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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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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…
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26th October 2025, 20th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 18:9-14 A Pharisee and tax collector pray 18:9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 18:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 18:11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was…
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Preaching Paths 26 October 2025, Proper 25C
Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Luke 18:9-14, another parable unique to Luke, continues the theme of prayer introduced in last week’s reading (18:1-8), but with a different emphasis. Last week’s reading underscored the need for steadfastness in prayer. This week, Jesus again sets side by side two contrasting individuals—this time, a law-observant…
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Preaching Paths 19 October 2025 Proper 24C
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary This week’s gospel text, Luke 18:1-8, presents us with another parable unique to Luke. The parable sets in juxtaposition two readily recognizable “stock” characters of the time—a mistreated widow who seeks justice and a self-absorbed judge who has no regard either for God or human beings. The…
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Preaching Paths 12 October 2025 Proper 23C
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary In today’s gospel lection, Luke 17:11-19, we find Jesus traveling the borderland between Galilee and Samaria, a region many Jewish travelers avoided, owing to the deep animosity between Jews and Samaritans. Unsurprisingly, ten men made ritually “unclean” because of skin disease chose to take refuge there. Many…
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Preaching Paths 5 October 2025, Proper 22C
Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary A helpful step toward preaching from today’s text, Luke 17:5-10, will be to begin reading at v 1, both for study and in the worship service. The high bar of addressing and forgiving others’ offenses that Jesus sets in vv 1-4 is the impetus for his disciples’…
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 