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The gospel reading for Trinity 14 in Year A, Matt 18.15–20, comes within the fourth of the five collections of teaching organised by Matthew to, in some sense, present Jesus as a new Moses. Having focussed on discipleship (Matt 5–7), mission (Matt 10), and the kingdom of heaven (Matt 13), this collection gathers sayings on … Continue Reading
The lectionary gospel reading for Trinity 13 in Year A is Matthew 16.21–28, in which Jesus declares he is heading for Jerusalem to die, Peter rebukes him, and Jesus counter-rebukes Peter. It follows on from the strong commendation of Peter by Jesus after his confession at Caesarea Philippi, and offers a contrast with it at … Continue Reading
In the previous post, I asked Dr Rhiannon McAleer of Bible Society about their research on church attendance in partnership with YouGov, and the surprising and encouraging findings. In this video, we discuss the issues, including their findings around Bible interest and engagement, and the moments in life when people are most open to thinking … Continue Reading
Martyn Whittock is a historian who has written two fascinating books about end times expectation through history, The End Times, Again? 2000 Years of the Use & Misuse of Biblical Prophecy and its impact on the radicalisation of politics, Apocalyptic Politics: A Taproot of Political Radicalization and Populism. In this video, he asks me all the … Continue Reading
The reading for Trinity 8 in this Year A is the remaining parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13. Although very brief, they contain some startling images, and raise the key question of the relationship between God’s initiative and our response. Come and join Ian and James as they discuss these intriguing texts, and the … Continue Reading
The lectionary gospel reading for the Trinity 7 in Year A once more splits up a text in order to unite a parable and its interpretation by Jesus, though with less damage than was done previously. The parable itself is given in Matthew 13.24–30; we then skip over the brief parables of the mustard seed … Continue Reading
The lectionary gospel reading for Trinity 6 is the Parable of the Sower and the Soils in Matt 13, along with Jesus’ explanation of it—though omitting the challenging explanation of why Jesus teaches in parables in the middle. Come and join James and Ian as they explore the passage, and its significance for discipleship, ministry, … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 5 in this Year A is another odd selection of verses, Matthew 11.16–19 and 25–30. The lectionary omits the challenging words of Jesus’ judgement of the cities where he has ministered—but in fact these are integral the passage, which explores the paradoxes of Jesus’ ministry and response to it. … Continue Reading
The gospel reading for Trinity 4 in Year A of Matt 10.40–42 is perhaps the strangest choice in the whole lectionary—at only three verses! And yet this short passage has some really significant features that offer enormous potential for reflection: it is tightly structured and highly memorable; it is almost without parallel in the other … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 3 is Matthew 10.24-39. It comes after Jesus has called and sent out the Twelve to share in the ministry and mission that he himself has been undertaking. Matthew blends into this Jesus’ teaching about the longer-term mission of his people, and he collects together related sayings of teaching … Continue Reading
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 Matthew for the Second Sunday of Trinity in Year A! The reading set, Matt 9.35–10.8, is slightly odd, in that it bridges from one section of Matthew, … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Adjunct Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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