Sunday 4 May 2025 - Easter 3

Theme                  Breakfasting with Jesus            

Sentence            Jesus showed himself to his disciples and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. Alleluia! (Acts 1:3)        [NZPB, p. 594]          

Collect: B. Peters, Book of Prayers in Common, March 2025 edition

Let us your people always exult, O God,

that we who celebrate our adoption with renewed joy,

may look forward with hope to our full share in the resurrection;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.      

Readings             

Acts 9:1-6

Psalm 30                                 

Revelation 5:11-14

John 21:1-19

Comments

General observation about post-resurrection readings in the gospels: between Matthew, Luke and John a form of apology or defence of the resurrection faith is presented. Matthew's narrative in ch. 28 rebuts the charge that the tomb was empty because the disciples stole the body of Jesus. Luke's narrative in ch. 24 twice makes the case that the risen Jesus was a physical person to the extent that he ate and drank with disciples. John's narrative in ch. 20 makes the case that a believer who has not directly experienced the risen Jesus is no less privileged than the believer who has had that experience. In ch. 21 John also presents Jesus in 'physical' mode, but more making breakfast than eating it! John may also be defending a strand of Christianity ('Johannine Christianity') as valid alongside the strand associated with Simon Peter.

Acts 9:1-6

Paul (then known as Saul) encounters the risen Christ in a manner unusual for the telling of the history of Jesus through Luke-Acts. After the ascension (i.e. cessation of appearances of the risen Jesus Christ as 'earth-bound' experiences), the risen Christ appears to Paul. According to the narrative, Paul does not necessarily 'see' an 'appearance' of the risen Jesus: we are told he experiences a 'light from heaven' and hears the voice of Jesus, a voice also heard by his companions. Nevertheless in his own account, 1 Corinthians 15:8, Paul describes this event as an 'appearance', using the same word to described the appearances before the ascension to the apostles and other disciples.

Many things can be said about this passage; for instance, there is a body of literature on the extent to which in this appearance Paul also received the whole revelation of the gospel which drove forward his subsequent preaching and writing, including his conviction that the gospel was for Gentile as well as Jew. Here we note two points.

First, the murderous intent of Saul/Paul against 'disciples of the Lord' is described by Jesus as persecution of himself (compare 9:1-2 with 9:5, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.') This could be an implied theology of the body of Christ: the church is the body of Christ on earth, to persecute the church is to persecute Christ. It could also be an insight into Saul/Paul's psychological state: he was outwardly raging against disciples, but the anger within was actually an anger focused on Christ (e.g. as a disruptive figure who was disturbing the settled state of Judaism).

Secondly, the transformation of Paul, from bloodthirsty crusader against disciples to humbly obedient disciple  is a paradigm of conversion. 

Psalm 30

Sticking with Paul, in his great discourse on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, one of the puzzling statements he makes is this (v. 4): 

'that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.' 

Ever since Christians have wondered, where in the Old Testament do we find 'scriptures' which look ahead either generally to the resurrection or specifically to resurrection 'on the third day'. One possibility for the latter is Hosea 6:2. Our psalm today is chosen as a text which speaks generally to the possibility of resurrection. The psalmist (David?) speaks of a transformation from death to life, from weeping to joy, and from mourning to dancing.

Since David did not himself write this as a resurrected person, he must originally have been speaking of the situation in his life when all looked bleak and dark but God led him to a better place.

One aspect of resurrection which applies to us in this life is that we see God at work in raising Jesus from the dead as the God who is able to 'raise' us up from difficult situations.

Revelation 5:11-14

This portion of the great vision of the open heaven in Revelation 4-5 takes us to the slain but conquering Lamb, that is, to the risen Lord Jesus Christ (see also Revelation 1:13-20). Captured for us is the most appropriate and timeless response to the risen Jesus: worship!

The Lamb is 'worthy' of worship, on heaven and on earth, because he was 'slain/slaughtered' for us (we might go back to John's Gospel, 1:29, 36; also to 1 Corinthians 5:7 and 1 Peter 1:18-19 for a range of insights into Christ as the Lamb slain for us). But we worship no dead Lamb. The Lamb has conquered (sin and death) and exists forever with God on the divine throne, together 'the one seated on the throne' and 'the Lamb' constitute for Revelation's vision one object of worship.

John 21:1-19

This story is full of 'angles'. A good commentary will help with possible solutions to the puzzle of significance of the number "153". But see further below at the *.

Here I simply observe that the story begins with: 

- one point being pressed (the reality of the resurrection as a real time event with many witnesses to subsequent appearances of the risen Jesus, appearances not confined to Jerusalem and its surrounds); 

- moves through another point (the forgiveness and restoration of the thrice-denying-Jesus Peter with a thrice-affirming-commission); 

- and ends just before a further point is pressed home about discipleship (21:20-23). This last point is that discipleship takes varied but equally valid forms.

In other words, in keeping with the feel of John 21, that it is an 'epilogue' or 'afterword' to the main part of the gospel, so some loose ends are tied up here. The gospel ends perfectly well with 20:30-31. The addition of John 21 (it need not matter for the present purpose whether by the author's hand or by the hand of a later editor) suggests a community which engaged with this gospel and raised some important questions. Now they are answered.

