Eastern Christian Insights

Luke 15:11-32           The themes of exile and return are prominent throughout the entire narrative of the Bible.  Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise.  The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt until Moses led them back to the Promised Land.  The kingdoms of Israel and Judah went into exile in Assyria and Babylon, respectively, with only Judah returning home.  The Jews endured a kind of exile when…

2 Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14             One of the greatest challenges that we all face is to learn to see ourselves, our neighbors, and our world truthfully and clearly.  Typically, we do not.  Our first parents were cast out of Paradise due to their prideful choice to satisfy their own desires instead of fulfilling their calling to become like God in holiness.  We have all followed them in seeing the good things…

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; Matthew 15:21-28           When we think of what it means to become holy, many things probably come to mind that have more to do with our culture, comfort, and customs than with true righteousness.  Even as there is a strong temptation to try to make God in our own image, we are inclined to understand what it means to share in His life according to…

Luke 19:1-10           What does true repentance look like?  The story of Zacchaeus stands as a very clear answer to that question.  As a Jew who had become rich collecting taxes for the Romans from his own people, Zacchaeus was both a professional traitor and a thief who collected more than was required in order to live in luxury. No one in that time and place would have…

Ephesians 4:7-13; Matthew 4:12-17           In this season we celebrate the great feast of Theophany, of Christ’s baptism when the voice of the Father identified Him as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Epiphany reveals that the Savior Who appears from the waters of the Jordan to illumine our world of darkness is the God-Man, a Person…