Talks, Sermons and Reflections

Matthew 27:45-56 At 3pm before he dies, Jesus cries out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ It was a declaration that was misunderstood then. They thought that Jesus was calling on Elijah. There was a belief at the time that Elijah would come and rescue those who were righteous. And it is a declaration that is misunderstood today. Some say that Jesus is saying it because he is wanting to quote from Psalm 22, which speaks of both suffering and the eventual vindication of the one who suffers. But Jesus only quotes the first verse and I very much doubt that even he, hanging on the cross, would have been able to think as clearly as that. Others say that Jesus is saying it because he felt that he was abandoned by God, but in fact he wasn’t. God was there all the time. My own take is that this is a cry of utter desolation. Jesus is crying out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ because God has forsaken his Son. The Father has turned his bac...

Matthew 20.17-34 From today the Church focuses on the last few days of Jesus’ life; and our reading tells us about two events that Matthew places immediately before the Triumphal entry. It prepares us for that event, and for the crucifixion. It is a passage which speaks to us of: 1.       The deep obedience of Jesus Jesus goes to Jerusalem. He knows what it will mean (Matt 20.18-19). He will be betrayed: someone who is speaking good to him to his face is plotting how to do bad to him. He will be condemned to death He will be mocked, flogged and then crucified. The key word here is a Greek word, ‘paradidomi’. It means, literally, to be handed over. And it suggests not only the action of Judas handing Jesus over to the chief priests and scribes, nor just the action of the chief priests and scribes handing Jesus over to the Gentiles to be crucified. It hints at something more: the handing over of Jesus, the Son, by God the Father, i...

We turn now to what was the sixth cry of Jesus from the cross. ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30) I guess it could have been a cry of anguish – the whole thing was a waste of time, but the farce is ended. It might have been a cry of relief – the suffering is over. But we are to hear this as a cry of victory. ‘It is finished. The task that I have been given has been accomplished.' John writes, ‘When Jesus had received the drink ..’. He has already mentioned this drink in John 18:11. There Jesus commands Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” What is this cup? In the Old Testament we are told that the cup is the cup of the wrath of God, of God’s hatred against sin. So Psalm 75:8, ‘For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs’. Jeremiah 25:17, ‘So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all...

Matthew 27:45-54 Show pictures of some separating walls and ask people which countries they come from.  Could include: Jerusalem , Great wall of China , Berlin wall, wall in Northern Ireland , Mexican/Texan border, Korea etc. .  The greatest and most serious walls/divide ever was in Jerusalem . It was not between people and people, but between people and God. It was not a wall, but a curtain. It was the curtain in the temple, which separated the Holy of Holies (the place of God) from the people. Bring out three adults to form a barrier. If appropriate ask if there are any children who would like to try and break through the barrier. Have a controlled mini rugby match!   This barrier completely separated human beings from God It was put there by human beings: we reject God. We ignore God. We live without reference to God. And if we believe in God, we believe in a God who exists to help us. That is what sin is. But it was also put th...

Mark 15:1-20 1. The cross shows us what human beings can do to other human beings We like to think of ourselves as civilized At the LIFE exhibition, talking with the children and asking them what some of the differences are between the time when Jesus lived then and now. And one of the children said, ‘We don’t do the sort of things that they did then. We don’t crucify people’. I wish that were true. Certainly it is not normal in our society – but then our society has had 1000 years of Christian teaching. The values of tolerance and mercy have grown because there are men and women – people like Wilberforce, and Elizabeth Fry and Shaftesbury – who have taken the teaching of the bible seriously, and because – up to now – a great deal of Jesus’ teaching is enshrined in our law. It will be interesting to see, for instance, how society develops as you begin to demand tolerance from people, but give them no reason for tolerance. The problem is that we only need to look at other soci...