Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Christian and Muslim interpretations of the Nativty of Jesus, with special reference to Matthew 1:18-25. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mary, Joseph, and the Infant Messiah (Fourth Sunday of Advent)
Voiceover Voice:
This is the first time where Joseph comes alive, more than just as a character in a nativity play.
Helena Martin:
This is Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study.
Join us each week as two Yale Divinity School professors look at an upcoming text from the Revised Common Lectionary.
This episode, we have Mark Heim, who’s the Samuel Abbot Professor of Christian Theology at Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School, and Abdul-Rehman Malik, who’s the Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer in Islamic Studies.
They’re discussing Matthew 1:18-25, which is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent in Year A. Here’s the text.
[Matthew 1:18-25]
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.
Mark Heim:
So AR, this is the one of the birth narratives of Jesus. This one in Matthew and we’d be used to hearing this around Christmas in my tradition. But as opposed to the birth narrative in Luke, which focuses on Mary and Mary’s response to the news from God of the impending birth of Jesus, here, Matthew’s focused on Joseph. And it’s always been an interesting aspect for me. Joseph is not the primary player in this story, he’s next to the primary player. But this story is saying there’s still a faith drama about Joseph in this particular event.
Abdul-Rehman Malik:
Joseph is such a confounding figure for Muslims because he doesn’t appear anywhere in the Quran or in our scriptural sources, and he is certainly not referenced by the prophet Muhammad – in the prophet Muhammad’s meditations and sayings about the birth of Jesus. In the Islamic conception we have Mary, and we have Jesus and that’s where the focus is. So, for me reading this, I was really kind of intrigued because this is the first time I think I’ve approached a text where Joseph comes alive more than just as a character in a nativity play. You know? That he’s actually someone who’s being active.
And one of the things that came to mind for me in this, Mark, and I hope you can help me sort of understand it, is the relationship between Mary and Joseph. Because in reading the text, I feel the text is telling us that before the birth of Jesus, the relationship between Joseph as husband and Mary as wife had not been consummated. That they had not been intimate with one another. And yet I also know, and I hope I’m right in this, that after the birth of Jesus there are children that issue from the relationship between Joseph and Mary, which is also kind of missing from the Islamic tradition. Can you help me sort of unpack that a little bit?
Mark Heim:
Yeah, it’s fascinating. I mean, you’re quite right that to read New Testament on its face value, Jesus has brothers and sisters and there’s no indication there are anything other than natural brothers and sisters. And that as this passage says at the very end, “He did as the angel, the Lord commanded him, he took his wife but knew her not until she’d born a son and called his name Jesus.” So that would seem to imply that after Jesus was born, that Mary and Joseph had normal family relationships. And I know that some of the Roman Catholic Church would believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary and so would have a different perspective on precisely that question about what happened afterwards.
But to me, this passage is so striking because it suggests, you know, all the normal family dynamics surrounded Jesus. Even from before his birth, in the sense that Mary and Joseph already have a relationship, right? Before this event ever happens. Before the angel Gabriel ever speaks to Mary, they are betrothed. They’ve come into this plan to be married. So, in a way, the arrival of Jesus in this divine way is an addition to their family and they, both of them, have to adjust themselves to that or make a decision. For Christians, the Mary story is this question of this great divine act, but it hinges upon the consent of the human participant. And in a way, Mary’s ability to participate hinges to some extent on Joseph’s willingness to be supportive. To accept this somewhat implausible tale. I know I told you I’m fond of W. H. Oden’s poem about the nativity, For The Time Being, but he has a section called The Temptation of St. Joseph, where the voices speaking to Joseph are saying, yes, you’ve heard what Mary says is so, but is it very likely? No. So the temptation for Joseph is to adopt a worldly view that there’s going to be a bad explanation for what you’re telling me. But here God speaks to Joseph directly, right?
