Year B 6th Sunday in Lent Palm/Passion Sunday 1 April 2012
Isaiah 50: 4-9a Psalm 31: 9-18 Philippians 2: 5-11 Mark 14:1 - 15:47
Palm Sunday is the week before Easter, where we hear the passion of Jesus being read.... the whole sad story. It begins in triumph with the church singing “hosanna” in the same way as the ancient people did as they welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
“Hosanna” means “God Save now” or “save us now” and although it is a prayer request it had become a proclamation of praise.... like a faith filled statement – a prayer for God to help, yet praise because God is sovereign and we acknowledge him as such and therefore able to save. I wonder if we ever realize this as we say the word ourselves. “God save us now”! – It becomes praise because we know that God has saved us already.
There is so much to be said about such a long reading that we can sometimes just get lost in the familiarity of the story. Something that stuck me as I read the readings was this verse from Isaiah:
Isaiah 50:4 “4 The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
We live in a time of great education. We’ve considered education so important that it is compulsory for our children. So we all have an ability to have a well instructed tongue and an awakened ear. Our tongue is able to pass on truths that we learn by listening and listening involves inner listening to the wisdom of others through the study of other people’s words. The important thing to note about the verse from Isaiah is the purpose of our education, and that is, to sustain the weary.
I was commenting to a friend this morning that our generation is doing a great disservice to our children because we have brought them up to be concerned about their education and career and in doing so taught them to look out for themselves only and their own needs. We wonder why they don’t know how to have successful relationships, but the answer is simple - A relationship requires thinking and caring about the other person before thinking about ones own wants.
Our verse puts learning into perspective. If we have knowledge it is not just for our own benefit, but is for the benefit of others.
We see this important aspect in our second reading also, in St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians;
Phillippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
We discover that not only did Jesus serve others but he endured humiliation for the sake of others. Being crucified meant that Jesus appeared to be a criminal. Can you imagine? Jesus was proclaimed as the messiah and the son of God at his entrance to Jerusalem that week, but was then humiliated in the eyes of all by being crucified as a common criminal. He would have seemed a fraud to so many. For surely, many of these people did not know the full story that we read about Jesus, but would only know of his reputation, and that reputation would now be like that of the disgraced television evangelist.
There are times in our lives when we experience the disgust of people who think that we are too fundamentalist in our beliefs.
We can stay silent and all people will think how nice we are and how easy to get on with, or we can speak out and risk the “hostile stare” – or worse.
The truth about Jesus is not always going to be popular. It wasn’t popular even for Jesus and although we know the eternal salvation that his life brought about, it sure didn’t seem that way to so many of Jesus’ contemporaries.
Jesus was crucified because the truth. He claimed to be the Son of God – the messiah – God incarnate. Although he didn’t say it in those words, we know that the implications of his actions screamed this fact to those who were familiar with the scriptures – the Pharisees and religious. There were really only two logical actions that they could take; believe in Jesus and proclaim him “LORD” or reject him, and that would mean proclaiming him guilty of blasphemy. This is what they did.
Today, these are still our only logical choices. You can’t say that Jesus was a prophet. He was not crucified because he was a prophet.
Mark 14:60-65 “Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.”
These people decided that Jesus was a liar. Have you ever told the truth but no one believed you? It is a horrible feeling and must have been the most humiliating and frustrating thing for Jesus to be so publicly proclaimed as such by his death on the cross.
And so the story continues and we read about the crucifixion of Jesus. While many hurled abuse and scoffed at his lack of power in the light of his previous claims, there was the centurion who witnessed the way that Jesus died and made up his mind that Jesus was indeed the Son of God:
Mark 14:30-39” At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
The evidence of the truth about Jesus was overwhelming and still is, but people will refuse to believe, not because of logic, but because they don’t want to.
