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LWPT Meditations - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17 The author of the letter to the Hebrews is one of the most impassioned writers in the Bible. He is so insistent about his message that one can envisage him as a lapel-grabber, and this week’s passage in…
Hebrews for Everyone - Christian Suffering is God's Discipline
Hebrews for Everyone - Christian Suffering is God's Discipline
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christian Suffering is God’s Discipline Hebrews 12.4-11 Western society is in a turmoil these days about discipline. We have become very aware of the dangers of physical violence at every level. What happens when a child grows up knowing only that authority belongs to the person …
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 24 Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 24 Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 24 Jeremiah 31.27–34 2 Timothy 3.14—4.5 Luke 18.1–8 The passages from 2 Timothy and Luke 18 both envisage God’s people hanging on, sustaining their energy and sense of direction, even though things seem to go from bad to worse. By contrast, Jeremiah 31 sees through the lon…
Hebrews for Everyone - The Purpose of the Blood
Hebrews for Everyone - The Purpose of the Blood
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Purpose of the Blood Hebrews 9.15-22 To some, this passage is one of the most central in scripture; to others, it’s one of the most shocking. After the twentieth century, in which more human blood was spilled through war, torture and miscellaneous violence than in all previou…
Jeremiah for everyone - The Prophet Who’s Forbidden to Pray (1)
Jeremiah for everyone - The Prophet Who’s Forbidden to Pray (1)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Prophet Who’s Forbidden to Pray My first Old Testament mentor once told us about his first visit to the new cathedral in Coventry in the center of England. The old cathedral, like much of the city, was devastated by bombing in the Second World War…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fifth Sunday of Lent Jeremiah 31.31–34 Hebrews 5.5–10 John 12.20–33 At last a nice easy covenant. At last, Jeremiah seems to be suggesting, God will give up trying to teach us things and just zap us, changing us so that it becomes natural to us to know God. We won’t need to b…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 21 Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 21 Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 21 Jeremiah 32.1–15 1 Timothy 6.6–19 Luke 16.19–end Among the many symbolic actions Jeremiah was commanded to perform, this one stands out as a sign, not of judgement, but of hope: hope for God’s restoration the other side of judgement. Resurrection hope, if you like. He i…
LWPT Meditations - Fifth Sunday in Lent - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Fifth Sunday in Lent - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation - 5th Sunday in Lent Year B Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Psalm 51: 1-12 Hebrews 5: 5-10 John 12: 20-33 The lectionary readings for Passion Sunday are always a surprise and a challenge. We expect to hear an account of the Passion – the suffering of Christ on the cross – but inste…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 16 Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 16 Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 16 Jeremiah 1.4–10 Hebrews 12.18–end Luke 13.10–17 Moses said he wasn’t a speaker. Isaiah said his lips were tainted. Ezekiel fell on his face. And Jeremiah says he’s too young. One might, perhaps, be a trifle suspicious if God’s call to prophecy met with too ready a respo…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Beatitudes
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Beatitudes
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Beatitudes Matthew 5.1-12 Many years ago there was a dramatic movie about the first test pilots to break the sound barrier. No plane had ever flown faster than the speed of sound. Many people didn’t believe it was possible. Some thought the plane would disintegrate under the …
2 Corinthians - The Smell of Life, The Smell of Death
2 Corinthians - The Smell of Life, The Smell of Death
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Smell of Life, the Smell of Death 2 CORINTHIANS 2.12-17 ‘What does that remind you of?’ The smell came strongly to me, a dark, heavy but essentially friendly aroma. I thought for a while. Pictures flashed to and fro in my memory. I sniffed again. Then, as though from far away…
Hebrews for Everyone - Tho Old Tebernacle Points Forward to the New
Hebrews for Everyone - Tho Old Tebernacle Points Forward to the New
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Old Tabernacle Points Forward to the New Hebrews 9.1-10 The taxi driver was resigned to things being this way for a long time. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘we’ve just got to put up with it. Boston will be a great city if they ever get it finished.’ We were stuck in what seemed like an im…
2 Corinthians - Test Yourselves!
2 Corinthians - Test Yourselves!
by SPCK - N T Wright
Test Yourselves! 2 CORINTHIANS 13.5-10 These days all sorts of machines come with their own inbuilt self-test system. My computer printer will run a self-test automatically if there has been some malfunction or error. Some modern cars have components that will check, all by thems…
2 Corinthians - The Veil and The Glory
2 Corinthians - The Veil and The Glory
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Veil and the Glory 2 CORINTHIANS 3.12-18 The story is told of a time when there was to be a total eclipse of the sun. The newspapers and the radio and television stations repeatedly put out warnings, reminding people that they should not attempt to look directly at the sun. E…
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The First Sunday of Lent Year C
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The First Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Lent Deuteronomy 26.1–11 Romans 10.8b–13 Luke 4.1–13 Proust’s great theme is that without memory there is no character or understanding. One of the things that is so appealing about his work is that the small memories are at least as significant as the huge …
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - Startling Symbolism