Our question on this day is what turned this Caesar-loving soldier into a soldier of the cross? What made this man, about whom legends have been told, turn from unbelieving defiler of the Holy One to a worshipper of the One True God? The synoptic gospels treat this confession a little differently according to who it is that’s telling the story, and, of course, their audience. Now, that doesn’t make one story true and the others false, and it doesn’t make one any truer than the others. It’s a matter of perspective and context….For more, click on the title above.
Tag: Lent
Lent 5 Wednesday 2023
Lent 5 Wednesday
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Jesus Is
Our text for today’s sermon comes from the Gospel reading which you heard just moments ago, these words:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Thus far our text. These words are likely familiar to most of us. Jesus’ words here should be some of the most famous He ever said, yet strangely, the average person likely has never heard them. Why is that? Perhaps they just don’t have the same ring as “Judge not,” or “Turn the other cheek.” …For more, click on the title above.
Lent 5 (Judica) 2023
Lent 5 (Judica)
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Gentiles’ confessions of Christ: The Ethiopian Eunuch
As you had opportunity to hear last week, the Wednesdays of the 40 days of Lent this year we have been hearing from the Scriptures of Gentile confessions of Christ. During the last few weeks, you heard of the good confession made by a woman at a well; a jailer in Philippi; and an exorcized demoniac. Today, you are hearing of the good confession, and its result, from an Ethiopian eunuch. Next week, you will hear, God-willing, of the powerful confession of a Centurion made from the foot of Jesus’ cross. All of these occurred on account of Jesus displaying His life into death concern for the salvation of all people….For more, click on the title above.
Lent 4 Wednesday 2023
Lent 4 Wednesday
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Rejoicing in the midst of a penitential season
As part of that which many of you have learned, this Sunday has historically been called, Laetare. That is the first word of the Latin language Introit Psalm. It is one which is usually rendered in English, Rejoice!
Therefore, in the form of a “Little Easter,” we begin another week of rejoicing in the midst of a penitential season. That serves to let us take a breath in our deeper contemplation of our sins and, from that, our need for the Savior. It also points us to the “Big Easter,” that is coming. It is on the journey to that through which the Church Calendar has just passed the half-way point. …For more, click on the title above.
Lent 4 (Laetare) 2023
Lent 4 (Laetare)
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Don’t be surprised when the Word of God works
There are many significant actions taken by the King of Nineveh in our reading that require a bit of background knowledge to understand. Ultimately, though, in the book of Jonah and indeed also in our reading from Luke, we hear of an abrupt repentance from a very unlikely source.
Going first to Jonah, what is the significance of Nineveh? Nineveh was the great capital city of the Assyrian Empire. In the time of Jonah, about 790 B.C., the Assyrian Empire was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the ancient world. …For more, click on the title above.
Lent 3 Wednesday 2023
Lent 3 Wednesday
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