The wedding robe

Matthew 22 1-14

Introduction
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet, as we find it in Matthew’s Gospel, is packed full of meaning. It teaches us many things about our acceptance or rejection of the truth found in Jesus Christ. This parable is in fact two parables. The first one refers to the rejection by God’s people of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. One result of this rejection was the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. (In the parable the King sends out troops to destroy the town of the evil doers.) A second result of this rejection is that the Gentiles, the outsiders, are invited insead. And they respond in great numbers.

The second parable is tacked on this first parable. It is about a man who came to the Kings banquet wearing the wrong clothes. it’s this second parable we shall be looking at today.

‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man was speechless.
(Matthew 22:11-12)

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The deeper meaning of the parable

At first sight it all seems terribly unfair to us. This man who had come to the banquet apparently was turned out from the feast simply because he was wearing the wrong clothes. Surely this can never be right! Of course no t – there is a much deeper meaning to this parable here.

I wonder if there is anyone here who has ever been invited to Buckingham Palace to be presented to the Queen, either for an award or to attend a garden party in recognition of service to the community. Over the years I have met a number of people who have been summoned to Buckingham Palace in that way. No one that I know of has ever refused such an invitation. It always involves a great deal of discussion about what to wear, and perhaps spending a bit of money on getting some clothes suitable for the occasion.

Now the man in the parable had turned up to the King’s banquet in clothes which were totally unsuitable for the occasion. He was just wearing his everyday clothes and he failed to do honour to the King. This man was indifferent to the King. It is as though he were saying, “You will have to just take me as I am. I haven’t got time for this sort of thing. I’m here, am I not?” This attitude would have been completely disrespectful. He had no notion of the honour conferred upon him, or the efforts that would be taken for his enjoyment. In the parable he is reprimanded severely and kicked out.

Now we have to be careful that we do not interpret this parable literally, as though it is all about what we wear when we come to church. That is not what the parable is about. The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be a fashion parade (although there have been times in the life of the Church where it has been so). Nowadays we do not tend to dress up so much when we come to come to church. We wear clothes which are respectable but not showy. Over the years fashions have changed. For most people today their best clothes are the smart-casual ones. And when they appear in church in these clothes they mean no disrespect to God at all. No true Christian person would want to turn away people from worship because of what they are wearing. We would rather see people come to church in their ordinary clothes to sincerely worship God, then come all dressed up simply to show off. So we don’t dress up to come to church, we just see that we look respectable.

No, this Parable is not about what we should be wearing when we come to worship God. It is not about our outward coverings – it is about our inner attitudes. We should worship God in the right spirit. Listen to what Paul says:

As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

(Colossians 3:12)

Paul says we are to clothe ourselves inwardly with the right attitude. This is far more important than outward garments.

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Coming to worship God

When we come to God’s house to worship him (and especially when we come to the Communion Table) we need to examine ourselves, to see whether we are coming to God’s banquet wearing the right clothing inwardly. I am sure some people just turn up on Sunday without really preparing themselves to worship, without seeking to repent of their sins, without coming in humility and wanting to worship God. But when we come to worship God (and especially when we come to the Communion Table) we need to come with two particular inward garments, as it were: gratitude and humility.

Gratitude is the only proper response to the Gospel (and that’s why in some churches the Communion Service is known as the Eucharist – which is Greek for “Thanksgiving”).

And then there is humility. With this attitude we recognise our unworthiness, our sinfulness, our selfishness and our need for forgiveness. And so we humbly and gratefully come to worship God.

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The Robe of Righteousness

But who is worthy to come into God’s presence, and who is worthy to sit at the King’s Table? If any person thinks that their own righteousness grants from the right to come then they are wearing the wrong clothes. If any person puts their trust in their own goodness rather than God’s goodness then they must learn the lesson that

“all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 – King James Version )
It’s not a question of being worthy, it’s a question of accepting the invitation and receiving the Grace that God gives us.

As it says in the Presbyterian Service Book, with regard to the Lord’s Supper:
“Come to the Holy Table, not because you’re strong, but because you are weak.

Come, not because any goodness of your own give a right to come, but because you need mercy and help.

Come, not because you love the Lord enough, but because you want to love him more.”

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Apparently it was the custom in the East at the time of Jesus that if a guest were invited to a royal reception and for some reason or other did not have the appropriate clothes to wear, then the royal personage would provide the necessary robes for the occasion.

Something like this happened almost 65 years ago, at the time that Sir John Hunt and his team conquered Mount Everest. Tenzing Norgay the Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary were the two men to first stand on the peak of Everest. When the climbers returned to Kathmandu there was a flood of congratulatory telegrams, including an invitation for the team to attend Buckingham Palace. This caused a major crisis for Tenzing and for the rest of the team. Tenzing refused to go. He wasn’t going to Buckingham Palace. He had never even been out of Nepal before. He wasn’t used to high functions of this kind, and besides he didn’t have anything to wear, except his rough Sherpa clothes.

John Hunt and his party tried all they could to persuade Tenzing to change his mind, but they completely failed. On the other hand, there was no way they could think of accepting the Queen’s invitation without Tenzing, the first to reach the top of Everest. In desperation they sent a message to Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, asking him to intercede on their behalf with Tenzing. And so Nehru summoned Tenzing to Delhi and plainly told him that it would be an insult to the Queen and indeed an insult to his own Nepalese people, if he refused this royal invitation. And then he added: “I understand that clothes are your difficulty. I have anticipated that – come with me”.

And so he took Tenzing to his apartment. He said to him, “We’re about the same size. Put on these clothes.” And there was a complete outfit, in immaculate condition of the Prime Minister’s own clothes! So it was that Norgay Tenzing went to Buckingham Palace after all. He appeared before the Queen in the garments of the Prime Minister of India!

We have no garments of our own with which to appear before the King of Kings. But Christ has died on the cross to provide us with garments. He has provided for us a robe of righteousness and holiness that makes it possible for us to come before him. Our own good deeds and self-righteousness are worth nothing, but the goodness of Christ is a robe that we can wear.

What Jesus asks for is not any kind of elaborate ceremony or ritual, but a simple personal faith in him. It is a faith that believes that he’s able to do what we cannot do. A faith that believes in Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross. A faith that believes that Jesus can clothe us with his own righteousness. A faith that with a humble, grateful reliance on him alone goes out, is his strength alone, to do those things that are worthy of his name. All we have to do is say “yes” to his invitation.

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Conclusion

Well then, have we answered his invitation with a “yes”, or are we still finding other things to do and say is an excuse for staying away and missing out on the richest of all blessings – his daily presence in our hearts.

The man in the parable was speechless before the King when he was challenged about not having the right robe. Let us be careful that we do respond to the King with words of gratitude and appreciation for all that he has done for us.

(Sermon preached at the Brecon Presbyterian Church, based on an outline prepared by the late Rev. R. B. Owen, Prestatyn.)

