C, Commemoration of the Reformation - Psalm 46, Luke 8:9 Romans 3:21-25a "Pacification of our Passions"

Luke 18:9 (ESV) “He (Jesus) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt…”

From where does your peace come?  We’ve just sung Martin Luther’s paraphrase of Psalm Forty-Six, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”.  In the Psalm's first three verses we hear, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” (Psalm 46:1–3 ESV)

When chaos in the Southern Ocean threatens to overtake you to whom, or what, would you turn?  Do you turn to God, no matter what happens?  Is he your trusty shield and weapon, your faithful helper in all need?  Luther rightly pens that God is a mighty fortress, so do you find yourself fleeing to God’s gifts, his word, and the Holy Spirit regardless of the events of evil that come your way in the world?

Jesus Christ is the only one who does!  In the midst of the storm of life, in the midst of being incarnate in sinful human flesh, Jesus looked to God as his refuge and strength.  The Holy Spirit was his buttress of truth and support as he endured in human flesh that never succumbed to the sinfulness of that flesh. Having put off his divinity, and clothed himself in human weakness, Jesus knew the Lord of Hosts was with him; the God of Jacob was his fortress!

Although Jesus looked to God as his fortress, he still suffered for the sake of the gospel.  In his suffering Jesus glorified God by being that which would pacify the wrath of God for our sin.  Jesus’ suffering for the sake of the gospel was a suffering for the sake of saving us from sin!  Jesus is the only person who can claim to suffer for the sake of being good in God’s eyes.  The rest of us suffer for the sake of the gospel in our sinful natures, and like the Israelites, Jews, and countless Christians throughout time, we suffer every time we turn away from God and reject his pacification, seeking to pacify ourselves.

Jesus tells a parable that compares the pair, a Pharisee, and a tax collector, who’ve come to the temple.  Luke prefaces the parable with these words about Jesus, who: “told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:” (Luke 18:9 ESV)

Jesus tells this parable to the pious whose piety proceeded from the pacification of themselves.  In other words, their peace came from within themselves, either from their pride, their personal power, or their possessions.  Their understanding stood under no one!  Their knowledge of God was even made subject to the self.  Their trust was in themselves.  When people saw and praised their projection of goodness, they took pleasure and found their peace in this piety. Like a baby sucking a dummy (a pacifier), they pacified and quietened themselves sucking on self-pleasure. When our piety is self-centred, we’re dummies sucking dummies!

In the parable Jesus likens these folk to Pharisees.  In our understanding today, a Pharisee, is a sanctimonious person, a hypocritical pretender, who projects themselves as good while being otherwise. Many of us today are guilty of being just this, and this is Jesus’ accusation of the Pharisees.  However, Jesus came into conflict with the Pharisees, and our understanding of a Pharisee comes from Jesus’ conflict with them, but of all the Jewish parties in Israel, Jesus was most similar to the party of the Pharisees.  That’s why he came into conflict with them.

Pharisees were strict observers of the Law!  Jesus was too!  In fact, Jesus was a better follower of the Law, he might be looked upon as the perfecter of what the Pharisees were seeking to do.  So, what is the difference?  It comes down to intent and that is spelt out in the parable proper!

What is the intention of the Pharisee when he comes into God’s presence?  He comes in having done his best to keep the Old Testament Law.  That is why he prays, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” (Luke 18:11–12 ESV)

Keeping the Law required one to do what he had done, and he thanks God for it!  In fact, his piety would outdo you and me!  These men were not half-hearted about God and his word, by any means.  They spent their waking lives seeking to do the right thing.  We might look upon them as holier-than-thou, and they most probably were.  So too was Jesus!  In his human flesh, susceptible to sin, he remained holier-than-thou, holier than you and me, without sin!

However, the intent of the Pharisees keeping the Law was for their own glorification.  There was nothing wrong with trying to uphold the Law.  In fact, God commanded it, and even today we seek to keep the Commandments, by fearing and loving God.  On the other hand, Jesus’ intent was never for his own glorification but for the glorification of God.  Jesus’ piety was a faithful piety that glorified God and his Law!

So why is it that Jesus compares the pair, the Pharisee, and the tax collector, in the parable?  Both stand apart from each other, and others. Jesus constructs the parable placing both men in the temple. The Pharisee compares himself aloof over the tax collector, he makes himself God.  Before God, the tax collector compares himself as an unworthy sinner.  The Pharisee separates himself by taking comfort in himself, and the tax collector separates himself by taking no comfort in himself. 

A tax collector in the temple would have raised the anger of the Pharisees, it would have really niggled their pride having heard Jesus say that the tax collector went down to his house justified.  Who is the tax collector?  He is the lowest common denominator in Jewish society.  Although he’s a Jew — after all Jesus places him in the temple too­ — he collects taxes for Rome!  The tax collector is looked upon as a double agent!  A tax collector in the temple would have received the contempt of Jews, in just the same way you and I might look upon a sex offender, or someone whom you believe has wronged you. Now Jesus says this person goes to his home justified over you!

God calls us all back under his word, both Pharisee and tax collector were sinners in the eyes of God.  The tax collector was justified not because he was down on himself.  If he was, he would have been doing the same as the Pharisee.  He would have been focusing on himself.  If the tax collector sought to work his justification with a woe-is-me, I’m-the-worst-in the-world story, this too is still trusting in oneself, a self-centred pacification!  Still a dummy self-sucking one’s dummy!  Still a pharisee but with a perverse reverse piety.  

However, the piety we’re called to is one like Jesus’ piety. His piety is one that trusted in God the Father, even though he died on the cross.  Earth gave its Creator away and the mountains moved into the heart of the sea, as he descended into the abyss of hell, the depths of the devil’s dominion. Yet Jesus’ fortress was not his life, nor his creation, nor any created mountain of stability.  His fortress was God the Father, his buttress of truth was the Holy Spirit, which rested on his human flesh.

Today you are called to have your passions pacified by Jesus Christ, regardless of whether your passions expose you as a Pharisee, or an unworthy tax collector.  All stand the same before the resurrected Son of God who is coming to judge the living and the dead. 

