A short service for the 3rd Sunday of Easter (26th April 2020)

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Theme Prayer
Risen Christ, you filled your disciples with boldness and fresh hope:
strengthen us to proclaim your risen life and fill us with your peace,
to the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

God’s Word - Luke’s Gospel, chapter 24, verses 13 to 35 :-

Two of the disciples were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, talking together about all that had happened.  As they talked and argued, Jesus himself came up and walked with them; but something prevented them from recognizing him. He asked them, ‘What is it you are debating as you walk?’ They stood still, their faces full of sadness, and one, called Cleopas, answered, ‘Are you the only person staying in Jerusalem not to have heard the news of what has happened there in the last few days?’ ‘What news?’ he said. ‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied, ‘who, by deeds and words of power, proved himself a prophet in the sight of God and the whole people; and how our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and crucified him. But we had been hoping that he was to be the liberator of Israel. What is more, this is the third day since it happened, and now some women of our company have astounded us: they went early to the tomb, but failed to find his body, and returned with a story that they had seen a vision of angels who told them he was alive. Then some of our people went to the tomb and found things just as the women had said; but him they did not see.’

‘How dull you are!’ he answered. ‘How slow to believe all that the prophets said! Was not the Messiah bound to suffer in this way before entering upon his glory?’ Then, starting from Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them in the whole of scripture the things that referred to himself.

By this time they had reached the village to which they were going, and he made as if to continue his journey. But they pressed him: ‘Stay with us, for evening approaches, and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. And when he had sat down with them at table, he took bread and said the blessing; he broke the bread, and offered it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; but he vanished from their sight. They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts on fire as he talked with us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’

Without a moment’s delay they set out and returned to Jerusalem. There they found that the eleven and the rest of the company had assembled, and were saying, ‘It is true: the Lord has risen; he has appeared to Simon.’ Then they described what had happened on their journey and told how he had made himself known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

This is a story from the evening of Easter Day itself. Two disciples, heading for home - they’ve heard about the empty tomb, but they have no idea what that means, and  - when they explain what they’ve been talking about to the stranger who has joined them on the road - most of what they say is framed in the past tense. How sad those words are: “We had been hoping . . .”! Stories of the tomb being empty counted for little in these men’s minds, because all the stuff that happened before was so obviously not what should have happened. Hopes and dreams lay in ruins; the story of a man who had so clearly been worth listening to, worth following, had instead ended in failure.

What follows is an object lesson  in evangelism, and in what it means to come to faith. Jesus first of all instructs the two disciples, explaining how what had seemed to them like failure was in fact what the scriptures had said must happen. This, he patiently tells them, was what God’s Messiah was always going to do.

Evangelism begins with instruction, and that instruction must rest in the scriptures. Anglican theology rests on the three pillars of scripture, reason and tradition, but the test of the second two of these must always be whether they are true to what the Bible teaches us.

Invitation plays a role in this story too. And evangelism, sharing what we believe, involves both inviting and responding to invitation. Here, Jesus makes as if to go on, but the other two press him to stay, and he enters their house. I find I’m reminded of Holman Hunt’s famous picture, “The Light of the World” (which in fact illustrates  Revelation 3.20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock”). It shows us Jesus standing at a door which, perhaps we don’t notice straight away, has no latch on his side. He waits on us to open it.

Once Jesus is inside the house, we see the second phase of the disciples’ arriving at a new and mature faith - encounter and recognition. As Jesus breaks the bread, they realise who he is. And recognition leads to commitment. They head back to Jerusalem without delay, despite the lateness of the hour. We see how faith leads to action. What we believe isn’t fully our own till we’ve shared it with someone else, and the two disciples just couldn’t wait to do that.

Let us pray: Lord, you walk with us on the dry and dusty roads of our lives, and you wait outside the doors of our hearts. Forgive us when we fail to respond to your call, or when we go astray. Forgive us when we don’t understand, and when we fail to recognise you. Clarify our vision, and help us to welcome you into our hearts and lives, to know your love and to share it with others.

May Christ who meets us in the breaking of bread, and gladly enters the door when we open it, heal, forgive and renew us in his service, so that we may share his risen life. Amen.

Anthem

1    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  ♦
who in his great mercy gives us a new birth as his children.

2    He has raised Jesus Christ from the dead,  ♦
so that we may have a sure hope in him.

3    The inheritance promised to us can never be spoilt  ♦
because it is kept for us in heaven.

4    The ransom that frees us was not paid in silver or gold,  ♦
but in the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without stain.

5 God raised him from the dead and gave him glory   ♦
so that we might have a sure faith and hope in him.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,  ♦
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.


Prayers

Pray for the peace of the world, giving thanks for the progress made in developing treatments, sharing understanding, and working towards being able to provide a vaccine, as we unite in the battle against covid-19. Pray too for countries battling other ills, and especially for nations in east Africa where there are huge locust swarms. Pray for the government of our own nation, and for those providing advice and leadership in science and medicine.

Pray that the Church everywhere may be marked by a strong and active and welcoming faith. Pray especially today for the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, and within our own Diocese for all who resource us in mission and outreach. Continue to pray for all who work in hospital chaplaincy.

Pray for those in need today: for all who grieve, for the worried and anxious, and for those who are struggling with isolation and loneliness. Pray for all who are ill, for those infected by the virus and for health workers and carers. Pray those on the front line may be kept safe from harm and infection.

