John Mark Hicks

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 […]

I can’t seem to get it out of my mind, and I’ve tried. After working through Luke as preacher, Bible class teacher and small group leader for eleven months, I have found myself profoundly convicted. Over the next few posts (however long that takes me, and my track record on posting is not laudatory), I […]

Text: Luke 15 Who would not want to party with God? Can we even imagine a scenario in which we would turn down a party invitation from God? One of my favorite expressions in Scripture describes how God delights in his people and rejoices over his people (e.g., Zephaniah 3:17). This unveils the heart of […]

Text: Luke 17:11-37 Journeying to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border of Galilee and Samaria where he encountered ten lepers outside a village. This kind of scene is becoming familiar in Luke. Jesus meets, in the course of his daily existence, the social outcast, the disenfranchised, the broken people of his world. He moved in […]

John Franke, theology professor at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, PA, co-authored Beyond Foundationalism with Stan Grenz. He is a Reformed theologian who seeks to “do theology” as a postfoundationalist in a postmodern context. Biblical Theological Seminary is consciously seeking to be a theological institution for the emergent church in a Reformed tradition. All of […]