On
Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come
from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how
did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev
Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson, but
overall mostly from Bryan. He
always has some great ones to share. On to the On Point quotes –
It will be of little avail to the people,
that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous
that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if
they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such
incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what
it will be to-morrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that
be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?
James
Madison
Federalist No. 62, 1788
By the word
of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth.
Psalm 33:6
There is a
way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Proverbs 16:25
Ye have
feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 11:8
And
whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off
the dust under your feet for a testimony against them...
St. Mark 6:11
I have
given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world.
St. John 17:14
For the
wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the
wise, that they are vain.
I Corinthians 3:19-20
Unto the
pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is
nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that
they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient,
and unto every good work reprobate.
St. Titus 1:15-16
A good man
may be overtaken in a fault, but the grace of God shall recover him to
repentance so that he shall not be utterly cast down.
Matthew Henry
17th
and 18th century English pastor and author
To tell us,
as some do... that the early churches were a model of perfection and purity is
absurd. Even in apostolic days, it appears there were abundant errors both in
doctrine and practice. To us... that clergymen ought never to handle
controversial subjects and never to warn their people against erroneous views
is senseless and unreasonable... Surely the dumb dog, and the sleeping shepherd
are the best allies of the wolf, the thief, and the robber... Does anyone ask
me, What is the best safeguard against false doctrine? I answer... The Bible...
regularly read... prayed over... studied.
JC Ryle
19th
century Anglican bishop and author
(Knots
Untied, pp.366-367)
There are
only two religions in the world. One is that religion that wants to convince
you that you are basically okay. The other is that religion that wants to
convince you that, if left to yourself, you are entirely lost. The first ...
wants to tell you that, yes, there is God, but that all that he requires of you
is that you should be a decent person. The other ... which is the religion of
the Bible ... tells us that, yes, there is God and it does not deny that His
followers are to be good. But it goes on to tell us that this ... holy God ...
requires not just a general obedience to His LAW... it tells us that ... if any
rescuing is going to get done, it is going to have to be done by God Himself.
Garth Neel
21st
century Anglican Orthodox bishop – Canada
The United
States government is the ultimate giant unworkable mess. It is a living cargo
cult where everyone marches around following routines that are supposed to
yield great prosperity, but never do. The processes themselves are broken and
make no sense, but the cargo culturers of government cannot and will not hear
that. They know that the government will magically make everything work.
Because government is progress. Government is modernity. Government is magic...
Our... cargo culters invoke FDR and JFK, they talk about the New Deal and the
Great Society, they make grand promises and roll out big programs, and then
they wait for it all to work. They don’t understand themselves how or why it
would work. But government is magic and the appearance of a thing is just as
good as a real deal. Build a website and it will work. Pass a law and they will
come. Get a degree and you’re competent. There is no reason to know how to do a
thing. You don’t need engineers or competent men. All you need to do is
remember that great dreams of the past, listen to a few inspirational JFK
speeches and then carve a computer out of wood and wait for free health care to
arrive. In cargo cult America, the food is free, the cell phones are free, and
the money can be printed forever because government is magic.
Daniel Greenfield
21st
century American commentator
(Government
is Magic, 10-27-13)
Palm
Sunday
The name Palm Sunday comes from
the palm leaves, along with clothing and other honors strewn along Jesus’ path
as He came in to Jerusalem the first day of the week before His
crucifixion. Of interest, only
Jesus knew of the upcoming crucifixion, every one else, including Jews, Romans
and the Christians, thought he was making a triumphant entrance in to the city
to take control of things and kick the Roman occupation force out. The moon was
almost full, this was the year of the Messiah according to Daniel. Jesus chose the route into the city,
through the King’s Gate. The
people saw Him coming and met him at the Mount of Olives. They expected Him to come in and
proclaim His rule. And that He
did, but not in the way the people were looking for. Those who thought of Him as Lord looked for a Kingdom of
this World to be established. Sunday was a day of triumph and fulfilled the
anticipation of the Jews of a day for which they had waited four
centuries. The Messiah had finally
come, at the time predicted by scripture.
They were certain that He would free them from the burdensome and cruel
yoke of Roman rule. The Jews would
finally be on top of the power pyramid.
They would rule the world under Him! Yet, that was not to be. The day in the temple!
Holy Cow! Here their savior
was throwing people out of the temple, not throwing the Romans out of
Jerusalem. They were sad to learn
He came not to rule this world, for that time was not yet come; He came to give
them the key to eternal salvation.
He came to take them from this veil of tears to a state of perfect
freedom. They wanted someone to
throw the Romans out and all God sent them was the key to eternal life. What a disappointment!
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.
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 134-137, with the Collect first:
The Sunday next before Easter, commonly called
Palm Sunday.
The
Collect.
A
|
LMIGHTY
and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy
Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death
upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great
humility; Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his
patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day, after the Collect
appointed for the day, until Good Friday.
Dru
Arnold read the Epistle for today, which came from Paul’s letter to the
Philippians, starting at the Fifth Verse of the Second Chapter.
Paul reminds us that if Christ, the Son of God, was
obedient to God, we should so be.
Also, as a result of that obedience, God hath given Jesus the name to
which all of earth should bow.
L
|
et this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
This morning’s Gospel comes from the
Gospel of Saint Matthew, starting at the First Verse of the Twenty-Seventh
Chapter and tells the story of Jesus’ trial, crucifixion and death. The Gospel was read by in parts, with Hap
as the Reader, Jack as Jesus and Judas and Pontius Pilate, Dru as Mrs. Pilate. We all read the Crowd part together.
The normally powerful Gospel seems even more powerful
when read as a play, so to speak.
