The thing about idolatry, however, is that it often induces a case of spiritual blindness so that you can’t properly diagnose your own illness. This is exactly where the people of Judah find themselves. Full reading and audio »
As we turn now to the prophecy of Zechariah, we hear once again the concerns of life after the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the holy city of Jerusalem. Full reading and audio »
The Preacher is like a ship’s pilot whose pastoral task is to guide his flock to heaven’s harbor through the dangers they encounter on the journey home. His concluding exhortations, typical of other New Testament letters, signal the foghorn’s warning of dangers ahead. Full reading and audio »
At its foundation, the Gospel of Mark is a story. By saying this, I do not mean that Mark is fictional. As any reader of biographies knows, a good story can convey historical facts. The point, however, is that Mark is a story, or a narrative, with a plot and characters. Full reading and audio »
These chapters in 2 Samuel are neither pleasant nor fun: In them, the consequence from 2 Samuel 12:10 — that “the sword shall never depart from [David’s] house” — gets played out in cycles of family violence that include rape and murder. Full reading and audio »
Three main things happen in this chapter: (1) We find out why Moses is not allowed to enter into the Promised Land; (2) The nation of Edom refuses to allow Israel to pass through its land; (3) and Aaron dies. Full reading and audio »
Paul concludes his Epistle to the Romans in more personal terms, addressing his audience in a more direct manner. Especially because of the exhortations that characterized much of the latter part of the letter, Paul may have wanted to make sure that his motives were understood. Full reading and audio »
It is just before dawn on Sunday, the first day of the week, the day after the Jewish Sabbath. The two Marys have observed the holy day of rest, but their minds are on the horrific events of the day before, the day of their Lord’s murder at the hands of religious and governing authorities. Full reading and audio »
The first episode in this section lays the groundwork for understanding issues involved in God’s rescuing of Israel and confrontation with Egypt. Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the people go into the wilderness to celebrate in behalf of the Lord (YHWH), the God of Israel. Full reading and audio »
When we think about the “So what?” question that emerges at the end of the Lectio series’ four-year cycle, the focus can so easily shift entirely to us and to our response to the good news of God’s liberating salvation story. This is especially the case when it comes to the enormous and urgent needs related to creation care. Full reading and audio »
One of my favorite Bible passages is 2 Corinthians 1:19–20, where Paul writes that “In [Christ] it is always yes. All of God’s promises have their yes in him.” Full reading and audio »
Aslan is the incarnation of Jesus Christ, imagined in a world called Narnia. Like Jesus, Aslan dies in the place of a traitor (Barabbas in John’s gospel; Edmund in Narnia), though both deaths have far-reaching consequences. Full reading and audio »
This untitled psalm is arguably the most unusual one in the Psalter. Its length (176 verses) dwarfs the other psalms; no other psalm comes close. Full reading and audio »
S. Gorley Putt, my idiosyncratic senior tutor at Christ’s College, was right: the delight is in the details. Imagine if you didn’t know the detail that the trip from Myra in Lycia to Cnidus should have taken just a day or two, but Paul’s ship travelled “slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus.” Full reading and audio »
In the early church, Easter was the biggest day of the year, with its observance far surpassing that of Christmas. New Testament writers make clear that the bodily resurrection of Jesus climaxes Jesus’ life and death.
Full reading and audio »
An Ethiopian eunuch in a chariot reading from Isaiah — this is who Philip stumbles upon in Acts 8:26–40. It seems Philip knows all too well that this is a difficult book, and asks the eunuch, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Full reading and audio »
This week’s Lectio passage, 1 Corinthians 16:1–24, ends Paul’s letter. It may feel like a “whimper” to the “bang” of our last Lectio passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1–58. Recall how Paul concludes his teaching on the resurrection: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). Full reading and audio »
There used to be a time, in America, when a child was told, You could grow up to be anything you want to be — you could be the President of the United States. I don’t think that happens very much anymore. Full reading and audio »
CBTE is an arm of the SPU School of Theology whose purpose is to provide biblical and theological education for the SPU community, the church, and the world. More»
In this free six-part video series, Associate Professor of Old Testament Bo Lim, CBTE Lectio guide for Isaiah, discusses several major topics in this book that has been called the “Fifth Gospel.”
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