KIRKSPIRE ARTICLE SEPTEMBER 2008
WORD AND SACRAMENTS 2
The Pulpit
Murdoch MacKenzie
In this final series relating to ‘symbols’ in the Kirk, last month we were looking at the Eagle Lectern and now we consider the Pulpit. Both of these relate to the ‘Word’. In later months we will consider the Baptismal Font and the Communion Table which relate to the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
To understand the pulpit we have to go back to the Jewish synagogue and Luke chapter 4 verse 16 and following. It was Jesus’ custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. On this occasion he entered the bema ( ‘pulpit’ ) and read from the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 61, a passage which has become known as Jesus’ manifesto.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to preach good news to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
He then said to them: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus ‘pulpit’ was sometimes a boat as recorded in Matthew 13:1 when he preached from a boat with the whole crowd standing on the beach and he told them many things in parables. In Matthew 5 we read that he sat down on the mountain and preached ‘The Sermon on the Mount’. So pulpits can be of different shapes and sizes! In the synagogue what Christians call a ‘pulpit’ is called a ‘bema’.The Bema (from the Greek: bema, “step”) means a raised platform. In antiquity it was probably made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps.
The original use of the bema in Athens was as a tribunal from which orators addressed the citizens as well as the courts of law. In Greek law courts the two parties to a dispute presented their arguments each from separate bemas. Bema was also used as the name for a place of judgement, that is the raised seat of the judge, as described in the New Testament, in Matthew 27:19 and John 19:13, and further, as the seat of the Roman emperor, in Acts 25:10, and of God, in Romans 14:10, when speaking in judgment.
The bema became a standard fixture in Jewish synagogues from which a selection ("parsha") from the Torah and the Haftarah are read. In Orthodox Judaism, the bema is located in the center of the synagogue, separate from the Ark. In other branches of Judaism, the bema and the Ark are joined together.
The ceremonial use of a bema carried over from Judaism into early Christian church architecture. It was originally a raised platform with a lectern and seats for the clergy, from which lessons from the Scriptures were read and the sermon was delivered. In Western Christianity the bema developed over time into the chancel (or presbytery) and the pulpit.
In Eastern Christianity bema remains the name of the platform which composes the sanctuary; it consists of both the area behind the iconostasion and the platform in front of it from which the deacon leads the ektenias (litanies) together with the ambo from which the priest delivers the sermon and distributes Holy Communion. It may be approached by one or several steps. The bema is composed of the altar (the area behind the iconostasion), the soleas (the pathway in front of the iconostasion), and the ambo (the area in front of the Holy Doors which projects westward into the nave). Orthodox laity do not normally step up onto the bema except to receive Holy Communion.
Here in St Andrew’s Kirk we see all this reflected in the raised platform with the eagle lectern, the central communion table and the pulpit. In the Presbyterian tradition, unless it is a communion service, the whole service, including the prayers and the sermon, is usually conducted from the pulpit, with the Bible readings being read from the lectern. The pulpit is still a place of judgement as we hear the Word of God expounded and as we remember Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth proclaiming his manifesto. Just like Jesus any preacher in any pulpit needs the anointing of God’s holy Spirit to announce good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, the setting free of those who are oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
So as we look at our splendid pulpit in the Kirk Sunday by Sunday let us think about these things and listen for a word from the Lord.
Murdoch MacKenzie
In this final series relating to ‘symbols’ in the Kirk, last month we were looking at the Eagle Lectern and now we consider the Pulpit. Both of these relate to the ‘Word’. In later months we will consider the Baptismal Font and the Communion Table which relate to the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
To understand the pulpit we have to go back to the Jewish synagogue and Luke chapter 4 verse 16 and following. It was Jesus’ custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. On this occasion he entered the bema ( ‘pulpit’ ) and read from the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 61, a passage which has become known as Jesus’ manifesto.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to preach good news to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
He then said to them: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus ‘pulpit’ was sometimes a boat as recorded in Matthew 13:1 when he preached from a boat with the whole crowd standing on the beach and he told them many things in parables. In Matthew 5 we read that he sat down on the mountain and preached ‘The Sermon on the Mount’. So pulpits can be of different shapes and sizes! In the synagogue what Christians call a ‘pulpit’ is called a ‘bema’.The Bema (from the Greek: bema, “step”) means a raised platform. In antiquity it was probably made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps.
The original use of the bema in Athens was as a tribunal from which orators addressed the citizens as well as the courts of law. In Greek law courts the two parties to a dispute presented their arguments each from separate bemas. Bema was also used as the name for a place of judgement, that is the raised seat of the judge, as described in the New Testament, in Matthew 27:19 and John 19:13, and further, as the seat of the Roman emperor, in Acts 25:10, and of God, in Romans 14:10, when speaking in judgment.
The bema became a standard fixture in Jewish synagogues from which a selection ("parsha") from the Torah and the Haftarah are read. In Orthodox Judaism, the bema is located in the center of the synagogue, separate from the Ark. In other branches of Judaism, the bema and the Ark are joined together.
The ceremonial use of a bema carried over from Judaism into early Christian church architecture. It was originally a raised platform with a lectern and seats for the clergy, from which lessons from the Scriptures were read and the sermon was delivered. In Western Christianity the bema developed over time into the chancel (or presbytery) and the pulpit.
In Eastern Christianity bema remains the name of the platform which composes the sanctuary; it consists of both the area behind the iconostasion and the platform in front of it from which the deacon leads the ektenias (litanies) together with the ambo from which the priest delivers the sermon and distributes Holy Communion. It may be approached by one or several steps. The bema is composed of the altar (the area behind the iconostasion), the soleas (the pathway in front of the iconostasion), and the ambo (the area in front of the Holy Doors which projects westward into the nave). Orthodox laity do not normally step up onto the bema except to receive Holy Communion.
Here in St Andrew’s Kirk we see all this reflected in the raised platform with the eagle lectern, the central communion table and the pulpit. In the Presbyterian tradition, unless it is a communion service, the whole service, including the prayers and the sermon, is usually conducted from the pulpit, with the Bible readings being read from the lectern. The pulpit is still a place of judgement as we hear the Word of God expounded and as we remember Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth proclaiming his manifesto. Just like Jesus any preacher in any pulpit needs the anointing of God’s holy Spirit to announce good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, the setting free of those who are oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
So as we look at our splendid pulpit in the Kirk Sunday by Sunday let us think about these things and listen for a word from the Lord.
Murdoch MacKenzie