That might be a clue to how we preach from this passage on Easter 3. What are our pressing questions about the resurrection or about how we are to live for Christ as people of the resurrection? What answers would Jesus himself give, as he himself answered the questions being answered here? 

Broadly speaking the questions being answered here are still our questions today:

- Did the resurrection of Jesus really happen? John answers "Yes!"

- Will God forgive me and restore me to divine communion, ever when I have denied my Lord and let him down badly and repeatedly? John answers "Yes!"

- What does it mean to follow Jesus? John answers "All disciples follow Jesus wherever he leads them, whether to peaceful death in old age or to martyrdom."

Nevertheless, another way to approach this portion of Scripture is to note the emphasis on feeding:

- there is a breakfast and Jesus will feed the disciples at it;

- there is a conversation with Simon Peter which involves challenging Peter in his love for Jesus to do what Jesus wants which is to nurture and to nourish the church (the lambs and sheep of Jesus).

Jesus feeds the disciples; the disciples are to feed other disciples. (See also a comment in the section below about the number 153).

The net was not torn (v. 11)

In a chapter on fishing and following Jesus, our minds are taken to Jesus' commission to the first disciples that they will become fishers of people. Jesus' expectation is that his movement will grow. Here the unbroken net speaks of a promise of Jesus that no matter how large his movement grows, it will cope with growth.

*The number 153:
- it is a perfect number, i.e. a number of the form, 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n. In this case, 1+ 2 + 3 + ... + 17. (Also known as a "triangular" number.)
- it is the sum of 3 squared plus 12 squared: 9 + 144 = 153.
- the square root of 153 is 12.37 which is the number of lunar months in a calendar year [so I read recently!].

Thus, it is possible, that John focuses on this intriguing number because it speaks to the mathematically inclined Greek reader of harmony and order in the universe, in the creation of the Creator (cf. John 1:1ff). 

Another possibility, once observed by the ancient scholar Jerome, is that 153 is the then known number of fish species in the world, so 153 speaks of the inclusion in the net of the whole world of people. This has been challenged, however, because some in the ancient world thought the number was 157, and that Jerome misunderstood his source on the number 153.

More promising in my own view, because it relates 153 to a major theme in the passage, the theme of feeding, is this: if 153 is the triangular number of 17, then where do we find 17 in John's Gospel? A possible answer is John 6:13 (my bold):

So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.

12 + 5 = 17.

Are the 153 fish a thematic connection to the feeding of the five thousand and thus to the great sermon by Jesus on the Bread of Life in John 6?

If so, then the disciples are to feed other disciples, making Jesus the Bread of Life available to them. 

Sunday 27 April 2025 - Pascha/Easter 2

Theme                  When Jesus appeared to his disciples    

Sentence             Let us give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Alleluia! (Colossians 1:12) [NZPB, 595]

Collect: B. Peters, Book of Prayers in Common, March 2025 edition

                 

Grant, we pray, O God,

that we, who share in the paschael celebrations,

may, through your goodness,

hold fast to them

in the way we live our lives;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings                                             

Acts 5:27-32

Psalm 118:14-29

Revelation 1:4-8

                        John 20:19-31

The theme for the day and the season is clear, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each passage speaks to and about this theme.

If last Sunday was 'the day' of resurrection, a day to reflect on the momentous discovery of the empty tomb and the initial reactions to that, then this Sunday is a day to reflect further (or deeper) on the resurrection. We might, as one instance, reflect on what the resurrection means for individual believers (what inspires us, what challenges us). For another instance we might reflect on where the resurrected Jesus is today (e.g. the body of Christ on earth, the church).

But John's Gospel passage opens a wide open door to several possible sub-themes under the general theme of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Doubting Thomas, John 20:24-29. We do not need to doubt the resurrection. Jesus was raised from the dead and presented himself for proof to his disciples, including doubting Thomas.


Doubting Thomas accepted what his eyes (if not his hands) told him: Jesus had been raised from the dead.


Will we trust Thomas and accept the Lord's word to him, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

2. Apostolic Commission, John 20:21 (or 20:21-23). "As the Father has sent me, so I send you."


With these words the Lord commissions his disciples for their work in the world. This work is a straight-line continuation of Christ's own mission: they will serve as he has served; they will go where he has gone.

Simply as a post-resurrection commission this is both different (in words used) to the post-resurrection commissions in Matthew 28:20 and Luke 24:44-49 = Acts 1:1-8 and similar (in meaning) to the same commissions.


In particular we might usefully observe that Acts in relation to Luke's Gospel is the disciples doing what Jesus did as they continue and expand the mission of Jesus.

The resurrection, in this perspective, is a validation of who Jesus is, the Son of God.


But the resurrection does not mean the Son of God remains visible in the world: the risen Jesus does not 'hang around'. Rather the resurrection is the conclusion of Christ's physical presence on earth as Jesus of Nazareth. From now on he will be physically present in the world through his disciples.

