The Name of Jesus
A sermon for Easter 7. Acts 16.16-34 ; John 17.20-26 ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ Today is the seventh Sunday of Easter. In old money, that’s the Sunday after Ascension Day. And the themes of Ascension Day continue to echo through the readings we have heard this morning. The power and authority of Jesus are found in both of our readings this morning. In three stories, we hear of the power of God – the power of God to free a woman being used; the power of God to break open a prison; the power of God to unite us with God and reveal his glory. In all three we also see the power of the name of Jesus – it is in the name of Jesus that Paul commands the spirit to leave the slave-girl; Paul and Silas tell their jailor that he must believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved; and Jesus tells his Father that he has ‘made your name known to them’. The Ascension Day theme of Jesus sitting a...