The words of institution

A Communion Address 

1 Corinthians 11 23-26,  John 13 21 30

Introduction

Many pictures have been painted of the Last Supper. For example: the famous one by Leonardo. These paintings are founded on the Gospel accounts of that meal, along with the imagination of the artist. We also must use our imagination, to some extent, when we think of that night when Jesus instituted of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The various branches of the Christian church have produced their own versions of the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist, to accommodate the practicalities of church worship in different circumstances. Very often the Communion service as we celebrate it today it’s very different from that simple meal Jesus had with his disciples in the Upper Room. None the less the meaning which is conveyed in the Sacrament is the same.

The disciples never forgot that moment when Jesus took the bread and wine.It was a significant moment for them and they celebrated it every Lord’s Day.

In his first Letter to the Corinthians, Paul has to correct some wrong practices which had crept into the worship of the Christians in that town. They were coming to the Lord’s Table in the wrong spirit. Paul gives a clear account of how the Lord’s Supper was instituted and in doing so sets the pattern that we use today: the words that we know as the Words of Institution. Let us meditate now on four words suggested to us by this passage: betrayal, trust, sacrifice, proclamation.

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1) Betrayal
“On the night on which he was betrayed …”
What a start! It certainly sets the scene for us. Jesus and his disciples are gathered around the table in semi-darkness – just a few oil lamps scattered around, so they could see what they were doing. Jesus is troubled in spirit and he says with great emotion, “I tell you the truth – one of you is going to betray me.”

In his famous painting, Leonardo da Vinci depicts this moment – when Jesus tells his Disciples that one of them will betray him.

The Disciples are astonished. Staring in amazement they ask, “Is it I?”
Simon Peter signals to John, who is reclining close to Jesus, to ask Jesus who it is that will betray him. Jesus quietly answers John, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”

Now this was an ancient Middle Eastern custom – that as a sign of love and friendship you would dip a morsel of bread in the common dish you were eating from and hand it to your honoured guest. Jesus hands the bread to Judas. Perhaps this is a last appeal to him – a most personal and moving gesture, as if to say, “Judas now is your chance. Are you going to a betray me?”

Judas takes the bread, and perhaps at that moment sees most clearly that Jesus’ purposes are not of this world. He accepts the bread but he rejects all that Jesus stands for. “Satan”, we read, “entered into him” at that moment. (John 13:27)

Jesus says, “What you are about to do, do quickly”. Surely it is with breaking heart he says this.
Judas goes out, and the next time he greets Jesus it will be with the traitor’s kiss.

John records, “And it was night”. He’s not just talking about the physical gloom. No, he’s commenting on the fact that Judas was in spiritual darkness. The hour of evil had come and Judas Iscariot went on his way to betray the Son of Man.

It is not possible for us to convey adequately the sense of evil which must have oppressed Jesus at that hour. But his disciples were not aware of it.
In his musical “Jerusalem Joy”, Roger Jones aptly captures their feelings with the song in which they all sing:
“Isn’t it wonderful feasting with Jesus. Isn’t it wonderful eating with Him
Isn’t it marvellous talking to Jesus. I really want to spend all day with Him .”

Jesus is oppressed with sorrow, but at this very moment he gives hope. At the darkest hour he Institutes the Sacrament of Salvation

Life can be so dark – suffocatingly dark sometimes. We cannot see where we are going. We can’t see any solution. In this darkness we must cling to Jesus.

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2) Trust

Jesus took bread and gave thanks – in the midst of darkness and terrible foreboding he still gave thanks to God. He you recited the Hebrew benediction over bread:

“Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, hamotzi lehem min ha’aretz.”
“Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.”

He trusts God his Father and he sees beyond the present darkness and the coming suffering. I don’t suppose he felt wonderful at this time – Jesus was going to need the strengthening of angels to face the experiences set before him. Here we see courage, faith and resolve, which will not be moved, shining in the darkness.

Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. (Hebrews 12:2)
Let us look beyond all present sufferings and trust in God’s love and faithfulness.

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3) Sacrifice

“This is my body which is broken for you…. This cup is the New Covenant in my blood … do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

These are very familiar words. To us they carry connotations of a very different world from ours. We’re talking about a world in which animals were brought for sacrifice to the Temple and offered up as burnt offerings. It was a world in which blood was poured out onto altars.

Jesus on another occasion said:
‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’ (John 6: 53)

His hearers would have understood that when animals were sacrificed in religious rituals some of the meat was burnt, and some was given to the people for them to cook and eat. The pagans thought that their god had entered into the sacrifice and that by eating the sacrificial meat they were becoming filled with divine power.

Of course the Jews didn’t quite understand sacrifices in that way, but they would have understood what Jesus meant. He was going to be made a sacrifice who would bring life and divine power to the world.

Man was searching for God seeking to find union with the Divine through various religious rituals and sacrifices. Jesus is declaring that he is the one who makes that union possible. The sacrifice that unites God and Man. The people realised that he was claiming divine power, and many stopped following him because they couldn’t believe that.

When we take the bread in Holy Communion, we remember Christ’s human body broken for us on the Christ. The wine symbolises for us his life-blood shed for us on the Cross. And so, by faith, when we receive the bread and wine we share in the spiritual life of the risen Jesus.

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4) Proclamation

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” These are words of victory!

The Lord’s Supper is an act of remembrance, yes, but not like a memorial stone that we might visit in a cemetery. On Communion Sundays we don’t just keep his memory alive. We do something more than that.
The Lord’s Supper is a Sacrament: we partake in faith and share in his life. But it’s even more than that:
The Lord’s Supper is a proclamation. For if he is to come again, then he must be alive now!

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Conclusion

So we come to the Table at his invitation, and with the upward look of faith we receive the help and strength we need to face the days ahead. Jesus faced the deepest darkness, and overcame.

“On the night on which he was betrayed, he took bread.”

“When I survey”: Good Friday meditation

 

Good Friday meditation at the Brecon Presbyterian Church

Mark 15:20-41

Introduction

Take a look at this cross. We are all looking a the same thing. We all see it illuminated by the same light. But we all view it from different angles.

“When I survey the wondrous cross” wrote Isaac Watts. And he saw in the Cross of Christ the greatest expression of love the world has ever seen. But not everyone sees it that way.

A s we “survey the wondrous Cross” we all view it through different “spectacles”.

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For some the view is blurred

This is because the spectacles are the wrong prescription. These people have never understood the Cross of Christ because no one has ever explained to them the significance of the death of Jesus. Their whole outlook on life is worldly and they never think of the Cross of Jesus at all. You see it on the faces of some people when they see us walking around the town, following a cross on Good Friday morning. You see a look of blank incomprehension.

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For some the view is hazy

This is because the glasses are fogged up or smeared with grease. I’m thinking about people who have been taught the Christian message. They know what the Cross of Jesus is all about, but they don’t view it properly because their minds are fogged with selfish desires or sinful lifestyles.

