Jason Locke's Blog

This week's text (Luke 19:28-40) tells the story of Jesus' "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem. But just what does this mean to us as informed readers of Luke's gospel? While Jesus claims the messianic mantle, he also redefines it. Luke is clearly working an angle here. He’s got a tale to tell, a sermon to preach, a message to get across. Do we have ears to hear it? Can we come to know Jesus through this text? Throughout Luke's two-volume set (Luke-Acts), we detect some important patterns. Geography is one important thread: toward Jerusalem in Luke and away from Jerusalem in Acts. Luke's writing also appears to address the politics of the day. By politics, I mean Luke takes care to demonstrate that the way of Jesus & his followers is not a direct threat to Roman rule. The Ephesian town clerk's speech in Acts 19 is one strong example of this. Jesus is certainly a king, Luke asserts, but not in the same way that Caesar is a king. They don...

It's not easy to follow Jesus in a Kesha and Kanye world. Fame is the desired destination for many people, and self-promotion is the clear path to get there. How can you find the path of Jesus in a world filled with so many other roads? Christians are supposed to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. But too many people—even many so-called Christians—sadly know little to nothing about Jesus. They may like their own caricatures of Jesus: homie Jesus, homeboy Jesus, gangster Jesus, hipster Jesus or buddy Jesus on a dashboard bobble-head.  For these folks, following Jesus amounts to little more than believing in a fairy godmother or guardian angel who wants them to be happy. And therein lies the crux of the problem. Too many folks think Jesus is all about their personal happiness. Their fascination with Jesus is not actually about Jesus. It’s in fact a sign of self-absorption or of a desire for personal fame, glory and importance. Clearly, these folks have not paid caref...

How well do you know Jesus? It's an ongoing quest to understand who Jesus really was. Throughout the centuries, Christians have grappled with the person of Jesus. How do we come to know him? Do we look inside our hearts? Do we search the pages of scripture? Do we look for him in the words & actions of others? Who was the real Jesus and how do we know him? Some have wondered aloud if the Jesus of faith and the Jesus of the Bible are one and the same. Perhaps the Bible, they say, has irreparably distorted the true picture of Jesus. Marcus Borg was a brilliant scholar. Before his premature death, he wrote prolifically for a large audience of scholars and Christians. Borg "re-imagined" Jesus for his readers. He in essence claimed that the Bible is a poor place to know Jesus without guidance from folks like him. The true Jesus, he said, is hidden behind the ancient texts which are warped and must be carefully sifted through. In his book Preaching from Memo...