Unbind Him

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year A)

Ezekiel 37.1-14; John 11.1-45

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 17:20)

 

Every Sunday this Lenten season, we have been introduced to a guide on our Lenten journey. We started with Jesus being tempted and tested in the wilderness—the ultimate Lenten guide. We then encountered some pretty unlikely guides, at least at first glance: Nicodemus, Photini (also known as the Samaritan woman at the well), and the man born blind. Today we have yet another unlikely guide in the form of a dead man: Lazarus. Although, that may be a bit of a stretch. I mean, he is dead, after all. Well, until the end of the story when Jesus raises him from the dead and he emerges from the tomb bound in strips of cloth. In reality, the real guide here is Jesus himself. Although Lazarus is critical to, and is certainly the prompt, the catalyst, for the central teaching in today’s Gospel story, as well as for what follows.

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So That God’s Work Might Be Revealed

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A)

John 9.1-41

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 22:00)

 

As we begin the fourth (full) week of our Lenten journey, we have yet another unlikely guide. This one being a blind man. Or rather, a man born blind who, as we see in the story, gains his sight thanks to Jesus. Of course, as with our other guides over the last few weeks, and as is always the case in Jesus’ actions, there is in this encounter, shall we say, more than meets the eye. With the emphasis on sight and blindness, and given Jesus’ approach and the development of the character of the man born blind, it quickly becomes apparent that the central theme of this story is perspective—how we see things. Specifically, that this is about the perceptions and opinions that the various characters hold. Not only hold, but the perceptions and opinions that, in many cases, are the defining characteristic of their lives. And that the central lesson to be had is about the perceptions and opinions that we have and how these can become defining characteristics in our lives if we are not careful.

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An Even More Unlikely Guide

Third Sunday in Lent (Year A)

John 4.5-42

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 15:50)

 

Last week, we encountered an unlikely guide on our Lenten journey in the person of Nicodemus—a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, who made a clandestine, nighttime visit to Jesus. Today, we meet an even more unlikely guide in the person of an unnamed Samaritan woman. As Jesus and his disciples travel through Samaria and approach the city of Sychar, he happens upon this woman who has come to the well to draw water. Thirsty from his travels, Jesus asks the woman for a drink. While this may seem a perfectly normal and reasonable turn of events, to the people of Jesus’ time—to the principal characters in the story, as well as to anyone who would have heard about this encounter—there are just so many red flags. Not just red flags. There were also blaring alarms.

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Unlikely Guide

Second Sunday in Lent (Year A)

John 3.1-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 13:00)

 

As we begin the second week of our Lenten journey, we encounter an unlikely guide on that journey. Nicodemus. A Pharisee and a member of the temple leadership. The very group that has been critical of Jesus and his actions. The very group that Jesus has himself criticized and even accused of hypocrisy. But what is even more astonishing, what makes this visit even more unusual, is the fact that Nicodemus is not your run-of-the-mill rabbi, but a member of the Sanhedrin, the elite assembly of religious leaders that, among other duties, served as the Jewish equivalent of the Supreme Court. Given this, its no wonder that Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of night. Particularly when you consider that this visit occurred on the heels of Jesus’ disturbance of the peace, overturning the tables of the money changes and driving out of the temple the animals to be sold for sacrifices.

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