'Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.'

My Sunday Scripture 2010.3.28.




The whole assembly then rose, and they brought him before Pilate.

They began their accusation by saying, 'We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of the tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king.'

Pilate put to him this question, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' He replied, 'It is you who say it.'

Pilate then said to the chief priests and the crowd, 'I find no case against this man.'

But they persisted, 'He is inflaming the people with his teaching all over Judaea and all the way from Galilee, where he started, down to here.'

When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man were a Galilean;

and finding that he came under Herod's jurisdiction, he passed him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

Herod was delighted to see Jesus; he had heard about him and had been wanting for a long time to set eyes on him; moreover, he was hoping to see some miracle worked by him.

So he questioned him at some length, but without getting any reply.

Meanwhile the chief priests and the scribes were there, vigorously pressing their accusations.

Then Herod, together with his guards, treated him with contempt and made fun of him; he put a rich cloak on him and sent him back to Pilate.

And though Herod and Pilate had been enemies before, they were reconciled that same day.

Pilate then summoned the chief priests and the leading men and the people.

He said to them, 'You brought this man before me as a popular agitator. Now I have gone into the matter myself in your presence and found no grounds in the man for any of the charges you bring against him.

Nor has Herod either, since he has sent him back to us. As you can see, the man has done nothing that deserves death,

so I shall have him flogged and then let him go.'



But as one man they howled, 'Away with him! Give us Barabbas!'

(This man had been thrown into prison because of a riot in the city and murder.)

In his desire to set Jesus free, Pilate addressed them again,

but they shouted back, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!'

And for the third time he spoke to them, 'But what harm has this man done? I have found no case against him that deserves death, so I shall have him flogged and then let him go.'

But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices, demanding that he should be crucified. And their shouts kept growing louder.

Pilate then gave his verdict: their demand was to be granted.

He released the man they asked for, who had been imprisoned because of rioting and murder, and handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they pleased.

As they were leading him away they seized on a man, Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and made him shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus.

Large numbers of people followed him, and women too, who mourned and lamented for him.

But Jesus turned to them and said, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children.

For look, the days are surely coming when people will say, "Blessed are those who are barren, the wombs that have never borne children, the breasts that have never suckled!"

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!"; to the hills, "Cover us!"

For if this is what is done to green wood, what will be done when the wood is dry?'

Now they were also leading out two others, criminals, to be executed with him.

When they reached the place called The Skull, there they crucified him and the two criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.

Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.' Then they cast lots to share out his clothing.

The people stayed there watching. As for the leaders, they jeered at him with the words, 'He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.'

The soldiers mocked him too, coming up to him, offering him vinegar,

and saying, 'If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.'

Above him there was an inscription: 'This is the King of the Jews'.

One of the criminals hanging there abused him: 'Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.'

But the other spoke up and rebuked him. 'Have you no fear of God at all?' he said. 'You got the same sentence as he did,

but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.'

Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'

He answered him, 'In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'

It was now about the sixth hour and the sun's light failed, so that darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.

The veil of the Sanctuary was torn right down the middle.

Jesus cried out in a loud voice saying, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' With these words he breathed his last.

When the centurion saw what had taken place, he gave praise to God and said, 'Truly, this was an upright man.'

And when all the crowds who had gathered for the spectacle saw what had happened, they went home beating their breasts.

All his friends stood at a distance; so also did the women who had accompanied him from Galilee and saw all this happen.

Luke 23:1-49



-----------------------------
My Reading Notes:
-----------------------------

'Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.'

I would ask myself too: do I know what I am doing? I suppose I do. But sometimes, I should remind myself, that there might be black spots in my eyes, that I really do not know what I am doing. Please forgive me My Lord, and please open my eyes, let me see clearly what I am doing and what ought I shall be doing. Please open my eyes.

Before blaming others

My Sunday Scripture 2010.3.21


and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in the middle

they said to Jesus, 'Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery,

and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?'

They asked him this as a test, looking for an accusation to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger.

As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, 'Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.'

Then he bent down and continued writing on the ground.

When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until the last one had gone and Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained in the middle.

Jesus again straightened up and said, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'

'No one, sir,' she replied. 'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus. 'Go away, and from this moment sin no more.'

John 8:1-11

----------------------
My Reading Notes:
----------------------


Before blaming others, I should first check myself......

and this is the only feature I could find in Abraham Lincoln, he is the only one who can do this.

What is God's way?

My sunday Scripture 2010.3.14



The tax collectors and sinners, however, were all crowding round to listen to him,

and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'

So he told them this parable:

Then he said, 'There was a man who had two sons.

The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me." So the father divided the property between them.

A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.

'When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch;

so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs.

And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them.

Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger!

I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;

I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men."

So he left the place and went back to his father. 'While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him.

Then his son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son."

But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast,

because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found." And they began to celebrate.

'Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing.

Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about.

The servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound."

He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in;

but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends.

But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property -- he and his loose women -- you kill the calf we had been fattening."

'The father said, "My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours.

But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found." '

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32


--------------------
My Reading Notes:
--------------------

This is a parable. The hidden meaning is always fresh.

The meaning goes like this: People goes away from God, and what they got is poverty. The treasure is in God's place. It is as simple as that. But the parable remains a parable still. People got to think: Is it true that you will find poverty instead of fortune?

People are seeking pleasure. People are seeking to satisiy earthly desire. People are not using their mind. They use only organs. By doing so, poverty is waiting, not only for one man, but countries and cultures.

And the question still remains: What is God's way? How can we find fortune in God's way?

unless you repent

My Sunday Scripture 2010. 3.7.


It was just about this time that some people arrived and told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them,

'Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than any others, that this should have happened to them?

They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.

Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell, killing them all? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem?

They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.'

He told this parable, 'A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none.

He said to his vinedresser, "For three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?"

"Sir," the man replied, "leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it:

it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down." '

Luke 13:1-9


--------------------
My Reading Notes:
--------------------

Why do I need to repent? What had I done wrong?
May be this is the most difficult question in the Bible.

We are all wrong, if we can see the problem in a higher level. Just like seeing that in yesterday. No one could deny that one had done something wrong, and very wrong in the past. .. I will try to understand more about this matter. Hope some one could help me.