The law speak, “So that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” (Romans 3:19 ESV)  

All are warned: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth.” (Revelation 14:7 ESV)

You can comfort yourselves, but not like dummies with dummies, you can spit out the dummy of self-soothing and be pacified by the promise of God and his word.

Hear the gospel, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:21–25a ESV)

The blood Jesus spilt on the cross is now your peace.  His propitiation is your peace; his blood was shed for the pacification of your passions.   His blood now gives peace.

We’re called to remember the reality of the Reformation, especially now as many denominations desire to be liked by the world over against submitting to the word.  We’re called to be reformed in Christ, to suffer for the gospel as the world suffers because the gospel’s diluted to a peace in human myths.  Rather than being dummies pacified by dummies, let us continually be turned to the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding and Pharisaic peace in the sinful self, so your hearts and minds are kept in Christ Jesus.

How? Do this by allowing the Holy Spirit to help you confess your sin onto the cross.  To pick up the word of God and allow the Spirit to move you in it, to glorify God. Be still and know that Jesus is God!  Be still and allow the Spirit to humble you before him who will be exalted among the nations, who will be exalted in the earth.  

Jesus is now at the right hand of God.  Having been humbled at the cross he was justified and exalted to the right hand of God, in his holy habitation that will never be moved. Amen. 

B, Post Pentecost 17 Proper 19 - Mark 8:27–38 "To Identify with Jesus"

Mark 8:27–38 (ESV)  And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Jesus is on the way to the cross.  Without any coded language, Jesus bluntly and openly teaches his disciples, “that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”  (Mark 8:31 ESV) In other words the way of the Son of Man is the way of sacrifice and servanthood. 

Peter was ashamed of what Jesus said!  He identified Jesus as the Christ, but didn’t identify being the Christ, with suffering and death.  So, he took him aside to rebuke Jesus’ way.  But Jesus rebukes Satan within Peter for trying to lead him astray from the way.

This brings Jesus to another teaching opportunity that any way other than the Son of Man’s way, is not God’s way, but an evil deception as Satan’s way, saying, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”  (Mark 8:34–35 ESV)

Here for the first time the cross is connected with suffering many things, rejection by the fathers and priests of Judaism, being killed, and then raised after three days!  This was not just a death of suffering and rejection; it’s the death of defilement, desecration and dreadful disgrace.  It’s  a shameful and humiliating way to die, for the convicted, and for anyone associated with the person being hung!  But three days after this death of shame, comes a resurrection?   What is this?

Moses taught in the law that, “A hanged man is cursed by God.”  They would have seen this Roman practise time and time again.  Cursed creatures hanging on crosses for days for all to see.  They would have heard the mocking words of those passing by, perhaps even mocked them themselves, albeit under their breaths!  Noone ever came back to life after this accursed death!  Now, they were confronted with Jesus’ call for them to carry a cross!  How could this be?

Imagine you’ve being accused of the most wicked crime, remained silent, not giving any defence, then stripped of all dignity, and left hung out to dry and die, as if you were the guiltiest grub ever to get what was wanted!  This is what Jesus became for every man, woman and child!

Jesus then gives a comparison between the Son of Man and man, that is humanity!  Here Jesus injects new thoughts into the hearts of the bewildered disciples in the wake of his rebuke of Peter, in front of them all!   He questions them, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  For what can a man give in return for his soul?”  (Mark 8:36–37 ESV)

This question is also for you too!  What can you give as a payment for your life?  What’s the point of getting everything you’ve ever wanted, only to find at the end of it all, you’ve lost your identity, your being, and your purpose in this world?

Jesus’ identity sits on this comparison between a person whose lost their identity, and the servant of humanity, the Son of Man, whose identity is built on serving our Father, whose purpose is to reverse the death and depression of our suffering due to sin!

Jesus fulfils the words of Psalm nineteen.  The Son of Man, the Servant King, was kept back from presumptuous sins.  Pride and presumption did not have dominion over him.  Jesus is blameless and innocent of all bad behaviour.  Everything he said, everything he thought, and everything he did, is acceptable before God the Father, his Rock and his Redeemer!

Jesus identifies with us as he walks to the cross and he is not ashamed to do so!  He walks there to bear the shame of your sin and my sin.  Imagine walking on the world stage with all your hidden sins there for all to see.  Your deepest darkest desires, naked for all to see, under the spotlight of social exposure.  This is the shame Jesus bore for you on the cross! 

The Son of Man gained the sins of the whole world and lost his life.  At the cross he breathed his last and gave up his soul for the profit of humanity!   What can you and I give for the return of our souls? What are you giving for the Son of Man’s suffering service for the redemption of your identity?

Recently I read that people rarely rise to the occasion when threatened with a crisis.  Unlike many of the superhuman feats portrayed in the fiction we watch on the screen.  Instead, what regularly occurs is people usually sink to the level of their training. 

United States Army officer, General George Patton of WW2 fame, said, “the more you sweat in training, the less blood you lose in battle.”  Similar is also said of sporting success!  But what about your training in identity?  Do you identify with carrying a cross?  What Cross-training do you fall back on in your life crises?

Last week we heard of Jesus healing the deaf and dumb man near Lake Galilee at the Decapolis.  We’ve also heard about hearing the Word of God and the deeds of faith that come as a result of the Holy Spirit working the Word within us. 

Perhaps like Peter you’re quick to rebuke those who call you to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus!  Perhaps, you hear the call but quickly forget the minute you leave this place.  At the resurrection, at his return, will he find you deaf and dumb to his Word, to his Cross-training?  Your identity depends on what you hear and how you allow it to train you within.  The proof of what and how you hear is how you pick up your cross and follow Jesus.  When Jesus comes will he find you ashamed of this adulterous and sinful generation or will he find you ashamed of him and his Word?

There are one-hundred and sixty-eight hours in the week.  When we give only one or two hours of that week to hearing, reading, and pondering God’s Word — Cross-training!  It’s reasonable to assume the other one-hundred and sixty-six or sixty-seven hours of worldly white noise competes to deafen and render us mute. 

