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Luke

Easter 3 ’26

On the road to Emmaus burdened hearts become burning hearts. They’re trudging home, exhausted, disillusioned, confused. All their hopes have died with Jesus on that cross and lie with him in the cold of the tomb. We’re back on that first Easter Sunday and as far as anyone is aware, as dawn breaks, Jesus is still in the tomb.
But what’s interesting about these two on the road is where they’ve come from. Our reading begins that on the same day ‘two of them were going to a village called Emmaus’. Two of them? Two of who?

Christmas Day ’25

It’s Christmas, the wonderful news that God has come to us, come to join us in our world. No longer is he far off, no longer is he unseen, no longer do we hear only through messengers and prophets. Now in Jesus he is with us, we see in his face the face of God, now he speaks with his own mouth. In this infant the God who created the entire universe has come. The infinite God become a tiny child. It’s wonderful news, joyful news, it’s little wonder that the angels couldn’t keep it in.

Christ the King ’25

We have in our readings today two thing we might assume are opposed, and they often are in our world; power and authority, and sacrifice. Often we think of them as opposite ends of the spectrum. But in Christ they’re brought together.
Paul in the opening of his letter to the Colossians which we heard is praying that God would strengthen the believers there, because he has brought them out from the power of darkness and into the kingdom of light; the kingdom of Jesus. And Paul immediately segways into who this Jesus is, and he doesn’t go in the direction we might expect. There’s nothing about his humble birth, earthly ministry, teaching or miracles. Rather what we have is a celebration of Jesus’ supremacy, how he is above all things. It’s something well worth dwelling on on a Sunday like Christ the King.

Trinity 16 ’25

Life, it’s all about you. Isn’t it?
We’re nearing the end of a big block of teaching, most of which is exclusive to Luke. But as this section draws to a close he rather fittingly brings in the response of the Apostle’s to all of this. There’s just been the parable of the rich man and Lazarus which we heard last week, then there’s just been some teaching on not causing others to stumble and the need to forgive, and do so freely. And what do the Apostle’s say to all of this challenging and difficult teaching? Lord, increase our faith.

Trinity 15 ’25

Have you ever met someone who was doing something not because they cared about it, but because of how it would benefit them? I’m not so much talking about the world of work here as the world of relationships. Have you ever come across someone who was friends with someone else because they had a great house with a pool or because they had contacts which would benefit them.

Feast of the Holy Cross ’25

We have at the heart of our Gospel reading today the very core of the Gospel. The most famous verse in the Bible, indeed you could summarise the whole Bible in this one verse (but you still need the rest to unpack this summary). ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life’. It’s such a familiar verse to many of us, but it’s an utterly lifechanging verse if you grasp it. It speaks of the cross: the reason for the cross, the one who goes to the cross, and the results of the cross.

Trinity 12 ’25

Following Jesus, being a Christian is free. It’s less about what we have done to earn it and more about what Jesus has done for us. It’s the free gift of God bought at a great price, we often emphasise that. And yet it also costs. Being a disciple means our lives changing, the grace of God is costly in how it changes us. And might that cost be too high?

Trinity 11 ’25

What is your worth? How do you know that? And how do you get there? Questions that go right the core of our identity, questions which go right to the core of Jesus’ two little parables today.

Jesus is at the house of a leader of the Pharisees. And at this dinner he’s being watched to see what he might say or do. He’s just healed a man, and healed him on the Sabbath at that, but the religious leaders have remained silent. And now the watchers become the watched as Jesus points out how they are acting.

Feast of St Bartholomew ’25

Whenever we celebrate one of the Apostle’s it always feels to me like we’re celebrating a titan of the faith, someone great. But what is greatness? Who is great according to Jesus?
Bartholomew is a tricky Apostle. Normally on days like today, with Saints who appear in the Scriptures, we have a passage set with them involved, not so today. He’s notably absent. So why is that? Well, he certainly does pop up in the Gospels and in Acts, he’s there in the lists of the Apostle’s in Matthew, Mark, Luke & Acts, listed with the others, but that’s all we know about him.