions that imprison them: shame, exclusion, poverty, oppressive expectations, cycles of retaliation, or systems that deny them a meaningful place within the community.
Jesus is offering an alternative to using authority as a tool to control other people. The purpose of this communal authority is to repair relationships and protect human dignity. Decisions made by a community have consequences, and Jesus insists that such decisions matter before the Divine. This means that “heaven” is not disconnected from the moral choices human beings make here on earth.
These words also include a warning. If human decisions are understood as having heavenly significance, communities must exercise authority with extraordinary humility. This verse cannot legitimately become a blank check for religious leaders to declare their own preferences to be the will of the Divine. When authority becomes a tool for silencing vulnerable people, protecting privilege, or punishing dissent, it contradicts the restorative purpose of Jesus’ teaching.
The significance of “binding and loosing” is therefore found in the community’s responsibility to discern what must be resisted and what must be released. Communities are called to bind themselves to justice and loose themselves from injustice. They are called to bind themselves to solidarity with the vulnerable and loose themselves from indifference, to bind themselves to truth and loose themselves from systems of deception and oppression.
Jesus’ words ultimately suggest that the work of justice is not merely about changing private beliefs. It is also about making concrete decisions about how people will treat one another. What a community permits, prohibits, forgives, confronts, protects, or releases becomes an expression of its understanding of the Divine.
“Whatever you bind” and “whatever you loose” can therefore be heard as a summons to moral responsibility. As humans, we participate in shaping the social world, and our choices matter. Jesus’ “kingdom of God” is not simply something awaited in heaven; it is something communities are called to embody on earth through justice, reconciliation, accountability, compassion, and liberation.
Lastly this week, we read words that I believe the author of Matthew’s Gospel intended to be a source of hope, justice, and transformation. “If two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for” is not simply a promise that we will get whatever we desire. Within the context of the rest of Matthew 18 where Jesus has been speaking about confronting wrongdoing, reconciliation, accountability, and restoring relationships, these words point toward the power of people joining together to seek what is right.
Jesus’ words, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them,” likely echo a Jewish tradition that emphasized God’s presence when people gathered together to study Torah. Rabbinic tradition later preserved this idea explicitly: when two people sit together and engage with the words of Torah, the Divine presence is understood to be among them. Matthew’s formulation resonates with that cultural world but sharpens its focus toward justice. The significance is therefore communal: sacred authority is not confined to priests, rulers, or institutions. When ordinary people gather in Jesus’ name to discern truth, seek justice, reconcile relationships, and challenge oppression, they become a community where Jesus is present.
Societal justice is not achieved by isolated individuals. But when people come together in solidarity, they can challenge systems of exploitation, discrimination, poverty, and oppression that are too powerful for one person to confront alone. Agreement becomes meaningful when rooted in a shared commitment to human dignity and the common good.
Jesus’ declaration, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”, also challenges the assumption that change happens primarily through powerful institutions or large gatherings. Change can begin with the collective efforts of merely two or three. As the saying goes, usually attributed to Margaret Mead, “Never Doubt That a Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens Can Change the World; Indeed, It’s the Only Thing That Ever Has.”
Our reading this week offers both encouragement and responsibility. When Christians unite around justice, their collective voice matters. Their gathering becomes an expression of Jesus’ presence in our world today. Wherever people today stand together against oppression and work toward reconciliation, they still embody the liberating community that Jesus envisioned and taught his followers to build.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 37: Working Together for Liberation and Justice
Matthew 18:15-20
Our reading this week presents collective justice as a process: confrontation before condemnation, testimony before accusation, community discernment before exclusion, and restoration before revenge. It challenges both individuals and institutions to resist the easy satisfactions of shame and punishment. True justice tells the truth about harm while still believing that people can change. It centers victims, protecting those who have been harmed without abandoning the possibility of redemption for those who have caused harm. In this sense, Jesus offers a vision of justice in which accountability and compassion are not opposites but are partners in building a healthier, more just, compassionate, and safe community with the hope of laying the same foundation for larger society as well.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/working-together-for-liberation-and-justice
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
When Solidarity Comes with a Personal Cost
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
When Solidarity Comes with a Personal Cost
Herb Montgomery | August 28, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the Gospel of Matthew:
(Matthew 16:21-28)
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:21-28)
Our reading this week begins with Jesus telling his disciples that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law.” This statement carries a message for Jesus followers today who are working to make our world a more equitable, just, safe home for everyone. Jesus’ statement locates his suffering within structures of religious, economic, and political power. He is not simply predicting a tragic personal fate. He is identifying what can happen when someone challenges institutions that protect their authority at the expense of vulnerable people.
Jerusalem represents the center of religious, economic, and political power. The elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law were among those who possessed significant authority in Jewish society. Matthew’s account portrays Jesus as confronting systems that could become more concerned with maintaining order, status, control, power, privilege, property, and wealth than with justice, equity, compassion, and human dignity. Jesus’ message of the kingdom challenged arrangements in which some people were excluded, burdened, or treated as less important.
Jesus’ willingness to go to Jerusalem therefore represents a commitment to those being hurt by injustice even when that commitment creates a personal cost. He does not turn away simply because speaking truth may provoke opposition. His suffering exposes the violence that can be directed against those who challenge entrenched power. In this sense, the cross becomes much more than a religious symbol. It is also a revelation of what unjust systems can do to people who refuse to remain silent.
The statement that Jesus will be “raised to life” is equally important. However one interprets the resurrection narratives in the Gospels, resurrection itself declares that oppression and violence don’t have the final word. The powers that seek to silence Jesus cannot ultimately destroy the vision of justice and liberation that he embodies.
For Jesus followers today, this passage calls for solidarity with people who experience injustice and with those who risk their comfort, security, or status to confront it. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem suggests that discipleship is not merely about personal belief or assurance after death. Instead it is about courageously standing for human dignity, challenging systems that harm people, and trusting that love and justice can ultimately overcome the forces that seek to suppress them.
Next in our reading we meet Peter. Peter’s response to Jesus can be understood as more than an expression of personal affection. Peter rejects Jesus’ announcement that he must suffer, be rejected by the powerful, and be killed. His words reflect a very human desire to protect a beloved leader from violence. Yet Jesus responds sharply: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.” The exchange raises an important question: What happens when our desire to protect ourselves or those we love prevents us from confronting injustice?
