Reading Plan for June 21 - 27

June 21, 2026 | Matthew 25:1-13
Reflection:
While reading the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, remember that this is a story. It is meant to startle and get you thinking. There is no one-to-one correspondence as to “how the kingdom of heaven” functions. Remember that little word at the beginning, “like.” “The kingdom of heaven will be like this.” When you see that word “like” in any parable, remember earthly things are used to tell us about heavenly things. Jesus has been telling us about “watchfulness” and how to be conscious about what’s going on. What does it mean to be “watchful” for God in the world? What does it mean to be “conscious” of how we experience and live life with Christ? [One thing to ponder about this parable: why don’t the girls with plenty of oil share with those who don’t have enough? It doesn’t seem very Christlike to say, “We don’t have very much, so we’re not going to share.” Remember that Jesus was able to take 2 fish and 5 loaves and make it so that everyone had enough. Details like this allow me not to take every detail of this parable to heart.]

June 22, 2026 | Matthew 25:14-30
Reflection:
This parable starts off with “For it is as if…”  Notice that Jesus is still talking about the kingdom of heaven. This is quite a lengthy parable, if we look at all of Jesus’ parables. Parables aren’t about something; they do something. That said, read this parable and experience it for what it is doing. What is it that Jesus wants us to experience in hearing about slaves and the money that has been entrusted to them? This parable is not trying to teach us economic policy. Remember too that the God that we encounter through all of Jesus’ teaching is far more gracious than the “man” in this parable. So, what are we to experience? A call to faithfulness and trustworthiness in all that we do, surely. Think of the parable of the prodigal son in comparison. In that story, the central figure is actually the father…who is wildly gracious and lavishly forgiving. Both parables function as a call to faithfulness…but also foolishness in investing in others with trust and love.

June 23, 2026 | Matthew 25:31-46
Reflection:
It appears that “suddenness” is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching on the need for watchfulness. When I was in seminary, a fellow student told me his story of growing up in South Dakota. One evening, he was home with his father when a wall of floodwater hit their home. The house was forced off its foundation and taken in the direction the water was going. Water quickly filled the house, and my friend, Steve, and his father tried to get higher and higher in the house. For a brief moment, Steve was trapped by a moving refrigerator, but his father saved him. They climbed up into the attic and had to find a way to break through the attic ceiling and climb out onto the roof. All this they did while the house was moving! They eventually got out onto the roof and tried to see what they could in the dark night. Not knowing where they were going, they had no idea if they would live to see the dawn. This is the story I think of when Jesus speaks of the suddenness of the kingdom. For some things we can prepare; for others, we have to trust ultimately in God’s providence.

June 24, 2026 | Matthew 26:1-13
Reflection:
We have two parts of the unfolding story of Jesus’ passion today. One tells us what’s going on in the background. Matthew is a good story writer; he keeps us up on what leads to Jesus’ arrest, and clearly, the tension is building. It is in this very tense state that a woman comes to anoint Jesus. Just think about how “on edge” everyone must be through this whole scene. How much do the disciples know about what’s going to happen? Most likely, very little. But surely they can sense something. Jesus has been talking about wakefulness and suddenness for days. In the midst of all this, Jesus welcomes and praises the actions of this unknown woman. He says that wherever the gospel is proclaimed, people will hear of her. What is most moving to you about her actions and how Jesus receives them?

June 25, 2026 | Matthew 26:14-25
Reflection:
The word that is translated as “betray” is the same word that means “hand over.” The Apostle Paul uses the word when he says, “I hand over to you what I received,” when he recites the common Lord’s Supper liturgy. [I Cor 15:3] Judas believes he has the power to “hand over” Jesus, as if he himself possessed Jesus. He will give Jesus over to chief religious leaders, and then he will try to “wash his hands” of the matter, taking no responsibility for the great harm he does. “It’s out of my hands now,” we can imagine Judas saying. But Jesus knows that he is to be “handed over.” And he knows who is going to do it. There is a bigger picture here. Jesus knows. The disciples are aware that something momentous is happening, but they don’t display any understanding of what Jesus has been trying to tell them. It will only be later that these disciples will have to recall all that Jesus had said, and they will have to “hand it over” to others, so that they will come to trust in God and in Jesus. There is negative “handing over,” and there is positive “handing over.” What do you have that you could “hand over” to another to make their life a little better?

June 26, 2026 | Matthew 26:26-46
Reflection:
Today’s reading includes three major movements in the Passion narrative: 1) institution of the Lord’s Supper, 2) Peter’s denial foretold, and 3) Jesus agonistic (from Greek agone, “struggle”) wrestling through prayer in the garden. Read them all three movements together. What connects them? Is Jesus consistent throughout? Is the calm and assured Jesus in the first part present with the struggling Jesus in the Garden? Or have we misread the Lord’s Supper scene? Perhaps Jesus is struggling as much as he breaks the bread and shares the cup as when he prays to God, “Let this cup pass from me!” I have always read Jesus’ mood at the Last Supper to be of a self-assured and resigned teacher, much like Socrates at his last meal with his students and friends. I never thought about what it cost Jesus in the moment to say, “This is my body…broken. This is my blood…shed.” How hard was it for Jesus to say to Peter, “I know that you will deny me”? As you read these three passages, notice the humanity of Jesus, and see that even before the cross, Jesus was giving of his whole self to the disciples.

June 27, 2026 | Matthew 26:47-75
Reflection:
The word “betrayal” means “to hand over completely.” This is what happens to Jesus in the scenes from today’s passage. Jesus is “handed over” to the religious leaders and eventually to the Romans. We’ve added the meaning of “a breach of faith and trust” to the sense of betrayal. Jesus is “betrayed” on all sides: by those who were closest to him, both Judas and Peter. Jesus is also betrayed by the religious leaders who should have recognized God at work in him. Jesus is betrayed by strangers who act as “witnesses” against him, those who had nothing to gain by denouncing him, unless someone paid them to do so. For any human being, betrayal can be heartbreaking. When friends, neighbors, and those you trusted in turn on you, it might feel like your legs are being kicked from underneath you. Notice how Jesus “stands” through all this. He faces his betrayers and remains standing. What does Jesus know that keeps him upright? Is he willing to forgive seventy times seven times? It seems he does. We read that Jesus utters these dying words, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do,” from the cross. Does he also forgive throughout all these moments leading up to the cross? How are we to handle moments when we are “completely handed over”? The path of Jesus guides in remaining standing and forgiveness.