The words that Jesus cried out while on the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are a quote from psalm 22. Those who witnessed Jesus death who knew the scriptures should have seen the amazing prophecy being fulfilled by being reminded of this psalm. The psalm describes being mocked for trusting in God and exactly the words that people were saying about Jesus. It also describes his hands and feet being pierced and people casting lots for his clothes. Yet the psalm ends with a proclamation of God’s saving and that this grace of God will be proclaimed to a people yet unborn.
But wait, there is more! There are other prophecies in the scriptures that relate to Jesus and should have been obvious to those familiar with scripture. From our first reading:
Isaiah 50:6-7 “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.”
At this point in time we have free will. We can freely choose to respond to the truth of Jesus or reject it. Even if we reject the truth, the truth remains. Gravity is a truth that impacts upon us whether we believe in it or not. If we live in denial of this truth we will be hurt.
In the same way, we have an historical man, Jesus. He was crucified because he claimed to be the messiah – the Son of God – God incarnate. He rose from the dead. We can live in denial but the fact remains – and that fact has a huge impact on our lives whether we acknowledge it or not, but one day we will have to face the truth and our instructed tongue will need to proclaim this truth:
Philippians 2: 9 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
In our hearts most of us say, “Amen” to the truth about Jesus, but do our lives bare witness to the “instruction” and the “learning” that we have or do we live as though we do not believe it? We are given this instruction for the purpose of “sustaining the weary”.... we are meant to pass the instruction on.... A record number of suicides in Mackay in the last week indicate that we need for every believer to really think about our responsibility and respond.....
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Reflection on readings 25th March 2012
Year B Fifth Sunday in Lent 25 March 2012
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Psalm 119: 9-16 Hebrews 5: 5-10 John 12: 20-33
The Psalm begins with a riddle and its answer:
Psalm 199:9 “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
This morning I was thinking of those students from years ago who confronted me with the statement that they didn’t believe in God because their Grandfather had died. I thought of the action I wish I’d taken: I wish I had taken into the class room a perfect flower and asked the class how long the flower would live.
We know that there is a life cycle of birth, growth and death – it is all around us as something very natural and yet when it comes to people dying we can’t accept it. I found the same thing myself. When Joe died, it struck me very strongly that even people who were prepared for the inevitable, (me), could not accept it. It is as though our whole being rejects and cannot compute what we know to be “natural”.
More strongly than ever I believe that God created us to live eternally. It may be an old theological explanation to talk about how it is because of sin that came through Adam that we now die, but it is the only explanation.
Without this explanation of the fundamental consequence of sin, the story of the scriptures makes no sense.
We are nearing the end of the season of Lent. It is a season which is set by the church to remind us of our sinfulness, our need for God and God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life for us.
1. Our sinfulness:
We live in a society where children rarely experience the consequence of their actions. We are conditioned by society to overlook the deeds of children and teenagers because of their youth. We need only to listen to contemporary songs to know that rebellion is glorified as something admirable. We have bred a generation of people who think they can do no wrong, and when things don’t go their way they blame everyone and everything else around them instead of acknowledging their own guilt.
While there has always been an element the “youth being rebellious” and behaving contrary to previous manners throughout generations, I think the difference with now is that there is no “watch dog” to point out the error. In fact, we all try to be “youth” and “cool adults”.
An example of “cool adults” would be of a subject that came up on my school reunion’s facebook page:
One lady posted about her teenage daughter going to parties where they were all drinking alcohol. Other mothers got on and commented about how they buy the drink for their kids and informed her that it is normal and fine. Hmmm… of course I was the unpopular one who said it is illegal.
When we give our kids alcohol and they are underage, we are teaching them to break the law!!!! We are teaching them that they are “okay” and doing nothing wrong when they break the law.
I have known people who were involved in sexual abuse cases who didn’t think they did anything wrong. Eg. She said no, but her body language said yes….. ! They don’t see that they did anything wrong. They don’t see themselves as sinful and they don’t see any need to “repent”.
Our society does not see itself as sinful! And most importantly, we, the people in society do not see ourselves as sinful. Why are there so few people in church? No one can see any need for church. Everyone thinks they can be “good” without it and without God.
2. Our need for God:
Our first reading comes from the prophet Jeremiah at a time when the people had broken the covenant of God. In many ways this ancient group was like our society today. They refused to live God’s way and when they were left to live in the consequences of their actions, many still refused to believe and follow God.
Being taken over by another people and sent to live in exile was a natural phenomenon, and so the people still refused to turn to God. But somewhere in their sadness some did turn to God. There was an element of “Lamenting”. For certain, they became aware that they could not fight these battles in their own strength.
At this time God sent a message of hope:
Jeremiah 31:33 “33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Previously God had made a covenant to be the God of the people of Israel and he gave them His law, but the people broke the law.
God knows that we, in our human strength, can’t keep his law, but do we know how unable we are?
It is the New Testament readings that shed light on this subject. There was the Pharisee who prayed in the temple, “I thank you God that I’m not like this sinner…..” and then there is the wonderful passage from Matthew’s Gospel that tells us that even if you have been angry with your brother and had hurled angry words at him you’ve as good as committed murder.
Maybe you are like me. I get into conversations with people and start talking about things that bother me. In the process I don’t necessarily say anything wrong or untrue, but perhaps things that are not my place to say - things that are possibly harmful. Some things do need to be said, but every now and then I get a stab of “something”, which I believe is the spirit of God telling me that I crossed the line and need to shut up. This comes from the promise of God to plant his law in our hearts. It isn’t just a general conscience that we like to think everyone has. Not everyone is awake to the promptings of the Spirit.
Without the Spirit of God we cannot discern what is of God and what is not. We have generations of God’s people in the Bible who can testify to this. WE NEED GOD. Not just to save us from our sin, but to help us to keep his law.
3. God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life:
Our Gospel tells about that grain of wheat which dies. If it dies it bares much fruit. It reminds me that I have one marigold flower in my garden. When that flower dies I can pull the petals off and discover numerous seeds which I will scatter and then have lots of flowers in the future – hopefully.
Jesus was talking about his own life. The purpose for Jesus’ life was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of humankind.
Jesus was seen as a leader, a good man, a prophet and a threat. Jesus was a threat to the power that was held by the religious leaders at the time. He was a threat to all the powers of evil in the spiritual realm.
I can remember going to youth camps and feeling frustrated as the leaders would say, “God has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life”. I couldn’t see any wonderful things happening. I saw people being exalted to positions of power within the church and community, but I seemed to only ever get myself into trouble. I wrote letters to the paper about issues and received people’s anger. I wrote one letter about the brothel coming to Mackay and had my family telling me that I needed to be quiet and just let people do what they want. I have had blatant lies spread about me and Joe, which cost me at least one job and have had other lies spread about me in the past also. So I’m kind of confused about this “Wonderful plan and purpose”.
I had always felt a calling to preach. After speaking to one speaker I was encouraged to write. Be faithful to that calling in whatever way was in my control and the rest would fall into place….. Still waiting.
Many others would, and have, used events like these, like losing a loved one, lies spread about them and other things, to serve as an excuse to give up on God and church. It does get hard sometimes and I do get despondent, but we have been told that following Jesus does involve “taking up your cross”.
There is a wonderful plan but it isn’t always the way we see it and often won’t be realized as wonderful until we are living in eternity. Even Jesus was really not keen on being a sacrifice.
Hebrews 5: 7-10 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus was perfect and sinless, but he also became perfect – or proved his perfection through obedience to God’s plan for his life.
If we don’t understand or accept the truth of God’s plan we can not accept that our saviour had to die for us. If we don’t understand this we will not truly grasp the eternal salvation that he has gifted us with.
In many ways, even when we do accept the message of God, we still find its truth beyond our comprehension. We really do need the help of the Holy Spirit and this new covenant where God writes his law in our minds and hearts. And this new covenant could only come into being through this death and resurrection of Christ and his gift of the Holy Spirit.