The world without you and me bearing our cross, renders the world and those around us rudderless, like a ship without its steering.  Without the tongues of Christians trained in the way of the cross, the world runs wild like a horse without a bit in its mouth, like a wildfire out of control without water to douse the flames.  You are Cross-trainers in the world!

As Jesus asked his disciples, “who do you say that I am?”   He asks you, “In whom do you identify yourself before others?”  When the devil’s got our tongue, we’re like Peter whom Jesus needed to rebuke!  But like Peter whose tongue was freed by the Holy Spirit when Pentecostal tongues of fire rested on him and the other disciples, you too have been given an identity in Jesus’ Cross-training.  Jesus became Peter’s Rock and Redeemer, and Peter was identified as the rock on which Jesus would build the church.  In the same way, the Holy Spirit trains you to identify Jesus as your Rock and Redeemer!

Your Cross-training began in Holy Baptism, to identify Jesus as your Rock and Redeemer.  In Baptism the Holy Spirit’s given to Cross-train you, to pray for the will to share your “Jesus identity” with others!   If you sense this not to be the case, keep knocking on his door in prayer!  Jesus promises to identify your sin, forgive it, and lead you to open your mouth in confession and thanksgiving before him, each other, and the world.  It’s the Holy Spirit who exercises your Cross-training in Jesus.  Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, replace our broken spirits with your Holy Spirit, so we might daily die to self, turn to Jesus’ way, identify with him, and with Holy-Spirited desire, pick up our cross and share his identity with others.  When Jesus comes with his holy angels, take us to be with you, our Rock and Redeemer. Amen. 

B, Midweek Lent 4 - Mark 15:1-32 "Barabbas' and Simon's Passover"

Mark 15:15,21 (ESV)  So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.   And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

The Passover from the viewpoint of Barabbas and Simon of Cyrene, stand out as two remarkable events.

Barabbas was being held for murder in an uprising.  We know the Ten Commandments does not pass over a person for killing another person.  At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus extends this, by saying if someone calls another a fool, they are liable to hell fire (Matthew 5:22). 

Barabbas’ deserved death yet those in authority rallied the mob to have him released and Jesus crucified.  Pilate asked “Why?  What evil has he done?”  Jesus had done nothing wrong.   However, because the crowd was seething for Jesus’ blood,  Pilate sought to please the people.  He freed a murderer and delivered the innocent Son of God over to death by crucifixion.

Imagine Barabbas learning his fate!  Guilty yet set free!  A dead man, passed over, now with a second chance at life!  I reckon Barabbas wouldn’t have believed his good fortune, having done absolutely nothing to deserve his stay of execution. 

So, it’s Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father who takes the place of Barabbas.  Jesus, the king of the Jews, serves as the Son of Man, taking the place of a murderer, Barabbas, the son of Abba, the son of a father.

You and I, the sons, and daughters of a father, like Barabbas, have had our stay of eternal execution because of Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father.  Like Barabbas who was passed over and given new life, you too have been passed over and given eternal life.  You can, and should, give thanks to God your Father for your “Good Friday fortune”, having done nothing to deserve this stay of eternal execution. 

Jesus has changed places with you at the cross.  All daughters and sons have received Jesus’ Sonship through adoption,  accepting you as God’s holy Son through Jesus’ exchange, a true and faithful elder brother.  Eternal death now passes over you and me, borne by the King of the Jews.  Now, with Jesus, the exalted King of Creation, you will be raised from death.

The cross was the crossroads for Barabbas, and so too was it for Simon who innocently, perhaps accidentally, crossed paths with the crucifixion party at the Passover.

After being brutalised by the battalion of Roman soldiers, we could assume Jesus was too weak to carry his cross.  Or perhaps he was not moving quick enough for the soldiers, who wanted to get on with the job they were tasked to do.  Whatever the reason, the soldiers grab Simon who was passing by on his way in from the country. 

If Barabbas could not have believed his good fortune, we can imagine that Simon could not have believed his bad luck!  Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Simon carried the cross of a dead man.  He carried the curse of death on his back.  Albeit for a brief time, he walked the walk of death, under the means of death!  Was it unfair that he carried the cross?  He may or may not have felt the injustice of the Romans’ expectation, but he did what he had to do under their compulsion.

Unlike Barabbas, it seems Simon did not deserve what was put on him, carrying the cross to Golgotha, or at least part of the way.  Yet like Barabbas, there is relief for Simon!  Once at Calvary, his job is done, and he is set free.  Perhaps, he breathed a big sigh of relief!  No longer having to feel the weight of the cross, the experience leading to death.  

Christ is left to bear the greater burden, bearing the sins of all people.  This includes Simon.  Who, although an innocent passerby, is not passed over before God as innocent from sin. 

Like Simon, you feel the burden of the crosses you bear in this life.  There is also relief, like Simon, as you know when you get to the destination of death, you will put down your crosses, and be carried through death to victory by he who has borne the burden of your sin on the cross.

When Simon put down Jesus’ cross, he was putting down his cross; the cross all humanity deserved to carry and on which you, and I, should have justly been nailed.

Those who seemingly are guilty, like Barabbas, are passed over.  Those who are supposedly innocent, like Simon, are not passed over.  The consequences of Christ’s cross, pass over nobody’s guilt or innocence, at this Passover. 

The cross of Christ sets us free!  Yet the cross of Christ calls us to carry our cross!  Like Barabbas and Simon, you suffer from your sin, yet are relieved to know that your sin is carried by Jesus Christ on the cross.

Those two robbers nailed on either side of Jesus, easily could have been Barabbas and Simon, you, and me!   Like Barabbas our deeds condemn us, and like Simon, the humanity of our being condemns us too. 

Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, is at the right place in the right time.  The fullness of time had come, and the Jews killed him.  It is his blood that saves Barabbas and Simon, not from Roman law, but from the greater law of God.  Jesus is our King of Kings, and yet our sins of commission, our sins of omission, and our nature seemingly innocent but guilty, breaks God’s law and killed the King of the Jews. 

Your blame and my blame are not passed over but passed onto Jesus.  As a result, the consequences of our sin are passed over! 

