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Philippians 2:5-11
Palm Sunday B
In his excellent commentary on the book of Hebrews (Hebrews, Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), the biblical scholar Tom Long refers to what he calls “the parabola of salvation.” It’s basically the trajectory that Hebrews and, I would suggest, this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson trace “from creation downward to the cross up the heavenly place of…
Philippians 4:1-9
Proper 23A
In a world that knows so little peace, this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s references to “the peace of God” [eirene tou Theou]* are very attractive. In fact, preachers may want to comb media reports shortly before they preach on Philippians 4 in order to cull some contemporary examples of that lack of peace. We probably won’t…
Philippians 3:4b-14
Proper 22A
The Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to pack this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson with poetic and vivid imagery. Commentaries on the CEP website from 2016 and 2020 delve into some of these images. However, preachers whom the Spirit prompts to move in a slightly different direction might consider Paul’s imagery of “taking hold” (12, 13). It,…
Philippians 2:1-13
Proper 21A
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson offers preachers a virtual embarrassment of theological riches. Its verses 5-11’s celebration of Jesus’ humiliation and exaltation are among Christians’ favorite passages. They, in fact, make up the Epistolary Lesson’s reading on each Palm Sunday. However, as the New Testament scholar Troy Troftgruben notes, this 17th Sunday after Pentecost also offers…
Philippians 1:21-30
Proper 20A
John Wooden was the hugely successful coach of America’s UCLA’s men’s basketball team. He also sought to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Wooden once famously said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s Paul would probably have agreed. After all,…
Philippians 2:5-11
Palm Sunday
On this Sunday on which the RCL offers two options for its Epistolary Lesson, preachers might choose to focus on one of those options. Those who wish to pursue a Palm Sunday theme might choose to preach about Matthew 21’s account of it. Those who wish to focus on Jesus’ Passion theme might choose to…
Philippians 2:5-11
Palm Sunday
Comments, Observations, and Questions This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson points its proclaimers to the horrible degradation and subsequent exaltation of Christ Jesus. So God the Son is always the primary subject of any proclamation of Philippians 2:5-11. Its proclaimers can find a wealth of good help proclaiming Christ Jesus in this site’s various commentaries. But those…
Philippians 3:4b-13
Lent 5C
Good gospel preaching, like faithful Christian living, always leans forward rather than backwards. While some Christians long for “the good old days,” this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson expresses the Apostle Paul’s longing for the good coming days. Of course, Philippians 3 says quite a bit about that on what Paul can look back. But the apostle…
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Lent 2C
In this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson Paul calls his Philippian audience to “join with others in following” his “example” (17). To 21st century ears, however, such an invitation sounds like nails scraping an old-fashioned chalkboard. Its apparent arrogance doesn’t just, after all, hurt our ears. Such a bold call to imitation also no longer fits into…
Philippians 4:4-7
Advent 3C
The season of Advent is, for many of Jesus’ friends, as well as the culture in which many citizens of the global west live, a perhaps especially busy one. Many of us are busily preparing for various holiday celebrations, even as a global pandemic and political strife continue to rage among and around us. So…
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