When the going gets tough, St John’s Gospel tells us that:
John 12:26-28 “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Psalm 119: 9-16 Hebrews 5: 5-10 John 12: 20-33
The Psalm begins with a riddle and its answer:
Psalm 199:9 “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
This morning I was thinking of those students from years ago who confronted me with the statement that they didn’t believe in God because their Grandfather had died. I thought of the action I wish I’d taken: I wish I had taken into the class room a perfect flower and asked the class how long the flower would live.
We know that there is a life cycle of birth, growth and death – it is all around us as something very natural and yet when it comes to people dying we can’t accept it. I found the same thing myself. When Joe died, it struck me very strongly that even people who were prepared for the inevitable, (me), could not accept it. It is as though our whole being rejects and cannot compute what we know to be “natural”.
More strongly than ever I believe that God created us to live eternally. It may be an old theological explanation to talk about how it is because of sin that came through Adam that we now die, but it is the only explanation.
Without this explanation of the fundamental consequence of sin, the story of the scriptures makes no sense.
We are nearing the end of the season of Lent. It is a season which is set by the church to remind us of our sinfulness, our need for God and God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life for us.
1. Our sinfulness:
We live in a society where children rarely experience the consequence of their actions. We are conditioned by society to overlook the deeds of children and teenagers because of their youth. We need only to listen to contemporary songs to know that rebellion is glorified as something admirable. We have bred a generation of people who think they can do no wrong, and when things don’t go their way they blame everyone and everything else around them instead of acknowledging their own guilt.
While there has always been an element the “youth being rebellious” and behaving contrary to previous manners throughout generations, I think the difference with now is that there is no “watch dog” to point out the error. In fact, we all try to be “youth” and “cool adults”.
An example of “cool adults” would be of a subject that came up on my school reunion’s facebook page:
One lady posted about her teenage daughter going to parties where they were all drinking alcohol. Other mothers got on and commented about how they buy the drink for their kids and informed her that it is normal and fine. Hmmm… of course I was the unpopular one who said it is illegal.
When we give our kids alcohol and they are underage, we are teaching them to break the law!!!! We are teaching them that they are “okay” and doing nothing wrong when they break the law.
I have known people who were involved in sexual abuse cases who didn’t think they did anything wrong. Eg. She said no, but her body language said yes….. ! They don’t see that they did anything wrong. They don’t see themselves as sinful and they don’t see any need to “repent”.
Our society does not see itself as sinful! And most importantly, we, the people in society do not see ourselves as sinful. Why are there so few people in church? No one can see any need for church. Everyone thinks they can be “good” without it and without God.
2. Our need for God:
Our first reading comes from the prophet Jeremiah at a time when the people had broken the covenant of God. In many ways this ancient group was like our society today. They refused to live God’s way and when they were left to live in the consequences of their actions, many still refused to believe and follow God.
Being taken over by another people and sent to live in exile was a natural phenomenon, and so the people still refused to turn to God. But somewhere in their sadness some did turn to God. There was an element of “Lamenting”. For certain, they became aware that they could not fight these battles in their own strength.
At this time God sent a message of hope:
Jeremiah 31:33 “33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Previously God had made a covenant to be the God of the people of Israel and he gave them His law, but the people broke the law.
God knows that we, in our human strength, can’t keep his law, but do we know how unable we are?
It is the New Testament readings that shed light on this subject. There was the Pharisee who prayed in the temple, “I thank you God that I’m not like this sinner…..” and then there is the wonderful passage from Matthew’s Gospel that tells us that even if you have been angry with your brother and had hurled angry words at him you’ve as good as committed murder.
Maybe you are like me. I get into conversations with people and start talking about things that bother me. In the process I don’t necessarily say anything wrong or untrue, but perhaps things that are not my place to say - things that are possibly harmful. Some things do need to be said, but every now and then I get a stab of “something”, which I believe is the spirit of God telling me that I crossed the line and need to shut up. This comes from the promise of God to plant his law in our hearts. It isn’t just a general conscience that we like to think everyone has. Not everyone is awake to the promptings of the Spirit.
Without the Spirit of God we cannot discern what is of God and what is not. We have generations of God’s people in the Bible who can testify to this. WE NEED GOD. Not just to save us from our sin, but to help us to keep his law.
3. God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life:
Our Gospel tells about that grain of wheat which dies. If it dies it bares much fruit. It reminds me that I have one marigold flower in my garden. When that flower dies I can pull the petals off and discover numerous seeds which I will scatter and then have lots of flowers in the future – hopefully.
Jesus was talking about his own life. The purpose for Jesus’ life was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of humankind.
Jesus was seen as a leader, a good man, a prophet and a threat. Jesus was a threat to the power that was held by the religious leaders at the time. He was a threat to all the powers of evil in the spiritual realm.
I can remember going to youth camps and feeling frustrated as the leaders would say, “God has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life”. I couldn’t see any wonderful things happening. I saw people being exalted to positions of power within the church and community, but I seemed to only ever get myself into trouble. I wrote letters to the paper about issues and received people’s anger. I wrote one letter about the brothel coming to Mackay and had my family telling me that I needed to be quiet and just let people do what they want. I have had blatant lies spread about me and Joe, which cost me at least one job and have had other lies spread about me in the past also. So I’m kind of confused about this “Wonderful plan and purpose”.
I had always felt a calling to preach. After speaking to one speaker I was encouraged to write. Be faithful to that calling in whatever way was in my control and the rest would fall into place….. Still waiting.
Many others would, and have, used events like these, like losing a loved one, lies spread about them and other things, to serve as an excuse to give up on God and church. It does get hard sometimes and I do get despondent, but we have been told that following Jesus does involve “taking up your cross”.
There is a wonderful plan but it isn’t always the way we see it and often won’t be realized as wonderful until we are living in eternity. Even Jesus was really not keen on being a sacrifice.
Hebrews 5: 7-10 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus was perfect and sinless, but he also became perfect – or proved his perfection through obedience to God’s plan for his life.
If we don’t understand or accept the truth of God’s plan we can not accept that our saviour had to die for us. If we don’t understand this we will not truly grasp the eternal salvation that he has gifted us with.
In many ways, even when we do accept the message of God, we still find its truth beyond our comprehension. We really do need the help of the Holy Spirit and this new covenant where God writes his law in our minds and hearts. And this new covenant could only come into being through this death and resurrection of Christ and his gift of the Holy Spirit.
When the going gets tough, St John’s Gospel tells us that:
John 12:26-28 “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Reflection for 18th March 2012
Year B Fourth Sunday in Lent 18 March 2012
Numbers 21: 4-9 Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2: 1-10 John 3: 14-21
This weekend we will all become aware that it is St. Patrick’s Day, and even those who have no Irish heritage will celebrate the good stuff of celebration and a little silliness. The playful silliness has become synonymous with the Irish culture and the deliberate way of putting things back to front for the sake of humorous relief, is sometimes light and playful and sometimes to point out the ridiculous in our normal seriousness.
While we may think of it as Irish, this putting things in a somewhat “back to front” fashion, it is a feature that we can often see throughout the scriptures.
In our first reading we see the first example of what seems to be a strange and back to front way of dealing with a people who are grumbling and disobedient. Moses had led the people out into the desert. God had rescued them from their slavery in Egypt, but I am guessing that they felt it was a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. In the desert things were not pleasant. Although God had provided food for them, it was limited and there was a lack of water and certainly no crops for them to harvest and make bread from. So the people grumbled against God.
What would you do if you were God in this circumstance?
Now God does something very odd, and sends poisonous snakes into the Israelite camp. Many of the people were bitten and died, but instead of grumbling again, they actually realise that this is happening because they have sinned against God.