Peter appears to imagine that Jesus should overcome suffering because of his solidarity with the oppressed rather than having to endure it. Peter also narratively represents a hope common in Jesus’ society for a liberation figure who would defeat oppressive powers and restore Israel. Jesus, however, presents a different vision of liberation: he doesn’t embrace domination as the answer to domination, and his kingdom doesn’t seek to become another version of imperial power. Instead, Jesus identifies himself with those who suffer under systems of political and religious power and don’t have access to imperial power. Those not in power often have different tools by necessity, and this helps us make better sense of Jesus’ response.
Jesus’ accusation that Peter has “merely human concerns” can be read as a critique of change methods organized around power, privilege, security, and self-preservation. “Human concerns” are not necessarily evil but become problematic when safety and protecting one’s status matter more than justice, compassion, and faithfulness to those who are vulnerable.
The word “Satan,” meaning adversary or accuser, is especially significant. Peter becomes a “stumbling block” to Jesus because his resistance to Jesus’ path could divert Jesus from confronting the structures that produce suffering. Justice work sometimes requires accepting discomfort, risk, and sacrifice rather than choosing the easier path of protecting ourselves from conflict.
So this passage challenges Jesus followers to examine whether they seek a comfortable religion or a transformative faith. Jesus calls his followers beyond the instinct to preserve power and privilege, and his response to Peter insists that genuine discipleship requires solidarity with suffering people and a willingness to confront injustice, even when doing so includes a personal cost.
A critique of harmful traditional interpretations of Jesus’ next words in our reading can challenge the assumption that losing one’s life is necessarily the highest expression of faithfulness: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” has often been interpreted as a call to self-denial, sacrifice, and even death. Yet, such an interpretation deserves careful examination, especially because many people, women specifically, have historically been taught that love means giving themselves away, enduring suffering, putting others first, or sacrificing their own needs for the sake of family, community, or religious ideals.
Jesus’ taking up the cross does not have to mean choosing death. Indeed, the cross represents a system of political and religious violence that sought to destroy life. Jesus does not glorify the violence done to him but confronts it by refusing to surrender the truth, dignity, and life he embodies. His journey toward Jerusalem can be understood not as a desire for death but as a refusal to let oppression determine the meaning of his life.
From this perspective, “losing one’s life” can mean refusing to live according to the values of domination, exploitation, and fear. It does not necessarily mean abandoning the value of one’s self. Faithfulness requires precisely the opposite: holding tightly to the gift of life and refusing to surrender it to those who would diminish, control, or destroy it. Jesus didn’t choose death. He refused to let go of his hold on life even when threatened with death if he did not do so. Death does not bring life. Life brings life.
We do not need more religious messages telling us that our worth is found in self-sacrifice. Love does not require self-erasure. Compassion does not demand surrendering one’s dignity. Caring for others should not mean abandoning oneself. Again, death does not bring life simply because suffering has been endured. Life brings life when people protect it, nurture it, and refuse to let go of it. In the Jesus story, God does not triumph over injustice, violence and death using more violent death, even just one more death. God overcomes death through reversing, undoing, and triumphing over Jesus’ violent death through resurrecting life. Jesus’ words in our reading this week can be understood as an invitation to hold on to the self, to dignity, to justice, and to life itself. To follow Jesus is not necessarily to seek the cross, but to resist the forces that make crosses inevitable. So the cross only becomes a part of following Jesus when unjust systems threaten us with a cross like they threatened Jesus. It is in those moments of threat from unjust systems that we paradoxically find our life through refusing to let go of life and what is right even when there is a risk of consequences for doing so. Sometimes the most courageous act of discipleship is loving oneself enough to refuse to let go of life.
In this context, Jesus’ words, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”, offer a powerful critique of a society that measures success by wealth, power, possessions, and status. Jesus’ words challenge the assumption that gaining more necessarily means living better, and they also ask us, when faced with a kind of bribery to be silent about injustice, at what cost are we choosing to stay silent? We may gain the world but lose touch with our humanity. What does going along to get along cost a person on an inner level? A person may accumulate enormous wealth and influence while becoming spiritually, morally and/or ethically impoverished.
These words also question systems that allow some people to “gain the whole world” while others are deprived of food, housing, dignity, opportunity, and security. Wealth gained through exploitation, oppression, the suffering of others, or even through merely remaining silent about such comes at the cost of the soul. Jesus therefore shifts the question from “How much can I acquire?” to “What kind of person am I becoming, and what is the cost of my success to my inner self and others?”
The “soul” represents more than private spirituality. It points toward the deepest center of human identity, conscience, compassion, and relationship with others. To forfeit one’s soul is to lose the capacity to recognize another person’s humanity and even lose connection with our own. Jesus’ teaching calls us to reject a culture of material gain through injustice, and seek a society shaped by justice, compassion, solidarity, and human dignity instead. The truly valuable life is not the one that possesses the most, but the one that refuses to gain at another person’s expense.
Lastly this week, Jesus’ words, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels,” evoke the powerful imagery of Daniel 7, where the “Son of Man” appears as a human figure receiving authority from God after oppressive beasts representing unjust and violent empires parade through the scene. In Jesus’ first-century context, this imagery could resonate with Jewish hopes for liberation from Roman domination and the restoration of justice. The Son of Man represents an alternative to imperial power: authority grounded not in violence, conquest, or exploitation but in justice and compassion. Jesus’ language therefore speaks to hope that unjust empires will not be the final word in Earth’s history. And that is a hope that each of us alive today can lean into.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 36: When Solidarity Comes with a Personal Cost
Matthew 16:21-28
The question has to be asked, “At what cost? What kind of person am I becoming?” This week’s reading points toward the deepest center of human identity, conscience, compassion, and relationship with others. To forfeit one’s soul is to lose the capacity to recognize another person’s humanity and even lose connection with our own. Jesus’ teaching calls us to reject a culture of material gain through injustice, and seek a society shaped by justice, compassion, solidarity, and human dignity instead. The truly valuable life is not the one that possesses the most, but the one that refuses to gain at another person’s expense.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/when-solidarity-comes-with-a-personal-cost
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Peter’s Confession and the Hope of Just World
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Peter’s Confession and the Hope of Just World
Herb Montgomery | August 21, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the Gospel of Matthew.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (Matthew 16:13-20)
In our reading this week, when Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” they answer, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” This association with Israel’s prophets is deeply significant for Jesus followers engaged in justice work. The prophets did not primarily predict the future; they were courageous truth-tellers who confronted systems of oppression, challenged corrupt rulers, defended the poor, and called the nation back to covenantal justice.
By comparing Jesus to John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, and other prophets, the crowds recognize that Jesus stands in their prophetic tradition. Like John, Jesus challenges political and religious authorities who exploit others for their own benefit. Like Elijah, he confronts rulers who use power to enrich themselves while abandoning societal justice. Like Jeremiah, Jesus laments a society that has become numb to the suffering of its most vulnerable society members, and he warns that injustice ultimately leads to destruction.
