Tag Archives: Luke 23

It’s all a bit.. overwhelming!!

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“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.”

(Isa 42.1-4)

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.'”…. in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.

(Isa 45.22-25)

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

(Lk 23.44-48)

Embrace the “covenant of vocation” or, rather, be embraced by it as the Creator calls you to a genuine humanness at last, calls and equips you to bear and reflect his image.

Celebrate the revolution that happened once for all when the power of love overcame the love of power. And, in the power of that same love, join in the revolution here and now.

(NT Wright; p 416,The Day the Revolution Began – 2016, SPCK, )

I have just finished reading this book – not that I have done much more than look at the words… my concentration is not good these days, and theology  can be quite challenging. But…. I am so grateful that I persevered, because even though I failed to grasp much of the argument, yet I retain a flavour of the triumphant story which it tells. The author’s skill and expertise in this masterful exposition of the meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion has been so helpful, stretching my understanding and I thank God for the gifts which have been put to such glorious use for the building up of the kingdom.

I have glimpsed the greatness of the salvation narrative, been blinded by its light and complexity and yet also compelled by the love which it reveals.  While striving to grasp the theology with my mind, my heart has burned with awe and delight, humbly accepting the truth revealed. It is so much more, so much greater and more glorious than we can begin to imagine, and all part of the great purpose of God since before time began… that we might dwell with and delight in one another, sharing as Creator and beloved creatures in the joy for which we are designed.

I have a sense of so many threads gathering together to create a rich tapestry, like a great carpet unfolding ahead of me as I stumble and endeavour to follow, however lamely, in the way of peace, the way of holiness, the vocation to which I am called and now – by Christ’s triumph – am free to fully live! I am relishing the truth revealed, the fresh understanding of where we are going and why the gospel matters for today as well as for tomorrow.  A fresh vision of mission is revealed – to declare here and now that the world is no longer in bondage, that Jesus has defeated those powers that bind humanity in misery, that true freedom is in him and free to all who will come! The great revolution was launched on Good Friday, and as Jesus’ followers, we are commissioned to spread the word of radical change, the word of hope, that because of him, it is possible to be fully human at last!

As the great revolution is being worked out across the world – in God’s word at work and in our experience of him through the sacraments – may we his people be drawn to worship afresh by the magnitude of His plan, the depth of His love, the steadfastness of His purpose which is being fulfilled hour by hour and heart by heart.

Hope in the face of despair

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‘Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord, You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth, and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

You are the Lord God, who chose Abram.. You found his heart faithful.. and you made a covenant with him. You have kept your promise because you are righteous. You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt.. You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them.. laws that are just and right…. but they became arrogant and stiff-necked,.. they refused to listen.. but you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, Therefore, you did not desert them..

You gave your good Spirit to instruct them.. You gave them kingdoms and nations.. they revelled in your goodness. But they were disobedient and rebelled against you.. They killed your prophets who had warned them to turn back to you.. You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant… For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them.. yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighbouring peoples. But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them.. for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all [our]hardship seem trifling in your eyes… In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly…. but see, we are slaves today..’

(Neh 9. extracts between v 5&37)

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” but the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God”, he said,” since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you , today you will be with me in paradise.”

(Lk 23.39-43)

For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

(Rom 7.22-25)

The truth is that we are broken; our history is littered with things of which we are ashamed and we let ourselves and others down all the time. It is uncomfortable to acknowledge that we are powerless to change the situation, not least because we are the problem – is there then no hope? Humanly speaking, the evidence from history is that even with all our advancing sophistication and knowledge, our capacity to wound, destroy, distort, damage and pollute remains undiminished – even though we claim to know what is good, we cannot do it.

The people of Israel, responding to the Law, confessed their own rebellion, both historic and recent. They recognised the fatal weaknesses which made them incapable of keeping their covenant with God.. their only hope is in the character of the Lord their faithful God, and they simply beg for mercy.

So also the criminal hanging in agony beside Jesus, who made confession of his sin and did not try to justify himself but asked for mercy, by that very act confessing that in Jesus, he recognised the One who had power to deliver, to set free, to make new – the promised Messiah.

And the great apostle, in his wrestling with the deep roots of the glorious gospel which he proclaims, reminds his readers that no amount of zeal for the law and for God’s glory ever enabled a person to overcome their bond to sin – even in his most devoted days as a Pharisee, Paul had known this struggle. BUT now he is set free from that power, and it no longer rules him – he is no longer a slave to sin, but a slave to love and what a transformation that brings!

This is the power of the cross, sealed and delivered as Jesus rose again triumphant over the powers of this world, leading his people into freedom from slavery to the corrupting weakness of sin, and crucially, empowering them by his spirit to live in that freedom.

In the face of our own sins – past and present – we can have hope, because our God is merciful, loving and compassionate. We are forgiven, we have the Spirit within us and new hearts pumping with the love of God, hearts free to choose obedience, loving worship and devotion, hearts which though still overshadowed by human weakness, are no longer bound to fall into rebellion. Our sin is no longer fatal, but a reminder of how much we need to cling to Jesus and trust in his love and saving work on our behalf.

Take courage friends, you are not defined by your past, or even your present, but by the love which claimed you triumphantly on Good Friday, and brought you eternally into the kingdom which one day will be unveiled before all creation – your hope is secure and Jesus has won!