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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Gendering God
This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube
New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!
Season 1, Episode 12: John 14.1-14. Lectionary A, Easter 5
Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it.
You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/LXBO0TD7kdM
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment
Thanks in advance for watching!
Gendering God
Herb Montgomery | May 5, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
“Gendering God can be either life giving or death dealing. Gendering God exclusively is harmful. How we gender God serves to mold us, and also preserves those shapes once they’ve been molded. Exclusively gendering God as male has served to harmfully exclude women in our Christian communities and frame them as ‘less than.’”
Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:1-14*)
This week’ reading is part of the farewell speeches in the Johannine community’s version of the Jesus story. Jesus is saying goodbye.
The first thing that jumps out at me in this part is Jesus’ exclusivity. If you’ve been following my and Todd Leonard’s lectionary discussions over the past few weeks on YouTube (JustTalking), the idea that Jesus is the only means of experiencing gnosis or saving knowledge is very Johannine. It doesn’t work today in our cosmopolitan culture, given universal truths taught in other faith traditions as well as our own. My faith tradition is Christian, but every faith tradition, like mine, has teachings that are life-giving and those that are not. The goal that makes more sense to me is to collect the good in each.
The second theme in our reading this week that must be addressed is that our reading is very gendered. I assume it was written by men within the Johannine community. There is also a lot of gendering of God in this passage, so let’s discuss this.
Gendering God can be either life giving or death dealing. Gendering God exclusively is harmful. Elizabeth A. Johnson’s classic book She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse is especially helpful here. Johnson writes:
“What is the right way to speak about God? This is a question of unsurpassed importance, for speech to and about the mystery that surrounds human lives and the universe itself is a key activity of a community of faith. In that speech the symbol of God functions as the primary symbol of the whole religious system, the ultimate point of reference for understanding experience, life, and the world. Hence the way in which a faith community shapes language about God implicitly represents what it takes to be the highest good, the profoundest truth, the most appealing beauty. Such speaking, in turn, powerfully molds the corporate identity of the community and directs its praxis.” (She Who Is, Kindle Location 807)
How we gender God serves to mold us, and also preserves those shapes once they’ve been molded. Exclusively gendering God as male has served to harmfully exclude women in our Christian communities and frame them as “less than.”
Johnson continues a few paragraphs later:
“The symbol of God functions. Upon examination it becomes clear that this exclusive speech about God serves in manifold ways to support an imaginative and structural world that excludes or subordinates women. Wittingly or not, it undermines women’s human dignity as equally created in the image of God.” (She Who Is, Kindle Location 825)
And yet the images we use for God can work inclusively when we use symbols to lift up and liberate those our present system pushes to the undersides and edges of our communities.
“Language about God in female images not only challenges the literal mindedness that has clung to male images in inherited God-talk; it not only questions their dominance in discourse about holy mystery. But insofar as ‘the symbol gives rise to thought,’ such speech calls into question prevailing structures of patriarchy. It gives rise to a different vision of community, community, one in which the last shall be first, the excluded shall be included, the mighty put down from their thrones and the humbled exalted—the words of Mary of Nazareth’s song of praise (Lk 1:52), creating conditions for the formation of community characterized by relationships of mutuality and reciprocity, of love and justice.” (Johnson, Elizabeth A., She Who Is, Kindle Location 854)
This challenges me as I reflect on some Bible passages that I’ve cherished at other stages of my journey. One of those passages is from the book of Hebrews:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being . . .” (Hebrews 1:1-3)
The exact representation? How does this teaching function for women given that Jesus was male? The church has exclusively gendered God as male based on passages like this and then privileged cis-men in the Christian faith. The belief that the clergy should exclusively be cis-men is just one of those practices, and all of them are rooted in a male Jesus being the exact image of God. This assumption has been at the heart of centuries of harm to women in Christian history, and has led many women to reject Christianity because of the real, concrete harm they have experienced because of these practices. (See Jaqueline Grant, White Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus, Feminist Christology and Womanist Response, p. 151-172)
But our stories about God, sex, and gender are not monolithic. We also have stories within our sacred text that remind us that we all bear the image of the divine. We all bear God’s image. In the context of our bodies, wherever our bodies may sit on the spectrum of sex, we all bear God’s image. In the context of gender identity and gender expression, wherever we may sit on that spectrum, we all bear God’s image. Our most ancient origin myths whisper to us these truths.
In the Genesis story, God made “two great lights,” “the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night” (Genesis 1:16) and yet we have times of day when both lights are active: sunrise, dusk, and twilight. So too in the story, God created humankind in God’s own image: “male and female, God created them” (Genesis 1:26). We also have a spectrum for sex and gender on which each of us lives out our lives. But wherever we find ourselves on this spectrum, it is the entire spectrum that bears the image of the divine. We all bear that divine image. As the Jewish tradition states, “Before each person there goes an angel proclaiming ‘Behold the image of God.’”
In this spirit, a dear friend of mine, Daneen Akers just published a new children’s book Dear Mama God. You can find out more at https://www.watchfire.org/dearmamagod.
After two millennia of exclusively gendering God as male, we don’t get to jump immediately to God being gender-less. We need to spend some time sitting with images of God in all genders. We need an imagining of the divine that is large enough to embrace all gender identities and expressions.
The closest I will ever come to God in this life, is you, my fellow human. How I treat you matters. How you treat me matters. If we would keep this thought close in our relating and in how we shape our world politically, socially, and economically, what a difference this single thought might make.
This leads quite naturally to the final point we encounter in this week’s reading. Those who follow Jesus will do as Jesus did. If every person bears the image of God, if every person has intrinsic worth and value, this must impact how we relate to them. Jesus models this in the gospel stories. When Jesus encounters an image-of-God-bearer under the weight of oppression, injustice, or suffering, he sets out to bring them life, healing, liberation, and change. He does this personally for the people in the stories, and he also does so by challenging the systems in his society doing those people harm.
This speaks volumes to me in our context today, as we consider what it means to be a Jesus follower, to do the works of Jesus. The work this sets before each of us is the work modeled by our Jesus: the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone, a world big enough not only to house many rooms but also to celebrate all of our many differences. This is the work I want to be about.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. What does gendering God as Mother change for you as a Jesus follower? Share 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.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at 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.
*Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?
Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice. Free Sign-Up HERE
Fulness of Life for Everyone
This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube
New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!
Season 1, Episode 11: John 10:1-10. Lectionary A, Easter 4
Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it.
You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/7Smif6b6Q_w
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment
Thanks in advance for watching!
Herb Montgomery | April 28, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
“How, then, do the ethics and values we encounter in the Jesus story inspire us to shape our present world into a just and safe home for all? It is important to remember that this abundant living doesn’t come at the cost of death for others. This kind of life isn’t “life” for any of us unless it is life for us all.”
Our reading this week is from the gospel of John.
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:1-10*)
The language we encounter in this week’s reading, about shepherds, sheep, sheep pens, and gates, had a context in the Jewish scriptures. Let’s look at two examples as a foundation for our discussion this week.
“I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken. ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.’” (Ezekiel 34:23-31)
What jumps out to me is the deeply political, concrete and material role the shepherd plays as a conduit of liberation and the means of governing and protecting the nation. The shepherd was not a private, individual, or spiritual image in the Jewish tradition as it has become in the Christian tradition.
We find the same in Micah:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. (Micah 5:2-5)
So how did the Jesus community come to spiritualize the image of the shepherd? In the gospel of John, whenever we bump into pejorative characterizations of the Pharisees, we are witnessing tensions and disagreements between the proto-Gnostic Johannine community and the Pharisees who were their contemporaries. The Pharisees later evolved into Rabbinic Judaism, while many of the narrative elements and themes in the gospel of John evolved into early Gnostic Christianity. Just as orthodox Christianity characterized Gnostic Christianity as heretical, Rabbinic Judaism opposed Jewish Gnosticism. In John’s gospel we see an early form of those tensions.
Our reading this week is unique for the canonical gospels. It symbolizes Jesus as a “sheep gate” through which legitimate shepherds would have led people to knowledge (gnosis). For the Johannine community, Jesus is the gate through which Johannine followers of Jesus, not Pharisees, will lead people into the gnosis/knowledge that would in turn usher them into life.
That is the theme of our reading. The Johannine community’s unique version of Jesus is the measure shepherds can be judged against: if one has the best interests of the sheep in mind, they are a shepherd; if they only have their own gain as their chief motive, they are a thief. Thieves “come only to steal, kill and destroy,” while Jesus has come to give life to the full.
