Matthew's Passion: Jesus and Pilate 40 Blogs of Lent: 25 Matthew 27:1-2, 11-14 I have heard it said that you should never mix politics and religion. But what we have here is political in the extreme. The plotters which included the high priest have struggled to get the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, to condemn Jesus, …
Tag: Jesus
Matthew’s Passion: How do you recover from denying Jesus?
Matthew's Passion: Denial 40 blogs of Lent: 24 Matthew 26:69-75 Denial is engraved in our society. Insurance companies will tell you not to accept responsibility in an accident, even if you know you were at fault. You may be in breach of your insurance conditions if you do. In extreme conditions they may ask you …
Continue reading Matthew’s Passion: How do you recover from denying Jesus?
Coverings
Coverings and technology problems Holy Trinity Church Huddersfield, Sunday 31 March 2019 40 Blogs of Lent: 23 A good day for walking to church. The sun was out and the initial morning chill was wearing off, the clocks went forward last night so it felt early, it looked like was going to be a great …
Matthew’s Passion: The cross is atonement
Matthew's Passion: Staying silent 40 blogs of Lent: 21 Matthew 26:57-68 Caiaphas was high priest. He did not know it, but he was about to do his job far more effectively than any high priest before him. Not even Aaron, the first high priest, had so fully fulfilled that role. The whole reason for there …
Matthew’s Passion: Living by the sword
Matthew's Passion: Living by the sword 40 blog gas of Lent: 20 Matthew 26:47-56 Matthew's Gospel tells the story of Jesus' trial, crucifixion and ascension not as a complete narrative but as a series of encounters between people. What matters to Matthew are the relationships between people, especially between Jesus and the other people. It …
Matthew’s Passion: Sleeping in Gethsemane
Matthew's Passion: Sleeping in Gethsemane 40 Blogs of Lent: 19 Matthew 26:36-46 From a private place to a private garden. Gethsemane was a place where there was a wine press, so was probably attached to a vineyard. Jesus separates himself from first the eleven disciples, Judas had already gone elsewhere, and then from the inner …
Matthew’s Passion: desertion and denial
Matthew's Passion: Peter and Jesus 40 Blogs of Lent: 18 Matthew 26:30-35 The party is over, the last hymn of the feast has been sung. Jesus and his disciples are on their way from the secret supper room to a lonely place outside Jerusalem's walls. If the earlier bombshells were not enough; about Jesus being …
What we are doing is scandalous, but we do have good coffee and cake
What we are doing is scandalous, but we do have good coffee and cake Holy Trinity Church, Huddersfield, Sunday 24 March 2019 40 Blogs of Lent: 17 If it were not for the wind chill it would have been almost like a summer's day with a bright sunlight and clear blue skies. Not bad for …
Continue reading What we are doing is scandalous, but we do have good coffee and cake
Matthew’s Pasion: The cross is forgiveness
Matthew's Passion: Take and remember 40 Blogs of Lent: 15 Matthew 26: 26-30 Something strange Jesus has already spoiled what is supposed to be a party by talking about being betrayed. Now we move on to something even stranger. Four cups of wine are drunk at a Passover meal, which tie in with the Exodus. …
Matthew’s Passion: The cross is freedom
Matthew's Passion: Faithfulness and betrayal 40 Blogs of Lent: 14 Matthew 26:17-25 Having set out the background for the story of Jesus' death and resurrection, the plot by the High Priest and Jesus being anointed, the story begins with a party. This is told through encounters with Jesus, and the relationships therein: The cross is …