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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
In Psalm 116, an unidentified psalmist “loves the Lord” and “will call on Him always,“ because the Lord has heard him and delivered his soul from “distress and anguish” and danger of “death” itself. He “believes” the Lord, for the Lord is “gracious and merciful” and will help “simple” people like him, who are open to learning God’s Word and His will, instead of the “lies“ of so much of mankind. The psalmist then sings a great song of praise to the Lord. We use these words in an offertory, an offering hymn, singing God’s Word to each other in Divine Service, Setting One, in the Lutheran Service Book. The psalmist also knows that the death of God’s saints, His believers, is “precious” to the Lord and this is in prophecy of the coming saving work and death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus (There is more detail about this psalm in this week's podcast Bible study, too.)
The Gospel lesson, Luke 24:13-35, continues the story of the resurrection of Jesus and His appearance alive to two ordinary followers of Jesus, not part of the original 12 disciples. They are very sad, because their hopes that Jesus was the “the one to redeem Israel” had now been dashed by His death. Jesus appears to them, but hides who He really was, until He taught them from Scripture and became their Host in His meal with them and “the breaking of the bread” with them. Then Jesus vanished, and these two followers hurried back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples that Jesus was alive!
The first lesson, Acts 2:14a, 36-41, concludes the preaching of Peter on Pentecost, as He proclaimed that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. 3,000 people were cut to the heart and received the Word of God and were brought to faith by the Holy Spirit, and baptized. The promised blessings in baptism are the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and these promises are for all, including children, and people who are far off. Repentance, too, is through God’s working in people and not by our efforts and decisions. See Acts 5:30-31 and Acts 11:15-18
The Epistle lesson is from 1 Peter 1:17-25. Peter is writing to Christians scattered in many places and reminding them of what Christ Jesus had done for them. They were ransomed from their futile ways through the precious blood of Christ. They and we are believers in God through Him. God raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him glory, and we are “born again” through “the living and abiding Word of God” - the Good News preached to us (as well as through baptism). (See John 3:1-6, also.) In response to our salvation, we are called to fear, love and trust in God and seek to serve Him and live in “brotherly love” with one another.
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Psalm 116 in a psalm of thanksgiving to God for deliverance from great danger and from death itself. The specific situation is not described, and this has thus been a psalm used by many as a prayer in times of great difficulty, whatever they may be. The author is not identified, but many think this is one of the later psalms written in the Old Testament because there are many references to psalms of David and others.
The psalmist begins by declaring that he loves the Lord, because the Lord has heard his voice and his pleas for mercy. The psalmist was surrounded by the snares of death, of Sheol, and suffered distress and anguish (Psalm 116:1-3). He cried out, “O Lord, deliver my soul,” and “the Lord delivered his soul from death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from stumbling.” “He walks before the Lord again in the land of the living” (v.4,8-9).
Therefore, the psalmist will keep “calling on Him as long as he lives” because he knows that the Lord is “gracious and righteous and merciful” and “has dealt bountifully with him.” He can “rest in the Lord” and His care (v.2,5,7). He knows that the Lord “preserves simple people” like him (v. 6). (The word “simple” does not mean someone who is naïve and feeble in mind, but someone who is “open” to learning and instruction, especially from the Lord. See, for example, Proverbs 1:1-7, where the same word is used for those “open” to the Lord’s knowledge, in contrast with “fools who despise wisdom and instruction.”)
The psalmist knows that he must turn to the Lord, because he is “alarmed” to discover that “All mankind are liars” (Psalm 116:11). Fellow human beings, and he himself, and all of us, are weak, sinful people, far from true Godly wisdom if left on our own. (See Scriptures like Genesis 6:5 and Jeremiah 4:22 and 17:9 and Romans 3:22-23. Be sure to read these!) So, the psalmist continues to “believe” the Lord and trust Him, even when he himself says, “I am greatly afflicted” (Psalm 116:10). He know that he will be taken care of by his Lord, no matter what comes for him. He knows that he would be blessed by His Lord, even if he would die (v. 15). (“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,” - those who are right with God by faith in His mercy.)