As I’ve said before, this is an unfair and inaccurate characterization of the Pharisees. It’s just not true that the Pharisees were “thieves,” only motivated by killing, thieving and destroying. (Read Jesus the Pharisee: A New Look at the Jewishness of Jesus by Harvey Falk for a nuanced discussion of Jesus’ Jewish roots.)
The Pharisees’ characterization in this week’s reading is the product of the antisemitism that had become full-blown in Christianity by the time John was written. This gospel has inspired much harm to our Jewish friends and neighbors. Christians can and must do better today.
What I love about this passage, and where I agree with the Johannine community about Jesus, is that Jesus came to show us the path to life and life abundant, not just surviving, but thriving. I also add: he didn’t just come to show the way to a full, ethereal afterlife. He came to show us life in the here and now, especially for those whom the present systems of our society push to the margins and undersides of our communities.
This Easter season, I’ve been finding a lot of life in the works of Delores Williams. Jesus coming to give us life and life more abundant brings to mind one of my favorite passages from Williams:
“It seems more intelligent and more scriptural to understand that redemption had to do with God, through Jesus, giving humankind new vision to see the resources for positive, abundant relational life. Redemption had to do with God, through the ministerial vision, giving humankind the ethical thought and practice upon which to build positive, productive quality of life. Hence, the kingdom of God theme in the ministerial vision of Jesus does not point to death; it is not something one has to die to reach. Rather, the kingdom of God is a metaphor of hope God gives those attempting to right the relations between self and self, between self and others, between self and God as prescribed in the sermon on the mount, in the golden rule and in the commandment to show love above all else.” (Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, pp. 130-131)
This is a gospel, not about life after death, but abundant life in the here and now. It’s about shaping a re-iteration of our present world. As Elisabeth Fiorenza writes in In Memory of Her A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins (RHM’s recommended reading for April):
“This gospel of the basileia [the kingdom] envisioned an alternative world free of hunger, poverty, and domination.” (p. 63)
The picture of Jesus we usually get in the gospels is of a Jesus coming to give us life now, here, today. How, then, do the ethics and values we encounter in the Jesus story inspire us to shape our present world into a just and safe home for all? It is important to remember that this abundant living doesn’t come at the cost of death for others. This kind of life isn’t “life” for any of us unless it is life for us all.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. How do the ethics and values we encounter in the Jesus story inspire us to shape our present world into a just and safe home for all? Share 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.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at 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.
*Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?
Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice. Free Sign-Up HERE
Resurrection as the Good News
This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube
New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!
Season 1, Episode 10: Luke 24:13-35. Lectionary A, Easter 3
Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it.
You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/9W7UpdIG2P4
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment
Thanks in advance for watching!
Herb Montgomery | April 21, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
If you find more life-giving value in the teachings of Jesus, teachings that the resurrection testifies to, I want to encourage you this week: you are not alone. Many who live in or stand in solidarity with oppressed communities have seen how destructive traditional explanations of Jesus’ death have been and can be.
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had see`n a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:13-35*)
For the early Jesus followers, the good news was not that Jesus had died, or that Jesus had died for them, but that their Jesus, whom the Romans crucified, was alive! All that had been accomplished through the death of Jesus had been reversed, overcome, and undone. Jesus’ murder on the state’s cross had been intended to stop his life-saving work, but his resurrection transformed it into a mere interruption. The resurrection caused his saving work to live on, especially in the lives of his followers as they lived and shared what their Jesus taught.
I feel so strongly about this point. Much harm has been done in Christianity by focusing on Jesus’ death in other ways. I often refer to the essay For God So Loved the World? by Joanne Carlson Brown and Rebecca Parker, which explains some of the issues. As I’ve shared before, it is Jesus’ teachings that the early followers found to be intrinsically life-giving. That is the good news in the book of Acts: He whom “they” had killed, “God” had brought back to life.
“With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33)
“You crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2:22-24)
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.” (Acts 2:32-33)
“You handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, but God raised from the dead.” (Acts 3:12-16)
“. . . Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. (Acts 4:10-11)
“The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” (Acts 5:30-32)
“They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day.” (Acts 10:36-43)
“Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead . . . And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus.” (Acts 13:35-38)
If you find more life-giving value in the teachings of Jesus, teachings that the resurrection testifies to, I want to encourage you this week: you are not alone. Many who live in or stand in solidarity with oppressed communities have seen how destructive traditional explanations of Jesus’ death have been and can be (see What if Crucifixion Is Not Salvific? by Miguel A. De La Torre).
