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Serving God and Sharing Good News |
Weekly Bible Notes
Lent 2 (Purple)
| Opening Verse |
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| Collect Prayer | |
| First Reading: | |
| Second Reading: | |
| Gospel Reading | |
| Commentary: | |
| Meditation: | |
| Hymns | |
| Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead : | |
| Intercessions from our Sunday worship | |
| Sermon |
Introduction
The Gospel reading this week from John Chapter 3, tells of a man called Nicodemus. He came to Jesus and was obviously curious about who Jesus was. Nicodemus came from a great family, he was a leading Pharisee and religious teacher. But, he recognised that Jesus had something special and he wanted to know more. That was all it took, honest curiosity and a willingness to listen. Jesus went on to tell him important spiritual truths which have been passed on from generations.
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Jesus said that it didn't matter how socially acceptable or unacceptable a person was, God loved the whole world just the same - everybody and everything.
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Jesus said that we all start from the same place with God, there are no favourites.
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Jesus said that anybody who turned to him would find forgiveness and life with God for eternity
Eventually Nicodemus would be one of those who cared for the
dead body of Jesus. Then the words of Jesus would make even more sense. The
death of Jesus was not a tragic murder, it brought to us an awareness that
God's love was enormous. If the quality of love could ever be measured by
the value of a gift, then there is nothing greater than God's love, for he
did not even spare his own son Jesus.
Opening Verse of Scripture Philippians 2:9
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray
Almighty God, you show to those who are in error the light of your truth, that they may return to the way of righteousness: grant to all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may reject those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Common Worship
Almighty God, by the prayer and discipline of Lent may we enter into the mystery of Christ's sufferings, and by following in his Way come to share in his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Common Worship Shorter Collect
Merciful Lord, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Methodist Worship
Christ, Son of the Living God, who for a season laid aside the diving glory and learned obedience through suffering: teach us in all our afflictions to raise our eyes to the place of your mercy and to find in you our peace and deliverance. We make our prayers in your name. Amen Methodist Worship
First Bible Reading Genesis 12: 1-4a
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your
father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into
a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you
will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you
I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So
Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.
Second Reading Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this
matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to
boast about–but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man
works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the
wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise
that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes
by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the
promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law
there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be
guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring–not only to those who are of the law
but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us
all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our
father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to
the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Gospel Reading John 3: 1-17
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the
Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know
you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the
miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus
declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he
is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?"Nicodemus asked.
"Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying,
'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it
is with everyone born of the Spirit." "How can this be?" Nicodemus
asked. "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand
these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify
to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I
have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will
you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven
except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up
the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone
who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Post Communion Prayer
Almighty God, you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Commentary
When Jesus tells Judas to get on with his terrible betrayal and do it
quickly, the Gospel writer of John records (John 13:30) that Judas left the
table and went off and ‘it was night.’ The deed was not made worse by the
fact that it was dark outside, but the symbolism of darkness is used to give
literary force to the story. So in the reading today from John 3, the writer
again uses this method to give effect to his writing. We are told (John 3:1)
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish
ruling council. He came to Jesus at night.
Now some have suggested that the writer was making out that Nicodemus was
afraid of being seen. He might have been, but it was this same Nicodemus who
was later to make a bold statement of his support for Jesus (John 19:39)
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night,
and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the
spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
It is probably fair to say that John uses the word ‘night,’ not to symbolise
fear so much as a metaphor for
moral and spiritual darkness. Nicodemus came to Jesus confused, searching
and seeking for his own heart and mind to be illuminated by something which
he perceived in Jesus.
The extraordinary thing was that Nicodemus was no fool. He was a member of
the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee, a zealot for the law, a highly regarded teacher
in Israel, a devout and well educated Jew. Nicodemus would have presumed
that his future in God’s kingdom was guaranteed. Yet it was to this most
exemplary Jew that Jesus says ‘You must be born again.’
What does Jesus mean ? The following passage is taken from Ezekiel 36:25
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye
shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I
cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I
will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye
shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Nicodemus would have known this passage and he would have associated it with
the coming of the Messiah. The passage from Ezekiel is followed by a story
about a valley of dry bones brought to life by the Spirit. Wind comes and
brings flesh and sinew to the dry bones and makes of them living beings.
Ezekiel speak of the dead rising and being brought to life. Jesus is
therefore clearly telling Nicodemus that this time of cleansing and
regeneration of the promised Messiah is now present. For centuries the Jews
had believed that their privilege of birth, their race, circumcision and
keeping of the law, made them superior over all others and specially
selected by God. The words of Jesus contradict all of this and proclaim that
what is needed to understand and enjoy the secret of everlasting life is
faith in him.