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For some the view is darkened

This is because they are wearing sunglasses. They view everything through the dark glasses of negativity. They can’t see the wonder of what God has done in Christ.
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And what about us?

We all tend to view the Cross of Christ from as different perspective – through different “spectacles”, as it were. Our individual view is conditioned by culture, prejudice, misleading impressions from our society and false teachings. So many people fail to realise what the cross of Jesus is all about.

On that first Good Friday the land was covered with darkness. Literal darkness, yes, but also symbolic – of the veil that was blinding eyes and clouding vision. Even those who loved Jesus – the women who so faithfully and bravely stood by the cross – even they could not see clearly through their tears. It was as if everyone at that scene, except Jesus, was wearing the wrong spectacles.
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Everyone looking at Jesus saw him in a different way:

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1) Some saw him as an enemy

The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’
They all condemned him as worthy of death.
(Mark 14:63-64)

The chief priests condemned Jesus as a blasphemer who was worthy of death. Their eyes were so blurred with prejudice and jealousy and hatred that they could not see that his claims were true and that he was indeed God’s Son.

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2) Some saw him as a suitable victim

‘What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked them.
‘Crucify him!’ they shouted.
‘Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’
(Mark 15:12-14)

We do not know what was the crowd’s motive in wanting Jesus dead. They had been incited by rabble-rousers. The chief priest had employed men to stir up the crowd. A mob it is a very dangerous thing – it can be swayed one way or another. Mass hysteria can lead people to do the most dreadful things and can lead to the grossest miscarriages of Justice. As we see here: reason, and even basic common sense, went out of the window.

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3) Some saw him as a threat to their position

Pilate is an example of this:

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
(Mark 15:15)

He released Barabbas and had Jesus flogged and condemned. What Pilate did was expedient in one sense. He was afraid of the Jewish religious leaders would get him into trouble with Caesar if he let Jesus go.

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4) Some saw him as a joke

The soldiers did:
Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
(Mark 15: 9-20)

They cruelly mocked him. Once again we wonder at the motive. What did Jesus ever done to harm them? Madness had come over the whole world. Their eyes were blinded – they could not see that he was a good man and a wise man. They treated him as a joke.

Increasingly, in television programmes and on the media, you see the figure of Jesus Christ being made a laughing stock and treated as a joke. They don’t do the same with Buddha or Muhammed – they wouldn’t dare – but Jesus Christ is fair game. All too often we stand by and say nothing.

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5) Some saw him as an object of pity

The women who stood by the cross and John the Apostle. They thought it was all over now. All their hopes were shattered: Jesus was dying. Their eyes were blinded with tears, they could not see clearly. They had forgotten his words about rising from the dead.

Into the midst of all this darkness there came a little glimmer of light. Amongst all these people who couldn’t see clearly there was one on whom the light was beginning to dawn.
6) One man saw him as the Son of God

The Roman centurion was the least likely person you would think who would recognise who Jesus was. This army officer had seen many crucifixions – he had been in charge of them. He had seen how most men died. And most of them were terrorists and murderers who deserved to die. They died with curses on their lips. But he had never seen anyone die in the way Jesus did.

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’
(Mark 15: 39)

“The Son of God” or “a son of God” or “a son of the gods”? We don’t exactly know what was going on in the mind of this pagan Roman. This man may have said more than he really understood, but what he said was true. The light begins to dawn on this man as he recognises Jesus as the Son of God.

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Conclusion

· To the crowd Jesus was a victim.

· To Pilate he was a threat.

· To the chief priests he was an enemy.

· To the soldiers he was a joke.

· To the women and men disciples he was their dying Lord.

· But to this centurion he was the Son of God.
When we realise this fact, we begin to see what a sacrifice Jesus made. We see how costly his death on the cross was. God sent his only Son into this sinful world so that we could be forgiven and put right with him.

“When I survey the wondrous Cross
on which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.”

The coming of Zion’s King

 

(Sermon preached on Palm Sunday 2016 at the Brecon Presbyterian Church)

Zechariah 9:9-10, Matthew 21:1-11

Introduction

Text:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
( Zechariah 9: 9)

These words are quoted by Matthew when he describes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Normally on this day we look at the accounts in the Gospels, but today we’re going to look at this passage from the Prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah was writing after the Exile, at a time when the Jews were under Persian rule. They had been permitted to return to their homeland and to the city of Jerusalem, but things were far from what they had been in earlier times. Some people wanted to look back nostalgically to the glories of King David and King Solomon. Others yearned for the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One. They believed God was going to send a Deliverer who would restore the glory of Jerusalem. This Messiah would extend his rule over the earth. He would defeat all his enemies and bring peace to the whole world. Most Jews saw him as a conquering hero, a military commander who would arrive seated on a mighty war horse with sword in hand.

It is true that Isaiah spoke of a Suffering Servant – a Messiah who would give his life for the nation – but most people took no notice of what he said. It was the conquering hero they looked for.

Now let us look at Zechariah’s words and see what kind of Messiah he is describing here.

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Daughter of Zion

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. See your king comes to you.

Zion was the name of the hill in Jerusalem which David captured from the Jebusites. He made it his capital, and later his son Solomon built the Temple there. “Zion” then, generally means the same as “Jerusalem”. It’s a more poetic way of saying “Jerusalem”.

But who is this “Daughter of Zion”, or “Daughter of Jerusalem”? Does it refer to a specific woman – for example: a queen in Jerusalem? No. What we have here is a poetic idiom often used in the Hebrew scriptures. The “Daughter of Zion” is a personification of the City of Jerusalem. The city and its inhabitants are represented as a woman. (We have the same thing. For example: “Britannia” on our coins – the personification of Great Britain as a woman.) So “Daughter of Jerusalem” simply means the city or the people of Jerusalem. The whole people – not just a female part of the population.

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The coming King

Rejoice O Jerusalem because “your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation.” He is the true King – “David’s greater Son”. He will rule with complete righteousness. Everything he will do will be right, and he will bring people into a right relationship with God. He will bring salvation or deliverance.

Most of the Jews at that time would have interpreted that in military terms. “He is going to save us from our enemies. He is going to deliver us. “ And they would probably imagine him riding on a mighty war horse with sword in hand. Or perhaps riding in a war chariot, surrounded by his men of arms. “He’s going to be a mighty conqueror”.

But hang on a minute – that’s not what Zechariah says! He doesn’t say “nobly riding upon a war horse”. No. What he actually says is, “gentle and riding on a donkey. On a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Not even a grown up donkey, but a young and untrained one!

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The Kingdom of Peace

The war horse is the symbol of military might and power. But the humble donkey is the symbol of peace. The one who rides such a beast will be a man of peace and his Kingdom will not be extended at the point of a sword.

And indeed Zechariah goes on to say – “I will take away the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.”
(“Ephraim” is the name of one of the northern tribes of Israel. It is used here as a poetic synonym for Israel.)
“I will take away the chariots, and the war horse, and the battle bow”. Or to put it in modern terms: “I’m not coming with the big battalions. I won’t have tanks or armoured vehicles. I won’t have guns, bombs or ground to air missiles. I’m coming in peace.”