This mercy of God would be shown most clearly, of course, in Christ our Savior, who always followed His Heavenly Father’s will, even if it meant, as it did, suffering and dying for us to pay the penalty for our sins. That was not the end for Jesus, for He rose in victory for us on the day we call Easter. See how Paul uses words from this psalm, Psalm 116:10, in 2 Corinthians 4:13-15: “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will bring us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God.”
The psalmist, who knew of God’s mercy and promises in his life and in prophecy for the future, fulfilled finally in Jesus, then broke into a song of praise and thanks to the Lord in Psalm 116:12-17. He was “God’s servant,” and the Lord had “loosed his bonds,” bringing him freedom and hope and rest (v.7,16). He will now worship the Lord with fellow believers “in the courts of the house of the Lord” (v.14,18,19), and he will “pay his vows,” make his commitments to the Lord, in gratefulness and praise to the Lord (v.14,17-19).
If some of these words sound familiar to you, it it because v.12-14 and 17-19 are used as an “offertory," an offering song, after the sermon and before the Communion liturgy, in the Divine Service, Setting One, in the Lutheran Service Book, as offerings are brought to the Lord. We are singing God’s Word to and with each other, just as the psalmist was doing.
Note also that the psalmist says, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (v.13). When God’s people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the yearly Passover, one of the cups of wine they shared with each other in the Passover service was called “the cup of salvation.” That service ended with singing of psalms, from Psalms 113-118, also. This is prophetic of Jesus.
Remember that when Jesus came as the Savior, He also celebrated the Passover with His disciples the night before His death. He used the unleavened bread and the wine of “the cup of salvation” and transformed them into what we now call The Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. In and with and under the bread and wine, we also receive the body and blood of Christ Jesus and the blessings of His forgiveness. That is now our “cup of salvation,” that we can receive regularly in faith. (See, for example, Matthew 26:26-28.) Note also that then they closed the Passover “with a hymn they sang and then went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30), where Jesus prayed and then was arrested and died on the cross the next day. Most likely, Jesus sang Psalm 116 as a part of His last hymn before His suffering and death on the cross.
Read through Psalm 116 again, thinking about it with reference to Jesus. The psalmist is grateful that he escaped death, but Jesus went to His death for our sake. Jesus suffered “distress and anguish, tears and stumbling and death” that we deserve. He was “greatly afflicted” in our place, for our sins, because “all mankind, including us, are liars.”
“His death was precious in the eyes of His Heavenly Father,” and he was raised to life on Easter, and earned for us eternal life, as we believe and trust in Him. “What shall we render to the Lord, for all His benefits to us?” We believe in and praise and thank the Lord! And we are His servants, in gratitude for all He has done for us, in Christ.
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, based on:
Sermon originally delivered May 1, 2011
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
At the heart of our Scripture readings this week is the Gospel lesson, the story of Jesus and doubting Thomas and the other readings all revolve around it.
The Psalm is Psalm 148, a song of praise to the Lord. First, the angels are called upon to praise the Lord and then the sun, moon, and stars and all we see above - for He commanded, and they were created. Then, the things of earth are called upon to praise the Lord, as well, culminating with all rulers and people of all ages. All of creation is thus to praise the Lord’s Name and majesty. Finally there is a prophecy of the Lord raising up “a horn” for His people, and for this, especially, the Lord is to be praised. A horn had been a symbol of power and strength in the Old Testament, and Zechariah, in the Gospel of Luke, identifies this “horn” as the coming Savior, Jesus, whose way John the Baptism would prepare. (See Luke 1:67-79, and especially, v.69.)
The Gospel lesson is John 20:19-31. The Risen Lord Jesus shows Himself alive to His disciples on Easter evening and gives them His Holy Spirit and the power to forgive sins. The disciple Thomas was not there, though, and refuses to believe that Jesus could be alive unless he sees Him and touches Him. A week later, Jesus appears again to the disciples, and Thomas is there. Quickly he believes, calling Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” It is good that he believes, but Jesus adds, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John adds that all that he has written in this Gospel was written that we too may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, we may have life, also, in His Name.
