Holy Week
The week starting on Palm Sunday
and continuing through the Saturday before Easter is commonly called Holy Week
and the week in which the passion of our Savior is commemorated. The week starts with the Lord’s
triumphant entry into Jerusalem and ends with the death of the Savior on the
Cross and the burial of His body in the tomb. It is a week of ups and downs without parallel and precedes
the most joyous day of the year, the Day of the Resurrection or Easter Sunday.
Jesus has a triumphant entry into
the city on the First Day of the Week (Sunday); on Thursday night he celebrates
the Passover with his disciples in the Upper Room, he prays and agonizes over
what he knows is coming in the garden of Gethsemane; Judas betrays him early
Friday morning, his most trusted disciple denies him; the Jews condemn him to
Pilate who in turn orders him to be beaten and humiliated; that does not
satisfy the Jews and at their request, Pilate condemns a man he knows to be
innocent to a horrible death to pacify the crowd of Jews assembled by the
priests; Jesus is crucified, asks John to take care of his mother and gives up
the ghost; his body is taken down and buried; the disciples are dispersed and
discouraged; they have listened to their Lord, but not understood.
Think of this week from the
disciples’ perspective, on the first day they enter with their leader into
Jerusalem in triumph; mid-week they celebrate the joyous feast of the Passover,
then their leader is betrayed, defends himself not and is killed. At the time they surely could not think
of this as a Holy Week and certainly not a Good Friday. Yet on the first day of the week that
follows, our Lord is Risen, Risen indeed and delivers the promise of salvation
in person.
What a week!
Monday
On Monday, Jesus preached in the
Temple and further distanced Himself from the people’s vision and demonstrated
God’s vision. He went in to the
temple and through out the vendors selling “sacrificial” birds and animals at
exorbitant cost, as well as the moneychangers, changing Roman money for Temple
money dishonestly. Far from
announcing Himself head of the temple, He announced they had made His Father’s
house a den of thieves. Rather
than working within the Jewish establishment, He over turned it!
Tuesday
Jesus and the Pharisees dispute
in the Temple. He left for the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.
There he delivers the “Mount of Olives Discourse”. Judas agrees to betray him
to the Jewish priests for 30 pieces of silver.
Wednesday
The Sanhedrin was gathered
together and decided to kill Jesus, even before Pesach if possible. In the
meantime, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. Here he was
anointed on his head by Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, with very
expensive ointment of spikenard. Some of the disciples, particularly Judas
Iscariot, keeper of the purse, were indignant about this; the oil could have
been sold to support the poor. “This
he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had
the bag, and bare what was put therein.”
In this case, Judas recalls to mind many politicians. Jesus reminded them of the importance
of first things first and the futility of giving, rather than helping, when He
said in Matthew 26.11 “For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not
always.” Judas went to the
Sanhedrin and offered them his support in exchange for silver. From this moment
on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. Judas spied on Jesus
in the garden of Gethsemane where he came on his plan.
Maundy
Thursday
At the Passover Feast, Jesus and
his disciples share the “Last Supper” and He washes their feet. Jesus blesses
his bread and wine as his flesh and blood and shares it with his disciples, the
institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. He informs them that one of
them will betray him. They go back to the garden of Gethsemane.
Good
Friday
Good Friday was the day in which
Jesus was tried by the Jews, tried by Pilate, condemned, crucified, died and
was buried[1]. Except in hindsight, this was not a
Good Friday at all.
In the early hours before sunup,
Jesus is betrayed by the “Judas Kiss” and arrested. At sunrise, he is disowned
by Peter thrice before the cock croweth. When brought before Caiaphas, the
Jewish High Priest, and his Council, he is condemned. He says that he will rise
from death after three days.
They hand him over to the Roman
authority, Pontius Pilate, who sends him to Herod (Antipas, the son of Herod
the Great). Then Pilate asks the crowd who he is to pardon: a murderer, or
Jesus? The crowd chooses Barabas and Jesus is sentenced to death. Pilate’s
actions made famous the line, “I wash my hands of this.” While he might have attempted to wash
the guilt for the murder of the world’s one truly innocent man on to the Jews,
he remains the one who condemned him to death. Pilate was nothing if not a politician and bureaucrat. The condemnation was to him the
simplest solution to the problem of a Jewish hierarchy’s manufactured crowd’s
anger. What was the death of one
Jew to him? Yet he was worried
enough to attempt to wash his hands of the guilt.
