Lectionary Studies for the Coming Sundays
By Dr. Jay Wilcoxen
Every two weeks, biblical scholar Jay Wilcoxen publishes "Biblical Words" in The Common Good Network of Protestants for the Common Good. They are also printed for the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago's eWind and on the Region's website, with the permission of Dr. Wilcoxen.
These Lectionary Studies are presented in chronological order with the most recent at the top.
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| Date/Title | |
| 01/29/2012 4th Sunday after Epiphany |
God provides prophetic leadership to overthrow the powers of evil and bring healing. |
| 01/22/2012 3rd Sunday after Epiphany |
Those who really hear God's call to repent make major changes in their lives. |
| 01/15/2011 2nd Sunday after Epiphany |
God calls servants who are known intimately—in their most secret selves. |
| 01/08/2011 1st Sunday After Epiphany |
The baptism of Jesus is a moment in the life of God's Spirit with the world. |
01/06/2012 |
Epiphany is light to the nations, whose sages come to find a king, and who hear of their inclusion in the good news. |
| 01/01/2012 1st Sunday after Christmas |
In the fullness of time God grants joy to those seeking the Consolation of Israel. |
12/25/2011 |
An ecstatic declaration rings out about a Messiah—to oppressed people and to working shepherds. |
| 12/18/2011 4th Sunday in Advent |
God's promise to David sends a mystery into the world that could become very intimate and personal. |
| 12/11/2011 3rd Sunday in Advent |
Those who mourn shall be comforted—by the coming of the Anointed One. |
| 12/04/2011 2nd Sunday in Advent |
Out of judgment there comes a voice, which prepares the Way. |
| 11/27/2011 1st Sunday in Advent |
The suffering ones cry out, How long O Lord? Advent begins with God's judgment on a world of oppression, greed, and violence. |
| 11/20/2011 Reign of Christ Sunday |
God's special care is for the lost sheep, "the least of these," to whom God sends the good shepherd, Christ the King. |
| 11/13/2011 22nd Sunday after Pentecost |
People of faith live in times of Waiting – in oppression, in repentance, in newly awakened hope, in responsibility for time and talent. |
| 11/06/2011 21st Sunday after Pentecost |
Even after God's great redemptive deeds, the faithful live on in the world, challenged to be faithful and prepared. |
| 10/30/2011 20th Sunday after Pentecost |
God's awesome deeds create leaders, but titles and pomp are not for the Lord's humble servants. |
| 10/23/2011 19th Sunday after Pentecost |
Moses was an awesome servant of God; later generations would imitate his caring and revere the Commandments he delivered. |
| 10/16/2011 18th Sunday after Pentecost |
Thoughtful folks pondered how God was present to Moses, and Jesus expected people to distinguish God's stuff from the Emperor's. |
| 10/09/2011 17th Sunday after Pentecost |
The chosen people may commit great sin, but God's purpose still prevails through God's own mediating servants. |
| 10/02/2011 16th Sunday after Pentecost |
The Law of God is an awesome revelation, but the divine patience is even more profound. |
| 09/25/2011 15th Sunday after Pentecost |
Water from the rock validated Moses' authority, while John's baptism for repentance points to the source of Jesus' authority. |
| 09/18/2011 14th Sunday after Pentecost |
God provides food to a doubting people, and a Generous Employer pays incommensurate wages. |
| 09/11/2011 13th Sunday after Pentecost |
Israelites sang God's triumph over Pharaoh, and Jesus people were taught to forgive each other. |
| 09/4/2011 12th Sunday after Pentecost |
Deliverance involves both the redeemed and their enemies, and even the community of love needs ways to keep its boundaries. |
| 08/28/2011 11th Sunday after Pentecost |
God's salvation has critical turning points—a plan to send a deliverer to Egypt, the turn of an Anointed One toward Jerusalem. |
| 08/21/2011 10th Sunday after Pentecost |
Oppressed Israel hides a Moses, Peter confesses a Messiah, and Paul calls for a spiritual worship. |
| 08/14/2011 9th Sunday after Pentecost |
Israel has a priority in God's salvation design, but other people of faith may also find an inclusive grace. |
| 08/07/2011 8th Sunday after Pentecost |
The stories of Joseph and Jesus are simple, but loaded with veiled challenges to faith, past and present. |
| 07/31/2011 7th Sunday after Pentecost |
Israel received its name and destiny in struggle, a struggle that included tension between need and abundance. |
| 07/24/2011 6th Sunday after Pentecost |
Life brings surprising reversals, in married life and in parables, but also God's promise of unending love. |
| 07/17/2011 5th Sunday after Pentecost |
Holy places may be unseen by profane eyes, and people living by God's Spirit may be found side by side with the unrighteous. |
| 07/10/2011 4th Sunday after Pentecost |
People feel bound by their tribal ethos, but life in the Spirit can lift them beyond such things. |
| 07/03/2011 3rd Sunday after Pentecost |
The cycles of the generations and the struggles of the soul are promised rest at the end of the journey. |
| 06/26/2011 2nd Sunday after Pentecost |
The life of faith leads to sacrifices—sometimes beyond belief, but finally as God provides. |
| 06/19/2011 Trinity Sunday |
The Fullness of God unfolds as Creator, exalted Humanity, and Spirit sanctifying space and time. |
| 06/12/2011 Pentecost Sunday |
The Holy Spirit breaks out -- inside or outside accustomed boundaries. |
| 06/05/2011 7th Sunday of Easter |
Luke taught that the earthly work of Jesus had an end: the Ascension. |
| 05/29/2011 6th Sunday of Easter |
Philosophers learn about an unknown God and disciples receive the Spirit of Truth. |
