Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Luke 9:54

Perhaps there is no greater malice in the human heart than revenge. James and John, who are known for their thunderous zealotry, would have those who did not welcome Jesus be consumed by the wrath of God. But Jesus rebukes them. Vengeance and acts of violence are not—and never can be—answers of hope for a fractured and hostile humanity.

Violence, of course, still scars our world. It swells in our spirits when anger and rage get ahold of us. We come to reject others and to find all kinds of justifications for this hatred. But Jesus, who has set his face to go to Jerusalem, is not going there to perpetrate violence. He is going there to take the biting jaws of all violence away. Even James and John will come to a new and better spirit—that love is for all others, even for one’s enemies.

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But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found. Luke 15:32

The parable of the prodigal son is all about relationships. The two brothers had a very distant relationship. Yet, as brothers, they really did share a lot in common. They are both prodigals—wasting the father’s gifts—one literally in a faraway land, the other right near the home, working

as a “slave” even though he didn’t have to. The younger son came to his senses and returned home to the father’s embrace and a restored relationship. The elder son kept his distance from both his brother and his father. His heart was in a faraway land.

Sometimes we put a lot of distance between us and the people we blame. Our hearts become cold, careless, hardened. We may even get jealous and envious, like the elder son. But the Father’s heart beats for all of his sons—and daughters. His heart beats with forgiveness and for

mending our relationships. Our Father is always closer to us than we realize and ever present to offer joyous mercy.

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Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Matthew 7:3

Blaming never starts by pointing the finger at ourselves. We see the thing that others do as wrong, and we are quick to pounce on it. But we never take the time to reflect, let alone confess, how our own wrongs and failings are only magnified in this moment of blame. Ultimately, we may even

come to laying blame at God’s doorstep: “It’s all your fault!” That’s where Adam and Eve finally sought an answer to their own transgression.

Jesus’ ultimate counter to this is not simply to note, justly, the hypocrisy of those who seek to fault others. It ultimately comes to an end by God taking the blame to the cross. The hands, feet and side will be pierced, and the thorns of his crown make their way into his skull. But there will be no faulting in his voice, and his blood will be for us and for all the end of all faults.

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Unless I see the mark of the nails … I will not believe. John 20:25

It had been a week. Thomas was not with the disciples the first night of Easter. Where was he? Seeking an isolated shelter, away from the community of those whom Jesus had called?

More importantly, where was he now? When the others told him, “We have seen the Lord,” Thomas is unfazed and unmoved. He wants to examine the evidence himself with his own eyes and his own hands. Do his own doubts lead us to doubt also, to close the doors of our hearts

again?

We all have doubts. Our faith and our trust can waver and even fail us. But Jesus will still be there for us, seeing us with loving eyes even when we have gone astray, waiting for us with open arms. And as we come to trust him again, we hear his word of “peace,” and he gives us his scars from the cross as our very own to trust that no scars can keep the doors of our hearts closed forever.

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We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Luke 24:21

On the day of Easter, two companions are making a journey away from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. It is a sad journey, evidenced in the tone of their thoughts and conversation. They spoke of the things that had taken place in these days. But it is all framed in despair: “we had

hoped….” They did not hope now, now that Jesus was dead. All of this is brought into the light of day by the Stranger who walks with them.

Sometimes we, too, are caught in the sad stories in our reflection of the things that have happened. We may want to move away from them, but the sadness and despair are constant companions. And we may fail to see or to admit how deeply we are affected by it all. But we do not

make our journeys alone. The Stranger, who hears the story of our lives, joins our lives with his. And when our hearts are burning with his promise, we go back to share the joy.

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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46

The worst nightmare to a young child is being abandoned by his or her parents. It can also be a burden to those whose parents or partner have died or left them later in life. It can be a significant burden for those who have been shut out, shut up behind prison doors or shut in to nursing

homes. Being abandoned is never pleasant. We may try to put up a stiff upper lip, but the nagging despair of forsakenness is still with us in our minds, hearts and bodies.

Jesus faced the harshest scar when he was dying on the cross. He had already been abandoned by those who wanted him crucified. He had already been betrayed and abandoned by his disciples. But now he was abandoned by his Father, the very One whose mission he was

seeking to fulfill. There was no answer from the heavens. But one thing was certain. Jesus was and is still with all of us in every moment of time when we are abandoned—even when the truth of our abandonment is exposed. But as people of the promise, we also know that this will not

be the last word.

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for fear of the Jews … John 20:19

We like to put names on the things we fear. We like to blame them for our troubles. We might even make expressions under our breath or out loud that are insensitive to the race, gender, orientation or views of others. We’ve never really taken the time to get to know them. We may even be going

along with the crowd, like those who cried out for our Lord’s crucifixion. And worst of all, we may even think we are justified in being this way.

But we aren’t. We are just dwelling in fear. And the truth is, we may have something truly more fearful that we have never really entertained—the fear of death, even death deserved for all our sins, and for the people we have hurt in thought, word and deed. That would be finally frightful were it not for the word that Jesus speaks: “Peace be with you.” Then he shows his scars to free us from the scars of all our fears and death itself.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,