This Sunday we start a new series in Paul’s letter to the Christians in Colosse. Colossians opens with a tremendous thanksgiving, in which Paul explains to the Colossian Christians what he gives thanks to God for, with regard to them.
The former Anglican Bishop of Durham in the UK, Tom Wright observed: “The main reason the Colossians should give thanks to God is because of Jesus. If they do this with full knowledge and understanding about who he is and what he has achieved, everything else will fall into place.”
In chapter 28 of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ life we meet two agnostics; two women both named Mary who came to Jesus’ tomb after his resurrection. To say there were agnostic might seem a little strange, since we know that they were Jesus’ followers and when we talk about agnostics, we normally mean people who aren’t followers of Jesus.
But the word “agnostic” simply means “not knowing” or “without knowledge.” Think of other words where the prefix “a-“ means not, words like “amoral” or “atypical” and “gnostic" comes from “gnosis” the Greek word for knowledge – think prognosis or diagnosis. So to be agnostic is simply to be someone who lacks knowledge.
And maybe this Easter you feel that you fall into that category. You just don’t know. You don’t know who Jesus is. You don’t know where to go to find Jesus, or to find out about Jesus. You don’t know who God is or what God wants from you or even if he’s even there at all.
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, on which Christians remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in anticipation of his crucifixion. The gospel authors all explain for us how Jesus fulfilled these words from the prophet Zechariah, in riding into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey.
From the time of the exile around 586 BC, God’s people had had no king. The emperors of Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome had been particularly keen for this to remain the case - think of the crowd’s threat to Pilate at Jesus’ trial, “anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). Nevertheless, despite having no king for the centuries after the exile and return, Judah (as the nation came to be called) were still God’s people and their king would come.
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The Bible is full of covenant language. A covenant is a relationship between two parties, perhaps best illustrated by our covenant of marriage. The Scriptures employ a whole host of different words to describe covenants and the participation of people within covenant relationships.
Isaiah 42:6 includes perhaps one of the more unusual covenant references. In speaking to his servant, the Lord God (LORD in most English translations, indicating the covenant God of Israel) says to his servant, “I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people.” Or as the ESV translates, "I will give you as a covenant for the people.”
named Mary who came to Jesus’ tomb after his resurrection. To say there were agnostic might seem a little strange, since we know that they were Jesus’ followers and when we talk about agnostics, we normally mean people who aren’t followers of Jesus.
