Tag: jesus

  • Preaching Paths 24 November 2024, Feast of Christ the King, Year B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary On this final Sunday of the Year B lectionary cycle, the Feast of Christ the King, we turn to John for the gospel text, John 18:33-37. Before us is the second of seven short scenes that make up a brief, but intense and decisive drama in John’s…

  • Preaching Paths 17 November 2024 Proper 28B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Jesus delivers several predictions, a promise, a warning, and an admonition in today’s gospel reading, Mark 13:1-8. Jesus’ predictions point to a double horizon. When an awestruck disciple admires the temple’s “great stones,” Jesus predicts the temple’s destruction (v. 2). At v 4, the scene shifts to…

  • Proper 28 (33), 17th November 2024

    Mark 13:1-8 The end and the coming of the Son 13:1As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 13:2Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be…

  • Proper 27 (32), 10th November 2024

    St Mark 12:38-44 A widow’s generosity 12:38As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces 12:39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 12:40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake…

  • Preaching Paths 10 November 2024 Proper 27B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary For centuries, the widow we meet in today’s lection (Mark 12:38-44) has been valorized as an exemplar of self-denying generosity. But in recent years, scholars have argued that Jesus calls attention to this widow, not as an example to be followed, but because she is a victim…

  • Preaching Paths 3 November 2024 Proper 26B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary In this week’s lection (Mark 12:28-34), Mark surprises us. We meet a scribe who is sympathetic, not antagonistic, to Jesus. We find him lingering nearby, listening in while three sets of Jewish leaders question Jesus, hoping to catch him opposing either Jewish or Roman legal codes. First,…

  • Proper 25 (30), 27th October 2024

    Mark 10:46-52 Christ heals blind Bartimaeus 10:46They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 10:47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have…

  • Preaching Paths 27 October 2024

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Bartimaeus is the only healed person in Mark’s Gospel whose name we learn (Mark 10:46-52). The brief, dramatic story of Jesus pausing in his march to Jerusalem to restore Bartimaeus’ sight is compelling in its own right; yet, we only begin to discern the key role it…

  • Proper 25 (30), 20th October 2024

    St Mark 10:35-45 Warnings to ambitious disciples 10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 10:36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 10:37And they said…

  • Preaching Paths 20 October 2024 Proper 24B

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary A first step toward reliable interpretation of today’s gospel text, Mark 10:35-45, will be to expand the limits of the lection to include vv 32-34. Doing so makes clear that we have before us the third instance of a threefold literary structure in Mark: 1) Jesus predicts…