Christ Church Jerusalem

Moses breaks his monologue to speak together with the elders of Israel, known in modern orthodox circles as the Sanhedrin, traditionally numbering 70 elders. Moses instructs the people to perform a very specific ceremony once they have crossed the Jordan on the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. Part of this ceremony involved the construction of an altar and the establishment of pillars of stones that...

14 February 2021 - Last Sunday of Epiphany - The Rev. David Pileggi says Christians have bought into the lie that the Gospel is about us or that the goal of life is happiness. The Gospels is not about us but about God's holiness, and the goal of life is to grow in holiness. God allows us glimpses of his holiness, his goodness, as he invites us near. The Transfiguration is one of these glimpses of...

Much of the Torah regarding the sacrificial system, tithing and festivals in the calendar are portrayed from the perspective of the priests. The roles and duties of the Cohenim and Leviim are usually prominent. What Moses now presents is a rare glimpse into the liturgy of the Israelite worshipper. Once the land has been conquered and settled, which apparently took 14 years to achieve, then a porti...

7 February 2021 - Fifth Sunday of Epiphany - The Kingdom of God, which is here but not yet, can be hard to explain. The Rev. David Pileggi tells us that Kingdom of God is not just about Jesus or about God's power breaking into our lives in healing and salvation. The Kingdom of God is about a people who make Jesus King. King Jesus, who has begun the attack on death, commissions his disciples to be...

The Torah is timeless. Indeed the Word of God is new and fresh every morning. Deuteronomy 25 brings many commandments that simply cannot be done in today's society as literally dictated by Moses, yet the Spirit of the Torah remains on our hearts to this day. Many of the commandments in the chapter pertain to fairness, that is, the fair treatment through criminal justice, domestic animals, widows a...

31 January 2021 - Fourth Sunday of Epiphany - In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Children of Israel to look for a prophet like himself, a leader who teaches with authority, performs miracles, and feeds multitudes. The Gospels portray Jesus as that long awaited Prophet, who has authority over the powers of darkness. Deacon Aaron Eime encourages to respond to Jesus and listen to the Messiah's voice. Re...

The dignity of the poor and the dignity of the worker are important to God. God is not aloof from His creation, and in His dealings with humanity He respects human dignity, and we see this in these opening laws regarding simple loans and wages. Kindness to the poor, in this instance returning pledges before nightfall, could result in a blessing in the sight of the Lord. God pays attention to our d...

24 January 2021 - Third Sunday of Epiphany - In some of our contexts, our identity is boiled down to what we do for a living. Instead, our identity should be in God and our discipleship in Jesus Messiah. It is not what we do that makes us dear to the LORD but rather how we love him. Canon Daryl Fenton challenges us to break up the hard places in our hearts and return in love to the LORD who loves...

Family stability was important and essential to the Israelite community that was about to establish itself in the Land of Canaan. The sustainability of a society both economically and politically is dependent on the strength of the family unit and the institution of marriage. We only have to look around at today's world and humbly acknowledge that one of the reasons for our failing societies is th...

17 January 2021 - Second Sunday of Epiphany - Our identity is formed by our loyalties and by the company we keep. We are natural mimics and are ever searching for someone to imitate. Rev. David Pileggi says that the guard against a culture that wishes to assimilate everyone is to have a firm, well established identity. Following Jesus, learning to be like him, teaches us we belong in God's family...

One of the first commands that the Lord gave Israel following the Exodus from Egypt was to construct a Tabernacle. God had also come out of Egypt with His people and now desired to dwell amongst them. Many times a year the people were to assemble before the Lord. However, Moses reminds the people that actually not everyone is permitted in the presence of God. God is life, and death may never enter...

10 January 2021 - First Sunday of Epiphany - The road that Jesus traveled from his immersion in the Jordan to Golgotha was fraught with opposition. He was hindered by Satan, by the religious and political authorities, and even by his own disciples, who were blinded and motivated by self-interest. Jesus overcame these trials, in part, due to his unshakable identity as the Beloved with whom the Fath...

Virginity was highly valued in the ancient world, and women were not to be poorly treated as sex objects. The courts of Israel, run by the priesthood, stood to defend the honour of the woman. The Israelite value that protected women stood in contrast to the culture of the ancient world. Moses is communicating an ideal society. Perhaps this society was never going to be realised, but that actually...

3 January 2020 - On the Second Sunday of Christmas, Rev. David Pileggi says the voice of the Word made flesh that “in the beginning” commanded light to shine in the darkness and created life now calls each one of us into the ultimate reality of a God who wants to dwell with us and to live in us. Sadly, many who affirm the Incarnation, the divinity of Jesus and more have allowed these theological t...

27 December 2020 - Rev. David Pileggi, on the first Sunday of Christmas, reminds us that Jesus comes into this world fragile and susceptible to political, religious, and economic powers. Jesus identifies with most of the human family because we all live in similarly fragile situations. The one whose name is Salvation came to save us from sin and so much more. To be saved, to walk in the light and...

Chapter 22 covers a range of issues and commandments for the emerging Israelite society focusing on laws of kindness and community responsibility. Several of the laws also deal with various issues of separation. These rules were for the people of Israel in Canaan, so how would any of this have any bearing on Gentiles living in foreign lands today? Jewish exegesis of the Bible rests on the principl...

20 December 2020 - When the angel Gabriel appeared with a shocking message, Miriam -- that is Mary in Hebrew -- humbly accepted the LORD's assignment. On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Canon Daryl Fenton says that a disciple's spiritual maturity is proportional to the disciple's capacity for obedience. In Mary the mother of Jesus, we have a model of faithfulness, obedience, and humility that all dis...

How much did the Maccabean revolt and the Hasmonean period influence the setting of the New Testament? In this lecture, Deacon Aaron Eime looks at the issues of martyrdom and messianism and how they created the backdrop for many of the themes we see in the New Testament. If we look at the text closely, we can see the themes of Hanukkah permeating the thinking of the Second Temple Period. Blessed b...

Once again we encounter the troubling practice in the ancient world of multiple wives. Let us not superimpose present-day morality on the past. The Bible is not presenting multiple wives as the ideal (neither do we advocate polygamy). The issue being addressed by Moses is the concern for an unloved wife and the right of the firstborn. The firstborn held special honour in Biblical tradition. Exodus...

13 December 2020 - John came as the Voice. And now we are the voice, says Deacon Aaron Eime, pointing to the Light, to the Messiah. We are the voices that bring hope, faith, and goodness to a world that needs it. In a world in darkness and despair during this pandemic, the world truly needs the light of Christmas Readings: Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; Psalms 126; John 1:6-8,19-28 B...

The final two verses of Chapter 20 describe the rules of engagement in war regarding proper treatment of the Creation. Nature is not to become a victim in human warfare. Then in Chapter 21, having noted that blood pollutes the earth and has consequences, Moses introduces legislation for atonement for an unsolved murder. The ceremony includes the washing of hands, reflecting innocence of the crime,...

6 December 2020 - As it is written in the Prophets, a voice cries out in the wilderness for us to repent in preparation for the coming of God into our midst, the God who restores and immerses us into fellowship with Himself. God’s heart speaks tenderly to our heart to repent and to walk faithfully with Him, to boldly lift our voice to declare his Name. The Rev. John Howanstine, on the second Sunda...

Warrior gods were certainly not uncommon in the ancient world. Battle between nations held both theological and political implications for the peoples that adhered to those gods. Success or failure could induce a religious crisis and faithlessness in a particular deity. God had already fought for Israel during and after the Exodus. Israel was no stranger to the rigours of battle, having defeated t...

29 November 2020 - A troubled world searches for the reasons why trouble has come. Scripture regularly explains why troubles came in the past, are with us in the present, and will be with us in the future. The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, on the first Sunday of Advent, says today's scriptures give us answers to the questions of the minute. Readings: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-2,17-19; Mark 13:14-37 Ble...

The Israelites will ultimately triumph in conquest over the peoples of Canaan. In establishing a society that will reflect the character of God to the nations, Moses instructs the Hebrews to allocate three cities as cities of refuge. The chapter begins with Moses declaring they should do this, ‘after the Lord your God has destroyed the nations of Canaan’. God is acknowledged as the victorious one,...