Matthew 9:35-10:8 Dear Partner in Preaching, Because of the way the readings for the Pentecost season are determined by the date on which Easter falls, we haven’t had a chance to hear this passage in Sunday worship for nearly a decade. It’s a great bridge from the Easter season that concludes just before Pentecost and Holy Trinity Sundays to the season of Pentecost proper. That bridge is immensely helpful for those who are trying to follow the narrative of Matthew, as after the Lenten focus on the journey to the cross and the Easter focus on the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection (both of which draw heavily from John’s...

Mark 12:38-44 Dear Partner in Preaching, Sometimes our interpretation of a biblical passage turns on the questions we ask of it. In this case, I want to begin with one central question, not simply for the text, but also for you: How do you hear Jesus’ description of the poor widow’s offering – is it praise or lament? To put it another way: Is Jesus holding up the widow and her offering as an example of great faith and profound stewardship, or is he expressing his remorse that she has given – perhaps feels compelled – to give away the little she has left? I’ll be honest, for most of my life, I’ve assumed it was the former. But...

Dear Partner in Preaching, I’ll be completely honest and just admit that I totally sympathize with the monks. The monks, that is, who just couldn’t believe that Mark really ended at verse 16:8a in such an awkward, unsatisfying, and distressingly incomplete way. Here’s what we know about this ending: Although there are numerous later manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel that have alternative and longer endings, all the earliest manuscripts end right here. Which means that this is most likely where Mark wanted his story to end, with a final sentence that is grammatically awkward, ending rather abruptly and with a preposition – an unusual...