Matthew 14:22-33 I remember a Sunday school teacher using this very Gospel Lesson to teach us a threatening message: Peter tried to walk on water, but he sank, because he doubted. So don’t be like Peter. Don’t ever doubt even for a [...]
Genesis 32:22-31 You could say that this week’s reading from Genesis is one of the most pivotal moments in the story of Israel, especially since it recounts how the name “Israel” originated. It’s an episode full of tantalizing puzzles. After years of [...]
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 This week’s Gospel reading strings together a whole series of parables. I want to focus on what to me is the most intriguing one, the parable of the mustard seed: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed [...]
Isaiah 44:6-8 There’s something going on in this passage from Isaiah that makes a former theology professor like me get positively wonky. I’m going to do that now, though I’ll try to rein myself in. Bear with me. Most scholars have concluded [...]
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 This week we have a parable, a familiar one to many of us, and just in case we’re too dense to figure out its meaning, Jesus gives us his own interpretation. In today’s terms it sounds like a story [...]
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will [...]
Genesis 22:1-14 What would you do if you if a man told you that he was ready to kill his own son just because he believed God had told him to do it? First, I hope you try to stop him. Talk [...]
Matthew 10:24-39 Here is what I have said about this passage in previous years (scroll down for what needs to be said this year): We love to hear Jesus saying, “blessed are the peacemakers” (Matt. 5:9). But today we hear, “Do not [...]
Genesis 18:1-15 “Sarah laughed within herself, saying: ‘After I have become worn out, is there to be pleasure for me?’”—Genesis 18:12* That was Sarah’s question to herself, laughing with a mixture of disbelief and longing at a stranger’s promise that sounded unrealistic, [...]
2 Corinthians 12:11-13: “As for the rest, brothers and sisters, rejoice, be restored, be encouraged, be of the same care, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All [...]