Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 40.1–11 2 Peter 3.8–15a Mark 1.1–8 If John the Baptist was going to raise up the valleys and flatten out the mountains, he started in the right place. Jericho lies a long way below the road-sign that says ‘sea level’; Jerusalem, a long way abo…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
First Sunday of Advent Isaiah 64.1–9 1 Corinthians 1.3–9 Mark 13.24–37 Advent has stolen the old Christmas mystique. The symbolism of darkness awaiting dawn makes sense in a postmodern world where Christmas razzmatazz has been debunked, demythologized and deconstructed. Hope in…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Gazing on the Gospel - Year B The Fourth Sunday of Advent Luke 1.26-38 Gaze on two Renaissance masterpieces: the Annunciation by Titian, and the Annunciation by Tintoretto. Even if you have never seen them let your imagination conjure them up... Both depict the same story, but th…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Gazing on the Gospel - Year B The Second Sunday of Advent Mark 1.1-8 Gaze on the people coming out to John in the wilderness. The parents are dragging along the children by their hand, and the old people are hobbling along trying to catch up. They know it won’t be easy to reach t…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4–13 Matthew 3:1–12 ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord’ (Isaiah 11.3).Yes, no doubt, but the Hebrew word for ‘delight’ actually means ‘smell’. This may be just a metaphor, borrowed perhaps from the cultic co…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Before Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Before Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday Before Advent Micah 3.5–12 1 Thessalonians 2.9–13 Matthew 24.1–14 Those of us who earn our living by speaking and writing about the Bible sometimes feel nervous in the presence of Micah and Paul. There is the apostle, doing his day job making tents, debating wit…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 7: 10-16 Romans 1: 1-7 Matthew 1: 18-25 We were taught in college, and many repeat in the pulpit, that the word ’almah' in Isaiah 7.14 doesn’t mean ‘virgin’, but ‘young woman’. It’s not that easy, actually: the word is rare, and the oth…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11–14 Matthew 24:36–44 With the lectionary’s new year comes St Matthew, with warnings about the days of Noah. Noah’s solitary gospel cameo; he doesn’t feature much in the epistles, either. Why not? The point about Noah’s …
LWPT Meditations - First Sunday of Advent - Year C
LWPT Meditations - First Sunday of Advent - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – First Sunday of Advent Year C Jeremiah 33: 14-16 Psalm 25: 1-10 1st Thessalonians 3: 9-13 Luke 21: 25-36 When I saw a man with a sandwich board bearing the words, “the end of the world is nigh”, I guessed he was going to a fancy dress party ... until I saw him …
LWPT Meditations - First Sunday of Advent - Year A
LWPT Meditations - First Sunday of Advent - Year A
by Susan Thorne
Advent, leading to Christmas, is a time of hope and expectation, and the lectionary readings reflect this. The Christmas story is included, of course; Matthew’s account, and Luke’s with the shepherds and the heavenly choir, together with a beautiful passage from Titus. It is not …
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year A
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year A
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – Third Sunday of Advent Yr A Isaiah 35:1-10 Psalm 146:5-10 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 John the Baptist had put his full faith in Jesus. He had foretold Jesus’ coming, heralded him as the Lamb of God, sent his own disciples to follow him. But John’s faith had not be…
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 3rd Sunday of advent Year B Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126 Our lectionary reading from Isaiah (61 v 1-4, 8-11) provided Jesus with the words that began his ministry. It was the scroll of Isaiah from which he read in the synagogue at Nazareth, and he applied the words…
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – Third Sunday of Advent Year C Zephaniah 3: 14-20 Isaiah 12: 2-6 Philippians 4: 4-7 Luke 3: 7-18 It is often the case that in prophesying about the fall of Jerusalem, the exile in Babylon, and the restoration of the people of Israel to their homeland, the prophets fin…
LWPT Meditations - Sunday Before Advent - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Sunday Before Advent - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation- Sunday before Advent Year B 2nd Samuel 23 v 1-7 Psalm 132 v 1-12 Revelation 1 v 4b-8 John 18 v 33-37 “When one rules in the fear of God, when he rules over men in righteousness, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness aft…
LWPT Meditations - Sunday Before Advent - Year A