Jesus is brought to Calvary,
where on the “third hour” (9 am) he is crucified. He is mocked as he hangs
between the Bad Thief and the Good Thief, whom he blesses. On the “sixth hour”
(noon), darkness covers the land. Jesus cries out “My God, My God, hast Thou
forsaken Me? ”
After drinking wine, he commits
his spirit to his Father and dies. Matthew reports an earthquake that destroys
the Temple. Many understand now that Jesus was the Son of God. His body is
taken down and anointed. He is buried in a cave. This is the first day of
death.
Jack Arnold read the Epistle for
Good Friday, which comes from the Tenth Chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the
Hebrews beginning at the First Verse.
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HE law having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers
thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because
that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt-offerings and
sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the
volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he
said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin thou
wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God: he taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for
ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from hence-forth expecting till his
enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for
after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them; then saith he, And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more
offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an
high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one
another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The Gospel, much like the Gospel
for Palm Sunday was read as a participatory reading and was so effective as to
make the hair on the back of one’s neck stand up at points. The Gospel came from the Nineteenth Chapter
of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the First Verse:
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ILATE therefore took Jesus, and
scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his
head, and they put on him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and
they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith
unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no
fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the
purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests
therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify
him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault
in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid; and went again into the judgment hall, and
saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith
Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power
to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:
therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from
thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If
thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a
king, speaketh against Cæsar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought
Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment-seat in a place that is called the
Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the
passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your
King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate
saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have
no king but Cæsar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.
And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into
a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus
in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the
writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many
of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and
it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of
the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am
King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. Then the
soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four
parts, to every sol-dier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without
seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let
us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture
might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my
vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. Now there
stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife
of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the
disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold
thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour
that disciple took her unto his own home. After this, Jesus knowing that all
things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I
thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge
with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his
head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the
preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath
day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs
might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and
brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But
when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his
legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came
there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is
true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these
things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall
not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom
they pierced.
Sermon – Time
and Action
Good Friday’s sermon is contained
in the BC strip below. It pretty
much covers the meaning of Good Friday.
For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3.16
Holy
Saturday
The Jewish Council remembers his
vow to return and has the tomb guarded and sealed with a heavy stone. Second
day of death. From the time Jesus left his body on the cross until the
resurrection, little is known. It
is said in the Apostle’s Creed that “He descended into hell”, where he did
battle with the Devil for our souls, a battle the Devil was destined to lose.
Easter
Sunday
On the third day of death, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary find the tomb empty, but for an angel who tells
them Jesus is already resurrected and is on His way to Galilee. On their way to
tell the others, Jesus appears to them.
Death is conquered, the Promise delivered. Our lives from this day forward are eternal!
Think
about the Week that was!
The reason Jesus came to
Jerusalem at the Passover was to take the place of the yearly sacrifice by one
perfect sacrifice, one time, for all time and for all mankind. His was the
blood marking our door that the destroyer might pass over. The week started on a triumphant note
and ended up trying to do between there were windows into the future, glimpses
of the past, moments of despair, moments of terror, moments of confusion; but
in the end joy and the ultimate triumph.
Easter Sunday
Today we celebrate the
resurrection of Christ, “Christ the Lord is Risen today!” Our sunrise temperature on Mount Olympus
was a nice 53°F under the beautiful sunny skies of a mild Santa Ana. In recognition of Easter, we had a Sonrise
service which started at 1030.
Hey, this is California, how early do you expect! Plus, a number of our people have long
way to come, Ryan flew in from the East Coast just in time for the service! So, with Scott Berry, we had five
people for service!
Gathering Song
Jack Arnold played
Hymn 85 – Jesus Christ is Risen Today for the gathering song.
Hymn 85 – Jesus
Christ is risen today
Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
But the pains that he endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He's King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!
