Monday 6th April – Monday in Holy Week – 8th Station – Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

“Nurturing” Sieger Koeder
 

St Luke 23: 28 -31

Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.”  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us”; and to the hills, “Cover us.” For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Reflection

One question never to be asked lightly is “why don’t you have children?”. Five words that make everything awkward. There are intrusive variations: “didn’t you want children?”; high pressure versions: “when are you going to get round to having children?”; the one that leads to an employment tribunal: “won’t you be taking time off soon to start a family?”
 
Preparing to die, and inflicted with his own pain, Jesus walks into these emotionally stirring waters. Did a woman in the crowd feel the sting of her childlessness as she heard Jesus praise the barren? Did another feel her breasts weep milky tears and remember a child who had died before being weaned? Did others, like some in the painting clasp a distressed toddler closer, hoping the little one would not understand these harsh words.
 
We read the words as an empathetic warning: mothers, prepare your hearts for they will be broken. Because we trust Jesus, we make them into a lamentation for a city crushed under the heel of an Empire. On other lips this would sound like a curse. “Better never to have children then to watch them suffer and die. You’ll see”.  
 
Asked about the climate crisis, the young politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: “there’s a scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it [leads] young people to have a legitimate question: Is it okay to still have children?”
 
Little ones born now, and those yet to come, are most vulnerable to climate catastrophe – least able to seek safety, at risk from outbreaks of disease, easily exploited by cynical people looking to profit from disaster. Think, then, of children and those yet to be born as we face our current challenge. Will we be moved to despair or to act with hope?

Prayer

Jesus,
like you may I look with compassion at those around me,
feel empathy to the deepest of my belly,
and act sacrificially for all those made in your image already,
and the generations yet to come.
Amen.

 

 Introduction
 
Good morning, my name is Andy Braunston; I work with four churches in and around Glasgow but much of today’s service was recorded in my manse. 
 
Every year since 1992 I have started the Palm Sunday service with an introduction about the long weeks of Lent and how we’ve been preparing ourselves, through works of mercy and self-sacrifice, to celebrate Easter.  This year we’ve all given up rather more than we’ve intended, anticipated or wanted and Lent has seemed very long indeed. 
 
Here, in Glasgow none of us can meet as we are all, like you, allowed very little personal contact with people outside our own homes.  When we venture out to the shops we find that Lenten discipline is taking an unexpected turn with fewer things to buy and more limited choices.
 
We probably haven’t got Palm Crosses to bless, there are no donkeys or Palm Sunday processions today and we’re starting to wonder when this will all end. 
 
So today, in worship, we will reflect on our situation as we recall Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem where the crowds acclaimed him as their anointed king and listen as those crowds suddenly grow fickle and bay for his blood. 
 
Call to Worship
 
People of God, on this wilderness journey, what will you eat?
The word of the Lord is our daily bread.
People of God, in this time of temptation, how will you live?
Our faith is in the faithfulness of God.
People of God, at this kingdom crossroad, whom will you serve?
We worship the Lord our God alone.
 
First Reading:  St Matthew 21: 1-11
 
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,  saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’  This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
 
‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
        and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
 
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
 
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
 
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’  The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’

Hymn:      Make Way, Make Way
                Graham Kendrick © 1986 Thank You Music
 
Make way, make way,
for Christ the King
in splendour arrives.
Fling wide the gates
and welcome him
into your lives.
 
Make way!  Make way!
For the King of kings!
Make way! Make way!
And let his kingdom in!
 
2: He comes the broken
hearts to heal,
the prisoners to free.
The deaf shall hear,
the lame shall dance,
the blind shall see.
 
3: And those who mourn
with heavy hearts,
who weep and sigh;
with laughter, joy and
royal crown He’ll beautify.

4: We call you now
to worship him as Lord of all.
To have no other gods but him:
their thrones must fall!
 
Prayers of Approach, Confession and Absolution
 
O God in human form,
we remember the day when you rode in triumph,
we hear the crowds acclaim you as king,
we share their joy and expectation of liberation.
Forgive us, O God,
when we fail to acclaim you with our words and actions,
when we fail to share the joy and expectation of freedom.
 
O God in human form,
we remember too how those crowds soon turned on you,
we stand amazed at their fickleness,
we share your sadness at how easily they were distracted.
Forgive us, O God,
when we change with the wind,
when our fickleness lets others down,
and when we are distracted from following you.
 
