Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
In John 3, Nicodemus, a teacher of Hebrew law, comes under cover of night to have a discussion with Jesus. He leaves baffled by Jesus’ words about being “born again,” failing to perceive the deep spiritual meaning. But that is not the end of the story. In 7:50-51, John pictures Jesus reminding his friends, who […]
In last week’s comments Bob asks the important question about how we should read the differences in the four gospels. Derek responds with his usual critical insights. You can read what they said and contribute your ideas on the site or in my next “Just in Case” email. Let me make a contribution by examining […]
Throughout his book, John proclaims the Gospel is a love story that features the Word, a rational or spiritual principle, becoming human in order to woo his people. What was once an intellectual concept is now a human life. That means we come to God not through a mental process, but a personal experience. Jesus […]
What does John mean when he writes, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth…From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came […]
What is John up to? Seems to me he is tackling perhaps the most difficult problem of Christianity: how to explain what it means to proclaim a human being is God. There is no way you can convey how he does this inside the limitations of an electronic blog, so what I’ll offer is theological […]
As soon as you start reading John’s Gospel, you know you are into something very different. Mark starts with a carpenter having a religious experience and leaving his business and family; Matthew with foreign scholars worshiping an infant the Jewish king is trying to kill; Luke with shepherds of the third shift visiting a son […]
Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, “The Sower and the Setting Sun” played a very special role in my ministry. The artist wrote frequently that it was his first effort to use extravagant, bold, contrasting color to express emotion. You can almost feel the heat of the sun beating out from the canvas. You experience the exhaustion […]
This is a very special day for me. In November 1999, I began to feel ill in the middle of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In four days, I had heart bypass surgery. For the first time in my life, I faced the reality of my own death. After two months recovery I returned to work on […]
Why did Jesus heal the deaf man? What went through his mind when people brought this broken soul to him? Mark indicates he was inconvenienced; not prepared for this intrusion, but he sighed deeply, took him away from the crowds and healed him, with the admonition at least to keep it quiet. What did that […]
Behave as if you believe. Part of me wants this very much, because it is the way to the fullness of God. But another part resists. “Behave as if you believe” are very dangerous words. They remind me Tennessee Williams’ wonderful play, “Camino Real” where Gutman, a portly man in a white suit, panics when […]
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