We try to pick our gathering
songs to have a wonderful message, be easy to sing and suitable for guitar
accompaniment. What better song
for Easter than the one for which the day is named?
Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers:
special prayers and readings from the Bible. There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought
prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in
the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of
Canterbury after the re-founding.
The Collect for the Day is to be
read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The
Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in
the New Testament. The Gospel is a
reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as
a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in
our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the
service in our church is read by an ordained minister or our Deacon Striker.
The propers are the same each
year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook,
falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White
Season, where it is put off. Red
Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in
red, are special days. Most of the
Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development
of the church, others to special events.
Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be
used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.
The Propers for today are found
on Page 163-164, with the Collect first:
Easter Sunday.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY God,
who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and
opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by
thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so
by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same
Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost
ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout Easter Week.
Ryan
Hopkins read the Epistle, which came from Saint Paul’s letter to the
Colossians, beginning at the First Verse of the Third Chapter:
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f ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
As usual, Paul is exhorting us to
be the New Man, to put away the trappings of the old and go forward. He asks us to do what anyone who is
successful does, hang around with those you want to be like in the end and to
emulate their actions. In this
case rather that earthly success, Paul is helping prepare us for eternal
success through salvation.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read the
Holy Gospel which came from the Twentieth Chapter of the Gospel of Saint John
beginning at the First Verse. It
is the straightforward accounting of the discovery by Mary Magdalene, Simon
Peter and John that the Lord was risen indeed.
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he first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the
stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon
Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They
have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have
laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the
sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter,
and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the
linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him,
and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin,
that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together
in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first
to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away
again unto their own home.
Sermon – Time
and Action
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Today is Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The central event
of not only the Christian Year; but of Christianity and the entire world. Witness the terms AD and BC. Anno Domini and Before Christ.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… Jesus Christ hast overcome
death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee
that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good
desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect…
In the Collect, we acknowledge that God sent His Son
to be our Savior to give us eternal life.
We ask His Help that our hearts might desire good and with His Help put
those desires into action so that we might accept that eternal life offered us
by that same Jesus Christ.
Paul then tells us, if we say we are with Christ, we
must act with Him. We must
continually seek to better our selves by setting our sights on Him in heaven
and guiding our actions by Him, by associating with others like minded. We must turn our backs on this earth if
we truly face heaven.
When we come to Holy Week, we find a triumphant
entrance into Jerusalem, triumphant in the eyes of the beholders, not the
center of the action. The crowd,
with some of the same people who later condemned Him, welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem
with the expectation He came to free them from the Roman yoke, to hold them up,
to put their feet on the Romans’ necks.
Yet, He knew where He was going and what would happen.
The week built towards the First Day of the First
Week of the New Covenant. Jesus
knew what He was doing.
Reflect on this, during World War II on D-Day, the
first waves were National Guard and new recruits. No veterans of Torch, Norway or Dieppe. Why? Because all the soldiers were patriots and all were ready to
defend their country, the new guys did not know what that really meant.
Crucifixion, a cruel painful death. Painful beyond our comprehension. Think about the mechanics of being
nailed to a cross. Think about
that. Then think about the descent
into hell to do battle with the devil.
Think about that. No matter
what you imagine, like D-Day the reality exceeded the expectation.
Yet Jesus, being God, knew exactly what He was
volunteering for. And He rode
towards the sound of gunfire. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15.13
Jesus went with full knowledge aforethought where no
one would go – FOR YOU, FOR ME, FOR US.
That is Good Friday’s lesson.
Today, The Resurrection, Easter or as it is called in
Spanish, Dia de la Resurreccion, is the day that the promise of everlasting
life was delivered.
This one perfect sacrifice, one time, for all time
and for all mankind was made for YOU.
All you need to do to get the benefit is follow Christ. So, what does that mean? See John 14.23: Jesus answered and
said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.
It is not if you attend church or not that makes you
a Christian, it is if you do what He asks of you. Going to church just gives you help and encouragement. It makes you part of a team, part of a
coherent unit.
Today, you have a choice, just like every day. Today you can be a Christer, that is
one who celebrates Christmas and
Easter, or you can be a
Christian. One who follows Christ.
