St Ursula's Church
Berne, Switzerland
A Church of the Anglican Communion, welcoming all who seek the Lord Jesus Christ
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| St Ursula's Church A Church of the Anglican Communion, welcoming all who seek the Lord Jesus Christ | ||||||||
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Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
and also with you.
Hold up a palm cross or any cross you have at home
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, during Lent we have been preparing by works of love and self-sacrifice for the celebration of our Lord's death and resurrection. Today let us remember Christ entering his own city to complete his work as our Saviour, to suffer, to die, and to rise again. Let us go with him in faith and love, so that, united with him in his sufferings, we may share his risen life.
God our Saviour, whose Son Jesus Christ
entered Jerusalem as Messiah to suffer and to die;
let these crosses be for us signs of his victory
and grant that we who bear them in his name
may ever hail him as our King,
and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life;
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 2 'Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, "The Lord needs them." And he will send them immediately.' 4 This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 'Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!' 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, 'Who is this?' 11 The crowds were saying, 'This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.'
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ
As we remember the crowds welcoming Jesus we sing the
1 We have a king who rides a donkey
We have a king who rides a donkey
We have a king who rides a donkey
and his name is Jesus.
Jesus is king, Messiah
Jesus is king, Messiah
Jesus is king, Messiah
Sing to him Hosanna
2 Trees are waving a royal welcome
Trees are waving a royal welcome
Trees are waving a royal welcome
for the king called Jesus.
Jesus is king, Messiah
Jesus is king, Messiah
Jesus is king, Messiah
Sing to him Hosanna
3 We have a king who cares for people
We have a king who cares for people
We have a king who cares for people
and his name is Jesus.
Jesus is king, Messiah
Jesus is king, Messiah
Jesus is king, Messiah
Sing to him Hosanna
Sing along with us on YouTube.
AM60 All glory, laud and honour
Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The servant of the Lord said: 4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens - wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backwards. 6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7 The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. 9 It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You are the King of glory,
you are the Prince of Peace;
you are the Lord of heaven and earth,
you're the Son of righteousness.
Angels bow down before you,
worship and adore,
for you have the words of eternal life,
you are Jesus Christ the Lord.
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Hosanna to the King of kings!
Glory in the highest heaven,
Jesus the Messiah reigns.
Words: Mavis Ford © 1978 Word's Spirit of Praise Music
Hear the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus said, 'You say so.' 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, 'Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?' 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. 15 Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. 17 So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?' 18 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. 19 While he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him, 'Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.' 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The governor again said to them, 'Which of the two do you want me to release for you?' And they said, 'Barabbas.' 22 Pilate said to them, 'Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?' All of them said, 'Let him be crucified!' 23 Then he asked, 'Why, what evil has he done?' But they shouted all the more, 'Let him be crucified!' 24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing,but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, 'I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.' 25 Then the people as a whole answered, 'His blood be on us and on our children!' 26 So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' 30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. 32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; 36 then they sat down there and kept watch over him. 37 Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, 'This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.' 38 Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, 40 'You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.' 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, 42 'He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, "I am God's Son."' 44 The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way. 45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, 'This man is calling for Elijah.' 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.' 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, 'Truly this man was God's Son!'
Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 27:11-54
It can be overwhelming at the moment listening to the daily news as we hear of the latest figures for the number of cases of the Covid 19 virus and the number of deaths worldwide. Indeed, it may be so overwhelming that some of us may have stopped listening to the news or reading it. We simply can't bear it. If we are still listening we will be aware that there is much discussion about the 'peak' of the outbreak and when that will come. We all fear and dread the 'peak', that is the highest number of cases and deaths, but we all know that the peak must come and be passed before the numbers begin to fall and things begin to ease. We have to go over the peak and on to the other side.
Usually, of course, when we talk of 'peaks' and 'troughs' or the 'heights' and the 'depths', heights and peaks are good things and it is the depths that refer to loss, difficulty, and suffering. In this case, we know that the 'peak' of this pandemic will mean the depths of suffering, fear and anxiety for a great number of people.