The crowd’s part is very hard to read as it reminds us of our dark
side. If you did not make it to
church today, please find someone to read this with in parts. It is an uncomfortable experience that
you nonetheless should not miss.
Gospel of Saint
Matthew
starting
at the First Verse of the Twenty-Seventh Chapter
Reader: The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint
Matthew: When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the
people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound
him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then
Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented
himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and
elders, Saying,
Judas: I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.
Reader: And they said,
Crowd: What is that to us? see thou to that.
Reader: And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and
departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver
pieces, and said,
Crowd:
It is not lawful for to put them into the
treasury, because it is the price of blood.
Reader: And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's
field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of
blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him
that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them
for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. And Jesus stood before the
governor: and the governor asked him, saying,
Pilate: Art thou the King of the Jews?
Reader: And Jesus said unto him,
Jesus: Thou sayest.
Reader: And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he
answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him,
Pilate: Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
Reader: And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the
governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release
unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable
prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate
said unto them,
Pilate: Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus
which is called Christ?
Reader: For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he
was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying,
Pilate’s Wife: Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I
have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
Reader: But the chief
priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and
destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them,
Pilate: Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
Reader: They said,
Crowd: Barabbas.
Reader: Pilate saith unto them,
Pilate: What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?
Reader: They all say unto him,
Crowd: Let him be crucified.
Reader: And the governor said,
Pilate: Why, what evil hath he done?
Reader: But they cried out the more, saying,
Crowd: Let him be crucified.
Reader: When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that
rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the
multitude, saying,
Pilate: I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to
it.
Reader: Then answered all the people, and said,
Crowd: His blood be on us, and on our children.
Reader: Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had
scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the
governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band
of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when
they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in
his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying,
Crowd: Hail, King of the Jews!
Reader: And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on
the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him,
and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they
came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear
his cross. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to
say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and
when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and
parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did
they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his
head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were
there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the
left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying,
Crowd: Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three
days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Reader: Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the
scribes and elders, said,
Crowd: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King
of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He
trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am
the Son of God.
Reader: The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the
same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying,
Jesus: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
Reader: that is to say,
Jesus: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Reader: Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said,
Crowd: This man calleth for Elias.
Reader: And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and
filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest
said,
Crowd: Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
Reader: Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost.
Moment of Silence
Reader: And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from
the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the
graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him,
watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they
feared greatly, saying,
Crowd: Truly this was the Son of God.
Please read this out loud.
Having read this, do you see yourself in the
crowd? The crowd were not a random
group of bad Jews, the crowd is us. There is a little or more of the crowd
in each of us. Uncomfortable? Yes. But, sadly very real.
Yet, if we realize this, we can act to make ourselves less of the crowd
and more of the Christ. For in us
each is the crowd and the crown.
We chose, each of us, which it will be, crowd or crown. One simple letter of difference, yet
the gap between the two is bridged only by Christ.
Sermon – Reverend Hap Arnold - Time and
Action[1]
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… thy Son, our Saviour Jesus
Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that
all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; Mercifully grant,
that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers
of his resurrection…
In the Collect, we acknowledge God sent His Son to be
our Savior. Think about that, the
Creator, Lord and Master of the Universe sent His only Son to live amongst us
and not just provide us with instruction and leadership, but to give His
earthly life as a one time sacrifice for our sin that we might be accounted as
perfect in out final accounting, the resurrection. How much did God value His Son? Consider what Paul tells us - Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
Jesus set an example of humility and patience, both
rare qualities in us, that are impossible for us to follow without God’s help,
hence the Holy Ghost. The Holy
Ghost was sent to us that we might have understanding, comfort, strength,
perseverance, courage, inspiration; all things we fall short on. With Jesus’ sacrifice and the help of
the Holy Ghost to follow Him, turning our backs on this world, we can be part
of His resurrection. The resurrection itself sets a pattern that we should
follow. We must first die, that is to stop our sinning, then rise again, that
is to live, with humility and patience like the example Jesus set for us. We
must resurrect our lives and transform them into something new. There was a
reason why Easter was set in the spring time. Not only was it close to the
actual time of His death and rising again, but it came at a time where the
flowers bloomed anew, having been dead in winter, as Christ had been dead, and
rose again, just as those flowers bloom again.
Jesus set the standard of obedience to God’s will and
He expects us to follow Him. It is
a hard thing to do. We want to be
in charge, we want to do what we want!
It is hard to do what God wants.
We just plain don’t want to do what we need to do, what we must do. It is hard! But, do you think your path is harder than that set forth
for Him as laid out in the Gospel for today? And in the end, the path we must
follow will still be easier than if we refuse to follow Him and try and forge
our own path. We will be far happier if we follow his example and lead a
righteous and steadfast life, full of grace and humility, as well as patience.
Think about that before you do what you want to
do. Is what you want in line with
what God wants? Think about the
answer. If you let the Holy Ghost
in to your heart you will know the answer, you will know what you are supposed
to do. You may not like it, but
you will know it. Which is more comforting than the World’s way, which seems to
go off in every which direction, and they are never certain about anything.
However, we can be certain about what we know, what believe and we can
translate that certainty into our actions.
Jesus knew what was coming, how much it would hurt
both His Body and Soul as He went through with the crucifixion and subsequent
descent in to Hell. Yet, He
also knew this was God’s Will that we might live. If He did this for you, how can you not follow Him wherever
His Will takes you? If He was willing to do that for all of us, then how can we
not repay Him to the best of our ability? His Sacrifice demands that we repay
Him to the best of our ability, by the sheer nature of it, his perfection being
offered in place of our imperfection.