O God in human form,
we remember how the crowds remembered their Bible,
and found meaning in your message,
seeing you as their king, their anointed one.

Forgive us, O God,
when we pervert the Bible,
turning it to our own ends,
using it to challenge others but not ourselves.  Amen.
 
Assurance of Pardon

God, the source of all mercy,
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
has reconciled the world to Himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace;
you have been forgiven, so have the strength to forgive yourself.
 
Prayer of Illumination
 
Open your mind to us, O God,
as we again listen for your Word,
contained in the Scriptures,
that we may hear, understand and obey.  Amen.
 
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Matthew
 
Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,  ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.
 
Now on the first day of Unleavened Breadthe disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’  He replied ‘Go to so-and-so in the city and say to him, “The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.” The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.
 
When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples.  And while they were eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus.
 
Now as they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said. ‘Take it and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them saying. ‘Drink all of you from this, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.’
 
After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all lose faith in me this night, for the scripture says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee’.  At this, Peter said, ‘Though all lose faith in you, I will never lose faith’. Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you solemnly, this very night, before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times’. Peter said to him, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you’. And all the disciples said the same.
 
Then Jesus came with them to a small estate called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I go over there to pray’. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him.  And sadness came over him, and great distress. He said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and keep awake with me.’ And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So you had not the strength to keep awake with me one hour? You should be awake, and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’
 
Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: ‘My Father, If this cup cannot pass by without my drinking it, your will be done!’ And he came back again and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy. Leaving them there, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words. Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, ‘You can sleep on now and take your rest. Now the hour has come when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! My betrayer is already close at hand.’
 
He was still speaking when Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them. He had said ‘The one I kiss, he is the man. Take him in charge.’ So he went straight up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi’, and kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘My friend, do what you are here for’. They came forward, seized Jesus and took him in charge.
 
At that, one of the followers of Jesus grasped his sword and drew it; he struck out at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Jesus said, ‘Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father who would promptly send more than twelve legions of angels to my defence? But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say this is the way it must be?’
It was at this time that Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Am I a brigand, that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I sat teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on me.’ Now all this happened to fulfil the prophecies in scripture. Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away.
 
The men who had arrested Jesus led him off to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  Peter followed him at a distance, and when he reached the high priest’s palace, he went in and sat down with the attendants to see what the end would be.  The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they might pass the death-sentence. But they could not find any, though several lying witnesses came forward. Eventually two stepped forward and made a statement, ‘This man said, “I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three days build it up”‘ The high priest then stood up and said to him, ‘Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?’ But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God’. Jesus answered  ‘The words are your own. Moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’
 
At this, the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the blasphemy. What is your opinion?’ They answered, ‘He deserves to die’.
 
Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him, ‘Play the prophet, Christ! Who hit you then?’
 
Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus the Galilean’. But he denied it in front of them all saying: ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’ When he went out to the gateway another servant-girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This man was with Jesus the Nazarene’. And again, with an oath, he denied it, ‘I do not know the man’. A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘You are one of them for sure! Why, your accent gives you away.’ Then he started calling down curses on himself and swearing, ‘I do not know the man’. At that moment the cock crew, and Peter remembered what Jesus had said, ‘Before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times’. And he went outside and wept bitterly.
 
When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people met in council to bring about the death of Jesus.  They had him bound, and led him away to hand him over to Pilate, the governor. When he found that Jesus had been condemned, Judas his betrayer was filled with remorse and took the thirty silver pieces back to the chief priests and elders saying. ‘I have sinned;’ I have betrayed innocent blood’ They replied: ‘What is that to us? That is your concern.’ And flinging down the silver pieces in the sanctuary he made off and hanged himself; the chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, ‘It is against the Law to put this into the treasury; it is blood-money’.  So they discussed the matter and bought the potter’s field with it as a graveyard for foreigners, and this is why the field is called the Field of Blood today. The words of the prophet Jeremiah were then fulfilled: And they took the thirty silver pieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by children of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.
 
Jesus, then, was brought before the governor, and the governor put to him this question, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘It is you who say it’.  But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he refused to answer at all. Pilate then said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many charges they have brought against you?’ But to the governor’s complete amazement, he offered no reply to any of the charges.
 
