Easter 2 – 28 April 2019 – Year C

Grace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 20^thChapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses19–31:

¹⁹On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,“Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 

²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said,“Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas,“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

Christ is risen !!! - He has risen indeed hallelujah !!

One week ago, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus in a special way.  It was the first Sunday of Easter.  Today is the Second Sunday of Easter and we are still examining the events of the day that Jesus rose from the dead.  For centuries the church has set aside the Second Sunday of Easter as the day we consider the first time that the Apostle Thomas saw our risen Lord.

We call Him Doubting Thomas, but that is really not fair.  One of the things that makes the resurrection accounts of the Gospels more believable is that everyone doubted Jesus’ resurrection.  The women who first came to the tomb thought that someone had done something terrible to Jesus’ body.  After the angels proclaimed the good news to them, they told the disciples and the disciples thought they were suffering from some sort of hallucination.

The only difference between Thomas and the other disciples was that Thomas wasn’t with them when Jesus appeared to them that evening.  Before Jesus appeared to them, they were behind locked doors.  They were afraid that they were next on the Sanhedrin’s ‘hit’ list.  When the women told them that they had seen the Lord, the disciples didn’t believe them. When Jesus first appeared up He showed His hands, His feet, and His side to eight of the nine remaining disciples so that they would finally identify Him and believe.  Jesus had to convince them all, so when Thomas was there eight days later when Jesus appeared again, and he asked for proof, he really wasn’t asking for anything that Jesus hadn’t already shown to the other ten.  He just initially missed out because he wasn’t there.

Furthermore, the Bible doesn’t tell us why he was missing. He probably had a perfectly sound reason for not being with the other disciples that evening.  As much as we might like to say that he should have been there, we can’t really criticise him even for that.  It really isn’t fair that we should single out Thomas as the only doubter in the bunch.

That is the reason that this event is one more way that Jesus shows His love to us.  He could have said, “Hey! For months now, I have been telling you people that I was going to suffer, die, and then rise from the dead.  Why did you not believe me?  You should have been expecting me.”  He had every right to be that frustrated and more.

Never the less, Jesus came to His disciples. He showed them His holy wounds – the wounds that witnessed to the love that He showed to us with his suffering and death.  He encouraged them to touch and investigate His body until they were absolutely convinced that it was the same body that hung dead from a cross as the loving sacrifice that paid for our sins.  The Apostle John would later describe this investigation with these words: ^{[1 John 1:1]}“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.”  With these words, John describes a God who loves us so much that He let’s us touch Him.

In patient love, Jesus allowed Thomas to have the same privilege that He gave to the other disciples.  The next week, Thomas was there and Jesus came again. Jesus invited Thomas to poke around until he too was satisfied that this really was His friend, teacher, and master back from the dead.  He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

Just like the disciples of old, we also doubt. We are also afraid.  We have been ashamed of our Saviour.  We have wanted to fit in and so denied that we knew Jesus. We’ve all made promises to God that we haven’t kept.  We often focus on ourselves instead of God.  We know that our sin has earned the eternal wrath of God.  We know that God should be our enemy.

What comfort today’s Gospel has for us.  In spite of all that we have done to make God hate us, He still loves us.  He searches us out.  He comes to us.  He gives us His peace.  He encourages us to touch Him and investigate Him.  He overcomes our terrors, our fears, and our doubts.  He unites us to Himself in love.

In today’s Gospel, He even gives us the authority to forgive sins.  He breathed on [His disciples] and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”  With these words, He authorised the church to forgive sins in His name.  When the presiding priest announces, “ Your sins are forgiven,” he is using this authority to speak for and on behalf of Jesus himself.  It makes no difference how sinful the pastor is or how sinful we are, all our sins are forgiven.  The authority lies in the words of Jesus and in the work that Jesus did on the cross.

For the time being, He does not come to us as He came to His disciples in today’s Gospel.  When we hear and read the Bible, we hear and read Christ’s Words.  As the waters of Holy Baptism make us wet, the Holy Spirit joins us to Christ.  As we live lives of continuous repentance, Jesus gives us continuous forgiveness especially when we openly confess in true penitence and the priest forgives our sins in His name.  As we eat the bread and drink the wine of the Holy Sacrament, Jesus comes to us as we eat His true body and drink His true blood in, the bread and wine of the Holy Meal. In all these ways He comes to us just as He came to the disciples.

Jesus does not want us to think of Him as unapproachable.  He isn’t some far off, remote God.  He has given us all these gifts so that we will know that He is near us and with us and in us.  He wants us to understand that He is as intimate with us as our hearing and sight, our touch and our taste.  He wants us to investigate Him and learn as much about Him as we possibly can.