Like Barabbas, who could not believe his good fortune, and like Simon, who realised it was his good fortune to only carry the cross, we look forward to our Good Friday fortune.   Our sins are before us on the cross, very real, very deadly, yet very forgiven, and very much paid for! 

Jesus is our greatest wealth in this world.   We, sinners like Barabbas, receive the fortune of freedom, while our guilt remains on the cross.  We, fortunate forgiven sinners carry our cross, like Simon, knowing it was Christ who was lifted up on it in our place. 

Our sin is not passed over, yet we sinners are being passed over.  You are being passed onto the prosperity of an eternal resurrection through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Amen.

Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, when we have carried our cross to the end of life’s road, help us give thanks for the Holy Spirit’s help to carry it, knowing we are sinners, but forgiven sinners.  Help us to not let the fortunes of Good Friday pass away, so that we are not passed over, but pass through death to our resurrection with you, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.   

B, Lent 4 - Numbers 21:4-7 "Serpents, Sin, & Salvation"

God is patient.  He takes the long way round.  If he took the path of least resistance, humanity would have long been annihilated.

God is patient with humanity.  In the days of disobedience before the flood, God was patient.  God was patient with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  While the Israelites lived in Egypt, God was patient for four hundred years.  In the wilderness after the Israelites were exiled from Egypt, God continued to be patient.  Today, God continues to be patient with his church, and he continues to be patient with you!

So, what is it with — me, you, the church, the Israelites — all of humanity, that God needs to be patient?  What is it that allows all of humanity to stand as one before God’s patience?

God is patient with our lack of patience.  Our impatience can come from various things, but at its root is our displeasure with suffering.  Therefore, God suffers with our lack of endurance in suffering.

Ultimately, God sent his only begotten Son to suffer in our place!  Yet in this life, you and I will still struggle with suffering.  Nevertheless, God is pleased to be patient with us.  He takes the long way round, he takes the way of patience, the patient path.  And we can be very thankful for that!

When God lifted Israel out of bondage in Egypt, he could have marched them into Canaan in a relatively short amount of time.  But he took the patient path, leading Israel forty years, his way in the Sinai wilderness, the way of suffering that led to salvation in the land of milk and honey.

The bronze serpent story gives us a window into God’s patience and his mega-work of humanity’s salvation.  

The Israelites became impatient with the way of God!  They spoke against God and his servant Moses!  So, God sends fiery serpents amongst them.

Let’s take a moment to take this in!  God sends fiery poisonous serpents to bite his people.  Not only do the serpents look fiery, a bronze coppery colour, they are fiery, wielding the rod of God’s wrath.  Their mouths are fiery, in that their venom inflicts a hellish bite leading to agony and certain death. 

The Israelite’s impatience with God, his providence in the wilderness, and with Moses, was instantly removed by the Israelite’s immediate need for a remedy against the forced death from the fierce fangs of serpents sent by God.

Snakes are animals that cause fear.  Since Satan spoke from a serpent in the garden of Eden, snakes have been feared by humans.  Moses ran from his staff that turned into a serpent when God commanded him to throw it on the ground (Exodus 4:3).   So, there’s no doubt the venomous snakes got their attention.

The wilderness is a place of serpents.  The Israelites would have seen plenty as they walked the way of freedom!  Up until this event, we can assume God would have protected them from serpents, just as he protected them from other dangers as he led them out of Egypt.  So, God patiently works his way to will his people from their impatience.

When it comes to snakes, not many of us are heroes.  The thought of being faced with an infestation of fiery serpents is chilling!  Do you remember Indiana Jones encircled by stirred up serpents?  Or imagine the reality of being buried in a box of snakes, slithering over you in the dark.  As they do on the television show, “I’m a celebrity get me out of here”.  That’s truly the stuff of nightmares!

This is the living nightmare of the Israelites, and we can fully understand their fear!  Not only were the snakes just present in their vicinity, but they were sent by God to discipline their disobedience.

Can you see the people begging Moses?  Remorseful for being impatient!  Penitent for their impatience against God’s providence, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” (Numbers 21:5 ESV)

In Ecclesiastes seven verse eight, it is written, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8 ESV) 

God removed their pride when the serpents began to bite.  They cried out to Moses, for it to end, saying, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” (Numbers 21:7 ESV)

Moses prayed but the end of it was not the removal of the serpents.  Instead, God said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” (Numbers 21:8 ESV)

So, God sends the serpent, and he doesn’t take them away, but rather gets Moses to put the pest up on a pole.   This is the patient path consistent with God’s way.

Imagine if God did remove the snakes!  As soon as they lost sight of the serpents, their impatience and pride would have returned even more so!   But the serpents remained, and God added yet another serpent, calling them to turn and trust God’s way, even in the midst of their suffering. 

Knowing what human nature is like, some would have tested God on this.  The fiery serpent is sent to bite.  It does its job.  The tester is tested.  Do they turn to the serpent up on the stick, or do they stick to their digs and remain in rebellion?   It’s a life-or-death decision.

Now, this might seem like a pretty simple decision to make.  Yet many continue to choose the decision that leads to death.

Jesus says, “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14–15 ESV)

Not only are people impatient with God,  but now many also fail to acknowledge God’s existence.   Some think they know God, but they choose to create their own idea of God to suit their way through the wilderness of this world.  But when suffering of death comes, and it always does, crying out to a false god cannot save from death.

God is patient with humanity, but Paul warns God shows no partiality, saying, “…do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?  He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”  (Romans 2:4,6–8 ESV)

The serpents of sin and suffering still exist.  This sin and suffering left unattended by God will lead to eternal death.  Yet God is patient, he wants to save, and not condemn. 

The good work of God within us, exposes our sin, wills us into confession, keeps us repentant and enduring in belief of our forgiveness, as well as makes us patient.  This happens through the work of the Holy Spirit despite living in the reality of fiery sin serpents still biting and wounding us, causing suffering. 

However, the good works of repentance and belief in the forgiveness of our deadly sins lets us see God's patient reality!   We see our sin, but we see the Servant of Man saving us from sin, lifted up like the serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness.