The first Scripture lesson is from Acts 5:28-42, part of the history of the early Christian church. The disciples had been arrested and jailed for telling people about the Risen Lord Jesus, but an angel came and set them free. They were telling about Jesus again when religious leaders stopped them and brought them before the Jewish Council. They were threatened again and told not to teach in the name of Jesus. They responded, “We must obey God, rather than men” and proclaimed Jesus as leader and Savior, now alive again and exalted to the right hand of God. The Council members talked among themselves, and a respected Pharisee, Gamaliel, spoke of other troublemakers who had died away eventually. He recommended that they leave the disciples alone and see what happened. This would avoid the very unlikely chance that the Council could even be opposing God, themselves. They beat and threatened the disciples and let them go, and the disciples felt it an honor to suffer dishonor for the sake of Jesus. They kept right on teaching and preaching that “the Christ is Jesus.”
The Epistle lesson is from 1 Peter 1:3-9. Peter writes this later letter to Christian believers scattered in various places. He talks of Christians being born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. They now have an inheritance kept for them in heaven that would be fully revealed at the return of Christ, and they already have “the outcome of their faith, the salvation of their souls.” Their souls will be with their Lord in heaven when they die, even if they have to go through various trials and testing of their faith , when still here on earth.
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Psalm 100 is called in its introduction “A psalm for giving thanks.” It is part of a group of psalms of thanks and praise to God. The author is not identified. The psalm begins with a call to “make a joyful noise to the Lord.” These words are used in a number of other psalms and other places in the Old Testament. See, for example, Psalm 95:1 and Psalm 98:4-6.
In the Psalm 98 passage, a “horn” is mentioned. God’s people often used a ram’s horn, a shofar, for various purposes in the Old Testament. Such a horn could only make a few noises, unlike a modern-day trumpet; yet it was used and still is used for certain Jewish high festivals and was important as a part of the collapse of the walls of Jericho and the victory of God’s people as they entered the promised land (Joshua 6:1-5 ff). This sound of a horn may be the kind of “joyful noise” called for in this verse, or it may refer to the singing of people. Whether people can sing beautifully or not, we can still praise our Lord. The quality is not so important but, as the psalm goes on, that we praise the Lord in a genuine way, with our hearts.
Verse one also calls “all the earth” to make this “joyful noise,” referring to all nations and peoples. Martin Luther saw this as a prophecy of Christ. When Jesus came, He made it clear that the Good News of God’s love in His saving work was for all nations and all people, and He sent out His disciples to spread this message to everyone (Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16). We are still trying to fulfill this calling from our Lord today, sharing the hope we have in Christ our Savior.
Psalm 96 speaks of this calling even more for “all the earth" (Psalm 96:1). “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples (v.3)… Ascribe to the Lord, O families of peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength (v.7)… say to the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” (v.10). Psalm 98:3 even says, “All the ends of earth have seen the salvation of our God.” That obviously had not yet happened when these psalms were written, but this is what the Lord wanted to happen, as His plan of salvation was finally carried out in Christ. Psalm 98:7-8 also combines this calling with the witness of all the earth, all creation, to the greatness of God - “the sea roaring… the rivers clapping their hands… the hills singing for joy together.” This is a “picture image” way of saying what Paul says in Romans 1:19-20 - that the power and majesty and reality of God can be seen in the marvels of His created world and universe. We can sense that when we are out in our natural world on a beautiful day.
Go back to Psalm 100, v.2. We are also called to be witnesses for our Lord by “serving the Lord with gladness.” As Christ first loved and served us, we are called also to serve Him and one another. (See passages like Romans 12:9-11.) In this psalm, the emphasis is on serving “with gladness.” Other Scriptures also speak of “serving the Lord with fear, and rejoicing with trembling” (Psalm 2:11), with proper awe and respect for God and what He wishes. But it is best when we can combine that service with joy and gladness.
