Bible on the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
3rd Sunday, Year A
From that time on...
In the flow of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus has been baptized by John, lead by the Spirit into the wilderness and been tempted for 40 days and night. Now He emerges into the world and from that time on his pubic ministry was underway. The first action? Calling disciples to follow him and begin the mission to the world that all might be saved
As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God.
Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Calling of the First Apostles | 1481–82 | Sistine Chapel, Vatican | PD-US
4th Sunday, Year A
The Beatitudes
The gospel for this Sunday is the “Sermon on the Mount”, actually only the portion known as the Beatitudes. The disciples are gathered, but so too are people in general who have come to hear Jesus speak. The nature of the audience raises a basic question: what are the Beatitudes? Are the general ethic that God asks of he People of God? Is is a message about discipleship? Martin Luther thought it was an impossible demand like the Old Testament Law.
As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God. Some think it is a description of the millennial kingdom for when Jesus returns. There is not shortage of views of “what they are.” And then we arrive at thee question of “what do they mean?”
As always, the living Word of God has a lot to ponder. Grab your favorite beverage and take some time of the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary
Image credit: Cosimo Rosselli Sermone della Montagna, 1481, Sistine Chapel, Public Domain
5th Sunday, Year A
Salt and Light
The gospel for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A is a part of the “Sermon on the Mount”,following immediately after the portion known as the Beatitudes. Famously, Jesus used the metaphors of “salt” and “light” to describe the nature and challenges of discipleship. Why those elements? Did they have a deeper and more robust meanings to the 1st century listener? Modern folks don’t have to think about salt – it is on the shelf of any grocery store. LIght? Flick a switch without giving it a second thought. Maybe we have lost part of the message along the way?
As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God – and go back in time to the world of the first century. Grab your favorite beverage and take some time of the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary
Sermon on the Mount (1877) by Carl Heinrich Bloch | Museum of National History |
Frederiksborg Castle, Public Domain
6th Sunday, Year A
"You have heard it said..."
The gospel for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A is a part of the “Sermon on the Mount.” It follows the Beatitudes and Jesus’ use of the metaphors of “salt” and “light” to describe the nature and challenges of discipleship. Next Jesus speaks to the importance of the Law but begins to teach how to rightly understand the whole of Scripture: “the Law and the Prophets.” It is a rich teaching, complex, but one that continues to deepen the understanding of discipleship and reveal how Jesus himself is the fulfillment of all the promises of Scripture
As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God – and go back in time to the world of the first century. Grab your favorite beverage and take some time of the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Gospel
Detailed Commentary
Sermon on the Mount (1877) by Carl Heinrich Bloch | Museum of National History |
Frederiksborg Castle, Public Domain