Preachrblog

  Annas and Caiaphas – John 18:12-14; 19-24 12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” 24 An...

  Romans 5:1-11 Today we are going to take a more expository, verse-by-verse approach to this Epistle reading from St. Paul in Romans chapter 5.   I encourage you to follow along as we do so. So far in Romans he has laid a strong case for how we all stand condemned in our sins because of the law, but then moved on to explain that a righteousness apart from the law is revealed to us – a righteousness by grace through faith in Christ.   Now he continues unpacking the implications of that for the Christian.   There are so many different ways to look at this thing that God does for us in Christ – like the facets of a diamond – and Paul certainly highlights a number of them for us today.   1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are justified by faith.   Made just, or righteous by God.   Notice we don’t justify ourselves, but it happens to us, God does it for us.   Our faith...

  Mark 14:(48b-50) 51-52 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled. 51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. __ "John Mark" We continue our Lenten focus on some of the “minor characters” or “supporting cast” of the Passion Narrative.   Today, we come to the Garden of Gethsemane, amidst the arrest of Jesus.   And there we see a mysterious young man who was following along, and was almost arrested by the soldiers himself.   But he managed to slip away from them, and all they got was the linen cloth he was wearing.   He fled, naked into the night.   It would be a sort of comical story if it wasn’t in the midst of the seriousness of wh...

Lent begins. Our 40 day time of preparation and prayer, penitence and fasting. A time of testing and probing, that leads us, with Jesus, to the cross. Any student of the Bible quickly learns that 40 is an important number.   The rains fell in Noah’s day for 40 days and nights (Genesis 7:4) Israel ate manna and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years (Exodus 16:35) Moses was with God on the mountain, 40 days and nights, without eating bread or water (Exodus 24:18, 34:28) The spies searched the land of Canaan for 40 days (Numbers 13:25) 40 lashes (stripes) was the maximum whipping penalty (Deuteronomy 25:3) God allowed the land to rest for 40 years (Judges 3:11, 5:31, 8:28) Abdon, a judge in Israel, had 40 sons (Judges 12:14) Israel did evil; God gave them to an enemy for 40 years (Judges 13:1) Eli judged Israel for 40 years (1 Samuel 4:18) Goliath presented himself to Israel for 40 days (1 Samuel 17:16) Saul reigned for 40 years (Acts 13:21) David reigned o...

  A blessed Ash Wednesday to you, dear Christians.   We begin the season of repentance known as Lent.   The ashes on our foreheads a stark reminder of the wages of sin – death – that has marked itself on every cell of our body, indeed, our very soul.   But even as ashes was away easily with water, so our baptism has removed the soil and stain of sin from us, and thus also its consequences.   The flesh will die, but we who are in Christ will live, and one day see a resurrection.   The ashes form the sign of a cross, as a reminder that the death that counts is Jesus’ death, and that in that death we have victory over the grave.   So our repentance is not despair.   It’s not just sorrow and contrition for sin, it’s also marked by hope – the only hope the world has ever had – the sure and certain hope that is found in Christ crucified for sinners.   Therefore let us journey to the cross together in repentance and faith, in sorrow for sin, but...

  What a strange event was the Transfiguration of our Lord!   Sticking out like, well, a mountaintop, in the midst of the Gospels.   Most of the miracles Jesus does directly benefit someone who is suffering or in need.   But this one is different.   This is a teaching moment.   This is a revelation. Peter, James and John have front row seats to a spectacular event – Jesus is transfigured before them.   And through their witness, we can peek on in to see it too.   His appearance, his figure, changes.   No longer appearing as your average, every-day, humble Jewish man of the first century.   Now Jesus gets all bright and shiny and glorious.   Even his clothes change, and are elevated to a brightness that is beyond anything of this earth. Normally, just looking at Jesus, you wouldn’t see anything particularly special about him.   But now, here, it’s unmistakable.   The picture speaks loud and clear. But, look!   It’s...

The Epiphany season is winding down, as next Sunday is Transfiguration and then we’re right on to Lent.  Throughout these Sundays after the Christmas season, we are presented with a number of different ways in which Christ manifests himself to us.  Different ways he shows himself – different aspects of his identity and mission.  He’s the king of the Jews worshipped by the wise men.  He’s the Son of the Father, recognized at his baptism.  He’s the Holy One of Israel, confessed even by the unclean spirit that he cast out. And he is the one who preaches with authority, to the amazement of the people.   Today, we might say, in our reading from Mark, we see Jesus especially as a healer. The Great Physician of Body and Soul, our Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate healer.  The New Testament records around 42 different instances of Jesus performing a healing miracle, and in some cases as we see at the end of today’s reading, he “healed many”.  He heal...