Pray for our own communities and for our families and friends. May our faith bear fruit in witness, service and sharing. Give thanks for all who continue to be active helping others as volunteers, locally and nationally. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer for today and Blessing

May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. Amen.

May God our Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life.
And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.   Amen.

A short service for the 2nd Sunday of Easter (19th April 2020)

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Theme Prayer
Risen Christ, for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father.  Amen.

Confession
Jesus Christ, risen Master and triumphant Lord,
we come to you in sorrow for our sins,
and confess to you our weakness and unbelief.

Where we have lived by our own strength,
and not by the power of your resurrection, in your mercy, forgive us.
Lord, hear us and help us.
Where we have lived by the light of our own eyes,
as faithless and not believing, in your mercy, forgive us.
Lord, hear us and help us.
Where we have lived for this world alone,
and doubted our home in heaven, in your mercy, forgive us.
Lord, hear us and help us.

God forgives us: be at peace. [Pause]  Rejoice and be glad, for Christ is resurrection and reconciliation for all the human race.  Amen.

God’s Word - John’s Gospel, chapter 20, verses 19 to the end :-

Late that same day, the first day of the week, when the disciples were together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you!’ he said; then he showed them his hands and his side. On seeing the Lord the disciples were overjoyed. Jesus said again, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I send you.’ Then he breathed on them, saying, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you pronounce them unforgiven, unforgiven they remain.’

One of the Twelve, Thomas the Twin, was not with the rest when Jesus came.  So the others kept telling him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails on his hands, unless I put my finger into the place where the nails were, and my hand into his side, I will never believe it.’

A week later his disciples were once again in the room, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them, saying, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here; look at my hands. Reach your hand here and put it into my side. Be unbelieving no longer, but believe.’ Thomas said, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen me you have found faith. Happy are they who find faith without seeing me.’

There were indeed many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. Those written here have been recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this faith you may have life by his name.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Have you ever stopped to wonder just why Thomas wasn’t there with the others on that first Easter evening? The disciples were frightened and very confused. Something had happened, but they didn’t know what. One thing they all did know - it wasn’t safe for any of them out there. The doors were closed and locked. The sooner they could get out of Jerusalem, the better.

So why wasn’t Thomas with them? Here’s what I think. Someone had to find out what was going on, what the word was on the street if you like, maybe get provisions too - and Thomas was the one with guts enough to do it. So please don’t think of him as weedy and half-hearted, even if he did refuse to believe what the others told him had happened while he was out.

What did they tell him? That, despite the doors being locked, somehow Jesus was suddenly there with them. Not some angel masquerading as Jesus, but Jesus himself, with the wounds he had received visible in his hands and his side. He is there to reassure them, to speak a word of peace; and he is there to breathe his Holy Spirit upon them, and to commission them in his service. Here, in St John’s telling of the story, is where the Church begins.

Thomas very much wants to believe, but it’s too big a thing. He doesn’t trust himself to join the others in their delight. How crushed he would be if it turned out they were all mistaken after all! Notice that he doesn’t say he can’t believe it, but that he won’t believe it. I have to know for myself, to see for myself, to put my own fingers into the marks of the nails - so he tells them.

Thomas stands for all of us in his refusal to believe. However sure we may be in our Christianity, in the end it rests on faith and not on proof - except that for Thomas, that proof is wonderfully granted. One week later, today if you like, the Sunday after Easter Day, there is Jesus again, with all the proof Thomas needs. In the end he has no need to put his finger into the marks of the nails. “My Lord and my God,” he says - and those words are the only full acknowledgement of Jesus as divine spoken by anyone in the Gospels.

John tells us that these appearances both happened on Sundays. The early Church broke and shared the bread of communion on a Sunday, as one day we will do again, when our churches re-open. Whatever the actual date, that first Sunday back will be a celebration of Easter - as is every Sunday: that’s why we meet to worship on this day. And I think John wants us to know that, though we shall not see him and touch him as Thomas could, the risen Jesus meets us when we meet at his table. He shares himself with us in bread and wine, when we celebrate the new life his friends discovered that wonderful Sunday.

Anthem

1    You are worthy, our Lord and our God:  ♦
to receive glory and honour and power.

2    For you have created all things:  ♦
and by your will they have their being.

3    You are worthy, O Lamb who was slain:  ♦
for by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and nation.

4    You have made them a kingdom of priests to serve our God:  ♦
and they will reign with you on earth.

To the One who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honour, glory and might, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for peace and co-operation among nations in this time of stress and challenge, and pray for poorer nations that lack the resources they need, and  for refugees and those who are homeless. Pray for countries seeking to come out of lock-down, that they may do so safely.

Pray for the Church everywhere, and for its ministry of care and of praise throughout this Easter season. Pray for the churches of Ireland, and for the Anglican Church of Ireland. In our own Diocese, pray for the Leominster Deanery. Pray too for hospital chaplains and all who support them.

Pray for those in need today: for all who grieve, for the worried and anxious, and for those who are alone. Pray for all who are ill, and especially for those infected by Covid-19. Give thanks for the commitment and courage of health workers and carers, and pray they may be kept safe from harm and infection.

Pray for our own communities and for our families and friends. May we act with care and responsibility, and look out for our neighbours. Give thanks for all who have offered themselves as volunteers, locally and nationally.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer for today and Blessing

May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. Amen.

May God our Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life.
And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.   Amen.

A short service for Easter Sunday

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Theme Prayer
God of glory, by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Confession
Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us rejoice by putting away all malice and wickedness, and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart:

You raise the dead to life in the Spirit. Lord, have mercy.
(Lord, have mercy.)

