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Matthew 16:21-28
Proper 17A
From the highest of highs in their relationship with one another to a new low point, Peter goes from identifying and worshipping Jesus as the true Messiah to Jesus calling out Peter’s collusion with the devil. Jesus looks right at Peter as he tells to the evil one to shove off and quit trying to…
Romans 12:9-21
Proper 17A
Most Christians find it reasonably easy to love people who love and like us. It can be harder to genuinely love people who don’t like us. It may feel almost impossible to love people who have harmed us or shown they wish to harm us. Yet this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson strongly implies Jesus’ friends’ “sincere”…
Matthew 16:13-20
Proper 16A
Comments, Questions, and Observations This passage sits in the middle of the gospel of Matthew. It is the first time that the term “Messiah” is applied to Jesus Christ, and it is the first time that the church (ecclesia) is mentioned. It’s also the moment that Simon Peter becomes Peter in the narrative, the rock…
Romans 12:1-8
Proper 16A
The biblical concept of “sacrifice” [thysian*] (Romans 12:1) is nearly as old as sin. Genesis 4:2-5 describes perhaps the first sacrifices offered to God by Cain and Abel. Many Old Testament figures, including Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also offered sacrifices to God. The books of Exodus and Leviticus portray sacrifices as a common element…
Romans 11:1-2a; 29-32
Proper 15A
In a text that Paul packs with observations that can be hard to interpret (some of which the Revised Common Lectionary deftly sidesteps), few are more difficult than verse 32’s “God has bound [synekleisen*] everyone [pantos] over to disobedience [apeitheian].” Even preachers who look to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) may find little help…
Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28
Proper 15A
The lectionary’s focus is on the story of the Canaanite woman’s transforming conversation with Jesus but also provides us with the preceding section where Jesus teaches about holiness being measured by what’s within—much to the chagrin of the Pharisees. The two scenes are connected by a participle in verse 21: having discussed that it’s what…
Romans 10:5-15
Proper 14A
One form of an old adage summons preachers to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” While Paul almost certainly wasn’t familiar with that invitation, this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson suggests he was familiar with its underlying principle. He, after all, fills Romans 10 with both rich comfort and implied warnings. We might argue that Paul…
Matthew 14:22-33
Proper 14A
Jesus finally gets that alone time he yearned for when hearing about John the Baptist’s death (see verse 13). He first sends the disciples away, presumably so that they will not dutifully follow him up the hill later, but perhaps also because he wants to give them a rest too. After all, they just catered…
Romans 9:1-5
Proper 13A
God has graced my wife and me with a number of close Jewish friends, as well as casual acquaintances. God has immeasurably enriched our lives through these dear people whom we both like and love very much. But I’ve never been able to join Paul in saying something like, “I could wish that I myself…
Matthew 14:13-21
Proper 13A
The ominous words that open our story immediately make us curious: what happened? Jesus hears something and feels the need to withdraw to a deserted place by himself. The emphasis on his desire to be alone is clear, even as we come to realize from verse 15 that the disciples have come with them (that’s…
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