At festival time it was the governor’s practice to release a prisoner for the people, anyone they chose.  Now there was at that time a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas. So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, ‘Which do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’ For Pilate knew it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. Now as he was seated in the chair of judgement, his wife sent him a message, ‘Have nothing to do with that man; I have been upset all day by a dream I had about him’.
 
The chief priests and the elders, however, had persuaded the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.  So when the governor spoke and asked them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’ they said, ‘Barabbas’. Pilate said to them ‘What am I to do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said, ‘Let him be crucified! ‘Why?’ he asked ‘What harm has he done?’ But they shouted all the louder, ‘Let him be crucified!’ Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in fact a riot was imminent. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your concern.’ And the people, each one of them, shouted back, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ Then he released Barabbas for them. He ordered Jesus to be first scourged and then handed over to be crucified.
 
The governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected the whole cohort round him. Then they stripped him and made him wear a scarlet cloak, and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his right hand to make fun of him.  They knelt to him saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucify him.
 
On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, Simon by name, and enlisted him to carry his cross. When they had reached a place called Golgotha, that is, the place of the skull, they gave him wine to drink mixed with gall, which he tasted but refused to drink. When they had finished crucifying him they shared out his clothing by casting lots, and then sat down and stayed there keeping guard over him. Above his head was placed the charge against him; it read: ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’. At the same time two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.
 
The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, ‘So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! Then save yourself! If you are God’s son, come down from the cross!’ The chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him in the same way 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 puts his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him. For he did say, “I am the son of God”.’ Even the robbers who were crucified with him taunted him in the same way.
 
From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you deserted me?’ When some of those who stood there heard this, they said, ‘The man is calling on Elijah’, and one of them quickly ran to get a sponge which he dipped in vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave it him to drink. ‘Wait!’ said the rest of them ‘and see if Elijah will come to save him.’ But Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.
 
At that, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked; the rocks were split; the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy men rose from the dead, and these, after his resurrection, came out of the tombs, entered the Holy City and appeared to a number of people.
 
Meanwhile the centurion, together with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the earthquake and all that was taking place, and they were terrified and said, ‘In truth this was a son of God.’
 
And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
 
When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre
 
Next day, that is, when Preparation Day was over, the chief priests and the Pharisees went in a body to Pilate and said to him, ‘Your Excellency, we recall that this impostor said, while he was still alive, “After three days I shall rise again”. Therefore give the order to have the sepulchre kept secure until the third day, for fear his disciples come and steal him away and tell the people, “He has risen from the dead”. This last piece of fraud would be worse than what went before.’  ‘You may have your guard’ said Pilate to them. ‘Go and make all as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the sepulchre secure, putting seals on the stone and mounting a guard.
  
Hymn:      My Song is Love unknown
                Samuel Crossman (1624 – 1683)
 

7 Here might I stay and sing,
no story so divine;
never was love, dear King,
never was grief like Thine.
This is my friend,
in whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend.
 
Sermon
 
Today’s long Passion reading is full of reversals.  The newly-proclaimed king is led away to be killed as a criminal; the crowds who cheered him on a few short days ago now bay for his blood; the gentle teacher is made a dangerous rebel; Jesus’ own people  – who have heard him teach and have seen his miracles – turn on him, whilst the gentile Centurion, who’d probably never met him before, recognises his divinity; Jesus speaks, not his normal words of consolation but, instead, words dripping in anguish.  Reversals like these keep us reflecting on this passage – reversals like these are ones that Samuel Crossman explored in our last hymn. 
 
We’re used to seeing reversals in our national life; a busy vibrant economy has ground to a halt; experts – who, not long ago, were derided are now listened to with great respect; suddenly the NHS and social care can have all the money they need, and policies which were, a few months ago, derided now seem sensible and necessary.  Reversals are nothing new but continue to surprise us. 
 
Yet changing fortunes, reversals of fate, and pragmatism are always with us.  The very fact the crowds acclaimed Jesus on that first Palm Sunday probably sealed his fate.  The authorities would have been nervous with the extra crowds pressing into Jerusalem and then he provoked them by fulfilling a prophecy about a coming king.  Matthew records Jesus entering Jerusalem and then going straight to the Temple, clearing it of the money lenders and stall holders.  Upsetting tables, traders and temple types.  Worse, from the point of view of the religious authorities, Jesus doesn’t stop there, day after day in that first Holy Week Jesus goes and teaches at the Temple.  He teaches about the wicked tenants – whom the Chief Priests rightly discern are cyphers for themselves.  Jesus spoke directly, and in parable, and his teaching made the authorities more and more nervous until, in the end, they can take no more and have to silence him.  As Crossman puts it:
 
They rise and needs will have
my dear Lord made away;
a murderer they save,
the Prince of life they slay.
 
