Saturday, March 28, 2020

Passion Sunday


St Barnabas Anglican Church, Warrington 
Passion Sunday, 30 March 2020 

Dear Sisters and Brothers, 

Grace and peace to you from God. Today is Passion Sunday, the 5th Sunday in Lent. The 1st Sunday of Pandemic Level 4. The Gospel lesson is John 11:1-45. 11

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶ after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰ But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” ¹¹ After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” ¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” ²⁸ When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus began to weep. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” ³⁸ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” ⁴⁵ Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 
This is the Gospel of Christ. 

As a child in Scotland I was a great fan of Dr Who. Such was the power of the story telling that I was completely engaged, we waited eagerly each week for the next episode which came at Saturday teatime. I was fascinated, but also terrified. The monsters, Daleks or whatever, were so scary. I used to stand behind the sofa to watch. If it got too scary, I could duck down out of sight and pretend to play with my toys. Each story lasted 6 episodes. 6 weeks. And the reason the monsters were so scary was that you never saw them till, maybe the end of the 4th episode. Before that each episode would end with the glimpse of an eye, or a claw, or in the case of the Daleks, a sucker. The baddies were menacing because they were hidden.

If I’d read this story when I was hiding behind the sofa, I’d have thought “Just another miracle.” As I grew older, I thought Jesus was using his powers to correct a mistake. He had been careless, dithered too long before going to cure his friend and Lazarus had died. So Jesus had just brought him back to life.  

But over the years this story has become more gripping, and more terrifying. It shows Jesus at his most human, and most courageous. He sees what this is, and where it is going. He gathers his strength, conquers His fear, and goes to Lazarus. Some of the words used are unique. Look at v33 Jesus, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He knows this is not just a miraculous sign, this is a trade. 

And he knows what he is trading. One life for another. Maybe he can’t discern the whole monster, the cross, but surely he sees the nails and knows what is ahead is unspeakable. But He commits. In this story Jesus chooses to give His life for His friend. It is as personal as that.

Christ died for me. He died for you. And that trade was just as personal. As God, His vision encompassed all time, and all people. He knew I needed Him. He knew you needed Him.  

Amen. So be it. 
Blessings 
Jeremy Rev Dr JJ Nicoll, 
0274 361 481 
Priest-in-Charge St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

God of hope, 
in you we see a life that never dies. 
Surrounded by death and violence may 
we never give in to despair. 
But rest in you our resurrection and our life. 
For you are alive and reign with the Father 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever. 
Amen

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