The BreadCast

(Is.52:13-53:12; Ps.31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25,Lk.23:46; Heb.4:14-16,5:7-9; Jn.18:1-19:42) "He shall be raised high and greatly exalted." Here is your king: "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews," Pilate has written upon His cross. Here He is lifted up, where "many were amazed at Him – so marred was His look beyond human semblance and His appearance beyond the sons of man." Yet "shall He startle many nations; because of Him kings shall stand speechless." The Scripture passage is fulfilled: "They will look upon Him whom they have pierced." And there they shall see that He who "was spurned and avoided by people… one of those from whom people hide their faces," held in "no esteem" as He was… this same "lamb led to the slaughter" "shall divide the spoils with the mighty"; for as He has been lifted up on the cross, debased beyond all others, so He shall be raised on high in His kingdom, one with the Father in heaven. Here they "wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on His head." Here they "clothed Him in a purple cloak, and they came to Him and said, 'Hail, King of the Jews.' And they struck Him repeatedly." But there no mockery shall He know; there all shall see that He is the Son of God. Brothers and sisters, "we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God." Our weaknesses He has known in full, and now He brings us "light in fullness of days." Though on earth "He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears," now has He become "the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him." For all the tears He shed, all the scourging He underwent, all the humiliation He experienced and the death He knew, were all for our sake. "It was our infirmities that He bore, our sufferings that He endured." And having suffered in our stead for the sins of those by whom He is condemned, now He has come unto what is His own, and invites us there as well. "He shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses." The guilt of the nations is removed by Him who had "no guilt in Him," and is known by all who "take refuge" in His wounds. And so, "take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the Lord"; though we, too, may be "an object of reproach" in this world of sin, He awaits us all in His heavenly kingdom. And for this we call this Friday "good." Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" (second half) from Bearing the Birth Pangs, tenth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, on this day we killed your only Son – may we look upon Him whom we have pierced that our sins might be forgiven. YHWH, your Son suffers a violent death at the hands of wicked men that our sins might be taken away. All our offenses you lay upon His shoulders, and this innocent Lamb becomes expiation for our transgression. Only by His bearing the Cross will we be freed; only by His shedding of blood will we be washed clean – only by looking upon Him lifted high on the Tree will we come to realize how we have separated ourselves from you who are Life, how we have wrought our own death. And so Jesus takes upon Himself the guilt of us all; and so by His stripes we are healed. This broken, beaten Man whose divinity none can see startles all souls as He enters into His glory. O LORD, may we take our refuge in Him! There is no salvation apart from the Christ; there is no sacrifice that could atone for our sins except that made by this High Priest. LORD our God, let us know that He is One with you, and let us worship Him as our only King.

O little one, holy and true, who wanted no more than to leave the world that you might draw closer to Christ but who was followed by the world and called to teach the world of the way of holiness in our blessed Lord – pray we shall follow His path of Passion and death, death to self and all animosity, all hatred, finding thereby His peace, peace in His Spirit and light. O that we might be sanctified! our hearts converted to God, following your example, which leads to the Cross and so the resurrection of our humble Jesus.

(Ex.12:1-8,11-14; Ps.116:12-13,15-18,1Cor.10:6; 1Cor.11:23-26; Jn.13:1-15) "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood." For this cup holds the Blood of our Lord. And, "Seeing the blood, I will pass over you," says the Lord. "When I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you." As the Israelites mark each of their houses with the blood of a lamb, so our bodies are marked by the Blood of the Lamb; and so we are saved by the Lord our God and become temples of His Spirit. "How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?" the psalmist cries in joy. Each day we "offer sacrifice of thanksgiving," taking up "the cup of salvation" and "call[ing] upon the name of the Lord": each day we partake of His blessed Body and Blood. And sharing in this celebration of the Eucharist we "proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes"; and so, into our midst He comes. "He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist" as "a model to follow": "as I have done for you, you should also do." He says to His brothers in the upper room the night "His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father": "You ought to wash one another's feet." And so by this teaching, and so by His masterful lead, He multiplies His presence in the world through His twelve apostles. And so shall these souls by whom the Bread of Life is multiplied, by whom we have inheritance with the Lord, wash the feet of all His followers by their witness and the ministry they shall bring to the ends of the earth. And so shall all who have bathed in His Blood be made clean for the Holy Day. And we, as they, as the Lord, find the strength to lay down our lives in service of one another by being as our Jesus, who was "fully aware that the Father had put everything in His power and that He had come from God and was returning to Him." Any power that any have comes only from the Father, and comes only through the Son, and is known only in His Blood – which all must share, by which all must be anointed, if we are to be preserved until the coming of the Christ again into this world of darkness. Writen, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by Carie Fortney. Music by Carie Fortney; used by permission. ******* O LORD, let us be washed clean in the blood of your Son, and so protected from all harm; let us live in His New Covenant, eating His Body and drinking His Blood. YHWH, as your Son has laid down His life, the innocent Lamb sacrificed for our sins; as He has bowed down to wash our feet that we might be made clean and have inheritance with Him; so let us be humble and serve one another in His Name. Let His blood be upon us to save us from condemnation – let us die with Him that we might live again. In His feast let us partake, of His very Body and Blood. At His table let us sit, His disciples ready to follow Him. Indeed, even as we eat let us be prepared to go out and serve, to step from the table where we have been nourished and into the way of the Cross. Far from Egypt we would be taken, LORD, far from all our sin; and others we would see follow Him in the path to the kingdom. He has died that we might live – O LORD, let us be His children!

