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Serving God and Sharing Good News |
Weekly Bible Notes
First Sunday of Lent - Year B
Liturgical Colour - Purple
Introduction
Lent is often seen as a time when people 'give things up.' This comes from the practice of fasting and careful preparation for baptism at Easter which once took place. It is associated with the period of 40 days which Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing himself for his ministry.
We no longer endure fast of several days to help us in our
spiritual journey, but it is no less important for us to be
spiritually focussed and obedient to God. It is only as we
really determine to cut out the background noise and listen
to God's voice that we can begin to turn our hearts and
minds in the right direction and find true fulfilment in
living.
So use this Lent as a time to get yourself spiritually fit,
you know you'll feel better for it.
Opening Verses of Scripture Psalm 25:4
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and
teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.
Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen Common Worship
Heavenly father, your Son battled with the powers of darkness, and grew closer to you in the desert: help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer that we may witness to your saving love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Common Worship Shorter Collects
Gracious Father, your blessed Son Jesus Christ came from heaven to be the
true bread which gives life to the world. Evermore give us this bread, that
he may live in us, and we in him; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Methodist Worship
First Bible Reading Genesis 9:8-17
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant
with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature
that was with you--the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all
those that came out of the ark with you--every living creature on earth. I
establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the
waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and
you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to
come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the
covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth
and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between
me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the
waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in
the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God
and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established
between me and all life on the earth."
The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham
was the father of Canaan.)
(This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
Second Reading 1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
(This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
Gospel Reading
Mark 1:9-15
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
(This is the Word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.)
Post Communion Sentence
Lord God, you have renewed us with the living bread from heaven; by it
you nourish our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love: teach us
always to hunger for him who is the true and living bread, and enable us to
live by every word that proceeds from out of your mouth; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen
Commentary
The Baptism of Jesus is significant as it marks Jesus out as God's anointed
and chosen one. It tells us that Jesus is the Messiah. From now on there can
be no doubt. It is a dramatic event as Jesus, we are told, sees heaven torn
open and the Spirit descends on him as a dove. This is heavily laden with
symbolism, with Heaven broken open, which indicates that here in the person
of Jesus there is a new way to the presence of God. It was believed at the
time that God in some way resided in Heaven, which is a place above where we
exist, so with heaven now opened, we have access to a place which had only
been restricted before.
A dove is also witnessed and this symbolises the blessing of God resting
upon Jesus. It might seem like a strange way to talk about blessing and the
Holy Spirti, but then how do you describe such a nebulous concept as the
Spirit of God. To put it into a physical form makes it all the more real and
tangible. The Holy Spirit is not just something out there and mysterious,
but it is seen resting on Jesus, filling him and trasnsforming his life.
Then there is the Voice of God speaking to Jesus and otheres who witnessed
his Baptism. Are the words meant forJesus or for the crowd or for us? Jesus
hears the confirmation that he is the Son of God, that he is chosen, that he
is called by God. Those around Jesus witness this too, that in their midst
is the Son of God. Make no mistake, the Messiah is here, is the message. And
so do we through the Gospel, hear the affirmation that here is the chosen
one of God, that Jesus is the Messiah, he is our Messiah, he is your Messiah
and mine too.
In Mark's account Jesus is then sent into the desert to be tempted, by the
Devil, for forty days. A time of testing, a time of trial, a time of
reflecting, a time of wrestling with doubt, fear and anxiety. It is a time
which prepares Jesus for his Ministry. We are now in the season of Lent,
which is forty days, a distant echo of the testing Jesus experienced in the
wilderness. To share in that experience of deprivation, we often choose to
give up something in Lent. But what does this sacrifice mean to us if we can
replace it with another thing to compensate our deprivation? How seriously
do we take Lent, do we adequately use the time to reflect upon our lives and
the journey we take with God? Do we look into the inner recesses of our
personality and really get to grips with who we are? Self-knowledge is a
wonderful mystery! You might very well say, "I know who I am and I don't
need to spend 40 days looking at myself. I'm OK thankyou." But do we really
know what it is that motivates us? Do we really know why we feel jealous,
angry, sad, depressed, joyful? Lent can be a time of assessment,
reassessment, moving on, discerning what we feel called to do, what God is
asking of us and what it is that we need to do with our lives as a
consequence.
I hope and pray that each of us may use the season of Lent over the next 5
weeks, to move into a deeper understanding of who we are and into a deeper
relationship with God. Neil Bramble-Chapman
Meditation
Forty days lie before each one of us
Forty days in which to make a difference
Forty days in which to seek and learn to live in the knowledge of your
presence
Forty days in which to become more aware God with us.
Lent is used in the church as a 40 day time of prayer and repentance in
preparation for Easter. It is a good time for us to have some religious
reflection and contemplation.
Why 40 Days? In counting the 40 days of Lent the western church excludes
Sundays (which is celebrated as the day of Christ’s resurrection) whereas
the eastern church includes them. 40 is a significant number in
Jewish-Christian scripture:
In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days
and nights of rain.
The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land
promised to them by God.
Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the ten commandments on Mount
Sinai.
Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his
ministry.
Most Christians regard Jesus' time in the wilderness as the key event for
the duration of Lent.
Why is it called Lent? Lent is an old English word meaning to lengthen. Lent
is observed in spring, when the days begin to get longer.
The colour purple Purple is the symbolic colour used in some churches
throughout Lent, for drapes and altar frontals. Purple is used for two
reasons: firstly because it is associated with mourning and so anticipates
the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, and secondly because purple is
the colour associated with royalty, and celebrates Christ’s resurrection and
sovereignty.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's
passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before
the Easter celebration there should be a forty-day season of spiritual
preparation.
During this season converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.
