In this episode, I review the work that I did in episodes 59-61 on chapters 24-25 of Matthew, often referred to as "The Little Apocalypse." I reflect on this sermon by Jesus in these chapters during a time when the world as we know it may be coming to an end, i.e. the world in which the U.S. is the dominant hegemon. What is the message for us from these chapters? What was the message for its original audience in the late first century when Israel had been almost completely destroyed by Rome? I hope this review both clarifies the work the I did in episodes 59-61 and also helps us apply it to today's situation.

In this special episode, I interview Ched Myers about his new book, Healing Affluenza and Resisting Plutocracy; Luke's Jesus and Sabbath Economics.

To order the book, go to Bookshop.org and search for Ched Myers. Through the end of July 2025, the promo code SOJO20 will reduce the price by 20%.

You can also use this link:

https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Ched+Myers

Description from Bookshop.org:

Myers brings a well-honed interpretive eye to a thematic study of Luke's Gospel. He reads synoptically the crisis of socioeconomic disparity in Jesus's world and ours, and proposes powerful analogies that can build social imagination and animate personal and political practices for systemic change and justiceamong communities of faith today.

There has been a revival of interest over the last half century in the Third Gospel's focus on issues of poverty and wealth. However, most exegetical or homiletic work by scholars and preachers of the Global North has been constrained by middle-class social assumptions, which inevitably domesticate Jesus's radical teaching and practice. To counter this, Myers argues that Luke's literary arc and individual representations are best interpreted through the lens of ""Sabbath Economics"" in the Hebrew Bible. He then brings socio-literary analysis and engaged commentary to bear on Luke's wise oldstories, correlating his narrative structures and symbols to systemic political and economic issues then and now.

Luke's unique material, and how he redacts Mark and Q, reveals his unequivocal critique of socioeconomic disparity. Myers closely examines footprints and ""demonstration projects"" of Sabbath Economics in the first half of Luke, then considers archetypal characters, somatic representations, and socially contrasting scenarios of rich and poor in the second half. His approach deploys sociological exegesis, literary analysis, and liberation hermeneutics to recover Luke's story of Jesus in its historical context and its relevance to ours.

This is a sermon that I preached with a friend who is from Gaza.

The text that was read before the sermon is Psalm 22:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?..."

This is a replay of Episode 31 with a brief new intro. 

Jesus tells a parable about a demon exorcism which results in a situation worse than the original demon possession. Those who read the Bible at surface level (and somehow don't seem to notice all the problems that presents) tend to read this passage literally, but Jesus is clearly speaking parabolically. This parable can be applied to  any situation in which a problem has been dealt with in a way that does not deal with the root cause and only kicks the can down the road. 

I didn't change anything in the original episode; I'm just suggesting that it is worth another hearing because it can be applied to our current situation.

For many modern Christians, especially in the West, the miracles of the Bible are such an uncomfortable subject that we often pretend that they are not even there in the text. We ignore them. But they are key to understanding the message of the Gospel.

What is the intersection between the "hidden things" and "secrets" of Matthew 13 and the recent conspiracy theories that have played significant role in U.S. politics?

If you need to review Matthew 13, click here.

If you want to watch clips of Palestinian American comedian Sammy Obeid, click here.

Could the Gospel of Matthew have been written to address the aftermath of a genocide, much like the one happening in Gaza right now?

I recommend to my listeners the amazing documentary, Gaza Fights for Freedom. You can find it free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnZSaKYmP2s

It centers on  the 21 months of nonviolent demonstrations by Gazans at the border with Israel in 2018-2019.

The story of my short sojourn in Palestine 22 years ago and what I learned from the Palestinians. This is a slightly revised sermon that I delivered at Pasadena Mennonite Church in August of 2001.

The Gospel overturns not just the order of society but our conception of God as well. When Jesus cries out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" we should be shocked. We should not just gloss over the implications of such a statement in this story about God revealed in a human Palestinian Jewish peasant. It may be an earth shattering revelation about what "God" is really like and where "God" is found.

This episode is a sermon that I delivered at Pasadena Mennonite Church on September 17, 2023. In this sermon I connect the dots between U.S. military and economic aggression abroad with domestic housing justice. The passages cited are:

• Matthew 12:46-50
• Mark 10:29-30
• Matthew 6:19-21

The Making Housing and Community Happen (MHCH) Podcast has launched, telling stories of social transformation and housing justice!

You can listen to the first episode here.

You can also search for "Making Housing and Community Happen" on your podcast app.

