First Reading

Matthew 2:10
Commentary on Isaiah 60:1-6

In order to understand Isaiah 60:1–6 in its postexilic context, it is crucial to understand [...]

Baby in brown swaddle looking up
Commentary on Isaiah 61:10—62:3

An enduring challenge for preaching prophetic literature in the Advent [...]

Anunciation, Leonardo da Vinci, around 1472
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

At first glance, the lectionary’s juxtaposition of this text—God’s promise [...]

Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness by Jose Leonardo ca. 1635
Commentary on Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke [...]

Judean wilderness
Commentary on Isaiah 40:1-11

This lection vibrates with the infectious energy of change. Brooking neither argument nor hesitation, a [...]

Starry night with dark landscape
Commentary on Isaiah 52:7-10

“Beauty” is a word in the English language that gets used a lot to talk [...]

Commentary on Isaiah 62:6-12

Isaiah 62:6–12 is a text written in the wake of military and societal defeat. Even [...]

Commentary on Isaiah 9:2-7

A royal birth heralds liberation. This new beginning marks an end to domination and war. [...]

Rooster crowing
Commentary on Isaiah 64:1-9

We are, all of us, impure, rags soaked in blood (Isaiah 64:6).1 We are, all of [...]

Detail from mural depicting Christ in Majesty in the apse of Vä Church. Romanesque period.
Commentary on Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

The Revised Common Lectionary has selected two handfuls of verses [...]