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.
Loser! The Art of the Insult
Mike Starkey writes: During the 2018 Centennial of World War I, Donald Trump was scheduled to visit the Aisle-Marne American Cemetery in France. The relentless rain made helicopter travel to the Cemetery impossible, but aides informed the President he could be driven instead. Trump’s response, according to accounts from a senior Defence Department official, was that he didn’t want to visit the cemetery, as it was ‘filled with losers’.
On the same trip, Trump reportedly said the 1,800 US marines killed in the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood were ‘suckers’ for being killed. When reports of Trump’s dismissive language about dead American service personnel appeared in the Atlantic magazine, a media storm erupted. Trump denied the reports, but in 2023 his former Chief of Staff John Kelly confirmed that Trump had, in fact, used both slurs on the French trip.
What is beyond doubt is that the language of losers and winners has long been Trump’s characteristic benchmark for evaluating humanity, the trumpian equivalent of Jesus’s sheep and goats. In interviews, social media posts and rally speeches, loser has been his insult of choice.
Obedient love, and the Spirit as ‘another Helper’ in John 14
The lectionary gospel reading for Easter 6 in Year A is the next section of John 14.15–21. The split of the passage for the two Sundays is a little odd,…
Giving an account of our hope in 1 Peter 3 video discussion
The lectionary readings for Easter 6 in Year A are 1 Peter 3.13-end and John 14.15-21. The reading from 1 Peter 3 includes well-known and practical advice on how to…
Is church bureaucracy demonic?
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has made a rather startling remark about Church bureaucracy. He was in a conversation at Unherd about evil and the demonic in culture—especially “the…
The Wisdom of the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals: A Response to Paul Avis
Andrew Goddard writes: There are multiple visions for the future of the Anglican Communion. One, being offered by Gafcon, is found in the Abuja Affirmation. Another is found in the…
What are the ‘place prepared’ and the ‘greater works’ in John 14?
The lectionary readings for Easter 5 are 1 Peter 2.2-10 and John 14.1-14. You can see the video discussion of the reading from 1 Peter here, and at the end…
Growing as Living Stones in 1 Peter 2 video discussion
The lectionary readings for Easter 5 are 1 Peter 2.2-10 and John 14.1-14. In 1 Peter 2, we jump back to before last week’s reading (!) in order to line…
Donald Trump’s Bible Reading and the Blessing of God
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump took part in ‘America Reads the Bible,’ a week-long event where the whole Bible is read in public, including by well-known politicians and church leaders….
What is marriage for?
In our church we have a Spanish-speaking congregation, who join in on Sundays (where we have songs and readings in different languages and simultaneous translation) but who also have their…
Jesus is our good shepherd in John 10
The lectionary gospel readers for the Fourth Sunday of Easter take the three parts of John 10 in turn; being in Year A, we are reading the first ten verses….
Enduring suffering like Jesus in 1 Peter 2 video discussion
The lectionary epistle for Easter 4 is 1 Peter 2.19–end. Peter sees out a challenge call for us to endure suffering following the example of Jesus. But to make proper…
