In those
days, all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and
said:
"Here we are, your bone and your flesh.
In days past, when Saul was our king,
it was you who led the Israelites out and brought them back.
And the LORD said to you,
'You shall shepherd my people Israel
and shall be commander of Israel.'"
When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron,
King David made an agreement with them there before the
LORD,
and they anointed him king of Israel.
R. (cf. 1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R. Let us go rejoicing to the
house of the Lord. Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD. R. Let us go rejoicing to the
house of the Lord. According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David. R. Let us go rejoicing to the
house of the Lord.
Brothers
and sisters:
Let us give thanks to the Father,
who has made you fit to share
in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.
He delivered us from the power of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is
the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,
"He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God."
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
"If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."
Above him there was an inscription that read,
"This is the King of the Jews."
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus,
saying,
"Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us."
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
"Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal."
Then he said,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
He replied to him,
"Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise."
Homily/Sermon
It was a
very sad group of people going to the execution that
afternoon: Jesus, two criminals, policemen, soldiers, the
henchmen and their assistants. It was also a very glad
group of people too: the priests, the scribes, the
dignitaries, the Pharisees, and the magistrates who had him
condemned to death. Then there was the crowd that so easily
assembles on such disastrous occasions. In conformity with
the prevailing regulations, the reason for their
condemnation was mentioned above their heads. The
inscription above the man on his left read: 'robbery with
violence'. The inscription above the man on his right
read: 'robbery with violence'.
Though he
was the big attraction, the crime was unspecified, the guilt
unproven, the argumentation unrecorded, the motivation
unfounded, but the accusation was forever nailed above his
head, "This is the King of the Jews." The priests were
laughing at him. They paid no attention to the two others.
They were not interested in them. They were only there to
see Jesus die, the man who had threatened their setup and
their income. The rest of the people were just standing
there, but they too, looked especially at Jesus. There was
no trace in him anymore. He had been mangled too badly
during the last twenty-four hours since his arrest.
And so it
happened that the man who least of all wanted to be king was
made a king. It sounds like a fairly tale in reverse,
doesn't it? While the people were angry at their aborted
king and the disciples dejected over their almost king, and
leaders triumphant over their would-be king, there was going
to be some conversation before he relinquished himself unto
death. The priests had given up on him long ago. The
people were doing that now. After his death, they would go
home in utter silence, beating their chests in horror and
despair. They could not see any good anymore in the one who
had not stopped seeing good, a trace of divinity, a trace of
God's Kingdom in all of them, even the smallest, the
poorest, the most sinful, the most terribly handicapped, the
ones screaming with all kinds of evil spirits in themselves.
When that
prostitute came in and everyone said, "She is very bad, a
real sinner," hadn't he said, "I don't agree. There is good
in her, one will speak of her until the end of time because
of that goodness in her. Hadn't he been the one who called
Zaccheus down from that tree when he was hiding, convinced
of his sinfulness? And yet Jesus said, "Zaccheus, don't be
silly, come down. You are the son of Abraham and I want you
to be my host. I want to be your guest.
Now death
reigned. Evil seemed to have overcome. Hope was definitely
squashed. God seemed to be absent. Did he himself not
shout, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The
priests started to jeer. They shouted: "Let God help you.
Where is your God?" The soldiers joined them in their cheap
fun. Even the robber on the left of him did the same. Now
the sun started to disappear. Dark clouds gathered between
the cross and the sun, the source of light to the world. It
became darker and darker. People had to light torches to
see one another, though it must have been only about three
in the afternoon. The earth started to tremble, as if in
despair, and no voice, no voice was heard from above. God
remained silent. A darker scene had never been observed.
When all
hope seemed to be gone, the one on the cross at his right
spoke, and though he had no apparent connection with Jesus,
with his dying breath, he said, "You can't con a crook; I
know what kind of kingdom you have – and I want a piece of
it! Jesus smiled and sighed, "Finally someone
understands!" We might ask ourselves, "Do we really
understand the Kingdom of Jesus, the Kingdom of God?"
May God
bless you this coming week with good health and also in all
of your other needs, most especially for the needs of the
sick and suffering, the lonely, the homeless, jobless, and
the forgotten. Yours in Christ –
Excuse me I
cried,
As the tears fell from my eyes.
I just need to be close,
To the one I love the most.
I stumbled through the crowd,
The yelling and cursing was so loud.
But it didn’t stop me,
I fell down on bended knees.
At the foot of the cross,
I felt so sad and so lost.
How could this be?
Jesus was suffering for me.
What had He ever done?
He was God’s only Son.
With a shaking hand I reached out,
And I heard someone shout.
Get her away from there,
I wasn’t moving I didn’t care.
I finally touched His feet,
They were so tore up like raw meat.
I looked up at His eyes,
And I was so surprised.
After all He had been through,
His lips whispered I love you.
I hung onto the cross,
Knowing because of Him I’d never be lost.
Slowly I made my way,
Back through the crowd that day.
God’s will had been done,
Jesus suffered for everyone.
I was at peace and so blessed,
Now I could finally rest.
For His blood had covered me,
And it would be there for eternity.
Written By Eva Dimel
Inspired By God
November 18th 2011
