Second Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
The message that we must proclaim next Sunday in this Series C is expressed succinctly in the words of the Johannine Jesus in John 20:29b. Within the words, “Blessed are the ones who have not seen and have believed nevertheless,” we find our identity in this text. Here again the Easter message is a strong invitation to faith. By focusing on this message we shall have a strong sequel to Easter Day. We shall begin our consideration of these texts for Easter 2, therefore, with John 20:19-31.
Holy Saturday
Matthew 27:57-66 There are two disparate materials in this selection. The first, verses 57-61, is an expression of kindness and love shown to the body of Jesus by Joseph, a relatively rich man from Arimathea. The second, verses 62-66, depicts the chief priests and the Pharisees as gaining permission from Pilate to have guards stationed [...]
Easter Day, Cycle C
RESURRECTION OF THE LORD EASTER DAY The most important sentence of our Easter Day message each year is the statement of faith, “I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that God will also raise me and will raise you from the dead.” No Easter message is adequate without this statement of faith. [...]
Good Friday, Cycle C
Psalm 22 As followers of Jesus reminisced about the suffering that Jesus had experienced while he was being tortured and crucified by the Romans and about the significance that they saw in Jesus’ suffering for their own lives, no texts within the Hebrew religious traditions were more helpful to them in describing the crucifixion of [...]
Wednesday of Holy Week
John 13:21-32 Not only is the Johannine Jesus in this text depicted as having the foreknowledge of which of the twelve disciples will “betray” him, the Johannine Jesus is portrayed as in a sense mandating that betrayal by saying to Judas Iscariot, “That which you are going to do, do it soon.” Various interpretations have [...]