The Gospel of Peace: Reading Matthew, Mark & Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence

Longtime activist, author, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Rev. John Dear, will walk us through the Synoptic Gospels pointing out Jesus’ practice and teachings of nonviolence and invite us to become practitioners of creative nonviolence, based on his new commentary, “The Gospel of Peace.”

We will reflect on Matthew, with the Sermon on the Mount as its centerpiece and the basis for everything that follows; then Mark as an action thriller of nonviolence, where Jesus engages in non-stop nonviolent resistance to systemic injustice and empire; and then Luke, where we hear a call to service, compassion and solidarity with the poor, as Jesus launches a grassroots campaign of nonviolence to Jerusalem, by sending out 72 nonviolence trained disciples as “lambs into the midst of wolves” until he arrives in Jerusalem and engages in civil disobedience. In the end, we will be sent forth to carry on Jesus’ global grassroots campaign of nonviolence to the ends of the earth.

John Dear’s Jesus is like Gandhi and Dr. King—nonviolent to the core, a disarming, healing presence toward those in need and a revolutionary disrupter of the unjust status quo and a political threat to the ruling authorities who succeed in killing him, only to push him to the heights of nonviolence through his death and resurrection. Join us for a fresh new approach to the Gospels!

Bring your Gospels and journal, and perhaps read the Gospels in preparation. There will be time for small group sharing and large group discussion, personal reflection, silent prayer, worship and socializing. Bring a friend!