The irony in all of this is that sin came into the world through the deception of a serpent.  Satan, the old snake, also sought to seduce Jesus to sin in the wilderness but failed.  Then at the cross he thought he had won, seeing Jesus nailed to a cursed sinner’s cross.

But death lost its eternal sting at the cross.  The devil was double-crossed.  The great injustice and evil of the cross became the hallmark of mercy and holy goodness stamped on those who allow the light of God to expose and forgive. 

Jesus steals the serpent from Satan and attaches the sin of humanity to it.  He becomes the sin, the serpent, and is lifted up guiltless for the guilty.  He takes the curse of your sin, exposing it in his broken body and spilt blood, and swaps it with his victory over death, for you!

Just as God sent serpents, and then placed one on a pole to save the Israelites, God allows us to suffer as a result of our sinful being and its deeds.  God wants us to see our sin, but even more he wants us to see our sin on Jesus, lifted up on the cross. 

Just as the Israelite’s saw and feared the reality of the serpents that bit them, we too see our reality too.  We can allow the Holy Spirit to continue the patient work of peeling the layers back, to expose the greater depths of our sin.  But in the suffering of that exposure, the Spirit will show us the endlessness and patience of God’s love, who takes our sin and makes our sin – crucify Christ on the cross. 

God is patient with you.  God hates your suffering.  Yet despite this he would rather you suffer in short through confession of your evil works, exposing them in the true light of God’s love and suffering on the cross.

We are reminded by Jesus in John three verse twenty-one that, “whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their works have been carried out in God.” 

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts to work in us the good works of confession of our sin in daily repentance and belief in the forgiveness of sins.  Thankyou for sending your Son Jesus Christ to bear the slipperiness of our sinful being and its deeds on the cross, which should have been our cross.  Help us to patiently bear our cross with the help of the Holy Spirit with full expectation of our resurrection to eternal life with you.  Amen.

  

B, Midweek Lent 3 - Mark 14:70b-72 "Peter's Passover Pride"

Mark 14:70b–72 (ESV) And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Peter’s grief was raw and sharp.  The full weight of his ugliness was before him.  He had cut himself off from his Lord, calling down curses upon himself, he excommunicates himself from Jesus after telling Jesus, he would not deny him, but rather die with him.

Peter passed Jesus off; he passed over him in denial.  And at hearing the cock crow, he remembers Jesus’ promise and sees the foolishness of his own promise.  Peter realises his self-preservation had kicked in, to kick out his trust in Jesus and his word.

After Peter and the others fled from Gethsemene, Jesus is humiliated.  Hiding himself in the rabble, Peter cowardly follows at a distance.  The Lord needs Peter to be a witness, to see what happens to him at the hand of the Jews, without the helping hands of those who promised to follow him.

As guilty as those who commissioned false evidence against Jesus, is Peter, who now does not come to Jesus’ defence, but rather remains speechless with his omission of evidence on Jesus’ behalf.

Below in the courtyard Peter warms himself, when a servant girl sees him and says,   “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”  But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” (Mark 14:67–68a ESV)

Peter stands at a distance; he stands below Jesus.  He denies Jesus and says he doesn’t understand what the girl is saying about him and his relationship with Jesus!  The cock crows!  Then he excommunicates himself from Jesus with another lie, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”

All those who bore false testimony against Jesus gave conflicting evidence.  Twice before the cock crowed, we hear the false witness borne against Jesus, did not agree.  Now, Peter’s lie is the testimony that agrees with the lies of the false testimonies that hands Jesus over to death.

The sin of commission from the mouths of the Jews, seals the fate of Jesus.  Peter adds his sins of omission and commission to also seal Jesus’ fate. 

The weightlessness of his words, despite being delivered with so much passion, proved impotent. 

“If I must die with you, I will not deny you.  Even though they all fall away, I will not.” (Mark 14:29, 31 ESV) Is now part and parcel of Peter’s passing over of Jesus, ““I neither know nor understand what you mean.” “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”

He fell away from Jesus!  He denied Jesus!  He understood exactly what the girl and others had said, and he knew the man of whom others spoke.  The weight of his lying lips spoken with so much passion, proved potent and powerful. 

We can clearly see why Peter’s Passover proclamation gutted him!  When push came to shove, he proved to be no different than any other person.  Frightened, fainthearted, faithless, fake, and futile!

Jesus’ word, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” (Mark 14:30, 72 ESV) Proved to be true.  Peter’s three-fold denial announced the law to Peter, and it hit him hard.  Despite Peter’s positivity to support the Saviour, his pride crashed head-on with self-preservation to save himself. 

Peters “Passover crash” was the second most crucial thing to happen to Peter, second only to Jesus’ death on the cross!  As hard as Peter’s reality was, it was essential for it to occur, if Peter was to be a follower of Jesus.  Similarly, it is the same for us too.

The old saying, “Pride comes before the fall”, is relevant here!  Peter’s pride needed to pass away, to die its death.  So too does our pride, so Jesus can be our sole Saviour.

It is not a percentage game; we do not provide any percentage in our eternal salvation.  Jesus provides one hundred percent of the perfection in our eternal preservation.

We need to come to the gut-wrenching reality of our powerlessness to save ourselves, so we look to Jesus, and him alone.  Peter could only bear his cross and follow Jesus, after he realised what his cross  actually was, and what only Jesus’ cross could do for him.

Jesus’ cross must come before our cross,  if it doesn’t our cross is the wrong cross to bear.  In fact, if we put our cross before the cross of Christ, it’s a cross against our name, it’s a lie.  This is why when the cock crowed a second time, the pain of Peter’s realisation was great, and it had to be for Jesus’ salvation of Peter to be real.  So too for you and me.

When Peter called down curses upon himself, these curses were “anathema” in the Greek.  Peter unwittingly testified to being anathema or accursed.  Only the cross and resurrection of Jesus could kill Peter’s curse, and raise Peter up, blameless.  Only then, Peter could lead God’s church, not by himself, but by the power of the Holy Spirit in the knowledge of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

In God’s church, sin cannot be passed over.  The recognition of sin, in our lives is hard!  At some stage in your life, God will allow you to weep bitterly over your sin.  As hard as it is, it’s a healthy thing for those being refocused from the self to the selfless, single, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

With Jesus as our true Passover lamb your curse or anathema is removed.  At our resurrection we will see with our eyes what the Apostle John was shown, which is recorded in Revelation chapter twenty-two for our encouragement.  For your faith, hope, and love!

