Chapter 13 really should be read in the context of the unit of chapters 11-13. In chapter 11, Jesus has been theologically and scripturally wrestling with authorities and doubters (John’s followers and the Pharisees) and he is also talking about repentance and judgment. In chapter 12, he is out among the people again healing and showing “mercy.” But because this happens on the sabbath, he is being questioned by the Pharisees as to his disregard for the law and where his authority comes from (Beelzebul). Now in chapter 13, the next day, he has a crowd around him. We feel the tension of these parables quickly. After Jesus finishes the parable of the sower, we miss a crucial section where the disciples ask why he is speaking in parables (an indication of their own confusion). In Jesus’ explanation, he uses Isaiah 6:9. R. Alan Culpepper rightly asks, “The primary exegetical issue is whether Jesus speaks in parables so that the people will not understand, turn, and be forgiven (as in Mark), or so that the crowds will understand, repent, and be forgiven (Matt 13:34-35).”[1] This is the crucial question for this chapter on parables and the entirety of the rest of the Gospel. If it is the former, then this is a matter of the “elect.” God has already chosen who will hear and thus Jesus speaks in parables only to create greater confusion. But if it is the latter, then Jesus is using parables to open the minds of the crowds so that they will indeed repent and come to understand the kingdom of God.
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 (6th Sunday after Pentecost) – July 9th, 2023
The lectionary is doing us a bit of a disservice this week as we’re starting in the middle of a scene that is rife with tension. But the reason is because we got Matthew 11:2-11 back on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. A disciple of John the Baptist is coming to Jesus with a message, “Are you the one or are we to wait for another?”
Matthew 10:40-42 (5th Sunday after Pentecost) – July 2, 2023
As we continue through this sending passage, we get these final three verses of chapter 10. Now, to different preachers these verses may sound relatively innocuous (and perhaps boring) or they may sound contrary and confusing. Afterall, didn’t Jesus just say that he didn’t come for the righteous but for the sinner? And isn’t a prophet’s reward that of the cross (where he just said they needed to go)?
Matthew 10:24-39 (4th Sunday after Pentecost) – June 25, 2023
This text today may just feel like a continuation of last week. However, in typical rapid-fire fashion, Matthew introduces several ideas that are critical to the prophetic witness and understanding our relationship with God and discipleship.
Matthew 9:35-10:8 [9-23] (3rd Sunday after Pentecost) – June 18, 2023
In contrast to the Lukan parallel that we heard last year (10:1-12), Matthew uses the phrasing of ‘if a house is worthy’ rather than ‘if a town welcomes you’ in how the disciples should be received in their mission. Matthew and Luke use the term worthy (ἄξιος) more than the other Gospels. Luke’s use is sporadic across the Gospel, but Matthew uses this term six times here in chapter 10. If a term is used that often, the author is trying to define it or stress its importance.
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 (2nd Sunday after Pentecost) – June 11, 2023
We’ve spent a long while away from the narrative in Matthew. The Easter season through Holy Trinity is often all over the place and does little to focus on the themes of the Synoptic Gospel of the year. So, because of that, it’s easy to jump into a text like the one we have this week and ignore where it falls in the context of the Gospel and why Matthew is introducing this story. So, I’d like to set that context for us today and really lean into the tension of it all. Our text today is a continuation of a long line of interactions that immediately happen after the Sermon on the Mount. To read this Gospel text today as an isolated story would miss a massive movement happening in chapters 8 and 9.
Matthew 28:16-20 (Holy Trinity) – June 4, 2023
We are mere days (maybe even the same day) from the resurrection. Although we today are 50 some-odd days from Easter and have been in John for 7 weeks, this is an Easter text for Matthew. For a Gospel with so much detail and so many encounters, Matthew’s resurrection is abruptly short. Whereas John and Luke have a few resurrection appearances, Matthew has maybe one and a half. But I think this is intentional. But as I referenced way back in Advent, this is not the final judgment. The final judgment, in Matthew, is when Jesus returns. And so, if this is not the final judgment then there is no reason to linger. Now that the ritual sacrifice is no longer necessary, there is nothing tying discipleship to Jerusalem.[1] This is about the transition of ministry to the disciples who have been taught all they need to know and have received the authority they need. And so, the next leg of work must begin. We are in the final transition of prophetic authority. John and Luke emphasize this next era of faith being driven by the Holy Spirit but that is not explicitly Matthew’s claim. This next era of faith, for Matthew, is the prophetic witness and evangelism of the church. The great commission is that final transition.
Pentecost (John 20:19-23 & Acts 2:1-21) – May 28, 2023
We again have very recognizable texts today: The incredibly familiar Acts 2 passage that simultaneously gives us joy and unnerves all of our lectors who have to read the many places in succession and a portion of 2nd Sunday of Easter, John 20, when Jesus meets the disciples in the upper room. We’ve just preached on John recently (including these most recent weeks within the Farewell Discourse) and many of us have preached on Acts 2 or have looked at the many commentaries that are written on it each year. All of this to say, I want to explore a more thematic topic in relation to John and Acts: The Two different descriptions of the Spirit.
John 17:1-11 (7th Sunday of Easter) – May 21, 2023
Eternal life. Two words that carry so much weight. Eternal life. Two words that encompass so much promise, so much expectation, so much hope for a future that is beyond our gaze, and beyond our comprehension. In our Christian tradition, these words are used so regularly to describe the time after a loved one has passed or to speak to the promise that Christ gives us about what comes next. We hear things like, “We will have eternal life with God in heaven.” Or “we will have eternal life with Christ.” These are beautiful sayings that give us so much hope and fill us with comfort. But so often, we only think about that life with God as in the future, yet to come. In a life different from the one that we are in. But in Today’s Gospel we are told, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” And this… THIS is eternal life. That they may know You. What if eternal life is not just the expectation of what comes after this life, but begins far sooner than that? What if eternal life is as simple as us knowing God?
John 14:15-21 – 6th Sunday of Easter (May 14th, 2023)
This week we continue our trek through the Farwell Discourse and much of the context is the same as last week. We continue to hear this promise of Jesus’ abiding connection with God, and we hear the promise of our abiding connection through the gift of the Holy Spirit who will be with us forever. Rather than belabor additional contextual points, I’ll jump into preaching possibilities that I’m seeing.
Micah Krey 