On the Cross we are confronted with Jesus’ sense of utter desolation as, quoting Scripture, he cries out to the God whom he feels has deserted him.  
 
On the Cross, Jesus’ cry joins with ours as we struggle under the great reversals of our own time.
 
On the Cross, Jesus joins with our pain, our suffering, our humiliation.
 
On the Cross, Jesus fully identifies with humanity in the hope that humanity will one day fully identify with him.
 
In the 1950s the French priest Michel Quoist published a wee book called Prayers of Life.  This book is still in print and sold over 2.5 million copies.  It’s a modern spiritual classic steeped in Quoist’s deep spirituality and work as parish priest of Le Harve for many years. 
 
My own favourite prayer is called Son, I beseech you, don’t sleep any more.  It’s a dialogue between God and a Christian.  It starts “ ‘I shall be in agony until the end of time’ God says”  The Christian responds saying that this isn’t possible, it’s an exaggeration, for if this were so we’d do something about it.  Quoist has God respond saying that we’re deluding ourselves:
 
“They say they love me,
they believe they love me, and, as I am willing to admit,
they are often sincere, but they are terribly mistaken.
They do not understand, they do not see.
Slowly everything has distorted, dried up, emptied.
They think they love me
because once a month they honour my Sacred Heart.
As if I loved them only twelve times a year!
They think they love me because they keep their devotions regularly, attend a benediction, eat fish on Fridays, burn a candle, or say a prayer before a picture of my Sacred Heart.
But I am not made of plaster, God says, nor of stone nor of bronze.
I am living flesh, throbbing, suffering.
I am among you and you have not recognised me.
I am poorly paid, I am unemployed, I live in a slum, I have tuberculosis, I sleep under bridges, I am in prison, I am oppressed, I am patronised….”
 
The prayer continues in similar vein drawing links between the God who suffered at Calvary and the God who continues to suffer in His people now.  It’s a deeply Catholic prayer remembering, as often we forget, that Jesus suffers with his people – why else would he have told the people, in that first Holy Week according to St Matthew’s Gospel – that we will be judged on how we treat others as He is present in those we consider the “least of these”?
 
So this Holy Week as we consider the great reversals of our time, we think about how we treat Jesus in the supermarket worker, the nurse, the junior doctor, the delivery driver – the people who our society has undervalued for years but on whom we newly realise we rely. 
 
So this Holy Week as we consider the great reversals of our time, we think about how indifferent we are to those who suffer in our world – the migrant having to flee home because of war, persecution and poverty.
 
So this Holy Week as we consider the great reversals of our time, we think about how our society could be different, how we could structure our world so that God is no longer in agony.
 
So this Holy Week as we long for the great reversal of Easter we remember Jesus, stretched out amongst his people, suffering and dying with and for us in the hope that we finally learn to live for Him.

Will you pray with me?
 
God our hope of victory,
whom we constantly betray;
grant us so to recognise your coming
that in our clamour
there may be commitment
and in our silence
the very stones may cry aloud
in your name, Amen.
 
Hymn:  We Turn to God when we are sorely pressed
            Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
 
We turn to God when we are sorely pressed;
we pray for help, and ask for peace and bread;
we seek release from illness, guilt, and death:
all people do, in faith or unbelief.
 
2 We turn to God when he is sorely pressed,
and find him poor, scorned, without roof and bread,
bowed under weight of weakness, sin, and death:
faith stands by God in his dark hour of grief.
 
3 God turns to us when we are sorely pressed,
and feeds our souls and bodies with his bread;
for one and all Christ gives himself in death:
through his forgiveness sin will find relief.
 
Affirmation of Faith
 
As followers of Jesus Christ, living in this world—
which some seek to control, but which others view with despair—
we declare with joy and trust: our world belongs to God!
 
From the beginning, through all the crises of our times,
until His Kingdom fully comes, God keeps covenant forever.
Our world belongs to God!
 
We rejoice in the goodness of God, renounce the works of darkness,
and dedicate ourselves to holy living, for our world belongs to God!
 