Hear what John reports, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.  The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”  (Revelation 22:1–4 ESV)

Amen. 

A, Post-Pentecost 4 Proper 7 - Matthew 10:24, 38-39 "The Calmness of Christ"

Jesus says, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.   And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:24, 38-39 ESV)

One can imagine being in the centre of a tornado would be an extraordinarily frightening experience.  Your attention would be drawn to the whirling winds and debris swirling around you, threatening to kill you.  Therefore, one can assume one would not be focusing on the calm eye of the storm.

Unlike a tropical cyclone, a tornado is very narrow!  Many who have experienced a cyclone directly overhead, report of an eery stillness in the eye of the storm, before the other side of the storm arrives with opposing winds.  In a tornado’s eye, being much smaller, one might be still, but your attention would be drawn to the close proximity of the cyclonic danger.

Jesus’ life was like the eye of a cyclonic storm.  Chaos surrounded his calm, disorder around order! In the three years of his ministry leading up to his death, Jesus was the calm eye of the storm.

At the beginning of his ministry after his baptism, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tested.  This was the beginning of the storm!  One might imagine it as a brewing tropical storm, a low deepening in depression, becoming a cyclone.

However, at the other end of his ministry, Good Friday had developed into a full-blown tornado.  The chaos intensified as the swirling winds of darkness and death closed in, making his worries in the wilderness, look like a minor inconvenience.

We are going to be tempted by ourselves and the world, as well as receive satanic attention, just as Jesus did in the wilderness through to the cross. 

We are baptised into Jesus’ subordination, into his humility, his cross!  The Holy Spirit is leading you in your wilderness, just as he led Jesus from the wilderness to the cross, and through death.  Jesus relied on the strength of the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of God the Father!  Now you are called to rely on the Holy Spirit as he leads you in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ!  He continually seeks to place Jesus in you, as you’re called to walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

But as we walk his way of the cross, we’re called to walk in faith rather than fear.  It’s understandable that one might be fearful as they walk.  In his earthliness and humility, Jesus was acutely aware of the fear we face since he bore our flesh and was constantly in the centre of the raging storm of sin against him.

Jesus’ fear, however, was not a negative frightful fear, but rather, a faithful fear that looked not to the chaos around him but to the faithfulness and peace of our Heavenly Father!  Jesus calls you to the same reverent fear he had for our Heavenly Father.

He says of those who seek to distract us from the Father into fear as a result of their cyclonic chaos, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,  but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:26, 28, 31–33 ESV)

In the cyclone of your life, your Father and your Saviour, Jesus Christ, want you to spread the calm of Christ, making the eye of other people’s storms, the salvation of Jesus Christ. 

In our baptism we are given the ability to acknowledge Jesus, having been baptised into his calm over chaos, his order over disorder!  Just as Jesus bore the Holy Spirit, you are given the Holy Spirit who faithfully seeks to reveal the reality of sin, but even more so our worthiness having been baptised into Christ. 

When we acknowledge Jesus, as Lord, we acknowledge our need to be baptised into his death.  Therefore, we acknowledge our sin and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent.  We do this acknowledging in the reality of the chaos, because despite the chaos of the storm, we have been turned and calmed by Jesus at the centre of our storm.

Your acknowledgement of Jesus to others, spreads his calm, because Jesus is the only peace in every storm that leads to death.   Acknowledgement of Jesus is knowing our cross and death, but even more so our life in him.  We pass on this life when we acknowledge Jesus before others!

Denial of Jesus is a denial of the life he gives through death.  Our denial before others leaves them without life, in eternal death too!  When one leaves the calmness of Jesus Christ, they enter the tornado and chaos of drowning in eternal death and darkness. 

Left in this state, Jesus denies and does not acknowledge the denier before the Father.  Why?  Because in denial one has not considered Christ to be a worthy Saviour.

However, Saint Paul tells young pastor Timothy, a trustworthy saying, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him;  if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;  if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”  (2 Timothy 2:11–13 ESV)

Paul reiterates what Jesus has said!  But proclaiming Jesus after the resurrection he adds,  “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” 

Now that Jesus has died, been raised, and ascended, he sends the Holy Spirit in baptism.  If we are faithless, Jesus remains faithful to us.  He knows the Holy Spirit will be faithful within the baptised.  The Holy Spirit will seek to lead the lost back to our Heavenly Father by showing them Jesus’ worth through his word.  He might also give the lost glimpses of death with the experience of suffering to shock and recreate faith.

Although suffering sounds bad, it is actually good news for all who doubt their salvation, their baptism!  Jesus faithfully cannot deny himself!  So, while there is life in someone who has denied their baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit seeks to kill that which does not believe and give the newness of life in Jesus Christ.

Pauls says to the Romans, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”  (Romans 6:4–5, 8 ESV)

What Paul says to Timothy he repeats to the Romans, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  (Romans 6: 8, 2 Timothy 2:11 ESV)

Believing is made possible in us, by the Holy Spirit.  Our suffering and death centres us on the eye of the storm, Jesus Christ.   He is the only one who saves us from the storms of life and places us in the tranquillity of his resurrection, in the peaceful presence of our Heavenly Father.

Jesus also so says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34 ESV)

There is chaos yet to come, even within our own households!  This should not surprise us since the chaos comes from within each of us.  However, our knowledge of the cyclonic chaos of our sin, revealed and covered by forgiveness, is what stops a believer becoming conceited, keeping one humble!

Because of your sinfulness, there will always be chaos inside and outside the church.  What keeps order is the calmness of Jesus Christ.  Ironically he does this with a sword.  He keeps calmness in the church with the double-edged sword of his word, saving us from the disorder of human words and ideals.  Jesus’ calming word is the silencing word of Law and Gospel.

