Tag: gospel-of-matthew

  • Preaching Paths 13 September 2026

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Inexhaustible forgiveness is at the center of today’s Gospel reading, Mt 18:21-35.  On the face of it, Peter’s query, Jesus’ reply, and the parable that follows seem straightforward. The message is clear: always be ready to forgive. Yet details of this text, especially the parable, prompt questions:…

  • Preaching Paths 6 September 2026

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Today’s Gospel reading, Mt 18:15-20, is brief; yet its implications for the inter-relational life of Christians, assembling down the centuries for divine worship and public witness, has been profound. Jesus is not naïve; he anticipates that rifts and instances of personal failure among his disciples are inevitable.…

  • Preaching Paths 30 August 2026 Proper 17A

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Preachers should take care to read today’s gospel text, Mt 16:21-28, in close relation to last week’s lection (Mt 16:13-20), especially Peter’s confession and commissioning (vv. 15-19). Jesus predicts his suffering, sharply undercutting reigning notions of “messiahship” as the exercise of political or military power. Commentators note…

  • Sunday, 23rd August 2026

    Matthew 16:13-20 The profession of Peter’s faith 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 16:14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 16:15 He…

  • Preaching Paths 23 August 2026 Proper 16A

    Sally A Brown   Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Matthew’s placement of this scene in today’s Gospel text (Mt 16:13-20, often referred to as Peter’s “confession of faith”) is no accident; it is pivotal for his gospel, both from a literary and theological standpoint. First, the setting—Caesarea Philippi—would have been striking for Mt’s earliest, late-first-century readers.…

  • Sunday, 9th August 2026

    Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus walking on the sea 14:22 Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 14:23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 14:24…

  • Preaching Paths 9 August 2026 Proper 14A

    Sally A Brown, Professor of Preaching Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Few Gospel texts have engendered more diverse trajectories of interpretation than Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a storm (Mt 14:22-33). Only in Matthew do we read of Peter climbing out of the boat to walk…

  • 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…

  • Sunday, 12th July 2026

    Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 The parable of the sower and the seed 13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 13:2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 13:3 And he told them…