If you choose being a Christian, be prepared for
constant failure and shortfall of goal.
So long as you do your best and never give up Christ will account you as
perfect when it counts.
Today, the first day in Eternity or another day off
your life towards death. Your
choice. Jesus made His, you make
yours.
Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get
copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.
Today is one of those Sundays.
Today we get a brilliant and inspiring sermon for Easter. I beg you; take the time to read this:
Sermon Notes for EASTER
8 April 2012 Anno Domini
St Andrews Anglican Orthodox Church
Easter Sunday.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY God,
who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and
opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by
thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so
by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same
Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost
ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
57 When the even was come, there came a
rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: 58 He
went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to
be delivered. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it
in a clean linen cloth, 60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which
he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the
sepulchre, and departed. 61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the
other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62 Now the next
day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees
came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that
deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command
therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his
disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is
risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65
Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone,
and setting a watch. (Matt
27:57-66)
During the Holy Week we have studied of events leading up to the Crucifixion of
Christ – the triumphal entry of Christ into the City of Jerusalem on Palm
Sunday, the woman who poured expensive oils upon Jesus ant Bethany in
preparation for His death (Matthew 26:7-3), the plot of the Jewish rulers to
put Christ to death, the betrayal of Judas, the mock trial before the Sanhedrin
and the court of the Proconsul, Pontius Pilate, and the crucifixion itself.
The Jewish leaders, inspired by their father the devil, have carried out their
plan of murder of the Son of God. They gloat over their presumed success,
but their gloating will be turned to despair and worry.
57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of
Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple
Joseph was not only a rich man, but a prominent leader and counselor among the
Jews. We read from John: 38 And after this Joseph of
Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews,
besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him
leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. (John 19:38)
In Mark we read: 43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor,
which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate,
and craved the body of Jesus. (Mark 15:43)
We are told in the 58th verse that Joseph begged the body of
Christ, and in Mark that he craved it. Have we begged or craved to
possess Christ in His fullness? It should be the obsession of every professing
Christian to crave Christ, to beg in prayer to have Him as Friend, as Lord, as
Savior, and as Constant Counsellor.
Joseph was a secret disciple of Christ, but in the Body of Christ, we have no
clandestine professors – we are either for Christ openly, or we are not for
Christ. At the moment of crucifixion, seeing that Christ was faithful to
His Word to the end, Joseph realized his weakness and went publicly at the time
of greatest danger, to beg the body of Christ.
Joseph did not come alone, for he had with him that disciple that came by night
to Christ out of political fear – Nicodemus, who was likewise emboldened by the
crucifixion to come publicly to be numbered among the disciples.
I hope we have no secret disciples of Christ among the precious young people of
St Andrews!
59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth, 60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out
in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and
departed.
The body of Christ was wrapped in the same way as that of Lazarus. But the
risen Christ needed no man to remove His grave clothes, as did Lazarus, to be
set free. Furthermore, Christ did not require the voice of God from outside the
Tomb to call Him forth as did Lazarus – the Voice was from within.
The tomb belonged to Joseph. 41 Now in the place where he was
crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was
never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the
Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. (John
19:41-42)
This was fulfillment of
Isaiah 53:9 - And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth
Jesus was crucified between two thieves – one, repentant, the other rebellious.
No man had ever before lain in this tomb. It was a BORROWED Tomb for Christ
would need it only for a few hours.
It is interesting to note that Jesus was provided shelter in a manger at his
birth by a man named Joseph, son of Heli, and husband to Mary, the mother of
Jesus. And now, at the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus is again provided a
shelter by another Joseph for His dead body.
Since the occupation of the tomb by Christ
was only temporary, we can know that our sojourn in the grave will be temporary
as well. As St Paul says; the twinkling of an eye.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed. (1 Cor
15:52)
There are two Marys watching over Christ even to the end. They were at the
Cross until the end, and they watch at the burial until the end – Mary
Magdalene and Mary of Bethany who was ever at the feet of Christ.
61 And
there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the
sepulchre.
Will our end of days find us watching Christ until that end comes?
62 Now
the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and
Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that
deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
This is evidence that the Jewish rulers had paid close attention to every Word
of Christ. They, moreover, knew the prophecies and were without excuse as to
ignorance.
Now, they are worried and want to insure that the Man whom they have so
treacherously murdered, stays dead and in the tomb.
64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third
day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the
people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the
first
Every day in America men are running to the governor to request that all
mention of Christ be abandoned – that there be no prayer allowed, no Holy Days
acknowledged, and no expressions of faith allowed on any public square. Such
men want to insure that Christ remains buried.
But no such whimsical notions can be realized. There was no power on earth that
could keep Christ in the Tomb.
65.Pilate
said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and
setting a watch
"As she
as they could" was not sure enough. No man can stop the power of God.
They placed
the seal of the Roman Authority on the Tomb and set guards at watch. Here the
government is complicit with the devil
to stench the resurrection just as the government of today attempts the same
vile effort.
Now, we shall
await the rolling of the Stone away by Angels of God. Now we shall await the
coming forth of the Son of God in
victory and
triumph. Shall you make His triumphant resurrection your own in Him?
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sunday Sermon
As
is oft the case, we are honored to present Bishop Dennis’ Sunday sermon
presented to his parish. Dennis
has a special sermon for Easter:
The Story of
Redemption
This morning I chose to share again something many of you gave heard
before, but many have not. And it is something so important it needs to
be heard several times by everyone, for it gives an overview of the entire
Bible, so we can see it as a unified whole and so we can see that it presents
the single story of what God is doing in this
world.
The Bible begins and ends with God. The very first verse says,
“In the beginning God” (Gen 1:1). The very last verse says, “The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” (Rev.22:21). God dwells in
eternity, without fault or sin, in perfect being, wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness, and truth. God is complete in and of Himself. He
does not need others to complete Him like people do. Therefore, God did
not create angels or humans because He needed their company or love. He
created them so they could know and enjoy His company and love. This
means He had to give them some semblance of the attributes He has in Himself,
though on a much smaller scale, and all dependant upon His sustaining
power. He gave them existence, personality, creativity, and will, among
other things. He created Man, male and female, and placed them on earth
to have dominion over it, and to use their creativity and intelligence to rule
the world under God. He gave them free will, and created them morally and
spiritually good, so they were able to live in perfect harmony and fellowship
with Him and with each other. Man was able to live in perfect union with
God, as long as they lived in perfect obedience to God’s perfect will (Gen.
2:15-25). But at some point, Man turned away from God (Gen. 3:1-8).
Choosing to live by their own rules instead of by the will of God, Man fell
from their fellowship with God, and became criminals against the righteous King
of Creation. The Fall of Man changed not only their relationship with
God, but also their own nature and essence. No longer were they free and
good. Their minds became darkened and their wills became warped so that
they are inclined towards evil instead of good (Rom. 1:21-25). The
history of Man is the story of the Fall in action. It is the story of
greed, hate, oppression, and violence and ungodliness (Jas. 4:1-3). In
other words, it is the history of Sin.
The study of Bible history is the study of the unfolding of God’s grace
extended to fallen Man. As we study the history of the Bible we see first
the progressive self revelation of God, culminating in Jesus Christ.
Second, we see the unfolding of God’s purpose of grace, which we may call the
Plan of Redemption. All of the studies we have done in Old and New
Testament history have been done to bring us to this point, the point of
recognizing afresh that, in the Bible, we are witnessing the story of God’s
self revelation and the story of God’s redeeming grace. Today it is my
hope to trace some of the more important events in this story, and to show that
the flow of events is the unfolding of God’s plan.
We have already looked at the Fall. Soon we must look at the first
promise of redemption, but first let us see that the Plan of Redemption
actually precedes the Fall. It even precedes creation. Christ said
His people will inherit a kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the
world (Mt. 25:34). Ephesians 1:4 says we were chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world. I Peter 1:18-20 says we are redeemed not with
corruptible things like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Christ, a
Lamb without blemish or spot, “Who verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”
Finally, Revelation 13:8 speaks of Christ as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world.