(Is.50:4-9; Ps.69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34; Mt.26:14-25) "The Son of Man is departing, as Scripture says of Him." Of Him in Scripture we read, "Morning after morning He opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back." Even as death approaches, even as His betrayer goes forth (perhaps especially at this dark time), He sets His face "like flint" to confront those who oppose Him, those who would destroy Him. In His own voice He speaks to us in the first reading and the psalm of His trial and His resolve: "I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard," though "they put gall in my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." And He stands alone before such blasphemy – "I looked for sympathy, but there was none; for comforters, and I found none." Though only one of the Twelve betrays Him, all abandon Him in His brokenness; none stands by His side as He "bear[s] insult" in the Name of God. But the Father does not desert Him: "See, the Lord God is my help." "For the Lord hears the poor, and His own who are in bonds He spurns not." And when He cries from the cross, it is not His fate He bemoans, but our own, whose dark separation from God He takes upon Himself as our guilt He bears. Yes, He must depart in this way; He must suffer at our hands. But that it is written so, and that by this our souls are made whole, in no way nullifies that we have sinned – sin remains the evil it is. As for Judas, yet it would have been "better for him if he had never been born," for the fires of hell are real; and as for the souls who abandon Him, as for all His disciples, it is only through similar darkness that we shall come back to His light. Tears will fill our eyes as we look upon Him whom we have pierced. Yet, fear not, for the Lord hears the cry of the "lowly ones… who seek God"; and Scripture speaks just as faithfully of the third day. ******* O LORD, zeal for your House consumes your Son, and so He is betrayed by one of His own for thirty pieces of silver. YHWH, your Son is betrayed by one who sits at table with Him, and by all He will be abandoned, left alone to die upon a cross. Yet He goes as you call Him; freely He accomplishes your will, with complete faith in your protection, with the strength found only in your love. O help us to be as He is! to bear all with patience, to so freely offer our backs for beating and our faces for spitting upon. O how shall we go from putting gall in His food to being fed at His table in the kingdom if you do not help us, O LORD our God? We have no hope if you have no mercy on our poor souls. Let us find the strength He takes in you. Only one of the Twelve betrays Him, only one hands Him over for crucifixion, but we all line the path He must tread – we are all cause for His shame. Dear LORD, in His sacrifice may we find freedom from such sin.

(Is.49:1-6; Ps.71:1-6,15,17; Jn.13:21-33,36-38) "I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!" The Lord is with His servant, with Israel, with Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God: "From my mother's womb you are my strength… O God, you have taught me from my youth." And to this "sharp-edged sword" the Lord had concealed "in the shadow of His arm," to this "polished arrow" He has hidden in His quiver, God says: "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." He who was called from birth, given His name in His mother's womb, prepared before all the ages, now comes to reveal the glory of God. And how is it "the Son of Man [is] glorified and God is glorified in Him"? We see in our gospel the moment the glorification begins; we see in our gospel the path by which it comes. At table at the Last Supper Jesus grows "deeply troubled," for the time of His betrayal has come. Judas eats the morsel of food dipped in the dish and "immediately after, Satan entered his heart." Then, "no sooner had Judas eaten the morsel than he went out," and, we are told, "It was night." And immediately upon Judas' leaving, the Lord proclaims His glorification has begun. Here begins the Passion. Here begins the first of the three days Jesus will spend in the belly of the earth. How unlike the days the Servant spent in His mother's womb these days shall be! And yet it is precisely these days and in this way that what God has prepared for Him and for all creation shall come to its fulfillment. Now shall the arrow be sharpened fully and shot forth to pierce all men's hearts with truth – even as the nails pierce His hands and the sword His side. Through the depths of such absolute darkness, light shall shine forth, and this light shall in time reach to the ends of the world. Now the time has come. Now all shall abandon Him. Now by the Suffering Servant shall all be saved. ******* O LORD, make us glorious in your sight, even as your Son has been glorified by His sacrifice. YHWH, now the darkness falls upon your Son and He is prepared to be glorified. In the death He must endure He will be revealed as the light of the world. Though we cannot follow Him now, let us soon follow where He leads. Help us, dear God, to lay down our lives with Him that we might come to Heaven. He has been hidden for all ages, concealed in the shadow of your arm, LORD; but now this arrow is shot forth, this sword unveiled for all eyes to see. Now is the time for all to be justified by His holy sacrifice. O let us join with Him! Let us not fear the darkness which sets upon this corrupted earth but suffer its betrayal with the patience of the Son of Man. In Him let us take our refuge, LORD; let us be one with your Servant. To this world help us bring His light, you who have been our trust from our Mother's womb.

