SPCK - N T Wright
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 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 Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coins
Luke for Everyone - The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coins
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin Luke 15.1-10 We had just moved house, to a dream location: quiet, secluded, at the end of a road near a lake. Everything seemed peaceful. Then, on the first Saturday night we were there, all chaos broke loose. Loud music, amplified…
Luke for Everyone - The Cost of Discipleship
Luke for Everyone - The Cost of Discipleship
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Cost of Discipleship Luke 14.25-35 Imagine a politician standing on a soap-box addressing a crowd. ‘If you’re going to vote for me,’ he says, ‘you’re voting to lose your homes and families; you’re asking for higher taxes and lower wages; you’re deciding in favour of losing al…
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…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and the Pharisee
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and the Pharisee
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and the Pharisee Luke 14.1-11 Luke’s gospel has more meal-time scenes than all the others. If his vision of the Christian life, from one point of view, is a journey, from another point of view it’s a party. Several stories end with a festive meal – like, for instance, the p…
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 …
Luke for Everyone - Entering through the Narrow Door
Luke for Everyone - Entering through the Narrow Door
by SPCK - N T Wright
Entering through the Narrow Door Luke 13.22-30 I sat in the airport for two hours, waiting for my onward flight. I had come in to New York on a flight from England, and I was tired and eager to catch the connection to Washington, to get to where I was staying, and to rest for the…
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 …
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