Edinburgh Castle - 35

At long last we are ready to step inside the Royal Palace. Of course, this was the royal residence in the castle. It began as an extension to David's Tower in the 1430's, and was further enlarged to become the royal residence itself. The last sovereign to sleep here was Charles I on 19 June 1633, the night before his Scottish coronation.



Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

“What did Moses command you?” he replied.

They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:1-16)

Time for our hymn.

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,
Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light,
Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and brain's delight,
for the mystic harmony
linking sense to sound and sight,
Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild,
Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine
to our race so freely given,
graces human and divine,
flowers of earth and buds of heaven,
Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For thy Bride that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
this pure sacrifice of love,
Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.