Visual Resources for the Lectionaries

This post offers visual resources for the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary for July 26, 2026. Use this chart for quick links to the texts and the resource pages on cartoonistbible.com.

Proper 12

CLICK HERE to jump to the Narrative Lectionary Resources

Revised Common Lectionary Resources

Gospel Reading – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

This image is from page 9 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to Matthew

Food for Thought

We finish our mini-series on Jesus’ parables this week. I want to make an observation about how these parables are structured. We miss it if we stick only to the readings in the lectionary. Last week we looked at the parable of the wheat and weeds and then skipped down to Jesus’ explanation of it. Let’s zoom out again and look at the larger pattern.

Jesus is in the boat, speaking to the crowd on the shore. First, he tells the parable of the sower and is questioned why he speaks in parables. It is here that Jesus reveals that he is speaking of “the mysteries of the kingdom.” Then he quotes Isaiah 6, which was spoken to Isaiah just after he was called to preach repentance to the nation.

Next, we see a pattern of 3’s, beginning in verse 14. Jesus speaks three parables to the crowd that all begin with “The kingdom of heaven is like…”

• a field with weeds sown among wheat

• a mustard seed

• yeast in the dough

Then, Matthew tells the reader that Jesus spoke in parables to fulfill what was spoken in Psalm 78.

The story shifts in verse 36. Jesus leaves the crowds, goes into the house, and speaks with his disciples. There he explains the parable of the weeds and wheat and offers them three more parables that begin, “The Kingdom of heaven is like…”

Three parables for the crowd. Three parables for the disciples. What can we notice when we look at them as two sets?

It seems to me that the parables to the crowd basically say, “things aren’t always what the seem to be.” The weeds are hard to tell apart from the wheat. The mustard seed seems so small, then it grows so big. The yeast seems small and dead, but it impacts the entire loaf.

The parables to the disciples seem to have two messages. First, this mystery is a great treasure that is worth giving up everything to pursue. In other words, you have done well to follow me. Second, the weeds and the fish parables serve as bookends to the whole set. They say, “leave the sorting to God. Just focus on being wheat and good fish.”

He ends the conversation with his disciples asking them, “do you understand?” They say, “Yes.” Then he says, “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

I wonder if he means, “I’m not making up a new religion here. I’m simply reminding us of what God’s kingdom has always been.”

I know this was a long devo. Here is my encouragement for you this week. We, as disciples of Jesus, are part of a wonderful mystery. It will often seem difficult, but we can trust that God is at work. Keep the faith. God’s got this.

Narrative Lectionary Resources

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Food for Thought

We move to the second letter to Timothy this week. The first letter was written by a mentor to a young leader who was facing challenges in his call to Ephesus. This letter has a darker tone. Paul is in chains and has been abandoned by everyone except Luke. His exhortations to Timothy all have tones of battle, struggle, and the last days.

In the opening text for this week, Paul offers a beautiful testimony of God’s faithfulness in the midst of great suffering. He reminds Timothy to not give up hope even though his mentor, Paul, is in prison. Paul puts all of his trust in the trustworthiness of God who called him to this ministry and the grace that was given through Jesus Christ and the power given to us through the Holy Spirit.

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