An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

"After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him." (from Mark 15:1-47 ) As I reflect on the story of Jesus’ torment, suffering and crucifixion, similar stories come to my mind. Stories such as George Floyd, Breyonna Taylor, school shootings by students, and NYC subway incidents. On the one hand, I think there’s nothing outstanding about Jesus’ torment, suffering and crucifixion.  The Roman government crucified lots of people because of betrayal, arrest under false charges, abandonment, physical abuse, and mob “justice". The world in Jesus’ day experienced profound cruelty from the elite and those with governmental power able to manipulate the legal system for their corrupt interests. On the other hand, Jesus’ trial and crucifixion was an apocalyptic event, a revelation. The disciples understood Jesus as the Messiah when the Centurion said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”  The first chapter is...

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ( from  John 12:20-32 ) During Fellowship Time, I try talking to new folks asking why they chose to attend our church. Many have chosen to attend because they have just moved into the area, were seeking a church, and experienced us as a friendly church. Some, after experiencing a traumatic event, are seeking Jesus. One person, sharing the event using limited language, spoke of feeling clueless, not having money, and poor at conversation. The person was seeking Jesus with a troubled soul needing comfort and hope. The Greeks are seeking Jesus, but the Scripture doesn’t tell, and we don’t know, their expectations In searching the Scriptures, John 7:35-36 suggests the seekers aren’t Greeks, rather Jews dispersed among Greeks freed the Babylonian exile and heading to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. The “Greeks...

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” (from John 3:14-21 ) The most familiar Bible passage is John 3:16, “for God so love the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. The idea is that God gave Jesus to earth to save it with love by sacrificing his body on the cross saving those who believed in him.   This raises questions: What does it mean to believe in?  Did Jesus need to come into the world because of sin? What kind of sin then?   As I search the scriptures to discover God’s work through Jesus according to John, I need to constantly go back to John’s main theology: there is light and there is darkness and followers of Jesus are called to live in the light. So, I begin with verse 19: This is the...

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (from John 2:13-22 ) One morning I received a phone call saying, “Rev. Cooper, this is the Fire Chief informing you of a structure fire on 226 Main St”. That meant the church was on fire. At the church I found fire engines, anguished church members, and smoke rising from the education wing.  That evening we held a service praying for guidance with the coming trials of damage repair and continuing ministries. One unspoken, heart-felt prayer was, “Jesus, where are you in this tragedy?” When I long for answers, I begin searching the Scriptures, not merely for a verse here or there, but a story or event.  The Gospel states John’s mission is to witness to testify to the light, shining in the darkness which did not overcome it so all might believe through him. The bigger picture here is the 46 years of rebuilding the Second Jerusalem ...