You can visit the Making Housing and Community Happen website here.

In this episode I revisit the text about Jesus' interaction with the centurion to focus more than I did in episode 16 on the "banquet" (NRSV) that Jesus refers to. What is this "banquet" of which Jesus speaks? How does it evolve in the writings of ancient Israel, and what form does it take in the Gospel of Matthew?

Some new research and connections in these two passages that occur together in Matthew 19:13-30.

In this special episode, I interview Dr. Timothy Lewis, creator of the Podcast Matthewlinity, and author of the upcoming book, The Poetics of Matthew One. Through poetic/literary analysis of the Gospel of Matthew, Dr. Lewis has found a pattern in which the narrative consistently undermines patriarchal structures and customs, challenging men to put aside male privilege. This pattern may be a major interpretive key to understanding the story told in the Gospel of Matthew. 

I've often thought about what I would say were I to be invited to participate in an on stage "debate" with an atheist. Well, here is my opening statement.

Why does Matthew divide up the genealogy into 3 sets of 14 generations? What does this signify?

Link to Dr. Timothy Lewis' podcast, Matthewlinity: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/matthewlinity/id1398795694

Revisiting the theme of Jonah in Matthew. The "big fish" ain't just a big fish!

The text is Matthew 4:23-25. This special episode is mostly a recording of me, Bert, doing a workshop (as the sermon!) at Pasadena Mennonite Church, but I added a 10 minute introduction.

Jesus' resurrection brings the victory of the future into the present, and Jesus gives his disciples a nonviolent commission to counter the imperial violent domination of the powers and authorities of this present age.

Jesus experiences abandonment by God, but the apocalyptic signs reveal the victory of the cross.

We look at two important passages, the suicide of Judas and the release of Barabbas.

Jesus goes on trial before the Sanhedrin, but who is really on trial? Those with eyes to see can see as through the vision of Daniel 7.

In these passages, Jesus is more human than we have seen him; he is afraid and doesn't want to go to the cross, yet he still rejects violent resistance, even by angels.

A woman anoints Jesus, and Jesus becomes the liberating sacrifice for the nation (and all nations or people).

I did the whole series on The Little Apocalypse in Matthew and did not comment on the use of the term "the elect." So I did this little addendum to give my thoughts on the matter

Jesus tells two parables that demonstrate what "staying awake" or "keeping watch" looks like.

In this second section of Matthew's "Little Apocalypse," Jesus starts talking parabolically, calling for his audience to "Stay Awake" for the "Coming of the Son of Man." But what does he mean by "Stay Awake," and what is the "Coming of the Son of Man."

I thought I'd address an issue that might come up for some listeners regarding the accuracy of the prediction of the destruction of the temple/Jerusalem, and also express some additional thoughts I had, after recording the episode, about Jesus' statement, "This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." This is not a polished recording and was not scripted; it's just me thinking aloud.

This is the first in a three part series on Matthew's "Little Apocalypse" in chapters 24-25. This first episode is considerably on the long side because there is so much imagery to unpack!

More episodes in the New Year!

In chapter 5, Jesus gave 9 blessings. In chapter 23, he gives 7 woes.

The Pharisees join forces with the Herodians and Sadducees to try to stop Jesus from plundering the house. They engage him in public debate...but that never ends well for them.

In chapter 12, Jesus talked about binding the strong man and plundering his house. In this episode, Jesus does that.

Please consider making a donation to the Immigrant Worker Safety Net Fund.

My good friend, Susan Cameron, who is a lawyer as well as a seminary graduate, gives us insights into the divorce text in Mark, which is different from but similar enough to the two divorce texts in Matthew that her work gives greater depth to the work that I did on the Matthew passages.

Please consider making a donation to Christian Peacemaker Teams for the work in the West Bank, in Hebron/al- Khalil in Palestine. You can read more about their work and make a donation at https://www.cpt.org/.

Why did Jesus drive the money changers and people selling animals out of the temple?

Also, ancient people had their sacrificial rituals, but do we? What are the rituals of modern capitalism, and do we even know that we are performing them?

Part of the title for this episode, "Making and Ass Out of Rome," is borrowed from Warren Carter, who entitled the section on this passage in his commentary with those words.

In this episode, I mention The Yes Men, modern tricksters who expose some of the more absurd and cruel aspects of capitalism. To find out more about them and see them in action, go to https://theyesmen.org/. 

Equality is extremely difficult; there are always people who want to put themselves in positions of power and authority over others.

