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Sunday 17th April, 2011 Passion Sunday – Palm Sunday

Sentence
At the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:10-11

Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, in Your tender love towards us You sent Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon Him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross that all should follow the example of His great humility; mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of His patience and also be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 50: 4 – 9

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 31: 9 – 18

Have mercy upon me O Lord, for I am in trouble: my eyes waste away for grief, my throat also and my inward parts
For my life wears out in sorrow, and my years with sighing: my strength fails me in my affliction and my bones are consumed
I am become the scorn of my enemies: and my neighbours wag their heads in derision
I am a thing of horror to my friends: and those that see me in the street shrink from me
I am forgotten like one dead and out of mind: I have become a broken vessel.
For I hear the whispering of many: and fear is on every side
While they plot together against me: and scheme to take away my life
But in You, Lord, have I put my trust: I have said, ‘You are my God.’
All my days are in Your hand: O deliver me from the power of my enemies, and from my persecutors
Make Your face to shine upon Your servant: and save me for Your mercy’s sake.

Epistle Philippians 2: 5 – 11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

GOSPEL Matthew 27: 11 – 54

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him." Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!" So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." Then the people as a whole answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept watch over him.
Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, 'I am God's Son.'" The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament
In today’s Advertiser (12/6/10) there was an article that indicated that women do not like meek men, but rather prefer the more pushy variety. It seems to contradict a lot of what women have been saying about violent males. Today’s passage from Isaiah would indicate that Jesus would have little attraction for modern females, and that may be somewhat revealing!
In this (one of a series of) Servant Song(s) the prophet poses the necessary approach he would understand necessary for the People or Person of God to work towards the resolution of the ‘human dilemma.’ This Faith once delivered is not about securing heaven for you as much as it is about restoring humanity to life here, in peace and community, that we never manage to reach. The Faith is far more ‘earthed’ than many people begin to realize – which is partly the reason why the ‘Church’ fails to win the support of far more people. We’d rather be involved in internal bitching!
The real problem? Whilst the ‘normal’ human approach to the conflicts would tend to be to use power, control and force when necessary, the prophet posits a rather different approach. Sadly, not many believers take much notice of Isaiah (or Jesus come to that) and so miss the point as well as the remedy!
The reality was that Isaiah was almost totally ‘spot on,’ as the life, death and resurrection of Jesus indicates. As opposed to that, the ‘normal human response’ only ever leads to exacerbation of the problem! Thank God for the Gospel!


Psalm
Before you write this off as the sorry-for-self outpourings of a tragic, do stop and realize that when someone who has lived truly and is caught in the machinations of someone evil, there was seen to be little in the way of hope. Only someone who has been there themselves would be aware of the despair and even terror. Now this was the boat in which Jesus found Himself, and this Psalm being there on Passion Sunday is an attempt to help us enter, even minutely, into how it would feel to be pushed into such a sharp-edged corner.

Epistle
I have said it before and repeat it now: if this was the only part of the New Testament we had in our hands, it would be sufficient to understand the potency of the Gospel. AS mentioned previously, please see this passage, said to be the words of a very early Christian hymn, draw the contrast between Adam (Gen 3) and Jesus. It posits a radically different approach to life and service, and that is the process of reconciliation, not division.
Do not be misled by the reference to Jesus being ‘highly exalted’ and so reversing the result of His humility. Notice that in Eucharistic prayers, the ‘honour and glory and power’ are to be understood as parallel, not opposite, of humility and service. If that does not ‘gel’ with you, please get in touch.

GOSPEL
On Passion Sunday there is rarely a sermon preached, but the Passion Narrative is read in toto.
However, may I say that I have great difficulty with sermons or other references to the crucifixion of Jesus that concentrate on the pain and suffering of Jesus, in particular when that is allied with that as the presumed expression of God’s wrath on human sin. Such a ‘theology’ of the Passion entirely misses the point of the Atonement as Biblically expressed from Isaiah onwards. There will be those who disagree; may I simply offer an hypothetical. If I were in the odd position of needing to forgive my daughter for some sin however fearful by taking out my rage on my son and requiring his death, then I would be acting in a fearfully unjust and megalomaniac manner.
The reality is that Jesus overcame evil by absorbing it, not by killing off the perpetrators. Very few Christians have -- even yet! –come to terms with that reality. In order to retain their ‘theology,’ they pursue their vengeance – in diametric opposition to the Biblical Gospel. The wonder of forgiveness – and its enormous risky yet therapeutic purpose would seem to need a far more close and constructive examination.