Morning Service for the Second Sunday of Easter 2023
We are soon to celebrate the gift of the Spirit. The birthday of the church. The church follows the order of things as given by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles and places the coming of the Holy Spirit 49 days after the Resurrection. But for the writer of St John’s Gospel it was not so; according to him, Jesus’ first appearance to his disciples culminated with him breathing upon them and saying, “receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” These are important words, uncomfortable words, words that make us stop and question what this Gospel is trying to say.
Morning Service for Easter Day 2023
The writer of the gospel according the St John does not waste words. What he writes he writes for a reason. His Gospel is highly structured, nothing is included just for the sake of it, each miracle or sign he reports he uses to disclose the nature of Jesus and his mission. So what of this curious incident with Mary, what is it intended to convey.
Morning Service for Palm Sunday 2023
To write his telling of the story of Jesus Matthew drew on various sources, the most obvious of them was the Gospel of St Mark. On many occasions Matthew does nothing more than précis Mark, but often he will reword and amend to get across his themes and ideas of what Jesus was about, and why he did the things he did. His account of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is a clear example of his tinkering.