Recall Jesus’ triumphant entry
into Jerusalem on this day so many years ago. Only Jesus knew of the upcoming crucifixion, every one else,
including Jews, Romans and the Christians, thought he was making a triumphant
entrance in to the city to take control of things and kick the Roman occupation
force out. The moon was almost full, this was the year of the Messiah according
to Daniel. Jesus chose the route
into the city, through the King’s Gate.
The people saw Him coming and met him at the Mount of Olives. They expected Him to come in and
proclaim His rule. And that He
did, but not in the way the people were looking for. Those who thought of Him as Lord looked
for a Kingdom of this World to be established. Sunday was a day of triumph and
fulfilled the anticipation of the Jews of a day for which they had waited four
centuries. The Messiah had finally
come, at the time predicted by scripture.
They were certain that He would free them from the burdensome and cruel
yoke of Roman rule. The Jews would
finally be on top of the power pyramid.
They would rule the world under Him! As the week went on, they found that was not to be. He did not come to rule this world, but
to bring us to His World. He came to give them the key to eternal
salvation. He came to take them
from this veil of tears to a state of perfect freedom. They wanted someone to throw the Romans
out and all God sent them was the key to eternal life. What a disappointment!
By the way, the Chief Priests, who had so much
invested in their 613 laws, likely searched far and wide for the crowd to
convict Jesus of the crimes they found against their system. Their system, not God’s. Remember, there are none so blind as
those who will not see. They would
not see because what was being shown to them was a new way that would interfere
with their comfortable way of living.
A new way that asked for them, no demanded of them, accountability unto
God for their actions. While that
crowd was no self-forming group naturally set on condemning Jesus, but a
handpicked gang. At the same time,
many of those in the crowd who condemned Him the morning of Good Friday were in
the crowd that welcomed Him to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. What a difference five days can make.
Make no mistake, we are that crowd. And, like Pilate, no matter what we
say, we cannot wash our hands of the responsibility. Thus, we must separate ourselves from the crowd. Separate, that is to make ourselves
holy, set aside.
When the time comes, how will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Bishop Ogles’
Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get
copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.
Today is one of those Sundays.
Today’s sermon starts off with the collect, and like always, it will
give you a lot to consider in your heart.
Sermon Notes
The Sunday
next before Easter commonly called Palm Sunday
St Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church
13 April 2014,
Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)
The Sunday next before Easter, commonly called
Palm Sunday.
The
Collect.
A
|
LMIGHTY
and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy
Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death
upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great
humility; Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his
patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day, after the Collect
appointed for the day, until Good Friday.
The Bible is populated
with a number of Great Lone Hills that rise majestically from the dunes
and deserts of the wilderness of sin. That which we approach today in observing
the impending crucifixion of Christ is the great mountain of grace and mercy at
Calvary – a mountain of unmerited mercy and grace for the chosen of God. It was
foreshadowed by the interdicted sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham in the same
mountain range as that of Calvary. These smaller mountains of God's grace are
like small foothills of promise that rise in growing measure toward the heights
of Everest which is the true Calvary.
The sacrifice of Christ
was the consummation of all of God's prophecies of redemption, salvation, and
atonement. It was the final act that opened the floodgates of mercy and the
fountain of eternal life for all who are those of faith. There was nothing
reasonable about the sacrifice of Christ. He came to shed His life's blood for
those who were at enmity with Him and His Father. As our fathers climbed each
successive mountain of grace and prophecy, their perspective prevented their
clear view of the ultimate mountain of greatest towering stature that loomed
beyond the crest of the last lesser mountain that foreshadowed Calvary. Mount
Moriah upon whose brow, Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac, precluded the full
view of that sacrificial fulfillment in Christ. As well was the fullness of the
Promise occluded from the view of Moses upon Mount Nebal. It was the faith
of Abraham, Moses, and others in the satisfaction of the benefits of salvation
that made the coming reality of the redemption an accomplished and known fact
centuries before its actual fulfillment.
As we begin our observance of Holy Week, it will be revealing to our souls if
we view the
significant events of the week in order of their occurrence:
The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the Lord's
Day. On the next day much people that
were come to the feast, when they heard that
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, (John 12:12) This was the day that the Passover
Lamb was to be set aside and kept for its sacrifice on the eve of Passover.
Truly, Christ coming into Jerusalem to be kept until the 14th Nisan was the full picture of our
Passover in Christ. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a
new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for
us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth. (1 Cor 5:7-8) The
unleavened bread with which we observe the Passover represents the truth and
sincerity of Christ our Passover.
It is noteworthy of the fickle and wicked nature of man that the same people
who were shouting Hosanna at the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem were the same
who would be shouting for His crucifixion less four days later.
On the next day much people that were come to
the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of
palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a
young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold,
thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt (John 12:12-15)
Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to express His humility. He had
travelled to Bethlehem on a donkey at the beginning of His life. At the close
of His life, He again rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people cast palm
branches before Him shouting "Hosanna" a word of Hebrew origin Ho -
see us, Yasha- na (save). This is why we refer to the day as Palm Sunday. It is
the day that we, like Christ, begin our observance of Holy Week in preparation
for our Passover in Christ. (Explain Passover: Exodus 12)
The Jewish rulers were enraged at the honor the people showed to Christ. They
could have been part of the celebration, but chose to be part of the gloom and
hate. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye
prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. They conceived in
their hearts to destroy the source of their anguish. The devil, like
governments, can tolerate no opposition.
Jesus would observe the Passover meal the night of His taking by the
Jews in the Garden at Gethsemane. He would serve the meal to Judas, and the
disciples, knowing beforehand that the disciples would flee from Him once the
tables were turned against Him, and Judas would betray Him with a `kiss.' As
Mary had anticipated His coming Passion (unwittingly), and bath the feet of
Christ with ointment, Christ will now signal that act of humility by bathing
the feet of His disciples at the Passover meal.