“He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

The Israelites did not know that the world is shaped like a globe. They thought of it as a flat disc. The land was in the centre, taking up most of the space, with the Mediterranean Sea at the very centre of the land. Far off in the west was an ocean (which we know as the Atlantic ocean) and somewhere off to the east another ocean (which we call the Indian Ocean). So from “sea to sea” means “across the whole earth” And “from the River (that is the river Euphrates) to the ends of the earth” means the same. His kingdom of peace will be everywhere.

As we sing in the hymn:

Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun
doth his successive journeys run;
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.

(Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 72)

The Messiah is going to bring peace not just to the Jews but to all mankind. On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young, untrained donkey. The crowds rejoiced at his entry, waving palm branches and casting their garments before his path. This was how you welcomed a conquering hero in those days. (Today we would wave flags and banners and roll out the red carpet.)

The crowd welcomes Jesus as a conquering hero. But he himself is deliberately making sure that he fulfills the words Of Zechariah to the letter. He makes arrangements for the disciples to bring him a young donkey, and his followers are unarmed.

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Conclusion

Yes Jesus is the Messiah prophesied by Zechariah.

He comes in righteousness – to do the right thing and put people right in their hearts with God.

He comes with salvation – to triumph over our enemies. Those enemies are not the Babylonians, or the Persians, or the Greeks, or the Romans, or any other earthly enemies. The enemy he comes to defeat is the power of evil, and the Evil One himself. He triumphs over sin, over death and the grave. He comes to bring eternal life to all who trust in him.

He comes in humility and in peace – prepared to die on a cross of shame for our salvation.

He comes for all mankind, not just for the Jews – to spread the Good News of his Kingdom to the very ends of the earth.

The Gospel of Christ is a gospel of peace and when we truly believe that Gospel we become peace-makers ourselves. If only people would truly welcome Christ into their hearts. If they did peace would reign everywhere.

Barabbas

Barabbas played by Billy Zane

(Sermon Preached at the Brecon Presbyterian Church on Passion Sunday,

13th. March 2016)

Text: “Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:26)
Introduction

The greatest miscarriage of justice the world has ever seen was that a guilty man (a murderer and a rebel) should go free, and that an innocent man (the only totally innocent man the world has ever seen) should be nailed to a cross. But that is the world for you – it’s not a fair place.

For us as Christians, looking at the events of Good Friday from the perspective of what happened afterwards, we can see a wonderful picture of God’s providential purposes. We see the Innocent One dying so that the guilty ones might go free. This is the mystery at the heart of our gospel, and also at the heart of the Lord’s Supper.

For Pilate, the release of Barabbas and the death of Jesus was just a matter of expediency. He wanted to avoid a riot. But we can see it as all part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world.

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Who was Barabbas?

In some early manuscripts of the Gospels he is referred to as “Jesus Barabbas”. We don’t often think about this, but “Jesus” was quite a common name in those days. And it is indeed quite likely that Barabbas’ first name was Jesus.

“Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew “Yeshua” or “Yehoshua” – a name familiar to us in English in the Old Testament as Joshua. The name means “the Lord saves”.

As I said it was quite a common name, so it is quite likely that Barabbas was called Jesus. Jesus would have been his first name and Barabbas his surname. His name in Aramaic would have been “Yeshua Bar Abba” – “Jesus, son of a father”. Is it not ironic that he was called “the son of a father” while the one crucified in his place was the true Son of the Father.

But you might say what kind of name is that “ the son of a father”? Are we not all sons or daughters of fathers?  In Aramaic, the title Abba (Father) was often used as a term of respect for a Rabbi. (We can compare the use of the title Father for a Catholic priest.) So “Bar Abba” can mean “Rabbi’s son”.

So Barabbas would been the son of a Rabbi. He would have grown up in a godly home and have had every opportunity for spiritual development. But he obviously had rebelled against his upbringing and his father – for he went on to break the law of both man and God. He got involved in violent, radical politics and became a revolutionary and a terrorist against Roman rule. He joined the Zealots, many of whom were committed to overthrow Roman authority by violent means. Some of them made use of assassination and terrorist tactics to secure their aims. You could say they were the Isis or Al-Qaeda of their day. And Barabbas was one of them. He was a notorious criminal who had comitted murder. He certainly didn’t deserve to be saved from the death penalty. But Jesus Christ died in his place!

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Unimaginable good fortune

Just imagine Jesus Barabbas in his cell, awaiting crucifixion – fully expecting to die a cruel, agonising and degrading death. He never thought that someone else would take his place on the cross. What a surprise it must have been when the soldiers unchained him, opened the door of his cell, and told him he could go free! He was to be the one criminal released in honour of the Passover celebrations. But surely, he thought, there were far more worthy men then he who could have been released on that day? Perhaps he found it difficult to believe his luck. Perhaps for some time afterwards he was afraid of re-arrest. But it was all true – he had been pardoned, and someone else had died instead of him.

We don’t know now if Barabbas ever realised just who had died in his place, or if he ever believed the Gospel and became a follower of Jesus later. But in a real sense Jesus had died for him – possibly even on the very cross that had been prepared for Barabbas. When the Sabbath came, Jesus Christ was lying dead in the tomb but Jesus Barabbas was sleeping safely in his bed.

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Christ died for us

Can we not see here a picture of the central truth of our faith? Jesus died for us. Indeed, Jesus died for us in a different sense from that in which he died for Barabbas. Christ died, not to save us from crucifixion, but to save us from eternal punishment, from Hell. On the cross he bore our sins and suffered the separation from God that we deserved.

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What then is our response? We are more like Barabbas than we realise.

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1) Wasted opportunities

Barabbas had been brought up probably in a Rabbi’s family. We also, most of us, have been brought up in church-going families. We have had opportunities to know God and to respond to his love. We may have been in Sunday School as children and have come to church for many years. We are in church now. Do we make full use of our opportunities or have we become rebels against God? You may not believe it, but it is quite possible to be a church-going person and yet still (in one’s heart) to be in rebellion against God.

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2) Broken laws

Barabbas had broken the law of God and man. We may not feel that we are like that – we have not broken the laws of the land. But we have all definitely broken God’s laws. Yes, every one of us. Is there anyone here who has never said an unkind word or done a selfish or greedy action? We are all sinners. We have all broken God’s laws.

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3) Unsought blessing

Barabbas was released, not because of anything he had done, he was simply pardoned by Pilate. Similarly Jesus died to give us an undeserved blessing, a gift of grace – eternal life and pardon for all our sins. Not because of our good works, but simply because of God’s goodness and grace

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Conclusion

All we have to do is to receive it. In one respect our situation is quite different from that of Barabbas. His pardon was automatic. He didn’t have to repent, or express sorrow, or make any reparation for his crimes. But our release from sin and judgement is not automatic. In order to receive pardon and eternal life we do have to repent, do you have to admit our sinful state, do have to believe in Jesus, do have to make our personal response to the risen Christ. And having done that, we do have to seek to live in the power of the Spirit.

