Tag Archives: gospel

Matthew 25:31-46

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I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
‘Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”
‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’

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Gospel reading Matthew 11: 2 – 11

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In the Gospel for the previous Sunday (Matthew 3:1-12), we heard the stirring words of John the Baptist at the Jordan River concerning the one who is to come.
The Messiah, he said, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and he will exercise judgment. In the fashion of a swashbuckler, his coming will be dramatic, to say the least.


But Jesus does not really fit the mold. He comes on the scene as one who proclaims the kingdom of God, calls upon people to trust in God, heals the sick, and befriends tax collectors and persons labeled “sinners.” It is little wonder that John, now sitting in prison with time to think, questions whether Jesus is the one to come or not. Jesus fits neither John`s expectations nor those of Jewish messianism in general. John’s question in 11:3 is therefore totally understandable: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”


The question of John and the response of Jesus in 11:2-6 are actually relayed by disciples of John the Baptist. (That John had disciples is attested not only here and in its parallel at Luke 7:18-23, but also in John 1:35; 3:25.) John is now not certain whether Jesus is the “coming one,” an expression which refers to the Messiah as the one to come (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9, Luke 19:38, John 12:13, Heb 10:37), based on Old Testament imagery (Psalm 118:26).

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The destruction of the Temple was prophesied

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Gospel Reading – Sunday 13th Dec – Luke 21:5-19

Early Christians often greeted each other with “maranatha” it is an Aramaic expression for the imminent return of Jesus Christ after his ascension to heaven, come Lord Jesus.

They took those words seriously because they were aware that they were living in the last times.
Let me clarify that the last times in which we live have lasted since the very astonishment of the Lord Jesus. The Lord warns us not to be deceived and to always be awake and ready for his second coming. .
Jesus teaches us not to admire the walls of the temple, something that is transient, but to understand that God is a spirit that is always and everywhere. Which Jesus says that the temple of the Holy Spirit is transitory and perishable, only the spiritual soul remains and after this worldly death it passes into the spiritual dimension of eternity, and the mortal body will be resurrected on the last day.Because we are Christ’s witnesses, witnesses of his resurrection.

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The cleansing of 10 Lepers

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B. The cleansing of ten lepers.

  1. (11-14) The healing of the lepers.
    Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

a)As He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers: It was not unusual for these lepers to congregate with one another. They were outcasts from society at large, and had no company other than other lepers – so, they stood afar off.
i. Who stood afar off: “They kept at a distance, because forbidden by law and custom to come near to those who were sound, for fear of infecting them. See Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:2; 2 Kings 15:5.” (Clarke)


ii. Passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee: “The words dia meson are best translated ‘through the middle of,’ or ‘between,’ referring to Jesus’ travel along the border between Samaria and Galilee.” (Pate)

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Luke 17

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Luke 17 2. (3-4)

If someone stumbles you, deal with it and forgive them. “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” a. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him:

When someone sins against you, you should not pretend that it never happened. You need to rebuke that brother in love. i. Love is the rule here; we obviously can’t walk around keeping a record of every little offense committed against us.

One aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is longsuffering (Galatians 5:22), and we need to be able to suffer long with the slights and petty offences that come our way in daily living. Ephesians 4:2 says that we should love with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.

Don’t be too sensitive; bear with one another. ii. But in love, when we are sinned against in a significant way, we must follow Ephesians 4:15 as the pattern: we need to speak the truth in love. Love isn’t going to other people about it; love isn’t bottling it up inside of you.

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Prologue: The beginning of the Good News.

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John the Baptist Announces the Coming One (1:1 – 8).

This passage marks the beginning of Mark’s message for his distraught community. The story of Jesus can now unfold with the proclamation of John the Baptist.

The audience is to learn that neither the formidable power of evil nor the crushing brutality of the powers-that-be will enjoy the last word.

The Baptist senses God’s presence in the person of Jesus. He also understands his own mission in terms of precursor – he is to prepare the way of the Lord.
Specifically, he prepares the people for the arrival of ‘one mightier ‘ than he by proclamation of radical conversion. He proceeds to demonstrate the seriousness of his intent by appearing in the guise of Elijah (camel’s hair clothing and leather belt). He emphasises the centrality of Jesus by seeing himself only in the role of a herald. Jesus, not he, is to occupy centre stage.

The Jesus of Mark.

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The setting of the Gospel of Mark.

Since the author of this Gospel has not provided any firm date or clear background for this composition, the interpreter is compelled to look for clues that may suggest some probable answers.

From an overall reading of the text one encounters a community that has endured persecution from without and division from within. Right from the opening chapter the Cross casts it’s unmistakable shadow over the entire work. For example, John the Baptist preaches and is handed over or arrested.
Thereafter, Jesus and subsequent believer’s experience the same fate.

The theme of division among Jesus’ disciples also plays a prominent role in the work. In addition, persecutions figure significantly in the gospel.

When one puts all these observations together, there surface images of an early Christian community that has endured pain for the name of Jesus and most likely was anticipating more suffering.

A likely setting for the writing of the gospel is the persecution of Christians. Under Nero because of the great fire of 64 A.D. In order to shift blame from himself for the fire, Nero attributed the conflagration to Roman Christians.

The Roman historian Tacitus relates that Nero had Christians arrested and then convicted. He also imposed harsh punishments on those convicted.

To make matters worse, Christians betray fellow Christians.


Apostasy was rife indeed.

The author of Mark probably writes his gospel around the year 70 A.D.

(This was also the year in which the Romans utterly destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.)

He clearly demonstrates that Christian discipleship and suffering go hand in hand.

To accept the message of Jesus is to embrace the cross. The Jesus Mark is undeniably the suffering Messiah.

As Jesus unequivocally states in 8:31, ‘the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days, ‘Ironically, the infidelity of the disciples in this Gospel, notably Peter, becomes good news for those who experience failure, especially apostasy. Like Peter, they are called to repentance and reconciliation.

The Cross points to the empty tomb.