SPCK - N T Wright
Luke for Everyone - Gabriel Visits Zechariah
Luke for Everyone - Gabriel Visits Zechariah
by SPCK - N T Wright
Gabriel Visits Zechariah Luke 1.5-25 The capital of Ireland is the wonderful old city of Dublin. It is famous for many reasons. People go there from all over the world to stroll around its streets, to drink in its pubs, to visit its historic buildings, and to see the places made …
Luke for Everyone - Prologue
Luke for Everyone - Prologue
by SPCK - N T Wright
Prologue Luke 1.1-4 ‘SPACE ALIENS TOOK MY BABY’, screams the headline. Or perhaps ‘GRANDMOTHER SWIMS ATLANTIC’. And what do people say? ‘It must be true; it was in the newspapers.’ ‘I saw it on television.’ ‘The person who told me was told by someone who was there at the time.’ W…
Luke for Everyone - Introduction
Luke for Everyone - Introduction
by SPCK - N T Wright
INTRODUCTION On the very first occasion when someone stood up in public to tell people about Jesus, he made it very clear: this message is for everyone. It was a great day – sometimes called the birthday of the church. The great wind of God’s spirit had swept through Jesus’ follo…
John for Everyone part 2 - Glossary
John for Everyone part 2 - Glossary
by SPCK - N T Wright
GLOSSARY accuser, see the satan age to come, see present age apostle, disciple, the Twelve ‘Apostle’ means ‘one who is sent’. It could be used of an ambassador or official delegate. In the New Testament it is sometimes used specifically of Jesus’ inner circle of twelve; but Paul …
John for Everyone part 2 - The Beloved Disciple
John for Everyone part 2 - The Beloved Disciple
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Beloved Disciple John 21.20-25 They came back almost in despair from the dress rehearsal. The costumes were ridiculous. The set was bizarre. The director seemed to have no real idea of how the action would work on stage. Even with an opera, where the music is what really matt…
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. …
John for Everyone part 2 - Breakfast by the Shore
John for Everyone part 2 - Breakfast by the Shore
by SPCK - N T Wright
Breakfast by the Shore John 21.9-14 I don’t know much about mental health, and the therapy that can produce it. But I do know a little about the healing of memories, and the finding of a forgiveness that can go back to a buried hurt, fear, failure or sin and deal with it. I have …
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus on the Beach
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus on the Beach
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus on the Beach John 21.1-8 The level of the lake has dropped now, but you can still sense what a lovely place it is. So much water is now taken out of the Sea of Galilee, and the River Jordan which feeds it and then flows from it, that even in the fifteen years since I first …
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…
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and the Disciples
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and the Disciples
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and the Disciples John 20.19-23 ‘I couldn’t possibly do that!’ He stood staring at the committee. They had just offered him, not the job he had applied for, but the one above it. The senior position in the whole division. He would be running an entire department. A huge bud…
John for Everyone part 2 - Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus
John for Everyone part 2 - Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus John 20.11-18 The first time I went to stay with a family in Germany, I learnt enough German before the trip to know the basic rules of politeness. When people say ‘you’ in German, there are two forms, like the old English ‘ye’ (for more than on…
John for Everyone part 2 - The Empty Tomb
John for Everyone part 2 - The Empty Tomb
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Empty Tomb John 20.1-10 Darkness on the face of the deep. The formless beginning, the chaos. The void. The beginning. The wind and the word. God’s breath, God’s speech, summoning things never known before. Life and light. The first day. Creation. In the beginning was the Word…
John for Everyone part 2 - The Burial of Jesus
John for Everyone part 2 - The Burial of Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Burial of Jesus John 19.38-42 The camel was called Michael. He stood, with his owner, outside the walls of Jerusalem. Our day’s tour was over, and one member of the party at least was keen to do something different. I went with her to speak to the camel’s owner, one of the ma…
John for Everyone part 2 - Blood and Water
John for Everyone part 2 - Blood and Water
by SPCK - N T Wright
Blood and Water John 19.31-37 He came up at the end of the service and shook me warmly by the hand. ‘I didn’t really know why I was coming here this morning,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t normally have made the effort. I’d have gone somewhere closer to home. But something made me come. A…
John for Everyone part 2 - The Death of Jesus
John for Everyone part 2 - The Death of Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Death of Jesus John 19.25-30 A colleague of mine worked in Lebanon during the awful civil war in the second half of the twentieth century. He reported an interesting phenomenon, which helps us to understand what was happening at the foot of the cross. Rival militias were stal…
John for Everyone part 2 - The King of the Jews
John for Everyone part 2 - The King of the Jews
by SPCK - N T Wright
The King of the Jews John 19.16b-24 There was a shocking photograph in the newspaper the other day. A cart was being driven through the streets of a city in the Far East. On the cart were standing fifteen or twenty men. Round the neck of each, hanging from a string, was a notice.…
John for Everyone part 2 - No King but Caesar
John for Everyone part 2 - No King but Caesar
by SPCK - N T Wright
No King but Caesar John 19.8-16a From our seats, high in the stands, we watched as the football match swung this way and that. Our team was doing well and scored a couple of early goals. We were delighted; surely they could hang on to a lead like that? When the opposition scored …
John for Everyone part 2 - Here's the Man!