This new birth through faith in Jesus is not brought to a particular race.
God’s gift is spread about indiscriminately, just as the wind blows wherever
it wills. Jesus makes it expressly clear that God has no favourites, God
loves all people, the whole Cosmos, perhaps worlds we have not even seen.
That love is nothing transitory or partial, it is a love so deep that God
spares nothing, not even his son. If the quality of love could ever be
measured by the value of a gift, then there is no greater love. Nicodemus
would have been familiar with the concept of a loving God, but it was a
Jewish God who had a special love for Israel. Now Jesus tells Nicodemus that
God’s love is much broader than had ever been thought.
Later in this passage there is a reference to another Old Testament story,
Jesus tells Nicodemus that just as Moses lifted up bronze snake, so he must
be lifted up. it is worth reading the passage from Numbers 21 to understand
what Jesus was saying.
The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and
much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We
have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray
unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for
the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set
it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and
put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any
man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
One day Nicodemus would see Jesus lifted up in a most brutal manner on a
cross. Only when he saw Jesus in this way would the words of Jesus make
complete sense. As the Israelites in the desert received new life when they
turned to face the bronze snake, so all of those who turned to Jesus would
find the new birth which Nicodemus searched for.
Jesus is saying that new life in him is possible for all. But it occurs not
by any kind of outward conformity, but only by an inner change. Nicodemus
would have believed in the importance of being born into the right family,
of being a child of Abraham, Jesus makes it plain that there is no special
privilege given to a particular race or culture, God’s gift of everlasting
life is not hereditary. Only God is involved and there is no accounting for
how God works, God is as unpredictable as the wind. Let’s finish by
reminding ourselves of those magnificent verses which stand out so
forcefully from the Gospel of John. Charles Royden
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life
Meditation
For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:
as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Rom 1:17
Martin Luther (1483-1546) The ideas of Martin Luther changed the
church and influenced Christian thinking for centuries. He was sent to
university by his father to train as a lawyer, but during a terrifying
episode in a thunderstorm when a thunderbolt landed near him he said, ‘Help
me Saint Anna, I will become a monk.’ He kept the vow and entered a
monastery. Luther was terrified by his own sins and like other monks he
shared in rituals of self mortification, extreme fasting, exposure to cold
and beatings. He said that if anybody could have been saved by monkery it
was he. However it was in the Bible that he found the teaching about what
that makes people acceptable to God. It is not our own efforts to win
favour, but faith in Christ. Forgiveness and eternal life are a gift from
God, we are saved not by what we do, but by trusting in what God has done
for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This teaching was not
new, but often we all forget how willing God is to show love and mercy. Some
of Luther’s prayers are shown below, read the first one with this meditation
in mind and think how far he had understood his complete dependence upon God
and not his own abilities.
Hymns
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Crown him with many crowns 255 Tune Diademata
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Come let us sing of a wonderful love 691
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There's a wideness 230 Tune Cross of Jesus
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Be thou my vision 378 Slane
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Blessed assurance 668
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Behold Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am
weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me
fervent that my love may go out to my neighbour. I do not have a strong and
firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether. O Lord,
help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in you. In you I have sealed the
treasures of all I have. I am poor; you are rich and came to be merciful to
the poor. I am a sinner; you are upright. With me there is an abundance of
sin; in you is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore, I will remain with
you, of whom I can receive, but to whom I may not give. Amen. Martin Luther
Come Lord Jesus be our guest, and may our meal by thee be blest Martin
Luther
O God, graciously comfort and tend all who are imprisoned, hungry, thirsty,
naked, and miserable; also all widows, orphans, sick, and sorrowing. In
brief, give us our daily bread, so that Christ may abide in us and we in him
for ever, and that with him we may worthily bear the name of ‘Christian.’
Martin Luther
Deliver us, O Lord, from a deceitful heart. Forgive, we pray, the barbed
word deliberately spoken; the thoughtless word hastily said and the envious
look furtively cast. Forgive the ear rejoicing in the news of another's
downfall; the feet loitering in forbidden paths and the grasping hand
reaching out for personal gain; and all for the sake of Christ our Lord.
Amen John Baillie, 1886-1960
Lord God, you so loved the world that you gave your only Son so that we
might have eternal life. Now we ask that you would help us in our daily
lives to live for you in everything that we do, and not to be ashamed. Let
our lives reflect the same mercy and goodness that you have first shown to
us. Amen
Additional Material
I am not over fond of museums and when Corinne took Max this week to the British Museum I was pleased to be allowed to stay at home and work. However I am always impressed by Egyptian mummies. They show us how ancient people thought they might obtain everlasting life. Throughout history some have built pyramids, others have sacrificed their children, some have bowed before a variety of gods and prophets. However, Christianity has proclaimed that eternal life is found located through the actions of one alone, -Jesus Christ.
