Who was this Jesus. The account given in our Gospel is unique to John. It is interesting to note that it is Gentiles, Greeks who are doing the asking. Also of interest is the fact that it is Philip who is approached and before going to Jesus himself Philip conferred with Andrew. However authentic this passage is the essential message to be gleaned here is:
Joh 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
What remains is the question of how we are to serve him and what it means to follow him.
Jer 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
Jer 31:32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
Jer 31:33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
For our Psalm we return once more to David's prayer of penitence. Repition is once more the theme of this lesson series.
We are not worthy but a righteous and loving God will forgive the repentent and make us right with him and the world which we inhabit.
Psa 2:7 I will tell of the decree: the LORD said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee.
It was Jesus who said, he who would be greatest among you must be servant of all. He demonstrates it by washing his disciples' feet at the passover feast during which he institutes Holy Communion.
On this Sunday before Holy Week we once more confront the question, who was this person who rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and within the week was betrayed and crucified. Encountering him is a life-changing experience for all involved. A few weeks ago a young couple had their lives completely disrupted by the birth of a son who was visited by shepherds and magi bringing gifts. Their livelihood was disrupted by a flight to Egypt, which their ancestors had escaped, that lasted two years. Upon meeting him a group of fishermen and tradesmen abandoned their livelihoods, their families, and their homes to follow him.
Two thousand years later he is still changing lives. Born of the house of Judah the man Jesus was not of the priestly Levite clan. As God incarnate he was more than a priest. As the Messiah, the Christ his followers, Judas in particular, believed that he would rise up and free them from Roman Imperialism. Instead he allowed his earthly body to be subjected to the cruelist most humiliating form of execution. His followers were shattered. God in the Word made Flesh freed us from the burden of sin, disobedience to the law, so that we become members of the Kingdom of God. Neither Rome nor any other earthy power holds any sway over a spriritual realm that has no earthly basis save in the hearts of men. Rome might kill Jesus' earthly body but in the 'person' of God the Son his followers encountered his heavenly presence in the resurrection as do we to this day. All that is required is that we believe that God loves us so much that we need only repent and believe. It is that easy and that difficult.
The priestly class offered sacrifice of sin offerings to redeem God's people Israel. Jesus symbolically becomes that sacrifice but God's mercy and redemptive love are eternal and not confined to a single time, place or event.
Freed from the bondage of sin we are made members of Christ's body the church and enter the priesthood of all believers. As such our mission becomes Christ's mission, not to become martyrs but to spread and embody his message of forgiveness and love.
Joh 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
What remains is the question of how we are to serve him and what it means to follow him.
Jer 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
Jer 31:32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
Jer 31:33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
For our Psalm we return once more to David's prayer of penitence. Repition is once more the theme of this lesson series.
We are not worthy but a righteous and loving God will forgive the repentent and make us right with him and the world which we inhabit.
Psa 2:7 I will tell of the decree: the LORD said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee.
It was Jesus who said, he who would be greatest among you must be servant of all. He demonstrates it by washing his disciples' feet at the passover feast during which he institutes Holy Communion.
On this Sunday before Holy Week we once more confront the question, who was this person who rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and within the week was betrayed and crucified. Encountering him is a life-changing experience for all involved. A few weeks ago a young couple had their lives completely disrupted by the birth of a son who was visited by shepherds and magi bringing gifts. Their livelihood was disrupted by a flight to Egypt, which their ancestors had escaped, that lasted two years. Upon meeting him a group of fishermen and tradesmen abandoned their livelihoods, their families, and their homes to follow him.
Two thousand years later he is still changing lives. Born of the house of Judah the man Jesus was not of the priestly Levite clan. As God incarnate he was more than a priest. As the Messiah, the Christ his followers, Judas in particular, believed that he would rise up and free them from Roman Imperialism. Instead he allowed his earthly body to be subjected to the cruelist most humiliating form of execution. His followers were shattered. God in the Word made Flesh freed us from the burden of sin, disobedience to the law, so that we become members of the Kingdom of God. Neither Rome nor any other earthy power holds any sway over a spriritual realm that has no earthly basis save in the hearts of men. Rome might kill Jesus' earthly body but in the 'person' of God the Son his followers encountered his heavenly presence in the resurrection as do we to this day. All that is required is that we believe that God loves us so much that we need only repent and believe. It is that easy and that difficult.
The priestly class offered sacrifice of sin offerings to redeem God's people Israel. Jesus symbolically becomes that sacrifice but God's mercy and redemptive love are eternal and not confined to a single time, place or event.
Freed from the bondage of sin we are made members of Christ's body the church and enter the priesthood of all believers. As such our mission becomes Christ's mission, not to become martyrs but to spread and embody his message of forgiveness and love.
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