On the eve before His crucifixion, the Lord went into the Garden at
Gethsemane to pray. He took His three closest disci0ples, Peter, James, and
John, who could not keep awake even in the last moments of the life of Christ.
We, too, cannot keep our attention on the Word even during the sermon most
frequently. How vain and fickle are we.
When the Jewish soldiers came to take Jesus captive in the Garden, His identity
was pointed out by Judas who went to Christ and kissed His cheek, thus
betraying the Lord of glory with a kiss. And while he yet spake, behold a
multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them,
and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48 But Jesus said unto him, Judas,
betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? (Luke 22:47-48)
That was a betrayal of eternal repercussions for Judas, and for us. Judas
then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and
Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. John
18:3
The courageous Peter drew
a sword and severed the ear of one of the guards. He had much courage in the
presence of Christ, yet, when separated from Christ in the Garden, that same
Peter denied Christ shamefully three times in the night.
Christ (the true High Priest) was taken to the Jewish High Priest where He was
mocked, beaten
and ridiculed. He was blasphemed and the Sanhedrin presumed to interrogate the
Son of God. Having falsely accused Him, they led Him to Pilate the Roman
Proconsul. Herod would be considered a pretty good Democrat or Republican today
– he was quite politically correct. He found no fault in Christ, but wished to
pass the buck by sending Jesus to Herod who also mocked Christ and tried to
humiliate Him. He then returned Jesus to Pilate. King Herod and the Proconsul
had previously been bitter enemies, but in their mutual estrangement to Christ,
they became friends at this time.
The devil's children are
united in their opposition to God always. To be honest, even the Gentile,
Pontius Pilate did attempt to set Jesus free, but the moment he attempted to do
this, the Jews raged against him and threatened him with a charge against his
allegiance to Caesar.
Pilate, after an
established tradition of setting one prisoner free at Passover, decided to
offer up Christ as the man to be set free. The Jewish rulers would hear none of
this. They demanded, instead that Barabbas, a depraved murderer, be set free
instead. Let me tell you here and now, that Barabbas represented each one of
us. Because of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension, we all, who were
offenders against God and man, have been set free.
Please note this political decision of poor and
cowardly Pilate: And Pilate, when he had called together the chief
priests and the rulers and the people, 14 Said unto them, Ye have brought this
man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined
him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof
ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing
worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release
him. (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) And they
cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us
Barabbas: (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was
cast into prison.) Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to
them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them
the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in
him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with
loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and
of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as
they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was
cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will. (Luke 23:13-25)
Pilate should run for President of the United States since his politics so
corruptly match those of our recent administrations.
So Christ was beaten with many stripes, tortured and delivered up for
crucifixion – a crown of thorns on His head to ridicule His claim to be the Son
of God. He was cast without the gate of Jerusalem as the Son of the Owner of
the Vineyard. Along the Via Dolorosa, He carried His heavy cross – the cross
intended for you and me. He was driven all the way to Golgotha on Calvary's
brow and crucified between to criminals. The events of that day will await further
revelation in next week's sermon for Easter.
Are you ready to partake of the Communion of the
Lord's Table?
Roy Morales-Kuhn,
Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC
parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the Diocese of the
MidAmerica. Roy’s sermons are well
done and easy to understand. You
always get something good out of them.
Today is no exception.
Palm
Sunday - 13 April 2014
Thy King cometh...having salvation
Ps 22 - O.T. Lesson;
Zech 9:9-12 - N.T. Lesson; Mark 11:1-11
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter
of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he
is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt
the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from
Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto
the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river
even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy
prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I
declare that I will render double unto thee; (Zech 9:9-12)
In this prophecy from Zechariah we find an interesting conundrum. A
greatly anticipated King, one who is coming to Jerusalem to rule Zion, and yet
he is riding on a colt of a donkey. Interesting in that a colt is not trained
and may possibly show the rider an unsteady journey. The King is not coming on
a great white stallion or in a stately chariot, no he is coming upon the
lowest, least regal of all beasts of burden. A donkey. And yet in this most
humble state as he enters the capital, he still has the power to depose the
mighty, reach out to those who need him and rule over the whole earth.
So the conundrum or paradox is a humble entry to a majestic finale. He
will rule, he will conquer all those who oppose him, he will offer peace to
all...even unto the heathen. None
of this matches our understanding of rule. We, like the Jews, are looking for a
majestic ruler. But as we read in the prophetic psalm 22, ‘...he is a worm, the
lowest creature...’ Everything
defies our understanding of what God is doing. In great humility, Jesus comes
to save his own, he comes as a helpless baby, grows up an obedient son,
respecter of Jewish tradition concerning social understanding. His ministry does
not begin until Jesus is considered an elder by the standards of the Jewish
custom. At age 30, Jesus starts his earthly ministry.
How does Zechariah tie up this Messianic prophecy ? The last two verses
help to explain to those of that time that their exile as prisoners of Babylon,
Greece, Rome and in a spiritual sense, a separation from God, is now over. First by the blood of the original
covenant made by God with Abraham, which will be satisfied by the shedding of
the blood of the unblemished Lamb of God. Then by taking these prisoners out of
the pit (a type or shadow of death) and giving them the hope created by the
stronghold of God, Zechariah then points out the double blessing given to them
being saved.
Double portions are depicted as being above and beyond the expect or
traditional. “Not only will you be blessed, you will be doubly blessed”. Now to look at the New Testament record
of this prophecy being fulfilled.
1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto
Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his
disciples,
2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the
village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a
colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.
3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this?
say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.