How does this plan of Redemption unfold in history? It begins even in the
Garden. There God had mercy on the guilty sinners. To be sure,
there were consequences to their sin, but there was also mercy, and a great
promise that has been called the Protoevangelium. It is found in Genesis 3:15,
“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” From the
start this verse was understood to foretell the work of the Messiah. Paul
refers to it in Romans 16. Justin Martyr (110-165) interpreted it as such
also. It could be said that the rest of the Bible is the explanation of
how God works this verse out in history. The cross of Christ is the most
obvious example of this, but in reality, all of history can be summarized as
the story of Redemption as Christ, the seed of the woman bruises the head of
the serpent (Satan) to deliver His people, until the day He finally comes in
the full revelation of His glory to restore creation and to fully establish His
Kingdom of righteousness forever.
From the Fall, Redemption moves forward in the birth of Seth. Abel has
been killed, and Cain, his murderer, has been driven out of the covenant
people. So the line through which God will bring the Saviour into the
world continues in Seth (Gen 4:25). From Seth, the Bible traces the line
to Noah (Gen.5:1-32), and from Noah, through Shem, to Abraham (Gen.
11:10-32). Throughout this time God was revealing His righteousness and
holiness. It was shown that the murder of Abel was a sin against
God. The wickedness of Man caused God to bring judgment in the
Flood. The arrogance of humanistic endeavor was judged at Babel.
Abraham was called to leave Ur, to separate from the cultures of the world and
their wickedness. Through him God was going to build a nation to be His
own special and holy people. All of this reveals the nature and purpose
of God.
Israel was that special and holy people. Descendants of Abraham, the
Israelites dwelt in Canaan until a famine drove them to seek shelter in Egypt,
where God had already established Joseph as the pharaoh’s chief official.
Miraculously, God delivered the Israelites after the Egyptians enslaved
them. He took them to Mount Sinai, where He gave them His Law, the
fullest revelation of His will to date. The moral law, as well as the
ceremonial and civil law was given at Sinai, and the Hebrews were invited to
assent personally to the Covenant God made with their forefathers.
The Covenant can be summarized as follows. First, God will be their
God. He will bless them, give them his Law that they may know the ways of
goodness and peace, and establish them in the land of Canaan. He will
also provide a way to forgive their sins, which will be symbolized in the
Temple and the sacrificial system. Second, they will be His people.
They will love Him with all their heart, keep His commandments joyfully,
forsake all idols, and live for Him in righteousness in the land He would give
them (see Deuteronomy 30 for a summary of the Covenant). With the
Covenant ratified by the people, God sent them toward Canaan. After the
forty years in the wilderness, the people entered the Promised Land.
Things did not go well for the Israelites. They turned from God to easier
and more attractive religions. They engaged in the sensuality and lust of
the Canaanites. But in grace the story of Redemption continued as God
sent the judges and the prophets to them. The prophets proclaimed that
God wanted not just the outward forms and rituals of the ceremonial law, but
also the inward holiness of the moral law. They expounded more fully the
holy nature of God, and the demand that His people be holy also.
Sometimes the Hebrews got the message and turned to God. In those times
God forgave their sin and blessed them. The reign of David was one of
those times, and can be understood as a foretaste of the Kingdom of the
Messiah. Often the Israelites rejected God’s message and killed the
prophets. In those times they paid the price for their sin, for God
allowed them to be harassed and dominated by several foreign powers, beginning
with the Canaanites and continuing to the Romans. But during this time
God revealed to them that a Deliverer was coming who would bring forgiveness
and restoration, and would establish a Kingdom that would transcend political,
ethnic, and cultural barriers. The message of the prophet Isaiah was one
of the clearest expressions of this in the Old Testament. Through him it
was revealed that the Saviour would suffer for the sins of His people, and that
He would open the Kingdom of God to all believers. The history of Israel
is the history of God providentially working in the life of a nation that is
often stubborn and rebellious. But God is faithful, and even sin and
rebellion in His own chosen people did not stay the progress of the plan of
Redemption. In grace He continued to work in His people and to bring the
world to the point of the fullness of time, when He sent forth His Son, our
Saviour, to redeem us (Gal 4:4-5).
