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Holy Week – Day 6

Friday (Luke 22v54-71, 23v1-56)

This is where it is useful to have a map/diagram of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. Although we are looking at these events through the narrative of Luke, all the gospel writers describe these events. Jesus has been arrested In Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, now he is hustled to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. While here, Peter, on his own and under pressure denies that he even knows Jesus and just as quickly regrets it. Jesus is then taken to the fortress of Antonia to get Pilates permission to have Jesus executed, because Israel was under Roman occupation. Pilate tries to pass the buck by sending Jesus to Herod, who is responsible for Galilee, where Jesus was from. Herod mocks Jesus, then sends him back to Pilate.

Pilate can see no reason to execute Jesus, so he tries to have him released. At Passover it was the custom to release a prisoner, Barabbas was in prison for murder and revolt. By this time a crowd has gathered and Pilate gives the crowd the choice of who to release, Jesus or Barabbas. Whipped up by voices planted amongst them, the crowd shout for Barabbas. Pilate washes his hands of the situation, has Jesus beaten and sends him off with a detachment of Roman soldiers for crucifixion.  From arrest in Gethsemane to crucifixion at Golgotha, Jesus has walked around three miles, being beaten and ill-treated along the way and just before being crucified, receives the thirty-nine lashes. His last food and drink was at the Passover meal the night before, and we are now at about nine in the morning. Jesus will to finish the task was kept alive by the love he has for us.

Two criminals were crucified on either side of Jesus and to one of these, Jesus offers a place in paradise. Even in such extreme circumstances, Jesus offers salvation to the undeserving. Soon after this, Jesus dies and at that moment, the curtain in the Temple, separating the most holy place, is ripped in half from top to bottom. This meant that the way to God was symbolically and actually open, no sacrifices, no keeping rules anymore, no divisions.

The women and the disciples take Jesus from the cross and place him in a tomb given by a man named Joseph, from Arimathea.

Selah: We can never appreciate all that Jesus suffered in order to deal with sin and we often underestimate the seriousness of sin. We can however, accept Jesus gift of salvation and rejoice that sin, death and hell are defeated and the way to heaven is open to all.

Holy Week – Day 5

Thursday (Matthew 26v17-56)

Up till now, Jesus has been teaching in relatively public places. First in the Temple, walking to and from Bethany, in homes, which were mostly open to visitors. Now, an element of danger and secrecy enters the narrative. Jesus tells the disciples to follow a man carrying a water pot and he would lead them to the place where they would celebrate the Passover. How did they know they were following the right person? Carrying water was women’s work, so a man doing this work would be unusual.

It could also be that this man was one of a group called the Essenes, a male only society of strictly devout Jews. Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed and arrested, so this secrecy allowed him to share the Passover meal with his disciples, without interruption.   This meal morphs into what we now call communion/Lord’s Supper/Eucharist. Jesus had perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the law and brought about a new relationship or covenant. From now on, all peoples from all nations throughout all history would be able to understand and share in this new relationship with God the Father, through Jesus.

Jesus then warns his disciple  that they will run away that one of them will betray him and that Peter will deny knowing him. Now he  goes to Gethsemane to prepare himself for what was to come, again, out in the public arena.  The disciples accompany him, but sleep as Jesus prays.

Judas brings the soldiers to arrest Jesus, his disciples try to fight back, but Jesus tells them this is how it must be. He makes it clear that he can call on thousands of angels if he desired, but he has set his will to fulfil the law for us. Jesus is not the accidental victim of a series of random events. This was planned and purposed from the moment Adam and Eve chose to obey Satan rather than God.

Selah: We are not random spots of dust in an impersonal universe. God knows us and has purpose for us, that is why Jesus came.

 

Holy Week – Day 4

Wednesday (Matthew 26v6-13)

Jesus was again at Bethany, at the house of Simon, called the leper. He had probably been healed by Jesus and the name had stuck even after healing. If he still had leprosy, he would be living in a community outside the village/town as a quarantine measure, not in his own house. As the meal was in progress a woman came and poured a flask of expensive oil over Jesus. There was a mixed reaction, embarrassment, jealousy, indignation at the perceived waste, and general incredulity.

