And the hits just keep on coming!The Gospel for this week is another difficult parable in Matthew’s temple sequence. The parable of the wedding banquet includes a king who destroys those who refuse…
Hold on to your pulpits this week, preachers! The Gospel is one of the hardest parables in Matthew — and one with the most difficult history in Christian preaching. The parable of the wicked tenants…
Another week, another great set of readings. Let’s think about preaching!The Gospel is the confrontation in the temple. Jesus is teaching after his triumphal entry when the chief priests and elders…
The Gospel is one of the most disorienting parables Jesus ever told. A landowner keeps going out throughout the day, hiring workers even at the eleventh hour, and pays everyone the same. The all-day…
Last week we heard the process for handling harm within the community. This week we hear how far the forgiveness extends. Peter asks the question we all quietly want to ask — is there a limit? — and…
The Gospel is a practical continuation of last week’s way-of-the-cross language. If we are going to follow Jesus together, how do we handle it when we hurt each other? Matthew 18 gives us one of the…
As we draw nigh unto the end of summer, we wanted to get an announcement out about the Fall… and Advent… and planning your preaching as you get ready for Christmas. It sure does roll around, don’t…
Hold on to your seats this week — the gospel makes a hard right toward Jerusalem and never looks back! This is the immediate turn from last week. Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Messiah. Now…
This is the climax of the summer’s Matthew arc. Everything since Trinity has been building toward Peter’s answer to the question Jesus finally asks him directly: “Who do you say that I am?” Today…
This is one of the more challenging Sundays of the year, and its texts all press toward the same difficult question: who is inside God’s people, and by what authority is the boundary drawn?The Gospel…