You bring pardon and peace to the sinner. Christ, have mercy.
(Christ, have mercy.) 

You bring light to those who dwell in darkness. Lord, have mercy.
(Lord, have mercy.)

God forgives us: be at peace. [Pause]  Rejoice and be glad, for Christ is resurrection and reconciliation for all the human race.  Amen.

God’s Word - John’s Gospel, chapter 20, verses 1 to 10 :-

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance, and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we do not know where they have laid him.’

So Peter and the other disciple set out and made their way to the tomb.  They ran together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He peered in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter caught up with him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the napkin which had been round his head, not with the wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed; until then they had not understood the scriptures, which showed that he must rise from the dead.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Women came to the tomb early on Sunday morning, with the intention of anointing the body of Jesus, Mary of Magdala among them. And the tomb was empty, the stone rolled away. They were astounded and horrified - something dreadful had happened. Mary runs to where the disciples are hiding, not with glad tidings but a story of further desecration: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb . . .”

Who is this “they”? Probably the Jewish authorities, angry that this upstart messiah from Galilee should be dignified in death by a proper burial; or perhaps the Romans, anxious that the tomb might become a rallying point for those who preached rebellion against Rome. The story is over, they have seen Jesus die. The only reason Peter and the others are still there is that they had needed to wait out the Sabbath before they could leave Jerusalem for the relative safety of Galilee.

But then again, there was perhaps something that held them there. Peter and John had been with Jesus on the Mount of the Transfiguration, and while they couldn’t yet work out what it was they had seen that day, that glimpse before Calvary of resurrection glory, maybe lodged in their hearts was a sense that it couldn’t all just end here, even though they had seen him die, even though they had witnessed the victory of those who stood against him.

What was in their minds as they ran to the tomb, we can’t know - but run they did, maybe despairing at this new desecration, but maybe with just a little seed of hope beginning to germinate, as well.

What they found there changed everything. Had they found their Lord brought back to life, that would have been amazing and wonderful, but that isn’t what they found. They found an empty tomb, and the grave clothes that had bound the body of Jesus lying there, no longer needed.

The force of the original Greek here in John’s account is as though the body had risen, leaving the grave clothes lying as though they still clothed the body, except that now they did so no longer. Peter and (one assumes) John would have recognised that this was not like the bringing back to life of Lazarus, who had come out of the tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes. Jesus had not come back to mortal life, but on - on to the new life that is immortal and eternal, which he calls us to know and to share.

The Easter Anthems

1    Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us:  ♦
so let us celebrate the feast,

2    not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness:  ♦
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

3    Christ once raised from the dead dies no more:  ♦
death has no more dominion over him.

4    In dying he died to sin once for all:  ♦
in living he lives to God.

5    See yourselves therefore as dead to sin:  ♦
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

6    Christ has been raised from the dead:  ♦
the first fruits of those who sleep.

7    For as by man came death:  ♦
by man has come also the resurrection of the dead;

8    for as in Adam all die:  ♦
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world at this time of continued stress and challenge: as the Covid-19 virus continues its spread, pray especially for the poorer countries and communities that are least able to deal with its impact, for refugees and homeless people wherever they may be, for wise and co-operative leadership and for those engaged in research to find a vaccine.

Pray for the Churches of and peoples of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land at this Easter festival. It seems strange this day of all days not to be able to worship together in our church buildings, but give thanks for a Church still working here and worldwide to live and share the Easter message of the triumph of love.

Pray for those in need today: for all who grieve, for the worried and anxious, and for those who are alone. Pray for all who are ill, and especially for those infected by Covid-19. Give thanks for the commitment and courage of health workers and carers, and pray they may be kept safe from harm and infection.

Pray for our own communities and for families and friends. May we act with care and responsibility, and look out for each other. Give thanks for all who have offered themselves as volunteers, locally and nationally. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer for today and Blessing

May the light of Christ, risen in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. Amen.

May God our Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life.
And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.   Amen.

A reading and reflection for Easter Eve

Matthew, chapter 27, verses 55 to 66

A number of women were also present at the place of crucifixion, watching from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When evening fell, a wealthy man from Arimathaea, Joseph by name, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus, approached Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave orders that he should have it. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen sheet, and laid it in his own unused tomb, which he had cut out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone against the entrance, and went away. Mary of Magdala was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.

