Matthew's Passion: Guards, guards 40 Blogs of Lent: 39 Matthew 27:62-66 In 2006 my wife and I holidayed in Nesebar on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. In the Archaeological Museum there is a room dedicated to icons from the churches there. Icons depicting the burial or resurrection of Jesus painted during the occupation of …
Tag: Jesus
Matthew’s passion: A Borrowed Grave
Matthew's passion: A Borrowed Grave 40 Blogs of Lent: 38 Matthew 27:57-61 It is an odd way to celebrate a victory, by being buried. A group of women had been among those who had witnessed God incarnate, God in human form, win the final victory over evil, over sin and even over death. The chains …
Matthew’s Passion: The cross is victory
Matthew's Passion: The dawn of the dead? 40 Blogs of Lent: 37 Matthew 27:51-56 What are we to make of the zombie apocalypse in Matthew's Gospel? Jesus dies, God dies and then tombs are opened and the dead roam the streets like a scene from The Dawn Of The Dead. The events in Matthew's Gospel …
Matthew’s Passion: The cross is moral example
Matthew's Passion: God dies alone 40 Blogs of Lent: 36 Matthew 27:45-50 Jesus dies alone. Abandoned by his followers and rejected by the people he cries out to his Father. Since before time itself was created, Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, member of the Godhead, Emmanuel, God with us, God in human form is alone …
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Matthew’s Passion: Association with robbers
Matthew's Passion: Association with robbers 40 Blogs of Lent: 33 Matthew 27:32-44 Who was Simon, the man from Cyrene who was made to carry Jesus' cross. That someone should ne named in the story in all three synoptic Gospels is strange. Stranger still is that Mark's Gospel should also mention Simon's sons Rufus and Alexander. …
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Matthew’s Passion: Humiliations
Matthew's Passion: Humiliations 40 Blogs of Lent: 32 Matthew 27:27-31 Jesus has been arrested, tried convicted and sentenced, other than the actual execution, could anything be worse? The answer to that is yes. There are lots of things that could be worse. There is an English proverb that says, "Sticks and stones may break my …
Matthew’s Passion: Where did the crowd come from?
A crowd had gathered, a substantial crowd, a crowd that was large enough to cause a riot that the Roman garrison stationed in Jerusalem would not have been able to easily contain. This crowd was looking increasingly nasty. They had already chosen the release of a notorious criminal and condemned an innocent man in his place. But what perplexes me is where this crowd came from.
Matthew’s Passion: The trial of the two Christs
Matthew's Passion: The trial of the two Christs 40 blogs of Lent: 30 Matthew 27:15-23 I am visiting this passage a second time because last time the relationship I looked at was the crowd. This time I am looking at the relationship between Jesus and Barabbas. Barabbas was a notorious criminal, but he was more …
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Matthew’s Passion: The cross is justice
Matthew's Passion: Barabbas 40 Blogs of Lent: 27 Matthew 27:15-23 Matthew's Pasion is told through a series of encounters between people. Enter a new character, Barabbas. But the real encounter here is a stand off between Pilate, the Roman governor, and the plotters against Jesus, who are From the Sanhedrin, the religious and political local …
Matthew’s Passion: Blood money and the suicide of Satan
Matthew's Passion: Blood money and the suicide of Satan 40 Blogs of Lent: 26 Matthew 27:3-10 Poor Judas. He has been duped by the high priest and his cronies, whatever Judas thought would happen after Jesus was handed over is not clear, but it is clear he wasn't expecting Jesus to be executed. Who can …
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