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Mark is the shortest of the canonical gospels. His story moves along briskly. On a few occasions, Jesus pauses to teach, but usually he is scurrying from one place to the next, healing, exorcising demons, (...)

Matters of life and death have a way of focusing one’s attention. It has not been long since Lazarus, still wrapped in grave cloths and smelling four days dead, stumbled out of the tomb and (...)

As the synoptic gospels have it, Jesus symbolically cleanses the temple in Jerusalem as he nears the end of his ministry. In Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, and Luke 19:45-48, Jesus entered the temple, overturned tables, (...)

The text consists of two parts: a summary of Jesus’ preaching in 1:14-15; and a call story in 1:16-20. These two parts are connected by the sense of urgency brought on via the proclamation of (...)

The gospel reading for the second Sunday after the Epiphany is always taken from John: 1:29-42 (Year A); 1:43-51 (Year B); 2:1-11 (Year C). In each year the Johannine text is a brief “interruption” in (...)

Although the lectionary picks up in the middle of the prologue to John’s Gospel, it is an appropriate place to begin on the second Sunday of Christmas: “He was in the world” (1:10). John’s Incarnational (...)

January has always seemed to be something of a letdown. How Can We Keep From Praising? If “April is the cruelest month,”1 then January is the coldest month, at least in the Midwest where I (...)

Chapters 30-33 constitute a distinct section of the book of Jeremiah, traditionally known as Jeremiah’s “Book of Comfort” or “Little Book of Consolation.” The date and origin of this material are unclear. However, the narrative (...)

Preaching on Christmas Eve is an exercise in strong, gentle truth. Luke’s literary masterpiece is “the Christmas Gospel” even in secular minds and hearts far from God. The children, candlelight, and carols reach into lives (...)

First of all, read Hebrews 9:1-10 for yourself and include these verses as part of your exposition of the Hebrews 9:11-14 text for this week. The description of the Ark of the Covenant is something (...)