Year ASeason after PentecostProper 17 (22) Matthew 16:21-28 Contextual Background: After Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah, Jesus predicts his suffering and death. Peter resists; Jesus rebukes him. He then calls the disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow. The […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 16 (21) Matthew 16:13-20 Contextual Background: At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter responds: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus blesses him and declares, “On this rock […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 15 (20) Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 Contextual Background: A Canaanite woman begs Jesus to heal her daughter. At first, Jesus refuses, citing his mission to Israel. She persists, saying, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 14 (19)Matthew 14:22-33 Contextual Background: Jesus walks on the sea to meet the disciples in a storm. Peter steps out but begins to sink when he fears. Jesus reaches out: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 13 (18) Matthew 14:13-21 Contextual Background: After John the Baptist’s death, Jesus withdraws to grieve. Crowds follow him, and he has compassion on them. With five loaves and two fish, he feeds more than five thousand people, and […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 12 (17) Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Contextual Background: Jesus offers several short parables: the mustard seed that grows into a great tree, the yeast that leavens the dough, the treasure hidden in a field, the pearl of great price, […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 11 (16) Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Contextual Background: Jesus tells a parable of wheat and weeds growing together until the harvest. The disciples are warned not to uproot the weeds. Within the Jewish Tradition: Prophets used harvest imagery for […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 10 (15) Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Contextual Background: Jesus tells the parable of the sower: seed falls on various soils, with mixed results. The good soil bears abundant fruit. Mediterranean people understood that what happens in the ground is […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 9 (14)Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Contextual Background: Jesus laments that people reject both John and himself — John as too strict, Jesus as too lax. Then he thanks God for revealing wisdom to infants – in other words, the […]
Year ASeason after PentecostProper 8 (13)Matthew 10:40-42 Contextual Background: Jesus declares that whoever welcomes his disciples welcomes him — and that even a cup of cold water given in his name will not be forgotten. Within the Jewish Tradition: Hospitality was a […]