Brian's Sermons

The Seventh Word: “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46) Easter Sunday (Luke 23:44-49) 44  It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,  45  for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  46  Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”  48  When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.  49  But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. All week, we have been looking at Jesus’ words from the cross. We are reminded that while God had a plan all along, a plan of resurrection and glorification, this doesn’t mean Jesus had an easy time. Jesus suffere

The Sixth Word: “It is finished!” (John 19:28-30) Reflection 28  Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”  29  A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.  30  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. I love long-distance running. I have loved running since I was a little boy. But there is something about running a long race. My first long race was a 40 km trail race. It was over some very difficult terrain, and the last two or three km were all uphill. When I saw the finish line, I got tears in my eyes. I was finished, not just done with the race, but I was finished. I had nothing else left. You’ve probably seen football matches where, at the final whistle, the players collapse on the field. They’ve given their all. They a

The Fifth Word: “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28) Today as we reflect on Jesus’ last words from the cross, I want to start elsewhere. I want to start earlier in Jesus’ ministry, in John 4. Jesus was on his way from Judea to Galilee, and on the way, he went through Samaria. Around noon, he stopped by Jacob’s well to rest. There he met a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water. He asked her for a drink. She responded, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks

The Fourth Word: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) One thing I’ve heard frequently, especially since I have arrived in Zambia, is what is sometimes called the Prosperity Gospel or “Health and Wealth Gospel” or “Name it and Claim it.” This is the teaching that if you ask for something in faith, God will necessarily give it. In this teaching, suffering is never in God’s will, so if one suffers, it stands to reason that they are out of or apart from God’s will. Perhaps they have sinned and they suffer the consequence of sin. Perhaps they do not have enough faith, and so they suffer. There are several problems with this teaching. The big reason is that it does not fit within the context of scripture. Though there are some verses that seem at first blush to support this teaching, in context they do not. When the Apostle Paul begs God three times to remove the thorn from his flesh, God does not remove it in order that through Paul’s weakness, God’s strength w