To understand what is happening here we need to go back to the story in Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned it was through the influence of the serpent. When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden the serpent was also told that he would slide on his belly and bite the offspring of the woman.
The Israelites immediately recognised the snakes as the physical embodiment of their sin. They knew the story of Adam and Eve and the snake, and in recognizing their sin they appealed to God.
The next part of the story seems even more back to front. God instructs Moses to make a replica of a snake and put it on a pole. When the people were bitten they could look at the replica and they would live. It was as simple as that. No potions, no sacrifices or strange and difficult demands.....
It always seemed odd to me that God didn’t make some symbol of himself that the people would look to and be saved – instead it was a symbol and a reminder of their sin. Not just their sin while they were there in the desert grumbling, but it was a symbol of the sin of the human race from the time of Adam and Eve. To look at the replica of the snake was like an acknowledgement of both personal sin and the sin of the whole community and race.
We need to fully comprehend what is happening in this story because when we do we will understand the life and sacrifice of Jesus a lot better.
Jesus was the perfect man who did no wrong. The bronze replica of the snake didn’t bite anyone. The snake looked like those that did cause death, and Jesus looked like a normal human –and the only kind of human we know, are those who are less than perfect – and we call all who are less than perfect, sinners.
Even though in Jesus there was no sin, he was the replica of those who do sin. Jesus was emersed in our sin - the same sin as the bronze snake – both the personal and the community and that of the human race. ...and he took that sin to the cross where the debt for sin – which is death and separation from God, was paid for.
Our Gospel reading tells us:
John 3:14,15 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
The people only needed to look at the bronze snake and they were healed. We need only believe and we are blessed with eternal life.
The Gospel of John goes on to explain that if we believe we are not condemned, but those who don’t believe are condemned already. I feel that this needs to be emphasised. Maybe, it is not God that gets things back to front, but we are the ones who get things out of order.
There are two issues of concern. One is that we realise our responsibility in our need for the saving grace of God.
We often see children blaming the teachers for giving them a detention. Especially in the case of teenagers, they will label those teachers with names that I can not repeat. The truth of the matter is that the teacher is not responsible for the detention, but the student. Parents will often fall into this trap too. The child gets into trouble for doing something wrong and both the parents and children see the punishment as something the parent is responsible for. We need to teach our children that their actions are the cause of the unpleasant punishment and not the parents and not the teachers.
We do our kids a great disservice if we do not teach them their own responsibility. If they don’t understand that they are responsible for their actions they won’t understand their need for God.
The other issue of concern is that many Christians feel they we are still condemned by our sin when we are not. That is, we don’t fully comprehend that when we have turned to God we are completely restored.
God has saved the world through the gift of the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the good relationship which exists and in this relationship there is no condemnation, but the saving grace exists under the banner of a relationship. If a person chooses not to have a relationship with God then they are freely choosing not to look to that which can save them. But if we do look to God we are completely saved.
In St. Paul’s letter he explains:
Ephesians 2:1-5: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
When the Israelites were in the desert and the snakes bit them they looked to the bronze snake on the pole and were saved - End of story. By looking at the snake they were recognizing their sin and their need for God. This is all that God requires for us to be saved. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. It is God’s will that everyone be saved and he goes as far as sacrificing himself to achieve this. But we have free will.... and we need to freely choose to look to him.
Numbers 21: 4-9 Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2: 1-10 John 3: 14-21
This weekend we will all become aware that it is St. Patrick’s Day, and even those who have no Irish heritage will celebrate the good stuff of celebration and a little silliness. The playful silliness has become synonymous with the Irish culture and the deliberate way of putting things back to front for the sake of humorous relief, is sometimes light and playful and sometimes to point out the ridiculous in our normal seriousness.
While we may think of it as Irish, this putting things in a somewhat “back to front” fashion, it is a feature that we can often see throughout the scriptures.
