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Sermon on Zechariah 9:11 & Mark 14:24, Palm Sunday 2021 (B), "The Blood of the Covenant"

  Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Zechariah, the Palm Sunday prophet, describes King Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. Some 500 years before it happened, Zechariah wrote about a humble King entering Jerusalem on a donkey, and the joy of the inhabitants. The following chapters of Zechariah go into greater detail and foretell many details surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion and the events of Holy Week. But we’re just going to zero in on a narrow phrase today. In Zechariah 9:11, God says “ because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free”. Then in Mark 14:24, at His Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus gives them the cup to drink and says, “ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” What is this “ blood of the covenant ?” First, we need some background on covenants. A covenant is a little like a contract made between two groups or individuals. Contracts or agreements usually have terms and conditions, as well as...

Sermon on Isaiah 45:1-8, for Lent 4 Midweek, "Breaking Down the Gates"

 Part 4 of series "Singing with the Exiles" by Rev. Reed Lessing “This is what the Lord says to His messiah, to Cyrus …I will break down the gates of bronze.” Isaiah 45:1-2. On the afternoon of August 5, 2010 the 121-year-old San José copper-gold mine in Chile, South America, caved in. Thirty-three men were trapped underneath 2,300 feet of solid rock. Seventeen days after the accident, a note written in bold red letters appeared taped to a drill bit when it was pulled to the surface after penetrating an area believed to be accessible to the trapped workers. It read simply, “ Estamos bien en el refugio, los treinta y tres. ” In English: “ We are fine in the shelter, the 33 of us. ” But they were in survival mode. They ate two spoonful’s of tuna, a sip of milk, and a morsel of peaches—every other day. They heard the voice that said, “You are locked in with no way out.” The Chilean miners knew; O God, they knew. But once the people at the top found out that the men we...