February 22, 2026 Lent 1

Introduction to our Lenten Sermon Series

This Lent our homilies are folloewing a special Lenten series that reflects on the Beatitudes and the Stations of the Cross. Each week we will explore one of the neatitiudes from Matthew Chapter 5, and 2 of the traditional Stations of the cross.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with this manifesto of hope and promise.  They introduce the heart of Jesus’ teaching to his followers.

The Stations of the Cross are an old Catholic Christian tradition.  They mark fourteen stages along the path from Jesus’ condemnation to death until his burial. The Stations have always been evocative and interpretive, rather than simple historical representations.   They remind us that we have great freedom to read new meanings into Christianity.

Beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Stations of the Cross: Jesus is condemned to death by Pontius Pilate. The cross is

laid upon Jesus.

You may wonder why we're pairing the beatitudes and the stations of the cross. The

beatitudes were at the heart of Jesus’ message. They talk of God’s love and mercy

towards the marginalized, the have nots, those that the rest of the world happily ignores.

And it was this message that led to Jesus’ execution.

We tend to think of the beatitudes as those few verses the start of Matthew chapter 5

(or if you prefer at the start of the Sermon on the Mount –Matthew 5-7). We have a

version of them in Luke’s gospel too where they come as part of his discourse called the

sermon on the plain. This gives us the clue. Remember, Jesus was teaching to groups

all around the Galilee. It’s likely that he used the same concepts on many occasions.

Maybe he never even put the whole thing together the way Matthew did but used the

different beatitudes on different occasions. There was no television, no social media, not

even radio or books to spread his message, so it was necessary to repeat it over and

over.

And it was this message, this very countercultural message, which got him executed.

After Jesus was arrested, he was taken before the Sanhedrin. This was the Jewish

equivalent of the High Court where 71 judges sat to deliberate on Jewish judicial

matters. In this case, the Jewish leaders agreed that Jesus was a blasphemer, setting

himself up as equal to God and above the teachings of Torah. He had to die.

The Sadducees and their priestly followers, the rich and aristocratic party, believed only

in the first five books of the scriptures, the law or the Torah, Which they followed strictly

rejecting all oral interpretations. Jesus gave his own interpretation of parts of Torah such

as when he told the crowds “You have heard but it was sad … but I say …” Matthew 6

And his Whole message and his actions were contrary to the teachings in

Deuteronomy that A good life with riches and comfort was was a reward for obeying the

rules and if you were or sick or downtrodden in any way this was a Punishment from

God. In Deuteronomy, Moses said:

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you

today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these

blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God …

The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity … However, if you do not

obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am

giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you … The Lord will

send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you

are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking

him” Deuteronomy 28:1-2,11a,15,20

But Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, where everyone was loved and blessed. He

demonstrated this in his words and actions, especially by associating with people that

the religious elite avoided, tax gatherers who worked for the Romans, poor people like

fishermen and farmers, prostitutes, sinners of all kinds. The unclean.

Sadducees believed that the many rules governing temple worship sacrosanct and

followed assiduously. God had instituted the sacrificial system and the rights of Yom

Kippur as the way the Jews received forgiveness and atonement. The temple was the

home of God, and only the priests mediated between God and the people. In claiming to

forgive sins, something only the priests could do, Jesus Usurped their power; he told

one paralyzed man: “cheer up man your sins are forgiven” Matthew 9: 2.

And when healing another paralyzed man, the one that was let down through the roof,

he said “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say,

“Stand up and take your mat and walk”?    But so that you may know that the Son of Man

has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic — ‘I say to you, stand up,

take your mat and go to your home.’ Luke 2:9-11

No wonder the Sadducees and Priests wanted Jesus out of the way. He deserved

death.

The Pharisees were the middle of the road party. Like many rabbis, they believed in

interpreting the laws in Torah, and followed what was known as the Oral Tradition, which

the Sadducees rejected. The Oral Tradition (or the Oral Torah) contains thousands of

rabbinic interpretations which provide the necessary details to fill in the 613 biblical

commands In Torah.

They too would have found Jesus’ reinterpretation of Torah to be blasphemous.. Just a

couple of examples of how Jesus contradicted the Oral Tradition. The keeping of the

Sabbath had been very strictly interpreted with a definition of what included work on the

Sabbath. Jesus reinterpreted that; he healed on the Sabbath and let his disciples pick

grain when hungry on the Sabbath. “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the

Sabbath” Mark 2:27.

He also redefined purity laws saying that, in the case of pure and uncured pure foods, “it

is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the

mouth that defiles”. Matthew 15:11

Enough said. You get the picture. Jesus was destroying their whole raison d'etre. No

wonder the Pharisees wanted Jesus out of the way. He deserved death.

The Sanhedrin, the High Court, quickly gave their verdict. Jesus was a blasphemer and

an agitator and must die. The punishment according to Torah, was death by stoning. But

under Roman law, the Jews did not have the right to execute anyone. Only the Roman

procurator, Pontius Pilate, could give the death sentence. Crucifixion would have to do.

The next step was to take Jesus to Pilate.

We are not told in the Bible how the Jews made their case to Pilate, but they did. He

wouldn’t care about their religious reasons for wanting Jesus dead but the idea of

having someone claiming to be King of the Jews Certainly be something for him to deal

with. Passover was known to be a time when the Jews we’re most likely to rise up. He

knew that this was the time when they celebrated the fact that they God freed them from

slavery in Egypt and they also remembered being exiled to Babylon and brought back,

again an act of their God. What better time for their God to free them from the Romans

than at Passover. So Pilate certainly needed to question Jesus.

The Gospels give different accounts of this, but all agree that Pilate asked: “Are you the

king of the Jews” and Jesus gave the very ambiguous answer “You said it”. It was a

brief and inconclusive trial. In the gospels, Pilate appears to be very hesitant to contend

condemn Jesus to death. Should he give them Barabbas. No, free Barabbas execute

Jesus. Crucify him.

According to other Roman sources, including the Jewish historian Josephus, Pilate was

a very decisive and cruel man, who would have had no qualms about executing this so-

called king whether he was innocent or guilty. But at the time the gospels were written

the Jewish revolt of the late 60s of the 1st century of the common era had been

defeated and the temple destroyed. Judaism was now a synagogue-based religion, and

the Jesus followers were being ejected from the synagogues. The Jews were the

enemies and the Romans were the ones to be appeased. So, the gospel writers toned

down the Roman’s roll in the crucifixion and made the Jews the primary enemies.

For whatever reason, Pilate gave the decision the Jews wanted - crucify Jesus. And

while Pilates flunkies went off to bring the cross the Romans, Meanwhile, the Jews

continued to taunt, beat and humiliate Jesus, leaving him an injured and physically

destroyed person to make the walk of shame down what is now known as the Via

Dolorosa, the road of sorrows. Jesus, wrongly accused, committed to be executed,

walked out carrying his cross.

We have prepared handouts representing the stations of the cross. Today we ask you

to take the first two with you when you leave. Each one we’ll have a meditation relating

to our lives today. We ask you to use these during this first week of Lent; think about

what it means what it has meant to you to be falsely accused and what burdens you are

carrying today. And as you meditate, remember the beatitudes - not just the set that

start the Sermon on the Mount but all God’s blessings to us, and how much God loves

each one of us.

Each week you will get 2 more handouts and all of them will, by the end of Lent, be

posted around the church. On Good Friday, if there is any interest, the church will be

open for a couple of hours for anyone wanting to come and follow Jesus says last few

hours of his earthly life. (and maybe enjoy coffee and cross buns, too)

And with that, I wish you all a blessed and holy Lent Amen