Before proceeding further into the New Testament, let us emphasize a few very
important points of the Old Testament. First, God requires
righteousness. We can define righteousness negatively as the absence of
moral fault, and positively as the active possession of absolute moral
perfection. The whole point of the Law is the requirement of perfection.
God is perfect, and requires perfection of us. There is no sliding scale,
no allowance for circumstances, no excuse for failure to measure up. We
must embrace and do righteousness perfectly if we are going to live up to the
demands of the Law. This requires an inward attitude as well as outward
performance.
Second, nobody measures up. The Law reveals God’s standards, but it also
reveals God’s nature. Righteousness is God and God is
righteousness. There is no fault or variation in Him. But we fall
short in every way. We fail to achieve perfection in our works because we
fail to achieve perfection in our beings. In fact, as we saw in our look
at the Fall, we are imperfect in our beings, and this inward imperfection inclines
us to imperfect actions. Actually, I have stated this too softly.
To get the real sense of the Bible’s teaching on this I have to say that we are
evil in our inward beings. There is in us a selfishness and pride that
causes us to place our own comfort and pleasures above the good we know we
should be doing. This “fallenness” even leads us to exalt ourselves and
wills above that of God Himself. It is this fallenness in our being that
causes the sinful actions, which the Prayer Book rightly reminds, are sins of
omission as well as sins of commission (see the General Confession, page 6,
1928 edition).
Third, the Law, though it shows the way of life and peace, is actually
our enemy, because by it we see our lack of righteousness. We see that
the Law does not justify us in the eyes of God, it condemns us. This is
one of the major points of the Bible. This is why Paul, in Romans 3:20,
speaking about the Jewish people who had the law, says,
“Therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his [God’s] sight; for by the
law is the knowledge of sin.”
Fourth, the Law, then, becomes our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ (Gal.
3:24). Seeing that we are actually condemned by our failure to meet God’s
standards, we are forced to despair of escaping His holy wrath upon us for our
sins, unless, God has mercy on us, and somehow makes a way for us to be
forgiven.
Now we can return to the Old Testament and see again the many promises of God
to make a way of salvation for us. We will not attempt to show every
reference to Christ, but will look at some of the more obvious. In
Genesis 3:15 He is the seed of woman that bruises the serpent’s head. He is
also the one whose heel is bruised by the serpent. In Exodus He is the
Passover Lamb who saves His people by His blood. In the Day of Atonement
He is the Scapegoat that bears the sins of His people. In the Temple He
is the High Priest who offers the sacrifices for sin. His also the
Sacrifice, just as the altar is the cross on which He is offered. In
Isaiah He 7:14 He is Immanuel, God with us. In Isaiah 53 He is the Man of
Sorrows who heals our souls by His stripes (crucifixion). In Micah 2:5 He
is the Ruler who comes out of Bethlehem. In Micah 4:1-3 He is the One who
brings in the Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness in which people can at last
beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
The Old Testament is about Him from beginning to end. He said if we
believe Moses we would believe in Him, for Moses wrote of Him (Jn. 5:46).
In the New Testament the promises of God to fallen Man are fulfilled in Jesus
Christ. The promise to make Abraham a great nation is fulfilled in
Christ. The promise through Micah that many peoples will come into the
house of the God of Israel is fulfilled in Christ. The old Israel, which
was confined to one nation, is, in Christ, fulfilled into a world-wide
fellowship that transcends all national ethnic, and cultural barriers.
This New Israel is called the Church. The salvation of those who are
condemned by the Law is accomplished by God Himself, who became flesh and went
to the cross and bore in Himself the price of our redemption. He suffered the
wrath of God in our place. He was punished for our sins. The full
revelation of God is accomplished in Christ, who said if we have seen Him we
have seen the Father (Jn. 14:9-11).
Church history, as recorded in the New Testament, is the continuing story of
Redemption as the message of the Gospel goes into the world. The Gospels
record the life and ministry of Christ, by whom the work of Redemption is
accomplished. The Book of Acts records the spread of the Gospel into the
Mediterranean world. By the end of Acts there are Christians in Africa,
Asia, and Europe. The Epistles explain the faith. They explain the
Gospel. In them we find the meaning and purpose of the ministry of
Christ explained so that it can always be understood through the
successive generations around the world.
