Author: Administrador

These days if we say “I’m in,” then immediately someone asks us, “But are you ALL in?” This is the question Jesus asks in our passage from the start: Are you all in? We hear Jesus make promises to the “Jews” who had believed in him and, by extension, to the rest of us: if … Continue reading “John 8:31-36 Commentary by Jaime Clark-Soles”

It is hard to miss the theme of freedom in our text from John. And since this is Reformation Sunday, it useful to remember that freedom was a key concern for many of the Reformers. One of Martin Luther’s most famous writings is “The Freedom of a Christian,” which he wrote in 1520 just before … Continue reading “John 8:31-36 Commentary by Mark Tranvik”

The concept of freedom is one of the most valued and debated ideas in Western democracies. It is central to contemporary debates surrounding voting rights, freedom of speech, a woman’s right to choose, gun laws and multiple other issues. Because the United States is commonly referred to as the “land of the free” governed by … Continue reading “John 8:31-36 Commentary by Emerson Powery”

Chapters 7 and 8 in the Gospel of John situate Jesus in the midst of reform. These are hard chapters full of hostility on several levels. The initial layer of hostility is created by the complexity of the relationship between Jesus and the Jews of his own day. A second level of animosity has to … Continue reading “John 8:31-36 Commentary by Ginger Barfield”

The Gospel of John contains many memorable phrases that are revered as classic Christian statements (for example John 3:16; 6:35; 8:12; 13:34; 14:6). We find one of these in John 8:31-36: “The truth will make you free” (8:32). As poetic as John’s famous “one-liners” sound, reading them in context can be disorienting. Jesus’ proclamation that the … Continue reading “John 8:31-36 Commentary by Gilberto Ruiz”

There is simply no getting around it: this is a very challenging passage on several fronts. First, it reveals John’s Gospel as, in many ways, a defensive document. If biblical scholars are right, the author of the Fourth Gospel likely wrote this story of Jesus to bolster the confidence of a community of Jewish Christians … Continue reading “John 7:37-52 Commentary by David Lose”

This alternative gospel text, John 7:37-39, may seem a strange choice for Pentecost Sunday. [Find commentaries on the main gospel reading, John 20:19-23, by Matt Skinner (2011) and Karoline Lewis (2008).] After all, it takes place when Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, not the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). Although not mentioned often … Continue reading “John 7:37-39 Commentary by Elisabeth Johnson”

El texto para este domingo nos permite reflexionar sobre la insospechada y escandalosa cercanía de Dios en la cotidianidad de la vida y las limitaciones humanas para reconocerlo. El relato se ubica en la última parte de un largo discurso (vv. 26-70) que procede en intercambios con distintos interlocutores: la multitud (vv. 26-40); “los judíos” … Continue reading “San Juan 6:56-69 Comentario por Marisa Strizzi”

Las palabras escandalosas de Jesus El lenguaje nos hace presentes ante la realidad que vivimos y ante las otras personas. Por medio de las palabras expresamos nuestros sentimientos, emociones, deseos, envidias y propuestas. Los filósofos desde hace unas décadas nos han enseñado que también se pueden hacer “cosas con palabras,”1 porque algunas de ellas son … Continue reading “San Juan 6:56-69 Comentario por Manuel Villalobos Mendoza”

For the fifth Sunday in a row we find ourselves in John 6, but as this long account comes to its end, there are some disturbing surprises. Throughout this chapter’s discussion about the bread which gives life, Jesus’ words have been greeted with misunderstanding, confusion, and objection from the crowd, referred to either simply as … Continue reading “John 6:56-69 Commentary by Brian Peterson”