Gospels-Acts
Mark 11:1-25
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jesus Enters Jerusalem audio (3MB)
I wonder how many of you were around for the opening of Parliament house in 1988. We were living in Canberra at the time so it was a big event for us. The weekend before we took part in a prayer walk around the Parliament House hill with thousands of other Christians, but the big event was the arrival of the queen to do the opening. People flocked to Parliament house to get a look at her. Schools took their students along – in fact our daughter Katherine was in the front of the crowd and was able to give her a rose as she went by. That really impressed her grandparents!
Well that’s a bit like what it must have been like when Jesus entered Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. The city was buzzing. The word had got around. Jesus, the great teacher and healer was coming to Jerusalem, despite the danger from the Jewish leaders. Word was that he'd even been talking about death, predicting that he was going to be crucified, and saying that people had to be willing to take up their cross if they wanted to follow him. Yet at the same time he was still teaching and healing people and he was still arguing with the Pharisees.
So when Jesus came to the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, the crowds were ready. When he appeared at the gates of Jerusalem riding a donkey they got really excited. They took off their cloaks and threw them on the ground in front of him. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. They started crying out "Hosanna". That is "God save you". Just like her loyal subjects saying "God save the Queen" at Parliament house that day. And then they added "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" They clearly recognised that here was an important figure, someone to be revered.
Mark 11:1-25 - Jesus Enters Jerusalem
- Details
- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jesus Enters Jerusalem audio
I wonder how many of you were around for the opening of Parliament house in Canberra in 1988. We were living in Canberra at the time so it was a big event for us. The weekend before we took part in a prayer walk around the Parliament House hill with thousands of other Christians, but the big event was the arrival of the Queen for the opening ceremony. People flocked to Parliament house to get a look at her. Schools took their students along – in fact our daughter Katherine was in the front of the crowd and was able to give her a rose as she went by. That really impressed her grandparents!
Well that’s a bit like what it must have been like when Jesus entered Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. The city was buzzing. The word had got around. Jesus, the great teacher and healer was coming to Jerusalem, despite the danger from the Jewish leaders. Word was that he'd even been talking about death, predicting that he was going to be crucified, and saying that people had to be willing to take up their cross if they wanted to follow him. But that hadn’t stopped him from teaching and healing people and he was still arguing with the Pharisees.
Mark 11:27-12:27 - Who do you listen to?
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Who do you listen to? audio
By What Authority 11:27-33
The story is told of a ship’s captain during the war, who was sailing along on a dark night and saw a light on a collision course. So he got his signaller to flash a message: “Alter your course 10 degrees west.” The reply came back “Alter your course 10 degrees east.” The captain then signalled “Alter your course 10 degrees west. I am a Commander.” The reply came back “Alter your course 10 degrees east. I am a seaman third-class.”
By this time the ship’s captain was getting furious. So he signalled: “Alter your course 10 degrees west. I am a battleship.” The reply came back almost instantly: “Alter your course 10 degrees east. I am a lighthouse.”
That story addresses the issue of our passage today. That is the issue of authority. Where does authority come from? Sometimes it comes from your rank or status, as the commander in that story obviously assumed. But sometimes it comes from something innate like the immovable nature of a lighthouse set above a cliff. So where do you look to for authority for your life? That’s not an easy question to ask in this day and age. Life has changed so radically in the last 50 years that what was taken for granted 50 years ago can no longer be assumed. Truth is all relative, we’re told. Alternative facts are the go. Authority comes in various shapes and forms.
Mark 11:27-33; 12:28-34
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Debates in the Temple audio
During my time at Ridley, one of the highlights was the debates. Sometimes there’d be big debates in class, as we tried to wrap our heads around big theological ideas. But the really great debates were the ones the student body organized. Two small teams of lecturers and students would be pitted against each other. They’d be locking horns over the really important questions, like ‘You can’t teach good theology through fiction,’ or ‘That theological students don’t need to learn Greek or Hebrew anymore!’ These debates were a bit of fun, actually they were lots of fun. But they were also a way for us to unpack ideas and to look at them theologically.
Mark 12:1-12
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Decaf Christmas? audio (4MB)
Decaf Christmas?
This week a number of articles have come out, commenting on the push to get Christ out of Christmas. The best I read called this the decaffeination of Christmas. Carols that are all about trees, snow, reindeer, not about baby born in a manger. Why do we do this? For some the story of Christmas is unbelievable. For some it’s a conspiracy or myth. For other’s it’s just nice to celebrate something at the end of the year, but there’s no connection between Christmas and the rest of their lives. It’s just a nice tradition, with no meaning. But underneath all that, I think this article got it right. The real reason we decaffeinate Christmas is because we don’t want Jesus intruding on our lives. Don’t want to admit that we need help. Little baby Jesus is OK, but he’d better not get out of the manger.