For us, the resurrection celebrations lead to the resurrection challenge: to go as, and where Jesus sends us.

3. Johannine Pentecost, John 20:21-23.


In Luke 24:44-49 = Acts 1:1-8, the commission to preach the gospel throughout the world is accompanied by the promise of the Holy Spirit's power.


Here also, as John presents this first resurrection day appearance of the Lord to his gathered disciples, the commission of Christ is accompanied by talk of the Holy Spirit.


On this occasion there is no promise of a future coming of the Holy Spirit but the direct gifting of the Holy Spirit as Jesus 'breathes' on them and states,


"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (verses 22-23).

Some commentators call this the Johannine Pentecost!

We could tie ourselves in knots trying to reconcile what John offers here with Luke's account of the promise and then actuality of Pentecost (e.g. is it a separate occasion, the same occasion told in a different way, were both Luke and John attempting to create a narrative explanation of the experienced power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers?

The meaning of this occasion is clear: the risen Jesus will not remain but the disciples will; they will do what Jesus has been doing; the power to fulfill Christ's commission will be the very power of the Father and of the Son: the Holy Spirit (as already taught by Jesus, John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-15).

The resurrection releases the power of God, the Holy Spirit, into the lives of those willing to be sent as the Father sent the Son. If we want the power we need to obey; if we obey we will receive the power!

Acts 5:27-32

Peter and the apostles have been brought before "the council" and "the high priest" himself is questioning them, as well he might do as the preceding passage has told us of the rising popularity of the apostles as they preach and heal, of their being imprisoned by the high priest but then released from prison by angelic intervention.

They are told off by the high priest because they had been instructed "not to teach in this name." Peter and the apostles give an answer which ever since has driven forward courageous Christian witness,


"We must obey God rather than any human authority."

The concise testimony then given by Peter and the apostles nails the resurrection of Jesus as decisive for their bold "rebellion" against the authority standing before them.


"The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree."

If Jesus had died on the cross ("tree" here recalls Deuteronomy 21:22-33) without further ado, then the authority of the high priest and his council would have been unquestioned. But there was further ado, God "raised up Jesus." Logically, the authority of this God is greater than the authority of the humans who had condemned Jesus to death.

This testimony (as elsewhere in the New Testament) connects "resurrection" with "exaltation." God does not merely bring Jesus back to life, God exalts him to the highest place "at his right hand." Thus Jesus is vindicated, his death has not been an irrevocable curse because it is transformed into a blessing ("that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.")

Psalm 118:14-29

This is a mighty song of praise, worth singing in response to the mighty work of God in raising Jesus from the dead and exalting him to God's right hand (see Acts 5:27-32).

But it is also a passage with some key Christian understandings about who Jesus was and is, and what God has done in and through him, most importantly the notion that Christ was "the stone the builders rejected" now "become the chief cornerstone." (See Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10,11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:4-7).

Revelation 1:4-8

Although most of Revelation is visions full of dark portents and challenging insights into the present and future course of the battle between God's holy goodness and evil's dastardly machinations and thus we think of this book as an "apocalypse" (or "disclosure"), these verses read like John is writing a letter to churches in true Pauline style!

We won't stop on this particular Sunday of Pascha to study each detail (and thus, potentially be gloriously sidetracked into wondering why God is described in temporal terms (v. 4) and the Holy Spirit is described in terms of "seven spirits" (v.4).)


Rather, we will focus on Jesus Christ, described in v. 5 as
- "the faithful witness" (that is, a model of what Christians will need to be in the face of the onslaught of evil depicted in the pages that follow);
- "the firstborn of the dead" (that is, the forerunner for all martyrs for the faith: death at the hands of persecutors will not be the end of life);
- "and the ruler of the kings of the earth" (that is, the true king of kings who eventually will triumph over all human kings, including the Roman emperor).

When John goes on to offer a song of praise to Jesus Christ, v. 5b-6, he also notes to his readers the effect of Jesus' death and resurrection: they (and we) are loved, freed from our sins, made to be a kingdom of priests serving God.

Verse 7 then presupposes the resurrection because one who has died and not been resurrected is unable to come again to earth.


In verse 7 John combines (or cites from previous Christian combining) Daniel 7:13 and Zechariah 12:10-12 to offer a vision of Jesus Christ the coming judge of all the earth, whose appearance will be particularly challenging for those responsible for his death.

Sunday 20 April 2025 - Pascha/Easter

Theme               When Jesus was raised to life    

Sentence          Alleluia! The Lord is risen indeed. To him be the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Alleluia! (Luke 24:34; Revelation 1:6) [NZPB, 592].

Collect: B. Peters, Book of Prayers in Common, March 2025 edition

O God,

you make this most holy night/day

to shine with the glory of the risen Christ;

stir up in your Church a spirit of adoption,

so that, renewed in mind and body,

we may dedicate our lives wholeheartedly to your service;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

Readings                                             

Acts 10:34-43

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

                        Luke 24:1-12 [or John 20:1-18]

Comments:

There are variations in the lectionary. I am going primarily with the gospel reading from Luke because Luke is the gospel for this year. However this year I am also offering a few remarks about John 20:1-18.