Will we do that? He offers us at the Lord’s Table far more than was offered to Barabbas. He escaped with his life: we are offered eternal life, abundant life, life in the Spirit. We are offered friendship with God – indeed becoming God’s children. We have fellowship with his people and reaceive strength to face life’s problems. What is our response?

Caiaphas

Talk given at the Brecon churches Lent Group 2/3/ 2016

1) Tonight we shall look at Caiaphas who was the high priest at the time Jesus died. According to the historian Josephus, Caiaphas was appointed by the Romans as High Priest in AD18. At that time High Priests we’re both respected and despised by the Jewish population. Many people respected them for the religious role they played in the Temple sacrifices and as leaders of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. But many other Jews despised the High Priests because of their close relationship with the Roman authorities. It was the Romans who appointed them and who could also depose them if they didn’t do the right thing. There are suspicions that the High Priests also took bribes from the Romans.

Caiaphas was son-in-law of Annas, who had been High Priest from 6 to 15 AD Five of the sons of Annas also served as High Priests – usually just for a few years at a time. So it was quite a clique – the family of Annas, his sons and his son-in-law Caiphas.

Caiaphas would have been very much a politician. If he wanted to keep in power he would have to walk a tightrope tween the Romans on the one hand and the Jews on the other. It was a balancing act. If he didn’t do what the Romans wanted they would immediately depose him and appoint one of the sons of Annas in his place. On the other hand: if he offended the Jews they would rebel – and once again the Romans would clamp down and get rid of Caiaphas. So it was, you might say, a no-win situation. On the other hand: it was an incredibly lucrative position to be in.

Caiaphas first appears in the Gospel narrative when the High Priests arranged a gathering of the Sanhedrin in reaction to the raising of Lazarus.

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2) John 11:45-53 New International Version – UK (NIVUK)

The plot to kill Jesus
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

They were afraid that the Romans would destroy the Temple and the Jewish nation. If people started following Jesus and making him their king, then it would bring disaster upon the whole nation. Caiaphas came out with a brilliant, calculated, cynical solution. “It’s better,” he said, “for one to die for the people than for the whole nation to perish”. In saying this he was in no way motivated by any theological consideration. He didn’t believe Jesus to be the Messiah. He wasn’t thinking about the Suffering Servant, prophesied by Isaiah, who would die for the Nation. He was just thinking of a way out of the situation they were in. He was just making a cynical calculation. But John sees these words as prophetic. “Because Caiaphas was High Priest,” John says, “he acted as a prophet and predicted that Jesus would die for all the people – not just the Jews but the whole world”.

I don’t think Caiphas thought in this way or really understood the significance of his words, but within the providence of God those words were going to find their fulfillment on the Cross at Calvary.

All this happened just after the death and raising of Lazarus, a week or so before the events of Holy Week. We are meant to be looking at how Caiaphas acted during Holy Week – so let us move on.

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3) As the Passover approached one of the Twelve Apostle, Judas Iscariot, went to some of the Chief Priests and asked how much money they would give him if he would hand Jesus over to them. So they counted out 30 silver coins for Judas. We are not told whether Caiaphas was among the group of Chief Priests. It is unlikely that he was, for they were simply his underlings, and he was the High Priest. It is hardly likely he would soil his hands with such a dirty transaction as this. But he certainly knew all about it and he approved of it. It was he, after all, who had said that Jesus should die to save the nation.

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The next time we meet Caiaphas is after the arrest of Jesus
4) Matthew 26:57-68 New International Version – UK (NIVUK)

Jesus before the Sanhedrin
57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward 61 and declared, ‘This fellow said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.”’

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, ‘Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?’ 63 But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’

64 ‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’[a]

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?’

‘He is worthy of death,’ they answered.

67 Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, ‘Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?’

This was an entirely illegal trial, as it happened at night, contrary to the Rabbinic law.

All the chief priests were looking for false evidence against Jesus

They didn’t find any accusations that would stand up in court but eventually they got him on a charge of blasphemy. Caiaphas got him to say that he was the Son of God. And so, Jesus’s fate was sealed.

5) Caiaphas was a completely heartless and cynical man. He held on to power by subterfuge and he wasn’t at all concerned about justice. He was the one who officiated in the Temple offering sacrifices to God – even entering the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. It was the most sacred position in all the land, and yet he was a man who was quite willing to stoop to bribery, corruption and miscarriage of justice to get rid of Jesus.

The Son of God stood before him, and he had a chance of letting him go free. Caiaphas did not take that opportunity. Instead he accused Jesus of blasphemy and condemned him to death. So Jesus was sent off to Pilate to be executed by the Romans.

The historian Josephus described the High Priests of the family of Annas as “heartless when they sit in judgement”. He was right.

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Prayer

Lord save us from becoming like Caiaphas. Save us from treating holy things with disdain. Help those of us who are in paid ministry to see it as a holy calling, not a career path or a means of holding on to power. Help us all to recognise good when we see it and to always uphold justice and fairness in the world.

Holy Love

 

 

 1 John 4: 7-16

Introduction

“All you need Is love: love is all you need”, so sang The Beatles in 1968. Now you don’t have to be a Christian, or even a religious person, to accept this sentiment – but the trouble is that it is all so vague.

For a start: you could say that love is not all you need. In his great hymn to divine love in 1 Corinthians, Paul says everything is useless without love. Love, he says, is supreme. But he doesn’t say love is all you need. No, you also need faith and hope – although love is the greatest.

And then, in the English language we only have the one word “Love”. As I said the other week: there are at least four words for love used in the Greek New Testament. But in the English language we have this one word which covers a wide range of different things. We might well ask, “What kind of love is it, that The Beatles are singing about?”

Is it a sentimental feeling for all mankind? Is it perhaps that intense emotion for their loved one, or for their country, that makes someone prepared to lay down their life?
Is it that fanatical devotion which leads a Jihadist to become a suicide bomber? (They would say they do it for the love of Allah.) Or is love just another word for sexual liberation – as in the phrase “free love” and the old hippie slogan “make love not war”.

I can’t say which meaning Lennon and McCartney had intended when they penned these words. Pop songs lyrics do not always have to make sense.

But enough of this introduction. It is intended to lead us to our text: “God Is Love.”

Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God Is Love.
(1 John 4: 8)

God Is Love whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in them.
(1 John 4:16)

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1) God is love

The word here is the Greek “Agape”, which means “sacrificial love”. It is the love that God had for the world, so much that he gave his only begotten Son. (John 3:16)

What does our text tell us? It tells us that love is the very essence of God’s nature – God is love. It’s not just that God loves us, or that God is loving. Love is his very nature.
There are depths here that we cannot even begin to plumb. At the very least it means that God will always act towards his children in a loving way, that even when he punishes us he does it from a motive of love. He will not permit anything to happen to us which is not for our ultimate and eternal good- for God is love.

