Tom Wright
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Fig Tree
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Fig Tree
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Fig Tree Luke 13.1-9 If the New Testament had never been written, we would still know that Pontius Pilate was an unpleasant and unpopular Governor of Judaea. The Jewish historian Josephus lists several things he did which upset and irritated the local Jewish po…
Luke for Everyone - Reading the Signs of the Times
Luke for Everyone - Reading the Signs of the Times
by SPCK - N T Wright
Reading the Signs of the Times Luke 12.49-59 The great composer Ludwig van Beethoven used sometimes to play a trick on polite salon audiences, especially when he guessed that they weren’t really interested in serious music. He would perform a piece on the piano, one of his own sl…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Call to Watchfulness
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Call to Watchfulness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Call to Watchfulness Luke 12.35-48 My most embarrassing moment of the year came while waiting at an airport to check in for a flight to Tel Aviv. I was leading a small pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and we had risen very early in the morning to get to the airport on time. We…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Fool
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Rich Fool Luke 12.13-34 The modern Western world is built on anxiety. You see it on the faces of people hurrying to work. You see it even more as they travel home, tired but without having solved life’s problems. The faces are weary, puzzled, living with the un…
Luke for Everyone - Further Warnings
Luke for Everyone - Further Warnings
by SPCK - N T Wright
Further Warnings Luke 12.1-12 It started off as an ordinary walk in the country. We decided to head off across open moorland towards a distant crag; the map suggested there might be a good view from the top. Much of the walk was relaxed. The five of us went at our own paces, in t…
Luke for Everyone - Woes Against the Pharisees
Luke for Everyone - Woes Against the Pharisees
by SPCK - N T Wright
Woes Against the Pharisees Luke 11.42-54 The tennis player came grumpily into the television interview room. He had just lost a vital match in the Wimbledon men’s singles tournament, the premier tennis event of the year. He was tired and cross. Worse: in the course of the game, s…
Luke for Everyone - The Sign of Jonah
Luke for Everyone - The Sign of Jonah
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Sign of Jonah Luke 11.29-41 The great church is completely dark. It is almost midnight, and the little crowd outside the west door shuffles round and stamps to keep warm in the chilly April air. Then, as the clock strikes, the fire is lit, with a sudden glow on all the watchi…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Beelzebul Luke 11.14-28 A friend was telling me about the first years in which she had been a schoolteacher. ‘It was very strange,’ she said. ‘Sometimes a pupil would be doing just fine, and then suddenly their work would get much worse. We wouldn’t find out why until t…
Luke for Everyone - The Lord's Prayer
Luke for Everyone - The Lord's Prayer
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Lord’s Prayer Luke 11.1-13 The telephone rang. It was a message that my younger son, a singer, was about to get on an aeroplane to go with his choir to the other side of the world. If I was quick, I might just be able to catch him with a call to wish him well. I phoned, caugh…
Luke for Everyone - Martha and Mary
Luke for Everyone - Martha and Mary
by SPCK - N T Wright
Martha and Mary Luke 10.38-42 If you thought ‘the good Samaritan’ was radical, this powerful little story suggests that Luke has plenty more where that came from. In describing Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, he has chosen this incident as part of his introduction. It took place at …
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Good Samaritan
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10.25-37 The best-known stories are sometimes the hardest to understand. ‘The good Samaritan’ has passed into folklore, and has succeeded, confusingly, in changing the meaning of the word ‘Samaritan’ itself in modern English. There is now a …
Luke for Everyone - The Celebration of Jesus
Luke for Everyone - The Celebration of Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Celebration of Jesus Luke 10.17-24 What was it like being Jesus? That’s one of the hardest questions for anyone reading the gospels, but this passage gives us some clues. It’s all too easy for Christians to make the mistake of thinking that he just sailed through life with ea…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Sends Out the Seventy
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Sends Out the Seventy
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Luke 10.1-16 I had lunch with a friend who told me how, earlier in the year, his teenage son had been taken seriously ill. For weeks he had been going to doctors and specialists, all of whom had been puzzled by his symptoms. Finally he went to a senior…
Luke for Everyone - The Nature of Discipleship
Luke for Everyone - The Nature of Discipleship
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Nature of Discipleship Luke 9.46-62 The most famous work of early English literature is Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. As we read it today, we get a sudden and vivid picture of life in the fourteenth century, and of the rich and diverse human characters of the time, with their j…
Luke for Everyone - The Transfiguration
Luke for Everyone - The Transfiguration
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Transfiguration Luke 9.28-45 The Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire tells the story of two athletes at the 1920 Paris Olympics. Harold Abrahams, after a gigantic struggle as much against himself as against the other runners, achieved the gold medal in the 100 yards. Eric Li…
Luke for Everyone - Peter's Declaration of Jesus' Messiahship
Luke for Everyone - Peter's Declaration of Jesus' Messiahship
by SPCK - N T Wright
Peter’s Declaration of Jesus’ Messiahship Luke 9.18-27 ‘When did you first know’, I asked my friend, ‘that you wanted to be a philosopher?’ (He was at this time already a senior professor of philosophy.) ‘Oh, that’s easy,’ he replied. ‘I knew when I was sitting in my first lectur…
Luke for Everyone - The Twelve Sent Out and Feeding the Five Thousand
Luke for Everyone - The Twelve Sent Out and Feeding the Five Thousand
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Twelve Sent Out and Feeding the Five Thousand Luke 9.1-17 When a new business starts up, it’s often the dream of one person that makes it happen. But if the business succeeds, more people need to come on board. Not just to do the detailed work that the founder hasn’t got time…
Luke for Everyone - Jairus's Daughter and the Woman with Chronic Bleeding