At the foot of the post are some general remarks about the resurrection narratives in the New Testament which I have published on my main blog, Anglican Down Under.

Our readings for today are coherently focused on the single topic of resurrection, God raising Jesus from the dead. The 'line' we could take in our sermon is varied.
- An apologetic meeting of possible doubts in the minds of the congregation?
- An account of the immense miracle constituted by raising someone from the dead?
- The vindication of all Jesus claimed in his teaching and deeds?
- The difference Jesus makes to life - to our lives - because he conquered death?
- The new world order created by resurrection life invading the normal world order?

Acts 10:34-43

This is a masterly summary of the gospel which repays careful study beyond the specific attention it gives to the resurrection. Here we might be especially interested in verse 40, which makes a distinction between God raising Jesus from the dead and allowing him to appear, and verse 41, which nails an often observed fact about the appearances, that they were made to those who already knew Jesus (a famous exception being Saul/Paul) and not to the public at large.

The distinction in verse 40 means that the act of raising Jesus from the dead is a specific action by God, a consequence of which are appearances of the risen Jesus. Contrary to some ways of explaining the resurrection, the resurrection of Christ did not consist of a set of appearances to people, a not unknown occurrence after death in which grieving people experience the presence of a loved one. The resurrection was first an action by God. Jesus died and was buried but "on the third day" something happened to his body which can described only in terms of being "raised." The four gospels unitedly attest to the logical consequence of being raised from the dead: the tomb was emptied of Jesus' body. The theme of a bodily raising of Jesus continues in the second part of verse 40 as Peter describes eating and drinking with Jesus "after he rose from the dead."

It is important to note the word used in verse 41 to describe the people to whom Jesus appeared: "witnesses." Jesus did not appear, so to speak, to comfort distraught followers, or as a kind of divine party trick. He appeared so that those who experienced him as their risen Lord and Saviour might testify to him. So Peter continues in verse 42, "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead."

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

We have already used this psalm on Palm Sunday (principally verses 26-29). Here we repeat its reading in our service because it speaks to the triumph of God over death in raising his Son: verses 17, 18, 22 in particular. In the reality of Jesus' life and death there is variance from the psalm: Jesus was given over to death. But his death was not permanent, he has not been given over to the state of death in perpetuity. With the psalmist Jesus could say, verses 17-18,

"I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death."

Our response on this Pascha would then be verse 24:

"This is the day which the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it."

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

It is not just that Christ has been raised from the dead (as a kind of "stand alone" miracle). A new possibility for humanity has begun, "the resurrection from the dead." Christ's resurrection is a "first fruits" of this  new dimension to life. Our hope for our own resurrection lies completely within Christ's resurrection.

Resurrection here is a victory over the powers that oppose God, and in particular the power of death which is the "last enemy to be destroyed." From this vantage point we see that resurrection is not an unusual or weird occasion (as some might try to paint it). Rather if God is God, the Great Power over all lesser powers, then death cannot, must not and will not have the last word on life. God is greater than death and the resurrection is both evidence for God's power and the result of God's power at work in Christ.

Luke 24:1-12

One of the interesting things about the resurrection narratives is the risky way they are told! 

Mark 16:1-8 (the likely original ending of that gospel) leaves us thinking that the first witnesses of the empty tomb told no one about it (when obviously they did). 

Matthew both admits and then rejects an explanation for the empty tomb that the disciples stole the body. 

All four accounts offer women as the first witnesses to the resurrection (in those days, it is thought, they were deemed to be counted as unreliable as witnesses). 

Here Luke shares some of this riskiness but puts in his own oddity when he declares that the apostles didn't believe the women (verse 11) then straightaway has Peter running off to the tomb as though he did believe them! 

A possible explanation for the interesting ways in which the resurrection stories are conveyed to us is that the gospel writers understood that their readers had their own doubts and so they tried both to encourage them ("Look, the apostles doubted too!") and persuade them otherwise ("Look, Jesus did rise from the dead, lots of people attest to that!").

At this stage in the way Luke develops his account of Jesus' resurrection, the emphasis is on the empty tomb and the witnesses to that - angels, women, Peter.

Only from verse 13 onwards, in the story of the two disciples going to Emmaus, will Luke tell his readers about the risen Jesus himself appearing to his followers. Eventually, in verse 33, we find that the doubts of the eleven have been met through an appearance to Simon (and in verse 36 Jesus will appear to the gathered throng, including eating with them). In this way Luke anticipates the distinction we noted above in Acts 10:40: the raising of the dead Jesus is one event, and the appearances of the risen Jesus Christ is another.

John 20:1-18

The gospel writers have interesting tendencies when writing stories which we can compare with another gospel writer or writers. There can even be two tendencies in one story.

In John 12:1-8, the Anointing at Bethany, we see John expanding on who is present compared to comparable stories in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The latter offer no name for the women and only one name for a person present [Simon]. John names the anointing woman [Mary] and three other people present [Lazarus, Martha and Judas].

