The Collect for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
O Lord, we ask you, let Your continual mercy cleanse, and defend, Your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without Your protection, preserve it evermore by Your help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle Ephesians 3:13-21
13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
The Holy Gospel of St Luke 7:11-17
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today’s Epistle Reading is taken from St Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians Chapter 3, Verses 13-21.
St Paul opens today’s Epistle Reading with a plea to the Ephesian Christians not to be discouraged on hearing of his sufferings (at the hands of the Jews:
"13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory."
St Paul tells them that his sufferings are their glory. By this he means that his suffering, or indeed, suffering that overtakes any Christian person, is on account of that person’s faith in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Christians will always encounter some form of suffering, persecution, or discrimination from either the government of their land, their fellow citizens, their friends, or even their own family members. Not all people, irrespective of who they are, or what their relationship to us is, will be sympathetic to, or receptive of, the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
In the Holy Gospel of St John Chapter 16 verse 33 the Lord Jesus told his Disciples:
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The Lord Jesus was concerned that the troubles and trials of this world (Satan’s domain) could overwhelm His Disciples. He reminded them that no matter what came their way, they should be courageous, as He has overcome the world, ruled by Satan and his allies, who are the instigators and movers of all spiritual and earthly trouble.
To suffer for the Lord Jesus is to show forth the Truth, Power, and Glory of His Holy Gospel.
St Paul then tells the Ephesians that he prays for them. He tells that he kneels before their Heavenly Father from Whom all families in Heaven and Earth derive their name:
"14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
This opening to St Paul’s prayer may be seem to be a strange way to describe the Fatherhood of God, but it shows the relationship of God to His creation. “Every family in Heaven” refers to the Angelic beings that God has created to serve him in His work of caring for His Heavenly Kingdom and His people.
“Every family on Earth” refers to God’s people on earth, descended from Adam and Eve.
When the great Kingdom of God is revealed in all it’s Glorious Majesty and Splendor, at the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming, we will fully understand God’s Fatherhood.
The human families of God derive their name from the Lord Jesus who died and rose again for the salvation of God’s chosen people, and to open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Our old sinful nature has been buried with the Lord Jesus and we have been born again, in His Resurrection, as God’s adopted children and we are clothed in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus, by faith in His Holy Gospel, hence we bare His Holy Name as brothers and sisters.
The Name of the Lord Jesus is imputed (placed by God through Faith) into every believer’s heart and mind, and can be recognized by all of God’s people, by the illuminating power of God’s Mighty Holy Spirit.
St Paul then prays that God will grant all His people the greatest measure of His Holy Spirit so that they become so grounded in the Love and Deep Knowledge of the Lord Jesus that they may know the Depth, Width, and Height of His Love :
“16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
St Paul uses a three dimensional image of the Lord Jesus’ Love to reinforce, in the reader’s mind, that the Love of the Lord Jesus, which surpasses all human knowledge, is all enveloping and surrounds us on every side. We are clothed (rooted and established) in the Character and Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus and no power of Satan can remove us from that place of Love and Safety.
The Fullness of God’s Love and Power holds, and protects us, for all eternity.
St Paul concludes this passage with a doxology (a prayer of Praise to God and a Blessing on His People):
“20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
This doxology praises God, Who will do more than we can ask or imagine.
St Paul's concluding doxology brings to mind his quotation of the great Prophet Isaiah (Book of Isaiah Chapter 64, Verse 4) and is recorded in St Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians Chapter 2, Verse 9:
“However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
We can only stand in awe when we begin to comprehend the Mighty Love and Power of God and realise that this Power, revealed in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, saves and guards us, now and forever.
May God give us His Grace to always remember, and long for, the good things that He has prepared for us, and which we can only inherit through being clothed in the Holy Righteous of the Lord Jesus, and so made His Adopted Children and Heirs of His Eternal Kingdom. Amen.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading is from the Holy Gospel of St Luke Chapter 7, Verses 11-17.
In this passage of Scripture we read of the Lord Jesus’ encounter with the widow of Nain.
The Lord Jesus, and His Disciples, travelled around from town to town preaching to the crowds, and healing those people with diseases, or possessed by evil spirits.
On this occasion the Lord Jesus and His Disciples together with a large crowd of His followers were approaching a village called Nain.
Coming near to the town they were met by a large funeral procession leaving the town, carrying a young man:
"11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her."
We are told that the young man was the only son of a widow. The size of the funeral procession reveals to us that the widow was well respected in the village.
For a woman to have lost her husband and her only son was a most sad event in Jewish life.
A woman without a husband would have had a very hard life as it was the husband’s duty to earn a living for his family, by laboring or working at a trade.
Without that support a widow would have had a difficult time making ends meet.
In the event of a husband’s death, the widow’s son(s) would have been required to take on the role of provider by securing employment to provide an income for the mother and family.
For the widow in today’s Holy Gospel Reading life had become much worse, as her only son had died so she had no one to care and provide for her. She would have probably been facing the prospect of begging for food and money:
"13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
The Lord Jesus, when he saw her, was filled with compassion and we are told that His “heart went out to her.” The Lord Jesus knew what sort of life awaited her without a husband, and a son.
The Lord Jesus immediately stepped up to the bier (funeral stretcher). Those men carrying the bier stopped, and the Lord Jesus touched the bier. Touching any part of a funeral bier made a Jewish person ceremonially unclean for seven days, during which time that person could not participate in the Temple, or later the Synagogue, worship of God.
The Lord Jesus ignored this ceremonial uncleaness and was only concerned with the plight of the widow. He acted with great Authority, Power, and Love:
“14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”1 5 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother."
The Lord Jesus called out, “young man I say to you, get up” and immediately the young man’s life was restored.
We are not told what had killed the young man, an accident or illness, however there is no doubt that the Lord Jesus had the power of life and death.
At the Lord Jesus’ command a miracle was forthcoming. The miracle was to benefit a woman in need, and demonstrates the Lord Jesus’ Love and Provision for every one of His people.
The Lord Jesus’ power over all things is revealed a number of times in the Holy Bible. In the Holy Gospel of St Matthew Chapter 8, Verses 23-27, we see the Lord Jesus’ power over the forces of nature:
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marvelled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Again, we see the Lord Jesus’ power of life and death shown forth in glory, when He raised Lazarus from the dead, as recorded in the Holy Gospel of St John Chapter 11, Verses 1-44:
"11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.”
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
This account by St John is most important, as the Lord Jesus' miracle directly links the raising of Lazarus and Martha’s confession, to Himself as the Messiah.
Verse 25 and the first part of Verse 26: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” are two of the most important and cherished verses in the Holy Bible.
The crowds accompanying the funeral procession from Nain, together with the crowds that followed the Lord Jesus, were filled with awe at this miracle of the widow’s son being raised from the dead, and proclaimed this fact far and wide:
“16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”
There were, no doubt, many devout and faithful Jews to whom this news was most significant.
The raising of people from the dead, together with the healing of the blind, deaf and lame were all unmistakable signs of the coming of the Messiah.
When John the Baptist, was in prison awaiting execution, he sent his disciples to the Lord Jesus asking if He were the Messiah or “should we look for another”.
The Lord Jesus’ reply, recorded in the Holy Gospel of St Matthew Chapter11, Verses 4-5, is quite specific:
"4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
The Lord Jesus is the long promised Messiah, and as was revealed after His Resurrection, He was the Messiah for both the Jews and the Gentiles (non Jews).
May God bless these readings to us, and strengthen our love and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Timothy 6:15, Book of Revelation 17:14, 19:16). Amen.
Bishop Ian