Posts from February 2026

Introduction As we continue our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we turn from a field to a dinner table. A host has prepared a large feast and invited many people. When the time comes, the replies arrive one by one: a new farm to inspect, new oxen to check, a new marriage to tend. The excuses are completely reasonable, and the host sends his servant into the streets anyway. First to the busy streets,…

Introduction As we begin our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we follow Jesus on his final journey toward Jerusalem—listening carefully to the parables he tells along the way. Bishop Will Willimon, in his book by the same name, calls these stories “riddles,” and insists they’re more about God’s character than our behavior. That’s a more interesting (and more difficult) claim than it sounds. Most of us were taught to read parables as instructions: be…