Next day, the morning after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came in a body to Pilate. ‘Your Excellency,’ they said, ‘we recall how that impostor said while he was still alive, “I am to be raised again after three days.” We request you to give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal the body, and then tell the people that he has been raised from the dead; and the final deception will be worse than the first.’ ‘You may have a guard,’ said Pilate; ‘go and make the grave as secure as you can.’ So they went and made it secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

~~~~’’’~~~~

And so our Holy Week journey draws to its close. We hear little about the women who helped and supported Jesus through his ministry, but here we learn that, though the disciples have (presumably) holed up somewhere, the women are there to witness the death of Jesus, watching from a distance as he is crucified. It would have been safer for them, perhaps, than for the disciples, who might well have been recognised - but even so, it must have taken great courage, and it will have been agonising. Their presence is a moving testimony to their love for him and their belief in him.

Little is known about Joseph of Arimathea. Even the identity and location of Arimathea as a town or city is unknown. But all four Gospels agree that it was Joseph (in John’s Gospel, accompanied by Nicodemus) who arranged for the burial of Jesus. A criminal’s body had to be buried the same day, according to Jewish Law, but it would have been impossible for any of the family or close companions of Jesus to have claimed his body - as Galileans, they might have been at risk themselves, and in any case none of them would have had a place for burial in or near Jerusalem.

So Joseph, a man of means and perhaps a member of the Jewish council, took the body, and placed it in a tomb, carved out of the rock face, which had been prepared for his own eventual use.  There would have been a stone bed within the tomb, upon which the body was laid, bound in its grave clothes. Matthew tells us that the Jewish leaders were afraid that the body of Jesus might be taken by his own disciples, so that they could claim he had risen from the dead, and so the great stone which would have been rolled across the mouth of the cave-tomb was, on Pilate’s orders, sealed and guarded.

Those words might suggest that there were those who, after Easter Day, were claiming exactly that: that it was Jesus’ own disciples that had perpetrated a hoax, and that there had been no resurrection. To that, I can only reply that, firstly, the accounts of the confusion and disbelief of the disciples when the tomb was found to be empty absolutely rings true, and secondly, almost all these men died as martyrs rather than give up their faith in Jesus - hardly the attitude of heart and mind you’d expect from hoaxers.

No, I can feel sure that they, and the women who saw where the body was laid, and Joseph of Arimathea himself, were all united in believing that this was the end of the road. They had believed in this man, they had been amazed at the things they had seen him do, enthralled by the things he had said, and it was hard to accept that it was all over. But it was, and all they could do, faced with this enormous truth, was to do their best to ensure he was looked after, treated well in death and buried safely, and then try to pick up the traces of their old lives.


Throughout the whole of this strangest of Holy Weeks, the impact of Covid-19 on our world, our nation and communities, and ourselves and families and friends, has never been far from our thoughts. One writer has described this time as like “the longest of all Easter Eves”. Pray for all who are watching and waiting today, for all who are fearful, for all who are ill, and for the many who are working or volunteering, often at great risk and cost to themselves, to provide care and support and hope through this strange and scary time.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”

A reading and reflection for Good Friday

Matthew, chapter 27, verses 1 and 2, and 11 to 54

When morning came, the chief priests and the elders of the nation all met together to plan the death of Jesus. They bound him and led him away, to hand him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.
Jesus was now brought before the governor; ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ the governor asked him. ‘The words are yours,’ said Jesus; and when the chief priests and elders brought charges against him he made no reply. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not hear all this evidence they are bringing against you?’ but to the governor’s great astonishment he refused to answer a single word.

At the festival season it was customary for the governor to release one prisoner chosen by the people. There was then in custody a man of some notoriety, called Jesus Barabbas. When the people assembled Pilate said to them, ‘Which would you like me to release to you—Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?’ For he knew it was out of malice that Jesus had been handed over to him.

While Pilate was sitting in court a message came to him from his wife: ‘Have nothing to do with that innocent man; I was much troubled on his account in my dreams last night.’

Meanwhile the chief priests and elders had persuaded the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death. So when the governor asked, ‘Which of the two would you like me to release to you?’ they said, ‘Barabbas.’ ‘Then what am I to do with Jesus called Messiah?’ asked Pilate; and with one voice they answered, ‘Crucify him!’ ‘Why, what harm has he done?’ asked Pilate; but they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, and that there was danger of a riot, he took water and washed his hands in full view of the crowd. ‘My hands are clean of this man’s blood,’ he declared. ‘See to that yourselves.’ With one voice the people cried, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.’ He then released Barabbas to them; but he had Jesus flogged, and then handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into his residence, the Praetorium, where they collected the whole company round him. They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet cloak; and plaiting a crown of thorns they placed it on his head, and a stick in his right hand. Falling on their knees before him they jeered at him: ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ They spat on him, and used the stick to beat him about the head. When they had finished mocking him, they stripped off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes. Then they led him away to be crucified.

On their way out they met a man from Cyrene, Simon by name, and pressed him into service to carry his cross. Coming to a place called Golgotha (which means ‘Place of a Skull’), they offered him a drink of wine mixed with gall; but after tasting it he would not drink.

When they had crucified him they shared out his clothes by casting lots, and then sat down there to keep watch. Above his head was placed the inscription giving the charge against him: ‘This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’ Two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.
The passers-by wagged their heads and jeered at him, crying, ‘So you are the man who was to pull down the temple and rebuild it in three days! If you really are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross.’

The chief priests with the scribes and elders joined in the mockery: ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he cannot save himself. King of Israel, indeed! Let him come down now from the cross, and then we shall believe him. He trusted in God, did he? Let God rescue him, if he wants him—for he said he was God’s Son.’ Even the bandits who were crucified with him taunted him in the same way.

From midday a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted until three in the afternoon; and about three Jesus cried aloud, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Hearing this, some of the bystanders said, ‘He is calling Elijah.’ One of them ran at once and fetched a sponge, which he soaked in sour wine and held to his lips on the end of a stick. But the others said, ‘Let us see if Elijah will come to save him.’

Jesus again cried aloud and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split, and graves opened; many of God’s saints were raised from sleep, and coming out of their graves after his resurrection entered the Holy City, where many saw them. And when the centurion and his men who were keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and all that was happening, they were filled with awe and said, ‘This must have been a son of God.’

~~~~’’’~~~~

It seems certain that the story of how Jesus suffered and died was written down before any other part of the Gospels, and used in the worship of the very earliest Christian communities.  The story as we read it has a liturgical feel to it, not least in the way in which it reflects the words of Psalm 22.

