John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and the Woman
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and the Woman
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and the Woman John 4.16-26 A friend of mine described the reaction when he went home, as a young teenager, and announced to his mother that he’d become a Christian. Alarmed, she thought he’d joined some kind of cult. ‘They’ve brainwashed you!’ she said. He was ready with th…
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and Thomas
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and Thomas
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Thomas John 20.24-31 Out of my window I can see a clock. A large and famous clock, on a great public building. It’s lit up at night, and you can see it from many parts of the city. As I write this, it has just struck the hour. Consider the journey that the clock makes f…
Hebrews for Everyone - Jesus as the Truly Human Being
Hebrews for Everyone - Jesus as the Truly Human Being
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus as the Truly Human Being HEBREWS 2.5-9 One of the most dramatic stories in the Old Testament concerns the royal succession. King David was very old, and everybody knew he couldn’t last much longer. He had a great many sons and daughters. One of his sons, Adonijah, got toget…
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and Peter
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and Peter
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Peter John 21.15-19 He had offered to help clear up after the dinner party. Indeed, he was eager to do so. We gave him a towel and he worked away with us, wiping pans and jugs. But he was still excited after the events of the day, and his mind wasn’t really on the job. …
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman Luke 7.36-50 When you look at a painting, what do you look for first? Some people stand well back and let the full sweep of it wash over them: the glorious colours, the contrasts, the light and shade. Some people focus at once on the characters, t…
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus Goes to the Tomb
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus Goes to the Tomb
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Goes to the Tomb John 11.28-37 John for Everyone Part 2 28With these words, Martha went back and called her sister Mary. ‘The teacher has come,’ she said to her privately, ‘and he’s asking for you.’ 29When she heard that, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Jesus hadn’t y…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Is Arrested
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Is Arrested
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 14.26–52 Jesus Is Arrested... ...What do you do when the strong person in your life suddenly becomes weak? Children face this when the parent on whom they have relied for everything is suddenly struck down with illness or grief. Colleagues working on a proj…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 14.1–11... ...If the storm clouds are gathering over Jerusalem in chapter 13, in chapter 14 they are coming together over the head of Jesus himself. The parallel between the two is important: the fate Jesus has predicted for the Temple (destruction at the h…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Grieves Over Jerusalem
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Grieves Over Jerusalem
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Grieves Over Jerusalem Luke 13.31-35 The house I live in was built after the Second World War. It replaced the much older one that stood here before, which was burnt to ashes one night in 1941, after a fire-bomb, dropped by an enemy aircraft, landed right on it. The people …
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus in the Temple
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus in the Temple
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus in the Temple John 2.13-25 Imagine the scene in a school. The pupils are all taking their end-of-year exams. The teachers are preparing for a big Open Day when parents and friends will come to visit. Everyone is excited. It’s the biggest moment in the school year. Suddenly …
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 10.46–52 Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar... ...It took some weeks of persuasion before they came to see me. The grown-up son was desperate to get his ailing and depressed mother into some kind of a home where she would be properly cared for. As long as she lived…
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus Enters Jerusalem
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus Enters Jerusalem
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Enters Jerusalem John 12.9-19 Even now in Western culture most people know what the symbols mean. If someone went into a deep sleep, then woke to see shops full of stockings filled with presents, they would know it was nearly Christmas. If they woke up to see people with ch…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar Luke 18.31-43 Sometimes when you listen to a fine piece of music you discover that the composer is leading you into greater and greater tension, until something inside you is longing for it to be resolved into a final great chord or tune. One strand of …
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath Luke 13.10-21 Let’s, for a change, imagine that you are on the edge of the crowd that has followed Jesus so far. You haven’t heard everything and haven’t understood all you’ve heard, but you think you’ve got the general drift of it all …
Simply Jesus - Jesus: the ruler of the world
Simply Jesus - Jesus: the ruler of the world
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 3 Jesus: the ruler of the world Simply Jesus Who he was, what he did, why it matters What on earth does it mean, today, to say that Jesus is king, that he is Lord of the world? How can we say such a thing in our confused world? If we do want to say it, what are we saying tha…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Promise and Ascension
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Promise and Ascension
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Promise and Ascension Luke 24.36-53 Luke’s closing scene, for all its joy and excitement, brings into focus for us the real problem of what happened at Easter. What sort of a body did Jesus have? How could it at the same time be solid and real, with flesh and bones, able t…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Jesus' Death Reveals God's Love and Guarantees Final Salvation
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Jesus' Death Reveals God's Love and Guarantees Final Salvation
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Death Reveals God’s Love and Guarantees Final Salvation ROMANS 5.6-11 I have heard it said – one hears all sorts of strange things in church – that John’s gospel is all about the love of God, but Paul’s letters are all about law, justice and hard, sharp things like that. W…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Fame Increases