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Today’s Gospel lection is a theological key that can unlock several aspects of this often puzzling Gospel of John. We will begin by examining the details, then step back to look at the overall thrust (...)

For the early Christian communities, Pentecost marked a liminal moment when people’s gaze shifted from looking back at their memories of Jesus, to looking ahead to what they must trust to sustain their life after (...)

The genre of this passage will have a direct bearing on the preacher’s choice of sermonic approaches: the appointed pericope features approximately the first half of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples just before his crucifixion. (...)

In his splendid study of the Epistles of John, David Rensberger points out that with 1 John 5:1, the emphasis of our author shifts from love to faith and belief.1 Yet, throughout this homily, the (...)

In a Gospel text that uses pastoral images of sheep and shepherd, the contemporary preacher is challenged to connect rural metaphor with listeners who remain at several removes from the animating metaphors of this work. (...)

This epistle, really a sermon, was written for a community that defined itself over and against the world around it. Those in John’s community were children of light and those outside were children of darkness. (...)

For the six Sundays of Eastertide, the lectionary gives us the opportunity to examine some of the key themes of the First Epistle of John. Two preliminary words: first, this epistle probably was not originally (...)

Year in and year out, the gospel lesson for the second Sunday of Easter is always the same. Year in and year out, this is the Sunday we hear the story of doubting Thomas. Or (...)

Ask a non–Christian–even ask some Christians–what the point of Christian faith is. For many, it is “Jesus came so that I’ll live forever.” In the Gospels, however, Jesus never promises that he will be crucified (...)

On Easter Sunday, the church proclaims, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118:1). Jesus Christ is risen. And in Christ, we too shall rise.  God’s (...)