Heights and depths. As we follow the way of Jesus this Holy Week we move from the heights of his exuberant welcome into Jerusalem, through his betrayal, his anguished prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, the desertion of his closest friends, the cruel mockery of his enemies, his false trial and torture, to the depths of his agonised death on the cross. Then we go with him to the heights as we celebrate next Sunday that the Lord is Risen and lives and reigns forever. But Jesus had to go through the depths of suffering before he was vindicated, raised and exalted.
In our reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians today we hear about heights and depths. These verses express the humiliation and exaltation of Christ; his descent to the deepest and darkest place in his death on the cross, and his subsequent exaltation as Lord of all. This hymn, as it is sometimes called, begins in fact in the 'heights'; it affirms that Jesus Christ 'was in the form of God', but he didn't see his divinity as something to be 'exploited.' The Greek word has a sense of 'grasping' or 'snatching'. He did not see equality with God as something to be 'grasped', taken by right and held on to; rather he emptied himself, he gave himself away.
Each phrase of this hymn then seems to descend deeper into the pit, like rungs of a descending ladder. As one commentator on these verses points out, here Christ 'moves from highest height to deepest depth, from the light of God to the darkness of death.' Down, down, down, he willingly goes. He does not grasp after his divine status but empties himself; he takes the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. He becomes flesh and blood like one of us, suffering the constraints of human existence. He takes on the form of a servant. We might think of Jesus stripping off his outer robe and stooping to wash his disciples' feet, the incident we particularly remember on Maundy Thursday. Jesus came not to 'be served' but 'to serve'.
Jesus takes up the role of the suffering servant in the book of Isaiah. As we heard in our Old Testament reading, the servant listens obediently to the word of the Lord God and willingly gives his back to those who strike him. 'I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard: I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.' Jesus willingly suffers this, and more, as he is tortured and mocked before his execution.
Jesus' self-emptying, his taking on our human nature, his obedience as the suffering servant, leads him right to the bottom of the ladder, to the depths of the pit. As we read in Philippians, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.
In our long passion reading today we read of those depths; of the false trial of Jesus, the ineffectual attempts by Pilate to have him freed, the clamour of the crowd for his blood, the mockery of the soldiers and the taunts of the scribes and the elders. Jesus is flogged and tortured and then nailed, hands and feet, to a cross. But even greater than his physical and mental torment, Jesus faces the ultimate suffering of feeling forsaken by his Father. This is the bottom of the pit. Jesus cries out from the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' However, this is not nihilistic despair but a desperate cry to God, despite his seeming absence. Even in that place of darkness, Jesus calls to God. Jesus' cry of dereliction is word for word the first verse of Psalm 22, a Psalm which describes the Psalmist's physical suffering, the taunts and mockery of his enemies, and his sense of abandonment by God. All this is experienced in an intense form by Jesus.
Will God not rescue Jesus from the cross?
In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah, the suffering servant declares 'The Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced...I know I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near.' Similarly in Psalm 22, the Psalmist, after expressing his suffering and desolation, then goes on to celebrate his deliverance. So, if Jesus is the chosen one, the Messiah, the King of the Jews, surely God will rescue and deliver him too? This is exactly what the scribes and elders and leaders of the people say as they taunt Jesus on the cross: 'If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if he wants to...'
If Jesus is the Chosen One, the Son of God, then surely God cannot leave him abandoned to suffer and die? It is interesting that the Muslim view of Jesus' death is that God rescued him from the cross so that he did not die. Muslims revere Jesus, not as the Son of God, but as a great prophet, and they believe that God did not allow his enemies to triumph over him. So, they believe, Jesus was in some mysterious way rescued from the cross and raised alive to heaven without dying. The Christian view is different. It is precisely because Jesus is the Son of God that he must identify with us even to death and take upon himself the sin and suffering of the world. There are no short cuts for Jesus; the only way to his own vindication and resurrection, the only way to new life, forgiveness and transformation for all humanity, is through the cross.
