The interesting blog 5871

Lead Story · OCT 2

78. Jesus and the Paralytic: Healing and Faith

There are Bible stories that stay on the surface, as inspiring messages that float above everyday life. And then there are stories that feel like they belong in the same room as your worries, your failures, your slow progress, and your stubborn hope. The account of Jesus healing the paralytic does the second thing. It does not only say that God can heal bodies. It shows what faith looks like when the usual options fail, and it shows how healing connects to forgiveness, sham

Continued inside

Read the full column

Analysis · OCT 2

51. The Temptation of Jesus: Strength for Trials

There is a moment in the Gospels that feels less like drama and more like preparation. Jesus is led into the wilderness, hunger sets in, and then the testing begins. The temptation narrative is often read as a story about denying bad ideas. That is true, but it misses something I have come to value more over time: Jesus meets trial with strength that is already shaped, already practiced, already rooted. When people talk about “strength for trials,” they sometimes mean wi

Dispatch · OCT 2

75. Jesus’ Touch for the Afflicted

There is a kind of quiet that falls over a room when people realize something is wrong but can’t yet say what, not precisely. A cough that won’t settle. A limp that wasn’t there yesterday. A fear that sits behind the eyes and refuses to move. In those moments, the details matter. Who speaks first. Who helps someone stand. Whether the people closest by treat the afflicted person like a burden or like a person. That is part of why the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ touch land s

Also in the edition

63. Jesus and the Great Commission

The phrase “the Great Commission” is familiar in Christian circles, but the way people talk about it can sometimes flatten it into a slogan. Read carefully through the Gospels and Acts, and you can feel something more demanding and more human underneath. Jesus sends people out, yes, but he also forms them first. He gives instructions, but he also creates a life of ongoing obedience. The mission is not only a task at the edge of the church calendar. It’s the shape of discipl

OCT 2