Visual Resources for the Lectionaries

This post offers visual resources for the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary for May 24, 2026. Use this chart for quick links to the texts and the resource pages on cartoonistbible.com.

Pentecost

CLICK HERE to jump to the Narrative Lectionary Resources

Revised Common Lectionary Resources

Feel free to play this video in worship as the reading of the Pentecost story…

Gospel Reading – John 20:19-23 Or John 7:37-39

This image is from page 24 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to John

This image is from page 8 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to John

Food for Thought

We celebrate Pentecost this week. Luke tells us the story in the book of Acts. Pentecost is the Greek word meaning fiftieth. It is the Greek name for the Jewish Festival of Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks. It was a harvest festival that happened fifty days, or seven weeks, after the Passover Feast. The purpose of the festival was to give thanks to God for providing for the needs of the nation. The people were supposed to bring the first fruits of their harvest to offer as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.

Jesus’ disciples were gathered in a room, waiting in Jerusalem like Jesus had told them to do ten days earlier. The city was crowded with Jewish pilgrims from around the world. The Spirit came upon the disciples like a mighty wind and tongues of fire. They had the power to proclaim the message of Jesus in such a way that everyone heard them in their own language. Wow!

Luke is the only Gospel writer to associate the giving of the Holy Spirit with the Festival of Pentecost. Compare Luke’s version of the story with John’s in the Gospel reading this week. John’s Jesus appears quietly in the room with his fearful disciples. He gently breathes on them. His breath flows like the Spirit hovered over the deep in Genesis 1. He is the Word who spoke all things into being. It is the breath of God that animated the lump of clay in Genesis 2. Now Jesus tells his disciples that he is sending them the way that God sent him. They have the power of forgiveness, which is what will set people free.

Matthew and Mark don’t mention the giving of the Spirit at the end of the story. Matthew’s ending shows Jesus promising the disciples that he would be with them to the end of the age. They are to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, to have the Spirit is to have the Father and the Son. God will be with us, Jesus’ disciples, to the end.

Perhaps the Spirit of God comes upon each of us in different ways. The 1 Corinthians 12 reading reminds us that we have each been given different gifts. It is important that we never force people into experiencing the Spirit in a particular way. We gather on Pentecost to simply give thanks to God for the promise and giving of the Spirit to all of us.

I want to highlight one phrase from Acts 2 that stands out to me this year. Acts 2:13 says “but others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” In other words, “they’re drunk! Don’t listen to them.”

The Gospel of Jesus is foolishness to the world. We can never forget that. Our world is driven by a competitive, power-grabbing, fame-seeking, hate-driven, me-first market mentality. A message that proclaims Good News for all people, including the “least of these,” forgiveness, and mutual flourishing is just the blabbering of drunken idealism in their ears.

Don’t lose hope. The Christian celebration of Pentecost reminds us that God has poured out the Spirit on all flesh. Jesus promised his disciples—that’s you—that you would have the power to be his witness to the ends of the earth. Jesus is with us. God is for us. Let us continue to love God and love our neighbor as Jesus taught us to do.

Narrative Lectionary

Acts 2:1-21 AND Philippians 4:4-7

See Acts 2 and Pentecost resources above.

Food for Thought

This is the final stop in the Narrative Lectionary for the year. It ends on Pentecost. See my devo above regarding Pentecost. I will continue my thoughts at the end of the previous devo by weaving Philippians 4:4-7 into it. Paul concludes his letter to the Philippians with some pastoral encouragement. He knows that their circumstances are difficult. His are too. He is in prison, let us remember. His repeated refrain through this letter is “Rejoice in the Lord! Don’t worry.”

The promise of God is peace. Let us remember an important point about peace. It is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of wholeness in the midst of all circumstance. It is the confidence to know that God is not against you, but is for you and will be with you through it all.

That is why the Spirit was and is poured out upon Jesus’ disciples. The Spirit fills us with peace in the midst of the storm. We have the power of God’s promise to see above the storm and know that all will be well, because God’s love is poured out for all. This is a peace that passes all understanding, and seems like the babbling of drunken fools to those who don’t know it.

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