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Preaching Paths 7 December 2025 Advent 2 Year A
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Once again, as is customary on the Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist strides into our December landscapes of twinkling, colored lights like an unwelcome guest at a party. He is dressed in the shaggy pelt of a camel. He prefers locusts to Christmas sweets (Mt…
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Sunday, 30th November 2025, Advent 1 Yr A
St Matthew 24: 36-44 Jesus said to the disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood…
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Preaching Paths 30 November 2025 Advent 1 Yr A
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Every year, the lectionary opens Advent with a Gospel text replete with eschatological visions and warnings. In Year A, the year devoted to Matthew’s gospel, Advent 1 lands us squarely in the gospel’s fifth discourse, sometimes called “the Eschatological Discourse.” This includes all of Matthew chs 24…
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23rd November 2025 (24th Sun. after Pentecost)
St Luke 23: 33-43 Jesus crucified with two thieves 23:33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they…
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Preaching Paths 23 November 2025 Feast of the Reign of Christ, Yr C
Sally A Brown, Professor of Preaching Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Congregations may be perplexed to find that this year, the gospel text for the Feast of the Reign of Christ is the scene (and soundtrack) of Jesus’ crucifixion (Luke 23:33-43). Why not the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration, where he shines with otherworldly light (Lk 9:28-36),…
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Preaching Paths 16 November 2025 Proper 28C
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary In today’s gospel reading (Luke 21:5-19), Jesus continues to teach a mixed crowd of disciples and other listeners in the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, a building project of Rome’s appointee, Herod the Great. In Jesus’ time, its expansive outer courts and lavish embellishments were still under construction.…
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Sunday, 9th November 2025
St Luke 20:27-38 Jesus speaks of the resurrection 20:27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 20:28 and asked him a question: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for…
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Preaching Paths 9 November 2025 Proper 27C
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary After several weeks of Luke’s action-filled parables and stories, today’s Gospel text, Luke 20:27-38, may strike some preachers—and their listeners!—as odd or simply irrelevant. To open a pathway to the pulpit, a first step is to review the setting and timing of the debate presented in this…
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Sunday, 2nd November 2025
St Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus climbs high to see Jesus 19:1He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 19:2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 19:3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short…
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Preaching Paths 2 November 2025 Proper 26C
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Many in our pews will be familiar with the story of the diminutive, wealthy chief tax collector, Zaccheus, who runs past the crowd and climbs a sycamore tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. Preachers may also be familiar with the interpretive “fork in the road” that…
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 