Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Prodigal Son (part1)
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Prodigal Son (part1)
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parables of the Prodigal: The Father and the Younger Son Luke 15.11-24 We might think that the parable of the prodigal son, as it’s usually known, hardly needs an introduction. It has inspired artists and writers down the years. Rembrandt’s famous painting, with the younger s…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager Luke 16.1-9 She came up to me after the service and demanded to know what it meant. This passage had been read as the second lesson, while the first had been a prophetic denunciation (from Ezekiel 18, I think) of all kinds of sins, including the …
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Prodigal (part 2)
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Prodigal (part 2)
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Prodigal: The Father and the Older Son Luke 15.25-32 A vivid phrase from a schoolboy poem, written by a classmate of mine over thirty years ago, remains with me to this day. He described a park-keeper whose job was to pick up litter on a spiked pole. Surrounded…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Sower
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Sower
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Sower Luke 8.1-15 If Jesus was telling this story today, he might well include other categories as well. What about the seeds that were planted in good soil but were ruined by acid rain? What about the plants that were coming up nicely but were bulldozed by occ…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Great Banquet
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Great Banquet
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Great Banquet Luke 14.12-24 Once, many years ago, I preached a sermon on this passage. I emphasized the extraordinary way in which Jesus tells his hearers to do something that must have been as puzzling then as it is now. Don’t invite friends, relatives and nei…
Mark for Everyone - The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter
Mark for Everyone - The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 5.35–43The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter... ...Right on cue, as the suspense heightens, messengers come to tell Jairus that his daughter has now died. He shouldn’t bother Jesus any longer. Telling Jairus not to be afraid, and just to believe, in that setting…
John for Everyone part 2 - The Raising of Lazarus
John for Everyone part 2 - The Raising of Lazarus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Raising of Lazarus John 11.38-46 We saw a programme on the television last night about the fossilized remains of what looks like an ancient race of creatures. They seem to be like humans, but much taller. They appear to have been significantly different from any monkeys or ap…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Question about Elijah
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Question about Elijah
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Question about Elijah Matthew 17.9-13 The young student nervously approached the professor after the lecture. He’d been thinking for some while about doing graduate work after his degree, and this teacher’s lectures were the ones he’d most enjoyed. Could he perhaps have a bri…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Raising of the Little Girl
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Raising of the Little Girl
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Raising of the Little Girl Matthew 9.18-26 As I write this, Britain’s farms are in a state of crisis. A powerful disease has spread through tens of thousands of animals, which have had to be slaughtered. Much of the countryside is closed off; nobody is allowed to walk through…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Question of the Resurrection
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Question of the Resurrection
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Question of the Resurrection Matthew 22.23-33 I once sat on a college committee where two older members had a regular tactic for stopping any change that might have been proposed. When one of the younger members (myself, for instance) proposed doing something that would reall…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Question about Divorce
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Question about Divorce
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Question about Divorce Matthew 19.1-9 Last time we bought a car I was startled to notice, in the book of instructions, a list of things to do if you were involved in an accident. Call the police. Make a note of exactly what happened, where and how. Write down the registration…
The Pastoral Letters - The Purpose of the Law
The Pastoral Letters - The Purpose of the Law
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Purpose of the Law 1Timothy 1.8-11 We stood by the stream, looking across to the other side of the valley. It was a perfect spring day: gentle breeze, high cloud, bright sunshine, the hills around us at their best. Somewhere in the distance we could hear a sheep calling to it…
Luke for Everyone - THe Raising of the Widow's Son
Luke for Everyone - THe Raising of the Widow's Son
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Raising of the Widow’s Son Luke 7.11-17 So where was the faith this time? The centurion’s servant was healed because of his owner’s faith, but in this story the only person who has any faith that the dead man can be raised is Jesus himself. Though Jesus loves to see the signs…
Luke for Everyone - The Question About Jesus' Authority
Luke for Everyone - The Question About Jesus' Authority
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Question about Jesus’ Authority Luke 20.1-8 There is a debate today in Britain about how loud soldiers should shout while on parade. The army is anxious, it seems, that sooner or later a soldier will suffer damaged hearing because a sergeant-major has bellowed an order at hig…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Same Spirit at Work
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Same Spirit at Work
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Same Spirit at Work 1 Corinthians 12.1-11 One of the most exciting experiences of my teenage years was playing in an orchestra at school. I had learned the piano for a year or two, but you normally play that without other musicians joining in. Now I began the trombone. Of cou…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday Before Advent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday Before Advent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday Before Advent Malachi 4.1–2a 2 Thessalonians 3.6–13 Luke 21.5–19 Warnings against idleness seem irrelevant in our culture. Those who have work seem to have more and more of it; those who don’t seem stuck in a trap. No doubt there are shades of grey, and some man…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Advent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Advent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent Malachi 3.1–4 Philippians 1.3–11 Luke 3.1–6 I must have sung Handel’s Messiah dozens of times before I asked myself what its first chorus actually meant. ‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.’ It makes what …
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Easter Year C