Great article. I’ve been reading NT Wright’s ‘The Challenge of Jesus’, and I can see quite a few similarities between your thoughts here and his conclusions about Jesus’ vocation.

Wright proposes that the miracles that Jesus performed were a sign or proclamation that the Kingdom had come, and that it was available to all…rather than an example of how the future ‘church’ was supposed to perform its ministry on earth.

The more I study and learn about the bible, its history, and Jesus, the more I feel defrauded by the church tradition I gre up in. The strange thing is, instead of being bitter or angry about the misapplied teachings of my church, I can hear myself say ‘AhHa! Thats why that never sat right with me before.’

Keep them coming….