Living the Way of the Cross
- davidwperk
- Sep 3, 2021
- 5 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, September 3, 2021
Proper 17, the week of the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrase for reflection from today’s reading:
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ 27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.
Today we celebrate the Feast of Phoebe. (See below.)
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 982)
AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35
1 Kings 11:26-43; James 4:13-5:6; Mark 15:22-32
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 15:22-32
22Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ 27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ 31In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
David's Reflections
Crucifixion--an excruciating and prolonged way to die. The victim was flogged with a whip that had bone and metal woven in, so that the flesh of the back was lacerated and laid open. Methods for crucifixion varied, but one of the most common procedures was to have the victim carry the horizontal beam to the place of execution where the wrists were tied or nailed to that beam. Then, that beam, with the condemned tied to it, was hoisted and joined to the vertical beam already in place, on which there was a peg that served as a seat for the hips. The feet were impaled with a large spike, often driven through the ankles or through the top of the feet.
Death resulted from exposure and asphyxiation and thirst and could take days. The only way the victim could breath would be to flex the legs to free the diaphragm If the victim lingered, the thigh bones would be broken, which made flexing the legs to breathe impossible (See John 19).
Crucifixion was reserved for the most heinous crimes against the state; those the state regarded as traitors and seditious and slaves who rebelled were punished in this way. Jesus' indictment, fastened to his cross, was for claiming political authority that conflicted with Caesar's rule of Palestine, being “King of the Jews.”
The sign of the cross, made with oil of chrism on the forehead of the baptized, identifies us with Jesus in his death and resurrection. The best historical evidence reveals that Christians began making the sign of the cross on their foreheads by the second century. In our tradition, you often will find a basin of holy water in the narthex of a building; the custom is to dip your forefinger and make the sign of the cross as a reminder of your baptism, that you are crucified and buried and risen with Christ. The most basic places in Holy Eucharist where the sign of the cross is appropriate are at the opening acclamation (Blessed be God), the absolution after the confession of sin, and the closing blessing.
Jesus invites us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him. That involves sharing Christ’s place of rejection in the world, even to the point of death. Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Martyrs of New Guinea, ten people who lost their lives in 1942 because they stayed on location in mission service in the face of a Japanese invasion. They lived a cruciform life, sharing in Jesus’ rejection.
See this link for their story, if you missed it yesterday.
Charles Talbert captures well what living a cruciform life means:
" . . . the cross was not a burden but an instrument of death. A condemned person carried it on the way to execution. So to "take up [one's] cross daily" means to live daily as a condemned person to "deny [one]self." If so, then self-denial means to live the life of a condemned person, one who has been stripped of every form of worldly security, even physical existence. For such a one, there is nothing and no one to whom there can be permanent attachment except the one who goes before carrying his cross. All other attachments have been terminated by the sentence of death, a sentence passed upon oneself."
[Charles H. Talbert, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Third Gospel (New York: Crossroad, 1984), p. 107.]
Collect of the Day, Proper 17, the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 233)
Today we celebrate The Feast of Phoebe, deacon (NT periodNT period).
Collect of The Feast of Phoebe
Eternal God, who raised up your servant Phoebe as a deacon in your church and benefactor of your Gospel, such that she took the message of your Apostle Paul into the very heart of a hostile empire; may we too, assisted by her prayers and example, be given the same grace to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen. (BCP, 123)
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 280)
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