Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus shakes up the status quo. Jesus constantly challenges societal expectations. Jesus repeatedly broadens the center so that those on the margins of society will be included. He routinely upsets and offends the religious leaders of his day.
He is scandalous, known for healing on the Sabbath, speaking to Gentile women, touching lepers, dealing with pagans, eating with sinners, and speaking hard truths to those with power and influence. Jesus causes so much political upheaval that he receives the death penalty.
We as Church are perfectly positioned to lead our nation and world into more respectful, civil interactions with each other. We have encountered Jesus through the Gospels, including the Gospel of John, and we have heard of another way—a higher way.
This message is excerpted from “Beloved community” by Angela T. Khabeb in the March 2019 issue of Gather magazine. Today we remember Nicolaus Copernicus, who died in1543, and Leonhard Euler, who died in 1783; scientists.
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