We come, then, into “the presence” of God “with singing” (Psalm 100, v. 2), “with thanksgiving,” “with praise,” “blessing His Name” (Psalm 100, v.4). God is with us always (Matthew 28:20 and Hebrews 13:5, etc.), but in this psalm we are called to “enter His gates… and His courts” (Psalm 100 v.4). In the Old Testament, that would be the temple in Jerusalem. In our time, it would be coming to our churches, where God is especially present with His Word and His Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Holy week and Easter are great times to come to sing and praise and give thanks. But this psalm is calling us to come regularly into the Lord’s presence in this way, no matter the time of year.
Why? Because then we hear and “know that the Lord, He is God” (Psalm 100, v. 3). We hear God’s Word, and know that He confronted the followers of false gods, as in 1 Kings 18, where He showed His power and sent fire from heaven, and the people “fell on their faces and said,” just as Psalm 100, v.3 says, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.” (Read especially 1 Kings 18:30-39.)
The God revealed in the Scriptures, the one true Triune God, is the only true God. He is the Creator of all things. “It is He who made us, and we are His” (Psalm 100, v.3). We are not “of ourselves,” as some translate this verse. So many people think that they are in charge of their own lives and can do whatever they want. Their choices are the only thing that matters. (See how the Pharaoh in Egypt thought that he was like a “great dragon” who even said, “My Nile (River) is my own; I made it for myself.” He would eventually fall and lose his kingdom (Ezekiel 29:1-5).
We are not our own and not on our own in this troubled world. As we are brought to faith in Christ, through God’s Word and our baptism, “We are God’s people and the sheep of His pasture.” He will help and care for us and feed us with His Word and His very Presence in the Lord’s Supper. He will lead and guide us, as sheep are not always the smartest. He will do this, because “He, the Lord, is good,” and knows what is best for us (Psalm 100, v.5).
We heard David saying the same thing in our study of Psalm 16: “You are my Lord. I have no good apart from You” (Psalm 16:2). See also Psalm 25:8 and Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” This last passage is quoted by Peter in the New Testament in 1 Peter 2:1-3. He is referring to the “pure spiritual milk” of the Word and Sacraments that we receive as we gather for the “Divine Service” of the Lord to us in our worship.
This “steadfast love” (mercy) and “faithfulness” of God toward us will be available “to all generations” of people, too (Psalm 100:5). This is a reminder that we also have a responsibility to our children and grandchildren and others to try to make sure that these future generations are also hearing the Word of God and rejoicing in His promises, as well. Some have said that the church is only one generation away from extinction, if people do not continue to receive God’s Word and promises, in Christ. Things may become tougher, but God will not let His Church die out, because “His steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 110:5). The Risen Living Ascended Lord Jesus assures us of the “forever” that is ours through faith in Him, “Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39). We live in that great hope and joy, singing praises to our Lord.
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Sermon for Easter Sunday, based on:
Sermon originally delivered April 24, 2011
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
This coming Sunday is Easter Sunday, and there are numerous readings possible, depending on whether yours is a sunrise service or other kind of service. I will simply touch on the most likely readings, all having to do, of course, with the resurrection of Jesus.
The Old Testament lesson could be from Jeremiah 31:1-6. God speaks of His everlasting love and continued faithfulness to His people. He will seek to build them up once again in the land of Zion, and later on in this chapter, He promises a whole New Covenant, in verses 31-34, which centers in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, and the forgiveness of sins, through Him.
Many churches will likely use, in place of the Old Testament lesson, a New Testament lesson from the Book of Acts, during the whole Easter season. This week’s reading is from Acts 10:34-43. Peter speaks of the fact that God shows no partiality, and under the New Covenant, the Savior came for every nation and people, not just the Jews. The Savior is Jesus, who died and rose again for all people. “To Him the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.”
The Psalm is Psalm 16, where David knows that the Lord is his Refuge, and all good comes only from Him. The Lord Himself will be his “portion” and his “cup” of blessing and stays at his right hand to guide and counsel him with His Word, through his life, and give him “pleasures forevermore” in His presence. David also prophecies of a “Holy One“ to come who will never see corruption (predicting the death but also the resurrection of Jesus, without any corruption to Himself and His Body). See Acts 2:23-36 and Acts 13:35-39. See also my podcast this week for a full study of this psalm, with related Scriptures.
