Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Whilst everyone is recovering from Christmas, and bracing for the coming of the New Year, I have not merely leftovers but a feast of resources for preaching this coming Sunday! The gospel reading is from John 1, either the first 18 verses, or verses 10 to 18. The written commentary is here, and the video …
I am reposting here my annual collection of resources on the Epiphany, the visit of the magi to the young Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 2. The article is in three sections, plus a link to our video discussion. First, a general exploration of the role it plays in the nativity story in Matthew, and …
I am reposting here a longer article on the Epiphany, the visit of the magi to the young Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 2. The article is in several sections. First, a general exploration of the role it plays in the nativity story in Matthew, and the question of the relation of Matthew with Luke. …
The story of the (three?) magi (wise men? kings?) in Matthew 2.1–11 has gripped the popular imagination—but some also question whether the story has coherence and credibility. What was the actual context in which the story is set? Does it ring true? And how does it fit with the gospel of Matthew as it unfolds? …
The Feast of the Epiphany in the church’s liturgical calendar is based on the events of Matt 2.1–12, the visit of the ‘wise men’ from the East to the infant Jesus. There are plenty of things about the story which might make us instinctively treat it as just another part of the constellation of Christmas traditions, …
The lectionary gospel reading for this Sunday is either the Ephiphany in Matt 2.1–12, or the readings for Christmas 2 in Year C, which is John 1.1–18 or John 1.10–18. If you are using the readings for Christmas 2, I commented on most of this text earlier in the year, since John 1.1–14 was the …
The Feast of the Epiphany in the church’s liturgical calendar is based on the events of Matt 2.1–12, the visit of the ‘wise men’ from the East to the infant Jesus. There are plenty of things about the story which might make us instinctively treat it as just another part of the constellation of Christmas traditions, …
If nothing else, the announcement that Sarah Mullally was to be the new Bishop of London was entertaining in the way that it flummoxed all the pundits and predictors. As the inimitable Richard Coles put it: ‘In your faces, haruspices‘. But then followed the slightly predictable rush to judgement, with a number of comments made …
