In this bonus episode, we look at the gospel reading which is commonly referred to as that of the Good Samaritan (Eighth Sunday of Luke in the lectionary of the Orthodox Church), making one important observation: that the word “good” is nowhere to be found in this biblical text. That might seem like a minor point, but when we consider how Jesus himself rejects being called good elsewhere in the gospels, we see that calling the Samaritan “good” is not only unwarranted by the text, but isn’t consi...
Nov 10, 2023•10 min•Ep. 28
On December 3, 1979, as fans lined up for admission to a concert by the Who at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, they grew impatient and began pushing forward, eventually crashing through the metal and glass barriers and prematurely letting thousands of people inside the venue. In the mad rush toward the stage, 11 people were trampled to death and 26 others injured. The unhinged madness and sheer horror of that scene is not unlike what we hear in the opening verse of Luke chapter 12, where an i...
Nov 03, 2023•14 min•Ep. 27
From the very beginning, the Gospel of Luke proclaims that it is the Lord , the God of Israel, who has visited and redeemed his people, just as he spoke by the mouths of his prophets. These words, uttered by Zechariah the priest in chapter 1, set the tone for the narrative that will unfold throughout Luke’s gospel. In chapter 4, Jesus is rejected as a prophet by the people in Nazareth, who expect one of their own to do their bidding; Jesus reminds them how the Prophets Elijah and Elisha were bou...
Oct 20, 2023•17 min•Ep. 26
In the Gospels, Jesus likens the men of this generation to disappointed children: We played the flute for you and you did not dance, we mourned to you and you did not weep. But there is no we in Scripture. It is always the scroll containing the words expressing the will of God that is the reference; and it is that to which we the hearers must submit. The ones who rejected John, who fasted and drank no wine, are the same ones who reject Jesus on the accusation that he drinks wine and is a friend ...
Oct 06, 2023•15 min•Ep. 25
Isn’t It Ironic? If we believe in the sovereignty of the biblical God, then why do we insist on either praising or vilifying the human characters in the story? The reason has little to do with scripture and everything to do with us: we need literary heroes to identify with. We want good guys and bad guys so we can align ourselves with the good ones. In the accounts of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, for example, we always want to put the blame on someone else. Don’t think for a minute that “if I w...
Sep 22, 2023•12 min•Ep. 24
When Jesus stands up to read from the prophecy of Isaiah in the gospel of Luke, he is rejected by the people in his hometown. Although he is proclaiming the year of the Lord’s “favor,” the people in the synagogue receive him with “no favor” because they know him: isn’t this Joseph’s son? Jesus’ response - that God’s grace goes to whom ever God wills, even outsiders - angers them so much they try to kill him. Here, the old adage “familiarity breeds contempt” holds true. Join me and Noël Neff in a...
Sep 08, 2023•22 min•Ep. 23
In Scripture, function supersedes both individuals and personalities. The purpose of the biblical story is to teach, and it does that by introducing us to characters not as individuals, but rather according to the function of their roles. Sometimes different characters with the same name can function in similar ways. A striking example of this is how the Church, when teaching about Jesus’ mother, directs our attention to a different person with the same name. it’s as if we are expected to unders...
Aug 25, 2023•15 min•Ep. 22
When we read the Bible, we often do so looking to find some kind of hope. Then we stumble upon the words of our Lord saying, “whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but upon whomever it falls, it will grind him like powder.” That doesn’t sound very hopeful. Isn’t there a third option, Jesus? We are frustrated by Scripture because we expect it to tell us that there is hope in us; that we can do something to make a positive difference. Don’t want to be ground like powder? Do you prefer “scatt...
Aug 11, 2023•22 min•Ep. 21
In the Gospel of Matthew, we hear a literary tension between heavenly bread and earthly bread, and also between the open wilderness, where the former is to be found, and cities built by the hand of men, which provide the latter. This double contrast is most striking in Chapter 14. In the passage of the feeding of the multitudes, Jesus’ disciples push for sending the multitudes back to the cities and villages to buy bread. He is about to show them that they already have what is necessary to feed ...
Jul 28, 2023•12 min•Ep. 20
For the characters in the Bible, there is no freedom from the will of the Scriptural God. He always gets His way in spite of the failings of the human beings. Likewise with us. As hearers of the Bible, we must pay close attention to the details in the story and make connections with other parts of the Bible. When we do that, we see that God’s will always controls the narrative. Like a shepherd with His flock, the Lord leads us, as hearers, to where He wants us to be: kept alive and fed with the ...
Jul 14, 2023•24 min•Ep. 19
The Sermon on the Mount encompasses the entirety of chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. In both its content and delivery, it is meant to recall Moses and the giving of the law, but with some differences. Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Matthew may be the same in content to that of the Old Testament, but in the context of this sermon, we hear things we didn’t before. Although the old law remains, in Matthew, the requirement is even more stringent, and the urgency to submit to it is int...
Jun 30, 2023•16 min•Ep. 18
Let’s face it: the biblical teaching is hard to accept. As much as we don’t like it, scripture teaches that God gives us the law to show that we can’t keep it. In modern parlance, God is setting us up to fail, something we find totally unacceptable. God is also the one who bestows the free gift, which is grace. I am responsible for my sins, and the condemnation that results, but the free gift of reconciliation which leads to justification and being declared righteous, is solely under the aegis o...
Jun 16, 2023•23 min•Ep. 17
In the Gospel of John, the sudden mention of “certain Greeks” who wish to see Jesus seems odd at first. Their appearance on the scene is a fulfillment of what Isaiah describes in the last chapter of his prophetic book: the Lord brings judgment on all men, spares a few of them, and through the remnant brings in others from far away, some which are specifically identified as “Greeks.” In John, all of this happens against the background of the impending crucifixion/glorification of the Lord’s anoin...
Jun 02, 2023•17 min•Ep. 16
Scripture is relentless against the idols humans build, whether they are physical or mental constructions. Nothing humans build will stand. Everyone is on the same playing field, because no one has status, stature, or power. All will be diminished before the Scriptural God. Join me, Fr. Fred Shaheen, and my guest, Noël Neff, as we hear Acts 12:25-13:12 from a functional perspective. We explore answers to questions like: What’s the significance of the dual names of “John whose surname is Mark” an...
May 19, 2023•24 min•Ep. 15
In the Gospels, the failure of Jesus’ disciples to grasp the teaching of their master is hard to miss. Despite Jesus’ explanations and exhortations, his students show by the way they respond that they just didn’t get it. Peter, James and John often receive the hardest lessons. But the instruction offered by Jesus as a corrective applies to everyone without exception. To use contemporary jargon, Jesus uses his disciples’ lack of understanding as a teachable moment. It is Peter, James and John - t...
May 05, 2023•19 min•Ep. 14
To hear Scripture functionally, we must submit to the written text, exactly as it is presented to us by the original authors for the sole purpose of instruction. In Episode 11: Functionality Redux, Noël Neff joined me to discuss the question: If we are to hear Scripture functionally, are we also supposed to live functionally? Noël is my guest again today. She will read from Ephesians chapter 2 (v. 1-10) and follow up on this question with a new set of questions: If it is salvific to live functio...
Apr 21, 2023•29 min•Ep. 13
Often in the biblical story we hear of a character refusing what God has to offer and then attempting to redefine it on their own terms, usually in the imagination of their hearts and by the works of their own hands. In the repetitiveness of the biblical story, indeed there is nothing new under the sun. This mistake of Jacob in the story of his dream in Genesis 28 both looks back to the story of the building of the tower in chapter 11 and ahead to David’s desire to build for God a house of cedar...
Apr 07, 2023•23 min•Ep. 12
Scripture is functional. Hearers of the Bible are directed to this reality over and over again by the text itself. From the different titles applied to Jesus in different places to the incessant repetition of God's commandments, and even the symbolic value of numbers - all of these point to the functionality of Scripture. The question then arises: if we are to hear Scripture functionally, are we as followers also supposed to live functionally? In this episode, I am joined by Noël Neff who poses ...
