Tag: jesus

  • Proper 20 (25), 22nd September 2024

    St Mark 9:30-37 Prediction of the Passion 9:30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, 9:31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed,…

  • Preaching Paths 22 September 2024 Proper 20B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Jesus predicts his arrest, death and resurrection a second time in today’s reading, Mark 9:30-37. His disciples, uncomprehending as before, are afraid to ask for clarification—even the three who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountaintop (9:2-8). For them, this is Jesus’ third mention of resurrection. Descending the…

  • Preaching Paths 28 July 2024 Proper 12B

    Preaching Paths 28 July 2024  Proper 12B Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary The two miracle stories that comprise today’s gospel reading, John 6:1-21, were of utmost importance to early Christians. All three Synoptics have some version of the feeding of the multitude; all but Luke include the story of Jesus walking toward…

  • Preaching Paths 14 July 2024 Proper 10B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Today’s Gospel reading, Mark 6:14-29, opens with a report of various speculations about Jesus’ identity (vv 14-16). The dramatic, skillfully crafted story of the execution of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas functions as “back-story,” explaining Antipas’s belief that Jesus is John the Baptist come back to…

  • Preaching Paths 7 July 2024 Proper 9B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Mark sets two closely related pericopes side by side in Mark 6:1-13. Both stories advance a now-familiar theme: those who share news of the reign of God, in word or deed, should be prepared to face opposition or downright rejection. Jesus did, even in his own hometown.…

  • Proper 8 (13) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 30th June 2024

    Mark 5:21-435:21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 5:22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 5:23 and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter…

  • Preaching Paths 30 June 2024 Proper 8B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary In Mark 5:21-43, Mark deliberately embeds one striking healing event inside another. The dramatic tension unfolding in each story is generated by their interplay. They need to be preached together. The supplicants in these interwoven stories could not be more different. Jairus, who seeks healing for his…

  • Proper 7 (12) Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, 23rd June 2024

    Mark 4:35-414:35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 4:36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 4:37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the…

  • Preaching Paths 23 June 2024 Proper 7

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary The story known as “the stilling of the storm” (Mk 4:35-41) is one of two such stories in Mark (cf 6:47-53). The vast majority of sermons based on today’s text treat this boat-in-a-storm metaphorically: the boat is either the church or one’s life situation; the storm represents…

  • Proper 6 (11) Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, 16th June 2024

    Mark 4:26-344:26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 4:27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 4:28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full…