What do you see? A table with oranges and lemons, a bowl of apples. To the side, there is what looks like a large basket or bowl with a printed pattern, balancing that, there is an angular vase with what, I think, is a Japanese design. An empty wine glass draws our gaze to the centre of the painting.The clue to understanding this painting is to know that Cezanne did not paint what he saw but interpreted what he saw in the light of his deeply held religious beliefs. The world that we see may look random and sometimes chaotic, but underneath, there is harmony and order, balance and beauty.It may be just my imagination, but I see the Japanese vase and decorated bowl as speaking to this understanding of nature. The Japanese garden is a distillation of perfect forms designed to lead us to look beneath the surface of things to their inner reality. It is a place to meditate on the harmony of nature. It is that inner reality captured in a random collection of fruit that makes this painting a statement of Cezanne’s belief in the beauty of all things.What did Thomas the doubter see? Clearly, he saw what was in front of him, the figure of Jesus, still displaying his wounded head, hands, feet, and side. It spoke to him of his complicity in the death of Jesus, his responsibility with the other disciples who deserted him. It would have been a bit like the encounter between Macbeth and the ghost of Banquo. The guilt and pain of Jesus' betrayal would have been too much for Thomas to bear.DesperateThe disciples were desperate men and women after the crucifixion. Hiding way for fear of the mob and the religious police, but desperate, too, because all their hope and dreams were now gone.Disillusioned.They were also disillusioned men and women. Yes, Jesus to them seemed like a fraud. He had promised so much and achieved so little. To Thomas, maybe these stories of a risen Jesus seemed just a little too much like wish fulfilment.Doubters.The death of Jesus had made the teaching of Jesus seem like empty rhetoric. The new life he had talked about was not stronger than death, and now the disciples had to face up to their meaningless existence. They were all doubters, and the last person they expected to meet was Jesus.Thomas the Doubter.It wasn’t because the men didn’t believe, it was because they didn’t dare to believe. They had tried it all before and failed. Why should they now believe the words of the women who had come from the tomb? They were all doubters, but Thomas was given that name because he wanted explanations.He wanted to believe, he wished it were true, but how can you start again when everything you trusted has collapsed around you?Fresh Eyes.I believe he needed to see Jesus with fresh eyes. A bit like looking at our picture for a second time. Despite his own sense of failure, his disillusionment, Thomas’s feelings of guilt, as for the other disciples, were not so much the sight of the risen Jesus, but of the wounded hands, feet, and side of the risen Jesus.The wounds of JesusWhen Jesus first appeared to the disciples, we read that he showed them his hands and side, and when he met with Thomas, he said:“Put your fingers here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” John 20:27It was the sight of the wounds that transformed the doubting Thomas and inspired him to say: “ My Lord and my God”Martin Luther once said, “If you want to understand Christianity, you must start with the wounds of Christ.”AcceptanceWhat was it that these wounds said? A few days beforehand, they said death and defeat. They were evidence of man’s evil and death’s power. But now, as Thomas looked, those same wounds said something quite different.When Jesus showed Thomas his hands and his side, he did not say, “Look what you have done”. No, instead, he greeted Thomas with the words “Peace be with you.”Because the wounds of Christ, which were and are the signs of our sin are also the signs of God’s wonderful love for us. His acceptance of us.AuthorityWhen Thomas saw the print of the nails in his hands and the gash that the spear had made in his side, he knew that the marks of defeat were in fact the signs of victory. Proof that God had conquered the powers of darkness and death and established His Kingdom of Peace.AuthenticityAs Thomas had seen the nails driven into the hands of Jesus, he had been tempted to believe all that Jesus had ever said was an illusion, but now he saw those wounds in a fresh light and he realised that they did not disprove all that Jesus had said but authenticated it.He had asked for proof, and now he had it. He had it, not because he saw the risen Christ, but because he realised that the risen Christ was the crucified Christ and that the crucified Christ had made possible all that Jesus had spoken of, and promised.‘So that you might believe’.And so, John writes that ‘These things are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name’. John 20:31Thomas was not the first doubter nor the last. Each day, our own failures condemn us. Each day, our hopes are dashed, our faith fades, and we are tempted to doubt. Each day we feel betrayed, let down by God, and tempted to doubt His word.When we do, we need to focus on the wounds of Christ.It is there that in our despair, we find acceptance.It is there that in our disillusionment we will be reminded of God’s authority.It is there that our doubts will turn to faith as we discover that Jesus will never fail us or forsake us.
