Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Father, glorify your name! A voice came from heaven saying "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." I have often wondered what the meaning of Passion Sunday is really about. The reading describes an agony worse than most of us ever have to face in our lifetime. On one level it is terror, fear of indescribable pain and suffering, worse than having to go into hospital to undergo some major life saving treatment, one from which you know that you are unlikely ever to become conscious again and may die soon after. Jesus in his humanity knew his crucifixion was going to be just about the worst thing that anyone could undergo. At a deeper level, Jesus was guided by the underlying principle of why all of this was necessary. Preachers are renowned for shouting out "Jesus died for your sin". Sin is lethal enough as it obstructs the relationship which we are all invited to enter into with the living God. But Jesus turns our attention to something even worse, as if there could be anything which is worse than sin. He says, "Now it the time for judgement on this world, the prince of this world will be driven out. I will liken the condition of sin and acts of sin to a tiny seed which has the potential to grow into some large ugly and poisonous weed. This has the ability to dominate the scene of lives and can work towards influencing and destroying the lives of others. Does the dark prince or Satan have to tempt us to start on this journey? I believe he can but we are capable of getting into our own mess without his help. However, there comes a time when we encounter the author of sin and rebellion, the father of lies, and can find ourselves acting out his agenda whether we are fully aware of it or not. Like some form of addiction, this relationship will ensnare those willing to walk into the trap. So Jesus is saying to us, "Good News" The evil one will be dealt with, he will be removed and will no longer have any influence over this world. It is a very welcome judgement, it is justice and righteousness for the future. It invites the question, when this judgement comes, where do I stand? I know that if I think long enough about sinful thoughts, the action and doing is only a matter of time. But if I keep saying to myself "I will not think about this" it is a sure way to make certain that I am reminding myself about it constantly. It is a bit like laying in bed urging yourself to fall asleep quickly, and you are still awake three hours later. Today's reading provides an answer. Jesus says that when He is lifted up he will draw all people unto Himself. Putting Him up on the cross did not provide a quick solution to get him out of the way so that the rest of humankind could move on. That event still draws many to him today, even as it has during the ages. In another sense, when Christians meet today with an agenda, "We want to lift Jesus up! Father we so very much want to see your name glorified," that is when we know His presence with us and we see Jesus working in our midst. People are drawn to Him and to each other. It has been wonderful to remember occasions when God has so obviously been in a place of worship and there have been miracles and anointing. But we lift the name of Jesus because it is our right, it is our bounden duty and above all it is our joy. So when sin enters the mind, turning our eyes upon Jeus is the perfect distraction. He becomes the all significant and everything else is diminished. On the news this week I heard a presenter saying that today's world is becoming more complex, more demanding and moving at a pace where people can no longer keep up. I was thinking of the words 'more chaotic'. We should expect our Lord's intervention soon. I would like to leave you with the words of a well known hymn, appropriate for Passion Sunday. Fill every part of me with Praise Let all my being speak Of thee, and of thy love O lord Poor though I be...... and weak.
We need mothering throughout our lives from the cradle to the grave. We have not all given birth to physical babies but we are all called to be like Jesus and mother others. There are times when we need more mothering than others, particularly when we are babies and young children and for most of us as we age and move towards our deaths. Some are able to accept the dying process more easily than others, whilst others rage against their lack of independence. Some enjoy the support of having their family around them, whilst others cannot bear to have them taking over their personal care and prefer to die in hospital or a care home. Most of those who have reached the end of their lives from St Leonard’s have done so with loving families around them, slipping peacefully into the life of the world to come trusting that when loved ones can no longer hold them they will be continued to be loved and held by God. My own parents preferred to be in hospital and fade away without us present. I think that was sad because mothering a loved one at the end of their lives brings out the best in us. It gives us an opportunity to say loving words, to forgive, to bless, kiss, hold and finally release. Eventually we move beyond the need for physical gifts. The consolation or comfort we need can only come through nurses, doctors, friends and family and ultimately from God. Paul writing to the Corinthians was suffering physical persecution. He couldn’t be with the church he loved which was also suffering. He could only console those he loved with the same comfort he received from God. Christ suffered for us. We will therefore move through our sufferings to eternal life. One of our Eucharistic prayers compares God to a mother. “As a mother tenderly gathers her children, you embraced a people as your own. When they turned away and rebelled your love remained steadfast. From them you raised up Jesus our Saviour, born of Mary, to be the living bread, in whom all our hungers are satisfied.” Many scriptures compare God to a mother. He is the one who groans in childbirth, gives birth to us, who never forgets us, who like a mother has our names written on the palms of his hands and the one who provides all our needs Whilst only a mother can physically carry, give birth and feed the baby