SPCK - N T Wright
Luke for Everyone - Signs of the End
Luke for Everyone - Signs of the End
by SPCK - N T Wright
Signs of the End Luke 21.5-19 A news reader announces that an asteroid passed close to the earth. When they say ‘close’, they mean about half a million miles; but in terms of the solar system, that’s quite near at hand. It shows, as one commentator said, that the planet Earth is …
Luke for Everyone - David's Son and the Widow's Mite
Luke for Everyone - David's Son and the Widow's Mite
by SPCK - N T Wright
David’s Son and the Widow’s Mite Luke 20.41-21.4 ‘Can you get this balloon into that box?’ I asked the little children at the party. The balloon was big, and the box was small. They tried squeezing it in but it wouldn’t fit. It kept oozing out through their fingers. One little bo…
Luke for Everyone - Marriage and the Resurrection
Luke for Everyone - Marriage and the Resurrection
by SPCK - N T Wright
Marriage and the Resurrection Luke 20.27-40 Many churches possess a sequence of pictures that, together, tell a complete story. Sometimes these are in the windows, in stained glass. Sometimes they are painted on the walls or the ceiling. Sometimes they form a frieze, a decorated …
Luke for Everyone - On Paying Taxes to Caesar
Luke for Everyone - On Paying Taxes to Caesar
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Paying Taxes to Caesar Luke 20.20-26 We went a few weeks ago to see the longest-running stage play in history. Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap has now been performed continuously for almost my entire lifetime. At the time of writing it has had over 20,000 performances. An…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Tenants
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Tenants
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Tenants Luke 20.9-19 One of the most dramatic scenes ever to take place in the British House of Commons occurred in January 1642. King Charles I went in person to the House to try to arrest five Members of Parliament who had opposed him. The Speaker of the Hous…
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…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Cleanses the Temple
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Cleanses the Temple At last it is Jesus’ turn to cry. Earlier in the gospel we find other people in tears: the widow at Nain, Jairus’s family, and others in distress coming to him for healing and new life. The women of Jerusalem will shortly be weeping for Jesus himself (23…
Luke for Everyone - The Triumphal Entry
Luke for Everyone - The Triumphal Entry
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Triumphal Entry Luke 19.28-40 Mile after uphill mile, it seems a long way even today in a car. You wind up through the sandy hills from Jericho, the lowest point on the face of the earth, through the Judaean desert, climbing all the way. Halfway up, you reach sea level; you’v…
Luke for Everyone - the King, the Servants and the Money
Luke for Everyone - the King, the Servants and the Money
by SPCK - N T Wright
The King, the Servants and the Money Luke 19.11-27 King Richard I reigned over England from 1189 to 1199. For most of the first half of his reign he was abroad, fighting in the Crusades; then, as he made his way home, he was captured and imprisoned. During his absence, his brothe…
Luke for Everyone - The Calling of Zacchaeus
Luke for Everyone - The Calling of Zacchaeus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Calling of Zacchaeus Luke 19.1-10 Sunday schools love Zacchaeus. At least, they love to act out his story and sing about him. The little man who climbs up a tree to see Jesus provides one of the most vivid short stories in the whole Bible. Children can identify with Zacchaeus…
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 - The Rich Young Ruler
Luke for Everyone - The Rich Young Ruler
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Rich Young Ruler Luke 18.15-30 Luke, ever the artist, is building up his great picture with colour after colour, layer after layer of paint, until he draws the eye towards the great scene he has in mind when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. He has given us Jesus’ lessons on humili…
Luke for Everyone - The Persistent Widow and the Tax-Collector
Luke for Everyone - The Persistent Widow and the Tax-Collector
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Persistent Widow and the Tax-Collector Luke 18.1-14 Come with me into a court of law, where a civil case is being tried. I haven’t often been in a court, but we see them on the television and in the newspapers, and from time to time legal cases are widely reported and make hi…
Luke for Everyone - The Coming of The Kingdom
Luke for Everyone - The Coming of The Kingdom
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Coming of the Kingdom Luke 17.20-37 What does the word ‘apocalypse’ conjure up to you? Hollywood fantasies? Stars falling from the sky, volcanoes and earthquakes? People in terror, panicking and rushing this way and that? The Bible has plenty of apocalypses, and sometimes the…
Luke for Everyone - Ten Lepers Healed
Luke for Everyone - Ten Lepers Healed
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ten Lepers Healed Luke 17.11-19 What would make you shout for joy at the top of your voice? What would make you fall on the ground – yes, flat on your face! – in front of someone? Two explorers were lost in the South American jungle not long ago. For nine months they wandered abo…
Luke for Everyone - Forgiveness, Faith and Obedience
Luke for Everyone - Forgiveness, Faith and Obedience
by SPCK - N T Wright
Forgiveness, Faith and Obedience Luke 17.1-10 There is a famous story about a man who wrote a book with the title, Humility and How I Achieved It. The title is almost as self-contradictory as, in Jesus’ world, the phrase ‘the good Samaritan’ would have been. One of the paradoxes …
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16.19-31 We have all seen him. He lies on a pile of newspapers outside a shop doorway, covered with a rough blanket. Perhaps he has a dog with him for safety. People walk past him, or even step over him. He occasionally rattles a few c…
Luke for Everyone - Teachings on Stewardship