First Reading

Three crosses overlooking lake
Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9a

Adversity can feel like a sign, that perhaps you are going in the wrong direction, [...]

smoke drifting across black background
Commentary on Isaiah 43:16-21

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about [...]

charcoal black
Commentary on Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Joel is a particularly timeless text.1 There are insufficient contextual [...]

old man smiling in doorway
Commentary on Joshua 5:9-12

On this Fourth Sunday in Lent, the Revised Common Lectionary recommends Luke’s Parable of the [...]

windswept tree in foggy landscape
Commentary on Isaiah 55:1-9

 Isaiah 55:1-9 comprises most of the final hymn of the exilic portion of Isaiah (chapters [...]

hen and chicks
Commentary on Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

We usually describe Abram’s main problem in this passage as [...]

flat gray stones
Commentary on Deuteronomy 26:1-11

This lectionary reading shows how the people of God understand [...]

figure standing on mountaintop with white clouds behind
Commentary on Exodus 34:29-35

When Moses comes down from meeting with God on Mount Sinai, the text repeatedly notes [...]

grain overflowing into a basket
Commentary on Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Siblings fight. In the book of Genesis, the violence can [...]

band of clouds over horizon
Commentary on Jeremiah 17:5-10

This passage goes to the heart of biblical teaching, standing [...]