To assure him. To manifest certainty about this. So there’s something very human about that. I think any husband and wife, you know, family, the experience would lead you to think that that’s a miraculous thing in itself, right? The resolution…
Abdul-Rehman Malik:
Then Joseph is being guided through these stages, isn’t he? That, you know, that he’s being cautioned. He’s being assuaged. He’s being brought in on the information that he needs to know. But at one point he’s also just being told, you know, get up. Move here. The angel’s guiding him. Stay with the plan. There’s a plan. You are part of the plan. This is your role in the plan. It does feel like. And it does beg the question, doesn’t it, and I think this is implicit in our reading of these texts says, what is Joseph thinking? How is he processing all this? Is this what he signed up for when he married into this blessed household?
And I think those are like real human questions, which almost appear behind these texts, don’t they? I mean, you could see him as this kind of righteous, fully committed person and character, but I’d like to think that if there was a Joseph, that that Joseph would be going through all of those human emotions as he’s engaging with this, I mean, most important of divine events and moments. And, you know, it’s treated like that in the Quran.
But in the Quran, the microscope, so to speak, is so much on Maryam, right? Is so much on Mary and there’s no fooling, there’s no other explanation possible other than the virgin birth within the Quran narrative. There’s no way out. There’s no ambiguity. She is alone. She is righteous. She is honored by her people. She has served in the temple as a woman, and then she is with child. She retreats. The angels, on the command of God, give her sustenance, support her through her pregnancy. And then she brings the baby Jesus back to the people. And in the Quranic narrative, in one of the most, I would say for me as a reader and a believer, one of the most dramatic moments of the Quran/ Where she returns to her people, and they stand in judgment over what she’s done. And she points, she points to the manger. She points to the baby and says, you want answers? You get your answers from him. And it said that he speaks. You know, he speaks from the manger. From the cradle as a child and affirms his mother. Affirms that God has given him a mission and also affirms the story to come. So it’s this kind of really dramatic moment as it is, of course, in the Christian tradition.
Mark Heim:
Yeah, but, I mean, it’s fascinating what you’ve said. In a way, the Quranic telling of the story is cleaner in a certain way. And that it struck me as true with that it’s focused on the same question. The question of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of what’s happened with Mary. But it’s kind of crisper even, I mean, clearer about its focus of that. For me, Joseph has always been fascinating. When I think about our spiritual aspirations, you know, how what’s the best I can think of myself. I must say, I often feel like I would hope that at my best, I might be no higher than Joseph. I think that he’s a good person and his natural response when he hears this news about Mary is to be quiet. Quietly put her away. Not to put her to shame. But to be willing to accept the word of God. To be a bit player, you could say, in this bigger story. That would be kind of my goal. That maybe I could rise to that my best day.
Abdul-Rehman Malik:
There’s such a humility in that, isn’t there?
Mark Heim:
There’s something very humane about that picture, right? Of this kind of somewhat humble position, but faithfulness is a still of great importance in that setting.
Abdul-Rehman Malik:
That’s a really beautiful, beautiful interpretation and a beautiful thought, Mark. To be witnessing really this incredible happening and to be a bit player in it. It also speaks to, speaks to each and every one of us, about humility, right? That we will often face moments of cataclysmic change, of incredible difficulty, of the unexpected. And what role do we play in those moments, right? And how do we engage with those moments? And I think ultimately, I think that I feel like these verses are speaking to me about what you just said about humility, actually. And to know that we are under the shade of God, that there is wisdom in the Islamic. In the Islamic theological tradition, we say that wisdom follows every one of the divine acts. And it is sort of our human agency and struggle to seek out that wisdom. To try to find that wisdom. To bring out that wisdom. To seek that wisdom. To understand that wisdom. And in some ways that’s what Joseph is doing here. He is humility.
Mark Heim:
It’s very moving and striking to hear you speak about the Islamic, the Quranic account of Jesus’ birth. Because what’s striking in the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ birth is that there’s all kinds of miraculous things happening. I mean, his birth is miraculous, but Jesus himself, the infant Jesus, does nothing miraculous except be a baby. That’s the miraculous thing from a Christian point of view is that God is an infant. That’s already miraculous, But in the Quranic telling, Jesus the infant does this miraculous thing. Speaks up on Mary’s behalf, right in face of this charge. And so that’s just a striking fact.