This week, in the spirit of those in our lectionary reading for whom the good news was that Jesus was alive, I want to share a small collection of encouraging quotations from other theologians who have deeply encouraged for me, and who have come to your same conclusion.
Kelly Brown Douglass gets us started:
“Jesus takes on evil. He takes on and defeats . . . not granting the power of death any authority over him . . . he does not respond in kind, by adopting the methods of this power. The final triumph over the death of the cross is the resurrection of Jesus . . . The resurrection is God’s definitive victory over the crucifying powers of evil . . . The cross represents the power that denigrates human bodies, destroys life, and preys on the most vulnerable in society. As the cross is defeated, so too is that power [defeated] by life-giving rather than a life-negating force . . . That is, it is not the power that diminishes the life of another so that others might live. God’s power respects the integrity of all human bodies and the sanctity of all life. This is a resurrecting power . . . God’s power never expresses itself through humiliation or denigration of another. It does not triumph over life. It conquers death by resurrecting life . . . If indeed the power of life that God stands for is greater than the power of death, this must be manifest in the way God triumphs over death-dealing powers. The freedom of God that is life requires a liberation from the very weapons utilized by a culture of death. In other words, these weapons cannot become divine weapons . . . The culmination of this liberation is Jesus’ resurrection.” (Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, p. 181-182)
Next is from Delores Williams:
“It seems more intelligent and more scriptural to understand that redemption had to do with God, through Jesus, giving humankind new vision to see the resources for positive, abundant relational life. Redemption had to do with God, through the ministerial vision, giving humankind the ethical thought and practice upon which to build positive, productive quality of life. Hence, the kingdom of God theme in the ministerial vision of Jesus does not point to death; it is not something one has to die to reach. Rather, the kingdom of God is a metaphor of hope God gives those attempting to right the relations between self and self, between self and others, between self and God as prescribed in the sermon on the mount, in the golden rule and in the commandment to show love above all else. (Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, pp. 130-131)
Lastly is a passage from Joanne Carlson Brown and Rebecca Parker:
“Suffering is never redemptive, and suffering cannot be redeemed. The cross is a sign of tragedy. God’s grief is revealed there and everywhere and every time life is thwarted by violence. God’s grief is as ultimate as God’s love. Every tragedy eternally remains and is eternally mourned. Eternally the murdered scream, Betrayal. Eternally God sings kaddish for the world. To be a Christian means keeping faith with those who have heard and lived God’s call for justice, radical love, and liberation; who have challenged unjust systems both political and ecclesiastical; and who in that struggle have refused to be victims and have refused to cower under the threat of violence, suffering, and death. Fullness of life is attained in moments of decision for such faithfulness and integrity. When the threat of death is refused and the choice is made for justice, radical love, and liberation, the power of death is overthrown. Resurrection is radical courage. Resurrection means that death is overcome in those precise instances when human beings choose life, refusing the threat of death. Jesus climbed out of the grave in the Garden of Gethsemane when he refused to abandon his commitment to the truth even though his enemies threatened him with death. On Good Friday, the Resurrected One was Crucified” (In For God So Loved the World?)
Maybe there are so many atonement theories that fail to adequately explain how Jesus death saves because it doesn’t save. Maybe our questions as to how Jesus’ death saves go unanswered because we are asking the wrong question. I, like the scholars mentioned above, find much more life in focusing on the intrinsic, saving value of the teachings of Jesus. For me, this intrinsic salvific value is life-giving good news.
The resurrection story elements in the gospels tell me that violence, bigotry, misogyny, patriarchy, racism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, classism, authoritarianism, environmental destruction, and a host of other injustices in our world today don’t have to have the last word. They may interrupt our work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for all, but if we keep at it, they will just be interruptions. Love can transform hate. Elements of our communities and societies that are death-dealing can be undone by our choosing things that are life-giving. Death and injustice don’t have to have the last word.
For me, in the wake of Easter, this is much needed good news.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. How is the resurrection good news for you? Share 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.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at 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.
*Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
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To Loose or Bind, To Forgive or not Forgive
This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube
New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!
Season 1, Episode 9: John 20:19-31. Lectionary A, Easter 2.
Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it.
