4 th March: 3rd Sunday in Lent: Exodus 20.1–17;Psalm 19;1 Corinthians 1.18–25;John 2.13–22

…but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles but to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:23–24)

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:25)

I wish to comment on the prescribed lections, or readings, for today, the third Sunday in Lent, in the well-founded belief that they will help us come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the scriptures, and hopefully, the sermon. Indeed, I would urge everyone, wherever possible, to acquaint themselves with the texts prior to coming to worship.

The first such reading was from the Book of Exodus, and it referred to the Ten Commandments. ¹ This is because when thinking about Jesus’ ministry and his journey to Jerusalem, it is appropriate to remember that for some of the Old Testament writers, the notion of salvation was deeply imbedded in the psyche of the Jewish people. This can be traced back to man’s fall from Grace, ² and the desire of God to form the lasting and special relationship with His people. Thus, theologians have argued that:

This was the most important moment [the Fall] in its history [Israel’s] until the hour when Pilate confronted it with the decision whether to choose Jesus as King, or the murderer Barabbas. ³

The second reading was from Psalm 19, and you have already heard the last verse, which is widely used as a prayer to preface the preacher’s remarks: ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.’ ⁴

Years ago I thought this was the preacher’s disclaimer! Then I realised that many preachers and ministers feel an awesome responsibility to not only to their Lord, but to their congregations, when they enter the pulpit, and it prompts the question, ‘What if, what I say is not acceptable?’ The beginning of the Psalm celebrates God’s power in nature (vv, 1–6) whilst the remainder (vv. 7–14) is a poem in praise of the law, ending with a prayer for pardon and guidance.

Specifically, the psalmist writes:

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart… ⁵

As we have heard, the first lesson dealt with the Law; not just with regard to its legal status, but also from a devotional and spiritual perspective, where God wishes his chosen people to conduct themselves in a conciliatory and compassionate manner. It is reflective in suggesting that: ‘The law of the Lord is perfect…and that the precepts of the Lord are right….’

Therefore, we are prepared for the third reading from the first epistle to the Corinthians, where we read that Paul laments that some in Corinth were making it difficult to preach about Christ because of their divisions. There were those who preferred the way Peter spoke about Christ; others who supported the teaching of Apollos, as opposed to that of the apostles: some simply said that they belonged to Christ. Paul was so frustrated by all the ‘spin’ that he asked the following questions: ‘Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?’, ⁶ thereby remonstrating with Jews and Greeks alike that: ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and that the weakness of God is stronger than men.’ ⁷ This has a resonance in the latter part of the psalm, particularly as Paul had been a teacher of the law: ⁸ ‘The law of the Lord is perfect…’, so that the task of all is to ‘preach Christ crucified’, so that ‘to…those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’ [is given]. ⁹

The fourth reading, from St. John’s Gospel, tells of the Lord’s ‘cleansing’ of the Temple in Jerusalem, and places the event at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry. ¹⁰ Significantly the writers of the synoptic Gospels see the event as more appropriate to the climax of His life, when He finally sets His sights on making the ultimate sacrifice for mankind at Golgotha This is because the writers of the John’s Gospel attempted to produce a more measured and theologically rounded document, rather than a sequential account of His life.

Thus, we can return to Paul’s assertion that we ‘preach Christ crucified’, ¹¹ and thereby question what this means, and its implications for us. However, it must be noted that references to the ‘Risen Christ’ are few: those that there are seem to be more of a devotional nature, such being the logical consequence His death. ¹² In recent times we have seen the symbol of the Cross, worn as personal jewellery in the workplace, become a contentious issue, with John Sentamu entering the affray on religious freedoms and discrimination. ¹³

But this is ‘small beer’ to the witness which the early Christians had to give. Tradition has it that both Peter and Paul died around 64 ce in Rome, and that in particular, that Peter suffered inverted crucifixion with his arms outstretched. Such times were brutal, as exemplified by the Hollywood ‘Blockbuster’ film industry, ¹⁴ and sadly, little has changed over the centuries. Man’s inhumanity to his fellows persists when we consider the persecution of people in our times—the Yazidis in Northern Iraq, and people in Myanmar [Burma] or North Korea. Whatever the generation, the prospect of being thrown to the lions, whether real or hypothetical, is frightening. Would you, would I, have the courage to face such physical terror? Indeed, would one have the courage to face regular verbal abuse and humiliation as a form of witness?

There have always been exceptional people of great courage who have by their example preached Christ crucified, and indeed, risen. History tells of the English martyrs, especially William Tyndale, ¹⁵ who was burnt at the stake for his work in translating the Bible into English.

In the latter part of the last the century, Lord Soper, ¹⁶ the Methodist minister, Labour peer and political campaigner, took to his Wednesday ‘soapbox parliaments’ at Tower Hill, ¹⁷ and then his regular Sunday afternoon sessions in Hyde Park at ‘Speakers’ Corner’, ¹⁸ bearing witness to his Lord. There is an apocryphal story that in 1954 an American Air Force Officer, watching a peace demonstration led by Soper, remarked, ‘I wish I had the guts to do the same.’ How many of us would take comfort in such a position?

Fortunately, not all of us are required to affirm our faith in such an extreme or dramatic manner—and I doubt that many of us could! Yet we see people of all faiths, and even those of none, doing this quietly every day. They are the true apostles: people who quietly visit the sick and the dying, who offer succour to the bereaved, and comfort those in need and trouble; they are the people who are always there to assist with every form of adversity when calamity hits our communities. In modern parlance, they are the ‘unsung’ heroes of our society.

These are the people who ‘preach Christ crucified’ or ‘the Risen Christ’ by sharing in our joys and sorrows, and who therefore:

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁹