Summary: According to this biblical passage, Jesus’ public ministry begins with a test, one that gives us hints to suggest God is in the process of reorienting the whole created order. Everything is changing. The time is right for inaugurating the kingdom of God, but it remains a time in which risk hangs in the air.
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
Summary: According to this biblical passage, Jesus’ Transfiguration draws us to him, even as the event makes statements about God and what God will accomplish through Jesus, God’s beloved child. This Transfiguration makes promises about unseen things becoming visible, about God’s love, and about the possibility of our sharing intimacy with God.
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
Summary: In this biblical passage, Jesus demonstrates his power over illness when he heals Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever. At the same time, Mark’s Gospel prompts us to consider what true service looks like, who gets to perform it, and how.
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
Summary: When the Gospel according to Luke describes Jesus saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs,” what does he mean? To answer this question, we need to know how people in Jesus’ culture regarded children. When we see that Jesus is celebrating and empowering children as some of the most invisible, inconsequential, and vulnerable people of his society, then we should go on to ask: How should we treat and assist vulnerable children in our society? Caring for children — especially endangered and exploited children — is indeed an important part of any church’s work, in any setting.
This article is part of a Bible study exploring the church’s response to youth homelessness and was produced by Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. The entire five-part Bible study was written by five different professors from Luther Seminary and is available here.
Summary: In this biblical passage, the Second Letter to Timothy poses the question of how we best carry old convictions and confessions into new, uncertain, and sometimes unsettling settings. It answers: remember Jesus Christ.
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
Summary: In this biblical passage, when Jesus and his disciples talk about who people think he really is, Jesus begins to describe what it means to follow him. The instructions he gives, to deny oneself and take up a cross, are not easy.
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
Summary: In this biblical passage, a woman, named as a Syrophoenician, with a demon-possessed daughter persuades Jesus to heal the girl. As a result, Jesus’ ministry moves in new directions with a new urgency toward an increasingly broad “audience.”
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
Summary: In this biblical passage, Jesus names the source of evil and impurity: the human heart.
I wrote this biblical commentary for those preparing to preach or teach on the passage. Read the commentary at Working Preacher.
My Favorite Bible Passage (Luke 1-2)
Summary: The Gospel according to Luke begins unlike any other Gospel. Describing the miraculous conceptions and births of John the Baptizer and Jesus, the opening chapters bring promises and yearnings from the Old Testament into conversation with the new things God is doing. They direct us to read the Gospel in light of how the people of God have come to understand who God is, drawing on old traditions and language. They characterize Jesus’ coming as the advent of God’s promised and hoped-for future.
Read the full article, and listen to an accompanying podcast, in the “Everything You Wanted to Know about the Bible but Were Afraid to Ask” section of EnterTheBible.
Bible commentary: general audience
anna benedictus christmas gospel of luke infancy narrative jesus Luke 1-2 magnificat mary nunc dimittis simeon zechariah