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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. You can watch the video discussion of the passage here, and it is linked below. The epistle is 1 Peter 2.19–25, a challenge passage both … Continue Reading
(If you enjoy this article, why not buy me a coffee?) The Sunday lectionary reading (Trinity 9, Year C) continues on its journey through Luke’s ‘special section’ of Jesus’ ministry and teaching on road to Jerusalem from Luke 9.51 to Luke 18.14. In this short (and again, inexplicably truncated by the lectionary) reading from Luke … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 9 in this Year C is Luke 12.49–56, continuing in a substantial section of teaching of Jesus gathered together by Luke. In this part of the gospel, we find some of Jesus’ toughest teaching about the reality of judgement and the cost of following him. (The lectionary oddly cuts … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for the Second Sunday of Trinity in Year B is Mark 3.20–35, which consists of two stories of opposition to Jesus’ ministry, intercalated—that is, one story is split to form the outer frame, with another, related, story at the centre. The frame story is his (biological) family going to ‘seize’ … Continue Reading
The gospel reading for Trinity 2 in Year B is Mark 3.20–35 (the end of the chapter). It is a fascinating episode, since in characteristic style, Mark ‘intercalates’ or sandwiches one story inside another—the opposite from the Jewish authorities sits within the story of his family trying to stop his ministry. We learn about the … Continue Reading
The lectionary gospel readers for the Fourth Sunday of Easter take the three parts of John 10 in turn; in Year A, we read the first ten verses, and now in Year B we look at the second section in John 10.11–18. But this is a good example of where our modern chapter divisions (first … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for Year B is the second part of John 10 (John 10.11-18) on the theme of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, following on from the first part explored in Year A. This passage needs to be read carefully in the context of this section of the gospel—but also in its first … Continue Reading
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. But this is a good example of where our modern chapter divisions (first created by Stephen Langton, the 13th-century Archbishop of Canterbury who helped to … Continue Reading
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Easter 4 is Jesus’ teaching about himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10.1–10. It is actually part of the continued debate with the Pharisees after the healing of the man born blind in John 9, and takes place in Jerusalem. Join James and Ian as they discuss the … Continue Reading
There’s a scene in the film Love Actually where a little girl announces that she’ll be playing “first lobster” in the school nativity play. “There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?” asks her surprised mum, which leads the girl to sigh in exasperation at such profound levels of parental ignorance. … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary reading (Trinity 9, Year C) continues on its journey through Luke’s ‘special section’ of Jesus’ ministry and teaching on road to Jerusalem from Luke 9.51 to Luke 18.14. In this short (and again, inexplicably truncated by the lectionary) reading from Luke 12.49–56 (you might choose to read on to verse 59 to … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Associate Senior Research Fellow, Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod and Archbishops' Council. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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Gospel commentary index Lectionary Year A
Andrew Goddard Bible biblical interpretation Biblical literacy biblical theology Christmas Church of England culture discipleship discussion doctrine eschatology evangelism gay General Synod Grove guest Hermeneutics History hope interpretation James Blandford Baker Jesus John's gospel Justin Welby leadership lectionary Luke Luke's gospel Matthew ministry mission New Testament Paul politics preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
