Love Set Free: Meditations on Christ's Passion
()
About this ebook
Read more from Martin L. Smith
A Season for the Spirit: 40 daily readings for Lent and beyond Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGo In Peace: The Art of Hearing Confessions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Love Set Free
Related ebooks
Witness at the Cross: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Friday Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Words from the Cross Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod In Our Midst: Gospel Stories and Reflections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrawn to the Gospels: An Illustrated Lectionary (Year C) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFortress Introduction to the Gospels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJourney Lesson 31 The Word Became Flesh Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrawn to the Gospels: An Illustrated Lectionary (Year A) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPensées Catholiques: Volume 2 - Collections I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Crib, the Cross, and the Crown: Reflections on the Stories of the First Christmas and Easter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMetanoia: The Shape of the Christian Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Was Jesus? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictory through the Lamb: A Guide to Revelation in Plain Language Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReflections on the Gospel of John Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Apocalypse of St. John Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe True Meaning of the Last Supper: Welcoming Others: A Missional Approach to Holy Communion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrawn to the Gospels: An Illustrated Lectionary (Year B) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Empty Cross of Jesus: Seeing the Cross in the Light of the Resurrection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSymbolism in the Fourth Gospel: Meaning, Mystery, Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good News According to Jesus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Private Commentary on The Bible: Luke’s Gospel 13:1–24:53 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Gospels, One Christ: The Public Ministry of Jesus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTogether for the World: The Book of Acts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus before Pentecost Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Things Made New:: The Mysteries of the World in Christ Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Meeting God in the Upper Room: Three Moments to Change Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Gethsemane to Pentecost: A Passion Study Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWitnessing to Christ in a Multi-Religious Context Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSinging His Song: A Short Introduction to the Liturgical Movement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Word Was Made Flesh: A commentary on the Gospel of John Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Less Fret, More Faith: An 11-Week Action Plan to Overcome Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Love Set Free
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Love Set Free - Martin L. Smith
Love Set Free
Love Set Free
Meditations on Christ’s Passion
Martin L. Smith
canterbury_logo.jpg© Martin L. Smith 1998, 2011
First published in 2011 by the Canterbury Press Norwich
Editorial office
13–17 Long Lane,
London, ECIA 9PN, UK
Canterbury Press is an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd (a registered charity)
13A Hellesdon Park Road, Norwich,
Norfolk, NR6 5DR, UK
www.canterburypress.co.uk
First published in the US by Cowley Publications 1998
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Canterbury Press.
The Author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this Work
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
978 1-84825-100-7
Originated by the Manila Typesetting Company
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Bookmarque, Croydon, Surrey
To Nicholas John Romans in friendship
Contents
Introduction
1 Embodiment
2 Vulnerability
3 Intimacy
4 Desire
5 Union
6 Silence
Sources
Introduction
I gave a series of meditations on the passion according to Saint John in 1997 during the three-hour Good Friday service at the renowned Trinity Church, Boston. When they were issued as a book, Love Set Free, in the following year, they were welcomed by a wide readership as a resource for prayer and deep reflection on the meaning of the Cross of Christ for individuals and groups. It is a great joy to offer this new edition for a wider public.
It used to be the convention that the addresses in this kind of Good Friday service should focus on the ‘seven last words’ of Jesus from the cross, gathered from all four Gospels. Instead of following this tradition, I chose to lead the worshippers in meditation through the passion narrative of a single Gospel, the Gospel of John. One reason was that, at that time, I belonged to the Society of St John the Evangelist, a religious order whose spirituality is rooted in the fourth Gospel and whose members frequently draw on its riches in retreats and preaching. In addition, I also wanted to be more faithful in meditative preaching to one of the most significant advances in biblical interpretation of the twentieth century.
In recent decades scholars have become sharply aware of the distinctive character of each of the Gospels. In the past Christians have tended, usually unconsciously but sometimes deliberately, to underplay the differences in style and content among the Gospels and to blend them together. In the early centuries writers produced harmonies of the Gospels, composite works that wove stories and sayings from all four Gospels into one narrative. The same instincts were at work in Christian art, storytelling, preaching, liturgy, drama and theology, so that by now this blending of the four sources has become second nature to us. For example, even though strict examination shows that the stories of Jesus’ birth in Luke and Matthew are really different traditions, rather than elements that simply slot together into a whole, Christmas devotion in all its expressions quite happily combines these alternative traditions. In