The doors were locked. Not just closed, but barred. Bolted. Sealed. The kind of closure that says: “we’re not going anywhere, and nothing is getting in.” The disciples had seen too much. The cross was still vivid in their memory. The reports about the empty tomb were too fragile to hold onto. Fear had settled into their hearts like a weight. And then, suddenly, Jesus stood among them. No knocking. No opening of the door. No request for permission. Only this: “Peace be with yo

If we were to look only at this life, brothers and sisters, we would have to conclude that death triumphs. As we grow up, we begin to realize this when our first pet dies. As time goes on, I notice more and more how many people have their first encounter with death in the loss of a parent, a sibling, or a friend. First it takes our loved ones, then it comes back to take us. Death knows no friendships, no love, no mercy. It seems to do only one thing: it triumphs over everythi

There is something extraordinary about the way important moments are remembered. Not merely recalled, but preserved, repeated, almost relived. A meal prepared, for example, the Neapolitan casatiella  or the lamb at Easter, always in the same way each year. Words spoken carefully, exactly as they were said the first time. Actions that are not allowed to fade into history because they contain life within them. There are nights that do not simply pass, but imprint themselves on

Dear brothers and sisters, I’m sorry to give you some bad news. Really bad. It might make you decide not to come back next Saturday for Easter. Both today and next week, I’ll be the one preaching the sermon. (Joshua will preach on Maundy Thursday.) Joking aside, I’m actually glad to be able to preach both weeks, because Palm Sunday and Easter are almost like a “mini-series” in the story of the Gospels. Palm Sunday is almost a pre-Easter, and in between these two Sundays unfol

“WOULD THAT WE HAD DIED BY THE HAND OF THE LORD IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, WHEN WE SAT BY POTS FULL OF MEAT AND ATE BREAD TO THE FULL…” This complaint of the people of Israel is striking, first of all because it was the people themselves who cried out to the Lord for help. Exodus 2:23 tells us that the Israelites cried out, and their cry from slavery rose up to God. They themselves wanted to leave Egyptian slavery; they themselves had begged for help—and now that God has freed the