The Epistle lesson is from Colossians 3:1-4. Paul speaks of dying to our old life and being raised to a whole new life, through Christ and our connection now to Him by faith. We are called to set our minds on Christ and things above, as we are now already hidden with Christ, who is in heaven (though He can be here with us, too). Christ is now our life, and we will appear with Him in glory when He appears again. Our future is secure with Him.
The Gospel lesson is from Matthew 28:1-10. We hear that a glorious angel came from heaven and rolled back the stone of the tomb of Jesus and announced that Jesus, who was crucified, had risen from the dead, just as He had predicted. The women there were invited to see that the tomb was empty and were then to go and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen and that they were to meet Him in Galilee. The guards at the tomb were like dead men, but the women left quickly, with fear and joy, and while they were running to the disciples, the Risen Lord Jesus appeared to them and greeted them. They then grabbed His feet and worshipped Him, and He Himself sent them off again to tell the disciples He had risen. (Each Gospel writer, of course, tells only part of the story, as God inspired him to write and revealed things to him.)
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Today we look at Psalm 16, one of the psalms suggested to be read on Easter Sunday, because it has prophecies of the victory of Jesus, even over death. It speaks of the hope and confidence we can all have in our Lord.
David is the author of this psalm, as of so many others. The introduction uses the word, a “miktam.” Scholars are not sure what this word means, but it is likely a musical notation, since the psalms were often sung or chanted. You can see this word used in other places, particularly in the introduction to Psalms 56-60.
We don’t know when this psalm was written, but as so often, David faced danger and trouble. He begins by praying, “Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge” (Psalm 16, v.1). He knows that His Lord has been his Help and his Protection for many years already, though, and so the rest of the Psalm is a song of praise and confidence that God will continue to bless and care for him.
In fact, in v.2, David writes, “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, I have no good apart from You.’” David is expressing what is said in other Scriptures. James says, in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” John the Baptist said, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27). John was especially talking about the forgiveness of sins and new life and faith that came only from the Lord. James knew that, too, as he said in James 1:18, “Of His own will, He (God) brought us forth by the Word of Truth” to faith in Christ, “as a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” Every believer is a good gift from God, as we are, too, as we are brought forth to trust in our Savior and are then a blessing to others.
David knew that about his Old Testament fellow believers, also. He says, In Psalm 16, v.3: “As for the saints (literally “the holy ones”) in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” These were fellow believers in the one True God, forgiven by the Lord as David was, who then helped and supported David in his own faith and life, as gifts from God, too.
In contrast, David warns in v.4 about the many unbelievers around him “who run after another god” and whose “sorrows shall multiply” with the evils of this life and an eternal life without God’s goodness, if they keep rejecting Him. David speaks in v.11 of “the path of life” which the Lord makes known to him. It is a life in the Lord’s “presence” with His guidance and blessing and trust in Him alone (the Triune God, revealed more and more in the Scriptures.) It is what Jesus, the promised Savior, God the Son, also meant when he said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. Proverbs 15:24 says, “The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol” (which sometimes means, as in this case, the place called “hell").
As Psalm 16:4 goes on, David wants to have nothing to do with false gods and the activities and ways of “worship” of their followers, which even included human sacrifice at times - “drink offerings of blood.” (See Isaiah 57:4-6 and Jeremiah 7:31, as examples.) Following false gods can also be, of course, worship of ourselves and our wishes, or of money or of anything that becomes more important than God Himself and His will. (See Romans 1:21-23 and 1 Timothy 6:9-10.) David did not even want to mention the names of these false gods and evil things. He was following what Exodus 23:13 and Joshua 23:7 said. Remember also what Paul says in Ephesians 5:3-4. Fascination with evil things can be dangerous. “Instead,” Paul says, “let there be thanksgiving.”