| 05/22/2011 5th Sunday of Easter |
The witnesses to Jesus' lordship face great costs and great fulfillments. |
| 05/15/2011 4th Sunday of Easter |
The Lord as shepherd is revealed in a caring and supportive community. |
| 05/08/2011 3rd Sunday of Easter |
The risen Lord opens the scriptures, opens the eyes, and opens the way to a new life. |
| 05/01/2011 2nd Sunday of Easter |
The apostles, witnesses of the resurrection, open the scriptures and offer forgiveness. |
| 04/24/2011 Easter Sunday |
Things become new, victories celebrated, living set in a heavenly light – God's work of resurrection. |
| 04/22/2011 Good Friday |
"Clean out the old yeast… for our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed." (I Corinthians 5:7) |
| 04/17/2011 Palm Sunday |
Hosanna! |
| 04/10/2011 5th Sunday in Lent |
As the season of Lent nears its end, the minds of the faithful awaken to resurrection to a new life in the Spirit. |
| 04/03/2011 4th Sunday in Lent |
The God who knows the hearts of mortals sends an Anointed One to bring sight to those who have not seen. |
| 03/27/2011 3rd Sunday in Lent |
Lent is a time of trial and testing, when God provides water and a discipline for new life. |
| 03/20/2011 2nd Sunday in Lent |
Abraham responded to God's promise with complete faith, but not all can accept such a divine challenge. |
| 03/13/2011 1st Sunday in Lent |
Humans encounter the resistances and defeats of the world as the burdens of sin, but the Servant shows a way beyond temptation. |
| 03/09/2011 Ash Wednesday |
In a world darkened by sin, prayers of confession and pleas for forgiveness are the acceptable sacrifices to God. |
| 03/06/2011 Transfiguration Sunday |
The work of God's Servant conceals a divine glory and sanction, only momentarily glimpsed by the chosen ones. |
| 02/27/2011 8th Sunday after Epiphany |
Good news about God’s care should deliver the faithful from despair and anxiety. |
| 02/20/2011 7th Sunday after Epiphany |
Receiving God's Law is a summons to imitate the holy and perfect heavenly Parent. |
| 02/13/2011 6th Sunday after Epiphany |
God's law or instruction aims to bring God's people to maturity, to grown up choices and conduct. |
| 02/06/2011 5th Sunday after Epiphany |
God seeks authentic devotion and life in place of the artificial and worldly. |
| 01/30/2011 4th Sunday after Epiphany |
What God requires is a reversal of the world's expectations, so the poor and the meek will inherit the ultimate blessings. |
| 01/23/2011 3rd Sunday after Epiphany |
To whom does the Servant come? The light begins in Galilee of the nations. |
| 01/16/2011 2nd Sunday after Epiphany |
The Servant of the Lord begins a mission to become a light to the nations. |
| 12/19/2010 4th Sunday of Advent |
Births as signs of saving events and the giving of names reveal God's Secret Work. |
| 12/12/2010 3rd Sunday of Advent |
Advent anticipates a time of healing and of joy for those previously excluded from God's safe highway. |
| 11/28/2010 1st Sunday of Advent |
The liturgical year begins with visions that place the world under God’s judgment, visions that shape attitudes by which the faithful... |
| 11/21/2010 Reign of Christ Sunday |
At the end of the liturgical year, the faithful hear the promise of the Reign of Christ. |
| 11/14/2010 25th Sunday afterPentecost |
People of faith hear about paradise or salvation on earth, but also about work and watchfulness before the great time. |
| 11/07/2010 24th Sunday afterPentecost |
A new temple and a new life call the faithful to work. |
| 10/31/2010 23rd Sunday afterPentecost |
The righteous ones who wait for God’s justice will be justified by their faith. |
| 10/24/2010 22nd Sunday afterPentecost |
The spirit of the Lord crosses boundaries of age, class, and gender, humbling the proud and pronouncing the humble righteous. |
| 10/17/2010 21st Sunday afterPentecost |
Responsible people need hearts that are transformed by God’s instruction and persistence to demand the reign of righteousness. |
| 10/10/2010 20th Sunday afterPentecost |
Exile (Diaspora) carries God’s blessing to the nations, and the suffering of the elect advances the message of new life. |
| 10/03/2010 19th Sunday after Pentecost |
God’s servants agonize over the pain of God’s judgment, but also learn to be humble in the Lord’s work. |
09/26/2010 |
And what of the future – land is purchased in a devastated region, wealth is on the wrong side of a terrible abyss. |
| 09/19/2010 17th Sunday after Pentecost |
There is both human and divine pain – because of disasters humans bring upon themselves through the misguided shrewdness of this age. |
09/12/2010 |
Those skilled in doing evil bring chaos, while apostles and disciples experience the joy of sinners “found” for a new life. |
| 09/05/2010 15th Sunday after Pentecost |
God keeps bringing up choices – for nations engaged in evil, slave owners living the faith, and disciples on the journey of their lives. |
| 08/14/2010 14th Sunday after Pentecost |
Ancestors are sued for abandoning their God, while others journey on to share the blessed banquet of God. |
| 08/22/2010 13th Sunday after Pentecost |
Prophets experience divine constraint, pilgrims pass through shaking times, and Jesus places compassion above divine law. |
| 08/15/2010 12th Sunday after Pentecost |
God judges his own choice vineyard, and pilgrims find hard going on their way to a better time. |
| 08/08/2010 11th Sunday after Pentecost |
What does God really want? Justice, mercy, and pilgrims who live by faith. |
| 08/01/2010 10th Sunday after Pentecost |
God’s love may temper even God’s justice, but the new life excludes the idolatry of greed. |
Biblical Studies are also available on the Website of Protestants for the Common Good