April 3, 2026
Good Friday – Mark S Winward
The Question of Blame
Who in the world is responsible for this outrage? Naked, beaten, and rejected, the greatest teacher in history comes to Jerusalem preaching the love of God and neighbor, only to be put to death in the most gruesome and demeaning way imaginable. Who is to blame? Some say the Jews—a response that has fueled much of the persecution of Jewish people throughout the ages. Others insist the Romans were responsible for this travesty. I want to suggest this afternoon a different way of looking at this question.
The Role of Religious and Secular Authorities
Despite their corruption, I don’t think we can completely blame the Jewish religious establishment. On more than one occasion, Jesus had publicly proclaimed that “he and the Father were one” and that “no one comes to the Father except by him.” Yet the Law of Moses clearly stated that to claim equality with God was blasphemy—and the Law dictated that the penalty for blasphemy was death.
Neither can we blame the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, despite his apparent apathy. After all, the religious officials turned Jesus over to Pilate to carry out the Law. More importantly, Pilate allowed the people the opportunity to free Jesus.
A Choice of Obedience
Ah, then it must have been the people, right? The people bear the blame for executing Jesus Christ! But let me ask you: if Jesus was who he said he was,
March 29, 2026
The Sunday of Passion: Palm Sunday – Mark S. Winward
The Paradox of the Palms
As we reflect on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his ultimate death on the cross this Palm Sunday, I want to suggest that the palms we blessed this morning are more than just greenery; they are tangible symbols of our faith, our sin, and our redemption. Even in the midst of betrayal, pain, and tragedy, God’s grace will not be thwarted. It stands out in the darkness as a beacon of hope.
Today, we recall that triumphal entry of Jesus on a donkey, processing up the road to Jerusalem strewn with palms while the crowd proclaimed: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” Yet, the contrast is jarring. Just a few days later, those same people will be shouting, “Crucify him!” In less than a week, raised hands of praise transform into shaking fists of condemnation. Each year, many Christians throughout the world act out this drama on the only Sunday that rightly bears two titles: Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. As we hold these palms, we find a tangible connection with that crowd—a connection that both glorifies and condemns Jesus. These palms represent the mystery of our own salvation and our own blame. The same crowd that glorifies him also betrays him, and you and I might just as well be standing among them.
March 22, 2026
The Fifteh Sunday in Lent – Mark S. Winward
Lazarus and the Lord of Life
In the Gospel of John, the story of Lazarus—the brother of Mary and Martha—serves as a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has already been dead for four days – and that’s far from accidental. In first-century Jewish thought, it was believed that the soul lingered near the body for three days, hoping to re-enter it. However, once the body began to decompose on the fourth day, the soul was said to depart for good. By waiting until the fourth day, John ensures readers understand Lazarus wasn’t merely unconscious or resuscitated; he was definitively, irreversibly, dead.
The Anatomy of the Tomb
To understand the scene, we have to appreciate how burials took place in first century Palestine. Lazarus would have been buried in a rock-cut tomb, typical of those found throughout the Judean hills. These tombs functioned as family property. The body of the deceased was prepared, wrapped, and laid upon a burial bench within a stone-hewn tunnel to decompose. Around a year later, family members would return to gather the bones and place them in an ossuary—a stone burial box—which was then stored on shelves alongside other ancestors. The entrance to these tombs was often sealed with a massive, wheel-shaped “rolling stone” fitted into a stone channel. This is also the exact type of tomb we see later in the Easter story.
March 18, 2026
The Feast of the Annunciation – Mark S. Winward
The Scandal of the Ordinary
If you were planning a global revolution—the kind that would alter the fabric of time, reset the calendar to “Year Zero,” and bridge the gap between the Infinite and the finite—you probably wouldn’t start in Nazareth.
In the first century, Nazareth was the definition of “nowhere.” It was a tiny, farming, backwater village in Galilee. It didn’t have the prestige of Jerusalem or the intellectual weight of Athens. It was the kind of place people came from, not a place anyone of importance went to. And yet, as we see in Luke 1, when God decides to step into His own creation, He bypasses the marble halls of the Temple and the golden thrones of the capital. Instead, He sends the Archangel Gabriel to a girl in a village that most “serious” people couldn’t find on a map.
There is a profound, holy wisdom in God’s geography. He loves to work in the margins.
The Disruption of Grace
The text tells us that Mary was “greatly troubled” by Gabriel’s greeting. Now, let’s be honest: if a celestial being appeared in your living room and shouted, “Greetings, highly favored one!” you’d be troubled, too. You’d probably be looking for the exit or checking to see if you’d accidentally eaten a questionable mushroom.
But Mary’s trouble wasn’t just about the supernatural pyrotechnics. It was about the word “favored.”