By Andrew Bartelt
Literary and Canonical Background
Our Lord’s ministry began with the notice that John the Baptist had been arrested (4:12). The words and deeds of Jesus now have been twice interrupted by the ongoing story of …

By Henry Rowold
“Feed Them!”
As happens regularly in Scripture, this pericope is so rich that it can evoke an entire series of sermons, without stretching or duplicating: Jesus withdrew from the crowd (also 12:15, and other …

By Robert Weise
Parables of Assurance and Hope
I would suggest that the best reference for studying the context of these three parables that “assure them [the disciples] that God is reigning and that to follow Jesus is …

By Travis J. Scholl
Consider this act two in the grand dramatic entrance of the parables into the Gospel of Matthew and the Matthean lectionary, the second of three consecutive readings of Matthew 13’s “parables of the …

By Francis C. Rossow
From childhood on we’ve known the scriptural truth that hearing affects living. Only the word of God can create faith in our hearts and good in our lives. The more we hear the …

By Paul Philp
Jesus has just concluded speaking words of woe upon the cities where the response to his proclamation among them was ignored and rejected. This word of harsh condemnation makes it clear that those in …

By David Peter
Liturgical Context
This text is appointed for this date simply because it falls in the sequence of the lectio continua for the gospel readings from Matthew’s Gospel. The theme is that of division, conflict, and …

By Jeffrey A. Oschwald
Trinity Sunday is “the celebration of the richness of the being of God . . . the occasion of a thankful review of the now completed mystery of salvation, which is the work …

By R. Reed Lessing
“The Fly-Over Lands of our Lives”
John’s Use of Water
Our Lord’s turning water into wine at the Cana wedding (Jn 2:1–11) makes Jesus the focal point of water symbolism in John’s Gospel. Speaking to …

By William W. Schumacher
In the Heidelberg Disputation (1518), Martin Luther drew a stark contrast between a “theologian of glory” and a “theologian of the cross,” and that distinction may still make a Lutheran preacher reluctant to …