In the world which is full of suffering and pain it requires real faith to be able to say “God is love”. And that faith arises from what we see of God in his Son, Jesus. He himself shows us what love is, and what God is like. In his life of sacrifice and goodness we see God.

Now many people can agree with the statement that “God is love”, but not all would interpret it in the same way. As we said just now, the word “love” can have a variety of meanings.
To some people the idea that “God is love” means that they can get away with anything they like and never be punished. I think it was Heinrich Heine who said on his deathbed “God will forgive me – that’s his job.” Such people see God as a very benign figure, as a kind of celestial Santa Claus – an old man with a white beard and a twinkle in his eyes. And this “God” smiles at them as they continue to flout his laws, and never punishes them!

All I can say about this idea is that it is very far from the God of the Bible: both Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus revealed to us a God who not only forgives the penitent but also punishes the impenitent. So I think we need to balance out text with another one – also from the First Epistle of John. Just so we don’t misunderstand “God is love”. we should also remember “God is light”.

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2) God is light

This is the message we have heard from him, and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
(1 John 15: 5)

Here light symbolises perfect goodness, truth, holiness and purity.
As we sing in the hymn:
My God, how wonderful Thou art,
Thy majesty, how bright;
How beautiful Thy mercy seat
In depths of burning light!

God is light – he is sinless and perfect. He cannot look on sin and corruption – it will be burnt up in his presence. The unrighteous can never dwell in his eternal Kingdom.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’
(Hebrews 12: 28-29)

And Paul writes to the Corinthians:
“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?”

Then he lists a whole lot of sins – sexual immorality, cheating, greed, and so on –  and says none of the people who do these things will inherit the kingdom of God.

“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
(1 Corinthians 6 9-11)

Paul’s words are very challenging: he lists many different kinds of sins and says that those who practice such things will not enter God’s Kingdom. But then he points out that the members of the Corinthian church themselves, at one time, had lived in those kind of sins, but Christ had to saved them. They had been changed from sinners into saints.

And this is the answer – the way to reconcile the two apparently opposing ideas. “God is light” seems to be a million miles away from “God is love”, and yet they both appear in the same letter of the Apostle John. They are in fact two sides of the same coin. And they are brought together at the Cross of Calvary. It is there we see the love of God – in Christ laying down his life for the whole world. It is there we also see the righteousness of God – his wrath flames out against sin. Christ suffered the punishment for us. And so the two aspects are brought together at the Cross. As it says in the hymn “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”:

Oh, safe and happy shelter!
Oh, refuge tried and sweet!
Oh, trysting place where heaven’s love
And heaven’s justice meet.
(Elizabeth C. Clephane)

So:
– God is love and God is light
– God is mercy and God is justice
– God Is kindness and God is severity.

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3) God’s love and ours

We need to balance these two aspects of God’s very nature. Some theologians indeed speak of the “holy love” of God and I think that is the best way to see it. It is love but it is also holy. How different it is from our human love.

For the love of God is broader
than the measure of man’s mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

Our love is so often unholy, selfish, impure. So often we try to restrict God, to bring him down to our level. We try to make him out to be as judgemental and harsh as we ourselves are at times.

But we make His love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.

(Frederick Faber)

But this zeal is not pleasing to God: it is misplaced; he will not own it. It is nothing to do with him. If there is no love in us, then there is nothing of God in us.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
( 1 John 4:8)
This is the acid test of our faith. It doesn’t matter what spiritual gifts we may be able to claim, what knowledge of theology we may have, however much we enjoy singing hymns of praise to God – if we do not love, it means nothing.
This is the whole thrust of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

(1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

John in his Epistle points out that we cannot claim to love God if we do not love our fellow man. And that love has to be something practical – it is far more than just a feeling:

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
( 1 John 3:17}

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Conclusion
Let us by God’s grace seek to be better followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us seek to care for others and demonstrate the love of God in our lives.

Let us repent of all the times we have been unloving, selfish and judgemental.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will shed the love of God abroad In our hearts. For we cannot do it in our own strength.

God Is Love whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in them.
(1 John 4:16)

Gratitude

Here is the script for the talk I gave recently at the Harvest all age service:

First Talk:

Minister: I’ve got something to show you here.
[he uncovers a doughnut]
What’s this? Not the usual thing that you would put on the harvest table! But this doughnut has an important lesson for us
Listen to this rhyme:

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“As you go through life
make this your goal;
look at the doughnut
and not the hole.”

What is this saying? It’s saying: “Be positive not negative. Instead of grumbling because the middle is missing, give thanks that you’ve got the rest of the doughnut, the ring itself”. Sadly, some people go through life noticing what they are missing and they never really notice the good things they do have. We can be like that too – complaining about what we haven’t got instead of thanking God for what we have got.

[ he pours out half a glass of drink]
If you get half a glass of lemonade, how do you look at it? Do you say, “Oh dear, the glass is half empty , I’m missing a full glass” ? Or do you say, “Hooray! The glass is half full. Much better than being empty”?

Harvest is our time to thank God for all the Fruits of the Earth – all the things we grow and eat. All the food we have to enjoy, as well as such things as warmth and shelter and clothing.
[he holds up the piece of coal from the Harvest Table]
This coal is on the Harvest Table to represent the energy and the warmth we need to live. It might have come from electricity or gas, but I couldn’t put an electric cable on the table, or a gas pipe!

In many parts of the Bible it tells us to be thankful – to remember the good things God gives us, and not to take them for granted.

Our first reading is all about remembering God’s goodness to us. Congregational reading – Psalm 103.

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Second Talk

Minister: We’ve been thanking God for the harvest. It’s very important to be grateful.

Listen to these words by William Shakespeare:

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude…

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As a friend remembered not…

“Man’s ingratitude” – it’s horrible when people aren’t grateful, isn’t it? You know what I mean: you do a good deed for a friend, maybe you actually give up something for them, and they just take it for granted. Perhaps they don’t even notice what you have done. I wonder how God feels when we forget to say “thank you” to him? For he has done so much for us and given us so much. So that one good reason to be grateful: because God deserves our thanks. Because it’s the right thing to do, to say thank you.

And here’s another good reason to be grateful: Scientists tell us that being grateful can increase your happiness by as much as 25%. Psychological testing has shown that grateful people have higher levels of joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness and optimism. And lower levels of negative feelings such as envy, resentment, greed and bitterness.

So it does you good to be grateful – to say “thank you”. When you show your thanks to another person, you don’t just build up that other person, you help yourself as well. And it’s true when you thank God too. That’s why it’s so good to come to church – to spend some of your time praising and thanking God your Creator.
People who do that live more contented and useful lives than people who don’t.