It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins and had
separated themselves from the community of faith were reconciled by
penitence and forgiveness, and restored to participation in the life of the
Church.
In this way the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness
proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew
our faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to observe a holy Lent:
by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;
and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word.
Hymns
As the deer pants for the water 37
I am a new creation 254
Lord make me a mountain 436
Lord of creation 440
O Jesus I have promised 501
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian,
if it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die
Lord take our minds and think through them
Take our lips and speak through them
Take our hearts and set them on fire
With the desire to do your holy will
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Loving Father, today is the first Sunday of Lent.
Over the next six weeks, with your help, we are going to prepare for Easter.
From today we are making a new start with a bigger effort to be more loving
and kind.
Help us to show concern for the less fortunate, the hungry and the poor, and
especially help us to speak to you more often.
We ask this through your Son, Jesus, whose death and resurrection we will be
thinking about in the next few weeks. Amen. Tony Castle.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that by the observance of this Lent we may
advance in the knowledge of the mystery of Christ, and show forth his mind
in conduct worthy of our calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Gelasian
Sacramentary
Come, our Light, and illumine our darkness.
Come, our Life, and raise us from death.
Come, our Physician, and heal our wounds.
Come, Flame of Divine Love, and burn up our sins.
Come, our King, sit upon the throne of our hearts and reign there.
For you alone are my King and my Lord. Dimitrii of Rostov
Additional Material
The passage from Mark tells us about the titanic struggle with evil which took place right at the start of the ministry of Jesus. He has just been through the uplifting experience of hearing the voice of God and seeing the heavens torn apart, then it is back down to earth with a bump and he is tempted to do the wrong thing.
This is a struggle of cosmic proportions, Jesus takes on the Devil and the scene is played out in the wilderness where the nation of Israel had spent 40 years after their escape from Egypt. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days and the number is significant. Forty is a number often associated with intense spiritual experiences. God caused it to rain for forty days and forty nights to cleanse the earth (Gen. 7:12). The Israelites were in the wilderness forty years. Moses spent forty days and nights on Mount Sinai (Exod. 34:28), and Elijah journeyed forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).
We might think that, following the baptism, the angels would come to minister to Jesus or there would be some sort of celebration with the song of heavenly hosts. Nevertheless in all of the Gospels Jesus goes straight from his baptism into his temptation. We might think of his baptism as a commissioning and his temptation as a strengthening, toughening, hardening experience. Having made his choice of service to God, he immediately goes through basic training.
We might be surprised that it is when Jesus makes the right decision and accepts the path of God that he is thrown into such immediate confrontation with the Devil. But if we are honest, it is when we are seeking to do the right thing that we are often brought into situations of conflict. If we want an easy life then we turn a blind eye, we avoid trouble and in so doing become collaborators, we are tainted also.
Through the life of Jesus we can clearly see that he was not prepared to keep quiet about the abuses which surrounded him, much of which was organised by the religious leaders. It is good to remember that peace and tranquility is not promised to the faithful Christian. Jesus lays down the expectation that the life of a Christian will not be characterized by a long series of high moments, but a rhythm of hills and valleys.
Mention is made of Jesus being with wild beasts, why would Mark mention wild animals? It is thought that Mark's Gospel was probably written in the 60s when Nero was having Christians torn to pieces. Given the ravaging of Christians by ferocious animals during Nero's reign, it is not difficult to imagine Mark including the unusual phrase 'with the wild beasts' in order to remind his Roman readers that Christ, too, was thrown to wild beasts, and as the angels ministered to him, so, too, will they minister to Roman Christians facing martyrdom.
Wild animals also intensify the foreboding character of the wilderness, as Jesus confronts the horror, the loneliness and the danger with which the wilderness is fraught. Throughout Israel's history, the wilderness has been where the Israelites have been tested, often failing, but it is also where they have been deepened spiritually. Unlike the Israelites, Jesus will not fail his testing.
Everybody is talking about evil. President Bush has declared that there is an ‘axis of evil’ out there somewhere, and that we have to find the evil people and stop them doing any more evil. Our own Prime Minister has declared, ambitiously, that our aim must be nothing short of ridding the world of evil. The public and press cried ‘Evil’ at the terrible Soham murders; and we say the same about the sudden rise of gun crime on our streets.
The awareness of Evil and the willingness to use this spiritual word is perhaps surprising. As Christians our message must be clear, Jesus is not overpowered by evil - he has triumphed over the Devil and trust and obedience to him is the only way for us to defeat evil. Charles Royden
Prayers
Holy God, You make and remake us in your image; renew us now through the
power of your Spirit that we may live our lives with integrity, not clinging
to the ways of the world but choosing the way of your truth. Amen.
Holy Lord, you made water a sign of your kingdom. Through the waters you
saved Noah and his family. Through your Son, you promised forgiveness to
those who are baptized. By the gift of the Spirit we are inheritors of
eternal life. When our lives are shaken by the storms and droughts of this
world, remember your promise and bring us to life in you. Amen
A Prayer for Reconciliation
Gracious God, ruling the earth and its people not by terror but in love; we
worship you. We confess that too often our words hurt others and our deeds
are selfish; forgive us. In this time of uncertainty and fear, help us to
love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, in the name of Jesus our
Lord. Amen.
Two Prayers for Peace
Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son,
the king of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and
bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of
sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule; who is alive and reigns with
you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
O God, who would fold both heaven and earth in a single peace: Let the
design of thy great love lighten upon the waste of our wraths and sorrows:
and give peace to thy Church, peace among nations, peace in our dwellings,
and peace in our hearts: through thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hymns
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At the name of Jesus (Tune: Camberwell)
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I want to walk with Jesus Christ
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Forty days and forty night (tune: Glad with thee)
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As the deer
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Be thou my vision