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The Women's Bible Commentary - Wives as the Symbol of Kingship
The Women's Bible Commentary - Wives as the Symbol of Kingship
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Wives a as Symbol of Kingship Whatever justification Absalom might have claimed for killing Amnon, such as Amnon’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s own royal ambitions are not hurt by having Amnon out of the way…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Who is the Greatest?
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Who is the Greatest?
by BRF - Dick France
Who is the Greatest? Lines of authority In a newly formed group of colleagues with an important task, it is natural to want to clarify the lines of authority. So far, of course, Jesus has been the focal authority of the group, but if they are going to lose him it will surely be v…
Psalms for Everyone - I Wash My Hands in Innocence
Psalms for Everyone - I Wash My Hands in Innocence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Wash My Hands in Innocence Psalm 26 In the Episcopal church, when we move from the first part of a service, which focuses on the reading of Scripture, to the celebration of communion, someone pours a little water over my hands as the priest and I say some words from Psalm 26: “…
Poem: If he had come …
Poem: If he had come …
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: If he had come … If he had come as a king with a robe and jewels and a crown of gold, he would have been impressive. But there would have been those who envied him his wealth, tried to steal his jewels, or attempted to rob him of his crown. If he had come with a sword and s…
Prayers of Intercession for the Third Sunday in Lent
Prayers of Intercession for the Third Sunday in Lent
by Christine Dutton
Prayers of Intercession for the Third Sunday in Lent These prayers were written to go alongside the gospel passage in Luke 13: 1-9 for the third Sunday in Lent. These are prayers for the barren places of our world – for situations which like the fig tree might seem hopeless and …
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Peter's Declaration of Jesus' Messiahship
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Peter's Declaration of Jesus' Messiahship
by SPCK - N T Wright
Peter’s Declaration of Jesus’ Messiahship Matthew 16.13-20 The Tibetan Buddhists believe in the transmigration of souls. When someone dies, they suppose that the soul of that person goes immediately into a different body, the body of a child born at the same instant. This belief …
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Jesus Predicts His Death
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Jesus Predicts His Death
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Predicts His Death Matthew 16.21-28 When Lewis Carroll had become famous through his story Alice in Wonderland, he decided to follow it up with a second book in which both he and his readers would need to learn how to think inside out. In Alice through the Looking Glass he …
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Sunday Next Before Lent Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Sunday Next Before Lent Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Sunday next before Lent Mark 9.2-9 Consider next what God tells us. First, that Jesus is indeed his Son and we must worship him as such. And second, that this means we must obey him, for what is the point of listening if we do not learn? Our faith must be strong enough to f…
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Wisdom For The Rulers
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Wisdom For The Rulers
by SPCK - N T Wright
5 THE RENEWAL OF THE WORLD WISDOM FOR THE RULERS Ephesians 3: 8-13 There was once a young prince whose distant uncle was king of a great empire. The prince was carefree and happy, neither very rich nor very poor. One day, a great disaster struck. The king, his uncle, was killed i…
How could this man from Nazareth
How could this man from Nazareth
by Andrew Pratt
How could this man from Nazareth speak with such power and heal the sick, he spoke with great authority, the healing might have been a trick? But those who came were healed, made well, and what he said was common sense, yet spoken in a way well honed, the word of God, the present…
O what did it mean to the ones who first heard it
O what did it mean to the ones who first heard it
by Andrew Pratt
O what did it mean to the ones who first heard it? A Wonderful Counsellor? God? Prince of Peace? Or was it a riddle? Divine intervention, a hope in their horror, a way to release? So was there assurance, the darkness illumined, to those knowing shadows the promise of light?... Ve…
Hymn: Familiar man
Hymn: Familiar man
by Andrew Pratt
Familiar man, beneath contempt, they knew him all too well, a common carpenter from town without a tale to tell. And now the words they heard contained authority and power. They listened to each utterance and soon their thoughts turned sour. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: MACPHERSON’S F…
Mark for Everyone - Exorcism and Healings
Mark for Everyone - Exorcism and Healings
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 1.21–34 Exorcism and Healings... ...Not long ago there was a great disaster at sea. A tourist boat, loaded with cars and holidaymakers, had failed to shut its doors properly; the water began to pour in; the boat began to sink, and panic set in. People were …
Mark for Everyone - The Parable of the Tenants
Mark for Everyone - The Parable of the Tenants
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 12.1–12 The Parable of the Tenants... ...Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice is normally listed as a comedy. The main characters all end up with their problems resolved. But the last two or three times I have seen the play I have come away feeling tha…
Isaiah for Everyone - Second-Degree Manslaughter
Isaiah for Everyone - Second-Degree Manslaughter
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Second-Degree Manslaughter Isaiah 1: 21-2: 5 The other Sunday, halfway on our five-minute drive to church there was a huge police presence off to the left of our street, with police cars and barriers and police officers apparently searching waste land and dumpsters. Some aspects …
Mark for Everyone - The Healing of the Paralytic
Mark for Everyone - The Healing of the Paralytic
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 2.1–12 The Healing of the Paralytic... ...Everyone was astonished, and they praised God. ‘We’ve never seen anything like this!’ they said . Most people don’t realize that this was probably Jesus’ own house. He had moved to Capernaum from Nazareth; the point…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Pray for the Government
Psalms for Everyone - How to Pray for the Government
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Pray for the Government Psalm 72: 1-17 The phrase “It’s the economy, stupid,” played a key role in Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Most people are not really interested in foreign policy or other such important issues but in whether they are feeling financially …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The bounding lion