This prophetic identity reveals that following Jesus is not merely about private spirituality or personal morality. It means participating in the sacred, ongoing work of confronting injustice, exposing hypocrisy, and restoring dignity to those pushed to the margins. The kingdom of heaven that Jesus proclaims is inseparable from economic fairness, compassion for the poor, hospitality toward strangers, and liberation for those under oppressive social structures.
The Gospel’s list of prophets also reminds readers that God’s messengers have historically faced rejection because they disturb the comfort of the powerful. Prophetic ministry is costly precisely because it refuses to separate faith from justice. Matthew portrays Jesus as the culmination of this prophetic tradition: someone who embodied God’s enduring concern for the oppressed while calling his followers to do the same.
For modern disciples, this passage raises a searching question: if we recognize Jesus as a prophet of justice, then those who claim to follow him must also ask can they can be recognized too? Jesus followers are called to stand in the same tradition as Jesus of speaking truth to power, challenging systems that deny human dignity, and working courageously for a society that reflects justice and compassion.
Next in our reading this week, we bump into Peter’s response and pronouncement of Jesus as Messiah. The title “Messiah” here reflects the faith and theological development of the earliest Jesus communities rather than simple fulfillment of a prediction in the Hebrew scriptures. Contrary to many later Christian assumptions, the Hebrew scriptures do not contain a single, unified, fully developed doctrine of a coming messiah. The Hebrew word mashiach (“anointed one”) instead referred broadly to kings, priests, and occasionally prophets who were consecrated for God’s service. Saul, David, Solomon, and even the Persian king Cyrus are all described as God’s anointed. There is no consistent expectation in the Hebrew Bible of one future Messiah who would fulfill all later Christian hopes.
During the centuries leading up to the first century, however, Jewish life was shaped by foreign domination under the Persians, Greeks, and finally the Romans. These political realities gave rise to a growing hope that their God would, like in the Hebrew stories of old, intervene in history by raising up a righteous descendant of David who would restore Israel’s independence, establish justice, and renew the Divine covenant with the people. This expectation emerged through interpreting and reapplying older biblical traditions rather than a single prophetic blueprint. Different Jewish groups imagined their future deliverer in different ways: some expected a royal king, others a priestly figure, a prophet like Moses, or even multiple anointed leaders.
Within this historical context, Jesus’ followers came to proclaim him as the Messiah after experiencing his life, death, and what they believed to be his resurrection. Best practices and honest scholarship today suggests that the title expressed the community’s conviction that Jesus embodied God’s liberating purposes even though he had not also restored the political kingdom many expected. The earliest Christians therefore reinterpreted messiahship in light of Jesus’ life, death and teachings, and the title “Messiah” became a theological confession shaped by both Israel’s scriptures and the lived experience of a community seeking hope, liberation, and the renewal of God’s people.
The earliest followers of Jesus proclaimed Jesus as “Messiah” primarily because they understood his life and mission through the social and political hopes of first-century Judaism. Over centuries of conquest, exile, and foreign domination, these older traditions were reinterpreted as Jewish communities longed for God to raise up a new leader who would restore Israel’s freedom and justice.
By the first century, Judea lived under the heavy hand of the Roman Empire. Roman taxation, military occupation, economic exploitation, and the collaboration of local elites created widespread poverty and resentment. In this environment, many Jews hoped for a Davidic king who would liberate Israel from foreign rule, restore the kingdom, and establish a society governed by God’s justice rather than imperial oppression. “Messiah” therefore became a profoundly political title that expressed hope for national renewal, economic justice, and freedom from empire.
Jesus’ earliest followers interpreted his ministry in this atmosphere of expectation. His proclamation of the kingdom of God challenged the legitimacy of every earthly kingdom that enriched the powerful while burdening the poor. His table fellowship with outcasts, denunciations of exploitative religious and political systems, and announcement of good news to the poor all reflected a vision of God’s reign that sharply contrasted with Roman domination.
After Jesus’ crucifixion, a punishment reserved for those Rome considered political threats, his Jewish followers did not abandon their hope. Instead, believing that God had vindicated Jesus through resurrection, they radically redefined messiahship. Rather than leading a military revolt, Jesus had confronted empire through nonviolent resistance, love expressed through restorative justice, and solidarity with the marginalized. Calling Jesus “Messiah” became a declaration that God’s true ruler had already been revealed, even though Caesar remained on the throne. It was a bold political and theological confession that God’s kingdom, not Rome’s empire, represented the future of history. The title “Messiah” thus expressed the conviction that liberation would ultimately come not through imperial power but through God’s justice breaking into our world through Jesus and the community that carried forward his vision (see Mark 8:27-30, Luke 9:18-21, John 1:35-42, and Gospel of Thomas 13:1-8).
Lastly this week, let’s contemplate Peter’s second declaration in our reading, which gives Jesus the title “son of God.” In the first-century Roman world, “Son of God” was not unique to Jesus. It was also an imperial title claimed by the Caesars. After the death of Julius Caesar, who the Roman Senate declared divine, his adopted heir Augustus became known as Divi Filius: “Son of the Divine One” or “Son of God.” Later emperors continued to present themselves as divinely chosen rulers whose authority came from the gods. Their titles reinforced the ideology that Rome’s power was sacred and beyond challenge.
Against this backdrop, Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus as the true Son of God in deliberate contrast to Caesar. This has become a theological statement today, but was originally a political one. If Jesus is God’s Son, then Caesar is not the ultimate lord of the world, and allegiance belongs first to Jesus’ vision of of a just world rather than to the empire.
This claim exposes the difference between two kinds of power. Caesar’s “sonship” was expressed through military conquest, taxation, wealth, and domination. Jesus’ sonship is revealed through healing the sick, feeding the hungry, welcoming outsiders, loving one’s neighbor, and standing with the poor. One kingdom maintains itself through fear and violence; the other grows through compassion, justice, and love.
For Matthew’s community, confessing Jesus as the Son of God was therefore an act of resistance. It rejected the empire’s claim to divine authority and proclaimed that their God’s justice, not imperial power, had the final word.
In the wake of Peter’s declaration, Jesus declares to Peter, “On this rock I will build my church… I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” We can understand this as a call to create a community committed to justice rather than an institution built on power and domination. In Matthew’s Gospel, the ekklesia (church) is not primarily a building or hierarchy but an assembly of people gathered to embody love’s reign in the world. The “rock” is Peter’s courageous confession that Jesus, not Caesar, is God’s chosen one. Again, this confession carried profound political implications because it challenged the Roman Empire’s claims to ultimate authority.