What strikes me is how, for the most part, even so it enables us to feel and to share the despair of Jesus’ friends and followers, the dashing of all their hopes. They had believed him to be the Messiah, the one God had sent to set his people free. Now they had to face up to the fact that they were wrong - and yet, how could they be? They had seen and heard such things - and yet, how could God’s holy one be killed, be helpless before the power of the governor and his soldiers? How could he be crucified?

Of course, they were right to recognise Jesus as the Messiah; they were wrong only in their understanding of what the Messiah had entered Jerusalem to do. They had in fact expected too little of him. But it would be a while before they came to see that. It would be a while before they could take in the truth of what had happened on this Friday, and see this day as Good. And for now it is good for us to share their despair and confusion, their sense of failure and loss. A good man, the greatest of all good men, is dying before their eyes, and all they could do was to abandon him. They are helpless, and hopeless, today.

This is our tragedy too. As Jesus says in John’s Gospel, the cross convicts us, it shows us what sin really is and what it does. Our sin: we can’t escape our share of the blame. All are involved, as the nails are hammered in, as the cross is erected, and as passers-by jeer and spit. And yet this is also our salvation. Jesus cried aloud at the moment of his death, and that shout was a shout not of pain or defeat but of victory - and he makes us part of that victory only he could win, in the bread and wine he shares with us, and in the love that draws us to the cross. But not yet; for now, let us feel the pain, and share the despair of this day, as Jesus the man dies the sinner’s death he of all men does not deserve.

Pray for all who share in the sufferings of the cross: for all who are abused, exploited or persecuted by others, and for all who are burdened by a sense of their own failure and sin.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”

A reading and reflection for Maundy Thursday

Matthew chapter 26, verses 36 to 68  

Jesus then came with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Distress and anguish overwhelmed him, and he said to them, ‘My heart is ready to break with grief. Stop here, and stay awake with me.’ Then he went on a little farther, threw himself down, and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Yet not my will but yours.’

He came back to the disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, ‘What! Could none of you stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray that you may be spared the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

He went away a second time and prayed: ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to pass me by without my drinking it, your will be done.’ He came again and found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away again and prayed a third time, using the same words as before.
Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Still asleep? Still resting? The hour has come! The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let us go! The traitor is upon us.’

He was still speaking when Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a great crowd armed with swords and cudgels, sent by the chief priests and the elders of the nation. The traitor had given them this sign: ‘The one I kiss is your man; seize him.’ Going straight up to Jesus, he said, ‘Hail, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. Jesus replied, ‘Friend, do what you are here to do.’ Then they came forward, seized Jesus, and held him fast.

At that moment one of those with Jesus reached for his sword and drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. But Jesus said to him, ‘Put up your sword. All who take the sword die by the sword. Do you suppose that I cannot appeal for help to my Father, and at once be sent more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say that this must happen?’

Then Jesus spoke to the crowd: ‘Do you take me for a bandit, that you have come out with swords and cudgels to arrest me? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple, and you did not lay hands on me. But this has all happened to fulfil what the prophets wrote.’  Then the disciples all deserted him and ran away.

Jesus was led away under arrest to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were assembled. Peter followed him at a distance till he came to the high priest’s courtyard; he went in and sat down among the attendants, to see how it would all end.

The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some allegation against Jesus that would warrant a death sentence; but they failed to find one, though many came forward with false evidence. Finally two men alleged that he had said, ‘I can pull down the temple of God, and rebuild it in three days.’ At this the high priest rose and said to him, ‘Have you no answer to the accusations that these witnesses bring against you?’ But Jesus remained silent. The high priest then said, ‘By the living God I charge you to tell us: are you the Messiah, the Son of God?’

Jesus replied, ‘The words are yours. But I tell you this: from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ At these words the high priest tore his robes and exclaimed, ‘This is blasphemy! Do we need further witnesses? You have just heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?’ ‘He is guilty,’ they answered; ‘he should die.’
Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists; some said, as they beat him, ‘Now, Messiah, if you are a prophet, tell us who hit you.’

~~~~’’’~~~~

The story deepens, and the tension mounts. We see the humanity of Jesus as he prays in the garden, as distressed and full of grief as any man would be, who knew himself to be on the verge of death. The disciples sleep. They are tired, and they don’t know what the night will bring. But Jesus does. He has known since before he mounted the donkey on which he rode into the city, just what would happen to him in Jerusalem. He would rather be anywhere else; none of us, no creature, wants to die. But Jesus, through the agony of his praying, is nonetheless able to say, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
And then, suddenly, the hour has come. Jesus is betrayed by the kiss of Judas, and is able to say to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” And those words must have burned inside Judas’ heart, once he realised what had really happened, what he had really done.

Perhaps Judas had wanted to force Jesus to fight. One of his disciples did draw a sword, but Jesus told him to put it away. What must they all have thought? The disciples, and for that matter the mob sent out to take Jesus . . . all of them must have expected something other than this, that he simply let himself be taken. Somehow, amidst all the confusion, Jesus remains serene. This isn’t everything going wrong; this is how it is supposed to be.

The disciples all deserted him, except that Peter didn’t, not quite. He followed along to see what would happen, maybe even with the crazy thought of somehow getting his Lord out of there. The mob sent to capture him took Jesus to the house of the high priest, Caiaphas. He couldn’t just be killed, this had to be done legally. There had a be a reason, a justification, for putting this man to death - not least because they couldn’t risk (especially at Passover) doing anything that did not have the approval of the Romans.

But none of the charges seem to stick. The rushed show trial is beginning to falter. So it falls to Caiaphas himself to save the day: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”  In his reply, having till this point remained silent, Jesus effectively pronounces a judgement on his accusers - that one day they will know the truth, they will know what they have done. They will see the glory of God, and know it condemns them.  But on this night his words are enough to ensure that all those gathered there will agree that he should die.


Pray for all in our world who suffer unjustly, for all places where the law is used to silence dissent and to further the interests of the powerful. And pray for all who stand firm against injustice, and who are ready to support the cause of those who are beaten down by others.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”

A reading and reflection for the Wednesday in Holy Week

Wednesday of Holy Week - Matthew chapter 26 verses 26 to 35

During supper Jesus took bread, and having said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples with the words: ‘Take this and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and having offered thanks to God he gave it to them with the words: ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, never again shall I drink from this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.’

After singing the Passover hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Tonight you will all lose faith because of me; for it is written: “I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of his flock will be scattered.” But after I am raised, I shall go ahead of you into Galilee.’ Peter replied, ‘Everyone else may lose faith because of you, but I never will.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you: tonight before the cock crows you will disown me three times.’ Peter said, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the disciples said the same.

