Send us Fan Mail

Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible is where standup comedians and ELCA pastors sit down to discuss the week's lectionary readings—the same passages that preachers around the world will proclaim the following Sunday. It's theology, comedy, and irreverence in conversation.

This week: Palm Sunday—the reading that opens with triumph and closes with catastrophe. Pastor Bob sits down with returning guests Cassi Bruno (@cassi_dicci) and Lou Pastorius (@notorious_pastorius) to talk about what it means when Jesus enters Jerusalem looking like a king, then gets arrested. But here's where theology gets interesting: what if the cross is the triumph? What if God's idea of victory looks nothing like ours?

Expect: Heated debates about burning phone books and nerf balls with magnifying glasses. An extended ASMR tangent that somehow becomes theological. Bob explaining why he preaches the entire passion narrative as a play. And a closing theological flourish on the word "eucatastrophe"—a good catastrophic event. (Yes, someone needs to tell you what that means, and yes, it matters.)

Tangents: Mukbang. Misophonia. The psychology of childhood fire-starting. Jonathan Groff's theatrical spit.

"That is what triumph looks like—the cross, the grave, the stone rolled away."

--

Matthew 21:1–11 (NRSVue)

[1] When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, [2] saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. [3] If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” [4] This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: [5] “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” [6] The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; [7] they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. [8] A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. [9] The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” [10] When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” [11] The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Hosted by Pastor Eric Damon and Pastor Bob Schaefer.

Join the community!
Email us at cptbpod@gmail.com.
Find us at @cptbpod on most social media platforms.
More at linktr.ee/cptbpod

Music: Trickster by Phat Sounds
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10864-trickster
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Send a text

Every week, CPTB brings together Pittsburgh stand-up comedians and Lutheran pastors to read scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary — no prep, no filter, no guarantees.

Lazarus is dead. Four days dead. Stinky dead. Jesus knew it was coming, waited anyway, and now he's standing outside a sealed tomb asking people to roll the stone away. This is the most dramatic thing he's ever done — and he absolutely did not have to make it this dramatic.

Expect:

• A brand new format: the whistle interruption system, road-tested on 45 verses of John
• Why "this illness is for God's glory" is a theologically loaded thing to say out loud
• Thomas the Twin as ride-or-die disciple, rehabilitated at last
• The trauma of being asked to open a tomb you know smells terrible
• Jesus as vampire, per Abby Evans, and why she's not entirely wrong
• The difference between resuscitation and resurrection — and why it matters heading into Holy Week
• Eric refusing to wrap things up with good news, because it's Lent 5 and Holy Week is right there

Don't miss: Erick Williams on the short-sighted irony of plotting to kill a man who can raise the dead.

"He's not going to do a David Lynch TV show. He was not in a coma. He's dead." — Pastor Eric Damon

---

John 11:1–45 (NRSVue)

This one's too long to fit in our episode notes - grab your Bible and look it up!

Hosted by Pastor Eric Damon and Pastor Bob Schaefer.

Join the community!
Email us at cptbpod@gmail.com.
Find us at @cptbpod on most social media platforms.
More at linktr.ee/cptbpod

Music: Trickster by Phat Sounds
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10864-trickster
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Send a text

This week, returning guests Cassi Bruno (@cassi_dicci) and Lou Pastorius (@notorious_pastorius) join Bob and Eric for John 9 — the man born blind — and nobody in the room sees it coming. Jesus makes mud in a way that polite people don't repeat in public. The Pharisees are certain they can see. The blind man ends up being the only one who actually does. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, a comedian accidentally preaches the sermon.

Expect:

• A very polite omission of how the mud was made
• The moment Bob realized he could NOT say what he was about to say
• Why Jesus may have healed on the Sabbath on purpose
• The dangerous history of the phrase "the Jews" in John's Gospel — and why it matters
• A room full of ADHD brains wrestling with the longest gospel reading of Lent
• Two kinds of blindness, and which one Jesus actually came to cure
• What happens when you wake up and the light is too bright to open your eyes all at once

Also featuring: Eric's tractor cliff story, Bob's 1994 Concordia College beanie, Jonathan Groff's spray zone, and a ghost tour where Bob was definitely the problem.

Pull quote: "If you know better, do better." — Lou Pastorius

---

John 9:1–41 (NRSVue)

This one's too long to fit in our episode notes - grab your Bible and look it up!

Hosted by Pastor Eric Damon and Pastor Bob Schaefer.

Join the community!
Email us at cptbpod@gmail.com.
Find us at @cptbpod on most social media platforms.
More at linktr.ee/cptbpod

Music: Trickster by Phat Sounds
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10864-trickster
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.