Jesus’ promise that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it” is often interpreted in more privileged Christian sectors as a promise of personal salvation, but for Jesus followers living in less privileged social locations or engaging the work of liberation and justice, the image of those gates suggests the powers of death, oppression, and empire are fortified. Gates are defensive structures; they do not attack. Jesus’ vision is therefore of a community advancing against forces that degrade humanity: violence, exploitation, poverty, exclusion, and injustice. These powers of death will not stand up against and withstand a Jesus movement rooted in love, justice, inclusion, or compassion.
Likewise, the “keys of the kingdom” symbolize responsibility rather than privilege. Keys open doors that others have closed. Those entrusted with the kingdom are called to unlock access to dignity, justice, human rights, healing, and belonging for those being marginalized by religious, economic, or political systems. The authority to “bind” and “loose” is not permission to control people but the responsibility to discern practices that either perpetuate injustice or set people free. Oppression, greed, and discrimination should be bound; mercy, liberation, reconciliation, and hope should be loosed.
From this perspective, our reading this week shows Jesus commissioning a community that resists the powers of injustice and death by opening doors instead of closing them. And Jesus followers fulfill their calling whenever they stand with the excluded, confront systems of injustice, and embody the liberating values of Jesus’ kingdom in our present world.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 35: Peter’s Confession and the Hope of Just World
Matthew 16:13-20
We can understand our reading this week as a call to create a community committed to justice rather than an institution built on power and domination. In Matthew’s Gospel, the ekklesia (translated church) is not primarily a building or hierarchy but an community of people collectively embodying love’s reign in the world. Love, justice, compassion, and mercy, not Caesar and Rome, are the hope for the future. Peter’s confession carried profound political implications, much more than theological ones, because it challenged the Empire’s claims to ultimate authority and gave the people a viable, subversive alternative.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Learning to Learn From a Canaanite Woman
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Learning to Learn From a Canaanite Woman
Herb Montgomery | August 7, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
(Matthew 15:10-28)
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them. Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matthew 15:10-28)
In the first half of our reading this week, Jesus declares that it is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out. While this teaching has often been understood as setting aside ritual food laws, it also carries a justice lesson and that’s what I’m most interested in presently. In this story, Jesus shifts attention from a singular focus on external religious or ritual observances to the inner values that shape human relationships and community life.
By also insisting that evil words and actions arise from the heart, Jesus challenges systems that emphasize ritual purity while ignoring injustice. A society may faithfully observe religious customs and yet still be corrupted by greed, hatred, violence, deception, and oppression. Such evils are revealed in speech that spreads lies, incites violence, humiliates the vulnerable and marginalized, or justifies exploitation. The words people speak reflect the moral character of individuals and societies, regardless of their adherence to religious ritual practice.
Our reading this week confronts the tendency to exclude others on the basis of external markers such as diet, ethnicity, class, or religious tradition. Jesus undermines boundaries that divide people into the “pure” and the “unclean”, boundaries then most often set in parallel with labeling people’s diets or hand-washing practices. Remember, this was before any knowledge of germ theory so the tradition was not about resisting disease. Instead of dividing people, Jesus teaches that the true measure of righteousness is whether one’s words and actions promote justice, mercy, and love. Communities become defiled not because they eat wrong foods or eat in wrong ways, but because they tolerate speech and behavior that deny the dignity of others.
Our reading this week calls us to examine the language we use in public life: what comes out of our mouths. Words can either reinforce systems of discrimination or challenge them. They can defend the powerful at the expense of the poor or give voice to those who have been silenced. Speech rooted in compassion, truth, and solidarity becomes an instrument of Jesus’ kingdom of justice, compassion, and safety, whereas speech born of prejudice and selfishness destroys community. Jesus reminds his disciples that genuine holiness is measured not by ritual compliance with rules on food but by hearts transformed into sources of justice, liberation, and life-giving truth.
Our reading this week also contains a troubling metaphor for many contemporary readers who care about justice today.
“Leave them; they are blind guides,” Jesus says. “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” From the perspective of disability studies, this saying illustrates how deeply ableist assumptions can become embedded in language, including the language of our sacred texts. This passage employs blindness not as a neutral human characteristic but as a symbol of ignorance, failure, and danger. The metaphor depends on the assumption that blindness naturally signifies incompetence and that blind people are incapable of leading others. In doing so, it reinforces stereotypes that have historically contributed to the social marginalization of blind and visually impaired people.
This metaphor is especially problematic because it uses disability as shorthand for moral and intellectual deficiency. Rather than critiquing only the religious leaders’ hypocrisy or lack of insight, the saying associates those failures with blindness itself. Such language reflects a broader cultural pattern found throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, where physical impairments often functioned symbolically to represent spiritual or ethical shortcomings. While this symbolic use may have been commonplace in its historical context, it nevertheless carries consequences for readers today.
A disability-informed reading invites interpreters to distinguish between the intended target of Jesus’ criticism, the religious leaders whom he believed were misleading others, and the metaphor he employs to express that criticism. Modern readers need not perpetuate the equation of blindness with ignorance or evil. Instead, they can recognize that blind people lead, teach, create, parent, and contribute in every sphere of society. The real issue in our reading this week is not blindness but irresponsible leadership. Reframing this passage in this way allows readers to preserve its critique of harmful authority while rejecting language that stigmatizes disability. Such a reading encourages both faith communities and biblical interpreters to examine how inherited metaphors may unintentionally reinforce prejudice and to seek more inclusive ways of speaking about wisdom, justice, and leadership. Today, when it comes to disabilities, we can and must tell the Jesus story in better ways.
Lastly in our reading this week, we are presented with one of the most striking moments of growth in Matthew’s version of the Jesus story. Jesus initially responds to the Canaanite woman with language that reflects the ethnic and religious boundaries of his culture. He declares that he was sent only to “the lost sheep of Israel” and compares giving help to her with throwing children’s bread to dogs. These words are deeply troubling because they echo prejudices that marginalized Canaanites and outsiders within Jesus’ own culture. Rather than ignoring this tension, the passage invites readers to wrestle honestly with it.
The Canaanite woman refuses to accept exclusion. She neither responds with anger nor retreats in shame. Instead, she courageously challenges Jesus’ assumptions with remarkable wit and faith: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Her response exposes the inadequacy of boundaries that deny another person’s humanity and dignity. She insists that God’s mercy cannot be confined by ethnic identity or social status.