If you look carefully at the crowds in the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, just occasionally you will see somebody with a banner on which is written ‘John 3:16’. the same verse is sometimes found written on motorway bridges or other places where Christians have decided that the message is more important than the obvious crime of criminal damage! It is one of the most favourite passages of all the Bible, because it answers the most basic human question which has occupied people of every civilisation in human history ‘how can we live forever?’ We are told that it is Jesus who saves the world, or perhaps more accurately ‘the Cosmos.’ The verse proclaims the importance of belief in Jesus as a means of securing eternal life and it forms a challenge following on from Jesus words that we must be ’born again.’ John Wesley said ‘If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two, -- the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth.’
Nicodemus was an important person in Jerusalem; he was a Pharisee who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. He came to Jesus secretly at night, perhaps not wanting to upset his friends by being too closely associated with somebody who was making enemies among the religious hierarchy. What belief he has in Jesus is linked to miracles, ‘We know that you are a teacher come from God, because no one can do these miracles which you do, unless God is with him’ (3:2). Jesus is not happy with this as a basis for belief. On the contrary he confronts Nicodemus with the need for a totally new beginning, radically portrayed as starting life all over again: ‘Unless you are born from above you cannot see the kingdom of God’ (3:3).
Nicodemus was confused because the Greek word ‘anothen’, used in this context, has a double meaning. It can mean ‘again’ or ‘anew’-but it can also mean, ‘from above.’ So the word can be translated either as being ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’. Nicodemus took it literally by focusing on the concept of human birth, instead Jesus tells him that he will need faith of a deeper level. The miracles are signposts which should point to the reality of who Jesus is. He is not a great teacher or wise leader, he is not a prophet or specially appointed person by God, Jesus is nothing less than God himself.
How the salvation of Christ will extend to the ‘Cosmos’ which is subject to the love of God - we do not know. How every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord—again we do not know. However it is for certain that it is in Christ and through Christ—and in him alone, that the searching of human kind for eternal life finds its fulfilment. Thank God, for I would hate to have to become a mummy. I leave you with one of the most wonderful verses of scripture to complement our reading
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9
Meditation
Moslems are followers of the religion of “Islam” - a word that means ‘surrender’ or ‘submission to God.’ Across the world, people of the religion of Islam set out to pray five times during the day.
Before the start of prayer they prepare themselves and get into the right frame of mind. Preparation for prayer includes washing head and hands and feet - it is a sign of wanting to approach God in the right way, with the intention of being “clean” within. The prayer mat is spread towards Mecca in the east, a special place of worship. Barefoot, the Moslem stands on the mat and begins to pray from their holy book, the Koran. Prayer starts with words in the Arabic language that are translated as: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” In humility before God, they then kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads, and say, “God is great.” Personal prayers are added.
One of the five duties of Moslems is to pray five times each day - at dawn, mid-day, afternoon, evening and night. One thing that Moslems and Jews and Christians have in common, is that many pray several times throughout the day - even if it is just for a moment each time. People find that this helps them realise that they live in God’s presence, and so their attitude is more likely to be positive and joyful and loving.
Let’s spend a moment in silence - in common with many Moslems and Jews and Christians across the world - and simply call to mind that we are in God’s presence - in the presence of God who cares for and loves each individual… (pause…)
We’ll use as our prayer some words written by the father-in-law of Mohammad:
I thank you, Lord, for knowing me better than I know
myself. I thank you for letting me know myself better than others know me.
Make me, I ask you then, better than they suppose I am, and forgive me for
what they do not know. Amen.
Hymns (Hymns & Psalms)
- At the name of Jesus (74)
- Jesus put this song into our hearts (Mission Praise 376—on notices)
- Tell out my soul (86)
- Will your anchor hold ( 689)
- Fight the good fight (710)
Lenten Prayers taken from Methodist Worship
Christ, Son of the living God, who for a season laid aside the divine glory and learned obedience through suffering: teach us in all our afflictions to raise our eyes to the place of your mercy and to find in you our peace and deliverance. We make our prayer in your name. Amen.
Merciful Lord, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty and merciful God, you hate nothing that you have made, and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts, so that when we turn to you and confess our sins, we may receive your full and perfect forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 51 Have mercy on me, O God, in your constant love; in the fullness of your mercy blot out my offences. Wash away all my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Give me the joy of your help again and strengthen me with a willing spirit. Amen.
The Following prayer is used for the Imposition of Ashes on Ash
Wednesday:
Almighty God, you create us from the dust of the earth. Let these ashes be
for us a sign of our repentance and a symbol of our mortality. may we always
remember that by your grace alone we are given eternal life; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.