But in the same story we see John contracting a part of the story. In the comparable stories, dialogue questioning the situation involves several people, or more, such as the disciples as a whole group. Here, John contracts the group to one questioner: Judas.

In John 20:1-18, compared to other stories in Matthew, Mark and Luke, about the group of women who journey to the tomb in the early Sunday morning, John contracts the women present to one woman: Mary Magdalene. [In Matthew's version, there is just one other woman with Mary Magdalene.]

Mary Magdalene is thus John's confirmation of the critical claim of the gospels that the first witnesses to the empty tomb were women not men.

But then John introduces Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple into the scene, having been fetched by Mary. There is something interesting about this: Mark [if it be the earliest gospel] has no men at the tomb but, instead, a reference to the future appearance of Jesus in Galilee to the disciples "and Peter"; Matthew [if it be next] has no reference to the male disciples near the tomb: they appear later, in Galilee; but Luke [assuming it draws on Mark if not also on Matthew] brings Peter to the tomb, but only after the women have reported to the disciples and Peter decides to investigate for himself.

What to make of the race between Peter and the Beloved Disciple? Best to check some commentators: I am not sure myself! If nothing else this race anticipates the competitiveness of the two disciples in John 21, which Jesus settles once and for all.

A further mystery is in verses 8-10: why don't the disciples understand the empty tomb and its "resurrection" significance? And why does John say that one disciples "saw and believed" but goes onto tosay "for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead"? Possibly this means that that disciple saw and believed what Mary had said about the tomb that it was empty but that neither he nor Peter yet understood that the tomb was empty becasue Jesus had been raised from the dead. (If so, this is often how we ourselves are even today: we see things about Jesus, we believe things about Jesus, and we do not yet fully comprehend what Jesus is about.

Then, verses 11-17 are all about Mary and Jesus, with verse 18 being Mary Magdalene's report to the disciples, the inspiring and heartwarming words, "I have seen the Lord." The tomb was empty because the Lord was alive. She had met him, talked with him and now was doing what he asked her to do.

Note that within these verses John incorporates another basic feature of the gospels' narratives about the empty tomb: there was an angel or, here, two angels present who engaged with the women or, here, woman. Note, however, that the angels ask her a question and have no opportunity to give her direction because she turns and sees-but-does-not-see Jesus standing there.

Mary thinks the person she sees is the gardener. She has no expectation of seeing Jesus so does not recognise the figure in front of her. Only when he addresses her by name does she see him for who he is.

General Remarks about the Resurrection Narratives: drawn from a post some years ago on Anglican Down Under

Meanwhile this is the season once again to reflect on the sacred mysteries of Holy Week and Pascha. I suggest we work backwards from the Resurrection. If Jesus had died on the cross and that was the end of his life, what would his legacy have been? Not much, I suggest. A paragraph, perhaps, in the history of impact-making rabbis of Israel under the Romans, mentioning some notable healings and memorable insights into the rule of God in the world. Maybe today scholars of Judaism would produce a monograph or two on ancient magicians among the rabbis, notably Jeshua ben Joseph. Perhaps there would be a brief headline making news item that the Teacher of Righteousness at Qumran had been identified by an unusually radical scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls as that same Jeshua ben Joseph.

It is the resurrection which makes the difference here, which sets the Jesus movement on a trajectory which will see Christianity separate from Judaism and which drives the leaders of that movement to see in Jesus things which were not obvious to them when they walked the dusty roads of Palestine with him. We read the gospels historically forwards from Jesus' beginnings to his end because that is the way the narrative is told, but theologically we should begin with the resurrection and read backwards. What was it about the resurrection which led to the telling of the story of Jesus in the way that Matthew, Mark, Luke, John  and, also, Paul told it?

That is why, to offer a first reflection this Holy Week, the question of the witness to the resurrection is vital to Christianity. Deny the resurrection and everything about our claims to truth falls over. Personally I find the variations between the gospels, 1 Corinthians 15 and, say, Acts 10:34-43 puzzling. Why isn't the account of that collective written witness, bound in the one New Testament, more consistent? 

Modern skeptics have driven a horse and cart full of doubts through the lack of consistency (even, some might say, inconsistency). Yet closer inspection yields more consistency than some are prepared to allow. At the bedrock of each gospel narrative is the empty tomb. These narratives are consistent on the fact that the crucified body of Jesus was placed in the tomb, on the third day the tomb was empty, and thereafter the risen (i.e. raised up from the tomb) Jesus appeared to people.

This, further, is consistent with two accounts which do not explicitly mention the emptiness of the tomb, Acts 10:34-43 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. What is 'raised on the third day' phrasing in these passages about but an act of raising from the dead, a raising of the physical body of Jesus which leaves the tomb empty. (I suggest we can talk in this way and still have a debate about what kind of "body" the earthly body of Jesus was transformed to, in the act of resurrection, noting that the resurrection accounts attest to a new body of Jesus which is different to the former body, e.g. appearing at will in an otherwise locked room). 

