This is another parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. The world is a very mixed bag: there’s good and evil, joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. Good people don’t get what they deserve, and neither do bad people – it all sometimes seems a bit random.

Everyone knows about the five loaves and two fish that miraculously became enough to feed a whole crowd. With slight variations, the story appears in all four Gospels. Like many others, it has Old Testament roots: Elisha does the same sort of thing i...

The Pharisees were devoted to serving God through keeping his law. We should be careful about saying they believed they could ‘earn their way to heaven’ – it wasn’t really like that – but keeping the rules could become a mark of someone’s...

Until now in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has been doing well against the opposition he faced. Now, the forces of darkness are beginning to gather against him, and he starts to prepare his disciples for what lies ahead. They don’t like it; they have s...

The ‘parable of the talents’ – a talent can be translated as ‘1,000 gold coins’ – fits here with the idea that Christ will come to judge what we’ve done with what we’ve been given, and it’s an uncomfortable read.

After the ‘Little Apocalypse’ of chapters 24 and 25, Matthew’s story rushes headlong into the final days of Jesus’ life. There’s a succession of incidents and encounters, each of which we could dwell on slowly and prayerfully.

After his betrayal, Jesus is 'tried' by the chief priests and elders, who are determined that he should die. As they don't have the authority to execute him, they need the permission of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

We're very used to reading the last verses of Matthew's gospel – verses 19 and 20 – as the 'Great Commission', Jesus' command to his disciples to go 'to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples'. Most ...

Judges is largely a story of disappointment and defeats, with some acts of terrible wrongdoing. The people have entered the Promised Land under Joshua, but things don't go smoothly.

Othniel was the first of the judges, and his rule sets up the pattern that's to follow: oppression, rescue, apostasy, in a continuing circuit. The people 'forgot the LORD their God' (verse 7) and worshipped idols; consequently they...

The Bible often surprises us. While the right of women to be able to serve as leaders on equal terms with men has been fiercely fought for in our own times, in Judges 4 it is just assumed – and this at a time when we tend to think men were in charge.

Gideon's story doesn't have a happy ending. A mopping-up operation sees disgruntled Israelites placated, unco-operative Israelites punished and captured Midianite leaders executed. Gideon acts wisely and – given the times he lived in – ...

There's an old English proverb that says, 'When thieves fall out, honest men come by their own' – when criminals are busy robbing each other, honest people can get on with their lives.

The 1647 Westminster Confession defines God as being 'without body, parts or passions', but that's more of a philosophical statement. In the Hebrew Bible he is very passionate indeed: loving, sad, angry, regretful, and sometimes downri...

As many Bible Societies struggle worldwide due to the pandemic, the Bible Society team in Egypt has made the most of a difficult situation, and been blessed greatly.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the rhythms of life.

When some of the Gentiles (or non-Jewish people) began believing in Christ, some of the Jewish believers insisted that they had to observe Jewish customs such as circumcision in order to be saved.

After Paul and Silas released a slave girl from a demonic spirit, her owners, who were exploiting her, had Paul and Silas arrested. During their incarceration they were heavily guarded and locked in stocks – a pretty dismal situation.

In Acts 17, Paul travels to Athens and while in the Aeropagus he notices a dedication 'To an Unknown God'. What he then proclaims to his hearers is that the God he knows is a personal one, who wasn’t made by human hands.

The Bible Society of Mali has asked for prayer following the military coup that saw its president resign and parliament dissolved.