Preparing for Worship - May 22, 2022

The Scriptures for this Sunday again point to events that were to happen after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Psalm is Psalm 67, which begins with a shortened version of the blessing the Lord gave to Aaron through Moses, which he was to speak to God’s people. See Numbers 6:22-27. This psalm goes on to say that this blessing is to be for all people, as God’s Way is known and shared among all nations and all people, especially in the coming of Jesus, who called Himself the “Way” by which to reach the Heavenly Father. Christians still use the Aaronic benediction today at the end of worship: “The Lord bless you and keep you….”

We see this Good News of God, in Christ Jesus, being shared in the First Lesson, from Acts 16:9-15, as Paul and others were sent to the West, to Macedonia and to Philippi, a Roman colony in Greece. The Lord opened the heart of Lydia to believe in Jesus, and she and her household were baptized, and her home became a base for sharing the Gospel with others in Greece and beyond.

There are two choices for the Gospel lesson. One of them is John 5:1-9, where Jesus met a man who had been an invalid for 38 years and was lying near the Pool of Bethesda. He seemed to be in a hopeless situation, but Jesus gave him hope by asking if he wanted to be healed and then by actually healing him, so that he could get right up and carry his mat. Jesus cared for all kinds of people, including those with disabilities. The Gospel of hope is for all.

The alternate Gospel reading is John 16:23-33, where Jesus talked about “leaving this world and going to the Father.” This is a prediction of His ascension into heaven, which we celebrate in the church on Thursday, May 26, this year. In our heavenly home, Jesus said, we won’t have to ask for anything, for our joy in the Lord will be full, for the Father will be with us in His great love. In the meantime, “in this world, we will have tribulation," but in Christ, we will have peace and hope, because He has overcome this sinful world, with its sorrow and death.

In the second lesson, from Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27, we hear even more of John’s vision of heaven, that we heard of last week. All believers will be the “bride” of the Lamb, our ascended Lord Jesus. Old Testament believers will be there, from the 12 tribes of Israel; and New Testament believers will be there, too, who trust the Scriptures, the Word of God from the 12 Apostles - all whose names are written by faith in the Lamb’s Book of Life. There will be no need for the temple or sun or locked doors and no night, and nothing false or evil, but only light and joy in the presence of the Lord God Almighty, our Triune God, forever. We have so much to look forward to, even if we struggle now in this life!