Acts 10:40 beautifully distinguishes between the raising and the subsequent appearances, 

'God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear.' 

So also 1 Corinthians 15:4-5, 

'he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve'. 

If the tomb was not empty why mention the act of raising from the dead and not proceed straight to the accounts of the appearances of Jesus?

Running these accounts together, with all their variations, I suggest we can account for the variations in a couple of ways. 

First and foremost, we get the impression that Jesus appeared on a number of occasions to a range of witnesses. 

Between the four gospel writers and Paul's 'tradition' account in 1 Corinthians 15 we receive a set of accounts with heavy selection at work. Paul's tradition is focused on the appearances to the leadership of the Jesus movement, with the exception of the appearance to 'more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time'. 

The four gospels uniformly emphasise the immediate witnesses to the resurrection, women. Matthew, Mark and Luke (distinct from Acts 1) move quickly from the immediate experience of the risen Jesus to his departure (albeit somewhat implicitly in Mark). 

Only Acts 1 and John 21 imply a period of more than a few days or weeks in which Jesus remained with his disciples. Together these witnesses to the variety of Jesus' appearances do not provide anything like a coherent account of the history of Jesus between resurrection and ascension. That, perhaps, leads us to a second reason for the variations between accounts.

Secondly, we get the impression that the gospel writers in their gospels are focused on providing for their readers an account of the ordinary human life of Jesus, prior to death. 

The continuing presence of the risen Jesus via the Holy Spirit in the movement perhaps made unnecessary a prolonged account of the period between resurrection and ascension. (Luke, in his 'sequel' to the life of Jesus unveils in Acts many ways in which the risen Jesus post-ascension continues to engage with the movement). What their accounts needed was a wrap up and what we find is that the accounts of the resurrection are overlaid with conclusions to the gospels as a whole (or, in the case of Mark 16:1-8, we might say, denuded of a conclusion via intentional abruptness in the closing of the account - a kind of anti-conclusion).

Thus Matthew draws us rapidly to the Great Commission and Luke does so similarly, but in a challenging manner because in Luke 24 he almost conveys the impression that a long day (of about 25 hours?) elapses from raising to commissioning-and-ascending whereas Acts 1 is explicit that the period was 40 days. (Luke also manages the most flagrant rewriting of gospel tradition when he converts Mark's "you will see him in Galilee" into "as he said in Galilee", Mark 16:7//Luke 24:6, in the cause of emphasising the resurrected Jesus in Jerusalem and its immediate environs).

John works in a different manner, having proposed through his gospel that everything is going on all at once ("my hour"): death and departure, cross and glory, descent and ascent. Thus his Pentecost occurs on the day of Resurrection but there is a epilogue or two as a week elapses before the appearance to Thomas and then further time before the appearance to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. But like his evangelical colleagues, John is all through the 'resurrection' time wrapping up his gospel: so there is a closing word to skeptics among the believers via the encounter with Thomas, then there is a word, via John 21, to Christian groups divided over leadership of the church as the first century comes to a close.

In the end, then, I am arguing that the accounts of the resurrection, between the gospels, Acts and 1 Corinthians have a coherency when we dig beneath the varied ways of wrapping up the narratives of Jesus' earthly life, acknowledge the basic facts which are shared (principally the emptiness of the tomb and the sheer multiplicity of appearances), and allow that different things mattered to different writers.

We need not doubt that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. That is the witness of the apostles. But what was the impact of the resurrection on understanding who Jesus was prior to death and who Jesus is after resurrection? Jesus rising from the dead in the midst of ancient Judaism in Israel in the first century AD was like a fox in a chicken coop. A certain theological mayhem ensued. The epistles effectively tell us about the mayhem and that it was a good kind of mayhem! 

Sunday 13 April 2025 - Palm Sunday

Collect: B. Peters, Book of Prayers in Common, March 2025 edition

God of transcendence,

as an example of humility for the human race,

you sent our saviour to become incarnate

and so submit to the cross;

grant us the grace to learn from this patient suffering

and so share in the resureection;

through Jesus Christ who is alive with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Palm Sunday for many Anglicans (including myself) is focused on "Palm" Sunday: celebrating and remembering Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, with the readings coherent around the gospel story of that entry - a story told in all four gospels. But Palm Sunday can also be celebrated and commemorated as a combination of two liturgies, "Liturgy of the Palms" and "Liturgy of the Passion" (with readings as provided for by the lectionary). See further commentary here.

Incidentally, there is no mention of "palms" in Luke 19:28-40! This is pointed out by Ian Paul in a post worth reading. He thinks today should be "Cloak Sunday."

Liturgy of the Palms readings (and, if only "Palm" Sunday is focused on) 

Theme:  When Jesus rides into our lives

Sentence: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9) [NZPB, p. 580]

 Collect:  see above

 Readings: 

 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
 Luke 19:28-40

Comments:

In one sense the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem as a 'king' is a surprise in Luke's gospel, as we reflect on the reading for this Sunday, Luke 19:28-40. The intentional journey of Jesus to Jerusalem (go back to Luke 9:51 for the start of this) has been a journey in which Jesus has taught his disciples how to be disciples and touched the lives of people in need with transformations (e.g. healing for some, change of life for Zacchaeus).

