Barnabas File

He asked her,   “Woman, why are you crying?   Who is it you are looking for?”   Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”   Jesus said to her,   “Mary.”    She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,   “Rabboni!”   (which means “Teacher”). -- John 20:15-16, NIV   Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.    He called out to them,   “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”    “No,” they answered.   He said,   “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”   When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.  T hen the disciple whom Jesus loved   said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  -- John 21:4-7a, NIV   John’s Gospel provides the reader with several post resurrection appearances of ...

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?” (Luke 24:30-32, NIV) The last chapter of Luke’s gospel has an interesting account that helps us to perceive God’s work among us in challenging times. It is the afternoon of Resurrection Day.  Two of the lesser known disciples (perhaps a married couple) have left the city in confusion and perhaps disillusionment.  While they are talking among themselves, a person overtakes them and joins in their conversation.  They pour out their disappointment and uncertainty to him.  They had hoped so much that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would redeem Israel, but now they don’t know and the events...

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.” --John 20:19-21, NIV Christ is risen, but Jesus’ appearance to his disciples on the Day of Resurrection may have raised more questions for them than providing answers.  John’s Gospel does go on to provide us with reports of “doubting” Thomas, a fishing trip, and the forgiveness of Peter.  Matthew’s account concludes with the moving and memorable Great Commission.  Likewise, Luke’s Gospel depicts the glorious ascension of Christ into heaven. The ending of Mark is a bit bizarre with its commands about...

Reading:  Acts 10:34-43 “We have inherited a large house, a great ‘world house’ in which we have to live together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Christian and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu—a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interest, who because we can never again live apart, must somehow learn to live with each other in peace.”—Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope A friend had recently seen the film Selma , depicting the civil rights marches in 1965, and asked me, “Where were you when this was going on?  Were you marching?”  No, actually, I was in my final semester at an all-white college in the South, preparing to get married, and about to receive a commission as an officer in the U. S. Army. To be honest, I was more concerned about being sent to Vietnam (which eventually happened) than in the marches led by Dr. King in my native state of Alabama. To be very clear, I was not hostile to equal righ...