-
Preaching Paths 19 July 2026
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Today’s gospel lesson (Mt 13:24-30, 36-47) presents the parable of the wheat and weeds and Jesus’ interpretation. The parable, unique to Matthew, trades in tropes familiar to Matthew’s audience: agricultural and eschatological imagery, and a stark divide between good and evil actors. Although such imagery is less…
-
Sunday, 19th July 2026 Proper 11 (16)
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 The parable of the weeds 13:24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, 13:25 but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. 13:26 So when the plants…
-
Preaching Paths 12 July 2026
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary The parable of the Sower and Soils (Mt 13: 1-9), coupled with its interpretation (Mt 13:18-23), is familiar to many congregations. One reliable approach to this parable has been to see the sower as Jesus, the seed as the gospel summons to trust and follow him, and…
-
Sunday, 5th July 2026
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 The yoke of discipleship 11:16 “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 11:17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ 11:18 “For John came neither eating nor…
-
Preaching Paths 5 July 2026, Proper 9
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Today’s Gospel lection, Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, can seem an odd collection of rhetorically disparate fragments. A parable (vv.16-17), judgment in the form of an antimony (vv.18-19b), a proverb (v. 19c), a brief prayer (vv. 25-26), a chiastic theological self-identification (v.27) and a summons accompanied by promise (vv.…
-
Preaching Paths 28 June 2026 Proper 8
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Today’s gospel reading, Matthew 10:40-42, concludes the discourse in which Jesus discloses what his disciples can expect as they disperse into the villages of Israel, announcing the reign of heaven and healing the sick (see Mt 9:36-10:1). As we have noted in previous postings, most scholars take…
-
Sunday, 28th June & Sunday, 21st June 2026 (two entries)
Sunday, 28th June 2026 Proper 8 (13) Year A Matthew 10:40-42 Welcome Christ in those Christ sends 10:40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 10:41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person…
-
Preaching Paths 14 June 2026 Proper 5 (Gospel text)
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary The opening verse of today’s Gospel reading (Mt 9:35-10:8) echoes Mt 4:23. These verses bracket Mt’s five-chapter summation of Jesus’ mission. Chs 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount) present the essence of Jesus’ teaching about the ways of the reign of heaven. Chs 8-9 present Jesus’ enactment…
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 