Jesus’ final response is equally significant. Rather than defending his earlier position, he publicly praises the woman’s faith and grants her request. In this reading, Jesus demonstrates the humility to be moved by someone from a marginalized community. The encounter reveals a Jesus who listened, learned, and allowed compassionate truth to overcome inherited social prejudice. Instead of presenting growth as weakness, Matthew portrays openness to correction as a mark of genuine righteousness.
For Jesus followers participating in justice work today, this story reminds us that even deeply embedded biases can be confronted through authentic encounters with those who have been excluded. Marginalized voices are not merely recipients of justice; they are often its teachers. The Canaanite woman becomes an agent of transformation, expanding the visible scope of Jesus’ ministry and foreshadowing the Gospel’s ultimate movement toward all nations. Her persistence demonstrates that faith can challenge systems of exclusion and open new possibilities for mercy, justice, and belonging.
One of the greatest strengths displayed in this story is not unwavering certainty on Jesus’ part but his humility to change. Too often, leaders are praised for never admitting error, as though changing one’s mind were a sign of weakness. Yet the encounter with the Canaanite woman suggests the opposite. Jesus models the courage to listen deeply, to recognize truth when it comes from an unexpected source, and to allow that truth to reshape his actions. His authority is not diminished by this change in my opinion; it is strengthened because it is rooted in compassion rather than inerrancy.
This story offers a powerful reminder that learning and growing is an essential part of morality and spiritual growth. The saying, “When we learn better, we do better,” captures this moment in Matthew’s Jesus story. Growth requires openness to voices that challenge our assumptions, especially the voices of those who have experienced exclusion or oppression. The Canaanite woman becomes a teacher whose persistence reveals a broader vision of God’s mercy than the social boundaries both she and Jesus lived in.
Our reading this week offers hope that transformation is always possible. No one is beyond growth. The measure of faithfulness is not whether we have never held biased beliefs, but whether we have the humility to recognize them, the courage to change our minds, and the willingness to act differently once we know better. In that sense, Jesus’ response becomes a model of lifelong moral growth grounded in love.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 34: Learning to Learn From a Canaanite Woman
Matthew 15:10-28
A disability-informed reading invites interpreters to distinguish between the intended target of Jesus’ criticism, the leaders whom he believed were misleading others, and the metaphor he employs to express that criticism. Modern readers need not perpetuate the equation of blindness with ignorance or evil. Instead, they can recognize that blind people lead, teach, create, parent, and contribute in every sphere of society. The real issue in our reading this week is not blindness but irresponsible leadership. Reframing this passage in this way allows readers to preserve its critique of harmful authority while rejecting language that stigmatizes disability. Such a reading encourages both faith communities and biblical interpreters to examine how inherited metaphors may unintentionally reinforce prejudice and to seek more inclusive ways of speaking about wisdom, justice, and leadership. Our reading also reminds us that even deeply embedded biases can be confronted through authentic encounters with those who have been excluded. Marginalized voices are not merely recipients of justice; they are often its teachers. The Canaanite woman becomes an agent of transformation, expanding the visible scope of Jesus’ ministry and foreshadowing the Gospel’s ultimate movement toward all nations. Her persistence demonstrates that faith can challenge systems of exclusion and open new possibilities for mercy, justice, and belonging.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/learning-to-learn-from-a-canaanite-woman
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Walking on the Sea of Galilee and Standing Up to Injustice
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Walking on the Sea of Galilee and Standing Up to Injustice
Herb Montgomery | August 7, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew.
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33)
This week’s reading is a fantastical tale that has deep social and political lessons if we use a life-giving interpretive lens. First, during Jesus’ life, the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) was an economic hub within the Roman client state of Galilee and was ruled by Herod Antipas. Fishermen operated under state-granted licenses and heavy taxation. Their catch was heavily processed, with taxes benefiting Roman and Herodian elites but leaving the common fishermen economically marginalized. Fishing was not a free-market endeavor; it was a state-controlled, monopolistic industry, so fishermen like Peter and Andrew had to obtain licenses and a substantial portion of their catch—sometimes up to 25-40%—was claimed by Roman and temple taxes or to pay off toll collectors. Rather than serving only local customers, Roman and Herodian elites commercialized the Galilean fishing industry. That meant that the fish were heavily salted and processed in towns like Magdala (also known by its Greek name Tarichaeae, which means “Processed-Fishville”). From there, the fish were exported across the Roman Empire. Fishing was a vital industry, yet the fishermen were generally poor, peasant laborers who sustained an empire that stripped away most of their profits. Because of the heavy taxation and dependent livelihoods, many peasants and fishermen experienced severe economic precarity, which bred widespread dissatisfaction and primed the region for unrest and messianic uprisings.
In Michael Okińczyc-Cruz and John Dominic Crossan’s latest book, Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now, the authors unpack the socio-economic and political context surrounding the sea of Galilee, a central location in Matthew’s version of the Jesus story:
“What was once a public lake that Jews and other first-century Mediterranean peoples relied upon for food and their way of life was transformed into a privatized imperial enterprise. Herod Antipas viewed the Sea of Galilee and the vulnerable people that lived along its shores as objects for production that could be mercilessly exploited for profit and gain.” (John Dominic Crossan & Michael Okińczyc-Cruz, Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now, p. 2)
In Jesus’ lifetime, Herod Antipas hoped to increase his tribute from Galilee to persuade his Roman masters to choose him as their vassal and to rule the whole country as its “king.” But Herod Antipas could not increase his tribute to Rome by squeezing more grain from his peasants without risking a rebellion. A rebellion would have had the opposite effect: Herod would be removed from the region as an incompetent ruler, not chosen to rule it. What Herod did instead was to add to the land’s produce the products produced in the regions second greatest asset, the Sea of Galilee. This would have to be accomplished at the expense of the poor fishermen and peasants. Think of how prominent loaves (grain) and fish are in Jesus story. (For a more detailed account of this history, see John Dominic Crossan & Michael Okińczyc-Cruz’ book Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now, p. 11.)
Herod saw the Sea of Galilee and the poor fishing families that surrounded the lake as objects for his ruthless exploitation. He viewed the Sea and his subjects nearby as a vital linchpin in his consolidation of political and economic power across the territories he wanted to rule under the Roman Empire. This spelled profound trouble for the poor peasant fishing families who lived along and near to those shores. Antipas’ lake could supply Rome with what his land could not: fish and fish-factories that could deliver dried fish, salted fish, and fish-sauce to coastal Tyre and into the imperial commerce machine through the “globalization” of the Mediterranean region’s markets. By 20 CE, Herod controlled the lake, exploiting its fish and increasing his imperial tribute in Galilee so that Tiberius and his Roman rulers might extend Herod’s rule to the whole country. Finally, he would become “king of the Jews.”