Throughout history people have done all sorts of things to experience God.  They torture themselves.  They meditate.  They deprive themselves of food and drink.  They attempt to do good works to earn salvation.  They try to achieve some sort of emotional high.  They buy all sorts of self-help books.  They go on quests.  The harder they search for God, the farther away He seems to be.

In today’s Gospel, we learn that God comes to us in His Son Jesus Christ.  He comforts us with His peace.  He takes away our fear.  He gives us His forgiveness in such a way that we can give it to others.  He gives us all of this purely out of divine love for us and although we can do nothing to earn it; we can commit ourselves to sharing it with those around us.

On this Second Sunday of the Easter season, we learn that, like Thomas, we all struggle with doubt.  We all miss out from time to time.  We can all be stubborn.  Instead of focusing on the stubbornness and doubt of Thomas, focus on the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus as He patiently displays His wounds of love. As we focus on how Jesus showed Himself then, let us remember how Jesus shows Himself to us in His Word and sacraments. He shows His love to us by giving us His Word to hear and His body and blood to eat and drink,  In His love, He comforts us with His forgiveness and gives us His peace.  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Easter – 21 April 2019 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 15th Chapter of Paul’s 1st letter to the

Corinthians: Verses 19 – 20:

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

                                                             And

The 24th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 1 – 12:

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” ⁸ And they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marvelling at what had happened.

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

These are the words that begin today’s reading; they are words that the Holy Spirit inspired

the Apostle Paul to write to the church in Corinth. These words teach us how important the

Resurrection of Jesus Christ is for Christianity. Paul teaches us that if Jesus did NOT rise from the dead, then it would be a better use of our time to go home and watch TV. If Jesus did NOT rise from the dead, then everything that we do here in worship would be totally useless.

Paul then went on to proclaim that, in fact, Jesus has risen from the dead. This means that

all the promises of God belong to us. It means that when we gather here in worship, we are receiving the very gifts of that same Jesus who rose from the dead.

As we read through the events of the early church, we see that the proclamation of Jesus

Christ began in many different ways and under many different circumstances. Regardless of

this however, sooner or later, every proclamation always climaxed in Jesus rising from the

dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is His certification … His verification … His seal of approval. It means that Jesus really is God. He really is the truth. His suffering and death on the cross really did earn the forgiveness of sins for all humanity. His resurrection assures all people that there will be a time when He will raise us from death as well. His resurrection means that all those who die with faith in Him, will live with Him forever.

Today’s Gospel tells us that there was a short time when the disciples were not Christians.

They were not Christians because they rejected Jesus’ promise to rise from the dead.

They believed that Jesus was dead and would stay that way. An execution squad had nailed

Jesus to a cross. Jesus had endured the agony of that crucifixion for hours. Then He died.

His death was certain. The women in today’s Gospel saw His lifeless body laid in a tomb.

The only reason the women were coming to the tomb was that the preparations for burial had been incomplete. Sunset had interrupted their work as they prepared Jesus’ body for the tomb. Sunset meant the Sabbath. Sabbath meant no work, not even the work of preparing a body for burial. The women were simply returning to the tomb to put the finishing touches on the dead body … the finishing touches that they didn’t have time to do on Friday. They were expecting to find the decaying body of a dead Jesus.

That is the reason that I can say that they were not Christians. As faithful as they were to

Jesus … as much as they loved Him … as dear and sweet and diligent as they obviously were … they believed that the decaying flesh of the dead body of their friend and master was still in that tomb. They did NOT believe that He had returned to life and would never die again. For a short time, they rejected the resurrection and so rejected Christ, the man they claimed to love.

Fortunately for these women and for us, there were a couple of angels waiting for them when they arrived at the tomb. Today’s reading from the Gospel calls them two men in dazzling apparel. The words of the angels seem to express bewilderment, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” There is a gentle rebuke in their words. Weren’t you paying attention when Jesus said He would rise after He suffered and died? What are you doing snooping around here looking for a dead body?

It was then that the women remembered what Jesus had taught. The angels almost quoted

Jesus word for word. The Holy Spirit used the words of Jesus and renewed the faith of these women. They were Christians once again. They had not yet seen Jesus, but they believed that He had risen from the dead. Why? Because Jesus had promised to rise from the dead. The angels simply reminded them of the promises that Jesus had made. We have the promise that the Holy Spirit will work with the Word of Christ. When the women remembered the Word Jesus spoke to them, the Holy Spirit renewed their faith.