(Is.42:1-7; Ps.27:1-3,13-14; Jn.12:1-11) "I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations." He has come "to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who dwell in darkness." "He establishes justice on the earth," and this justice is His bringing light to our darkness. But He could not release us from the dungeon unless He Himself had entered the dungeon. How else could light penetrate the darkness? And so He not only enters the veil of flesh, humbling Himself to be born as a man, but also gives Himself up to the death we all must die – in our own form He pays the wages of our sin, that we might be released from its prison. How could we "be stouthearted" "when evildoers come at [us] to devour [our] flesh," we who are so weakened by the scourges of sin, if He had not strengthened us by standing in our stead? How could we truly say with David, "Though war be waged upon me, even then will I trust," if He had not defeated the enemy which comes against us? We can say, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?" only because Jesus has brought God's justice into our very midst, to our flesh and to our bone, by entering into the world of darkness we have created and taking upon Himself the death we deserved. Lazarus, who sits at table with Jesus a week before His own death, is a sign of our release from the dungeon, from the tomb of our sin. As "Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him on account of Lazarus," so should all be drawn to the promise of new life which the Lord shall fulfill now in His death and resurrection. And as we enter Holy Week, as we prepare ourselves for the great mysteries of our faith, how appropriate for Jesus to sit at table "in the land of the living" with this dead man. See that He will sit with us all just so in the kingdom of heaven. Now the light comes; now justice is done. The aromatic fragrance of His holy sacrifice fills this house, and darkness shall be banished forever. ******* O LORD, your Son is the light which saves us even from death; let us die and rise with Him. YHWH, as Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, so all who believe will be raised with Him and sit at His table in Heaven. As He defended Mary from Judas' attack, so He will advocate for us all against the accusations of the evil one, so we will be protected from all condemnation and come into the light of your presence. Though we dwell as if in a dungeon here, release we shall soon find in the offering of your Son. From all our enemies we shall be saved; let us stand fast with Jesus. The fragrance of the Spirit fills our souls even as darkness closes in. O LORD, your promise to us is sweet indeed and gives us courage in this world. For what victory has our Savior not won, what power has withstood His justice? And so, even death He tramples underfoot as in a tomb He is laid.