So, let us thank God for the Harvest and thank him for everything else he has done for us. Most of all: thank him for giving his son Jesus to save us from our sins.

The Instruments of the Passion

 engraving by Master E. S., c. 1460. The instruments of the Passion.
Introduction
You know, it is quite possible to go to straight from the loud “Hosannas” of Palm Sunday to the triumphant “Hallelujahs” of Easter Day without ever thinking about the sufferings and death of Jesus. If you just come to church on those two Sundays and don’t attend any Holy Week services you can bypass the passion of Christ altogether. And that’s how some people would like their religion to be – upbeat and positive with no suffering or sorrow. But remember that there would have been no victory on Easter Sunday if Jesus had not first died on the cross on Good Friday. The victory is found in the cross itself at the moment of deepest suffering. In this life you can’t escape suffering and the glory of the Christian Gospel is that suffering is at the very heart of it. The cross is at the centre of our faith and it gives depth to our faith. Without it our religion would just be vain triumphalism.

We do celebrate a triumph – but it is the triumph of the Crucified Christ. So it is especially important that we, as Christians, do indeed reflect on the sufferings of Christ during the last week of his life. The writers of the Gospels devote what might seem to be a disproportionate amount of space to the Passion Narrative, and especially to the last few hours of Christ’s life. They do this because, for them, these things were the most important events in the whole life of Jesus.

The problem for us in church on Sunday is that neither Palm Sunday nor Easter Sunday give us much opportunity to reflect on the Passion of Christ. That’s why this Sunday – the Sunday before Palm Sunday – has been designated “Passion Sunday”. It gives as time to think about the sufferings of Christ beforewe start on all the business of Palm Sunday with its shouts of Hosanna, its palms and donkey.

 

I was thinking about the best way to approach the story of the Passion and did consider just going through it verse by verse and explaining what each part meant. But then I had another idea: “The Instruments of the Passion”. This is the name given to the objects associated with Jesus’ passion as used in Christian symbolism and art. The Roman Catholics are much stronger on this sort of thing then we Protestants are, but I think that such symbolism can be very helpful. We could have illustrations of these objects, or actual objects, in front of us as visual aids, but I haven’t done that. So let’s just use our imagination.

Here are some of the objects we can think about:
The first object:
1) Thirty pieces of silver
The money paid to Judas to betray Christ. It reminds us that in this world even a friend can betray you. Such is human nature – sinful and deceitful. And it was because of this fact that Jesus had to come into this world in the first place to save us.

2) Lanterns and torches
Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss and then soldiers came with lanterns and torches to arrest Jesus in the darkened garden. Armed man grabbed Jesus as his disciples fled.

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3) Sword
This reminds us that one disciple at least did not flee immediately but stood by Jesus and tried to defend him. But it was misplaced zeal. Impetuous Peter took out his sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant – a man who was only doing his job. Jesus rebuked Peter, and then Peter ran off with the others – abandoning his Lord.

4) Fetters
Jesus was then fettered of bound with ropes and led to a dungeon in the house of the High Priest, where he was kept under guard.

5) Blindfold
The soldiers guarding Jesus began to mock and beat him. They blindfolded him and then hit him, saying, “Prophesy, tell us who hit you!”

6) Cockerel
Peter did not run off totally. He followed Jesus at a distance and stood in the courtyard warming his hands by the fire. But it was there he denied three times that he even knew who Jesus was. And when the cock crowed he realised the enormity of what he had done and wept bitterly.
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Peter’s tears of repentance were to be the making of him. From that day onward he was no longer going to be a man who relied on his own strength, a boastful and impetuous man. The new chastened Peter is going to become a vessel for the power of the Holy Spirit.

7) Towel and bowl of water
Jesus was brought before the Roman Governor and Pilate, who could see nothing in Jesus deserving death, handed him over to the Jewish leaders. Pilate tried to absolve himself of the blood of Jesus by symbolically washing his hands. But it takes more than soap and water to wash away guilt.

8) Scourge and whipping post
Pilate released Barabbas the criminal and handed the innocent man Jesus over to be crucified. Before that he had him flogged. It was a cruel whip of leather thongs with small pieces of lead sewn into them. It lacerated the back of Jesus and damaged his internal organs.

9) Crown of thorns, scarlet robe, reed sceptre
Jesus was mocked again – this time by Pilate’s Roman soldiers. They dressed him up as a king and pretended to bow down before him. They spat on him and beat him on the head again and again. Then they removed the robe, put his own clothes on him and let him away to be crucified.

10) Cross beam
Jesus had to carry the heavy horizontal beam of his own cross through the streets of Jerusalem. He staggered beneath its weight because he was so weakened by the punishment that have been meted out to him. So the soldiers seized Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross of Jesus for him.

11) Cup of wine
Jesus was offered a cup of wine which had been mixed with various medicines to deaden pain, but he refused it. He was not going to enter this experience of suffering and die in a drugged state.

12) Hammer and nails
The soldiers drove huge iron nails into his hands (probably just at the point where the wrist joins the palm) and into his feet. Then they lifted the cross into its socket and Jesus hung there in agony.
13) Seamless robe and dice
The soldiers tossed dice to see who would get Jesus’ seamless robe. It was too good to tear up and divide between them. There they were, gambling for his clothing and oblivious of the suffering of the man on the cross. But they had done this many times before – why should a bother now about one more criminal? Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

14) Wooden notice board
On it were written the words, “This is the King of the Jews”. Words which were true – even if denied by most people watching the scene.

15) Two other crosses
These were the crosses of the man who were crucified alongside Jesus. Both were criminals but one repented of his sins, trusted in Jesus and was received into Paradise after his death. But the other criminal continued to curse and to mock at Jesus and died in his sins.

15) Sponge on a stick
This was dipped in vinegar or sour wine and lifted up to moisten the lips of Jesus as he thirsted there in agony. The soldiers thought he was calling on Elijah to help him and said that perhaps Elijah was going to come and rescue him. They probably didn’t mean this but only said it in mockery. Jesus cried out in out loud voice and gave up his spirit.

16) Torn curtain
At that moment the huge heavy curtains in the Temple which screened the Holy of Holies was torn, right from the top to the bottom, and an earthquake shook the whole city. The torn curtain represents the truth that the way into God’s presence is opened up to all through the death of Jesus.

17) Spears
The Roman soldiers came to break the legs of the victims in order to hasten their deaths. But when they came to Jesus it looked as if he was already dead. So one of them thrust his spear into the side of Jesus and observed blood and water flowing out – a sure sign that Jesus was actually dead.

18) Strips of linen, myrrh and aloes
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped the body of Jesus in linen strips and spices and placed it in a new tomb – one which Joseph had reserved for his own death.

19) Stone
A huge stone was rolled in front of the tomb and seals placed on it. Jesus was gone – dead and buried, finished. Or so it was thought.
But on Easter Day the seal was broken, the stone miraculously rolled away and the body of Jesus risen. Nothing was left but the grave clothes and spices.