There are moments in our lives that transform us forever. It may be a happy experience, such as falling in love, or a frightening moment, such as a car crash, or it may be a moment of revelation, such as we hear of in Matthew’s account of the first Easter morning. That moment not only transformed the two Marys' lives, but as they took the news home that the tomb was empty, it was to transform the world.As we read this story, Matthew makes us aware of the emotions of the two Marys, they were frightened: ‘Do not be frightened’ v5, the angels say.Matthew also makes us aware of their state of mind, they were coming to look for the body of Jesus filled with the awefulness of what they had witnessed at the cross:‘I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.’v5.But something else is going on, for they leave the empty tomb not with a message of hopelessness but of faith. That transformative moment came when the angels tell them that Jesus is risen. The tomb was not empty because the body had been stolen, as they first supposed, but because Jesus had risen:‘He is risen, Just as he said.’ V6Those words transformed their fear to joy, their doubt to faith, and most importantly, their will to proclaim the message that Jesus had risen. Now they were no longer fearful fugitives but fearless witnesses to the risen Christ, and the rest, as they say, is history!HistoryBut that’s the trouble, it’s history, so far away and so long ago. How can we be sure today? How can we access the events that changed the world?The Empty TombLet’s revisit the empty tomb in our minds and experience what they felt: ‘Come and see the place where he lay.’ V6, the angel said. In fact you can still visit the site of the empty tomb in Jerusalem. It is still there, it is still empty.This fact was acknowledged by both friend and foe, but their conclusions were different. Matthew invites us to come to the empty tomb and look in, just as those two brave women did.What did the two Marys feel? Previously, it had been fear, but now that fear had changed to joy.What did the two Marys think? Previously, they had known him to be dead; now, they believed him to be alive.How did they respond? Previously, they had been fugitives, hiding away in the darkness, now they break out of hiding to go to tell the disciples the ‘Good News’.Matthew records all these details because he is writing for us, and wants us to enter into the experience of the first disciples.The Message of the Angels“ He is not here, he is risen, just as he said.” V6It is the same message spoken to the same wondering world, and in our worship today, we will relive the moment when the women fell at the feet of Jesus and worshipped him.‘Suddenly Jesus met them, “ Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.’ V9. Over one and a half billion people will be worshipping Jesus this Easter Day around the world.Though that event took place nearly two thousand years ago, we are no further from the facts than the first disciples; the facts have remained unchanged.What do we feel? Each of us is subject to powerful emotions, and fear is one of the most powerful. Matthew tells us that the women were frightened for their lives; only at great risk did they visit the tomb that morning. It may be that fear dominates our lives as we confront the fact of the empty tomb. What will others say? What should I do if Jesus is truly alive? Fear of others sometimes determines the way we live, but that fear was transformed to joy for these two women as they heard the Angel’s message.What do we think? Their minds told them that the body had been stolen. That was the obvious conclusion to draw, the one that we would have come to. It was the message of the Angels that changed the minds of the Marys from doubt to faith, the same message we hear today, repeated down the centuries. Only minds that are open to the possibility that this message is true can come to a living faith.How do we respond?The women came to the tomb that day longing in their hearts to believe that Jesus’ life had not been in vain. These were exceptional women, neither held back by fear nor by what their minds told them must be true. They were led instead by their hearts, and they decided to come and look at the tomb.We too come to the tomb and listen to the same message. When we come, will we be willing to face our fears? When we come, will we come with open minds ready to hear the message of the Angels? When we come with a faithful heart, we too can meet with the risen Lord Jesus.For it is not ultimately our emotions that drive us, nor even our minds that determine what we believe, but our hearts that will tell us the message of the Angels is true, and our wills that determine how we live in the light of the Easter message.“He is not here, he has risen, just as he said.”