That is what David focuses on as he continues in Psalm 16:5-6. “The Lord Himself is my chosen portion,” he says. This terminology of a “chosen portion” goes back to when the land of Israel was divided up among the tribes of Israel. You could read about that in detail in Joshua, Chapters 14-22. God had said earlier to Aaron that he and the priests following him would not receive specific portions of land. Instead, God said, “I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel” (Numbers 18:20). David realized that God Himself was the greatest gift and “portion” that he could receive. This idea is said again and again in the Old Testament. Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” See also Psalm 119:57, 142:5, and Lamentations 3:22-24.
“You hold my lot,” David says in Psalm 16:5; and in v. 6, “the lines” of his lot in life “have fallen in pleasant places,” according to God’s ways and plans for him. He trusts the Lord and know that he will have “a beautiful inheritance,” with the Lord’s blessing.
David had used the same imagery in Psalm 4:1 where he said, literally, “You helped me when I was in a very tight spot;” and in Psalm 18:18-19, he says, “The Lord was my support. He brought me out (of that tight spot) into a broad place” - where David was safe and secure. See Psalm 66:12, too.
When David also said in Psalm 16:5, “the Lord is my cup,” he is referring again to the cup of blessing that God brings to David, instead of a “cup of wrath” that evil nations and peoples would have to drink. (Jesus would, of course, have to drink that “cup of wrath” for us, in our place, in His suffering and death for us.) Remember instead Psalm 23:5-6, where David says, “My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” David realizes that there are eternal blessings for him, too, which are the most important, as we shall see.
In Psalm 16:6-9, David also “blesses” (praises) the Lord for the counsel and instruction that He gives him through His Word and revelations - on which he could meditate at night and “not be shaken,” even when times were tough and it was hard to sleep. The Lord was “at his right hand” - the best and closest and most powerful place for the Lord to be with him. (Remember how some of the disciples of Jesus wanted to sit at His “right hand.” The left hand was close, but not quite as good (Mark 10:35-41).)
David rejoices that the Lord is always with him, very close. David’s “whole self,” his heart and soul, His body and flesh, was “secure;” and he would not be “abandoned to Sheol” - to death and the grave and certainly not to hell (Psalm 16:10). And we have already talked about how David knew that he would also have “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” in the Lord’s presence (v.11).
There is one phrase, though, that God inspired David to write, that did not seem to fit. God would “not let His holy one see corruption.” David died and his physical body was put in a grave and did see physical corruption, though his soul was with the Lord in joy.
The Lord inspired the New Testament apostles to realize that David was prophesying about another “Holy One,” the only perfectly Holy One, our Lord Jesus. He would die on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, and was put in a grave, but His body would not decay, and He would be raised to life again, body and soul, in His Easter victory over sin and Satan and death.
See how Peter on Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection, and 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven, used David’s very words in Psalm 16:8-11 to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, body and soul uncorrupted (unlike David’s body), and the certainty that Jesus was and is our living Lord and the Christ, the promised Savior (Acts 2:23-36). Paul proclaimed the same message more simply, but using the same inspired words of David, in Acts 13:35-37. Paul also assures the people that by the death and resurrection of Jesus there is “forgiveness of sins” and “freedom” from condemnation by the Law and the promise of eternal life by faith in Jesus.
That is the good news for us, too, in this Easter season. David was saved, and His soul is with Jesus because he believed by grace the promises of God and what God revealed to him in His Word. We have the same promises of God for us, but now fulfilled, because our Savior Jesus has come and did all that was necessary to rescue us. Our souls will be with the Lord in heaven when we die, as we keep trusting in Jesus as Lord and Christ, and our bodies will be raised and changed and glorified when Christ returns on the last day. In the meantime, we have the promise that the Lord is our “portion” even now, and He will stay close to us, keeping us in faith through His Word and Spirit throughout our life, as he did with David. See His promises in Matthew 28:18, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age,” and in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
The Lord also gives us His special “cup” of blessings in the Lord’s Supper. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?” We have the same gifts as David had, that brought him great confidence and joy in the Lord. And we have even more, in seeing and hearing of the risen Lord Jesus and all His gifts to us, in His Word and Sacraments. May we all be strong in faith and joyful and confident in Christ, even as David was, with His portion, His Lord, so long ago.
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Sermon for Palm Sunday, based on:
Sermon originally delivered April 17, 2011
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
This Sunday is known either as Palm Sunday or the Sunday of the Passion, at the beginning of Holy Week. There are quite a number of possible readings, depending on the emphasis a particular congregation wishes to make for this day. The Passion History readings are very long, and it would take a whole Lenten season to talk about what they say. I will simply list these Gospel readings now, and you are encouraged to read them on your own in the week ahead: Matthew 26:1-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-66 or John 12:20-43. I will comment briefly only on the John 12 passage.
There are two possible choices for the Psalm reading, too. Psalm 118:19-29 fits best if there is a Palm Sunday emphasis. This is one of the psalms that Jewish people spoke or sang as they went up to Jerusalem for the Passover festival and entered the gates of the city. They may have been thinking of this psalm as Jesus also entered Jerusalem that day. Many of the verses are prophetic references to Him. Jesus was the “Stone” the builders rejected, who became the “Cornerstone” for the Christian faith, as the one who brought us our “salvation.” This was “the Lord’s doing,” as He sent His Son to do the work of saving us. The “hosannas” sung that day to Jesus are literally the Hebrew form of the words, “Save us, O Lord!” - and Jesus went to the cross to do just that, later that week. Jesus truly was “the blessed one who came in the Name of the Lord ”for our benefit. He was and is “God“ the Son, the “Light” of the world, and we can only “thank“ and praise Him for “His steadfast love,” and sacrifice of His life for us.
Psalm 31:9-16 is an alternative reading and fits best with the Passion History readings. This psalm predicts the agony and sorrow Christ went through for us. David, the author, had plenty of sins, “iniquities,” as we also do, but Jesus took those sins upon Himself, as if they were His own, and suffered and died in payment for them, in our place. He became a “reproach,” even to those close to him, who ran away from Him. People “persecuted” Him and “plotted to take His life.” “But He still trusted in His heavenly Father, His Lord, as His “Servant” Savior, who would eventually be “saved” Himself by God’s ‘steadfast love,” as shown by His being raised from the dead on Easter.
The Old Testament lesson is Isaiah 50:4-9a, one of the Servant Songs of the coming Savior, Jesus, who would teach God’s Word and will, as He has been taught by His Lord God. Jesus would listen and not be rebellious to His Lord, even though it would mean being struck and spit upon and disgraced, etc., by others. He would “set His face like flint” to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He would be “declared guilty” by His enemies, but not by the Lord God, who would “vindicate” Him and ultimately “not put Him to shame.”
The Epistle lesson is from Philippians 2:5-11, which makes it clear that God the Son was willing to do His saving work for us. Though He was God, He humbled Himself and became a real human man and our “Servant” and became “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” for our sake and our salvation. He was then “exalted” in His resurrection and is the Name by which we can all be saved, by “confessing that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The Gospel lesson I’ll comment on very briefly is from John 12. John 12:12-19 tells the Palm Sunday story. Jesus came into Jerusalem, fulfilling more Old Testament Scripture, as He rode into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey’s colt, as our Savior King. John tells that the disciples did not really understand what was going on and that many who came to see Jesus came just because they had heard He had raised Lazarus from the dead. The people wanted to see a miracle worker. John 12:20-26 tells that even some Greek people wanted to see Jesus; but He instead talks about His coming death. He would be like a seed planted in the ground, which then springs forth with new life. In v.27-36, Jesus says that He had come to this crucial point where He would “glorify His Father’s Name,“ by being “lifted up from the earth.” The people did not understand that He was describing His death by crucifixion. Through that death (and resurrection), he would seek to “draw all people to Himself,” as their Savior. He was (and is) the Light for the world, and said, “Believe in the Light, that you may become sons of light.” Sadly, John tells in v.37-43 that there were Old Testament predictions that many people would still “not believe in Jesus,” even with the signs and miracles He did and His sharing of the true Word of God. There would also be those who wanted to believe, but would not “confess their belief,” because they feared the judgment of their religious leaders, who opposed Jesus. They loved “glory from other men,” more that they loved “the glory that came from God.” Can and does that still happen today?