4 And they went their way, and found the colt
tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
5 And certain of them that stood there said unto
them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had
commanded: and they let them go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast
their garments on him; and he sat upon him. (Mark 11:1-7)
The King of kings and Lord of lords was a
borrower. Think about it. The Lord had to borrow a mount to ride into his city.
He will later borrow a room to serve the Last Supper. He had borrowed a boat
several times for transportation and once as a waterborne pulpit. He will at
the last be buried in a borrowed tomb. The King comes to us in a most humble
manner. There are so many levels of symbolism here in these seven verses. ‘...found the colt tied by the door
without in a place where two ways met...’
The two disciples found the colt at a crossroads. Did this symbolize the
right way and the wrong way ? Just an interesting point one may consider. He is
not coming at this time, as a majestic conqueror, no he comes riding on an
untrained colt of a donkey. A colt which had never been ridden. The idea that
the untrained colt may not let Christ ride in safety or possible create a
problem that would make the Lord look foolish and yet Jesus took that risk..
Jesus did not have a fancy saddle or way to ride on the donkey colt in comfort.
They put garments on the colt. Nothing fancy, just cloaks from those who
followed Jesus. He was most humble.
8 And
many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the
trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And they that went before, and they that
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David,
that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. (Mark 11:8-10)
Even as Christ came in such a humble manner,
the people reacted to his presence as if they were welcoming the King of kings.
The reputation of Christ, having preceded his arrival in Jerusalem, is
what most likely caused the people to welcome him as King. Now as we know in hindsight, the people
did not understand why Jesus came to Jerusalem at this time of the year.
Passover, having been observed for hundreds of years, was now going to be
fulfilled once and for all. The great Pascal Lamb, the spotless, sinless, Lamb
of God, was coming to Jerusalem to be offered as the Sacrifice that would cover
the sins of the world. The crowds were looking to the establishment of an
earthly kingdom. The end of brutal oppression by the Romans, the end of
poverty, want, hunger, and all things that were bad in the time that Jesus was
on earth. Two different concepts
were about to collide. In less than a week, these very people, who now are
praising Jesus, saying Hosanna, blessing him in the name of the Lord, would be
cursing him. They would be calling for his death. They would condemn Christ and
scream for him to be crucified.
What a fickle people. But we really
shouldn’t condemn them or look down on them too much, for we do the same thing.
We are willing to follow Jesus when things are going well. But we get angry at
God when things seem to not be going our way. We have to bear in mind that as a
redeemed people we must always pray that we be led into the way of light. We
must seek to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.
11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the
temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the
eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. (Mark 11:11)
This last verse is interesting in how it sums up the very busy day.
After all the crowds and the accolades, Jesus goes into the temple. He looks
around at every thing, taking a mental note of the situation and then because
it is getting late he leaves. He goes to Bethany to a friends house to spend
the night taking his twelve disciples with him. How very ordinary. Here after
what would turn the head of an ordinary person, all the celebration and
cheering, Jesus goes on to an ordinary function. End of the day, time for
supper and then get some much needed rest. He is with friends, he is at a
friend’s house.
What struck me about this was how calm Jesus was. In less than a week
he is going to be abandoned by all of these friends, he is going to be beaten,
whipped with a leather whip tipped with metal shards. He is going to be abused,
his beard ripped out by the roots, a crown of heavy thorns pounded upon his
head. He will be mocked, spat upon, ridiculed and eventually executed in a most
cruel way. He will be crucified.
And the most amazing aspect of this, he will do this willingly. He will
stay in Jerusalem and face this most horrible death because he came to do his
Father’s will. “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Let us spend this week reflecting on that great passion, the great
sacrifice that God did in giving his Son Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the
Cross for our redemption; who made there a full, perfect, and sufficient
sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.
Let us pray:
T
|
he Lord hear thee in
the day of trouble, we will rejoice in thy salvation, save, Lord, and hear us,
O King of heaven, when we call upon thee. In particular, we implore thy grace
and protection for the ensuing week. Keep us temperate in all things, and
diligent in our several callings. Gran us patience, under our affliction. Give
us grace to be just and upright in all our dealings; quiet and peaceable; full
of compassion; and ready to do good to all men, according to our abilities and
opportunities. Direct us in all our ways. Defend us from all dangers and
adversities; and be graciously pleased to take us, and all who are dear to us,
under thy fatherly care and protection. These things, and whatever else thou
shalt see to be necessary and convenient to us, we humbly beg, through the
merits and mediation of thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen
✟
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant
speaker. He is able to take
biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me. Oft he provides the text of his sermons
and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
Why
Christ Died
Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 27:1-54
Palm Sunday
April 13, 2014
Why did Christ die? Our reading form the Gospel of Matthew is the
account of the crucifixion of Christ. It is not a pretty scene. It
is a scene of intense suffering and death. And we are accustomed to
hearing Christ died for us. But just what did we need that was so
important Christ was willing to come down from Heaven and be tortured to death
to accomplish? Why did Christ die? That’s what I want to talk about
this morning
Christ died as an example for you and me. In the Collect for today we
asked God to mercifully grant that we may follow Christ’s example, and Jesus
Himself said He has given us an example (Jn. 13:15). His example is the
life of Godliness. I wonder if we are really serious about Godliness
anymore. I wonder if we really want what Paul, in Philippians called “the
mind of Christ.” It seems to me that the modern Christian is more
concerned about what Christ can do to enhance his self-esteem and give him warm
fuzzy feelings than he is about Godliness. I wonder, do you long for
Godliness? Do you have Godliness as the goal of your life? Can you say it
is your intent to be able to say with Paul, “for me to live is Christ?”
And let us notice something about the Godliness of Christ. It
did not consist of ecstatic experiences. We do not read of Him
speaking in tongues, dancing, jumping up and down or waving His hands around in
worship. We do not read about Him seeking warm fuzzy feelings about
God. We see Him as a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We
see in Him a life of prayer. We see in Him a life of worship, meaning the
staid old worship of the liturgy of the Jewish Book of Prayer called the Sidur,
which is very much like our Anglican Book of Common Prayer because the Sidur
was the foundation of Christian worship.
And we see in Christ a dedication to duty. Christ, God the Son,
did His duty to God the Father, regardless of the cost. What would you
say is the greatest problem of the modern, Western Church? I think it is
that we want all the benefits of being Christians, without any of the cost of
being Christians. We want peace with God but we don’t want
Godliness. We want to go to Heaven but we don’t want to be Heavenly
minded. We want God to pamper us like spoiled children rather than suffer
hardship as good soldiers of the cross. In short, we don’t want to pay
the price of becoming and being Godly people. But Christ gave us an
example of Godliness that paid the price. He gave us an example of
Godliness even unto death. Christ gave us an example of obedience to
duty, even unto death. We need to pay attention to and emulate His
example today.
Christ also died as the sacrifice for our sins. He died as our
substitute. We remember how the Pharisees shouted “Give us
Barabbas.” We remember that Pilate set Barabbas free and crucified
Christ. That means Christ died on Barabbas’ cross. He died on your
cross, too. He died in your place. On the cross He suffered your
separation from God. He died your death. He suffered your
hell. And instead of separation from God He gives His Spirit to live
within you. Instead of death He gives you everlasting life. Instead
of hell He gives you Heaven.
I hope you see that I am not talking about academic theories that
apply only to seminary students. I am talking about the most important
things of life and eternity. I am talking about you and what your
eternity will be like. And I want to close with this. Jesus died
for you. Before God laid the foundations of the world; in that great,
timeless eternity when there was only God, He knew you, and He set His heart
upon you. He saw your troubles and sorrows, and He saw the dangers of you
living in eternity without Him, and He marked you as His own. It is as
though He said, “I’m going to heal your broken heart. I’m going to redeem
you out of all your troubles. I am going to give you joy and peace like
you could never imagine, and you are going to live with Me in My everlasting
love forever. I am going to give you a foretaste of that while you live
on earth. Yes, your earthly life will have its share of sorrows.
That is the nature of living in a fallen world with fallen people, and of being
a fallen creature yourself. But in that fallen world, in the midst of
your troubles, in the very presence of your enemies, I will prepare a table, a
feast for you. My mercies will be upon you. You will dwell in My
grace. And I will be with you working in ways you will not even see,
making all things work together for your good. And when your life in that
valley of the shadow of death is over, I will bring you into My presence.
All the sorrows of earth will be as nothing compared to the joy and wholeness I
will give you there. And you will know that this is true, because I will
die to accomplish it for you. So have faith, little children. Trust in
Me. I can and will do this for you.
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
Sermon - Rev Rick Reid
We are happy to have a
sermon from Reverend Rick Reid, minister of Saint Peter’s, whose congregation
is right at the Worldwide Headquarters of the Anglican Orthodox Church.
Holy Week
Today is Palm
Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week which is the last week of Lent. We
follow Jesus from Palm Sunday, to his death on Good Friday, in preparation for
his rising from the dead on Easter Sunday. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the events that take place in one of
the greatest weeks in the History of Christianity.
We start today with: Palm Sunday.
Accompanied by his disciples, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, while crowds
of people covered the streets ahead of him with their cloaks and with palm
branches, shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He comes in the
name of the Lord.” Hosanna in the Highest. This was in fulfillment of the
prophecy foretold by Zechariah: 9Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King
cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an
ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Then comes Monday: Jesus chased the
money-changers out of the Temple. As we read in St. John’s Gospel the second
chapter, verses: 13-16. 13And the Jews' Passover was
at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And found in the
temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money
sitting: 15And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he
drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out
the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16And said unto them that sold
doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of
merchandise.
On Tuesday Jesus and the Pharisees have another
confrontation in the Temple, and the Pharisees plot to kill Him. Jesus then
left the temple and went to the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.
This is where He delivers the Mount of Olives Discourse also called the Olivet
Discourse. Here Jesus talked about the destruction of
the temple and the future of Israel.
Wednesday: Jesus was in Bethany at the home of
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Judas had gone to the Sanhedrin and offered to lead
them to Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver.
Thursday: After washing
the feet of the disciples, Jesus celebrated Passover, and instituted the
Sacrament of Holy Communion. We refer to this day as Maundy Thursday.The word Maundy
is derived from Middle English and the Old French word mandé, and from
the Latin mandatum, the first word of the Latin phrase: "Mandatum
novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos”, which means in Latin,
A new commandment I give unto you, the statement by Jesus from St.
John’s Gospel (Chapter 13: verse 34), by which Jesus explained to the Apostles the significance of his action of
washing their feet. 34 A
new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also
love one another. Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray
where he was arrested by the
Temple guards and taken to an illegal, night session of the Jewish court, the
Sanhedrin.
This brings us to Good Friday: The Sanhedrin could not
condemn a man to death; only the Roman governor could this, so they sent Jesus
to Pilate. Pontius Pilate was reluctant to pass sentence on Jesus and sent him
to Herod, who ruled Galilee, Jesus' home territory. Jesus would hardly speak to
Herod, who got so frustrated, that he sent Jesus back to Pilate. The Jewish
authorities and the people demanded that Jesus be crucified, so Pilot washed
his hands of the matter and agreed to crucify Jesus. Roman soldiers took him to Golgotha, the place of
the skull, where he was crucified.
The Good Friday service is a somber observance of Jesus’
crucifixion and death. Good Friday is a day of contrition, repentance and
reflection. It is not a day of celebration, but a day of mourning, for the
death of Jesus and for the sins of a world that required His death.
Saturday:
Jesus rested in the tomb while his disciples observed the Sabbath.
On this Palm Sunday, let us all examine our own
faithfulness to Christ. Do we cheer Him in, then turn our backs on Him? Or are we prepared to stay with Our
Lord in Jerusalem as the atmosphere changes towards Him? Do we dare to stand by Him as He faces
constant conflict with the religious leaders? Do we love Him enough to want to wash His weary feet? Do we
stay with Him in prayer in the Garden and not fall asleep? Are our bodies and
souls drained as He dies on the Cross?
This is what it really means when we cry “Hosanna
to the Son of David: Blessed is He comes in the name of the Lord”
When we reflect on Palm Sunday our faithfulness as
we look ahead to this Holy Week, we must examine what it means for us to be
holy, set aside, and faithful to our Lord.
It is easy to claim to strive towards holiness
when everything seems to be going well; but of the time of trials and
tribulations? When we have to suffer endlessly whether through physical or
spiritual pain, especially if it is inflicted on us by others, what then?
When God seems far removed from us and all is dark
and despondent, what then?
When life seems empty and aimless, what then?
Has our faith rooted itself deeply enough to help
us cope with these situations, so that they do not control us? Can we see such
situations as growing times in holiness, or better still more Christ-like? Or
are we angry or worse yet, despondent? Let’s all use this week as a time to
grow in faithfulness to Christ. May we all praise God with sincerity and in the
knowledge that before we worship the Risen Lord on Easter morning, we must be
on our knees praying and thinking about those agonizing moments in Gethsemane,
our feet must tread along the streets of Jerusalem, and our souls experience
the anguish and grief that the Christ suffered on the cross. Will you trust in
the Lord and allow Jesus to die for you, so that you may live for
Him? Lord, I pray, give us the
courage to follow your son all the way to Calvary. Amen.
Rev Bryan Dabney of Saint John’s Sunday
Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Palm Sunday
In our gospel (St. Mark 11) for today we learned that our Lord entered
the city of Jerusalem fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah (9:9):
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an
ass.
Now such a description hardly reflects the image of a kingly personage
of the ancient world because they, for the most part, rode about on horses. But
consider also Zechariah 14:1-21. The prophet was given to speak again of the
Messiah but in a much different fashion. He speaks of him coming with power and
great glory to rescue Jerusalem and Judah from the nations which have been
gathered together to destroy her. Specifically look at verse 9:
And the LORD shall be king over all the
earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Thus he who came in humility to bring us the gift of salvation
(Zechariah 9), will return in glory to triumph over the forces of darkness and
usher in his kingdom (Zechariah 14).
These and other passages regarding the Messiah were given to the
writers of Scripture by the Holy Ghost. The gospel accounts contain the very
words of our Lord wherein he revealed to the disciples that he must suffer, die
and rise to life again, and afterward, to ascend to the very presence of the
Father until he returns. Every time we recite the words of the Apostles’ or
Nicene Creeds, we are proclaiming these important tenets of our faith.
Jesus Christ came to proclaim the good news of salvation; and agreeable
to Scripture, he came first as a lowly and humble teacher. He came to satisfy
that pressing need of humanity for a Saviour: one who would shed his blood on
behalf of his elect so that they might have life eternal with the Godhead. The
carnal and the uninformed have even questioned the necessity of his death. We
might answer such a query by stating that when Adam and Eve sinned against God
they brought death into this world, and ever after, their descendants would
bear the infection of original sin. There is nothing human beings can do to
save themselves from this hereditary disease. Self-justification cannot wipe us
clean, nor could we offer to God anything approximating the value of our lives (Psalm 49:7-8).
Original sin made it necessary for God to enter his creation and take
upon himself as the second person of the Trinity the sins of the whole world.
As the St. John wrote in his gospel account (1:14) And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of
the Father), full of grace and truth. He had to experience life as a mortal and
yet remain sinless. As St. Paul penned in Hebrews (4:15) For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. To co-opt pagan
Caesar’s quote: Christ came, Christ saw, and Christ conquered.
Consider Isaiah 9:6-7: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince
of Peace. Of the increase of his government there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD
of hosts will perform this.
Nevertheless, the skeptic and the critic will continue to smirk in
denial when they hear those verses. They cannot accept the King of Glory
because they have not faith. The words of Scripture may reach their hearts, but
the devil comes and snatches away their understanding of it preventing them
from accepting our Lord Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace.
Their foolish hearts have been darkened, and a veil has descended over their
eyes. Thus they have been blinded by the god of this world to the truth of
God’s word written (II Corinthians 4:4).
We Christians know who our Lord is: he is the Christ, the Son of one,
true and living God, who completed his work of redemption and has ascended into
heaven where even now he is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding
for us until he comes again. While many Jews in our Lord’s day accepted him as
the Messiah, most did not. And such has been true for people the world over in
the years following his ascension. Before every people, kindred and tongue,
God, through his witnesses, has set forth his words of life via the gospel of
our Lord, for he is that one way, one truth and one life in whose name and
under whose blood all who truly believe can find redemption from sin and death.
The Scriptures tell us of Christ’s first coming, and of that day in the
future when God will send him back to the earth. And when he comes again, he
will be riding a fine white horse as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. St. John
in the Book of Revelation (19:11-21) was given just such a vision. No more will
he ride a humble donkey. No more will he come in humility and seeking to save
the lost. He will come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead
whose kingdom shall have no end (The Nicene Creed). He will come with great
signs and wonders in the heavens and with a mighty host of his angels and saints.
The question is: Will you be ready? Are you watching for his coming?
