Our Weekly Bread

The story of Second Palm Sunday, featuring our special guest Sosé.  (John 12:12-23)

"Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,  “Hosanna![a]”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[b]  “Blessed is the king of Israel!”  14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:  15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;     see, your king is coming,     seated on a donkey’s colt.”[c]  16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.  17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”  Jesus Predicts His Death 20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.  23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."

Are we all blind?  Jesus talks about our spiritual blindness and gives us grace by being our Shepherd, showing us the way.  (John 9:39-10:10)

"39 Jesus said,[a] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”  40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”  41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.  The Good Shepherd and His Sheep 10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.  7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[b] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Jesus is questioned when performing a miracle on the Sabbath, and His response addresses the written law vs. the spirit of the law. (John 7:14-23)

"Jesus Teaches at the Festival 14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”  16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”  20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”  21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?"

A short disclaimer:  

We are two friends. The views expressed in this podcast are our own and do not represent the views of the Armenian Church, the Armenian Church hierarchy, or any Armenian Church parish. Our intention is to record the weekly Gospel readings as chanted in the Armenian church and spark discussion around the Gospel readings themselves.

Our first bonus episode, sparked by all three branches of the U.S. government affirming a historic fact:  what happened to the Armenians from 1915 to 1922 was GENOCIDE.  It has been 106 years...it's about time.  

Why is this important?  Because of this quote:  

"Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" — Adolf Hitler...  

For evil to succeed, all that is necessary is for good people to do nothing.  People have to speak out so that genocide of any group of people never happens again.  But, it did happen again...to the Jews, the Rwandans, the Cambodians, the Syrians, and now in Ethiopia.  This is important because if world nations do not condemn genocide, then who is there to stand if it happens anywhere again?

The authority, place, and purpose of the Son of Man as told by Jesus.

John 5:19-30

"19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.  24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.  28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

The mysteries surrounding the Holy Baptism. 

John 2:23-3:12

"23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.[a] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.  Jesus Teaches Nicodemus 3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”  3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[b]”  4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”  5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[c] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[e]  9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.  10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"

The culmination of Jesus's story, foreshadowed since His earliest teachings: the Resurrection. 

Mark 16:2-8

"2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”  4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.  6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”  8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid."