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| End the Week with CME - April 25, 2008 | 25th Apr 2008 | View Full Story | Download |
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Where did Jesus' risen body go? It's a good question for the Sunday after Ascension (now known as Easter 7, though I prefer the old name of 'expectation Sunday'). After the resurrection Jesus' appearances to the disciples came to an end - Luke marks this most clearly by emphasising in his second account that it was a forty-day period (Acts 1.3), though he is less specific in his first version (Luke 24.44-53). Matthew takes a different approach, as we shall see in two weeks' time: Jesus promises to be with his disciples 'to the end of the age' (Matt. 28.20) in the scene which closes the gospel. But what actually happens to the physical Jesus afterwards is unclear. For both Luke and Matthew, though, it is clear that Jesus continues to work through his disciples (Acts 1.1 - 'all that Jesus began to do and teach'; Matt 28.19 - 'Go to all nations and make them my disciples'). (more...) |
| End the Week with CME - April 18, 2008 | 18th Apr 2008 | View Full Story | Download |
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'Famous last words' vary in quality. Tory Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger is said to have sat up in bed and announced 'I think I could eat one of Bellamy's Pork Pies' before he dropped dead. An American Civil War General, advised to take cover in a battle, told his staff 'Nonsense. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist... ' Others are much more edifying, though, and in the ancient world farewell speeches of the famous were often recorded. The best example is Plato's Phaedo, a sustained narrative of Socrates' teaching to his close followers on the night before he was put to death by the Athenian authorities; on a much smaller scale Paul's address to the Ephesian elders fulfils a similar function (Acts 20.17-35). (more...) |
| End the Week with CME - April 11, 2008 | 11th Apr 2008 | View Full Story | Download |
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I've got funerals on my mind at the moment, as we're running the 'Learning Funeral Ministry' course for Readers and other lay people who may be called to this ministry. John 14.1-14 is part of Jesus' farewell to his disciples, as he prepares them for life without him. It's a staple passage for funeral services too, but set here as an Easter reading (part of the great fifty days, not forty as I mistakenly said last week - counting was never my strong point!). (more...) |
| End the Week with CME - April 4, 2008 | 4th Apr 2008 | View Full Story | Download |
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Snow-storms marked Easter day this year, but despite it being the earliest in living memory, the signs of spring were unmistakable all around. The daffodils were out, the blossom not far behind, and the lambs had begun to play in the fields. You could see life beginning to overflow everywhere. (more...) |
| End the Week with CME - March 14, 2008 | 14th Mar 2008 | View Full Story | Download |
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The angels ask Mary 'Why are you weeping?' as she stands by the tomb (v.13) and so does Jesus (v.15). But how do they ask? Is it a 'pull yourself together and dry your eyes' kind of question? Or an 'it's all right - Jesus is risen' kind of statement? John, who loves to play with the symbolism of light and understanding, shows us an extra level of meaning in the darkness before dawn during which this encounter takes place (v.1). For as the sun rises, so Mary begins dimly to see, through her veil of tears, that the Son is already risen. But do her tears magically dry? (more...) |
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