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The first Sunday after Trinity (formerly known as Pentecost 2) is also often used to celebrate the feast of St Barnabas, who was responsible for receiving, encouraging, and working with the apostle Saul/Paul. In our lectionary reading, Acts 11.19–30, he performs a vital role in encouraging the believers in Antioch and advocating for them to … Continue Reading
The epistle for Trinity 1 in Year A is Romans 4.13–25. Many people are put off preaching on Romans, and Paul’s language here is dense and compressed. Yet the central message is this: salvation is not the result of a contract, in which we exchange God’s grace for our obedience. It is a gift that … Continue Reading
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Trinity Sunday in this Year A is Matt 28.16–20. As with the readings in Years B and C, it is short and compact. (See below for commentary on this, and here for video discussion of it, and here for video discussion of the epistle from 2 Cor 13, both … Continue Reading
Should we preach on the Trinity on Trinity Sunday? The answer is less obvious than you might think! And what do we make of the triadic formula in Matt 28.19? Was it a later addition or part of the teaching of Jesus? And how should we read the five imperatives from Paul in 2 Cor … Continue Reading
The lectionary New Testament readings for the Pentecost, this coming Sunday, are 1 Corinthians 12.3b-13, Acts 2.1-21, and John 20.19-23—but the first or second reading must be from Acts. So I suspect most churches will read Acts and 1 Corinthians 12. Written commentary on Acts 2 can be found here, and video discussion here. Here … Continue Reading
The lectionary reading for Easter 7, the last Sunday of the Easter Season before Pentecost, is the first part of the ‘great prayer’ of Jesus in John 17.1–11. The lectionary divides the chapter into three parts over Years A, B and C, which either assumes that preachers and people have a good memory from year … Continue Reading
The lectionary reading for Easter 7 in Year A is split over two chapters in 1 Peter: 1 Peter 4.12-14; 5.6-11. The first part returns to the question of suffering, and both connects with previous teaching on suffering, and adds in new striking dimensions, in particular the mention of the Spirit. The second part includes … Continue Reading
The lectionary gospel reading for Easter 6 in Year A is the next section of John 14.15–21. The split of the passage for the two Sundays is a little odd, in that last week’s was twice the length, and contained three massive issues to address! This week’s is much shorter and more straightforward. (The lectionary … Continue Reading
The lectionary readings for Easter 6 in Year A are 1 Peter 3.13-end and John 14.15-21. The reading from 1 Peter 3 includes well-known and practical advice on how to ‘give an account of the hope that is in you’ which has obvious application today. But the second half includes what is perhaps the most … Continue Reading
The lectionary readings for Easter 5 are 1 Peter 2.2-10 and John 14.1-14. You can see the video discussion of the reading from 1 Peter here, and at the end of this piece. When I read this text, I cannot help but feel it has a slightly strange, dream-like quality to it, and I think … Continue Reading
The lectionary readings for Easter 5 are 1 Peter 2.2-10 and John 14.1-14. In 1 Peter 2, we jump back to before last week’s reading (!) in order to line up with discussion about places to abide in John 14. This well-known passage is saturated with OT references, both implicit and explicit, which we need … 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