You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/MPmQ-4vgtpQ
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment
Thanks in advance for watching!
Herb Montgomery | April 14, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
“Forgiveness can be life-giving or death-dealing. Not forgiving, can be death-dealing or life-giving, too. I’m thinking of restorative justice practices where not forgiving a wrong, but the practice of having restitution made is more life-giving. Loosing can be life-giving or death-dealing. Lastly, binding can be life-giving or death-dealing. It is the job of each of us to practice informed wisdom that finds the most life-giving practice for the situations we find ourselves in.”
Our reading this week is from the book of John.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)
The first thing to consider as we read this week’s passage is that this is a commission story about the disciples. Mark’s gospel originally had no story where the disciples were commissioned: the last half of Mark 16 is a much later addition.
Matthew’s commission story is found in Matthew 28:18-20:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go [beginning in Galilee] and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Luke’s and Acts’ commission stories can be found in Luke 24:47-48 and Acts 1:8.
“And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Each of these commission stories are separate. They are not three different versions of the same story with minor differences; they are three completely different stories in different settings, each told for the distinct purposes of the communities they were written for.
Our reading this week is a disciple-commissioning story that was told in the Johannine community before John 21, a redundant and later addition written by other authors.
Another thing to name about John’s narratives is that, once again, the gospel takes an anti-Jewish approach. In our story this week, the disciples are in hiding in fear of the Jewish leaders. In our current political anti-Semitic climate, our first priority as Jesus followers should be to do no harm to our Jewish friends and neighbors. In the other gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke, the tension between the narrative and Jesus’ Jewish society is much more a matter of class than ethnicity. It is, to begin with, an in-house debate within Judaism, between Jews.
But by the time of the much-later-written gospel of John, conflicts are characterized much more as the early Christian community versus “the Jews.” This characterization of Jewish people in John’s gospel has repeatedly inspired Christians to harm the Jewish community throughout history, including during the Holocaust.
Every time our sacred writings speak in ways that have harmed people or communities, it is important that we name, repent of, and seek to repair that harm. This responsibility definitely applies to Christians and our Jewish neighbors. Many Christians still mislabel and mischaracterize Jewish people today. Yet the reality is that our Jesus was Jewish and raised in the Jewish wisdom tradition. We, as Jesus followers, could learn a lot from that Jewish wisdom. We don’t have to demonize Jewish people or Jewish wisdom to lift up Jesus today. Jewish people are not our enemy.
In our story this week, Jesus “breathes” the Spirit on the disciples. This description may be seem odd to us today, but it would have been meaningful in the Johannine community, and it became especially meaningful for later Christian Gnostic communities.
Out of Jesus’ breathing of the spirit, the disciples gain the ability to “loose” or “bind,” the ability to forgive or not forgive.
Matthew describes this ability being commissioned to the disciples with some similar language:
“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.” (Matthew 16:19)
“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.” (Matthew 18;18)
We can read the version in John’s gospel prescriptive or descriptively.
A prescriptive read means that Jesus is giving the prerogative to forgive some things and not forgive other things to the church. Historically, especially in the Western Christian tradition, this reading has placed too much power in the hands of religious authorities. To put fallible humans in a position where they can claim to administer or withhold divine forgiveness within a religious community has come with mixed results. Some have found nourishment in the idea that the Church actually does have spiritual authority and can speak into the material world and among Christians for justice in a way that helps re-order this world in meaningful and practical ways. The Church’s binding and loosing capacity is nourishing to them. And this has been abused, too, resulting in some problematic and destructive consequences. Marginalized communities have both been harmed and helped within church history here, and so we must tread carefully. Religious people, of all faiths, have a clear moral responsibility and role to play in shaping our world into a safe home for all. Forgiveness can be life-giving or death-dealing. Not forgiving, can be death-dealing or life-giving, too. I’m thinking of restorative justice practices where not forgiving a wrong, but the practice of having restitution made is more life-giving. Loosing can be life-giving or death-dealing. Lastly, binding can be life-giving or death-dealing. It is the job of each of us to practice informed wisdom that finds the most life-giving practice for the situations we find ourselves in.
Looking at this phrase descriptively should also give us pause. If Jesus is just describing what these disciples who will tell the initial Jesus story will mean for others, and why it is so important for them to get that story right, then this passage makes more sense for me but doesn’t feel much better. There are Christians today who are still binding and loosing, forgiving and not forgiving. Sometimes they represent a God of love in life-giving ways, and at other times they represent God in very death-dealing ways.