(Is.50:4-7; Ps.22:2,8-9,17-20,23-24; Phil.2:6-11; Mt.26:14-27:66 or Mk.14:1-15:47 or Lk.22:14-23:56) "His blood be upon us and upon our children." "The whole people" cry out for the death of Jesus. "Let Him be crucified," they shout ever more loudly. The sins of us all demand the death of the Son. And though He would have us not bear such guilt – "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me" – and though even after we have succeeded in our lust for innocent blood, He forgives… yet bear such a burden we must, to find release from its punishment under the shadow of His cross, where, upon the opening of our eyes in the fear of our crimes and the power of Him whom we have crucified, we shall proclaim, "Truly, this was the Son of God!" Yes, it is an irony that the blood of this "King of the Jews," the Chosen of the chosen, the Messiah, the Son of God, is upon our souls both for condemnation for the great crime all commit in crucifying the Lord always by our sins; and, of course, for our salvation by its cleansing the same sin from our souls through our belief in Him Who Is. And so He accepts our mockery. And so He remains silent before our accusations against Him. And so He "set [His] face like flint," enduring "buffets and spitting"; as "many dogs surround" Him and "a pack of evildoers closes in," He endures all for our sakes, knowing only this will bring us to open our eyes and see the light that is the love of God. "They have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones." Could more of a sacrifice be made for sinful man? Could greater than this be accomplished in the name of God? What more need you to believe? O let His blood pour upon you! Brothers and sisters, Christ Jesus "emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness… becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." God has come among us and suffered all for our sake, that we might be washed clean of all the evil within us by His gentle acceptance of all our hatred, of all our doubt and fear, of all the violence we could mount, saying to our heart: "I love you still, and my Father, too," that we might return to the grace that is ours in Him. Let us not be ashamed to bend the knee "at the name of Jesus." Let "every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." "You who fear the Lord, praise Him; all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to Him; revere Him all you descendants of Israel." Let His blood pour upon your soul. Written, read & chanted, and published by James Kurt. Music: "My God. My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" (first half) from Bearing the Birth Pangs, tenth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, your Son humbles Himself to die on a cross for us, and we can but lay Him in a tomb – how shall we be saved? YHWH, your Son is led to death, even to crucifixion, but He turns not His face away from the buffets and the spitting, from the mockery of sinful men. He sets Himself to undergo all the suffering that is rightly ours to bear – and all the while we sleep, we take our rest. All abandon your Son, O LORD; He is left quite alone. None is able to defend Him, to stand with Him in His place upon the Cross. No, we betray Him by our faithlessness, and so now must endure the sight of His bloodied corpse splayed upon the Cross. O LORD our God, let us not fail to repent of our sin, of our crucifying the Son of Man. Let us not fail to recognize who He is and what He has done for us in His Person and death. This day let us partake of His Body and Blood that we might be taken with Him from the Skull place to your right hand in Heaven.

(Ez.37:21-28; Jer.31:10-13; Jn.11:45-57) "My sanctuary shall be set up among them forever." Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to "gather [His people] from all sides to bring them back to their land"; He is the "one prince for [us] all" by whom God makes complete the "everlasting covenant" with us: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It is He "who make[s] Israel holy," who makes us all one in Himself. And so, "no longer shall [we] defile [our]selves," but we "shall live by [His] statutes and carefully observe [His] decrees" now written upon our hearts by the power of the Spirit upon His flesh and blood. In our gospel the Sanhedrin fear the loss of the Jewish nation on earth when they say, "The Romans will come and sweep away our sanctuary and our nation" because of the wonders Jesus performs and the power He has over all people. So when Caiaphas asks, "Can you not see that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed?" it is of the protection of the temple and its worship he speaks and which is his concern. But, of course, he unwittingly prophesies the salvation of all in the eternal, heavenly Temple of the New Jerusalem, where Jesus "gather[s] into one all the dispersed children of God." Yes, "Jesus would die for the nation"; He would give Himself that all might live. The plan "to kill Him" He shall allow to bear fruit; though all are on the lookout to apprehend Him, yet He shall come to the feast to offer Himself as the spotless Lamb of Passover, to purge the nation of its sins and protect it from final damnation. And so, "He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, He guards them as a shepherd His flock." And so we should "come streaming to the Lord's blessings: the grain, the wine, and the oil" – so we should come now and consume His Body and His Blood. For the New Covenant is now set in place; His sanctuary is here among us. And forever He is seated in the heavenly kingdom to make intercession for us and for the purging of our sins, to draw into the presence of the Father all His holy children. He is "likely to come to the feast," brothers and sisters, for the feast would be nothing without Him. It is His sacrifice alone which "turn[s] our mourning into joy," which "shall make [all] merry and dance" in the sanctuary of God's love. ******* O LORD, by the blood of your Son gather into one all your dispersed children. YHWH, your feast is prepared and we are called now to enter in to the dancing and joy of your kingdom. Your sanctuary is set up in our midst, your Son has come into our presence, and so we become one holy nation in Him. Though He must die to save us and unite us, He shall face such a fate openly, and so lead us to the heights of Zion. Up to Jerusalem Jesus comes with all the people for the Passover feast. The Temple you have set up comes now to the temple made by human hands; and though the latter shall soon be destroyed, the former shall never pass away but be set up forever as our dwelling place. O let us worship you, LORD, in your holy Temple! Jesus is indeed our salvation and the New Covenant founded in His Body and Blood is now among us. O LORD, let your sacrificial Lamb be prince over us that we may come streaming to His blessings.

(Jer.20:10-13; Ps.18:2-7; Jn.10:31-42) "He has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked." As Jeremiah's persecutors surround him on every side but are "put to utter shame" when he calls out to the Lord, so as the Jews "again tried to arrest Him," Jesus again "eluded their grasp." And so when "the breakers of death surged around [us], the destroying floods overwhelmed [us]..." so when our sins seemed to have conquered our souls, the Lord came to save us. Evil is all around. Always there is "terror on every side!" and those who would shout, "Denounce! Let us denounce him!" because of our missteps, because of our stumbling into sin. Ever the devil is on the watch to trap us with his wiles and cast our souls into "the netherworld." But always, too, the Lord is present, and when to Him we entrust our cause, saying with David, "O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer," whenever we call upon His name, He hears and saves us from "the snares of death." "Praised be the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies," David sings. "Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord," Jeremiah echoes, and he, too, is safe. All who call upon Him He hears, and affords them His salvation. "The Jews reached for rocks to stone Him," but still He called to their hearts: "Many good deeds have I shown you from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" Still He invites them to look upon the good works He has done in His Father's name to see that He is indeed the Son; still He desires their salvation. The signs He performs are recognized by many people who thus "come to believe in Him," but the hardness of heart of these the leaders continues to blind their eyes to the truth of what John the Baptist said and what He is. This ignorance shall find its ultimate expression soon in the crucifixion of the Son of God; but even from this the Lord shall deliver Him – and by this sacrifice we shall all be saved. And many more will come to know thereby that He is God. The Lord rescues all our souls when we cry out to Him. Let us put all trust in His saving grace. ******* O LORD, thank you for hearing our cries; from death you have delivered us by the grace of your Son YHWH, let us come to believe that Jesus is your Son, one with you and the source of our salvation. You rescue from the power of the wicked all who put their trust in Him; even from death we are preserved by taking our refuge in Him. And so, why should we doubt His divinity? In our distress you looked upon us, dear LORD, and heard us as we called out to you; and so you sent your only Son to answer our deepest prayers. We were enmeshed in the snares of death but from the netherworld you saved our souls, giving us safety in the blood of Jesus, the Christ. We thank you and we praise you, O God, for your grace upon us. O let us ever praise your Name, our LORD and God, and we shall be ever safe from our enemies. Let us take our refuge in the flesh of your Son and nothing shall ever harm us. May our cry always come to your ears.

(Gn.17:3-9; Ps.105:4-9; Jn.8:51-59) "Before Abraham came to be, I AM." Abraham is a great man, the blessed patriarch, to whom God made the promise: "I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." So Abraham becomes "the father of a host of nations," not just by lineage, but by faith in the promise God has given him and the keeping of the covenant with Him. Abraham is father to all who believe in the one God: the sons of Israel, the Jews; the sons of Ishmael, the Muslims; and all who worship the living Lord and "seek to serve Him constantly." Yet as great as Abraham is, as fertile as he has become, Jesus is the greater and the more prosperous, for He Himself is the Lord our God, from whom Abraham receives his promise and so his greatness. "Abraham rejoiced that he might see [Jesus'] day. He saw it and was glad." For here come to us is the only Son of the God before whom he "prostrated himself"; here is the Lord of all the nations of whom Abraham is father. Jesus is equal with the Father, coeternal and all-powerful. He does not make Himself so but receives such glory from the Father, with whom He is always. How hard it is for the Jews to hear this. Though according to their faith they have been waiting for just such arrival of the Holy One, of the Messiah, yet their hearts are unable to accept such divine wonder. And so "they picked up rocks to throw at Jesus" upon His solemn declaration of His divinity. Is it not just so hard for all of us who call ourselves believers to come to terms with the awesome majesty of Jesus our God? It seems something so far beyond our belief, that God could walk in our midst. And yet HE IS; and so we must see how much greater than any man He is. For though fully a man born in time and murdered upon a cross, yet He is God, living forever as Lord of all. So great a gift, so wonderful a presence, is all that assures us that we "shall never see death" but be as He is, alive in the kingdom as He has promised. Keep His word, and the Word of Life will be with you. ******* O LORD, a greater than Abraham we have in your Son, for He is God with you – let us live forever in Him. YHWH, your Son is God with you, dear Father, the great I AM; and He would bring us where you are, to a life that passes not away. How could we die if we were with you? For you are Life itself, and your Son with you. Abraham is the father of many nations; many lives came to be through him and all of faith find a father in him who was of the greatest faith. But you are the Father of Abraham, dear LORD, and Jesus is your Son – and so Jesus Himself is as Abraham's Father, coming before him and giving life to him as He does. O may He give us life, too, Father on high. In your Name let Him speak to us of your surpassing glory, a glory He shares with you and which He would share with us (as He has shared it with Abraham) if we would but listen and believe. Be our God forever, LORD, as you promised Abraham.