We first arrived in Chile not long after a major earthquake in September 2015. The pictures of the damage caused by the Tsunami that followed were seen around the world.- Ships that had been tossed onto the land, flooding that had washed away houses, roads that had broken up, houses and lives that were lost.The first thing we did as we moved into our apartment was to read the earthquake advice and make sure we knew all the exits and had a cache of equipment, axes, crowbar, and torch, that we could use to extract ourselves if necessary.The secret of course is to be prepared, or as the earthquake advice leaflet says: ‘Take an active role in your safety’A brutal massacreThat could be the theme of this short passage in Luke’s account of Jesus' teaching that ends with his lament over Jerusalem.Jesus has just heard of a recent massacre of Galileans by Roman soldiers struck down as they worshipped. Pilate then ordered that their blood should be mingled with the blood of the animals they had brought to sacrifice. The worshippers are taken unawares and unprepared, they have no means to defend themselves and no time to escape. Jesus is making a point about their innocence. This is not an act of divine judgment as some had said but an example of the pointless brutality for which Pilate was well known.A tragic accidentThe same point is made, in a different way as Jesus reminds his listeners of a tragic accident that had recently happened in Jerusalem. One of the defensive towers on the walls of Jerusalem had collapsed and crushed 18 innocent bystanders. The point is made again, they are not to blame for the fact that they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nor is this a sign of an angry god taking it out on wayward humanity. This is just a tragic accident!However, Jesus ends this description of innocent suffering with the chilling words:“But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” Luke 13: 3Complacent crowdsThe common assumption in Jesus' day was that ‘Bad things happen to bad people’. The Book of Job is an example of this kind of wisdom. Job’s comforters attempt to get Job to confess his sins, since he must, surely, have done something terrible to deserve such suffering.The reverse was also true, in so far as those who prospered were assumed to be blessed by God. The so-called, ‘Prosperity Gospel’ still has a strong appeal among many Christians today, equating our comfortable lifestyle with a God who seems to have a bias towards the rich rather than the poor.It is this complacency that Jesus is determined to challenge with these chilling words. For the second time, he says forcefully:“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” Luke 13: 5The Parable of the Fig TreeClare once made me a cushion decorated with fig leaves. It is very precious to me as it represents a difficult time in my ministry when there seemed to be no ‘Fruit’, a barren time. I looked for other openings and applied for another post, but nothing worked out. Clare, however, must have had this parable in her mind as she stitched it because she gave it to me just as a new project began with my Bishop’s blessing and an exciting 3 years of growth began.The lesson I take from this parable is that times of barrenness, when nothing seems to be happening are not a sign of God’s disfavour but of His love and mercy. Times like those are times when we should be growing in other ways, not maybe the showy fruit but the deep roots of faith. Only when those roots are established can the fig tree bear the weight of the fruit. These are the times when we can assess our lives and ask ourselves difficult questions.Christ in the Wilderness - The EaglesThis is very much the theme of Stanley Spencer’s wilderness series, painted at a time when Spencer was in a wilderness of his own. He had divorced his wife for another woman but the new relationship had not worked out. His erotic paintings featuring this new woman in his life had not been well received! To add to all this gloom Spencer relived the trauma of the Great War as Britain battled for survival in the Second World War.It was a time to reset and renew his life and the ‘Wilderness series’ provided just the means to do so. In ‘The Eagles’ he reflects on the violence of the world, maybe with the passage of Luke’s gospel in mind.The Eagles gorge on a young deer, ‘Nature raw in tooth and claw’ we might reflect, this is not the ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ where the lion is to lie down with the lamb but a world of suffering. Jesus looks away, he too is headed for a cruel and agonizing death, an innocent victim of our cruel world. Just in case we are tempted to point the finger at those terrible Romans or Russians we are reminded that Christ died for the sins of all because we all share in the violence of this fallen world. We are part of the problem!Jesus lies prone like the fallen deer, maybe to remind us that his body and blood feed us too, for through his death we like the fig tree are given a second chance and given a good manuring! An opportunity to start again, to reimagine the future, to reset the agenda, or as Jesus puts it to repent. Maybe this is what Spencer was so desperately asking of his friends and family.Wilderness years are not lost years, but waiting years as we examine our lives ready for the next move forward. We do not know what the threat will be but we must be prepared. Jesus’ parable then doesn’t represent a barren tree but a growing tree that is about to fruit, given time.“We should wait”, the gardener says before we uproot it and so he digs around it so the water can reach the roots and manures it so that the rich minerals can nourish the soil.Repentance?Part of the process by which I came through my wilderness was by ‘Reimagining’ my ministry. Why was it not bearing fruit? What could I do to change that? I took time out to study and re-examined what I believed Parish ministry to be. By the end of this process, I was a very different person and approached parish life in a completely different way.Smell the Coffee!That’s the way I talk about repentance today. It is a call to wake up and realise where we are heading and what is ahead of us. Are we sleepwalking into a disaster? If so, it will be entirely of our own making. We have been given time to think, to change, to reimagine our future but we have been asleep. Wake up, ‘smell the coffee’, as they say!LentLent, is rightly understood as a time of repentance in which we reflect on our life choices and ask whether we are going in the right direction.We have time and space. We have a loving and merciful God who patiently watches over us, watering and nourishing us with his gracious gifts so that we can bear abundant fruit. So let’s be fruitful!Rev Simon Brignall