Well, you can’t keep that sort of thing to yourself. You’ve got to tell your friends. The women

went to the eleven disciples with the good news.

Today’s reading reminds us that these are the very apostles whom Jesus chose to send out.

Never the less, they demonstrate that they are also unbelievers. The women’s words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. Peter was curious and ran to the tomb. He saw that the tomb was empty. He marvelled at what might have happened to the body.

Today’s Gospel reading comes to an end and we have to leave Peter trying to figure out what happened to Jesus’ body.

Down through the centuries, many theologians, philosophers, and historians have investigated the Christian claim of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The historical evidence supports the Biblical account of the crucifixion and it points to an empty tomb. Eventually, the honest, scholarly historian admits that the tomb must have been empty. The only question remaining is, “How did the tomb get that way?” Many of scholars have used their imaginations to try to come up with a scenario that explains the empty tomb. So far, the only one that fits all the facts is that Jesus left the tomb under His own power. The resurrection is the best attested event in the ancient world.

But is it enough to simply believe that the resurrection happened? No it is not! As it written,

[James 2:19b] Even the demons believe—and shudder! If we honestly believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but that resurrection has nothing to do with us, then His resurrection will do us no good.

Jesus rose for each one of us. His resurrection certifies that everything He did, He did for all

the human race. He left heaven and took on human flesh in the womb of the virgin … for us.

He was born … for us. He lived a perfect life totally without sin … for us. He suffered an

agonizing death on the cross … for us. While He hung on that cross, He endured the very

wrath of God … for us. With this work, He earned the forgiveness of sins … for us. It is not

enough to simply believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Instead, His promise is that He rose from the dead … for us.

As we continue through the season of Easter, we will once again hear about all that Jesus did after he rose from the dead. He will continue to do these things … for us. We will hear once again, that Jesus ascended into heaven … for us. We will hear that even as I speak, He is preparing a place … for us. We will once again hear how Jesus will return with an eternity of paradise … for us.

We can be glad, secure in the reality of the empty tomb. We can rejoice with our whole being in the certainty of our resurrection. Just as Christ Jesus Himself rose to new life after being put to death on that Roman cross, God will not abandon us to the grave after our flesh loses its life. Jesus Christ has defeated Satan, sin, death, and hell! As a result, Christ’s conquest now brings victory to all of God’s people. His victory is for us. Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Good Friday – 19 April 2019 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is the “Passion Text” as written in the Gospel according to St

John: Chapter 18: through to Chapter 19: Verse 42:

(Chap 18) After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ²Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” ⁵They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”  ⁸Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he.  So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” ⁹This was to fulfil the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” ¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. ¹¹Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”¹²So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for thepeople.¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in.¹⁷The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.¹⁹Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²²When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.²⁸Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” ³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” ³²(This was  to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) ³³Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.³⁹But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit. (Chap 19)Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. ⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” ⁶When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”⁸Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” ¹²From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.” ¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” ¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” ¹⁶Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; ¹⁷and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²0 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²²Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” ²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfil what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”²⁵And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. ³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. ³²Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵(He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows[p] that he tells the truth.) ³⁶These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” ³⁷And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”³⁸After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. ³⁹Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.⁴¹Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid^{. 42}And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The only innocent Man is put on trial today. Even the godless heathen, Pilate, knows what a

sham this trial is. Christ, meek and mild, is accused of being a violent insurrectionist against

Rome. His peaceful demeanour and gentle answers make His innocence obvious to Pilate. The Roman governor can find no fault at all in Him. Yet Pilate, the coward, cannot stand against the people. So he sentences the innocent Man to crucifixion, and participates in the death of God's own Son.

Christ could have cleared Himself at any time. He could have given wise answers, as He  had answered the Jewish leaders so many times before when they tested Him. He could

have confounded them with His words until they were compelled to set Him free again.

But He did not defend Himself. He was silent when He could have gone free. He did not

open His mouth to save His own life.       

Christ was so perfectly innocent that the Jewish leaders had to resort to a night trial, which was illegal under their own codes of law. The witnesses could only bring false testimonies

against Christ. Their words were so obviously lies that they could not even agree with one

another. Even that illegal, kangaroo court could not condemn Christ based on those trumped-up charges.

In the end, the Jews condemn Him for the truth: because He claimed to be the Son of God. Pilate's charge is that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews. Christ was both of those things, the Son and the King. So He dies for the truth. As Christ said, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil." No one could show anything Christ had said that was false. His was the only pure tongue to ever speak, upon which the poison of lies and false witness never was. He who is the Truth is destroyed for truth.

