Commentary by Bruce G. Epperly

Exodus 16:2-15 (16-21)
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16

Scarcity and abundance are at the heart of today’s scripture readings. God is graceful to us, constantly guiding, sustaining, and energizing us, often when we feel least aware of it. Awakened to divine generosity, we become channels of grace and comfort to others. Once again, as I reflect on the lectionary selections, I suggest that pastors who truly want to tell the story of God’s providential care for the Hebraic, or Israelite, people consider adding verses 16-21 to the lectionary reading from Exodus 16...

Exodus 14:19-31
Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35

Today’s readings speak of the interplay of grace and justice in the affairs of persons and nations. The Exodus readings celebrate the deliverance of the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors. In the nick of time, God comes through to save the people. God makes “a way when there was no way” for the people to cross the sea, and then lets loose the waters to destroy the Egyptian army. While scholars have debated the historical accuracy and geography of this text and have challenged its vision of supernatural deliverance, nevertheless...

Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 148
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

The polyvalent character of today’s readings can inspire a variety of sermon topics. As I read these passages, the theological thread that binds them together involves the extent of our ethical consideration in relationship to persons outside our tribe and species. These passages either implicitly or explicitly reveal the connection of value and ethics. On the one hand, those to whom grant we grant value, we also grant ethical consideration and equality. On the other hand, those who lack value in our eyes are given little or no ethical consideration...

Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28

Among rabbinical scholars, the question was once raised, “why was the blaze burning, but not consumed?” After much theological argumentation, one rabbi noted, “the bush burned and was not consumed so that one day, as he walked by, Moses would finally notice it?” Today’s readings are about the varieties of self-awareness necessary for the spiritual journey – noticing God’s presence in the everyday and discovering God’s vision for your life...

Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20

Matthew’s gospel sets the stage for today’s lectionary readings. Jesus begins the dialogue with the question, “who do people say that I am?”  At first glance, this appears to be an abstract theological question that invites Matthew’s first readers as well as persons today to reflect on the many possible Christological understandings of Jesus’ life and work. Just as first and second century Christians accepted four primary and many secondary pictures of Jesus, the four gospels and the non-canonical gospels, respectively, Christians today need to recognize and affirm the wealth of theological reflection on Jesus, his relationship to God, and the ways Jesus brings salvation to humankind....

Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28

Today’s passages describe the power of reconciliation to transform families, ethnic divisions, and national infidelity. Joseph reconciles with the brothers who sold him into slavery; Paul describes God’s everlasting love for Jewish people, despite Paul’s awareness of their unfaithfulness; and Jesus has a healing encounter with a woman from a despised ethnic group...

1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33

Today’s passages challenge preachers on three fronts – morality, message, and miracle. The Genesis passage raises a variety of moral issues as it describes the rivalries that can destroy a family and the extent to which siblings may go either to undermine or save a brother or sister. The narrative clearly notes that Jacob has created a gulf between his sons by his clear preference of his youngest son, Joseph. While Joseph is obviously an intelligent young person, attuned to the world of dreams and spirits, he adds to the alienation by sharing his dream of dominance and, no doubt, acting the role of the favored son....

Psalm 17:1-7, 15 or 145:8-9, 14-21
Genesis 32:22-31 or Isaiah 55:1-5
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21

Today’s scriptures reflect on spiritual transformation in a time of personal crisis. Jacob goes to solitary place as he awaits a showdown with his brother Esau, whom he has cheated out of his father’s blessing. In the wake of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus retreats to a “deserted place all by himself.” Both Jesus and Jacob find themselves at a spiritual crossroads in which they must choose the next steps of their journey....

Commentary by Jeanyne B. Slettom

Ps. 105:1-11, 45b
Gen. 29:15-28
Rom. 8:26-39
Matt. 13:31-33, 44-52

How the tables have turned! Jacob was the one who gained the advantage over his brother by trickery; now Jacob is the one who is deceived. And how complicated the story now becomes with this quaternity of siblings: Jacob and Esau, Rachel and Leah...

Ps. 139:1-12, 23-24
Gen. 28:10-19a
Rom. 8:12-25
Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43

In the Genesis story we have the familiar “Jacob’s ladder” story, with its powerful theme of the presence of God. Unlike the tower of Babel, which arrogant humans built to gain access to heaven, this ladder has been “set up,” and it is not human beings but angels who use it. Significantly, they are going in both directions—ascending and descending—which suggests that the value is in the interaction between the two realms...

Ps. 119:105-112
Gen. 25:19-34
Rom. 8:1-11
Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23

In this week and the weeks that follow, we get Matthew’s parables of the kingdom, Paul’s dichotomy of flesh and Spirit, the Jacob cycle, and some of the best sound bites from the Psalms. What an array of choices! And choice, as it turns out, is a central theme in the texts for this week...

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45:10-17
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Today’s New Testament lectionary readings are grounded in the interplay of ambivalence, confession, and grace. They invite us to embrace and affirm the totality of our lives as a means of discovering God’s vision. The passages from Genesis and the Psalms need to be handled with care by the preacher. Simplistic biblical interpretations of passages such as the quest for a wife for Isaac and royal marriage in Psalms are best avoided by preachers unless they can proclaim them in liberating, inclusive, and egalitarian ways...

Psalm 13
Genesis 22:1-14
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42

Discussing the Text

“The Lord Will Provide” could easily be a bumper-sticker. Pasted on the back of a car, next to the fish symbol, it might identify the driver as a Christian, unless the current owner bought the car from a Christian, then the theology comes with the car title. Many such slogans are plastered not only cars, but barns, bill-board signs, and landscapes. “Jesus Saves” becomes drive-by theology. There are a myriad of sound-bite theologies cluttering the cultural landscape. I suspect that most of us occasionally find ourselves mouthing easy bits and pieces of abstractions from the Bible without even thinking about it...