This holy week I decided to preach on one rather dicey topic, and break it up into four sermons: one for Palm Sunday, one for Maundy Thursday, one for Good Friday, and one for the Great Vigil of Easter (or Easter Sunday, for those of you who prefer it that way). The dicey topic in question: we know what the church thinks of the crucifixion, but is that what Jesus intended? Can we ever really know? What might he have meant by his death?

In the Palm Sunday Sermon (click here to play the audio-only), I set the stage and talk about one of the accepted and traditional understandings of the crucifixion… and how it might not be quite ideal.

In the second of the series, the Maundy Thursday Sermon (click here to play the audio-only), I back up and talk about the two things we absolutely know to be true about Jesus of Nazareth, and they aren’t what you might think they are. But the are absolutely the lens through which we should interpret his teachings.

In the third of the series, the Good Friday Sermon (click here to play the audio-only), I talk about another very popular understanding of the crucifixion… and why it might have been useful with his first students and why it might not quite work today.

In the fourth and final sermon of the series, the Great Vigil of Easter Sermon (click here to play the audio-only), I talk about a rather unpopular but still valid way to understand the crucifixion – and it might be what Jesus actually meant to begin with.