Michael Okińczyc-Cruz and John Dominic Crossan invite us to think of what these changes “did to small peasant-fishers for whom the lake had once been an aquatic ‘commons’ available to all who could afford a hook, a net, or, even if corporately, a boat. If they could still do any of that, Herod Antipas’ monopoly meant enforced sale at fixed prices to his fish depots. By exploiting the farmers and peasants inland, Antipas had learned to multiply loaves in the land around Sepphoris; and by exploiting the fishermen and surrounding fishing villages, he would now learn how to multiply fishes in the lake around Tiberias. For small local fishers by the 20s, the once-open Lake of Galilee was the now-closed Lake of Tiberias.” (John Dominic Crossan & Michael Okińczyc-Cruz, Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now, p. 12).
All of this leads us to what I believe is the most relevant point of this week’s story. Jesus’ act of walking on the water carries more than mere theological significance. It also communicated profound political and social meaning to Jesus followers in the time it was written. Under the rule of Herod Antipas, the Sea of Galilee had become the center of an exploitative fishing economy. Antipas established the city of Tiberias on its western shore and local fishermen, including several of Jesus’ disciples, lived under heavy economic burdens created by this political system.
Against this backdrop, Jesus’ mastery over the waters symbolizes liberating authority over a realm that Herod claimed to control. The lake represented the economic power of the ruling elite, yet Jesus walks across it as one who is not subject to its oppressive structures. Rather than being constrained by the forces of imperial exploitation, he demonstrates that God’s reign transcends and challenges human systems of domination. Jesus’ authority comes not from military power, wealth, or political office but from solidarity with the sacred and divine work of achieving justice for the oppressed.
The disciples’ fear during the storm could mirror the insecurity that ordinary people experienced living under political oppression and economic uncertainty. Jesus’ words, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid,” become a message of liberation to those whose lives were shaped by exploitation. His presence over the turbulent waters assures them that God’s kingdom offers assurance beyond the reach of oppressive rulers. Matthew’s account therefore presents Jesus as more than Lord over creation, a description emphasized by many theological interpretations that seek not to disturb the powerful and privileged. Matthew also presents Jesus as one who confronts unjust political and economic powers. By exercising authority over the very center of Herod Antipas’ commercial enterprise, Jesus proclaims that his kingdom overturns systems of exploitation and restores dignity, hope, and freedom to those marginalized by imperial rule.
In this context, Peter’s attempt to walk on the water in our reading this week is significant. When we read this story against the realities of oppression, fear, and faithful resistance, there are lessons we can glean for our justice work today. At Jesus’ invitation, Peter leaves the relative safety of the boat and steps into the turbulent sea. His action symbolizes the courage required of those who choose to participate in Jesus’ kingdom (a just, compassionate, safe world for everyone) rather than remain within the security of the existing social order. Following Jesus demands more than belief; it requires risking one’s comfort to confront the forces that threaten human dignity.
The waves represent more than natural danger. They can also be understood as the overwhelming powers of political oppression, economic exploitation, violence, and social exclusion that dominated first-century Palestine under Roman rule and the client kings such as Herod Antipas. Like the disciples, communities seeking justice often find themselves surrounded by forces that appear too powerful to overcome. Peter succeeds while his attention remains fixed on Jesus, whose authority surpasses the power of the waves, but he begins to sink when he shifts his attention from Jesus to the raging wind and waves. Socially, this could illustrate how movements for justice falter when fear becomes greater than hope. The intimidation of oppressive systems can paralyze individuals and communities, tempting them to abandon the difficult work of liberation. Fear magnifies the apparent strength of injustice while diminishing confidence in our collective transforming power.
Yet the story does not end with Peter’s failure. As he cries, “Lord, save me,” Jesus immediately reaches out and takes hold of him. Grace meets human fear without shame. A just world is sustained not by flawless courage but by our faithful continuation even when the waves threaten us. Jesus restores Peter, demonstrating that even when we falter or feel ourselves sinking in the struggle for justice, there are hands that remain extended, calling us together to renew our solidarity with each other and courage liberation work today.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 32: Walking on the Sea of Galilee and Standing Up to Injustice
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus’ act of walking on the water carries more than mere theological significance. It also communicated profound political and social meaning to Jesus followers in the time it was written. Under the rule of Herod Antipas, the Sea of Galilee had become the center of an exploitative fishing economy. Antipas established the city of Tiberias on its western shore and local fishermen, including several of Jesus’ disciples, lived under heavy economic burdens created by this political system. Against this backdrop, Jesus’ mastery over the waters symbolizes liberating authority over a realm that Herod claimed to control and a lake that was at the center of Herod’s exploitative plan.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Justice Lessons from the Feeding of the Five Thousand
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Justice Lessons from the Feeding of the Five Thousand
Herb Montgomery | July 31, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21)
Our reading this week begins on a sad, solemn note. Jesus withdraws “to a solitary place” after learning of John the Baptist’s execution. This offers a profound reminder for all who are working for justice today. Jesus retreats but not in fear or indifference to the suffering around him. Rather, confronting injustice includes moments of reflection, grief, setbacks, and renewal. John’s death at the hands of Herod represents the violence of corrupt political power silencing a prophetic voice that challenged oppression and called for righteousness. Jesus could be recognizing the personal loss of his cousin, the public attack on truth and justice, and also what both could mean for him going forward.
By withdrawing, Jesus acknowledges the emotional cost of standing with the marginalized and speaking against injustice. Justice work is often exhausting because it involves confronting systems of violence, inequality, and exploitation. Jesus models the importance of lament and self-care, reminding those committed to justice that they cannot sustain compassionate action without renewing their spiritual and emotional strength, especially in times of deep loss to the movements of which we are a part.
But his solitary moment gets interrupted, and instead of him remaining isolated, the crowds find him. Jesus responds to them with renewed compassion. He heals the sick. His withdrawal is therefore not an escape from the needs of society but a pause that strengthens his commitment to serve those who are suffering. This speaks to me this week. Justice is sustained not only by activism but also by an inner life and taking care of ourselves too.
For modern disciples, this passage teaches that faithful engagement in justice requires balancing action with recovery. Those who advocate for the poor, challenge injustice, or comfort victims of violence also need spaces for prayer, mourning, contemplation, and renewal. Our story this week shows that grief over injustice and setbacks can deepen rather than diminish our commitment to compassionate service. Jesus’ example reminds believers that effective resistance to oppression flows from hearts that are grounded, and time away that enables us to return to the work of justice with courage, wisdom, and love.
