172 The gospel of God in Romans 1
Ian Paul
31.46
15 December 2025
23 December 2025
The lectionary epistle reading for Advent 4 in Year A is Romans 1.1–7, which is a single sentence in Greek!
Paul offers not just an opening greeting, but a programmatic introduction to the whole of his letter. It is relentlessly focussed on what God has done for us, before it ever touches on what might or should do for God. And it includes some startling tensions or paradoxes between the God of Israel and his plan in the Old Testament for his people, and the new thing he has done through the Lord Christ Jesus.
The gospel reading for Advent 4 is Matt 1.18–end, the announcement to Joseph of the birth of Jesus. The video discussion of that can be found here: https://youtu.be/m2taZeMeCO8
and the written commentary here: https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/what-does-joseph-contribute-to-the-story-of-jesus-origins-in-matthew-1/