In our first reading we see the first example of what seems to be a strange and back to front way of dealing with a people who are grumbling and disobedient. Moses had led the people out into the desert. God had rescued them from their slavery in Egypt, but I am guessing that they felt it was a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. In the desert things were not pleasant. Although God had provided food for them, it was limited and there was a lack of water and certainly no crops for them to harvest and make bread from. So the people grumbled against God.
What would you do if you were God in this circumstance?
Now God does something very odd, and sends poisonous snakes into the Israelite camp. Many of the people were bitten and died, but instead of grumbling again, they actually realise that this is happening because they have sinned against God.
To understand what is happening here we need to go back to the story in Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned it was through the influence of the serpent. When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden the serpent was also told that he would slide on his belly and bite the offspring of the woman.
The Israelites immediately recognised the snakes as the physical embodiment of their sin. They knew the story of Adam and Eve and the snake, and in recognizing their sin they appealed to God.
The next part of the story seems even more back to front. God instructs Moses to make a replica of a snake and put it on a pole. When the people were bitten they could look at the replica and they would live. It was as simple as that. No potions, no sacrifices or strange and difficult demands.....
It always seemed odd to me that God didn’t make some symbol of himself that the people would look to and be saved – instead it was a symbol and a reminder of their sin. Not just their sin while they were there in the desert grumbling, but it was a symbol of the sin of the human race from the time of Adam and Eve. To look at the replica of the snake was like an acknowledgement of both personal sin and the sin of the whole community and race.
We need to fully comprehend what is happening in this story because when we do we will understand the life and sacrifice of Jesus a lot better.
Jesus was the perfect man who did no wrong. The bronze replica of the snake didn’t bite anyone. The snake looked like those that did cause death, and Jesus looked like a normal human –and the only kind of human we know, are those who are less than perfect – and we call all who are less than perfect, sinners.
Even though in Jesus there was no sin, he was the replica of those who do sin. Jesus was emersed in our sin - the same sin as the bronze snake – both the personal and the community and that of the human race. ...and he took that sin to the cross where the debt for sin – which is death and separation from God, was paid for.
Our Gospel reading tells us:
John 3:14,15 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
The people only needed to look at the bronze snake and they were healed. We need only believe and we are blessed with eternal life.
The Gospel of John goes on to explain that if we believe we are not condemned, but those who don’t believe are condemned already. I feel that this needs to be emphasised. Maybe, it is not God that gets things back to front, but we are the ones who get things out of order.
There are two issues of concern. One is that we realise our responsibility in our need for the saving grace of God.
We often see children blaming the teachers for giving them a detention. Especially in the case of teenagers, they will label those teachers with names that I can not repeat. The truth of the matter is that the teacher is not responsible for the detention, but the student. Parents will often fall into this trap too. The child gets into trouble for doing something wrong and both the parents and children see the punishment as something the parent is responsible for. We need to teach our children that their actions are the cause of the unpleasant punishment and not the parents and not the teachers.
We do our kids a great disservice if we do not teach them their own responsibility. If they don’t understand that they are responsible for their actions they won’t understand their need for God.
The other issue of concern is that many Christians feel they we are still condemned by our sin when we are not. That is, we don’t fully comprehend that when we have turned to God we are completely restored.
God has saved the world through the gift of the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the good relationship which exists and in this relationship there is no condemnation, but the saving grace exists under the banner of a relationship. If a person chooses not to have a relationship with God then they are freely choosing not to look to that which can save them. But if we do look to God we are completely saved.
In St. Paul’s letter he explains:
Ephesians 2:1-5: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
When the Israelites were in the desert and the snakes bit them they looked to the bronze snake on the pole and were saved - End of story. By looking at the snake they were recognizing their sin and their need for God. This is all that God requires for us to be saved. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. It is God’s will that everyone be saved and he goes as far as sacrificing himself to achieve this. But we have free will.... and we need to freely choose to look to him.
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