21st Sunday after Trinity

Readings: Isaiah 53v4-end; Psalm 91v9-end; Hebrews 5v1-10; Mark 10v35-45.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

A Word: Paul teaches us that the message of the cross and what Jesus did for us on it is difficult to make sense of and understand. This is a mystery that many people struggle with, for why would a loving and good God allow such a terrible thing to happen? Some people find the message that Jesus died for us so difficult to accept that they turn away. Sadly, in turning away, they reject what God is offering to all who dare to accept all that God has done for us. For as we hear in the psalm appointed for today, we have a God who wants to deliver us, to help us in our troubles and to bring us to honour and salvation. This Salvation plan is something that God was working out from the beginning of time and has shared with us through the Bible. Just like the reading from the prophet Isaiah, which is a prophecy that foretells about the suffering servant of God. A servant who is wounded, crushed and punished for our sins, then led to the slaughter. A servant of the Lord who was righteous and had done nothing wrong. A servant who carried away all the sins of humanity, so each one of us could be made whole and perfect in the eyes of God. A servant who would be crushed by our pain in order to carry away all of our sins.

In our time, as Christians, we believe that this servant was Jesus. Jesus, the one who in the last days of his life was betrayed, abandoned and denied by his friends. Jesus who was tried and found guilty and sentenced to die by a kangaroo court. Jesus who was abused and tortured before being hung up to suffer and die on a cross. Jesus who was guilty of nothing yet killed alongside two criminals. This is the same Jesus who in the gospel of Mark is telling the brothers James and John that the two people who will sit beside him when he comes into his glory - will be people who are drinking the same cup that he is to drink. Looking back at the crucifixion, it now looks as though Jesus knew that his time of glory would occur on the cross. This is something that Jesus’ disciples had not yet really understood - because if they had, maybe they would not have been so angry with James and John. 

For, on the cross, Jesus was the servant of all, including the two criminals who died at his side. And, on the cross, the glory of the Lord counteracted the poison of sin and death, as Jesus suffered and died in our place. And, through the cross, God’s glory came into the world to rescue the whole of humankind – those past, those present and those still yet to come. For, as we hear in the letter to the Hebrew, Jesus was appointed by God to be a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. A priest who offered up prayers and supplications as he suffered and died on the cross. Prayers that were heard by the Father and are the source of salvation for all who obey God the Father, follow Jesus the Son and are inspired by the Spirit of God. Prayers that continue forever for God’s beloved creation and sinful humanity. Prayers that call each of us to follow Jesus as his servants in the world. Servants with many different roles. Servants with varied purposes to fulfil. Servants called by God and appointed to fulfil God’s plans and purposes in the world.

Let us pray: Dear Father of Light and Lord of all, the one in whom there is no change or shadow of turning, we thank you for all your good and perfect gifts, we ask you to pardon and cleanse us from all our sins, we thank you for your word of truth that gives us new life, we ask you to guide us so we can serve you with quiet minds, and in so doing to become living signs of your Kingdom where all creation will be made perfect in Jesus. Amen

Thank you for joining us.