Have you prepared your heart to receive him? Will you run to him when comes, or
will you run away from him? We know that he will come to collect his church,
but that day and hour has not been given to us. Until then, we must be content
to know the times and the seasons. The devil and his minions will tell us that
we have plenty of time to make up our minds about salvation, but such is a
false choice. We should ever keep our hearts turned toward God and on watch for
his imminent return. Keep your lamps trimmed and have extra oil so as not be
caught unawares when the Bridegroom cometh to lead us to his marriage feast. We
have not been called to wrath, but to salvation. Christ has promised us that he
will come again for us and so it is our duty to work in his harvest until he
calls us home; and so, in the words of an old hymn, “work for the night is
coming when man shall work no more” for Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.
Let us pray:
O
|
most holy God, who hast made provision for us unworthy sinners through the
meritorious life, death, resurrection of thine only begotten Son; empower our
witness to those who are mired in sin that they might learn of him and be
saved; and this we ask in the name of him who is the King of kings and Lord of
lords, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
Speaking of questions, what is Holy Week? Some kind of Roman thing?
Not Roman at all, Christian. In fact, the Romans have abandoned or
ignored much of the week. The term
covers Palm Sunday through Easter.
Holy
Week
The Sunday next before Easter is
commonly referred to as Palm Sunday.
The period between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is often referred to as
Holy Week. Most churchgoing people
go to church on Palm Sunday, then to church on Easter Sunday. It’s a fairly
uplifting time with not a lot of thinking. On Palm Sunday Jesus makes his
triumphant entry into Jerusalem. On Easter Sunday there’s the joyous
resurrection. What’s not to like about that?
The thing is, there is a
tremendous amount that goes on between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, not all
of it joyous, in fact most of it is pretty scary or sad. The beginning of the week was
wonderful; in the end the week was even more wonderful. In between was a series of ups and
downs the ups a little high and the downs very very deep. It is important to
remember as you go through Holy Week that Jesus was in control of all the
events of the week. 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, the ups a little high and the downs very very deep, deep as Hell you
might say, 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, not once but three times
before the cock crew; 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.
It is important to remember as
you go through Holy Week that Jesus was in control of all the events of the
week.
What a week!
Palm Sunday
The name Palm Sunday comes from
the palm leaves, along with clothing and other honors strewn along Jesus’ path
as He came in to Jerusalem the first day of the week before His crucifixion. Of interest, only Jesus knew of the
upcoming crucifixion, every one else, including Jews, Romans and the
Christians, thought he was making a triumphant entrance in to the city to take
control of things and kick the Roman occupation force out. The moon was almost
full, this was the year of the Messiah according to Daniel. Jesus chose the route into the city,
through the King’s Gate. The
people saw Him coming and met him at the Mount of Olives. They expected Him to come in and
proclaim His rule. And that He
did, but not in the way the people were looking for. Those who thought of Him as Lord looked
for a Kingdom of this World to be established. Sunday was a day of triumph and
fulfilled the anticipation of the Jews of a day for which they had waited four
centuries. The Messiah had finally
come, at the time predicted by scripture.
They were certain that He would free them from the burdensome and cruel
yoke of Roman rule. The Jews would
finally be on top of the power pyramid.
They would rule the world under Him! Yet, that was not to be. The day in the temple!
Holy Cow! Here their savior
was throwing people out of the temple, not throwing the Romans out of
Jerusalem. They were sad to learn
He came not to rule this world, for that time was not yet come; He came to give
them the key to eternal salvation.
He came to take them from this veil of tears to a state of perfect
freedom. They wanted someone to
throw the Romans out and all God sent them was the key to eternal life. What a disappointment!
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. As Paul tells us in his First
Letter to the Corinthians, “…the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was
betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take,
eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This
cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do
shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
At this same dinner, the
disciples manage to quarrel over who should be the boss of who. Jesus tells them he came in the role of
a servant, as He is their master, their role is likewise that of servants. In a move designed to reveal both His
knowledge aforehand and our frailty, He tells Peter that Peter will deny Him
thrice fore the cock croweth, or dawn breaks. Peter, a loyal follower, denies what will be shown as clear
fact. Remember the further you let
yourself get from the Lord, the weaker you are. Weakness grows with the cube of the distance. Stay close.
As the dinner goes on, Jesus
tells them one of them will betray Him.
Not able to grasp that any of them would literally betray Him, each
asks, “Is it I?” Judas knows.
Jesus tells the disciples things
are heating up, counsels them to arm themselves and goes out to pray in the
garden of Gethsemane. Disciples
come with Him, despite their best efforts, they fall asleep. Night has long fallen, the end of the
day is near by our reckoning. The
end is near for Jesus here on earth.
Even nearer for Judas.
Good
Friday
Good Friday was the day in which
Jesus was tried by the Jews, tried by Pilate, condemned, crucified, died and
was buried[2]. 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 new tomb donated by Joseph of
Arimethea. This is the first day of death.
Holy Saturday
The Jewish Council remembers his
vow to return and has the tomb guarded and sealed with a heavy stone. His
followers stay in the “Easter Vigil”. Second day of death.
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.
[1]
It was said that I
looked sad in this picture. I did,
while this sermon is good, I think anyway, it is not what I preached
today. I talked about the week
that was, Holy Week, the events and consequences, for us today and for those of
that day. I will try to develop it
and write it down for next year.
Suffice it for now to read the article on Holy Week and consider those
who welcomed Jesus in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday condemned Him to death on
Good Friday. Consider also what
people miss who come to church only on Palm Sunday and Easter, or even just
Easter. From triumph to triumph
with no understanding of what all this really involves. I beseech you to read about Holy Week.
[2]
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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