I have to confess that I’ve never really thought much about Holy Saturday nor paid it any special attention. Having been brought up as a Methodist Christian it was something that was scarcely, if ever, mentioned.
I am aware that Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Anglicans have traditions associated with Holy Saturday and might explore some of those for next year.
The Eastern traditions of Christianity hold a funeral for Christ on this day.
In the West an Easter vigil is sometimes held between nightfall and dawn.
Church tradition has it that on Holy Saturday, whilst his body lay cold and still in the tomb, the soul of Jesus descended to hell to release the souls of all the righteous who had died since the beginning of the world.
I haven’t been able to come across any tradition concerning the eleven disciples and the women who followed Jesus. What were they doing on Holy Saturday.
We know that they were probably in hiding for fear that they would be arrested and crucified as accomplices of Jesus. We can assume that they were in mourning for their Master and friend, the one in whom they had placed all their hope, the one they had believed was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. We can imagine the frustration of the women who wanted to tend to Jesus’ body but who were prevented by Jewish law from doing so because it was the Sabbath.
We can picture a group of weeping, despairing men and women whose whole world had caved in on them.
Jesus had told them he would rise on the third day, but they had either forgotten or never really believed or understood what he told them about his death and resurrection. God’s promises can always be relied on.
Sometimes we can doubt God’s promises in the midst of despair, when life’s circumstances seem to be crushing us, when all seems black and dismal, when there seems to be no hope. But there is always hope because God’s promises are true.
On Holy Saturday Jesus’ friends were fearful, weeping and the world seemed a dark and hopeless place. Only a day later they were filled with joy as Jesus’ promise to them was fulfilled.
Saturday, 20 April 2019
Friday, 19 April 2019
A Good Friday Evening Reflection
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday have felt very different for me this year, and I think it’s because the reality of them has hit home to me as never before.
On Maundy Thursday we shared Communion sitting around a long table together in church. It was set up at the last minute, the tune wasn’t right for one of the hymns and in many ways it felt to me that it wasn’t quite the sacred experience I’d hoped to provide..... and yet it felt so real.
It hit me as it never had before that the institution of Holy Communion took place on the last night of Jesus on earth, before his death and Resurrection. It hit me that he chose to spend that evening with his friends, sharing a meal with them, washing their feet, giving them some more teaching and praying for them. His last evening was spent giving of himself to others.
We call it The Last Supper and spiritually the reality of that really hit me for the first time. I left the church feeling very emotional.
This morning I lead a simple service of prayers, hymns and readings at a different church. There was no sermon - I simply read from Mark’s gospel the account of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion.
We started off in the Memorial Gardens near the church, singing “There is a Green Hill Far Away” and hearing part of Psalm 22. Then we walked in procession to the church, with me leading carrying quiteva heavy wooden cross. The Cross was heavy and as we walked along I thought of Jesus struggling under the weight of the instrument of his death, and of the ordeal he had already bern through when Roman soldiers mocked him and flogged him.
Then in church I read from Mark’s gospel, interspersed with prayers and hymns, the cross I’d been carrying hanging on the wall behind me. I read the reading as a drama, and stunned myself as I shouted the words, “Crucify, crucify” and sad the shock on the faces of some in the congregation.
Then the crucifixion and I could barely get the words out as I read them, feeling myself transported to the events I was relating, wondering how Jesus must have felt as the crowds jeered at him and mocked him; people he was giving his life for, people he had already forgiven.
It hit me with fresh and powerful spiritual force just what Jesus went through that day out of love for each human being who has ever lived and whoever will live.
Then we sang our final hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and I was totally lost in the moment, forgetting I was leading worship, simply gazing up at the wooden cross behind me as I sang those wonderful words.
Something within me changed spiritually today......... I can’t wait to find out what that means and where it takes me.
On Maundy Thursday we shared Communion sitting around a long table together in church. It was set up at the last minute, the tune wasn’t right for one of the hymns and in many ways it felt to me that it wasn’t quite the sacred experience I’d hoped to provide..... and yet it felt so real.
It hit me as it never had before that the institution of Holy Communion took place on the last night of Jesus on earth, before his death and Resurrection. It hit me that he chose to spend that evening with his friends, sharing a meal with them, washing their feet, giving them some more teaching and praying for them. His last evening was spent giving of himself to others.
We call it The Last Supper and spiritually the reality of that really hit me for the first time. I left the church feeling very emotional.
This morning I lead a simple service of prayers, hymns and readings at a different church. There was no sermon - I simply read from Mark’s gospel the account of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion.
We started off in the Memorial Gardens near the church, singing “There is a Green Hill Far Away” and hearing part of Psalm 22. Then we walked in procession to the church, with me leading carrying quiteva heavy wooden cross. The Cross was heavy and as we walked along I thought of Jesus struggling under the weight of the instrument of his death, and of the ordeal he had already bern through when Roman soldiers mocked him and flogged him.
Then in church I read from Mark’s gospel, interspersed with prayers and hymns, the cross I’d been carrying hanging on the wall behind me. I read the reading as a drama, and stunned myself as I shouted the words, “Crucify, crucify” and sad the shock on the faces of some in the congregation.
Then the crucifixion and I could barely get the words out as I read them, feeling myself transported to the events I was relating, wondering how Jesus must have felt as the crowds jeered at him and mocked him; people he was giving his life for, people he had already forgiven.
It hit me with fresh and powerful spiritual force just what Jesus went through that day out of love for each human being who has ever lived and whoever will live.
Then we sang our final hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and I was totally lost in the moment, forgetting I was leading worship, simply gazing up at the wooden cross behind me as I sang those wonderful words.
Something within me changed spiritually today......... I can’t wait to find out what that means and where it takes me.
Good Friday is Hard for Some - A Reflection
I know that many Christians find Good Friday a difficult day.
It is the day when we remember that our Lord Jesus, God incarnate, the one who lived the most beautiful and loving human life that has ever been lived, died one of the most cruel and painful deaths ever devised by humanity when we was nailed to a Roman cross.
It is a day when we remember the mockery of a trial whose conclusion was decided in advance, the day when we remember the cruelty of the Roman whips and the agonising, exhausting walk carrying that rough wooden cross beam through the streets of Jerusalem. It is a day when we remember the mockery of the Jewish leaders and those crucified with him, though one repented.
It is a day when we remember those loving words, spoken amidstbthe hatred and the blood and the pain: “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”
It is the day when we remember that Jesus did all this for us, so that we could be in loving relationship with God and know that he forgives our selfish and loves us more than we can ever know.
Good Friday is hard because we know that Jesus went through all that pain and suffering for us and the rest of humanity.
Some words from a prayer of confession in Ray Simpson’s book, ‘Celtic Worship Through the Year’ bring this forcibly home:
“We are the race that helped make the cross on which you were crucified......
We are the race that helped make the nails that pierced your body.....
We are the race that did nothing to stop your betrayers....”
No wonder Good Friday is a hard day for Christians.......
Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Holy Week Reflection - Holy Wednesday
“Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Mark 14: 1-11
This story has parralels in the other gospels, and in John’s gospel the woman is identified as Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus.
We start our passage with the Jewish leaders plotting to kill Jesus, which has direct relevance to the beautiful act of love that follows.
That is what it is, a beautiful act of love. The woman, not identified by Mark, breaks her jar of very expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ head. By breaking the jar she was giving it all to him.
That jar of perfume was very valuable, it’s value the equivalent of a year’s wages. It was probably the only thing of any value she owned and she gave it to Jesus, an act of love and dedication.
Jesus himself says that it’s a beautiful thing she has done and hints that he sees it as a preparation for his burial.
Are we willing to offer to Jesus that which is most precious to us? Are we willing to show the same devotion to Jesus as the Woman with the Alabaster Jar?
There is one further thing. Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Here we see Jesus’ faith in his Heavenly Father and confidence in the future. He knows that the cross is coming, but also has faith in the Resurrection that will come on the third day. He has faith that the gospel will be preached throughout the world. Out of death will come life, not just his own resurrection life but life for the world.
The message of Easter, life from death!
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Mark 14: 1-11
This story has parralels in the other gospels, and in John’s gospel the woman is identified as Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus.
We start our passage with the Jewish leaders plotting to kill Jesus, which has direct relevance to the beautiful act of love that follows.
That is what it is, a beautiful act of love. The woman, not identified by Mark, breaks her jar of very expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ head. By breaking the jar she was giving it all to him.
That jar of perfume was very valuable, it’s value the equivalent of a year’s wages. It was probably the only thing of any value she owned and she gave it to Jesus, an act of love and dedication.
Jesus himself says that it’s a beautiful thing she has done and hints that he sees it as a preparation for his burial.
Are we willing to offer to Jesus that which is most precious to us? Are we willing to show the same devotion to Jesus as the Woman with the Alabaster Jar?
There is one further thing. Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Here we see Jesus’ faith in his Heavenly Father and confidence in the future. He knows that the cross is coming, but also has faith in the Resurrection that will come on the third day. He has faith that the gospel will be preached throughout the world. Out of death will come life, not just his own resurrection life but life for the world.
The message of Easter, life from death!
Holy Week Reflection - Holy Tuesday
HW Reflection for Tuesday
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him
Mark 12:
Jesus spent part of Holy Week teaching and preaching in the Jerusalem Temple, the very place he had caused disruption by overturning the tables of the money lenders and driving out the animals. Some of that time was spent answering the questions of the religious authorities.
To say that those in authority were angry with Jesus is an understatement. They wanted him dead, but didn’t dare arrest him in the open because they were afraid of a riot by Jesus supporters that would get them in trouble with their Roman masters. But if they could turn the people against Jesus.......
That is the motivation behind the question, “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
If Jesus said that the tax shouldn’t be paid, then he laid himself open to immediate arrest and execution by the Roman authorities as a rebel. Whilst Jesus knew his destiny was the cross, it would be at a time of his choosing.
If Jesus said the hated Roman tax should be paid then the people would desert him and he would very possibly be one the target of Jewish rebels, murdered as a warning to others.
It was a seemingly impossible situation, with seemingly no way out; but Jesus found one and gave an answer that was actually deeply subversive without seeming to.
Jesus responded brilliantly. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus first of all exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herodians who were present, or at least one of them, because they had in their possession the Roman coin which was only used for paying the tax.
Then he suggested that because the coin bore Caesar’s image it belonged to him and should be given to him. Many, if not all, listening to him would have interpreted this as supporting paying the tax.
But if we reflect a little deeper......
Jesus says, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
First, God created the whole universe, every single atom of matter owes its existence to God. If God is Creator then all creation belongs to God and nothing belongs to Caesar.
P
Second, if the coin belonged to Caesar because it bore his image then we belong to God because we are created in the image of God.
Yet God does not force his ownership upon us: rather he gives us the free will to choose to belong to him. God desires us to love him but he never demands that love, he seeks it through Jesus who came to bring us all back to the love that God showers upon us freely and abundantly.
What is your response to the love of God freely offered by grace, you who bear the image of God?
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him
Mark 12:
Jesus spent part of Holy Week teaching and preaching in the Jerusalem Temple, the very place he had caused disruption by overturning the tables of the money lenders and driving out the animals. Some of that time was spent answering the questions of the religious authorities.
To say that those in authority were angry with Jesus is an understatement. They wanted him dead, but didn’t dare arrest him in the open because they were afraid of a riot by Jesus supporters that would get them in trouble with their Roman masters. But if they could turn the people against Jesus.......
That is the motivation behind the question, “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
If Jesus said that the tax shouldn’t be paid, then he laid himself open to immediate arrest and execution by the Roman authorities as a rebel. Whilst Jesus knew his destiny was the cross, it would be at a time of his choosing.
If Jesus said the hated Roman tax should be paid then the people would desert him and he would very possibly be one the target of Jewish rebels, murdered as a warning to others.
It was a seemingly impossible situation, with seemingly no way out; but Jesus found one and gave an answer that was actually deeply subversive without seeming to.
Jesus responded brilliantly. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus first of all exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herodians who were present, or at least one of them, because they had in their possession the Roman coin which was only used for paying the tax.
Then he suggested that because the coin bore Caesar’s image it belonged to him and should be given to him. Many, if not all, listening to him would have interpreted this as supporting paying the tax.
But if we reflect a little deeper......
Jesus says, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
First, God created the whole universe, every single atom of matter owes its existence to God. If God is Creator then all creation belongs to God and nothing belongs to Caesar.
P
Second, if the coin belonged to Caesar because it bore his image then we belong to God because we are created in the image of God.
Yet God does not force his ownership upon us: rather he gives us the free will to choose to belong to him. God desires us to love him but he never demands that love, he seeks it through Jesus who came to bring us all back to the love that God showers upon us freely and abundantly.
What is your response to the love of God freely offered by grace, you who bear the image of God?
Holy Week Reflection - Holy Monday
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
Mark 11: 15-19
After dramatically entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and very publically proclaiming his identity as a peaceful king, Jesus looked around and looking round the Temple Courts Jesus left the city knowing, I’m sure, what he intended to do the following day.