As committed disciples, called to faithful obedience, and set free for joyful praise, we offer our hearts and lives to do God’s work in his world, for our world belongs to God!
 
With tempered impatience,  eager to see injustice ended, we expect the Day of the Lord. And we are confident that the light which shines in the present darkness will fill the earth when Christ appears for our World belongs to God!
 
Prayers of Intercession
 
We bring our prayers to God for our world, our country,  the church and those we know, love and worry about.
 
Eternal God, we lift our planet before you,
we thank you for its beauty and wonder at its complexity.
We pray that this time of enforced reflection and stillness
will be a way for us to re-evaluate how we live and work,
that we do less harm to this our fragile home.
 
God of all people, we pray for our world,
for those living with the virus,
for those researching into treatment and vaccine,
for those living in fear,
for those recovering from illness,
and for those who are bereaved.
We pray for those countries where there are fewer resources,
and where the virus will add to a litany of war, famine and poverty.
Help us, O God, to see unity of humanity,
and to change how we live.
 
Eternal One, we pray for our own nations,
for Elizabeth our Queen, Boris our Prime Minister,
and for all who are elected to serve us,
that they may govern with justice,
and seek the good of all.
 
God of the Church
we pray for your people
adjusting to new ways of being community
and new ways of worship. 
We pray for those around the world
who always have to worship at home for fear of the authorities,
for those who can never take part in Palm Sunday processions,
for those who can never openly share their faith,
may they find comfort in you and strength in your love
as through them
you allow your Church to grow.
 
God of tenderness,
in the silence of our hearts,
we pray for those we know and love…..
 
and we pray for ourselves and our own needs….
Accept these prayers, Eternal One,
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Amen.
 
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray, Our Father…

Offering
 
Last week Phil Nevard reminded us of the need to continue to give, as we are able, throughout this health emergency.  We give in different ways  – to our churches, to local charities, to those in need.  It maybe you are keeping your offering envelopes, putting your money in each week and will return them to your church when all this is over, it maybe you have asked your church treasurer to post you a standing order form, it maybe you’re making direct gifts to the church or other charities’ bank accounts.  However we choose to give, it’s important to continue – it’s as much a part of our faith as prayer and hymn singing after all.  Will you pray with me?
 
All things come from you, O God,
and of your own do we give you.
Help us to continue to be generous, even in times of scarcity,
to be loving even in times of fear,
and to have open hearts even as we have to close our homes. Amen.
 
Hymn:      Lord of the Dance
                Sydney Carter © 1963 Stainer and Bell
 

Saturday 4th April – 6th Station – Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

True Icon, Sieger Koeder
 

St Matthew 25: 40

And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Reflection

We like to think we would have done it, but sometimes we just don’t notice it needs doing.  Sometimes we notice, yet it is such a common sight we don’t contemplate any action to effect change while sometimes we are strangers visiting a strange land and don’t know what is the acceptable thing to do, without making trouble for ourselves. 

There are the times when we do something helpful, because it was for a friend or family member, which we wouldn’t dream of doing for anyone else.  

Maybe she was a resident of Jerusalem who waited to give what comfort she could.  Royal Wotton Bassett was given the “royal” title after an originally spontaneous tribute became a standard to offer comfort to bereaved service families.   

Maybe she was a visitor, there for the festival and shocked to the core by the casual cruelty of the Roman guard.   She snatched her head scarf to wipe his face, to clear his eyes of blood, sweat and tears, a little comfort on the road.  When Jesus was asked the most important commandment his response is to draw out two essentials; love God and love your neighbour (Matt 22:35-40).  Without knowing, this compassionate woman set a standard of Christian charity such that she became known as a true image. The name is perhaps an alteration of the medieval Latin vēra īconica, true image.  

It could have been anyone of us: Ruth (friend) or Andrew (manly / warrior) or Simon of Cyrene or Mary of Magdala, but they call her name Veronica.

Prayer

Creator God, you have created us with our different abilities, gifts and talents.  Grant us to use them all in our service to others, that we might be true images of Jesus, whose attributes name us Christian.  Amen

                                  

When I survey the wond’rous Cross
on which the Prince of Glory dy’d,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
 
2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ my God:
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

3. See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose so rich a Crown?
 
4. His dying crimson, like a robe,
spreads o’er his body on the Tree;
then am I dead to all the globe,
and all the Globe is dead to me.

5. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
 
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St John  
(Jerusalem Bible)

Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron valley where there was a garden into which he went with his disciples. Judas the traitor knew the place also, since Jesus had often met his disciples there, so Judas brought the cohort to this place together with guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees, all with lanterns and torches and weapons. Knowing everything that was to happen to him, Jesus came forward and said, ‘Who are you looking for?’  They answered, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ He said, ‘I am he.’ Now Judas the traitor was standing among them. When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he,’ they moved back and fell on the ground. He asked them a second time, ‘Who are you looking for?’ They said, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’  Jesus replied, ‘I have told you that I am he. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others go.’  This was to fulfil the words he had spoken, ‘Not one of those you gave me have I lost.’  
 
Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.  Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?’  The cohort and its tribune and the Jewish guards seized Jesus and bound him.  
 
They took him first to Annas, because Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.  It was Caiaphas who had counselled the Jews, ‘It is better for one man to die for the people.’  Simon Peter, with another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest’s palace, but Peter stayed outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the door-keeper and brought Peter in.  
 
The girl on duty at the door said to Peter, ‘Aren’t you another of that man’s disciples?’ He answered, ‘I am not.’  Now it was cold, and the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others. The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.  Jesus answered, ‘I have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple where all the Jews meet together; I have said nothing in secret.  Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I taught; they know what I said.’  At these words, one of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying, ‘Is that the way you answer the high priest?’  Jesus replied, ‘If there is some offence in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you strike me?’  Then Annas sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
 
As Simon Peter stood there warming himself, someone said to him, ‘Aren’t you another of his disciples?’ He denied it saying, ‘I am not.’  One of the high priest’s servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, ‘Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?’  Again Peter denied it; and at once a cock crowed.  They then led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was now morning. They did not go into the Praetorium themselves to avoid becoming defiled and unable to eat the Passover.  So Pilate came outside to them and said, ‘What charge do you bring against this man?’ They replied,  ‘If he were not a criminal, we should not have handed him over to you.’  Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves, and try him by your own Law.’ The Jews answered, ‘We are not allowed to put anyone to death.’  This was to fulfil the words Jesus had spoken indicating the way he was going to die.  So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’  Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others said it to you about me?’  Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’  Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.’  Pilate said, ‘So, then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is you who say that I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’  ‘Truth?’ said Pilate. ‘What is that?’
 
And so saying he went out again to the Jews and said, ‘I find no case against him.  But according to a custom of yours I should release one prisoner at the Passover; would you like me, then, to release for you the king of the Jews?’  At this they shouted, ‘Not this man,’ they said, ‘but Barabbas.’ Barabbas was a bandit.”
 
“Pilate then had Jesus taken away and scourged; and after this, the soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head and dressed him in a purple robe.  They kept coming up to him and saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ and slapping him in the face. Pilate came outside again and said to them, ‘Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you see that I find no case against him.’
 
Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, ‘Here is the man.’  When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him.’ The people replied, ‘We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to be put to death, because he has claimed to be Son of God.’  When Pilate heard them say this his fears increased.  Re-entering the Praetorium, he said to Jesus, ‘Where do you come from?’ But Jesus made no answer.  Pilate then said to him, ‘Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?’  Jesus replied, ‘You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above; that is why the man who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.’  From that moment Pilate was anxious to set him free, but the people shouted, ‘If you set him free you are no friend of Caesar’s; anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar.’
 
Hearing these words, Pilate had Jesus brought out, and seated him on the chair of judgement at a place called the Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha.  It was the Day of Preparation, about the sixth hour. ‘Here is your king,’ said Pilate to the Jews.  But they shouted, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him.’ Pilate said, ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king except Caesar.’  So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
 
They then took charge of Jesus, and carrying his own cross he went out to the Place of the Skull or, as it is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle.  Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: ‘Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews’.
 
This notice was read by many of the people, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.  So the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate, ‘You should not write “King of the Jews”, but that the man said, “I am King of the Jews”. ‘ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’
 
When the soldiers had finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece from neck to hem; so they said to one another, ‘Instead of tearing it, let’s throw dice to decide who is to have it.’ In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled: They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothes. That is what the soldiers did.
 
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’  Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
 
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty.  A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.  
 
