Psalm 70 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27A
The odd and curious words “Aha! Aha!” occur four times in the Hebrew Psalter. Twice in Psalm 35, once in Psalm 40, and then here in Psalm 70. It is a translation of the Hebrew הֶאָח / he-ach and near as anyone can tell, a derisive “Aha!” seems to be a pretty good rendering of…
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27A
Paul begins this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson by claiming he does not want his brothers and sisters in Christ to be “uninformed [agnoein*] about those who sleep in death [koimomenon]” (13). He then goes on to conclude 1 Thessalonians 4 with verse 18’s call to “encourage [parakaleite] one another with” what he has just written. In…
Amos 5:18-25 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27A
After spending a sustained amount of time in the books of Genesis and Exodus over the summer and early Fall, in the month-long lead up to Advent, the Lectionary plops us down into 4 different prophetic books. So part of the commentary each week will be to orient us to the argument of the book…
Matthew 25:1-13 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27A
This story definitely wants us to pay attention to the mistakes of the foolish: they are unprepared and do not care to plan or to think about what they need to do in their role as a bridesmaid. Thus, when the big moment comes for them to escort the groom to the house where the…
Micah 3:5-12 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26A
After spending a sustained amount of time in the books of Genesis and Exodus over the summer and early Fall, in the month-long lead up to Advent, the Lectionary plops us down into 4 different prophetic books. So part of the commentary each week will be to orient us to the argument of the book…
Psalm 43 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26A
If you rounded up some Old Testament scholars and especially those who are experts on the Book of Psalms, you would likely find consensus among most of those people that Psalms 42 and 43 belong together such that you really cannot look at one without the other. Some might contend this had originally been a…
1 John 3:1-3 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26A
Note: Since this passage is the suggested one for All Saints Day rather than Proper 26, preachers who wish to preach on 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 may feel free to consult previous commentaries on it found on this site at (https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2023-10-30/1-thessalonians-29-13-3/) and (https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2020-10-26/1-thessalonians-29-13-2/). In a culture that was once enamored with the concept of love,…
Matthew 23:1-12 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26A
Jesus has confounded and humbled the leaders by his words, challenging them in such a way that they have had to realize that they do not, in fact, know it all. As we ended last week, the leaders of the synagogue are not able to answer Jesus’s question about the Messiah and now they do…
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Sermon Commentary
Proper 25A
A Sunday Too Soon Looking at this reading and the liturgical calendar, I can’t help lamenting that the text has come just one Sunday too early. November 1 is celebrated, in many church traditions, as All Saints Day — an opportunity to remember our ancestors in faith. Certainly, this story of Moses on the cusp…
Sermon Commentary Library
Our weekly sermon commentaries are Lectionary-based, which across its three-year cycle, encompass a vast array of biblical texts. Filter the Sermon Commentary Library to search Scripture texts by book and chapter to find commentary, illustrations, and reflections to spark ideas.
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