Gospel commentary index Lectionary Year A
On this page, you can find an index to all the commentary articles on the gospel lectionary readings for the whole of Year A, together with links to the video discussions between Ian and James. The articles will be reposted with updates during the year—but they are listed here for convenience and planning ahead.
Baptised into new life in Christ in Romans 6 video discussion
In Romans 6, Paul uses the actions of baptism (going down into the waters of death, coming up to breathe the air of new life) to explain our new status in resurrection life. Underlying this is Paul’s eschatology—when we are in Christ, we begin to live the new life of the age to come. This both takes the power of sin seriously, but also the greater power of Jesus’ death and resurrection in liberating us from it. The article on prophecy mentioned at the beginning of the discussion can be found here. The other reading for Trinity 3 is Matthew…
Should the Church be saving the planet, or saving people?
Sir Paul Marshall, the owner of GB News, has apparently committed the unforgivable sin. Instead of seeking to save the planet from global warming, he has contributed money to the…
Visit Greece in the footsteps of St Paul in April 2027
I am planning to lead a study trip to Greece in the footsteps of St Paul, from Tuesday 20th to Thursday 29th April 2027 inclusive visiting Thessaloniki, Philippi, Berea, Meteroa,…
The calling and sending of the twelve apostles in Matthew 9 and 10
At last! After the detours in Luke-Acts and John for the series of feasts around Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity, the lectionary finally brings us back to the Gospel according to…
Peace, hope, and the love of God in Romans 5 video discussion
The epistle for Trinity 2 is the same as it was for Lent 3, Romans 5.1–8, so I link here the video discussion we previously recorded. The gospel is Jesus’…
Henry Nowak, racial justice, and the Church of England
The columns of our newspapers and our feeds on social media have been filled with the debate about the political issues raised by the tragic murder of Southampton student Henry…
The prophetic proclamation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Gerry Lynch writes: Starting in 1972, the animal psychologist Francine Patterson began to teach an infant gorilla named Koko a modified form of American Sign Language. Patterson claimed Koko could…
Barnabas: key to the missionary work of the Spirit in Acts 11
The first Sunday after Trinity (formerly known as Pentecost 2) is also often used to celebrate the feast of St Barnabas, who was responsible for receiving, encouraging, and working with…
Helen King’s motion for General Synod: a help or a hindrance?
This July, in the final session of this quinquennium, General Synod is due to debate a Private Members Motion from Helen King suggesting that there are no fundamental objections to…
Faith that receives grace in Romans 4 video discussion
The epistle for Trinity 1 in Year A is Romans 4.13–25. Many people are put off preaching on Romans, and Paul’s language here is dense and compressed. Yet the central…
What is prophecy?
I write a quarterly column for Preach Magazine, and for this next edition I have written an article on the nature of prophecy in Old and New Testaments. This is…