from her own milk, all of us are called to share in the other roles traditionally associated with motherhood. In John’s gospel a group of women stand near the cross as Jesus dies. All but one of the men has run away. The men must have felt as helpless as we all do when faced with the death of someone we love. There was nothing they could do to stop Jesus being crucified and they couldn’t bear to watch his suffering. The women were in danger. Foul mouthed, violent soldiers and those who came to mock those they hated surrounded them. Instead of comforting them, even their religious leaders were mocking Jesus. Grief- stricken and exhausted; they had probably had little sleep or food for days, the women waited. They suffered together with Jesus. I expect they held each other physically in love. Jesus was beyond their touch but he knew they were there and that they loved him. Mothering involves suffering. Jesus was painfully aware of the distress of his family standing by, particularly his mother’s. At times she must have felt confused and rejected by Jesus as he pursued his calling. There was nothing more that Mary could do for her Son. The one she bore in her womb, cuddled, fed, nurtured and raised was dying and she could not reach, hold him or wipe away the blood or alleviate his suffering in any way. It is dreadful for parents when their child dies before them. With Mary was the disciple who he loved (who the gospel reveals in the last chapter is John), his mother’s sister (identified as Salome in Matthew, the mother of James and John the beloved disciple), Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. All had walked closely with Jesus for a long while. Mothering means being there for your children when they are little, and for your parents and whoever you are called to serve at the end of their lives, waiting, watching and weeping with them. Jesus, from the cross mothered these brave, courageous women and the disciples he loves in a practical way ensuring that for the rest of their time on earth they would be cared for. Jesus, the eldest Son of Mary would not be able to care and provide in the way eldest Sons were expected to do. Joseph had died and Mary’s other children did not believe in him yet. Life would not be easy for her. So he gave the care of his mother to the disciple he loves, who was also his cousin, and the care of his disciple to his mother. Mothering means taking responsibility. Other sources tell us that John did care for Mary in his home in Ephesus where a community of believers grew. We are all loved disciples and called to be family. I believe that when John uses the phrase beloved disciple he is not just speaking about himself but of all faithful followers of Christ. Mary is one of our mothers in the faith and John is one of our fathers. This passage is about more than what happened to John and Mary. This is about the beloved or ideal disciple treating an older woman who is not his natural mother as part of his family Jesus doesn’t address Mary as Mother but as “woman” and the Greek doesn’t actually say the beloved disciple took her home but that he took her to himself. He took her as his mother and cared for her and Mary took him as her Son to mother and tend. Jesus shows us that in God’s community we love and nurture one another as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children of God One in which we receive the love of God who is both our Father and Mother and one in which we also receive his love through the love we show for each other Mary and John did not choose their new relationship. It came because about they stood close to the cross of Jesus and Jesus died for them so that we might be born of God, cleansed from our sin, and filled with the Holy Spirit and God’s love. Like a mother giving birth, Jesus shed his blood and water gushed from his side. Like a mother he laboured. Dying on the cross was the culmination and focus of the work he had been called to do It was painful, just as giving birth is painful but joy was to come with a new community of Spirit filled believers coming to birth who would bear the family resemblance, and be like him so his work on earth would continue. God of love, passionate and strong, tender and careful: watch over us and hold us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
We need mothering throughout our lives from the cradle to the grave. We have not all given birth to physical babies but we are all called to be like Jesus and mother others. There are times when we need more mothering than others, particularly when we are babies and young children and for most of us as we age and move towards our deaths. Some are able to accept the dying process more easily than others, whilst others rage against their lack of independence. Some enjoy the support of having their family around them, whilst others cannot bear to have them taking over their personal care and prefer to die in hospital or a care home. Most of those who have reached the end of their lives from St Leonard’s have done so with loving families around them, slipping peacefully into the life of the world to come trusting that when loved ones can no longer hold them they will be continued to be loved and held by God. My own parents preferred to be in hospital and fade away without us present. I think that was sad because mothering a loved one at the end of their lives brings out the best in us. It gives us an opportunity to say loving words, to forgive, to bless, kiss, hold and finally release. Eventually we move beyond the need for physical gifts. The consolation or comfort we need can only come through nurses, doctors, friends and family and ultimately from God. Paul writing to the Corinthians was suffering physical persecution. He couldn’t be with the church he loved which was also suffering. He could only console those he loved with the same comfort he received from God. Christ suffered for us. We will therefore move through our sufferings to eternal life. One of our Eucharistic prayers compares God to a mother. “As a mother tenderly gathers her children, you embraced a people as your own. When they turned away and rebelled your love remained steadfast. From them you raised up Jesus our Saviour, born of Mary, to be the living bread, in whom all our hungers are satisfied.” Many scriptures compare God to a mother. He is the one who groans in childbirth, gives birth to us, who never forgets us, who like a mother has our names written on the palms of his hands and the one who provides all our needs Whilst only a mother can physically carry, give birth and feed the baby from her own milk, all of us are called to share in the other roles traditionally associated with motherhood. In John’s gospel a group of women stand near the cross as Jesus dies. All but one of the men has run away. The men must have felt as helpless as we all do when faced with the death of someone we love. There was nothing they could do to stop Jesus being crucified and they couldn’t bear to watch his suffering. The women were in danger. Foul mouthed, violent soldiers and those who came to mock those they hated surrounded them. Instead of comforting them, even their religious leaders were mocking Jesus. Grief- stricken and exhausted; they had probably had little sleep or food for days, the women waited. They suffered together with Jesus. I expect they held each other physically in love. Jesus was beyond their touch but he knew they were there and that they loved him. Mothering involves suffering. Jesus was painfully aware of the distress of his family standing by, particularly his mother’s. At times she must have felt confused and rejected by Jesus as he pursued his calling. There was nothing more that Mary could do for her Son. The one she bore in her womb, cuddled, fed, nurtured and raised was dying and she could not reach, hold him or wipe away the blood or alleviate his suffering in any way. It is dreadful for parents when their child dies before them. With Mary was the disciple who he loved (who the gospel reveals in the last chapter is John), his mother’s sister (identified as Salome in Matthew, the mother of James and John the beloved disciple), Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. All had walked closely with Jesus for a long while. Mothering means being there for your children when they are little, and for your parents and whoever you are called to serve at the end of their lives, waiting, watching and weeping with them. Jesus, from the cross mothered these brave, courageous women and the disciples he loves in a practical way ensuring that for the rest of their time on earth they would be cared for. Jesus, the eldest Son of Mary would not be able to care and provide in the way eldest Sons were expected to do. Joseph had died and Mary’s other children did not believe in him yet. Life would not be easy for her. So he gave the care of his mother to the disciple he loves, who was also his cousin, and the care of his disciple to his mother. Mothering means taking responsibility. Other sources tell us that John did care for Mary in his home in Ephesus where a community of believers grew. We are all loved disciples and called to be family. I believe that when John uses the phrase beloved disciple he is not just speaking about himself but of all faithful followers of Christ. Mary is one of our mothers in the faith and John is one of our fathers. This passage is about more than what happened to John and Mary. This is about the beloved or ideal disciple treating an older woman who is not his natural mother as part of his family Jesus doesn’t address Mary as Mother but as “woman” and the Greek doesn’t actually say the beloved disciple took her home but that he took her to himself. He took her as his mother and cared for her and Mary took him as her Son to mother and tend. Jesus shows us that in God’s community we love and nurture one another as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children of God One in which we receive the love of God who is both our Father and Mother and one in which we also receive his love through the love we show for each other Mary and John did not choose their new relationship. It came because about they stood close to the cross of Jesus and Jesus died for them so that we might be born of God, cleansed from our sin, and filled with the Holy Spirit and God’s love. Like a mother giving birth, Jesus shed his blood and water gushed from his side. Like a mother he laboured. Dying on the cross was the culmination and focus of the work he had been called to do It was painful, just as giving birth is painful but joy was to come with a new community of Spirit filled believers coming to birth who would bear the family resemblance, and be like him so his work on earth would continue. God of love, passionate and strong, tender and careful: watch over us and hold us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Where do you feel at most at home with God? Is it in a beautiful building, in bed at night, in a garden or by the sea, or none of these places? Maybe the place doesn’t matter. Do we need church buildings to worship God? Our little church building is nothing like a vast temple, but it is an oasis of calm, a beautiful jewel in a stunning location, a place where God has been worshipped for a thousand years. Those of us who worship there feel connected to those who have gone before us and feel the presence of God in a special way when there. Prayer has seeped into the brickwork. Many church buildings are in a poor state of repair and we cannot afford the present number of buildings and clergy. Whatever happens won’t be as traumatic as the events which led to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. There is no building today that functions like the temple did. It was the most holy Jewish place. All male Jews were expected to visit in their lifetime, and those living within a radius of fifteen miles were expected to attend at all festivals. Sacrifices for sin were made in obedience to the law so Jewish people could meet with God. People from all over the known world came to celebrate the festivals swelling the population of Jerusalem at Passover to over two and a half million. They would sing psalms as they journeyed and see the temple shining in the sun from many miles away, beautiful, grand and covered with gold and marble. Because Passover, the most important feast of the Jewish calendar was near, Jesus went to Jerusalem with his disciples to celebrate the feast. In the temple as expected, he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. He drove all of them out. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. Jesus expressed his anger in a way we would find unacceptable. He was not having a temper tantrum. He planned his action using a whip of cords. Why? The reconstruction of the temple was begun by Herod the Great, the king of Judea who tried to kill all the male babies at the time Jesus was born, who slaughtered many members of his own family. The Ark of the Covenant representing the presence of God no longer dwelt there. By the time Jesus ministered it had been under construction for forty six years and wasn't complete. The long Western Wall of the Temple Mount was the length of about 4.5 football fields. It stood 10 to 16 storeys tall, having many rooms. At the back was the Holy of Holies, cut off from the rest of the building by a heavy curtain. Only the high priest could enter with the blood of an animal once a year on the Day of Atonement to make an offering for the sins of the people. Next to the Holy of Holies was the Sanctuary with its golden altar. Only selected priests could go there about once in their lifetime to burn incense and worship at the golden altar. Next to the altar was the bread of presence and lamp stand. Only chosen priests, were allowed anywhere near it. The inner courtyard of the Israelites was where the men gathered. In the outer courtyard there was the court of women, the farthest point that women were allowed to go. Within it stood four massive lamp stands, each 86 feet tall and 13 collection boxes where the rich made a show of giving their offerings. As you entered the complex, there was the court of Gentiles, the only place they were allowed. It was far from a place where they could worship. The money changers, unlike our own volunteers were paid to maintain and finance worship. The upkeep of the temple and payment of priests was costly. Heavy financial and physical burdens were placed on worshippers. Each Jew over the age of nineteen had to pay a temple tax on top of their taxes to Romans of half a shekel, the equivalent of two days wages. It could only be paid in shekels as other currencies were considered unclean. Many different currencies were used in Jerusalem but they couldn’t be used in the temple. The money changers exchanged other currencies to shekels. They would charge for this service and often made another day’s pay out of the worshipper on top of their tax. The wealth the temple was bringing in was immense, far more than was needed. This was unjust. Pilgrims seeking God were being fleeced and they couldn’t afford it. The Jews were expected to sacrifice animals either in thanksgiving or as a way of making atonement for their wrong doing. It made sense, since the sacrifices took place in the temple which was often awash with blood, for the animals to be sold there too. The atmosphere of the temple was smelly, noisy and smoky. The animals had to be examined before being killed to see if they were without spot and blemish. If worshippers bought the animal outside the temple precincts, faults would be found. Worshippers were trapped into buying the most expensive animals available. The inspectors took their fee and the cost of animals within the temple might be as much as eighteen times more than the cost of an animal bought outside. The only place the Gentiles could worship in was in this marketplace. The temple was meant to be a house for all nations. All the people of the earth were supposed to be blessed through Israel. Instead they were excluded and distanced from the place where Jews believed God resided. Jesus may have been angry because temple worship was a sham. The temple was not reconstructed to reflect the glory of God but to increase Herod’s power, enabling him to control the Jews. It privileged the priestly elite. It was hierarchical and socially unjust Jesus ordered, “Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ because it provided the opportunity for many employees and entrepreneurs to fleece the people. More importantly Jesus cleared the temple to show sacrifices of animals were no longer needed. Centuries before, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Hosea proclaimed that God had no delight in burnt offerings. According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus’ act of vandalism took place just after he had rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and been hailed as King. It was direct provocation before his crucifixion and death. John places this incident at the beginning of his ministry. This doesn’t mean it happened twice. It was sandwiched between Jesus turning water into wine and teaching on being born again, a sign that Jesus was the new place, the temple where we can find God. The old covenant where animals were sacrificed had come to an end. Jesus was giving his life, as the sacrifice for everyone’s sin and though his body would be destroyed on a hill outside the temple precincts, in three days he would rise from the dead. Jesus, the life giver is the temple we go to for forgiveness and new life. Like Jesus we need to be angry and speak out when we see injustice both in our society and church. Profiteering from our congregations is unacceptable. The temple was finally completed around 63 AD. Just seven years later in 70 AD, the temple and much of its surroundings were totally destroyed by the Romans. All the money put into it was wasted. Jewish and early Christian communities were dispersed and worshipped wherever they were able, in people’s homes, and in catacombs. New life in Christ became available for all. As Christians placed Jesus at the centre of their worship and served the poor they grew together in love and faith. Do we need church buildings, priests and temples to worship God? No! We can feel at home with God whenever we reach out to him in prayer. We become the temple the Holy Spirit fills with himself, full of love, praise, power and glory, both when we meet together, in a home or online and when as individuals we pray alone. Eternal God, give us insight to discern your will for us, to give up what harms us, and to seek the perfection we are promised in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