The cross reveals the reality of the Law and the Gospel.  One who allow the Holy Spirit to bring them to the calmness of Christ, knows his worth and follows.  The person who joyfully takes up the cross discovers they have this newness of life because of the Holy Spirit.   And therefore, willing allows the loss of the old life, their words, and the spirit of the self. 

Losing one’s life to the cross, in this world for Jesus’ sake, one will also find themselves eternally gathered by the Holy Spirit into the calmness of Jesus’ eternal presence, having been delivered from the storms of this life.

Jesus says, “Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10: 38-39 ESV)

Amen.

A, Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - Acts 10:34–43 "No Partiality"

Acts 10:34–43 (ESV) So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,  but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.  As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),  you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.  And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,  but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,  not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.  To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

God shows no partiality over humanity.  God shows no partiality over sin.  God shows no partiality over forgiveness.  God shows no partiality over unbelief.  This is the message of the blood stained cross.  This is the message of the empty tomb.  This is the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

In dealing with humanity’s sin and death God showed no partiality, but in his work of salvation he is very bias with whom he chose to work.  This was the work of blessing all humanity through God’s favoured few.  God couldn’t associate with unholiness,  he could not show partiality to sin.  If God did show partiality to sin, or unholiness, the purity of his holiness would be desecrated, and he would prove himself to not be God.

God could have destroyed humanity, but God would have place himself in a dilemma if he did so.  God is a God of faithfulness; faithfulness is the substance of his divinity, he is faithful to himself, in himself, and towards those with whom he exists, in his eternal realm, visible and invisible, as it were.  This faithfulness manifests itself as love.  God is love!  God’s love shows no partiality.  God’s love expects no partiality.  God is a jealous God, a protective God.

God shows no partiality.  God believes in himself, there is nothing in his being he does not know, nothing in what he expects that cannot be done.  He is faithful and generous and shows no partiality in his desire to be faithful and compassionate, jealously expecting all things exist under his protection and love.  

God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He chose Joseph and Moses in Egypt.  He chose Joshua and the Judges, Samuel, and David.  He favoured the tribe of Judah over the other tribes of Israel.  In God’s favouritism towards the Jews and Jerusalem God showed no partiality, for through them God was seeking to bless all nations, to love all people through one  nation.  To favour all people, by favouring his chosen people.  So, through them, all people might come to favour him above all things. 

By reconnection to humanity through the Law, God showed no partiality demanding everyone to: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 ESV, Deuteronomy 6:5)  And: “love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39 ESV, Leviticus 19:18)  But they failed in the Law, and chose to love themselves in the Law, knowing that God shows no partiality.

So, God sent Jesus.  In Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God was near.  Jesus Christ was sent to do what Israel could not do, to do what we could not do, to do what humanity could not do.  In doing what Israel could not do, the Son of God took on the servant role as the Son of Man.  God showed no partiality to his Son, Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, Son of man.

Jesus became the new Israel to save Israel.  God promised to Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)  Now that promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.   Jesus Christ became the new Adam to save all of Adam’s offspring.  Jesus Christ is Lord of all, all Israelites, all Gentiles, all of humanity, all of creation.  Jesus Christ gave us back our connection with God our Father!  In restoring us to God, God the Son showed no partiality!  Not even to his own divinity.

So faithful to the Father of Heaven was Jesus Christ, this Created Creator became so low, being shunned by all humanity as unholy.  He claimed no majesty, he claimed no beauty, through our desire we beat the Servant of Man black and blue.  God the Son showed no partiality, not even to himself, putting aside his divinity, so God the Father could show no partiality to the sins of Israel, and the sin of Adam.  

Jesus Christ, lay aside his divinity, he chose to put off his partiality of being God the Son, and serve as the Son of Man.  In showing no partiality to humanity, our Heavenly Father sent God the Holy Spirit into his Servant, the Son of Man.  The Holy Spirit showed no partiality in his work of helping the Son of Man be the Servant of many.

When Jesus put aside his divinity, his human spirit showed no partiality towards anything or anyone but our Father in Heaven.  He loved our Father above all things and the Holy Spirit rested on the Servant of Man, showing to humanity the source of power to do the good that leads to eternal life.

God shows no partiality.  He believes in you so much he sent his Son to bear the brunt of his impartial hatred against humanity’s sin and your death and placed the Holy Spirit within you so you might have the power to believe and receive his Son.

When you were baptised, God showed no partiality, he did not waver in condemnation of sin, nor the forgiveness of it.  You were baptised into Jesus’ death.  God shows no partiality in sending the Holy Spirit to you in your Holy Baptism.  God the Holy Spirit shows no partiality in filling those who hear the Word of God with faith in the forgiveness of sins.  God shows no partiality over your sin!

God shows favouritism to those who are perfect; those who are holy as he is holy.  Therefore, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, having been the perfect and blameless Servant of Man, but at the same time being the sacrifice to put our sin right. 

God shows no partiality in daily raising sinners from death, when they trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, just as God the Holy Spirit together with God the Father raised the Son of Man from the dead.

God the Father has raised the Son of Man to his right hand, the Son of Man is the Son of God, in all his risen glory.  God the Father and God the Son, show partiality and favouritism towards those who believe that God shows no partiality over condemning sin and his work of forgiveness, when they confess sin and believe they are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.

You are acceptable to God.  He shows no partiality, he shows no partiality towards unbelief in the Son of Man, no belief in the Son of God, in the forgiveness of sin, in the work of the Holy Spirit within you, and in the resurrection to eternal life.

He does not judge you and me with shallow judgement.  He has no part with those who are apart from him!  But he judged Jesus Christ, setting him apart, and shows no partiality to those who are partial towards him and do not believe.

Let us pray.  Lord God, we believe, save us from our unbelief.  We know you show no partiality towards sin, and therefore show no partiality against those who believing in Jesus Christ and  confess their sin.  We believe Lord, save us from our unbelief by sending the Holy Spirit, inspiring faith within to continually confess sin and believe in Jesus Christ throughout all our trials in this life, Amen.

A, Palm/Passion- Isaiah 50:4–9a "That Sinking Feeling"

We’ve all experienced that terrible sinking feeling somewhere and at some time in our lives. 