As just one example, many Christians still harmfully interpret the handful of passages in the Bible that have been used against LGBTQ people. Countless LGBTQ young people have been raised in Christian homes, taught to be ashamed and scared of what they’re encouraged to believe is “wrong” with them. They come to believe they are sinful, broken, or have an orientation that is a by-product of sin rather than an example of the beautiful diversity and variation of humanity. Christians have bound these youth with feelings of inferiority and the fear of rejection if they share their truth with their families. Parents, too, are still encouraged and even commanded to reject their children simply because of whom they are attracted to or love.
Whether I like it or not, whether I am comfortable with it or not, the power to loose or bind, to make someone feel forgiven or not forgiven, accepted or rejected, included or marginalized, is intrinsically in the hands of every Jesus follower. How we take on the name of Jesus and how we represent Jesus and relate to the people around us matters. It matters whether we are Jesus followers or not, but it matters even more when we are. This should give us pause and inspire us to use gentle care when relating to everyone. We will make mistakes, for sure, but when we do err, we should be erring on the side of compassion.
This week’s reading is also a good reminder that all theology has political, economic, and social functions. As we assess any particular theology, it’s helpful to understand the political, economic and social implications that rise from it and to also know that all theologies come with underlying biases and motives at work. Some motives are more obvious, and others less so. Regardless, all theologies are political, with economic implications and social outcomes.
The last part of our reading this week is about Thomas. The scholarly evidence points to this story being a late tradition to the text. Thomas’ reference to Jesus as God is also unique in the four canonical gospels. No other disciple refers to Jesus as “God” in any of the gospel narratives. This story therefore serves to establish the authority of Thomas for the Christian communities that grew up around his apostleship. That authority would have been important for later Gnostic Christians and others reading the gospel of Thomas.
This week, let’s take this week’s passage as our guide and choose to relate to others in ways that are liberating, not oppressive, loosing and binding. Let’s follow Jesus in whatever way is life-giving for the given moment and situation. And remember, that when we claim to follow Jesus, for better or for worse, we will be viewed as representing that Jesus and we can in those moments hold in our hands life or death. Let’s be sources of healing, and life, and justice and inclusion.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. In what ways have you experienced the above authority in our reading practiced in life-giving ways? In what ways has it been destructive? Share 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.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at 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.
* Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?
Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice. Free Sign-Up HERE
Resurrection and Listening to Those on the Margins
New Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube
New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!
Season 1, Episode 8: John 20.1-18. Lectionary A, Resurrection of the Lord
Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it.
You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/a0iHvj6_PYM
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment
Thanks in advance for watching!
Herb Montgomery | April 7, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
Change begins from the margins of our society inward, from the grassroots up. And in our reading this week, change begins in an empty tomb after a Roman cross, with a woman named Mary daring to hope again, and a Jesus mistaken for a gardener, planting in the hearts of his early followers the seeds of his vision for a world that is a safe, compassionate and just home for everyone.
Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18*)
This weekend for many Western Christians is Easter, a celebration memorializing the resurrection.
Before we jump into this week’s reading from John, I want to remind us that for many early Christians, the good news was not that Jesus had died—especially not that he had died for them or to pay for their sins—but that Jesus, whom the Romans crucified, God had brought back to life. The good news was that Jesus was alive, and all that was accomplished through Jesus death was reversed, undone, and overcome in the resurrection.
I’ll cite the book of Acts here. Nowhere does the book of Acts define the good news of the gospel as Jesus dying. Rather, the good news in the book of Acts is that the crucified Jesus has been brought back to life. He is alive!
“With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33)
“You crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2:22-24)
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.” (Acts 2:32-33)
“You handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, but God raised from the dead.” (Acts 3:12-16)
“. . . Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. (Acts 4:10-11)
“The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” (Acts 5:30-32)
“They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day.” (Acts 10:36-43)
“Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead . . . And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus.” (Acts 13:35-38)
I resonate deeply with Delores S. Williams on this point. Speaking in the context of how Black women have experienced harm in their Christian communities through certain interpretations of Jesus’ death on the cross, Williams writes, “As Christians, Black women cannot forget the cross, but neither can they glorify it.” (in Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, p. 132)
Williams reminds us that Jesus didn’t come to die. He came to show us how to live.
