Mark 9:30-37 “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” This is the second time, according to Mark, that Jesus said something like this. [...]

Mark 8:27-38 In this week’s Gospel Jesus gives his disciples a pop-quiz. “You’ve heard what people think of me. Now … what do you think of me?” And Peter tries out an answer he hopes with all his heart is true: “You’re [...]

Mark 7:24-30 If you grew up thinking that Jesus was God dressed up as a human being, only pretending to be human, this story might be troublesome. From this non-Jewish woman Jesus seems to have learned something about his own ministry, something [...]

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 This is not Jesus versus Judaism. Despite what Mark says, not “all Jews” were preoccupied with handwashing or with what looks to us like washing the dishes. There were indeed some Jews who regarded these symbolic acts of [...]

John 6:24-69 While the lectionary splits this passage into four separate lessons to be covered on four successive weeks, it’s really important to take this passage as a whole. First, some reminders about John’s Gospel. 1) The Gospel itself does not say [...]

John 6:1-21 As miracle stories go, this one has to be one of the most popular. Maybe that’s because it’s about food. In any case, there are six versions of it told in the Gospels. The numbers fed vary. Sometimes it’s 4,000, [...]

Ephesians 2:11-22 It’s almost impossible to hear this lesson from Ephesians without thinking of where we and our conflicted nation are today. We hear that Christ “has broken down the dividing wall,” and I’m very tempted to turn this sermon into a [...]

Mark 6:14-29 Around 2000 years ago there was a man who proclaimed that God's beloved community was just around the corner. It upset the powers that be, and so he was executed. But shortly afterwards rumors began to circulate that he had [...]

2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Christians can be so amusing to watch, except of course when we’re engaged in crusades and inquisitions. Nothing funny about that. But when it’s the small-scale, everyday jostling for recognition and influence we can look pretty comical. That’s all [...]

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 Given the culture wars of the past 50 years, this reading from 2 Samuel has become one of the most over-scrutinized passages in the Bible about an intriguing love between two men. Mourning the death of his friend [...]