Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
Any casual reader should be able easily to see the extensive differences between the four gospels’ reports about the empty tomb on Easter, even though we hardly ever hear preachers address them. They disagree about both who was there and what was said. But let’s skip these obvious differences. Too often we focus on them […]
John’s take on the Cross presents a demanding challenge for us all. Mark and Matthew have everyone mock Jesus from beginning to end. Jesus refuses the wine with myrrh designed to lessen his pain. Jesus cries only one thing, “My God why have you forsaken me?” and dies with a loud shout. Luke pictures Jesus […]
John’s Passion primarily involves two long conversations, one at the Last the Supper (14-18) and the second in Pilate’s chambers (18:28-19:16). Together these make up 6 of his 21 chapters. Obviously, they are important. The first begins with Jesus’ proclaiming, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”; the second ends with Pilate asking, […]
It’s easy to see John is talking about meaning rather than events. He moves from the raising of Lazarus to Palm Sunday to Holy Thursday skipping all the events recorded by the other gospels. Then he spends almost a fifth of his book with conversation at the Last Supper. He gives us a clue to […]
You can read John 11: 1-44 as the report of Jesus restoring life to his friend, Lazarus. If you do, you must answer some disturbing questions. What kind of friend delays rushing to heal in order to show off his power? Why do the sisters engage in strange confessions about raising the dead at the […]
If John’s unique version of the Love Command is to do as he does (Love one another as I have loved you), then what seems to be a gospel explaining who Jesus is becomes a guide to what we should be doing. What some read as obnoxious egotism becomes radical challenge. John 10: 1-21 That […]
So many people have asked about Bob Nordvall, I decided to post the letter and poem he asked to be opened at his death and read at his funeral. Once again he causes us to ponder our life and faith. Bob was the captain of the national champion debate team in college, a Harvard lawyer, […]
I am ready to complete the course on John. I plan to handle it a little differently. In one of my face-to-face classes a family doctor said it was evident to him that John was tackling the questions the early church asked. Would that more pastors did that! So I decided to write the lessons […]
John 9 uses the healing of a blind man to support Jesus’ proclamation, “I am the Light of the World.” Its treatment makes clear we are talking about more than restoring sight to eyes, so we can sense and sort out the physical world around us. Healing, also, involves social, mental, and spiritual repair. If […]
John 7 and 8 picture Jesus constantly on the run, constantly hiding; as just about every group in his society, beginning with his own family, challenges his authority or even attempts to arrest and kill him. Then in the midst of all this, Jesus promises, “The truth shall make you free!” This is certainly a […]
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