We have seen that Jesus is the full revelation of God, yet that revelation is
veiled in the sense that it is not fully recognized. He came to earth
within the limitations of time and space. He came in humility to be
rejected and crucified. But He will come again in power. In that
day every eye will see Him. In that day He will bring the story of
Redemption to its close. In that day His enemies will be forever crushed under
His heel. Satan, sin, the ungodly, death and hell will be cast out of His
presence forever. He will gather His people to be with Him in a place
where all suffering and sin will be ended forever. In that Land we will
see Him with our own eyes as Adam and Eve saw Him walking with them in the
Garden. In that day all our questions will be answered and our joy will
be complete. Even the physical creation will be renewed and restored (see
Rev. 21). All things will be brought together under Christ, who will rule
in grace and peace forever.
Thus ends the story of Redemption. The purpose of God in His creation has
been accomplished. Fallen people have been called into fellowship with
God and redeemed by the blood of Christ. Evil has been conquered forever,
and the people of God live in peace and righteousness. This is what the history
of the Bible is all about.
Blessed Easter,
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
Where
did the term Easter come from?
Scholars variously attribute the
name "Easter" to a derivation from Eostra (a Scandinavian goddess of
dawn or spring) or Ostern (a Teutonic fertility goddess), both pagan figures
honored at festivals celebrating the vernal equinox, about the time of the Passover.
Traditions associated with these festivals include the Easter rabbit, a symbol
of fertility; and Easter eggs, painted with the bright colors of spring,
signifying growth and new life, concepts associated with the resurrection. Hence the name and symbols came to be
associated with the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occurred at
the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was
frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the
Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "Passover" was used in
all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Acts 12:4 where the
word Easter was used.
Easter
is a Movable Feast
The Easter holiday builds on the
traditions of the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach (the derivation of
Pascha, another name for Easter), celebrating deliverance of the Israelites
from bondage in Egypt. Passover
begins on Thursday, when we're reminded that Jesus traveled with His followers
to Jerusalem in observation of the feast He came to fulfill. In an effort
to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord at the same time of year, before the
calendar was standardized and synchronized to the solar year, Easter became a
movable feast and is the lynchpin for the other movable feasts which take their
dates from Easter. Victor I
(c.189-198AD) standardized Easter as a Sunday holiday, and in 325AD the Council
of Nicaea set Easter's date in relation to the paschal moon. The Gregorian
calendar correction of 1582AD placed Easter as the first Sunday after the full
moon following the vernal equinox, falling between 22 March and 25 April. If the fourteenth day happens on a
Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after.
A term
long forgotten
Easter Dues – Unique to the
Church of England, of which our Anglican Church is a direct descendant - Money
due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for
personal labor and subject to exaction.
For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been
substituted. In the case of this
parish, the minister is given an entire month’s pay as Easter Dues! But, before he gets too excited, he
reflects that is actually two times zero, which is yet still zero!
[1]
The tomb was a new one
which had been hewn for Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph, a native of Arimathea, was apparently a man of
wealth, and probably a member of the Sanhedrin an "honourable counsellor,
who waited (or "was searching") for the kingdom of God",
according to John, he was secretly a disciple of Jesus. As soon as he heard the
news of Jesus' death, he "went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body
of Jesus." Pilate, reassured by a centurion that the death had really
taken place, allowed Joseph's request. Joseph immediately purchased fine linen
and went to Golgotha to take the body down from the cross. There, assisted by Nicodemus,
he took the body and wrapped it in the fine linen, sprinkling it with the myrrh
and aloes that Nicodemus had brought. The body was then conveyed to the new
tomb in rock in his garden nearby. There they laid it, in the presence of Mary
Magdalene, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and other women, and rolled a great stone
to the entrance, and departed. This was done speedily, "for the Sabbath
was drawing on". Joseph of Arimathea appears in some early New Testament
apocrypha.
Although there are no written records until the
fifth century, tradition holds Joseph of Arimethea, who provided the tomb for
the burial of Jesus Christ, brought Christianity and the Holy Grail to England
in 37 AD and built a church in Glastonbury in Somerset.
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