So Jesus is not rescued from the cross. He must go down to the depths of the pit. He must go through with it and drink the bitter cup to its dregs. And there on the cross, God is 'in Christ reconciling the world to himself.'
Of course, vindication does finally come. Just as God acts to deliver the suffering servant and the Psalmist, God acts to deliver Jesus, but only after he has passed through the darkest regions of suffering and death.
I referred earlier to the heights and depths in our reading from Philippians. Jesus goes down to the bottom of the pit, the lowest rung of the ladder, as he becomes obedient even to death on a cross. But then of course we have the reversal in the last few verses:
'Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'
A key Christian confession is that 'Jesus is Lord'. He is the Lord who is Crucified and Risen. He is the exalted Lord of heaven and earth, precisely because he is also the crucified one. We cannot have Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday.
As we go through this Holy Week and reflect on the way of the cross, that Jesus had to go through the depths of suffering and death in order to be raised to new life, may we draw strength and hope for ourselves and for our world. Yes, recovery will come for our world after we have gone through the 'peak' of this virus. But all of us will one day have to pass through death; whether it is sooner or later, we all have a death to die. Yet, because Jesus has walked this way before us, we know that death is conquered and through him there is new life and transformation for us and for the whole of creation. For Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One is Lord.
As it says in the wonderful hymn
'Praise to the Holiest in the height
and in the depths be praise.
In all his ways most wonderful,
most sure in all his ways.'
Revd Helen Marshall
In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.
Hosanna, save now, Lord and Father! Just as your Son entered Jerusalem to shouts and rejoicing, may your church receive you as ruler. Come as its King, purge it, cleanse it, correct it, and lead it. And just as your Son entered Jerusalem as a servant, give your church that same obedience and humility, to stand in solidarity with all who are in the depths.
Guide all those who go with you along that dusty road, guide Robert and David our Bishops, and all who minister in this diocese. Strengthen Helen, with David, with Archana and all who serve you here in Berne. Bless congregations everywhere as they follow you along the way of the Cross during this Holy Week.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We remember the depths of opposition that your son met only a few days after his triumphal welcome. Protect Christians who are persecuted - in north and central Africa, in parts of Asia, in the Middle East, and even in your holy city of Jerusalem. Bless those who work to bring the good news to people who do not acknowledge you.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We recall the fickle crowds, and we remember how fast rumours can spread. We pray for people who are confused at this time. Help us not to waver in our witness to you. We pray for the people who do not know where you are in this present pandemic, and we ask for your wisdom and compassion, not to understand, but to weep and to lament.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Come as king to this world of doubt and confusion. May those who make decisions in every sector of government take you as their example. Give them the insight to manage all the different strands of the current situation, to support the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, and at the same time to use the world's resources wisely and fairly. In the face of a disease that makes no discrimination between poor and rich, or on grounds of race, opinion or character, calm their hearts and give them hope.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We place our own problems and the problems of our friends into your hands. Bless us and bless them. Give courage to all those people who serve you by serving others - the doctors and nurses, but also the individuals who keep our comfortable world going - the workers in essential shops and businesses, the truck drivers, the farmers, the public service workers. Bind us all together and make us open and gentle, concerned, thankful and glad for each other.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Give rest to those who are anxious, that through their rest they may come to see you and know you more closely. And we pray for those who are unable to rest, or who are touched by this disease, or by any other. We remember those in our own congregation who are vulnerable or who are ill, and we bring them before you.... May these find strength and wholeness in your loving arms.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
As we begin this Holy Week, we have the assurance that you have been into the depths, have suffered death and overcome it, and we know the dead live in you. Give that life to all who have left this world, and give that certainty to all those who, with us, long for the day when infection, pain and sorrow will be no more
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord, teach us to lament, and in our lamenting, draw us closer to you. Teach us to hope. But above all, teach us to love.
Merciful Feather, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen
Hector Davie
AM117 Praise to the Holiest in the Height