The Gospel According to Matthew
Pentecost 5A2023 Matthew 10:40-42 A family in the first congregation I served owned an elevator company. Somehow, the owners of the elevator company heard about a school for children with disabilities in a village along the side of a volcano …
Pentecost 4A2023 Matthew 10:24-39 Today, Jesus commands the disciples to follow him, to take up their cross, to love him more than their mother or father. The hardest of all? I guess it’s not really a command so much as …
Pentecost 3A2023 Matthew 9:35-10:35 At age 23, I was about to marry Ben. We had met at a Lutheran Bible camp in Wisconsin where we were both working for the summer. When it came time to ask a pastor to …
Pentecost 2A2023 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 This is a story about a table. My parents’ table has always been an open one. Especially on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter, our table in my growing up years included not just our family …
Holy Trinity A 2023 2 Corinthians 13, Matthew 28:16-20 Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, and there are few, if any, words that can accompany this mystery. For the holy trinity is ultimately a mystery we cannot fully comprehend. The mystery …
Easter A2023 Matthew 28:1-10 Peter, James, and John, Matthew, Simon, and Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus all desert Jesus and flee at his arrest. Judas, of course, betrays Jesus. The festival crowd gathered in …
Palm Sunday A2023 Matthew 21:1-11 Jesus sent disciples ahead of him to secure the donkey, and word spread quickly. The crowd probably got up early to prepare. To cut branches from palm trees. To gather their friends and family. To …
Transfiguration A2023 Matthew 17:1-9 Six days after Jesus predicts his own crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Jesus leads Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. Jesus, dazzling and glorious, is transfigured before them. Moses and Elijah, prophets long dead, appear …
Epiphany 6A2023 Matthew 5:21-37 When I was 15, my sister and I attended the new years party of our friends who happened to be the sons of the other pastor at our church. (Our dad was one of the pastors, …
Epiphany 5A2023 Matthew 5:13-20 We are probably all aware that the Bible was not written, originally, in English. What language was the Old Testament originally written in? (a little portion in Aramaic too) What about the New Testament? (koine Greek, …
Epiphany 3A2023 Matthew 4:12-23 I’m in this to follow Jesus. Granted, there is something alluring about mystery and ritual and the rhythm of the church seasons. Granted, there is gift in connecting with people of various religious traditions as one …
Christmas 1A2023 Matthew 2:13-23 Imagine, having just been visited by wise men from the east, Joseph receiving the angel of the Lord in a dream. Imagine Joseph hearing of King Herod’s plan-to kill all children in and around Bethlehem two …