But this has not been the journey of a king preparing for enthronement in the usual sense of the word 'king.' To an extent, however, Luke prepares his readers for the kingly passage of Jesus into Jerusalem by telling them, immediately before the entry, the parable of the nobleman who goes to a far country to get royal power for himself (Luke 19:11-27, which we also know as the Parable of the Pounds).

Another surprise is that Jesus should be greeted by 'multitudes of disciples' (19:37). We have not formed the impression during the journey told in 9:51-19:27 that Jesus has attracted to himself lots and lots of disciples! (John's Gospel may help us here as he explains that the raising of Lazarus from the dead had made Jesus very popular in the days before the entry to Jerusalem, John 12:9-19).

With those observations made, what is at the heart of this unexpected story?

The citation of Psalm 118 (Luke 19:38a = Psalm 118:26, with substitution of 'king' for 'one') furnishes a clue. Luke bears witness (with the other gospel writers) to the multitude's interpretation of Jesus as the one sent by God to take up a kingly role in the rule of Israel. In the context of an imminent festival, Passover, and on the edge of Jerusalem city of David, it is natural for this scripturally informed multitude to acclaim Jesus with familiar words from an appropriate psalm.

By including the word 'king' in the citation, Luke ensures a connection between the end of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and the end of his life: the charge against him which leads to his death is his claim to be 'king' (Luke 23:2). (Incidentally, Luke furnishes in 19:38b words which take us back to the birth of the king, 'Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven', see Luke 2:14).

At the heart of the story, then, is Jesus' arrival in several senses of that word as 'king'. But the question raised by the story, for example, by the humility of the means of transport, is 'what kind of king?' When Jesus is charged and convicted of being 'king' the level of understanding behind the charge concerns human power. That is, there can only be one 'king', the Roman Caesar. Jesus as king, on this understanding, is a seditious revolutionary who must be dealt with.

But Luke is telling his readers that there is another level of understanding: Jesus' kingship comes from heaven, his arrival is part of a heavenly plan for earthly history, and when he acts as king it is God's own power and authority which he represents to the world. Some king!

Thus while the story has a dark shadow, the shadow of the cross, it is a story which looks ahead to the triumphant rule of God over history. The seed of that rule is here, a few days before trial and execution; the fruit is after the resurrection. Rightly our response, to which we could go back again to Psalm 118, is joyful praise.

The world continues to appreciate significant human figures who offer political hope and salvation. For many American Christians today, this figure is Donald Trump. For many Russian Christians today, this figure is Vladimir Putin.

Jesus entering Jerusalem to popular acclaim on Palm Sunday seems to be a piece with this kind of human expectation: effectively the sentiment of the crowd is, "Here at last is the king we've been looking for." A few days later the crowd will no longer support Jesus because being crucified on a cross is not their idea of a successful king who will lift Israel out of the doldrums of continued oppression by foreign rulers. 

For Christians - with the gift of (theological) hindsight - we see that in fact Jesus wrought new political possibilities through the way of suffering rather than the way of power and might. But that same way to victory through suffering and death is easily forgotten: Christians all too often have left Jesus the Saviour at church in order to acclaim X the Political Saviour in the ballot box or in a public rally. 

(Indeed, adding to the note above: many Christians around the world have been disturbed by the uncritical support President Trump (2017-2020 as president, and now, again President of the USA since the beginning of 2025) received from (mostly evangelical) church leaders, despite aspects of Trump's life and policies being at variance with Christian values. The most tragic and disturbing uncritical support, however, for dubious political leadership, occurred in the 20th century, when many Christians in Germany acclaimed and supported Hitler. Though in 2022 through to now, we might add a close second could be the support Patriarch Kirill has offered Putin and his war on Ukraine.)

Liturgy of the Passion

Theme: Jesus suffers

Sentence: see above

Collect: see above

Readings:

Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 22:14-23:56 or
Luke 23:1-49

I am not offering detailed comments on these readings, save to observe that in the Liturgy of the Passion, it is important to let the readings "tell the story". (Indeed, a full set of readings, without abbreviation, might be best served by the briefest of sermons).

The gospel reading speaks for itself: it tells the story of the ending of Jesus' life with its attendant suffering, humiliation and pain.

The Isaiah reading, with Christian hindsight, is a foretelling of the Passion.

The Philippians reading, with Christian insight, is a theological setting of the suffering of Jesus in the larger cosmic story of Jesus descending from heaven and ascending again to heaven, with a specific "kenotic" theme, that is, the emptying [kenosis] of Jesus' glory and honour as God's Son.

Isaiah and Philippians emphasis the obedience of Jesus whose will is conformed to the divine will for the salvation of the world.

Alternatively expressed, when Luke writes in 19:28, "After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem" (see also, 9:51), the Isaiah and Philippian readings swing in behind Luke's way of expressing the determination of Jesus to choose the road into Jerusalem and not away from Jerusalem.

