Today, at the end of our Easter season, we hear two very different accounts of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles gives us the full Hollywood treatment, with rushing wind and fire and miraculous speech. This parallels the beginning of his Gospel where he has […]
As we come toward the end of our Easter season, the final Sunday before Pentecost we celebrate the Ascension – we remember the occasion on which Jesus finally left this earth and ascended to heaven. Or do we? Is that really the point of the Ascension? All those paintings of Jesus drifting up through the
We have many relationships in our lives – with family, friends, colleagues at work; and with maybe a hairdresser, a tax preparer, a doctor. Most of us I suspect don’t have a close or ongoing relationship with a lawyer, certainly not the type that represents you in court. The sort of relationship with an advocate
(This week is a little more technical than previously. I hope you still find it helpful.) In John’s gospel, his account of events after the Resurrection is very brief. He includes the empty tomb and the meeting with Mary Magdalene, a very brief account of the coming of the Holy Spirit (with none of the
The disciples received the Holy Spirit and started their new life with the Risen Lord. And how did they behave? One might expect them to keep their heads down and avoid getting into trouble. That’s certainly what they’d been doing up until then. But in fact they immediately went out and started speaking out with