SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Epiphany Genesis 1.1–5 Acts 19.1–7 Mark 1.4–11 Wind and water. Light and dark. Heaven and earth. The beginning. There is a quiet joy about the opening of Genesis. Quiet, not because it’s only slightly exciting, but because we know at once that these are the …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Christmas Jeremiah 31.7–14 Ephesians 1.3–14 John 1.[1–9] 10–18 ‘He gave them the right to become children of God,’ says John. ‘I have become a father to Israel,’ says God to Jeremiah, ‘and Ephraim is my firstborn.’ ‘He destined us for adoption as his children…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Christmas Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Christmas Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Christmas Isaiah 61.10—62.3 Galatians 4.4–7 Luke 2.15–21 God sent the Son...and God sent the Spirit of the Son. St Paul brings together Christmas and Pentecost – as unlikely a pair, to our culture-conditioned minds, as plum pudding and a May Bank Holiday. So…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Third Sunday of Advent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Third Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Advent Isaiah 61.1–4, 8–11 1 Thessalonians 5.16–24 John 1.6–8, 19–28 Restrain the impulse towards Isaiah’s rolling cadences and John’s pregnant simplicity, and ponder what Paul has packed into such a small space. Apart from verse 23 (a benediction for those …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 40.1–11 2 Peter 3.8–15a Mark 1.1–8 If John the Baptist was going to raise up the valleys and flatten out the mountains, he started in the right place. Jericho lies a long way below the road-sign that says ‘sea level’; Jerusalem, a long way abo…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
First Sunday of Advent Isaiah 64.1–9 1 Corinthians 1.3–9 Mark 13.24–37 Advent has stolen the old Christmas mystique. The symbolism of darkness awaiting dawn makes sense in a postmodern world where Christmas razzmatazz has been debunked, demythologized and deconstructed. Hope in…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday Before Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday Before Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday Before Advent Wisdom of Solomon 6.12–16 1 Thessalonians 4.13–18 Matthew 25.1–13 You should only treat yourself to Wisdom of Solomon ch. 6 if you are prepared to live with the rest. The righteous and wise are persecuted and killed by the wicked and foolish; but Go…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Last Sunday After Trinity Deuteronomy 34.1–12 1 Thessalonians 2.1–8 Matthew 22.34–46 Like a bored videotape-watcher, the lectionary suddenly presses the fast-forward button, skipping three-fifths of the Pentateuch and stopping only just in time for the death of the hero. Mose…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday Before Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday Before Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday Before Advent Zephaniah 1.7, 12–18 1 Thessalonians 5.1–11 Matthew 25.14–30 This parable gave ‘talent’ a new meaning, so common that we don’t realize how far we have domesticated a warning about more serious matters than developing one’s personal potential and sk…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 24 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 24 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ordinary Time - Proper 24 Exodus 33.12–23 1 Thessalonians 1.1–10 Matthew 22.15–22 The multiple echoes of Exodus 33 bounce around the New Testament. The first letter to the Thessalonians, held by many to be the first surviving Christian writing, offers another reminder that the go…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 23 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 23 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ordinary Time - Proper 23 Exodus 32.1–14 Philippians 4.1–9 Matthew 22.1–14 The party was ready, the guests were on the way, but somehow they got distracted. Today’s gospel fits Exodus 32 like a glove, forming a combined warning. Readers of Exodus perceive the golden calf incident…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 22 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 22 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ordinary Time - Proper 22 Exodus 20.1–4, 7–9, 12–20 Philippians 3.4b–14 Matthew 21.33–46 The parable of the wicked tenants tells the story of Israel in such a way as to highlight Jesus’ own work and fate as the plot’s denouement. But, as with many parables, and many great non-bib…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 21 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 21 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 21 Exodus 17.1–7 Philippians 2.1–13 Matthew 21.23–32 It sounded like a trick, but for those with ears to hear it answered the authorities’ challenge head on. Jesus’ Temple action was an affront to the power of the chief pries…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 19 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 19 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 19 Exodus 14.19–31 Romans 14.1–12 Matthew 18.21–35 The tidal wave struck, and we were unprepared. Comfortable liberal civilization, in which we were OK and they were OK – the corporate version of the street-level feel-good ph…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 18 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 18 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 18 Exodus 12.1–14 Romans 13.8–14 Matthew 18.15–20 Jesus’ followers are to struggle to live by the law of reconciliation. It’s always a struggle, but it’s always a law. Some say, of course, that Jesus couldn’t have spoken, as …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 17 Year A