Abdul-Rehman Malik:
And I think it thematically follows, right? If the Quranic telling of the story is about the miracle of the virgin birth itself and the experience that Maryam has. And that Maryam herself is the recipient of almost a revelatory experience. Which for Islamic scholars, been a really interesting point of contention and argument.
Because some of the ancients said, well, it means that Mary is a prophet. That Mary received a message. Mary was in direct contact with Gabriel and the entity that is given agency by God to deliver the message. And so, Maryam within the Islamic tradition takes on a prophet-like character and sometimes even eclipses, absolutely I would say, eclipses other prophetic figures because of this moment and because of this relationship with Jesus. Who of course, I think it’s important to say in the Muslim tradition is Christ Messiah, right? In that there’s no difference. Our whole theology is predicated on the acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah to the people, to the people of Israel.
And in fact, the Christ Messiah for all times, that his example and his way is something which nourishes us. And in fact, we couldn’t be Muslim if we didn’t see that relationship because the prophet Mohammed himself saw himself and was instructed that he was brother to the Messiah. And that he followed in that same lineage. Which I think in some ways also means that I, as a Muslim, feel like I have to approach these verses with a fair degree of humility as well. And also respect, because I’m seeking to understand what the tradition that follows that Messiah today has to say about the Messiah. So, for me, this is just so fascinating, Mark. And thank you for helping me particularly to understand Joseph.
Helena Martin:
Thanks for listening. And thank you, Professors Heim and Malik, for your insight on Matthew.
Remember to rate and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening, and visit our website: YaleBibleStudy.org.
Chapter, Verse, and Season is a production of the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. It’s produced by: Creator and Managing Editor, Joel Baden; Production Manager, Kelly Morrissey; Associate Producer, Aidan Stoddart; and I’m your Host and Executive Producer, Helena Martin. Mixing on today’s episode, and our theme music, are by Calvin Linderman.
We’ll be back with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.
Book of the Bible:
Matthew
Subjects:
Matthew
Guests
Text
New Revised Standard Version Bible
Copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits
Host and Executive Producer: Helena Martin
Production Manager: Kelly Morrissey
Creator and Managing Editor: Joel Baden
Assistant Producer: Aidan Stoddart
Music: Calvin Linderman
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Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss hospitality, laughter, and the complexity of Sarah as a character in Genesis 18:1-15. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss faith, doubt, shame, and mystic union in Romans 4:13-25. The text is appointed for the second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss rest, reveling, and revelation in Genesis 1:1–2:4a The text is appointed for Trinity Sunday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss diversity, reversal, and the power of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-21 and John 20:19-23. The text is appointed for the Day of Pentecost in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss righteousness, liberation, and vulnerability in Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss suffering, meaning, and unjust power structures in 1 Peter 3:13-22. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss prophecy, interfaith reading, and incarnation in John 14:1-14. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss paradox, poetry, and life beyond death in Psalm 23. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joanne Jennings and Bill Goettler discuss divine encounter and human conversation in Luke 24:13-35. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss interfaith perspectives on the story of Easter in conversation with John 20:19-31. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss power, peace and healing in Acts 10:34-43. The text is appointed for Easter Day, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss the problem of suffering, the impact of loss, and the resilience of human nature in Job 14:1-14 and 1 Peter 4:1-8. The text is appointed for Holy Saturday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Christology, glory, and exclusion in John 18:1–19:42. The text is appointed for Good Friday in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss sacrificial practice, identity markers, and imagined history in Exodus 12:1-14. The text is appointed for Maundy Thursday in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss crucifixion, suffering, obedience, and solidarity in Philippians 2:5-11. The text is appointed for the Liturgy of the Passion (Palm Sunday), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss miracles, healing, and grief in John 11:1-45. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the role of Joseph, the divine potential of dreams, and membership in the Holy Family in Matthew 1:18-25. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss life in the wilderness for the Israelites, being tested and testing God in Exodus 17:1-7. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss blessing, migration, and the inspiring legacy of Abraham across religious traditions in Genesis 12:1-4a. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss seduction, curiosity, craftiness, and misogyny in Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7. The text is appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss leadership, inherited stories, and transfiguring moments in Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9. The texts are appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss pedagogy, mixed metaphors, ageism, and spiritual growth in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss hypocrisy, reward systems, righteousness, and religious performance in Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12). The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss blessedness, poverty, consolation, and the dangers of transactional theology in Matthew 5:1-12. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joanne Jennings and Bill Goettler discuss living with both faith and fear in Psalm 27:1, 4-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the story of John the Baptist, a wild and perhaps uncertain character, in John 1:29-42. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Messianism, prophetic gentleness, and hermeneutical approaches in Isaiah 42:1-9. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Vasileios Marinis and Volker Leppin discuss human nature, sovereignty over creation, and preacherly responsibility with reference to Psalm 8. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss the spirit of children, the multiplicity of interpretation, and pastoral responsibility at Christmas, with reference to Luke 2:1-14 (15-20). The text is appointed for Christmas Eve in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss patience, endurance of suffering, and the challenges of family conflict in James 5:7-10. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss the imagined future of the glorious kingdom in Isaiah 11:1-10 and Romans 15:4-13. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
AndrewMcGowan and Ned Parker discuss the holiness of divine absence and the anticipation of things to come in Matthew 24:36-44. The text is appointed for the First Sunday of Advent in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss colonial narratives, indigenous theology, and the downsides of going to a “Promised Land” in Deuteronomy 26:1-11. The text is appointed for Thanksgiving Day (USA), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss Hebrew vocabulary, shepherd imagery, and the legacy of King David in Jeremiah 23:1-6. The text is appointed for the Feast of Christ the King (Proper 29), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss eschatology, aspiration, and ancient Near Eastern curse formulations in Isaiah 65:17-25. The text is appointed for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss poverty, apocalyptic imagery, and economic justice in reference to Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Luke 6:20-31. The text is appointed for All Saints’ Day, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and Greg Sterling discuss redemption, the proper use of wealth, and the strange company Jesus keeps in Luke 19:1-10. The text is appointed for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 26, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss shame, redemption, and rehabilitation in Joel 2:23-32. The text is appointed for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 25, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss punishment, free will, and the dangers of metaphor in Jeremiah 31:27-34. The text is appointed for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss joy, salvation history, and chicken guts in Psalm 66:1-12. The text is appointed for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 23, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss trauma, hope, and poetic Hebrew in Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:19-26. The text is appointed for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss faith, ritual performance, and divine blessing in Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16. The text is appointed for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss capitalism, shrewdness, and the logic of parables in Luke 16:1-13. The text is appointed for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss the undoing of creation, fidelity, and false prophets in Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28. The text is appointed for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss precarity, God as creator and destroyer, and the potter metaphor in Jeremiah 18:1-11. The text is appointed for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss humility, reversing the status quo, speaking truth to power in Sirach 10:12-18. The text is appointed for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Christian Wiman and Jacqueline Vayntrub discuss justice, prayer and action, and getting God's attention in Isaiah 58:9b-14. The text is appointed for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss faith heroes through history, triumphant faith, and the role of sin in Hebrews 11:29-12:2. The text is appointed for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Greg Sterling and Harry Attridge discuss women in early Christian communities, eschatology, and faith as a matter of the heart in Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16. The text is appointed for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 14, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss possession, wealth, and covetousness in Luke 12:13-21. The text is appointed for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 13, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Tisa Wenger and Joel Baden discuss bargaining, God and Abraham's new relationship, and the righteous of Sodom and Gamorrah in Genesis 18:20-32. The text is appointed for Track 2 on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss Mary and Martha, extroversion, and authenticity in Luke 10:38-42. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss poverty, God's expectations, and our responsibilities to one another in Psalm 82. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss kings, skin diseases, and prophetic power in 2 Kings 5:1-14. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss prophetic leadership, sudden loss, and mentorship in 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss gender identity, ethnic dynamics, and changes of the heart in Galatians 3:23-29. The text is appointed for Proper 7, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss joy, multiculturalism, and feminine language in Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31. The text is appointed for Trinity Sunday, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss signs and wonders, Hebrew Bible connections, the promise of salvation, and more in Acts 2:1-21. The text is appointed for Pentecost, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss love-songs, community, and connection in reference to John 17:20-26. The text is appointed for the Feast of the Ascension, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss social justice, human failure, and heavenly hope in Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss poetic structure, creation language, and the mechanics of praise in Psalm 148. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss whiteness, danger, and comfort in Revelation 7:9-17. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and Gregory Sterling discuss Resurrection encounters and calls to action in Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss doubt, trauma, and the value of “Doubting Thomas” in John 20:19-31. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harry Attridge and John Hare discuss faith, uncertainty, and the power of emotion in John 20:1-18. The text is appointed for Easter Day, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss the construction of stories, Christian supersessionism, and the legacy of Christian storytelling in relation to Genesis 22:1-18. The text is appointed for the Easter Vigil, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judy Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss the innocence of Jesus, divine kingship, and more in John 18:1-19:42. The text is appointed for Good Friday, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss enslavement imagery, Passover liberation, and models of service in Exodus 12:1-14 and John 13:1-17. The texts are appointed for Maundy Thursday, in all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss community, sacrament, and suffering in Luke 22:14-23:56. The text is appointed for the Palm Sunday, the Liturgy of the Passion, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Tisa Wenger and Joel Baden discuss divine violence, colonialism, and the notion of “wilderness” in Isaiah 43:16-21. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss reconciliation, spiritual role-models, and what it means to “become the righteousness of God” with reference to 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. The text is appointed for the 4th Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss repentance, leniency, and divine warnings in Luke 13:1-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss inheritance, offspring, and the promises of God in Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss the possibility of being in relationship with God in Romans 10:8b-13. The text is appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, March 6, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the healing and transforming power of God in Luke 9:28-43. The text is appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss forgiveness and the sibling dynamics at work in Genesis 45:3-11,15. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss Jesus’ blessings and warnings in Luke 6:17-26. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss the difference between verse and prose in Isaiah 6:1-13. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss reluctant prophets and God’s will in Jeremiah 1:4-10. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloe Starr discuss the church universal and love as the basis for the exercise of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss recognizing God in the midst of community and the diversity of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss the power of God in Psalm 29. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss the mystery, language and lyricism in John 1:1-18. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after Christmas, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Gregory Sterling and Harold Attridge discuss the humanity of young Jesus and the role of Mary as mother in Luke 2:41-52. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss birth, kingship and signs of God’s redemption in Isaiah 9:2-7. The text is appointed for Christmas (Proper 1), December 24, Years A, B, and C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the Magnificat and our understanding of Mary through the ages in relation to Luke 1:46b-55. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Advent 4), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss hope, apathy, and why the context of prophecy matters in Zephaniah 3:14-20. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent 3), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss disaster and hope, glory, and reversal in Baruch 5:1-9. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent (Advent 2), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss messianic prophecy, timelessness, and historic context in Jeremiah 33:14-16. The text is appointed for the First Sunday of Advent (Advent 1), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Chapter, Verse, and Season gives listeners the opportunity to overhear the kinds of conversations that take place in the halls of Yale Divinity School. Each week, professors from different theological disciplines chat about biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. They bring their own interests to the table and hopefully spark new insights into the scripture appointed for each Sunday.