We humans are so twisted and false that we must destroy the only absolutely innocent Man to ever stand trial. We must slander and accuse falsely. We must destroy with our tongues, and we must destroy what is pure. So Christ was destroyed by us.

At the trials, Pilate was the representative of all us Gentiles, and Caiaphas the representative of all Jews. Even if that were not true, it was our sins that accused Him and drove Him to crucifixion. Every hateful lie and word of slander from our lips struck Him more painfully than the soldiers' fists. Our tongues lashed Him more than any whip could.

It was we who deserve the blows and the scourging. We fully deserved every thorn that pierced His innocent brow. Our sins crushed Him down on the Cross into death. But it was our death He died. We should have been there, nailed to the wood, gasping our last air under the Father's condemnation. --- But it was Him, not us.

"My Kingdom is not of this world," He tells Pilate. He brings no worldly peace and love. He establishes no millennial utopia. His Kingdom is not even visible to worldly eyes. Eyes of flesh cannot see the boundaries between His Kingdom and the kingdoms of flesh. The world sees suffering and pain, and no glorious kingdom. Yet Christ's Kingdom is there,

nonetheless. His people are persecuted as He is persecuted. They are killed off in the midst

of injustice. The wicked world seems to triumph over them all the time.

Yet He must always conquer, and His Kingdom with Him. For His Kingdom is founded upon the Word that endures forever. As He says to Pilate, "Everyone who is of the Truth hears My voice." The world cannot overcome Christ and His Word. So the world cannot overcome those who belong to His Kingdom.

So the one and only innocent Man is declared guilty by Caiaphas and Pilate. But we are declared innocent by the Father in heaven, a far better verdict. The Son of God willingly lays down His life, and we become innocent like Him, cleansed by His life-blood. The Truth dies, nailed to the Cross, and we live. The Word of God incarnate says, "Father, forgive them," and we are forgiven. The sun is swallowed by the darkness of the Father's rejection of His own Son. So we become children of God, never rejected.

Upon Christ's brow is a crown of thorns. What more glorious crown could He wear? He has come to reverse the curse of thorns, the curse laid upon all the earth. When Adam and Eve sinned, God said, "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it will bring forth to you." Christ is crowned with the curse. He embraces the corruption that has infected all that He created in the beginning. Because He is crowned with the curse, He is making all things new, until a new creation shall appear, the home of righteousness, where thorns are no longer found.

So the curse is removed by the innocent death. The Tree of the Cross overcomes the Tree that condemned us in Eden. We eat the fruit of the life-giving Tree today. The fruit is the Body and Blood of Christ, which give everlasting life. We eat this fruit and are invited back into Paradise, where death is reversed into life, and sin is erased forever by the perfect innocence of Christ. Amen.

The grace and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep

your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Maundy Thursday – 18 April 2019 - Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Readings: Exodus 12: 1 – 14 // Psalm 116: 1 – 2 & 11 – 18 // John 13: 1 - 35

The text for our meditation lies within the Old Testament and Gospel readings with the focal points from 1 Corinthians 11: 23 – 26:

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”   In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

The Old Testament reading from the 12^th Chapter of the Book of Exodus tells us of the very first Passover night, the night before the day the children of Israel walked though blood-stained doorways into freedom and life.  That was the memorial (paschal) night, the night of the remembrance meal - the hard, unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the lamb roasted to dry toughness.  The Lamb’s blood painted on the doorposts.  It is the night of judgment and death as God seeks out the blood.  Under the blood of the lamb, His people are safe.  Death passes over.  Without the blood there is death.  It is neither safe nor beneficial to deal with God apart from the blood of the Lamb.

It is a night of remembrance. The Lord commands; “This day shall be for you a day of remembrance, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, you shall observe it as a law forever.”  In this meal, they remembered the Lord and His saving work; and the Lord remembered them, His Israel.  They ate in solidarity with Israel, past and present.  It was a holy communion of a holy community. ‘They’ were the descendants of Adam, a lost and fallen people, this was part of God’s plan to bring them back into communion with Him; a plan for them – a plan also for us.

Here now on the 18^th April 2019, it is again the night of that fateful day on which the Son of God incarnate in our human flesh laid down His life to save the world.  In the rhythm of the day as it appears in the Bible, evening marks the beginning of the day.  Darkness into light.  Evening into morning.  This is the evening Jesus was handed over; the morning would bring his death for the life of the world.

Jesus is in an upper room at a table with His disciples, His Twelve, His Israel.  They are celebrating the Passover, the Old Testament sacrament by which they were joined to Israel on the night they walked through a blood-stained doorway into freedom from slavery.  “This day shall be for you a day of remembrance, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, you shall observe it as an ordinance forever.”

