Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew is much briefer than in the other gospels. But he draws extensively on images from the Old Testament, and focuses on Jesus, the one who invites us, provides for us, and invites us to follow him. The Sunday lectionary reading for the Trinity 9 in Year A is …
If gentiles are now coming to faith in Jesus, and many Jews are not, has the word of God and his promise to Israel failed? That is the critical question Paul starts to address in Roman 9.1–5, the epistle for Trinity 9 in Year A. This passage cannot be read in isolation, as Paul uses …
(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 …
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 …
The lectionary gospel for Trinity 9 in this Year B is John 6.1–21, and it takes us from famine to feast—metaphorically and literally!—as we move from the sparse verses about Jesus’ ministry in Mark 6 to the lavish feast of both the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water in John 6. …
The account of the feeding of the 5,000 is often thought to point to subsequent Christian practice of Communion or the Eucharist. In fact, there are several pointers in the account in John 6 which point away from this. Much stronger are links with the Old Testament, particularly Moses leading the people as they are …
The Sunday lectionary reading for the Trinity 9 in Year A is Matt 14.13–21. We have now moved beyond the third section of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew, on the kingdom of heaven in chapter 13, and are immersed once more in Jesus’ ministry and engagement with those around him, which extends to the end of …
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 …
We continue through our careful reading of John 6 as an intermission from Mark’s gospel, and on Trinity 9 in Year B the gospel reading is John 6.24–35. Having romped through 21 verses last week, which include the Fourth Gospel’s lengthier version of the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water (though in a …