Jesus commends the woman for her extravagant gift, essentially an act of worship and calls the anointing a preparation for the ordeal he is soon to undergo. Jesus promises that whenever this story is recounted, her act of worship would be remembered, and here we are doing so. Sometimes Christians do odd things when worshipping God. Taking shoes off, raising hands, singing in an unknown language, prostrating themselves on the floor, kneeling and if we are not used to this, we might  react like the people in this story. God looks on our hearts and is OK with us being a bit odd at times!

Selah: If Jesus was with us today in the flesh, what gift would you like to give him?

Holy Week – Day 3

Tuesday (Matthew 22v1-15)

Jesus does some intensive teaching here, recorded in chapters 22-25 of Matthew. He tells many stories or parables, mostly about being ready for his return, which was a bit odd, as he had not gone away yet!  We need to picture Jesus teaching in a public place, probably the temple precincts, from which he had evicted the bootfair. His audience would be mixed, the disciples, women and children, non-Jews, ordinary worshippers from all over the known world, and of course the religious leaders. He tells a story about a wedding feast, in reality, the story of how God and his representatives, the prophets, had been treated and at the last, how the Son would be treated. Needless to say, the religious leaders hated Jesus all the more when they realised they were the ‘bad guys’ of the piece.

The part about the man being thrown out owing to not wearing a wedding garment might seem a bit odd to us, because when we are invited to a wedding, we usually look on it as an opportunity for some retail therapy.  At the time of Jesus and in some cultures round the world today, it is customary for the bride and groom to provide wedding clothes for the guests (assuming they are wealthy enough). This ensures that everyone is equal and that the poorer members of the family are not shown up by their lack.

When we become Christians, we all receive the same wedding garments (salvation) it matters not a jot if we are rich, poor, have a degree, are stunningly beautiful, homely, before God, we are all in need of Jesus and only he can qualify us for heaven. hol;

Selah: Worship the one who makes us all that God requires.

The Future Is Very Local – Churches That Love The Place They Live

Gather Collective is really interested in how we impact our locality. As part of the Pioneer Network we value their insights into community engagement and an embodied faith. So we really enjoyed Saturday morning at the recent national online conference and the two speakers, Joe McSharry and Lukundo Fagade, who shared their experience of loving where they live.

Watch them below

We need to pray – just to make it through the day

We pray Sundays, Tuesdays – often twice. We have a prayer partner scheme. Soon we will pray almost everyday in the Quiet Garden prayer room. But in the meantime here are other prayer gatherings that we want to encourage you to participate in

Eastbourne Prayer Day
This event runs from 9.00am to 1.00pm. You can be there the whole time or come in for an hour. It will take place on Zoom and includes contributions from over 15 people to help us pray in an informed way for the town. We will send out the link on Friday but ideally you would register to help us understand what the numbers are going to be.

February 4th
We’re taking part in the Pioneer 40 days of Prayer and Feb 4th is our day. We will pray at 4 different times of the day and also send you information for your personal prayers on that day. We’ll give you more information nearer the time.

Deliberate Journeys – When Jesus Calls You To An Adventure

Dave Roberts shares in the second of our new series on Journeys with Jesus. The focus is on John 4:4 and Jesus willingness to go to Samaria with all risk to his reputation that might involve as he travels almost to the door of a competing temple and starts the mission that would go to the nations, through a woman. Discover how this impacts our understanding of mission and witness today.

Gather Collective – Song of the Week

We sing old songs, new songs and ancient hymns. We seek to reflect our teaching themes with the use of relevant songs. Our Songs of the Week will generally be new songs that we are learning but at other times they might just be great songs that express timeless truths. We are starting with I am Who You Say I am – a song about grace, identity and emotional resilience.