Preaching on this well-worn text may not be what gets us preachers excited. There are no tough translational issues to work out and very few clever linguistic hoops to jump through. Wesley’s only note on this passage is in v. 15—to remind us that it was after the usual meal-time. Thanks, John. I’m glad we started a movement based on your insight (eye-roll emoji). And yet this is the only miracle that shows up in all four gospels. Even the Lord’s Supper doesn’t get that kind of treatment. The...

If I were you, I would choose another passage to preach this Sunday. Acts 17 packs a wallop for the apologetically inclined and John 14 sets you up nicely to talk through more comfortable territory. These will both preach more comfortably than 1 Peter 3 in the North American church which, along with the New Testament teaching on suffering{1} assumes some strange things to our ears. The apostles were just sure that we would suffer for doing good. Following Jesus was going to get us into...

It is not immediately clear to me why anyone would choose this text. Why not the more encouraging messages in Luke and 2 Timothy? Why not...