On the Monday of Holy Week he undertook what we call the cleansing of the Temple; the event that the Synoptic gospels suggest led to his arrest and crucifixion. John’s gospel suggests it was the raising of Lazarus that led to the Jewish authorities wanting Jesus dead. Perhaps it was both.
Mark’s gospel is the simplest and starkest account of the cleansing of the Temple and probably the first time the story was written down. We are simply told that Jesus entered the temple and began driving out those buying and selling there and overturning the tables ofbthe money changers.
His words tell us why he did it, “is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The outer court of the Temple, where these traders operated, was the only place where Gentiles who worshipped the one true God were allowed to pray in the Temple. How could they pray in a loud noisy market with the blessing of sheep, the calling of birds and the shouts of the traders? How could people pray in a place that was used as a short cut to get from one part of Jerusalem to another (“and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.“)?
The market activity was also dishonest and a source of easy and plentiful income for the Temple Priests, hence the phrase “den of robbers”. The Priests would only accept animals sold in the Temple itself for sacrifice.
This dishonest commercial activity was preventing some people worshipping God, even though it was designed to aid people in worshipping God by providing animals for sacrifice.
Do we as Christians stop others from worshipping God today. Do our lives, our words and deeds show Jesus has made a difference in our lives or do we appear to live just the same as everybody else in our society? Are we putting people off coming to a knowledge of the saving power of the love of Jesus?
As we reflect on Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple, we perhaps need to reflect whether our lives and witness are a barrier to people worshipping God or are attractive and draw people to come to their Creator and Redeemer in trust, worship and love.
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
Mark 11: 15-19
After dramatically entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and very publically proclaiming his identity as a peaceful king, Jesus looked around and looking round the Temple Courts Jesus left the city knowing, I’m sure, what he intended to do the following day.
On the Monday of Holy Week he undertook what we call the cleansing of the Temple; the event that the Synoptic gospels suggest led to his arrest and crucifixion. John’s gospel suggests it was the raising of Lazarus that led to the Jewish authorities wanting Jesus dead. Perhaps it was both.
Mark’s gospel is the simplest and starkest account of the cleansing of the Temple and probably the first time the story was written down. We are simply told that Jesus entered the temple and began driving out those buying and selling there and overturning the tables ofbthe money changers.
His words tell us why he did it, “is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The outer court of the Temple, where these traders operated, was the only place where Gentiles who worshipped the one true God were allowed to pray in the Temple. How could they pray in a loud noisy market with the blessing of sheep, the calling of birds and the shouts of the traders? How could people pray in a place that was used as a short cut to get from one part of Jerusalem to another (“and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.“)?
The market activity was also dishonest and a source of easy and plentiful income for the Temple Priests, hence the phrase “den of robbers”. The Priests would only accept animals sold in the Temple itself for sacrifice.
This dishonest commercial activity was preventing some people worshipping God, even though it was designed to aid people in worshipping God by providing animals for sacrifice.
Do we as Christians stop others from worshipping God today. Do our lives, our words and deeds show Jesus has made a difference in our lives or do we appear to live just the same as everybody else in our society? Are we putting people off coming to a knowledge of the saving power of the love of Jesus?
As we reflect on Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple, we perhaps need to reflect whether our lives and witness are a barrier to people worshipping God or are attractive and draw people to come to their Creator and Redeemer in trust, worship and love.
Notre Damme & The Easter Message
Yesterday
evening many watched the TV coverage of the fire at Notre Damme Cathedral in Paris
with a mixture of horror and distress.
For some it
was because it looked as if an iconic historical building, one of the national
treasures of France, was about to be completely destroyed. There were real fears the whole building
would collapse in on itself.
For those of
us who are Christians, well, we had the same fears as everybody; but also the
pain of seeing a building built for the glory of God and dedicated to him, used
for centuries of Christian worship, being burnt up before our eyes. We felt too the pain of our sisters and
brothers in Christ who regularly worship in that place, clergy planning their
Holy Week and Easter Services, those who would have joined them there in
worship.
This morning
there was hope……
We are told
that the structure is largely intact and the French President has said Notre
Damme will be rebuilt, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
One
billionaire has already pledged 100 million Euros to help fund the rebuilding.
And what I
think will become an iconic picture, the empty cross shining in the darkness of
the burnt-out cathedral, a symbol of hope amidst the heart-breaking
destruction.
An empty
cross. A poignant reminder of the Easter
message that from death and destruction God can bring new life and resurrection,
for people and for his church.
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