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Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth [2 Samuel 18:9b, NRSV]. Not that it makes any difference, but I’ve long been less than comfortable with the notion espoused in 1 Samuel 13:14, that David was “a man after Yahweh’s own heart.” By the way, the point is repeated in Acts 13:22. To be sure, the whole Goliath business shows David to be a faithful and courageous young man. But once David became king, he seems to have let his absolute power get to…

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” [John 6:34-35]. Have you ever had that eerie feeling that you needed something and yet, you couldn’t quite put a name on it? For example, I remember a few years ago, after our father died, I would sometimes find myself sitting in my reading chair, gazing off into space for something that seemed just beyond my visual reach. On several such occasions, Jane entered the room and, after seeing my expression, allowed that I seemed deep…

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself [John 6:14-15]. For many of us, the feeding of the multitude story ranks high on our list of Gospel favorites. As you may know, it’s the only miracle story found in all four Gospels. The Gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday, the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (RCL, Year B) is John’s version, which has several important variations. For…

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me [Psalm 23:4]. One of the many personal advantages of living here in Durham is my proximity to one of my alma maters, Duke Divinity School. As you may know, for almost 20 years, I worked either on or near Duke’s campus. The Div School library is in a category of its own. Only Yale and Princeton would have anything like it. Prior to the pandemic, the Div School also sponsored numerous seminars, discussion groups, and other gatherings. During the pandemic,…

Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother [Mark 6: 25-28, portion of the Gospel lesson for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (RCL, Year B)]. If…

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” [2 Corinthians 12:7b-8]. A great deal of ink has been spilled over the years in essays, sermons, and reflections upon Paul’s so-called “thorn in the flesh.” That thorn is described—well, not so much “described” as “mentioned”—in the Epistle reading for this upcoming Sunday, the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost…

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” [Mark 5:34]. She had lived with her condition for twelve years. She had likely often wondered, however, how anyone could characterize her current state as “life.” Indeed, because of strict religious and social rules [see Leviticus 15:25-30], the woman about whom I speak—the woman described in the middle of this week’s Gospel lesson [Mark 5:21-43, the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL, Year B]—was considered ritually unclean because of her twelve-year hemorrhage. Moreover, it wasn’t just that she was considered unclean; anyone she touched was rendered unclean as well. By now,…

He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” [Mark 4:30-32, NRSV, a portion of the Gospel lesson assigned for this Sunday, the Third Sunday after Pentecost, RCL, Year B]. When Todd and I were perhaps fifteen or so, the Reverend William Leist, the well-liked…

A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” [Mark 3:32-35, a portion of the Gospel lesson assigned for this Sunday, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, RCL, Year B]. As most of you have no doubt noticed in your New Testament studies, Mark’s is the fast-paced Gospel. In fact, the gospel writer is so intent upon…

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” [John 3:1-3, a portion of the Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday, the First Sunday After Pentecost, RCL, Year B]. I suspect that if you asked ten Christians if they could recite John 3:16 without opening their Bible, nine…