Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
In 2018, I sensed God calling me to write a weekly commentary on the gospel lectionary reading for the following Sunday. So I began with Year C, when the main gospel was Luke, and worked through the following three years. Then, in 2021, I started producing video versions of these commentaries—but it didn’t work doing …
The first part of our passage is claimed to show that Jesus overturned the Jewish food laws. The second part is claimed to show that Jesus was racially prejudiced just as we are. Neither is true. The lectionary gospel reading for this Sunday, Trinity 11 in Year A, includes one mandatory pericope and an optional …
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 11 in Year A is Matthew 15.[10-20] 21-28. If we take the whole text, there are two episodes which are both commonly misinterpreted. The first part concerns the dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees about the washing of hands, and his teaching of the disciples about whether ‘unclean’ food …
Last week, I was doing some teaching in a local church about the Book of Revelation, and happened to put up a slide with the list of the tribes of Israel in the counting of the 144,000 in Rev 7.5–8. Someone in the congregation put up their hand: ‘Why is that list of tribes different …
It is fascinating to see the way that careless readings of well-known texts keep resurfacing in different contexts. One of those relates to the central teaching of Jesus, as he begins his ministry in Galilee after John the Baptist is imprisoned: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news …
The lectionary epistle reading for Advent 4 in Year A is Romans 1.1–7, which is a single sentence in Greek! Paul offers not just an opening greeting, but a programmatic introduction to the whole of his letter. It is relentlessly focussed on what God has done for us, before it ever touches on what might …
The lectionary reading for the Fourth Sunday before Advent in Year C is the story of Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus in Luke 19.1–10, a story found only in this gospel. Video discussion of the passage can be found here, and is posted at the end. The epistle for this week is the challenging passage of …
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.
On Trinity 5 in Year C, the gospel reading is the very well-known and widely misread story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10.38–end. You can find the video discussion of the passage here, and video discussion of the epistle for the week, Col 1.15–28, the so-called ‘Christ hymn’, here. Both are also linked at …
The Sunday lectionary NT epistle for Lent 4 is 2 Cor 5.16–21. The gospel lectionary reading is Luke 15.1-3, 11b-32, the parable of the Forgiving Father (or the Prodigal Son), which works well with it. Many people will be preaching on the theme of Mothering Sunday—but that is in danger of missing out on this …
The lectionary epistle reading for the Fourth Sunday before Lent in Year C is 1 Corinthians 15.1–11. Paul here offers a summary of the gospel that he has both received and passed on to the Corinthians—and it has some fascinating features. What is the role here of the ‘gospel tradition’? What are the key elements …