Finally, note the humility of the Lord Jesus, per Isaiah and Philippians: this king should have followers who share the same character and attitude as their king. (A point notably made in Philippians 2:1-5). Their king will win a victory over sin and evil through dying for others rather than through killing others. 

Sunday 6 April 2025 - Lent 5

Theme: When we love the Lord

Sentence: Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. (Lamentations 1:12) [NZPB, p. 579]

Collect: B. Peters, Book of Prayers in Common, March 2025 edition

Look graciously on your whānau/household,

we implore you, O God,

that by your great goodness we may be governed in body

and, through your protection, kept safe in mind and heart;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

Comments:

It is exciting to read Isaiah 43:16-21 a couple of weeks out from Easter Day:

'I am about to do a new thing' (v.19).

As we journey with Jesus to the cross we are allowed an anticipation of what lies beyond, the resurrection as a 'new thing', a new dimension to life which is not accounted for in terms of the 'former things' (v. 18).

To be excited in this way is to be open to laughing, shouting for joy and generally rejoicing at the Lord's great work, for which Psalm 126 is a great aid. The psalmist, in a series sometimes known as 'Songs of Ascents' (Psalms 120-134), is either looking back on God's restoration of 'Zion' (i.e. of Israel, its great city and the temple within it) following the Babylonian exile or looking forward to it.

In the former case either a new misfortune has struck Israel or, perhaps more likely, the completion of the restoration of the exiles has not yet occurred (vss. 4-6), in the latter case, the prayer of the last three verses is a fervent prayer for restoration from Israel's plight under Babylon. In the context of Passion Sunday (reflecting on the suffering of Jesus), this psalm speaks joyfully of what God accomplishes in the resurrection of Jesus and realistically of the suffering of Jesus.

Paul writing to the Philippians, 3:4b-14, can speak of suffering and resurrection in one passage (and what a passage it is, as Paul's sets out his reasons for being confident because of Christ that his life is on track and steadily moving towards 'the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus' (3:14).) Thus Paul's personal ambition is 'to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if I may somehow attain the resurrection from the dead' (3:10-11).

It would be a mistake to think that Paul's last words in the citation above mean he is uncertain and doubtful as to whether he will 'attain the resurrection from the dead.' He knows (and we know he knows), as he expresses through his writings with the most extraordinary confidence, that Christ has saved him. Not because of something he has done but because of what Christ has done for him.
The sense of 'may attain' is more that Paul is eager to embrace the experience of Christ within him fully. He is up for experiencing suffering that he might identify with and understand Christ better. He wishes to attain the resurrection from the dead via this empathetic route of suffering with Christ. But will he experience real depth, or will his life be snatched away from him peremptorily?

When finally we bring our attentive reading to the gospel, John 12:1-8, we are in a mind and mood to engage with the solemnity of a special dinner party at Bethany, a few miles from Jerusalem. Here the smell of Jesus' death is in the air. Perhaps only Jesus and Mary sensed this at the time. But as readers we know that Jesus' death is close at hand. In contrast to the other three readings, there is no anticipation of the resurrection. Indeed the concluding words of Jesus imply a permanent loss when he departs, 'You will always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me' (v. 8).

From a narratival perspective this dinner party functions to turn the plot's development from the raising of Lazarus from the dead to the death of Jesus. (Indeed the raising of Lazarus from the dead is the specific occasion of turning opposition to Jesus into a plan that Jesus will die, 11:45-57; 12:9-11).
The anointing by Mary is a prophecy of Jesus' burial. The significance of Jesus is great enough to warrant the donation of this costly perfume to his body ahead of any good the equivalent money might have achieved for the poor. Reflection on this calculation also allows John to tell us that Judas Iscariot was about to betray him - another link in the chain of events which will take Jesus to the cross (12:4).

Dinner parties feature frequently in the gospels, normally as occasions for debate or discourse. Here there is little of either. But this dinner party sets the scene for the tumultuous events which are about to unfold, the first of which is the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (i.e. 12:12-19: Palm Sunday). It will parallel a meal later in the week in which Jesus will begin his final testament of teaching (John's Last Supper and its afterwards, 13:1 - 17:26).

Whether Jesus was anointed by a woman on several occasions or just one, the motif of a meal made memorable by anointing must have stayed strongly in the memory of the first Christians as the four gospels give us three versions of a meal of this kind.

One meal, early in Jesus' ministry (with an unnamed sinful woman at the home of Simon, Luke 7:36-50).

Another meal, 'six days before passover,' specifically associated with 'the home of Lazarus' in Bethany with Martha serving and Mary anointing (John 12:1-8).

Finally, a meal 'two days before Passover ... at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper' with an unnamed woman (Mark 14:1-10 = Matthew 26:6-13). In each case, we are struck by the central action of the anointing of Jesus by a woman clearly and unmistakably devoted to Jesus.

What do we do to show that we love the Lord?

Is our love for Jesus given extravagantly or cautiously?

Are we willing to share with Jesus' sufferings that we might experience his resurrection?