It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies’ remaining on the cross during the Sabbath — since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity — the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away.  Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other.  When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water. This is the evidence of one who saw it — true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true — and he gives it so that you may believe as well.  Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture: Not one bone of his will be broken;  and again, in another place scripture says: They will look to the one whom they have pierced.
 
After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus — though a secret one because he was afraid of the people — asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away.  Nicodemus came as well — the same one who had first come to Jesus at night-time — and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following the Jewish burial custom. At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried.
 
Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
 
Music  Surely He Has Born Our Iniquities – Handel’s Messiah
 
The Reproaches  please join in with the responses in bold
 
The Reproaches are a liturgical text from the 9^th Century used on Good Friday, or in Eastern Churches on Holy Saturday.  The version we use today have been adapted for use in the Presbyterian Church of the USA.
 
O my people, O my church, what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? Answer me.
 
I led you forth from the land of Egypt and delivered you by the waters of baptism, but you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
I led you through the desert forty years, and fed you with manna: I brought you through tribulation and penitence, and gave you my body, the bread of heaven, but you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
What more could I have done for you that I have not done? I planted you, my chosen and fairest vineyard, I made you the branches of my vine; but when I was thirsty, you gave me vinegar to drink and pierced with a spear the side of your Saviour, and you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
I went before you in a pillar of cloud, and you have led me to the judgment hall of Pilate. I scourged your enemies and brought you to a land of freedom, but you have scourged, mocked, and beaten me. I gave you the water of salvation from the rock, but you have given me gall and left me to thirst, and you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
I gave you a royal sceptre, and bestowed the keys to the kingdom,
but you have given me a crown of thorns. I raised you on high with great power, but you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
My peace I gave, which the world cannot give, and washed your feet as a sign of my love, but you draw the sword to strike in my name and seek high places in my kingdom. I offered you my body and blood, but you scatter and deny and abandon me, and you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
I sent the Spirit of truth to guide you, and you close your hearts to the Counsellor. I pray that all may be one in the Father and me, but you continue to quarrel and divide. I call you to go and bring forth fruit, but you cast lots for my clothing, and you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
I grafted you into the tree of my chosen Israel, and you turned on them with persecution and mass murder. I made you joint heirs with them of my covenants but you made them scapegoats for your own guilt, and you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Holy God, holy and mighty,
Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.
 
I came to you as the least of your brothers and sisters; I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me, and you have prepared a cross for your Saviour.
 
Hymn       This is Your Coronation
Sylvia Dunstan 1955 – 1993 GIA Publications Ltd
 

This is your coronation –
thorns press upon your head;
no bright angelic heralds,
but angry crowds instead;
beneath your throne of timber,
and struggling with the load,,
you go in cruel procession
on sorrow’s royal road.
 
2: Eternal judge on trial,
God’s law, by law denied;
love’s justice is rejected
and truth is falsified.
We who have charged, condemned you
are sentenced by your love;
your blood pronounces pardon
as you are stretched above.

3: High priest you are anointed
with blood upon your face,
and in this hour appointed
the offering for our race.
For weakness interceding;
for sin, you are the price;
for us your prayer unceasing,
O living sacrifice.
 
The General Intercessions
 
Dear people of God, God sent Jesus into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved, that all who believe in him might be delivered from the power of sin and death and become heirs with him of eternal life.
 
Let us pray for the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of Christ throughout the world: for its unity in witness and service, for all church leaders and ministers and the people whom they serve, for all Christians those unable to worship this year and those always unable to openly worship, for those about to be baptized, that God will confirm the Church in faith, increase it in love, and preserve it in peace.
 
Eternal God, by your Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified. Receive our prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in our vocation and ministry we may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them: for the leaders of our nation, especially Elizabeth our Queen, our Prime Minister, and members of Parliament for all who serve the common good, that by God’s help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord.
 
Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that justice and peace may increase, until the earth is filled
with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Let us pray for all who suffer and are afflicted in body or in mind: for the hungry and homeless, the destitute and the oppressed, and all who suffer persecution, doubt, and despair, for the sorrowful and bereaved,
for prisoners and captives and those in mortal danger, that God will comfort and relieve them, and grant them the knowledge of God’s love, and stir up in us the will and patience to minister to their needs.
 