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Concluding prayer
As we have gone through the events of your Passion we have been reminded, Lord, of your great love for us.
Thank you Jesus that you died on the cross for us.
Thank you that you made atonement for our sins.
Thank you that you endured both physical and spiritual agony for us.
Thank you that you bore and took away the wrath of God for our sins.
Thank you that you rose in victory on the third day and that you ever live to plead on behalf of your people before the throne of God.
Lord Jesus, accept our thanks and praise. Amen.

The Lamb of God

 

 

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

These are the very famous words of John the Baptist. He knew that Jesus was the one for whom he had come to prepare the way. John was a cousin of Jesus so it could be that he had met Jesus many times and they had spoken of these things.

Or it could have been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the one who would die for the sins of the people. John no doubt had often pondered the words of Isaiah when he spoke of the Suffering Servant, giving his life for the nation. All this is possible but it is also possible that John just spoke the words by direct divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit – not even really knowing what he said.

Anyway, however we interpret it, let us look at these words.

 

One little word

The first thing we noticed is a little world right in the middle of the sentence. It is a highly significant word, but one which people often leave out of ther thinking. It is the word “sin”. We can think of Jesus as Lamb of God, and the word Lamb brings to mind images of tenderness and innocence. But we must not miss the fact that Jesus is not just any old Lamb of God, but rather the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Sin is central to our understanding here – if we leave it out we miss the whole point. Jesus came into our world primarily to be the Saviour from sin. You might say that sin is the central problem of mankind, and Jesus came to deal with it.

Oh, I know this is a very old-fashioned way of thinking. People today rarely use the word “sin”, and when they do they do so jocularly. Indeed for most people “sins” are things you shouldn’t eat when you are on a diet with Slimming World. (Actually, they spell the word “syns”.)

In this day and age the very word “sin” sounds old-fashioned but the fault lies with the modern world, not with the Bible.

 

Old Testament sacrifices

Now we may well ask “How can a lamb take away sins?” To understand this we need to look at the Old Testament. Religion in the Old Testament was all about sacrifices. And indeed this is true also of the religion of the pagan nations that surrounded the Israelites. If you were a pagan, your religion would mainly be a matter of trying to placate the gods. There were all sorts of things that would make the gods angry – they were a very capricious lot! If you didn’t do the right rituals or make the right sacrifices the god would be angry and you would have bad luck luck and misfortune in your life.

So when you went into a pagan temple to worship a god it wasn’t usually a matter of adoration and love – no, it was fear of angering the god. You would bring an offering – it might be of grain or wine, or fruit – but often it was an animal that would be sacrificed. A goat or sheep would be slaughtered and then the meat would be eaten by the priests or shared by the community in a feast. Alternatively the offering might be completely burned on the altar. That’s what happened with pagans.

 

 

Israelite worship

But what if you were an Israelite? Well in many ways, what you did would not be so different! The big difference was that you knew there is only one God, one Lord of the earth and sky, and you offered your sacrifices to him. Some were grain or drink offerings, some were animal sacrifices. Of these some we shared by the priest or by the worshippers and other were whole burnt offerings. Some offerings were intended to be expressions of thankfullnes to God while others were intended to bring atonement – the forgiveness of sins. You can read the Book of Leviticus for all the details of these offerings. It was all quite complicated.

 

Sacrificial lambs

Lambs were often used as sacrificial animals. The Passover Lamb is perhaps the most well known. But there was also the sin offering. This was a sacrifice brought by someone who had broken God’s Law. The worshipper brought the sacrifice as a sign of his repentance and good faith. It cost him something – it had to be an animal from his flocks without blemish and in perfect condition. If you did not possess such an animal then you would buy one in the Temple and pay good money for it so you could offer it to God. The animal would be brought to the priests by the worshipper who would lay hands on it, as if transferring his own sin to the sacrifice. Then it would be slaughtered.

Another important sacrifice involving lambs was the daily sacrifice in Jerusalem. Every morning and late afternoon, a lamb was sacrificed in the Temple for the sins of the people. And it was at this time of day that Jesus died on the cross – at the time of the late afernoon sacrifice. He was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

So the ancient Israelites had this whole system of sacrifices to take away sins. You and I might say, “What is the point of all this rigmarole? Surely they didn’t believe that the blood of an animal could wash away their sins? Surely they didn’t think their guilt could be transferred to another creature?” But the answer is, “Yes, they did!” The blood of the animal was said to “cover” or atone for the sins of the worshippers.

 

 A Christian understanding

How can we as modern people understand this? It all seems very foreign to us. After all, when we come to worship in God’s house we do not expect to see blood shed, we do not expect to hear the beating of animals been brought for slaughter, nor to smell flesh being burnt on the altar. It would be repugnant to us.

I think we can say that God was using these rituals and sacrifices to teach truths about himself to the Israelites. He used rituals which were not all that different from those of the pagan nations, but instead of being directed to false gods they were directed to the true God and conveyed truths about him.

Abraham had come out on the pagan world of Ur of the Chaldees. He had met with God, he have been called to worship the one true God. But Abraham and his descendants had to learn what God was like. They had to realise that God is holy and not to be trifled with. They had to realise that we are all sinners and our sins separate us from God. This is a serious matter, this matter of sin, and it requires some kind of serious ritual to deal with it.

That is how I understand the Old Testament sacrifices – I see them as visual aids, very graphic and dramatic visual aids, teaching the people about God and their relationship with him.

The New Testament writers make it plain to us that these sacrifices were just shadows of what was to come. They were pointing towards the coming of Jesus the Messiah who would be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament Law.He himself is going to be a sacrifice. He will hang on a cross and take upon himself the sins of the world. That’s why he is called the Lamb of God by John the Baptist.

 

 Some New Testament verses

Let us for a moment just listen to a few verses from these New Testament writers which speak about Jesus as Lamb of God and sacrifice for the sins of the world:

1) Hebrews 10:10-14. (Living Bible)

Under this new plan we have been forgiven and made clean by Christ’s dying for us once and for all. Under the old agreement the priests stood before the altar day after day offering sacrifices that could never take away our sins. But Christ gave himself to God for our sins as one sacrifice for all time and then sat down in the place of highest honour at God’s right hand, waiting for his enemies to be laid under his feet. For by that one offering he made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy.

 

 

2) 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

 

 

3) Revelation 5: 9 (NIV)

John records his vision of the heavenly creatures praising the Lamb:

And they sang a new song, saying:

‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,

because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God

persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

 

and again:

 

 

4) Revelation 5:11-12 (NIV)

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels ……. In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!’

 

 

5) 1 John 1:7-9 (NIV)

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

 

 

6) 1 John 4:10 (NIV)

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Yes, let us, like those disciples of John the Baptist “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Let us fix the eye of faith upon Jesus and trust in his ability to cleanse and forgive us.

Let us let go of our own righteousness and trust in the righteousness Christ brings through his blood, his death on the cross.