~~~~’’’~~~~

Maundy Thursday, tomorrow, would normally see most parish clergy, and many other folk, travelling to the Cathedral for the annual Maundy service, where holy oils and blessed, priests and other ministers renew their vows, and we give thanks for the institution of the Eucharist, the Holy Communion which is the heart of our worship and fellowship. That, like so much else, cannot happen this year, but we remain a eucharistic community, bonded together in Christ, and living lives of thanksgiving for all he has done, for his saving love. At the table on that night he breaks bread and shares wine with special words, words that tie the disciples in to the sacrifice only he can make, ties us in too. The bread we share at communion bonds us together like any shared meal; but it also joins us to the historic event of that Last Supper, at which Jesus himself presides at table and says, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

Outside, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus quite bluntly tells his disciples that they will all fall away and abandon him. Maybe what he wanted to do was to just assure them that it didn’t matter, and that what he was doing only he could do - “You will all abandon me, but don’t beat yourselves up about that,” in effect. Peter, though, is adamant: “I’ll never lose faith!” he insists. Well, perhaps he didn’t lose faith, but there’s a lesson here about not promising more than you can give - even brave, foolhardy Peter would deny his Lord three times, just as Jesus predicted.

Now in fact Peter, far from abandoning Jesus, had bravely gone to the place where Jesus was under trial. And there he did the very sensible thing of keeping his head down. Whatever he might have imagined he could do, there would have been no point in getting himself arrested too. So with every good intention, when challenged he insists, “I never knew the man!”  But then the cock crows, and he realises what he has done.

Perhaps the most important thing about Peter’s story of having denied Jesus is that we know it. Peter would go on to be the leader of the new Church, and you might have therefore expected this story of his failure to have been hushed up. Matthew here is using material from Mark’s Gospel, the first to be written, and one of the ancient fathers of the Church tells us that Mark was Peter’s secretary, that he wrote down what Peter told him to write.

“See how we got it wrong,” Peter in effect says, both here and at many other places in the Gospel stories. “See how even I got it wrong.” Why does he say this? Partly to make clear that salvation is found only in Jesus, and partly to show how our accepting and forgiving Lord will still call us and use us, broken and imperfect though we are. So lets hear what happened when Peter came to the High Priest’s house.

Matthew, chapter 26, verses 69 to 75

Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant-girl accosted him; ‘You were with Jesus the Galilean,’ she said. Peter denied it in front of them all. ‘I do not know what you are talking about,’ he said. He then went out to the gateway, where another girl, seeing him, said to the people there, ‘He was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ Once again he denied it, saying with an oath, ‘I do not know the man.’  Shortly afterwards the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘You must be one of them; your accent gives you away!’ At this he started to curse and declared with an oath: ‘I do not know the man.’ At that moment a cock crowed; and Peter remembered how Jesus had said, ‘Before the cock crows you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside, and wept bitterly.

When our nerve fails us, or when we fail to speak out as we should, remember we have a Lord who is patient with our weaknesses, and who still, even when we let him down, chooses us and calls us as his friends. Pray for all who feel burdened by a sense of their own failure or unworthiness, and for a Church which reflects and channels the love of Christ by being open, welcoming, and a place of healing.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”

A reading and reflection for the Tuesday in Holy Week

Tuesday of Holy Week  -  Matthew, chapter 26, verses 14 to 25

Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests  and said, ‘What will you give me to betray Jesus to you?’ They weighed him out thirty silver pieces. From that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came and asked Jesus, ‘Where would you like us to prepare the Passover for you?’ He told them to go to a certain man in the city with this message: ‘The Teacher says, “My appointed time is near; I shall keep the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’  The disciples did as Jesus directed them and prepared the Passover.