It may have been only for the briefest of moments.  It may have lasted for a considerable amount of time.  That terrible sinking feeling may have occurred in public before many people; it could have happened when you were alone or with one other person.  You might be feeling it right now!  In any situation, this feeling gives a sense of ugliness, feeling dis-easy, your skin and mood descends into clamminess and coldness.

Impending doom, loss of control, something gone horribly wrong gives one this feeling.  The moment before impact, the moment after the doctor gives the diagnosis, so much pain you think you’re going to die, so much pain you worry you’re not going to die, watching someone suffering.  Am I God forsaken?  Are we forsaken!  That sinking feeling.

The pain of grief and loss, tears so bitter they hurt.  The loneliness after the loss, that sinking feeling.

Being caught out, publicly humiliated, guilty facing your accuser, that sinking feeling.

The calm suddenly becomes chaos, conflict with others, anger, confrontation, harsh words spoken, accusations flying, going past the point of no return, regret, that terrible sinking feeling.

The injustice of the situation, falsely accused, no one believes the truth, helplessly unable to stop the inevitable, depression, anxiety, despair, hopelessness, that sinking feeling.

Promises broken, expectations shattered, the height of joyful excitement stopped with fright and fear, desire unfulfilled, frustration, that sinking feeling.

We’ve all experienced that terrible sinking feeling somewhere and at some time in our lives.  All these contributors, from whatever it was, that’s caused that terrible sinking feeling, is a sense of death that causes the fight or flight instinct to kick in. 

When that sinking feeling occurs, do you run to God or run away from him?  Do you struggle with God, or do you give up on him?  Do you seek a knowledge of good and evil, or a knowledge of Jesus Christ, trusting in yourself, or trusting in what Jesus promises in his Word?  When that terrible sinking feeling of death touches you, how do you respond?

Feelings were running high when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  But the tone changed, the crowd turned, victorious excitement turned into vicious incitement.  Sunday saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem in majesty, not to overthrow the Romans as expected, but to overturn the tables of the traders in the temple. 

The Jewish leaders felt fury when Jesus taught crowds, while confronting, confounding, and silencing them with the very words in which they sought to trap him.

The feelings of the disciples were sorely tested, when Jesus told them the temple would be torn down, and the coming of the kingdom of heaven will be proceeded by chaos and tribulation.  Judas feeling his way as he betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, feelings running so deep one of the captor’s ears is cut off.

That sinking feeling was present everywhere, in so many ways!  The disciples scatter, Judas regrets what he does, he changes his mind, he loses his mind, he hangs himself.  Peter too promises much, but three times fails, outside he wept so bitterly. That sinking feeling was everywhere!

The rage of the chief priests and the elders,  Pilate’s wife sends word, “have nothing to do with this man”, the crowd cries, “crucify him”, Pilate feels trapped, that sinking feeling.  He washes his hands, injustice, and Barabbas is released.  The women of Galilee watch on from a distance, they see the unfairness, they see the wrong.  O can anyone stop that sinking feeling?

See him nailed to the cross.  Six hours of suffering till he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He breathes his last, he hangs his head, it is finished!

Much happened in Holy Week!  High emotion, feelings flying to-and-fro!  Just like us when we have those negative sinking feelings, so too did those in Jerusalem.

These feelings led folk to fight or flee.  Even once Jesus was dead and the graves opened, and the dead came out of their tombs, and when the soldier realised Jesus was the Son of God.  That sinking feeling! 

When the temple curtain tore from top to bottom, and the Jews suspected Jesus would be stolen from the tomb, placing a guard to protect their image, rather than protect the glory of God.  That sinking feeling.

These sinking feelings are all feelings of death.  Everyone was feeling a sense of death.  People scrambling left, right, and centre, to preserve their position, their ideals, their futures, their advantage from death.  When that sinking feeling of death approached, everyone sought to protect their knowledge of good and evil!

What was Jesus feeling during Holy Week when the crowds joyously welcomed him on a donkey?  When he taught and tested in the temple?  What was Jesus feeling when he celebrated his last supper, sharing his bread with Judas Iscariot, who would betray him, and not be around to see his resurrection, believe and receive forgiveness?  With Peter, who was promising so much but would deny him, not just once, but three times?

Of Jesus we hear in Isaiah, “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.  But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a 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 is my adversary? Let him come near to me.  Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty?”  (Isaiah 50:4–9a ESV)

Jesus was sent into this sinking world with our sinking feelings of death.  The stink of death was constantly before him.  Unlike us, he never put it aside, tried to forget about it, while secretly worrying about it.  He never fought or fled from the situation before him, even when everyone else did. 

Jesus felt that sinking feeling.  He wept over death, he lamented over Jerusalem, he suffered under sin.  He became estranged from his Father, abandoned on the cross.  Yes, Jesus felt that sinking feeling, your sinking feeling that gives you a taste of death, and died for you.  Your sinking feeling led him to sink into death, for you to feel forgiveness, receive forgiveness, hear, and taste forgiveness, so you  believe his forgiveness!

When you were baptised into Jesus’ death and resurrection, he was baptised into your terrible sinking feelings of death!  Jesus was baptised into your guilt, your conflict with your work colleagues, your estranged family, your shame and embarrassment, your failures, the unfairness you bear, the prejudices you produce, the injustice you induce. All that causes that sinking feeling in you, Jesus was born into, was baptised into, die for, and has risen over.

When he was incarnated in Mary, he saw your mess.  When he rode into Jerusalem, he carried all your cares.  When he healed, he took on your illnesses.  When he confronted the proud and arrogant, he called out your vanity and selfish ways.  When tempted by the devil with sinking feelings, know he overcame your temptation before the devil.  Know, when the Holy Spirit allows a sense of death, in that sinking feeling, he is leading you from death to life in Jesus Christ!

Whatever it is, causing that sinking feeling of death, fall into the arms of Jesus.  Let Jesus carry you to the cross.  He is the only one who can carry us through death and into life as it should be. 

When that sinking feeling is forced upon you, at the moment you realise your good and evil is incapacitated by death, let Jesus Christ love you with his flint-like face!  Let his good over evil be your only good!  Let your death be his death!  Let his victory be your victory! Amen.