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Feasts, festivals, banquets, and wedding suppers abound in the Bible, and with good reason: meal fellowship represents community of the closest kind, especially perhaps in tribal cultures (then and now); and feasts give rise to (...)

In one of those sermons that bring the biblical world “down to earth,” the preacher talked about his life in Africa. He told us how the people of a village knew each other’s sheep the (...)

National tragedies threaten to render communities speechless. The collective grief can be overwhelming. In response, people often gather to sing songs, pray, light candles, and mourn together. Poetry and songs, in the context of ritual, (...)

This text is part of Jeremiah’s Book of Consolation, often identified with chapters 30-31, but probably including chapters 32-33. The larger scope of the Book is likely in view of the bracketing references to the (...)

The “kingship” of Christ is problematic for some of us today because of its male and hierarchical overtones. Christ the King Sunday first emerged, as I understand it, as an attempt to counter the outlandish (...)

This lection is quite short, a snippet from within a larger literary context. Such snippets, which are not infrequently encountered in the lectionary, can actually function to hinder if not hamper biblical literacy, something that (...)

Reading through this text brings to mind what Professor John Bright once wrote about these “confessions” of Jeremiah: Here, indeed, we learn what faith really is: not that smug faith which is untroubled by questions (...)

We ought to first note that the lectionary this week has skipped over I Peter 2.1-18. The very important passage in I Peter 2.4-10 will be next week’s text. The creators of the lectionary have (...)

Mark 10:32-52 comprises three interrelated but separable units. All constitute the third revolution of a quadripartite cycle, begun at 8:27-9:1 and repeated in 9:30-37. Location Prediction of the Son of Man’s Destiny Disciples’ Misunderstanding Teaching (...)

Matthew is especially rich in parables featuring final judgment imagery. Where Mark never mentions weeping and gnashing of teeth, and Luke does so only once, Matthew does on six occasions, including this parable. Along with (...)