Next, we encounter the disciples’’ request: “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
This part of the story reveals another profound lesson for those involved in justice work today. The disciples have a common human response to overwhelming social need. Faced with thousands of hungry people, they see scarcity, limited resources, and practical constraints. Their solution is to disperse the crowd so that each individual can solve their own problem. From a justice perspective, this reflects an approach that places responsibility to care for those in need solely on individuals rather than on the community. It’s an individualistic response of dispersal rather than a collective response or pulling together.
The disciples are not heartless; they do recognize the people’s hunger. However, they assume that the only solution is for the hungry to fend for themselves through the marketplace. This response could mirror modern attitudes that often expect those experiencing poverty, food insecurity, or homelessness to resolve their struggles without sufficient communal support. Jesus challenges this assumption by refusing to send the crowd away.
Jesus’ kingdom does not dismiss people because their needs seem too great or because available resources appear insufficient. Instead, Jesus invites his followers to become participants, collectively, in community. His response, “You give them something to eat,” transforms the disciples from observers of suffering into agents of compassion and justice. The responsibility for meeting human need becomes a shared, communal task rather than an individual burden.
This passage challenges faith communities to resist the temptation to distance themselves from social problems. Hunger, poverty, and inequality cannot simply be redirected elsewhere. Instead, Jesus followers today are called to remain present with those who suffer and to trust that even with limited resources, our chances are better together than on our own. Justice begins when Jesus refuses to send people away because he recognizes that every person belongs within the caring embrace of a community where dignity, compassion, and shared responsibility replace individualism and pulling one’s self up by one’s own bootstraps (or sandals in this case).
The heart of this week’s story comes next. In Matthew’s version of the feeding of the five thousand, the simple offering of five loaves and two fish reveals a profound vision of justice rooted in Jesus’ “kingdom.” Faced with overwhelming need, the disciples focus on scarcity, believing their limited resources are insufficient. Jesus, however, shifts their perspective from fear to trust, and demonstrates that justice begins when people are willing to share what they have, however small, for the common good.
Rather than sending the hungry crowds away to fend for themselves, Jesus gathers them into a community where everyone has a place. He directs the people to sit on the grass, which creates an ordered and dignified assembly rather than a chaotic scramble for food. This act reflects the principle that every person deserves respect, inclusion, and equal access to life’s necessities.
Jesus gives thanks before breaking the bread, acknowledging that creation is a sacred gift intended to sustain all people. The miracle is not simply about supernatural provision but also about rejecting systems that leave some hungry while others possess abundance. Jesus distributes food to the people through the disciples, which makes them partners in the sacred work of compassionate justice. They become agents of equitable distribution rather than gatekeepers of limited resources.
The statement that “they all ate and were satisfied” expresses a vision of a society where everyone’s basic needs are met. Satisfaction is not reserved for a privileged few but becomes the shared experience of the entire community. This story challenges economic structures built on exclusion, hoarding, and inequality, and calls believers to practices of generosity, stewardship, and shared resources instead.
For Jesus followers today, this passage teaches us that justice begins with community and sharing what we have, organizing communities around human dignity, and ensuring that resources are distributed so that no one is left hungry. In Jesus’ vision of a just future, compassion is expressed not only in charity but in also creating communities where all people can flourish together and charity itself becomes obsolete.
The final thought on this week’s reading relates to the part where the disciples gather twelve basketfuls of leftovers after they feed the five thousand. The abundance of food after the meal demonstrates that Jesus’ economy is not based on scarcity but on generosity. After everyone has eaten to their satisfaction, the disciples carefully collect remaining food rather than waste it. This act teaches that justice for Jesus followers includes responsible stewardship of resources. Food is a gift to be shared wisely, not squandered while others remain hungry.
The twelve baskets also symbolize God’s provision for the whole community. Many interpreters see the number twelve as representing the twelve tribes of Israel, suggesting that God’s blessings are intended for all the people. The disciples who distributed the food are also entrusted with gathering what remains: those who serve others are called to protect the gifts that sustain life. Their ministry extends beyond meeting immediate needs to ensuring that resources continue to benefit the community.
From a contemporary justice perspective, the leftovers challenge societies that waste resources while preserving and/or creating poverty. While many go without adequate food, others discard what could sustain life. Jesus’ command to gather the fragments models an ethic of economic fairness, environmental responsibility, and communal care. Jesus’ vision of a just future is revealed not only in generous provision but also in the faithful management of abundance so that everyone has enough and nothing of value is lost. These lessons can all inform our work today as we continue to work together toward shaping our world into a just, compassionate, safe home for everyone.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 32: Justice Lessons from the Feeding of the Five Thousand
Matthew 14:13-21
Faithful engagement in justice requires balancing action with recovery. Those who advocate for the poor, challenge injustice, or comfort victims of violence also need spaces for prayer, mourning, contemplation, and renewal. Our story this week shows that grief over injustice and setbacks can deepen rather than diminish our commitment to compassionate service. Also, our reading shows that justice begins with community and sharing what we have, organizing communities around human dignity, and ensuring that resources are distributed so that no one is left hungry. In Jesus’ vision of a just future, compassion is expressed not only in charity but in also creating communities where all people can flourish together and charity itself becomes obsolete.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Parables of Justice, Compassion, and Inclusion
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Parables of Justice, Compassion, and Inclusion
Herb Montgomery | July 24, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
(Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52)
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied.
He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52)
This week’s reading from Mathew is comprised of a collection of Jesus’ parables. Let’s jump right in with the first one: Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. This parable teaches an important lesson about how small acts can lead to significant change. The mustard seed is tiny and seemingly insignificant, yet it grows into a large tree that provides shelter for birds. This image suggests that the Kingdom (or justice) begins with humble actions but expands to create a community where all are welcomed and protected. The parable encourages people to value the contributions of those who are often overlooked or marginalized. It reminds us that transforming society does not always begin with wealth, power, or influence but can start with simple acts of kindness, fairness, and advocacy for others. Just as the tree becomes a place of refuge, so too should a just society offer safety, dignity, and justice to everyone, especially the poor, the oppressed, and the excluded. The Jesus story challenges Jesus followers to plant seeds of justice by standing against inequality, caring for those in need, and working for peace. The parable offers the hope that even the smallest efforts to promote justice and love can grow into lasting change that benefits entire communities and reflects the values of Jesus’ just future in the present.
Next in Matthew’s version of the Jesus story, we encounter Jesus’ parable of the yeast, a parable about quiet but powerful transformation. A woman mixes a small amount of yeast into a large quantity of flour, and eventually the yeast spreads throughout the entire batch of dough. This image shows that even small actions can have a profound impact. The woman reminds me of ordinary people whose efforts to promote equality, compassion, and justice often go unnoticed but gradually influence entire communities. Like yeast, values such as mercy, inclusion, and respect for human dignity spread from person to person until they transform relationships and social structures. Harmful elements can, too. Meaningful change does not always come through dramatic events or powerful leaders. Lasting justice often begins instead with individuals who challenge injustice, support those who are marginalized, and encourage others to act with kindness and fairness. Just as yeast works invisibly through dough, acts of generosity, advocacy, and service can reshape communities over time. For Jesus followers today, building a just future means participating in this steady work of transformation so that society becomes more compassionate, equitable, and welcoming for all people, including those our present system marginalizes.
Next, we read Jesus’ parable of the hidden treasure. The just future Jesus envisions for human beings is of such immense value that it demands wholehearted commitment. The treasure represents Jesus’ vision of a world marked by dignity, peace, and inclusion. Discovering this treasure transforms a person’s priorities, leading them to willingly surrender wealth, status, and personal security in pursuit of Jesus’ beloved community (“kingdom”).
The man’s joyful decision to sell everything he owns mirrors the sacrifices required of those who work for justice today. Building a society where the poor are lifted up, the oppressed are freed, and all people are treated as beloved children of God often requires giving up privilege, comfort, or material gain. The joy in the parable suggests that these sacrifices are not burdens but a natural response to recognizing the incomparable worth of a just world for the common abundance for all.
The hidden nature of the “treasure” also reminds us that Jesus’ just future is often already hard at work and found in unexpected places: among the marginalized, the forgotten, and those whose dignity is overlooked. Jesus followers today are called to seek this hidden treasure by standing in solidarity with the vulnerable and investing their lives in the work of restoration, compassion, and justice, trusting that no earthly possession compares with the priceless gift of a safe, compassionate, just world for everyone.
In the next parable, about the pearl of great price, Jesus teaches that his vision of just world for all is worth sacrificing everything to obtain. The pearl symbolizes Jesus’ vision of a world where every person is valued, justice prevails, and every person’s humanity is restored from degrading injustice. Unlike man with the hidden treasure, the merchant is actively searching, which suggests that Jesus followers are called to intentionally seek God’s just future and the truth-telling it requires rather than passively wait to discover it.
The merchant’s willingness to sell everything demonstrates the radical commitment required to live by the values of Jesus’ kingdom of justice and compassion. Pursuing justice often means challenging systems of inequality, sharing resources generously, and placing the needs of others above personal wealth or social status. Jesus emphasizes that this kind of world, where everyone has what they need to thrive and no one has too much while others go without, is so valuable that no earthly possession or privilege can compare.
This parable also reminds justice seekers that true wealth is not measured by material success but by faithful participation in the work of love and justice. Those who recognize the incomparable value of a world shaped in the form of justice willingly invest their lives in serving the poor, defending the oppressed, and promoting peace. In doing so, they discover that God’s just future for humans is the greatest treasure. It offers lasting hope and transforms individuals and society through God’s redeeming love, and it manifests in justice, safety, and compassion for every person.
Lastly, Jesus’ parable of the fishing net presents Jesus’ vision for a just future: it is radically inclusive. The net gathers “all kinds of fish,” which symbolizes the invitation for every person regardless of social status, ethnicity, gender, race, orientation, identity, or background to be a part of Jesus’ diverse community. No one is excluded from the offer to participate in Jesus’ kingdom.” This challenges communities today that exclude people based on privilege, race, class, gender, or orientation, and reminds Jesus followers that we are to be about building communities where all are genuinely welcomed and treated with dignity.
The separation of the good fish from the bad is a problematic portion of this parable. As we covered last week, bad fruit always results from the moment we define someone else as a “bad fish” that will one day be “thrown out.” Human beings are often tempted to judge others based on their own inherent conscious and unconscious biases. But Jesus teaches that final judgment will belong to the Divine alone. Those who exploit the poor, oppress or marginalize the vulnerable, or practice injustice will ultimately be held accountable. At the same time, in this vision of the future, those who pursue righteousness, mercy, and compassion will be vindicated. Note, too, the metaphor“gnashing of teeth.” In scripture, this metaphor is always used to denote anger, not suffering. People gnash their teeth when they witness the inclusion of people they think should not be included. This intrinsically excludes them from generous inclusion, and so they gnash their teeth with anger.
The parable encourages us to live lives marked by justice, honesty, and love while resisting systems of oppression and exclusion. Jesus’ vision of justice welcomes all to join in a community shaped by justice, compassion, and safety for all.
Jesus ends this passage with “Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” This saying highlights the importance of preserving time-tested truths while we respond creatively to the changing needs of society. The “old treasures” represent the wisdom of communities gone before us, our sacred texts, and the timeless command to love God and one’s neighbor. The “new treasures” symbolize the fresh understanding that Jesus followers bring to our world now: Jesus’ followers are called to apply the principles of the gospels in ways that promote justice, mercy, and inclusion today.
The Gospels call Jesus followers today to courageously address contemporary forms of injustice such as poverty, racism, misogyny, discrimination, environmental degradation, economic inequality, LGBTQ bigotry, and more.
Faithfulness, in our context, is not simply preserving tradition but also allowing Jesus’ teachings to continue to inspire new responses to human suffering and social challenges. We are entrusted with using wisdom we have inherited and the wisdom in marginalized and vulnerable communities to build communities marked by compassion, equality, and peace.
Jesus teaches that authentic discipleship combines respect for the wisdom of the past and honesty about where those in the past got it wrong. With openness to transformation, every generation pursuing justice can remain rooted in the enduring values we’ve learned from the Jesus story.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does our reading this week inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 31: Parables of Justice, Compassion, and Inclusion
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
These parables represent the wisdom of communities gone before us, while encouraging fresh understanding that we can bring to our world now: to apply the principles of the gospels in ways that promote justice, mercy, and inclusion today. We can courageously address contemporary forms of injustice such as poverty, racism, misogyny, discrimination, environmental degradation, economic inequality, LGBTQ bigotry, and more. We can allow Jesus’ teachings to continue to inspire new responses to human suffering and social challenges. We are entrusted with using wisdom we have inherited and the wisdom in marginalized and vulnerable communities to build communities marked by compassion, equality, and peace. Jesus teaches that authentic discipleship combines respect for the wisdom of the past and honesty about where those in the past got it wrong. With openness to transformation, every generation pursuing justice can remain rooted in the enduring values we’ve learned from the Jesus story while participating in new expressions of compassion and justice, today.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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