“Matthew, Mark and Luke suggest that Jesus did not come to redeem humans by showing them God’s ‘love’ manifested in the death of God’s innocent child on a cross erected by cruel, imperialistic, patriarchal power. Rather, the texts suggest that the spirit of God in Jesus came to show humans life . . . The response to this invitation by human principalities and powers was the horrible deed the cross represents—the evil of humankind trying to kill the ministerial vision of life in relation that Jesus brought to humanity. The resurrection does not depend upon the cross for life, for the cross only represents historical evil trying to defeat good.” (In Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, p. 130)
Williams continues:
“It seems more intelligent and more scriptural to understand that redemption had to do with God, through Jesus, giving humankind new vision to see the resources for positive, abundant relational life. Redemption had to do with God, through the ministerial vision, giving humankind the ethical thought and practice upon which to build positive, productive quality of life. Hence, the kingdom of God theme in the ministerial vision of Jesus does not point to death; it is not something one has to die to reach. Rather, the kingdom of God is a metaphor of hope God gives those attempting to right the relations between self and self, between self and others, between self and God as prescribed in the sermon on the mount, in the golden rule and in the commandment to show love above all else. (Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, pp. 130-131)
Again the witness from the book of Acts:
“We bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus.” (Acts 13:32-33)
John, the book this week’s reading is from, was written when the Jesus movement, heavily influenced by the surrounding culture and social structures of certain communities, had been taken over by patriarchists. The early egalitarianism of the house churches was being pushed out by those who favored the more patriarchal structures of the surrounding civic organizations (see In Memory of Her: A Feminist Reconstruction of Christian Origins by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza). Interpretations and arguments that did not previously exist in the Jesus movement begin being seen in the early church. One famous example is the statement in 1 Timothy 2:11-14:
“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.”
This was a time when communities that recognized the apostleship of Peter and other male disciples began to be in conflict with communities that recognized the apostleship of Mary Magdalene and other women like Priscilla in the early church. The era of the patristic fathers was about to begin.
So it is interesting that in this same era, the gospel of John gives us this week’s story. Jesus could have showed up to either of the two male disciples referenced in the story, but instead he chooses to appear first to Mary. As has been often said, when she tells the other believers what she has heard and experienced, Mary becomes an apostle to the apostles. Patriarchists taught that woman, symbolized by Eve, was the first human to be deceived, but in John’s gospel, woman is the first human to believe in the risen Jesus. Mary is the new Eve.
This makes sense in terms of our journey so far through the gospel of John in the lectionary. The Johannine community had many Gnostic leanings. In later Gnostic communities, a person’s sex was a material matter, not spiritual. It was part of the concrete realm of their physical bodies. What mattered to these dualistic, binary communities was a person’s soul or spirit, regardless of whether their spirits lived in a physical body that was male or female. So these communities were much more egalitarian in practice than more orthodox, patriarchal Christian communities.
Though I reject the Gnostics’ belittling of our bodies and the concrete world, especially considering our dire need to reverse climate change and the very real, material injustices that some communities fight to survive and thrive in spite of every day, I appreciate the egalitarian practices that these early beliefs led to. I reject the Gnostic basis for those practices (i.e. the belief that the material world doesn’t matter), yet we, as contemporary Jesus followers, can still learn from some of those practices given the injustices women still face in our society today.
This week’s reading shows me a Jesus who choose to reveal himself first to Mary. Not to Peter, nor to John. It reminds me of the importance, especially in our current social context, of listening to women when they speak their truth. This Easter, let’s focus on the life-giving good news of love, justice, and their power to overcome, reverse, and undo the death-dealing things in our world. Let’s begin, like Jesus, with prioritizing the voices of women sharing the truth. Then, let’s not stop there! Let’s prioritize all the voices that our systems and practices push to the margins and undersides of our society.
Change begins from the margins of our society inward, from the grassroots up. And in our reading this week, change begins in an empty tomb after a Roman cross, with a woman named Mary daring to hope again, and a Jesus mistaken for a gardener, planting in the hearts of his early followers the seeds of his vision for a world that is a safe, compassionate and just home for everyone.
What is this story of Mary and Jesus saying to you this week?
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. Again, what is this story of Mary and Jesus saying to you this week? Share 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.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at 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.
* Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
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