John Mark Hicks

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God (1:1). Mark’s first words, in a Roman political and cultural context, are startling.  “Gospel” was the term used to describe the joyous announcement of imperial news, that is, the Roman Emperor has secured peace, prosperity and security for the known world. “Son of […]

Shaped in Solitude Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from [being baptized in] the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days.    Luke 4:1-2a Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went to an isolated place to pray.    Mark […]

Discipled in Family Text: Luke 2:41-52 Jesus was an apprentice. Like F(f)ather, like son. He apprenticed with his heavenly Father. He learned obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8-9). He taught and did only what he heard his Father teach and what he saw his Father do (John 5:19). He was the Father’s […]

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). “Today this scripture is […]

The journey to Jerusalem in Luke’s Gospel begins in 9:51 and it ends in 19:11. The last story Luke tells on that journey is the Zacchaeus episode (Luke 19:10). Its placement at the end of the journey gives Luke the occasion to summarize the ministry of Jesus in the person of Zacchaeus. • Jesus takes […]

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. Jesus wanted to save Zacchaeus. The correlation between these two is hidden in our English translations of the text. Luke uses the same verb to describe their mission—Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus and Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:2, 10). This language brackets the theological significance […]

I admit it; actually, I confess it–I find “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Luke 12:33) a hard and difficult saying. Probably more than any other saying of Jesus–even “love your enemies”–I’m inclined to throw up my hands and say “I can’t do that.” It puts me in the position of the Rich […]

Practicing the kingdom of God entails fellowship with the poor. Jesus came to announce “good news” (gospel) to the poor and to liberate the poor from their oppression. He came to sustain the needy and supply their needs. Acts 2:42 characterizes the early church as devoting themselves to “fellowship” (koinonia). This term can have a […]

I like to call it “practicing the kingdom of God.” With deference to Brother Lawrence, I like this language in addition to “practicing the presence of God.” But there is overlapping meaning, I think. What I call “practicing the kingdom of God” is what James A. Harding called the “means of grace,” that is, the […]

As one reads through Luke, a person cannot help but be impressed by the constant reference to prayer in the life of Jesus and then in the lives of his disciples in Acts. I won’t take the time to list all the places where prayer functions in the Gospel of Luke–there are many resources for […]