In the evening he sat down with the twelve disciples; and during supper he said, ‘Truly I tell you: one of you will betray me.’ Greatly distressed at this, they asked him one by one, ‘Surely you do not mean me, Lord?’ He answered, ‘One who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  The Son of Man is going the way appointed for him in the scriptures; but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had never been born.’ Then Judas spoke, the one who was to betray him: ‘Rabbi, surely you do not mean me?’ Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’

~~~~’’’~~~~

The donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem was organised without the disciples knowing, and so too, it seems, was the location for the Last Supper. Arrangements had already been made, in great secrecy we may assume. It was important that Jesus had this time with his disciples before he was taken from them.

The main emphasis today, though, is on the man who betrayed him, and whose name has been given to every betrayer since: Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Judas had lost faith in Jesus; I used to think that he had therefore turned against him and decided to make whatever he could out of betraying him, and that may indeed be the situation here. When we idolise someone and then they turn out not to be what you thought they would be, adoration can turn a full 1800 into hatred.

But it may equally be that Judas, who like all the disciples was still thinking in terms of what Jesus had come to Jerusalem to do in terms of military victory and political change - the Romans out, the kingdom of David restored - was the one among them who was prepared to force the issue. He couldn’t understand why Jesus had held back from raising the rebellion he (and the crowds who shouted hosanna) had expected. So perhaps his aim was to force the issue, and to place Jesus into a situation where he had to fight. Only then could the rebellion begin.

I used to have a bit of a problem with those words of Jesus, “It would be better for that man had he never been born.” It sounds as though the Lord of forgiveness is saying that for this man there can and will be no forgiveness. It sounds harsh, it feels wrong. But now I see it differently: Jesus is speaking as he does out of compassion and understanding - he realises just how totally wretched Judas will feel when he realises how wrong he has been, and how stupid and futile his actions were that night. Whether he betrayed Jesus with good intentions or bad is in fact not important. He came to his senses, and realised that he had caused the death of the man he had followed as teacher and Lord. He could not understand that in fact this was what was bound to happen, this was the road Jesus had chosen to travel; so there was nothing to assuage his sense of worthlessness and guilt - he had destroyed all his hopes and dreams as well. He could not go on.

The story of Judas continues - and ends - with these verses from chapter 27, which we will take here out of sequence :-

Matthew, chapter 27, verses 3 to 10 

When Judas the traitor saw that Jesus had been condemned, he was seized with remorse, and returned the thirty silver pieces to the chief priests and elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said; ‘I have brought an innocent man to his death.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? It is your concern.’ So he threw the money down in the temple and left; he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests took up the money, but they said, ‘This cannot be put into the temple fund; it is blood-money.’ So after conferring they used it to buy the Potter’s Field, as a burial-place for foreigners. This explains the name Blood Acre, by which that field has been known ever since; and in this way fulfilment was given to the saying of the prophet Jeremiah: ‘They took the thirty silver pieces, the price set on a man’s head (for that was his price among the Israelites), and gave the money for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.’

Pray for those who are tempted to force the issue, or to create situations of conflict; and for those who for whatever reason become betrayers, or let down friends and colleagues. And pray for those who are betrayed, or forced into situations not of their choosing.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”

A reading and reflection for the Monday in Holy Week

Matthew chapter 26 verses 1 to 13 :-

When Jesus had finished all he had to say, he said to his disciples, ‘You know that in two days’ time it will be Passover, when the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’
Meanwhile the chief priests and the elders of the people met in the house of the high priest, Caiaphas, and discussed a scheme to seize Jesus and put him to death. ‘It must not be during the festival,’ they said, ‘or there may be rioting among the people.’

Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, when a woman approached him with a bottle of very costly perfume; and she began to pour it over his head as he sat at table. The disciples were indignant when they saw it. ‘Why this waste?’ they said. ‘It could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.’ Jesus noticed, and said to them, ‘Why make trouble for the woman? It is a fine thing she has done for me. You have the poor among you always, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body it was her way of preparing me for burial. Truly I tell you: wherever this gospel is proclaimed throughout the world, what she has done will be told as her memorial.’

~~~~’’’~~~~

Through Holy Week I shall be sending round my brief thoughts on the Passion Narrative in Matthew’s Gospel (chapters 26 and 27). Later in the week the readings will be much longer than this one . . . that’s just how the story goes.  Our reading begins with a plain statement of Jesus to his disciples, which they will not have understood. It was, after all, unthinkable that God’s Messiah could be crucified. So this “Son of Man” Jesus was talking about must (they would have thought) be someone other than himself.

But Jesus knew very well by this time where the road he had freely chosen to take would bring him. And although we are then given a glimpse of the chief priests and their allies plotting, in truth they were the unconscious agents of what God had already planned. We are just a few days short of the Passover, that great festival that celebrated the people’s liberation from slavery. It was necessary, Caiaphas and the others decided, to deal with this troublesome preacher before then. Time is short, then; the forces of darkness draw ever closer.

Yet the chief priests had not set out to do something evil, just for the sake of it. They were able to persuade each other that this was the only way to keep the peace, the difficult but manageable status quo by which Jerusalem the holy city accommodated itself to the Roman presence at its heart. Many bad things happen in our world not because of evil intent, but because people are short-sighted and self-interested, and don’t look beyond the immediate impact of their actions.

Jesus, meanwhile, is anointed with costly oil. We’re not told who by in this version of the story, but the disciples are appalled at the waste. Jesus rebukes them, telling them - though again they won’t have understood him - that she has anointed him for his burial. The disciples were speaking with the voice of common sense and prudence, but there are times when that is not enough, and this is one of them. Love is not something to be calculated or rationed, and love is what motivated this woman to do what she did. The greatest gifts are those we can barely afford, those that involve sacrifice. And sometimes the only opportunity we have to do something right and good is now: if it isn’t done at the moment we have, it won’t be done at all.

