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CPTB is a conversational, funny, and thoughtful take on this week’s Bible readings - for preachers, church leaders, deconstructors, and curious listeners who still love scripture, even when they’re not sure what to do with it. We explore the text with humor and theological depth, without certainty, outrage, or easy answers.

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This week we’re in John 1:29–42 (Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C), where John the Baptist does the one job nobody wants: he points away from himself. “Look—here is the Lamb of God.” And somehow, that strange little sentence opens up a whole universe of meaning: sacrifice and innocence, Passover and mercy, and the unsettling idea that God’s power doesn’t show up as a flex.

Joining us are comedians Johnny Trafficante (@johnnytrafficante) and Seth Queen (@sethqueen_comedy), and we talk Catholic “smells and bells,” the way liturgy gets into your bones, why Bible branding and grift feels so spiritually corrosive, and what it might mean to recover a model of strength that looks more like vulnerability than domination. Along the way, Jesus casually renames Simon to Cephas (because apparently that’s what you do when you’re the Messiah), and we find ourselves circling a paradox the church desperately needs right now: the Lion of Judah is also the Lamb—and the Lamb is how the Lion wins.

As always: we’re pastors in the ELCA, we take scripture seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we’re glad you’re here. Like, subscribe, share with a friend (or an enemy—if you must), and may the Holy Spirit do her thing in your life.

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 us a text

CPTB is a conversational, funny, and thoughtful take on this week’s Bible readings - for preachers, church leaders, deconstructors, and curious listeners who still love scripture, even when they’re not sure what to do with it. We explore the text with humor and theological depth, without certainty, outrage, or easy answers.

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In this Short Take episode, we turn to the Gospel reading for the Baptism of Our Lord (Year A) and ask a surprisingly human question: what if Jesus didn’t actually hear the voice from heaven?

As we dig into Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism, we talk about humility, doubt, belonging, and what it means to trust grace that sometimes comes to us through other people rather than directly from God. Along the way, we imagine Jesus with water in his ears, wrestle with John the Baptist as a “good doubter,” and reflect on baptism not just as a private spiritual moment, but as entry into a community that speaks love when we can’t hear it ourselves.

Joining us are our resident comic theologians Abby Evans (@itsabbye) and Erick Williams (@comicaledubs), bringing performer instincts, cultural riffs, and just enough chaos to keep things honest.

Whether you’re preaching this text, deconstructing inherited faith, or just wondering why this story still matters, you’re welcome here.

If you enjoy the conversation, like, subscribe, and share CPTB with someone you think might actually enjoy it.

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Matthew 3:13–17 (NRSVue)

[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. [14] John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” [15] But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. [16] And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. [17] And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

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 us a text

What do you do with a gospel that doesn’t tell the Christmas story, starts before time, and keeps circling back on itself like it’s thinking out loud? In this episode of Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible, we dive into the opening of Gospel of John—a text that is beautiful, frustrating, poetic, and dense all at once.

Pastors Bob Schaefer and Eric Damon are joined by Pittsburgh comedians John Bankart and Roy Gackle for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from Catholic choreography and church anxiety to mushrooms (the metaphorical kind), soundboards, and the long, strange history of Christian disagreement. Along the way, we wrestle with what John means when he calls Jesus “the Word,” why light and darkness still matter, and how words—holy ones included—can heal or harm.

The conversation eventually lands where John does: grace and truth. What does it mean to speak faithfully in a world where scripture has been used both to liberate and to wound? How do we hold onto the beauty of these ancient words while being honest about the damage they’ve sometimes carried? And what does it look like to trust that the light still shines, even when understanding feels elusive?

As always, there are laughs, detours, pastoral honesty, and moments of real vulnerability. If you’ve ever loved the Gospel of John, struggled with it, or just wondered why it feels so different from the rest—this one’s for you.

May the Holy Spirit do her thing in your life.

John 1:1–18 (NRSVue)

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being [4] in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. [6] There was a man sent from God whose name was John. [7] He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. [8] He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. [9] The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. [11] He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. [12] But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, [13] who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. [14] And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. [15] (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) [16] From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God,

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.