On the last Sunday in 2024, the lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 2:41-52. The English Standard Version (ESV) supplies the passage with the heading “The Boy Jesus in the Temple.” Verses 40 and 52 serve as bookends. They are summary statements. Verse 40 speaks of God’s favour upon Jesus. Verse 52 suggests a three-word …
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 1:39-55. The English Standard version supplies it with the titles “Mary Visits Elizabeth,” and “Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat.” Today, I’ll explain why I think that in her song Mary did something which, in Malaysia, would amount to the criminal offence of sedition. We often …
Did Mary and Luke commit sedition? A Malaysian reading. Read More »
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to meditate on Luke 7:18-28. The English Standard version groups verses 18-35 together and supplies the title “Messengers from John the Baptist.” My title is borrowed from Fred Craddock. It graphically states what John thought was the purpose of his life. He thought his purpose was to serve subpoenas, …
The judge is coming and I’m here to serve subpoenas Read More »
The question came up on Tuesday. Online. During the 5:30 Advent Morning Devotion. During the seventh session. As usual the session began with a short prayer. Then, we began listening to an audio recording of two chapters from the gospel according to Luke. Within about five minutes, we heard Luke 14:23. It’s in Jesus’ parable …
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 3:1-6. The English Standard Version supplies the heading “John the Baptist Prepares the Way” to verses 1-22. No versions treat verses 1-6 as a separate unit. But there is value in treating them separately, because here Luke names – and shames – the most powerful people …
Why does Luke present a rogues gallery of autocrats? Read More »
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 21:25-36. The English Standard Version[1] divides the passage into three portions. It supplies them with the headings: “The Coming of the Son of Man,” The Lesson of the Fig Tree,” and “Watch Yourselves.” Why did Luke compile these accounts? Why did he place them at this …
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder John 18:33-38. The English Standard Version supplies the passage with the heading “My Kingdom Is Not of This World.” The passage is a portion of John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with the Roman governor, Pilate. The encounter happened after Caiaphas, the high priest, pronounced the sentence of …
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Mark 13:1-13. The English Standard Version presents the reading as two passages. It supplies the headings “Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple,” (verses 1-2) and “Signs of the Close of the Age” (verses 3-13). We must read the passages with an interpretive tool which Jesus supplied earlier. …
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Mark 12:38-44. The English Standard Version supplies the text with the headings “Beware of the Scribes” and “The Widow’s Offering.” If you’ve read or heard the passages before, you’ll remember them. Because both passages draw emotional responses from us. The first passage is offensive to scribes. The …
Don’t misread Jesus comment on the widow’s offering Read More »
This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to reflect on John 11:32-44. The English Standard version supplies the reading with the headings “Jesus Weeps” [verses 28-37] and “Jesus Raises Lazarus” [verses 38-44]. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead by calling to him from outside the cave-tomb in which he had been bound and placed. It’s the …
Bethany, Martha, Mary and Lazarus as stage and props? Read More »