Gracious God, the comfort of all who sorrow, the strength of all who suffer, hear the cry of those in misery and need. In their afflictions show them your mercy, and give us, we pray, the strength to serve them, for the sake of him who suffered for us, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Let us pray for all who have not received the gospel of Christ: for all who have not heard the words of salvation, for all who have lost their faith, for all whose sin has made them indifferent to Christ, for all who actively oppose Christ by word or deed, for all who are enemies of the cross of Christ, and persecutors of his disciples, for all who in the name of Christ have persecuted others, that God will open their hearts to the truth and lead them to faith and obedience.
 
Merciful God, creator of the peoples of the earth and lover of souls, have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ. Let your gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it. Turn the hearts of those who resist it, and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Let us commit ourselves to God, and pray for the grace of a holy life, that with all who have departed this life and have died in the peace of Christ,
and those whose faith is known to God alone, we may be accounted worthy to enter into the fullness of the joy of our Lord, and receive the crown of life in the day of resurrection.
 
Eternal God of unchanging power and light, look with mercy on your whole Church. Bring to completion your saving work, so that the whole world may see the fallen lifted up, the old made new, and all things brought to perfection by him through whom all things were made, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.
 
Our Father…
  
Hymn:      Praise to the Holiest in the Height
J H Newman 1801 – 1890
 

Dear >

On Sunday Holy Week starts and we reflect on Jesus’ triumphant, and provocative, entry into Jerusalem.  The fickle crowds who acclaimed him as king soon cried for his blood.  We have a special service to mark Palm Sunday and this will be emailed out to you at 9.45 for a 10am start.  I am leading this service.  Of course you can listen to it whenever you want but many people are finding it good to listen at the same time as others.  Last week over 3,200 people listened directly with many others listening on CDs burnt by their local churches or simply following the order of service printed for them locally.

Each morning we have been looking at the Stations of the Cross by Fr Sieger Koeder a German Jesuit priest and artist.  On Wednesday afternoon, at 2.45 we will send out a link to a YouTube film we’ve created which also reflect on the Stations of the Cross.  We use mix clips from Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, music mainly from Handel’s Messiah and reflections written from the point of view of the Centurion to help us focus on Jesus’ journey from Pilate’s Court to the Cross.

On Good Friday I lead a service which will be emailed out to you at 2.45 for a 3pm start.  This is a simple service of prayer and reflection as we mark the saddest day of the year.  

On Easter Sunday we will send out the service at 9.45 for a 10am start.  The service is lead by the Rev’d Dr John Bradbury currently one of the ministers at Downing Place URC in Cambridge but soon to become our next General Secretary.  This special Easter Service gives an opportunity, if you wish, to receive Communion.  All you need is to have some bread and wine at  hand as we celebrate and are drawn up into Christ’s presence together.  Though separated from each other we are not separated from the Risen Lord who bids us welcome.

with every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Daily Devotions from the URC

St Mark 15: 21

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

Reflection

He was a countryman, not a city dweller, who had come to celebrate the Passover and, probably bemused, joined the spectators watching the condemned criminals being forced to carry the cross-pieces from which they would hang in crucifixion. What was Simon thinking when, with no warning, he was dragged from the crowd and made to carry that heavy burden?
Mark names Simon and names his sons which leads us to think that they would have been known to Mark’s first readers, presumably as members of the early Christian church community. May we assume that watching Jesus as he went to his death had such an effect on Simon that he linked up with the followers of Jesus? If so, what can we all learn about the effect that meeting Jesus, our living Lord, can still have, what effect the lives and example of Christians, including us, can also have on others?
Simon did not volunteer to “take up the cross and follow Jesus” (Mark 4. 34) but was forced to do so, he had no choice. Together with other groups the UK’s Churches’ Investors’ Group has done much vital work to highlight the fate of those compelled, tricked or coerced into modern slavery: young people, often from Asia or Africa and deceived by false promises, who find themselves tricked and coerced to work in slave-like factories in their own countries or nail bars, car-washes, cannabis farms, brothels and such like in the UK and other western countries. Are we sure that none of our expenditure reinforces this exploitation and degradation? We may all like bargain prices, but who pays the real cost, or don’t we want to know?
Simon, Alexander and Rufus are part of our history: what do we know about those who are part of our contemporary world?

Prayer

Gracious God, we thank you and honour those who have accepted the call to take up their cross and follow Jesus without knowing all that this would involve.
We also give thanks for those who commit themselves to the liberation of all who are forced into modern slavery, praying that captives may be freed and justice prevail through the power of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ: Amen.