This post offers visual resources for the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary for March 26, 2023. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in John 11 and Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. Both events point to the end of the age and the coming passion of the Christ.

Jump to Narrative Lectionary resources.

Revised Common Lectionary

Here are quick links to all the texts for this week:

Gospel Reading John 11:1-45. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

These images come from page 12 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to John.

Preview PowerPoint

Feel free to use any or all of these slides and images in your own preaching and teaching.

Why is there only one woman in the illustration?

If you are paying close attention to the text of John 11:1-44 and comparing it to the page above, then you might have some big questions. The text shows two distinct conversations. The first is between Jesus and Martha. The second is between Jesus and Mary.

Recent scholarship by Elizabeth Schrader, in an article titled, “Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?” indicates that the original version of this story has only Mary in the scene. This Mary, Schrader argues, is Mary Magdelene. The scene is a foreshadowing of when Mary discovers Jesus’ empty tomb in John 20.

I thought this argument was compelling enough to illustrate it this way.

A Visual Meditation with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

The text that most of us are familiar with, of course, has both Mary and Martha in it. Below are my visual meditations (view full visual commentary here). Feel free to use any of these images in your study or teaching.

Narrative Lectionary

This week the NL takes us to Matthew 25:31–46. Last week we saw that, in Matthew 24-25, Jesus sits across the valley from Jerusalem and talks privately with his disciples. Through a series of parables and apocalyptic language, he warns them of the coming destruction of his beloved city. The particular parable for this week’s reading of the sheep and the goats must be read in this context.

These images comes from page 17 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to Matthew.

Preview PowerPoint

Feel free to use any or all of these slides and images in your own preaching and teaching.

Visual Commentary on Matthew 25:31-46

I added a throne to this image based on Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man (Daniel 7:1-14). These images give a visual commentary on the passage. It is important to note that this is a judgment of all nations. The boundaries between Jew and Gentile are erased. All that matters is how the nations treat the “least of these.”

Holy Week is Coming Fast. Are you prepared?