Different accounts of the conquest of Jerusalem by David, Joshua, and Judah: https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-israelite-conquest-of-jerusalem-in-the-bible-when-and-who 

Jesus warns against meritocracy in this often overlooked parable.

A couple of resources mentioned in the podcast are:

Clifton Mark's article, "A Belief in Meritocracy is Not Only False, It's Bad for You," can be found here.

The PBS video about Paul Piff and his experiments about wealth and meritocracy can be found here.

The rich young man man comes to Jesus. He's more sympathetic to the movement for a new society than we might think.

Jesus finally leaves Galilee, on his way to Jerusalem, and enters Judea. Pharisees ask him about divorce, and Jesus ends up talking about eunuchs. Good stuff!

This interview is focused on hearing the Gospel in today's context. I interview a local pastor of a bilingual Spanish-English congregation, Pastor Marcos Canales.

Pastor Canales hears the Gospel as one who has lived the effects of colonization as Jesus did. Also, his congregation just finished a study of the Gospel of Mark, a major source for Matthew, so we get his insights from that study.

Marcos Canales is the pastor of La Fuente Ministries at PazNaz (Pasadena Church of the Nazarene). You can tune into their worship services on Youtube here.

One of our listeners gives a brilliant modern-day analogy to help us understand and interpret "The Parable of the Tyrant King and the Unforgiving Servant."

Also, Time magazine came out with an article on air conditioning, and one place in Canada recorded 121 degrees Fahrenheit!

The parable at the end of chapter 18 of Matthew is usually called "The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave" because it is understood to be about the behavior of one character in the parable. But a closer examination of the parable in its historical context reveals that it is not just about one person's behavior but also about systemic and structural injustice.

In this episode, I make the case that what normally has been understood as a passage about "church discipline" is actually about an alternative criminal justice system. The language used is language of ancient judicial proceedings in both Judea and the wider Greco-Roman world.

So those who are today talking about abolishing the current criminal justice system and replacing it with something more democratic and community-based seem to be thinking with the mind of Christ.

This episode starts a new section of Matthew, chapters 18-20, in which Jesus talks about the structure of the New Society, specifically how power, honor, and authority are distributed.

The Gospel story has been used as a pretext for horrible persecution of Jewish people in the West. This persecution led to the modern state of Israel, perceived, for good reason, by many Jews as the only way to escape this persecution. The result has been the dispossession of the Palestinian people.

In this episode, I try to grapple with this history and also tell of my experience of visiting the West Bank 20 years ago.

For further resources on the current situation in Israel, visit B'tselem, an Israeli human rights organization that maintains detailed documentation of what is happening as well as helpful analysis, at https://www.btselem.org/.

Another worthwhile site to visit is Jewish Voice for Peace, https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/, which organizes in North America.

And finally, I highly recommend Christian Peacemaker Teams, https://www.cpt.org/, which has had a team in the West Bank for almost three decades. They send teams all over the world to wage nonviolent resistance to injustice, as Jesus does in the Gospel of Matthew.

Fresh off the mountain of the transfiguration, Jesus counters the interpretation of the temple establishment, casts out a Roman demon, and cleverly undermines the authority of the temple system of the empire.

The Transfiguration has baffled commentators for centuries. What is the point? How does it fit into the story? I think that I have a good answer for that. If we think of this gospel as a "hero story," what happens in that sort of story when the hero finally decides to take the gloves off and go on the offensive, no longer avoiding conflict but running towards it? I suggest, in this episode, that the answer to that question provides the key to understanding this pivotal scene in the Gospel of Matthew.

We finally come to the halfway point in the story, where it takes a turn toward Jerusalem. Geography in this story is not always exact, in fact the author takes literary license with the geographical facts, but it is always pregnant with meaning.

What gets lost in translation, and why does it get lost? In this interview, we talk with Dr. James Fehr who is doing work on translating New Testament texts in a way that wrestles with the fact that these texts are from a completely different time and culture and that our modern translations have been translated by people with privilege who don't want to offend those in power.

This work is not just academic for Fehr. His love for these texts fuels his passion for justice. His day job, in the German Mennonite Peace Office, currently involves solidarity with immigrants trying to flee war and extreme poverty.

The text of the report that he mentions in the podcast, “Incarcerating the Marginalized: The Fight Against Alleged ›Smugglers‹ on the Greek Hotspot Islands,” can be requested as a PDF or booklet from info@dmfk.de 

The work of CPT's "Aegean Migrant Solidarity" team can be found on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/CPTLesvos

Jesus and his disciples travel north where a dead king is worshiped. Peter is declared to be the bedrock of the "church". . . or is he?

How do you resist oppression? Is nationalism ever right? Can a group be nationalist while at the same time collaborating with the imperial oppressor? Can a movement draw deep from it's own national heritage but still be transnational? Those are the questions that today's episode wrestles with through this second passage of Matthew 16.

The Pharisees and Sadducees join forces to challenge Jesus, but Jesus isn't interested in their credential system.

The encounter with the Canaanite Woman in the last episode broke open a whole new frontier for the movement. The movement for a new society can now include all people.

The story gives us a surprise twist. Is Jesus showing his humanity, or is he a really clever teacher?

When an oppressed people express their desires for liberation, they often do it by demonstrating zeal for their national culture and traditions. But oppressed people are often divided into factions, each accusing the other of not being sufficiently dedicated to the cause, not demonstrating sufficient zeal for the national traditions. That is what we see playing out in the first passage of chapter 15 in Matthew.

This second sea crossing recalls both Israel's seminal story of liberation and the boastful thoughts of a Seleucid emperor.

The rich and the powerful party at the expense of the poor, but the common poor can create their own new society of abundance for all!

This is a long episode, but a very important one. In this episode, I make clear something that I have been saying throughout the series, that Jesus, as portrayed in Matthew, is opposed to the power of Temples and Priests (all of them, not just in Israel). 

This episode contains longer musical interludes (to break it up and give listeners time to absorb the concepts), all composed by David Martyn.

This episode concludes a chapter in which Jesus speaks in riddles, revealing the hidden things, the wonderful secrets of the new society. Again, nothing is as it seems. Jesus attempts a great scribal reversal, making the peasants scribes, and leaving the scribal class on the outside, lacking understanding. This reversal is rejected...but wait...nothing is as it seems.

The movement for the New Society is sneaky and spreads through the unwashed masses.

Jesus starts talking in riddles to hide the wonderful secrets of the new society from those who would destroy it, but the wise will understand.

This episode and the next two regular episodes, numbers 33 and 34, explore the parables discourse of chapter 13 (which begins at the end of chapter 12). Through this discourse, Jesus trains his disciples to be scribe of the New Society.

(Edited version)

In this special episode, I interview Dr. Sebastien Doane, Professor of Biblical Studies at Laval University, in Quebec City, and author of Zombies, Unicorns, Cannibals; Strange Tales from the Bible (published by Paulist Press). 

We revisit episodes 1 (The Genealogy) and 4 (The Magi) of this podcast series in the light of Dr. Doane's work. Dr Doane reads the Gospel of Matthew through a Carnivalesque lens.

(I had to edit this one because the interview was done on Zoom. Dr. Doane's part came out well, but the sound on my end was really bad, so I re-recorded my parts, made some edits, and shortened the interview. If it doesn't sound that natural or if there are some non-sequiturs, that is because of the editing and rerecording, but overall, I think it is improved, and there are good insights from Professor Doane!)

Ever wonder what that parable of the 7 demons is about?

Jesus diagnoses the problem of demon possession differently than his upper class opponents. He finds the root cause of the problem not in the demon-possessed individual but in the situation of oppression.

Special Music by Murry Hammond whose music can be found here.

Jesus defeats the elite wisdom men of the old society in public debate.

Jesus is the broker of God's wisdom to the people, a wisdom for a new society that is not oppressive.

Ever wonder about that parable about the children playing games in the marketplace? I unpack that one in this episode.

Just a clarifying thought that I had after I published the last episode...

Matthew has been showing how Jesus and his movement fulfill the visions of the prophets. In chapter 11, the fulfillment theme gets stated so forcefully that it becomes evident that Jesus does not merely fulfill the visions of the prophets but reinterprets them. This reinterpretation is part of a larger program of reinterpreting the world in a way that will change it for all who partake in this reinterpretation.

Jesus says that secrets will be revealed. Listen to this episode to learn what those secrets are!

What does Jesus mean when he says that his disciples will not finish their mission of going through the towns of Israel "before the Son of Man comes"? Listen to this episode to find out.

Jesus sends out an army of healers to retake Israel from those who have stolen it.

After having gathered in the lost - the tax/toll collectors and "sinners" - he suddenly gets called to a high status household, but on the way heals a marginalized woman suffering from menstrual bleeding. Chapters 8 and 9 have Jesus entering the worlds and lives of people who are very separate from each other: a leper, gentiles, women and men, social outcasts, low and high status people; in all of these situations, he brings healing, both social and physical. And finally he heals two blind men and casts out the demon from a mute man, punctuating this section of the story with images of liberation from Isaiah.

Jesus has to explain why now is the time to party with the sinners.

The campaign of healing takes the form of a meal with "sinners."

Who has the authority to forgive sins? Only God? Who has the authority to speak for God then? The ruling classes in antiquity used systems of temples, priests, and sacrifice to control the people. Jesus demonstrates to the people that they don't need any of that to have good standing before God and each other.

Jesus crosses to "the other side" and encounters the demons of empire.

The third detailed healing: Jesus crosses the gender divide and continues his campaign of healing.

In this episode, I make a mistake in the recording. See if you can catch it...you don't have to be a Bible Scholar, you just need to be paying attention. 

I only caught it after it was all done; there is no way to fix it, and I don't have the time or energy to go back and correct it, so let's make it a game. If you find it, let me know on the Facebook page.

Jesus usurps the power and authority of the priests.

Jesus provides a prayer for his movement rooted in peasant realities of hunger, debt, and the threat of legal prosecution as well as the ancient story of the Exodus liberation.

Jesus lifts up the mutual aid economy of the peasants and tears down the patronage system of the empire.

What's the big deal about taking Oaths?
Also, women in Nigeria in 2002 used a tactic that Matthew's Jesus prescribes.

Jesus attempts to build a strong movement, urging solidarity between peasants and curtailing male sexual abuse of and power over women.

Jesus begins laying out his new law or teaching for the new Society. This new teaching inverts the male honor code of the first century Mediterranean World.

Jesus' campaign of healing provides an alternative to more conventional military campaigns (parody?) and signals the dawning of a new society.

In this episode, to address our current situation, I take a break from Matthew and hop over to the Gospel of Luke to look at the Parable of the Dishonest Manager - A strange parable for strange times. I am indebted to Ched Myers for opening up the secrets of this parable for me. You can find his article on it at www.radicaldiscipleship.net under the title Discipleship as Defection from the Mammon System: Jesus’ Parable about a "Manager of Injustice”

Jesus takes up John's work of leading a movement for The New Society (Kingdom of Heaven). Matthew's imagery reminds the reader of the setting of this story in the Roman Empire. Jesus liberates his disciples from bondage to the empire, setting them free to join the movement.

In this episode, we follow Jesus through his "vision quest," as he retraces his people's journey in the wilderness through a time of testing/temptation. Jesus has to prove what sort of Messiah or "Son of God" he will be.

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If this series has not been controversial already, it gets even more controversial in this episode. I make the claim that Jesus joins a liberation movement already in progress to get his start as "Messiah." Also I will assert that temples in the ancient world were government institutions that served as mechanisms through which the ruling classes controlled the people. A significant part of the movement of John the Baptizer was to undercut temple authority.

In this episode, Jesus and his family become refugees. Fleeing their home country, which is under the brutal occupation of a foreign empire, they take refuge in Egypt, which, according to their national history, was both the place of their people's slavery and also a refuge for those escaping the Babylonian invasion.

With this story, the author of Matthew introduces the themes of Jesus-as-Moses and Jesus-as-Israel by using Exodus imagery. The texts from Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 53 also play an important role in setting up the gospel motif of Jesus bearing the suffering of his people.

The story of the Magi evokes sentimental, feel good memories of Christmas for many of us, but this story, for its original audience, signaled hopes of liberation from a brutal occupation.

This episode is the only one that will not look at one particular text (all the other episodes will continue progressively through Matthew), but rather at the book as a whole. I make the argument in this episode that the whole Gospel of Matthew parodies a genre in the ancient world to get across a very serious message.

The "virgin birth" of Jesus, the title "Son of God," and the concept of the forgiveness of sins all had resonances in the first century Mediterranean world that they no longer have today. Understanding what those terms and concepts signaled, as well as how this story "fulfilled" the prophetic texts will greatly expand our understanding of what this story was all about. 

In this episode, I describe how the genealogy in Matthew is actually a parody of a genealogy. In the gospel in which Jesus instructs his followers to "call no one on earth 'father,'" this list of fathers is intentionally ironic.

I also talk about other "trickster" texts in the Bible such as the praise of King Solomon and the story of the rise of Joseph to the second most powerful person in Egypt. These stories are not what they appear to be.