Pastor Sullivan's Blog

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. “ Which of you convicts me of sin? ” None of them can do this. Jesus had lived among the Jews His entire earthly life. For several years He had taught amongst them, performed miracles, when they thought they had caught Him in sin, violating the Sabbath, He taught them the true meaning of the commandment. They can’t convict Him of any wrongdoing. Neither did He teach anything discordant with the Scriptures. Earlier in this chapter He told the Jews who believed Him, “ If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free ” ( John 8:31-32). Before that He said, “ I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life ” ( John 8:12 ). But now they reject Him and refuse to hear Him. And while we might imagine all sort of reasons for their rejection; false expectations for the Messiah, spiritual elitism, an...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Today’s appointed Gospel lesson begins near the end of a dispute between Jesus and the Jews. They had sought to kill Jesus for some time now. Ever since Jesus healed an infirmed man at the pool of Bethesda they wanted to murder Him. They claimed He sinned by healing the infirmed man on the Sabbath, that that was a work which violated the commandment. But Jesus puts them in their place by pointing out that the Jews circumcise their children on the Sabbath. They do the work of God even on the rest day. He said, “ If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ” (John 7:23). He didn’t sin against the commandment. Yet they sin because they desire to kill Him, a clear violation of the commandment! That hatred boils over in today’s gospel lesson because they are unable to convict Him of sin. The...

O rder of Holy Communion - Pg. 15 Hymn # 140 Jesus I Will Ponder Now Hymn # 146 Lamb of God, Pure and Holy Hymn # 165 Behold the Lamb of God   Introit   Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! For You are the God of my strength; ( Psalm 43:1-2a ) Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. ( Psalm 43:3a, 4-5 ) Collect for Judica, the 5th Sunday in Lent We beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon Thy people, that by Thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world w...