Home » New Testament »
Hebrews 10:5-10
Advent 4C
What on earth is this whole Christmas business about? Why is it worth all the effort so many people put into celebrating it? To answer that, not just the Church but also the world needs to know just why Jesus came to be not only born in Bethlehem, but also to grow up to live,…
Luke 3:7-18
Advent 3C
Well what did you expect John would say? His preaching was getting through to the people. Bigly. His “in your face” approach to getting a message of repentance across was succeeding and before you knew it, John’s got people of all sorts asking “What should we do?” And in response to this earnest query, what…
Philippians 4:4-7
Advent 3C
The Bible is full of commands to “Rejoice.” Yet they’re not always calls to God’s people to just “be happy.” After all, the Scriptures’ calls to rejoice sometimes seem to come in the context of the least happy times and places. For example, the Paul who writes the Epistolary Lesson the Lectionary assigns for this…
Luke 1:68-79
Advent 2C
Someone once said that visits always bring pleasure because even if the arrival of a certain visitor didn’t make you happy, his departure will! The comedic pianist Victor Borge also touched on this topic when he once noted that the mythic figure of Santa Claus has the right idea: you should visit people just once…
Luke 3:1-6
Advent 2C
I love Luke. The man has style. And he displays that style in narrative after narrative in his Gospel and in his sequel, The Book of Acts. Tradition has it Luke was a doctor. He clearly came mighty close to missing his calling. Thankfully, the Spirit used Luke’s considerable literary powers after all to give…
Philippians 1:3-11
Advent 2C
This second Sunday of the month of December seems like an appropriate time to explore Philippians 1:3-11. Its theme of thanksgiving is, after all, consistent with the Thanksgiving holiday that Americans recently celebrated. What’s more, this Sunday is also near the beginning of the Advent season in which we look forward to “the day of…
Luke 21:25-36
Advent 1C
For Luke “as it was in the beginning” might be a good slogan to encapsulate his Gospel’s conclusion. Because when Luke began, we heard a lot of very dramatic rhetoric as to what the coming of the Messiah would entail. Even the Virgin Mary’s song in Luke 1—the Magnificat—is filled with violent imagery. We read…
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Advent 1C
This first Sunday in the season of Advent liturgically marks the beginning of a season of waiting. Not just of waiting to celebrate Jesus’ first coming. Advent is also the season in which God’s adopted sons and daughters at least try to concentrate on waiting for Jesus’ second coming. We’ve had 2,000 years of practice…
John 18:33-37
Proper 29B
Digging into the Text: It’s interesting that this year Christ the King Sunday comes just a few weeks after a very divisive American election. Actually, as of this writing, it’s not even over yet, as recounts continue in closely fought races. On top of that, the Gospel for this year is a tense conversation between…
Revelation 1:4-8
Proper 29B
With this week’s Epistolary lesson the Lectionary takes its first step into the muddy waters that are Revelation. In fact, on this Year B Christ the King Sunday, Revelation 1:4-8 is the first step into Year C’s 6-stop journey through Revelation. It’s an appropriate first step and stop because this text the Lectionary appoints answers…
Content related to New Testament