At this table, Jesus gives to His disciples in two ways.  First, He gives them a pattern to follow, an example of sacrificial service, of holding others in higher regard than self.  He takes off his tunic, takes up a towel and a basin of water, and washes the dusty, dirty feet of His disciples.  The Lord and Creator of all, bends down to do the work of the lowliest of servants.  The Master becomes the slave.  He came not to be served, but to serve, and to lay down His life as a ransom for the many.

At first, Peter would have none of it.  Pride gets in the way of our being given to.  It is so terribly hard to be given to.  We say it whenever we receive an unexpected gift:  “You shouldn’t have.”  We mean it.  But Jesus, ever patient, persists.  Peter must learn the way of humbly receiving as well.  Before you can give of yourself in service, you must receive the divine service of the Suffering Servant.

In washing their feet, Jesus gave them an example to follow, “that you should do as I have done to you.”  This is what it means to live under Him in His kingdom and to serve Him.  He is the King who bows before His subjects and washes their feet.  In the face of that, is there any task beneath our dignity?  “A servant is not greater than His master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.”  What would Jesus do?  He would wash dirty, dusty feet.

If clean feet were all Jesus gave out that night in the upper room, then He would not have given anything new.  Examples are nice, and examples from the Lord are even better.  Who can argue with a Jesus example?  But apart from His death and life, apart from our union with Him as branches to the vine, we can do nothing.  The spirit may indeed be willing to wash feet, but the flesh is not only weak, it is dead.

So Jesus gives to His Twelve in yet another way.  Not the way of example but the way of sacrifice and gift.  He takes the bread that opens the Passover meal, the hard, unleavened bread of affliction, He gives thanks, and He breaks it into pieces, handing a piece to each of His disciples.  To receive the piece of bread is to be admitted to the meal.  You belong at this table.  He says words never before heard in a Passover liturgy:  “This is my body, which is given for you.”  His words tell us what we could not know for ourselves.  This bread is Jesus’ body – the very body that will later that day be given into death on the cross.  Here bread finds the highest and holiest use - to be the vehicle to deliver Jesus’ body, the Bread of Life, living Bread come down from heaven as manna to feed His Israel.  His Israel, His church, would live off the Bread of His death until He appears again in glory.

He takes the cup of wine after supper, the blessing cup.  He lifts His cup, gives thanks, and gives each of His disciples to drink from it.  Again, Jesus says words never before uttered in a Passover:  “This is the new covenant in my blood.”  Covenants were sealed with sacrificial blood sprinkled on the people.  This covenant blood is given to drink.  Here too, wine finds its ultimate purpose, binding those who drink of Jesus’ cup in a covenant of His blood.  In the Old Testament, blood stood for life.  “The life of the creature is in the blood.”  This blood of the new covenant is a blood that was poured out for us, in our place, for the forgiveness of our sins.

Washing feet was the example.  That was something the disciples could do - but giving His body to eat and His blood to drink; that was something only Jesus could do.  He unites them and us with Him in His death and life.  He is the vine; they are the branches.  His body and blood, His death and life flowing into them make them fruitful foot washers.  Apart from Him, they can do nothing.  Nor can we.

Jesus’ gracious invitation to us also is to come to His table on this night which commemorates the night on which He our Lord and Saviour was betrayed into death for us.  The same Meal He gave to His Twelve, He now gives to us.  Humbly we receive the bread He prepared for us and eat it.  It is His body, our manna to sustain us in our wilderness journey until we rise to walk in Promised Land.  Humbly we receive the cup He prepared for us and drink from it.  It is His covenant blood, poured out for the many, poured out for us.  This is wine from Calvary’s vineyard to gladden our sin-saddened heart.  What greater gift can Jesus give, than to give us the fruits of His sacrifice, His own Body and Blood?

He gives His all to us so that He might save the all of us.  Nothing stands outside His forgiveness.  Nothing can separate us from His self-sacrificing love.  No greater love is there than that this self-giving love that lays down its life for another.  In His Supper, at His table, He lays before us the gifts of His cross and says, “These are for you.”

Friends, from this holy Meal we arise refreshed, renewed, restored.  The unconditional grace of Jesus’ Body and Blood will enliven us in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another.  This is a sacrificial love that bends down in service of our neighbour - both friend and stranger; a love that washes dirty, dusty feet; a love that seeks to serve Christ in the least, the lost, the lowly.  I (Jesus) give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”Amen.

The love and peace of our great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen