KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 26 April
Your sorrow shall be turned into joy
In Chapel this week two different Scripture passages were read. At the Junior School and Grade 10 chapel services, a passage from Luke was read about the healing of the centurion’s servant. At the Grade 11 and Grade 12 services, a passage from John’s Gospel was read about the meaning of the resurrection seen in terms of the transition of sorrow into joy.
The first reading notes the interplay and interrelation of cultures out of which Christianity emerges. “Say the word,” the Centurion says to Jesus after having asked the elders of the Jews to ask Jesus to heal the slave “who was dear to him.” They had told Jesus that the Centurion is worthy because “he loves our nation” – the Jewish people – and has built a synagogue for them. But the Centurion himself runs out to say he is not worthy, just “say the word and let my servant be healed.” The Centurion is an officer in the Roman army who has charge of one hundred men. This reminds us of the world in which Jesus historically lived in the convergence of three important spiritual forces: Roman law and authority, Greek philosophy and intellectual culture, and Jewish religion and ethics. This is the context for the emergence of the Christian faith and world.
There is a sense not of opposition and hostility but of mutual respect that is at work here in the interplay of things Roman, Greek, and Jewish. “Say the word,” the Centurion says, and explains the whole concept of order. Commands are passed on down through the ranks. There is a sense of being part of an ordered whole, of a rational community. Jesus marvels at what he says. The Centurion sees in Jesus the power and truth of God as something for everyone, even for him and for his slave. His insight is into the power and nature of the divine word which alone creates and heals. This contrasts with our words which do not create and heal; at best, we are “secondary creators” (Aquinas) who respond to what has been given in the order and structure of creation. The Centurion has grasped this essential insight that occasions wonder on the part of Jesus. What he has grasped cannot be constrained to one culture or group.
The students of the School last Wednesday were all part of the Cadet Corps that marched down to Christ Church. They stepped up and into what was asked and expected of them in an exemplary fashion; a kind of miracle of education. Why? Because it means respect and honour and taking responsibility for what belongs to our life together. It was an illustration of the theme of the Church Parade: To Govern Is To Serve. A wonder indeed!