Thank you, Lord, for all whose service and sacrifice is so important to all of us right now.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”

A simple Service for Palm Sunday

Our third "simple service" while our churches are closed . . .

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

Hosanna to the Son of David, the King of Israel.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Theme Prayer
Assist us by your mercy, Lord, God of our salvation, as we begin our keeping of this Holy Week. Help us to contemplate the mighty acts which secured our freedom with understanding, humility and joy. By them you have given us life and immortality, and so blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Confession
Let us call on God’s loving mercy:
Turn us again, Lord, and let your anger cease from us. Lord, have mercy.
(Lord, have mercy.)
Show us your mercy, Lord, and grant us your salvation. Christ, have mercy.
(Christ, have mercy.) 
For your salvation is near for those who honour you. Lord, have mercy.
(Lord, have mercy.)

May the Lord our God set us free from the bondage of sin and fear, that in his service we may find our freedom, and in his will our peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 21, verse 1 to 11 :-

Jesus and his disciples were approaching Jerusalem, and when they reached Bethphage at the mount of Olives Jesus sent off two disciples, and told them: ‘Go into the village opposite, where you will at once find a donkey tethered with her foal beside her. Untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, answer, “The Master needs them”; and he will let you have them at once.’

This was to fulfil the prophecy which says, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, “Here is your king, who comes to you in gentleness, riding on a donkey, on the foal of a beast of burden.”’

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed, and brought the donkey and her foal; they laid their cloaks on them and Jesus mounted. Crowds of people carpeted the road with their cloaks, and some cut branches from the trees to spread in his path. Then the crowds in front and behind raised the shout: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the heavens!’

When he entered Jerusalem the whole city went wild with excitement. ‘Who is this?’ people asked, and the crowds replied, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Normally on Palm Sunday I wouldn’t preach, and instead we’d hear a reading of the Passion Gospel, this year in Matthew’s telling of the events. This year I’ll be using that Gospel as a reflection throughout Holy Week, so I’ll say just a few words about the Gospel of the Palms.

It was a set-up. Jesus had planned this carefully. Arrangements had been made, but the disciples knew nothing about it. When they went, though, to collect the donkey Jesus was to rise, the people there knew about it. Jesus wanted to fulfil one of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah in the way he entered the Holy City. And the people responded, with palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna!”

We may well think of “Hosanna!” as equivalent to “Hooray!” - but in fact it’s more than that.  My dictionary describes it as “an expression of adoration, praise or joy”, but in fact its Biblical use always has to do with being saved, delivered, set free. “Lord, save us!” the people were shouting - specifically identifying Jesus as the one through whom God would deliver his people from their slavery.  The people thought - as did the disciples - in terms of being delivered from slavery to the Romans. But Jesus had a greater work to perform.

The city went wild with excitement, we’re told. Frankly, I don’t really buy that one. City folk are more cynical than that, I think. And some in the city would certainly have been thinking in terms of a threat to be controlled or removed, rather than a saviour who would deliver them.  And Jesus wanted to provoke that response. Having entered the city to shouts of hosanna, he went straight to the Temple and caused a rumpus there, throwing out the money-changers, overturning the tables of those who sold doves - fulfilling another prophecy, this time from Malachi, and in the process stirring up a hornet’s nest.

And there I’ll pause, with just this thought. As we read through them, the events of Holy Week may look like a man out of his depth, easily snuffed out by the powers that be - more easily in fact than they expected. But look a little deeper, and you see that all along in reality it’s Jesus who controls events, setting himself quite deliberately to walk the way of the cross.

Statement of Faith
God is our strength and our salvation, our rescuer and mighty deliverer;
in love he has walked among us, taking the way of the cross;
he has lifted from our shoulders the burden we could not bear,
and by his Holy Spirit he calls and equips us to show and share his love.

Anthem 
1    Christ Jesus was in the form of God,  ♦
yet he did not cling to equality with God.

2    He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,  ♦
and was born in our human likeness.

3    Being found in human form he humbled himself,  ♦
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

4    Therefore God has highly exalted him,  ♦
and bestowed on him the name above all names.

5    That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow;  ♦
in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

6    And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,  ♦
to the glory of God the Father.

Prayers

Pray for the needs of the world: where there is conflict and division, may people heed the call for peace made last week by the United Nations and Pope Francis. May we work together in response to the challenges of today, and have a special regard for the poor and those who are refugees.

Pray for the Church of God and for our keeping of this Holy Week. May our faith sustain us and also encourage us in care for those around us. May we bring Christ’s message of love into every place of darkness and pain.

Pray for those in need today: for all who grieve, for the worried and anxious, and for those who are alone. Pray for all who are ill, and especially for those infected by Covid-19. Give thanks for health workers and carers, and pray they may be  kept safe from harm and infection.

Pray for our own communities and for families and friends. May we act with care and responsibility, and look out for each other. Give thanks for all who have offered themselves as volunteers, locally and nationally. Continue to pray for all whose incomes, homes and settled lives are put at risk by the Coronavirus outbreak and the shutdown of so much of our community life.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer for today and Blessing
Hosanna to the Son of David! Lord Christ, Servant King, challenge us by your humility to turn aside from the way of the world and walk instead your path of compassionate love. Amen.

May Christ crucified draw us to himself, to find in him
a sure ground for faith, a firm support for love,
and the assurance of sins forgiven.
And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.   Amen.