Mar 24, 2023•22 min•Ep. 11
In Scripture, whenever someone is loosed from bondage or raised up, it is for the purpose of submitting to the will of God. When Israel disobeys the ordinances of the Lord, they are left subject to another master, one who enslaves them but cannot offer them life - Judges 2-3. This is the predicament of the woman with the spirit of infirmity in Luke chapter 13. And her encounter with Jesus, while he is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath, corrects that situation by liberating her from the bo...
Dec 09, 2022•19 min•Ep. 10
In the gospels we often treat Jesus like a magician. We want to dazzled, wowed and amazed by what he offers and we expect others to be as well. But don’t be fooled: real life-giving instruction is not in the spectacle and fireworks, but rather in boring, repetitive words written in a scroll and offered to us. It is to that bread we must submit.
Oct 28, 2022•15 min•Ep. 9
In the synoptic Gospels - Matthew Mark and Luke - the use of parables to teach is widespread. In comparison, the Gospel of John, in which Jesus doesn’t teach in parables per se, can be more difficult to grasp. On the surface, just hearing the story we might think we can tell what’s going on, but often the real meat of the teaching is found in the small details that draw us in. What’s going on in John 22:1-14? And what does it mean when the text tell us that exactly 153 fish were caught?
Sep 30, 2022•17 min•Ep. 8
We all love to quote Scripture to show other people that we know it. We like to seem educated and knowledgeable about the words of God…until those very words come back to bite us. This episode we take a look at John 3:16 in light of the overall scriptural teaching.
Sep 16, 2022•12 min•Ep. 7
The death of John the Forerunner appears in Chapter 6 of Mark interrupting a narrative about Jesus sending out the twelve apostles. It’s intentional insertion at this point underscores John not only as the one who comes before the Christ, but the one who - in contradiction to Jesus’ twelve - perfectly accomplishes his apostolic work by becoming an image of his master.
Sep 02, 2022•16 min•Ep. 6
How can I preach when I’m not permitted to speak? “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). Hello and welcome to episode 5 of A Light to the Nations. I’m your host, Fr. Fred Shaheen. In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter...
Aug 05, 2022•20 min•Ep. 5
When we hear the biblical story, we should remember that what we are hearing is, first and foremost, a story. Its purpose is to teach, and the teaching is communicated through the words themselves. Any attempt on our part to historicize the text is problematic because it impairs our ability to actually hear the story in the way it was intended to be heard - as a story. When we make the biblical narrative secondary to anything - history, geography, civilization, culture, even religion - our chanc...
Jul 08, 2022•16 min•Ep. 4
In this episode we compare key details in the marriage stories of Isaac and Jacob in Genesis. Jacob leaves home, works hard to get exactly what he wants and it results in slavery. Isaac, on today other hand, stays at home, does nothing and receives grace. His cycle, a story “about nothing”,” parallels the episode in Genesis 22 in which Abraham’s faith is tested. He responds by doing nothing, except obey the will of the Lord. Which is everything.
Jun 17, 2022•22 min•Ep. 3
In the Gospel of Mark with the so-called shorter ending, the hearer is taken from Jesus’ death on the cross to the expectation of his coming in glory, with little or nothing happening in between. That’s how the narrative moves, and it moves that way intentionally. We might hear the shorter ending and think we are being cheated out of something because it doesn’t depict Jesus alive after his crucifixion. However the value of going from crucifixion to return is that the hearer stays grounded on wh...
Jun 03, 2022•19 min•Ep. 2
In Scripture, no one gets to be exceptional or special. If you are special at all, it is only as an example used for the edification of others. To put it another way, you become the example of what not to do. In spite of your wandering astray, God can and does use your punishment and correction to achieve His purpose according to His will. Your screwing it up becomes a blessing to those on the outside. In this way, it fulfills what God told Abram in Genesis 22:18 when He told him that, “in your ...
May 20, 2022•13 min•Ep. 1