The natural world has a way of teaching us lessons for life. Jesus often pointed to the birds of the air, the grass of the fields or the fruit on the vine. Artists have also used this rich imagery to illustrate Jesus’ life. Stanley Spencer pictures Jesus as a kind of butterfly emerging from the broken shell of the cocoon in the last of his studies on the ‘Temptations of Christ’. Jesus emerges from the struggle with wings spread out ready to fly. Just as the butterfly must struggle to free itself from the restrictions of the cocoon, so the wrestling in the wilderness prepares Jesus for his ministry. The wings of the butterfly would have no strength without the struggle to emerge from the chrysalis and the ministry of Jesus would have been powerless without the trials of the desert.The Wilderness Years of IsraelThe wilderness years of wandering in the desert are often thought of as wasted years in the history of God’s people, yet Israel is told to remember them when they emerge into the ‘Promised land’. It was here they learned important lessons about themselves and their God.Identity: It was there that they learned of their true identity as the ‘People of God’. They had been a bunch of ‘Wandering Aramaeans’ but God called them to be a great nation.Vocation: It was here that God called them out of the slavery of Egypt to be a holy people serving Him alone.Covenant: It was here they received the Law, not as a burden to bear but the promise of a faithful God who would be at their side in all their struggles.They discovered all this in the heat and dust of the desert. When they were tempted to turn back because they had no food, they found God mindful of their needs.When they were tempted to revert to the worship of Egypt’s gods, they saw God’s power displayed in mighty signs and miracles. As they faced empty stretches of desert and marauding enemies, God proved faithful to His promise to be with them. So now as they enter the Promised Land they were called to bring the first fruits of all they produced so that they should remember:Who they were – God’s people, dependent on Him.What they were called to be – A Holy people dedicated to God.How they had arrived – Through God’s goodness and faithfulness. The wilderness experience of JesusLuke sees Jesus as the new Israel, as he prepares for his ministry of deliverance. Instead of the forty years in the desert, Jesus is in the wilderness for forty days, but he is tested in the same way.By hunger:‘Where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during these days, and he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Jesus answered, “It is written; Man does not live on bread alone.’ Luke 4: 2-4Significantly, the devil begins by saying: “If you are the Son of God” As Israel learned about their identity as God’s people, so Jesus is tested as to his identity as the Son of God.By false godsJust as Israel had been tempted to return to the false gods of Egypt, so Jesus is tempted to turn to a false god as his source of power and authority.“I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours”Jesus answered, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Luke 4: 6-8It was not to be through the power and authority of evil that Jesus was to bring deliverance but by obedience to the will of his Father God.By testing God’s faithfulnessIsrael had tested God’s faithfulness at the Waters of Meribah as Psalm 95 tells us:‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.’Now the devil challenges Jesus to put his Father God to the test by throwing himself off the Temple:“If you are the Son of God,” he said, throw yourself down from here.”…Jesus answered, “It says: do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Luke 4: 9-12At every stage, Jesus is tried and tested to take a route to the work that his Father God had called him to, that is not that of his Father, but of the devil. As they say: ‘The route to hell is filled with good intentions’!Our path in life is often testing, but the trials and testing can be a blessing. For if even Jesus had to go through this wilderness to equip him for his ministry, we should expect that our trials and temptations can be used by God to equip us for the journey.Like the butterfly we have no power to fly without the struggle. Without the struggle we will not remember from whom we have received everything. Without the struggle we will not remember that we are held by a loving God. Without the struggle we will not remember to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.Rev. Simon BrignallA Prayer for UkraineGod of peace and justiceWe pray for the people of Ukraine today,and the laying down of weapons.we pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,that your spirit of comfort would draw near to them.We pray for those with power over war and peace,for wisdom, discernment, and compassion to guide their decisionsAbove all, we pray for all your precious children at risk and in fear,That you would hold and protect them.We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.Amen
