Only the back-story here provides a glimmer of something positive to say about how it all came about. According to a very helpful article by Craig Keener in The Lectionary Commentary (Eerdmans, 2001), John the Baptist was probably the only figure who had the courage (and the holy pluck) to stand up to Herod Antipas. This is not the Herod who was around when Jesus was born nor is this the Book o...
2. Return Home and Tell How Much God Has Done for You
Luke 8:26-39
Illustration
Scott Hozee
As Ted Peters once pointed out, in the English language, it's curious that the word evil is "live" spelled backwards. And indeed, evil always destroys. Life is diminished if not wiped out where the demons rule. The death of the pigs reflects that. What's more, in the Ancient Near East, the sea represented one of the forces of chaos that people feared. So it's a double-whammy: first there is death ...
