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Sermon for Saturday, April 13, 2024

Sermon for Saturday, April 13, 2024

“These are My Words”

Luke 24:36-49

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

The text for our meditation this evening is the Gospel lesson from Luke 24:36-49. You are welcome to follow along with the reading as printed in your bulletin.

From what we heard last weekend from John’s Gospel, it might seem as if Jesus’ first appearance to His disciples on Easter evening went pretty smoothly, except for the problems of doubting Thomas, who was not there that evening.

But from Luke’s Gospel, we get a different picture, at least at first. Just before our text, we hear that there were other people besides the 11 disciples in the locked room on Easter evening. Then the two disciples to whom Jesus had appeared on the road to Emmaus had come back to tell everyone what they had just seen and heard from Jesus. So, the disciples had already heard that some were claiming that Jesus was alive. Our text begins, then, “as they were talking about these things,” when Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace to you.”

This didn’t immediately bring them peace or joy, though. We hear that they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit - something like a ghost of some sort. This had happened once before when they were out in a boat in the stormy Sea of Galilee, and Jesus came to them, walking on the water of the sea. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 14, tells us, “When the disciples saw Him, they were terrified and said, 'It is a ghost!' and they cried out in fear." Immediately, Jesus said to them, "Take heart; it is I. Don’t be afraid!"

And if you remember the story, impetuous Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to You on the water.” Note that he said, “If it is you, Jesus.” The disciples certainly had faith in God, but that faith was sometimes mixed up with doubts and confusion and even superstitions.

In this case, Peter started walking on the water, but when he saw the wind and the waves, he was afraid again and began to sink and cried out, “Lord, save me.” And immediately, Jesus rescued him. But Jesus also had to scold him, saying, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

The disciples on Easter evening were very similar. They saw Jesus standing right in front of them, but they were startled and frightened and unsure. Could a dead person really come back to life? - though they had recently known of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. And how could anyone get through locked doors and walls and be with them in person? It wasn’t just doubting Thomas who struggled to believe. Most all of them did. But before we get too critical of them, just imagine if I were here preaching tonight, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a person was standing right in front of the altar; what would we think? Would we be startled and frightened, too?

Jesus loved these disciples in spite of their doubts and fears. When He said to them, “Peace to you,” it was more than a typical Hebrew greeting among friends. By His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus was also bringing peace and reconciliation with God Himself for them (and for us) and forgiveness for all the sins and failings that separate us from God.

Listen to some other Scriptures that describe that peace that Jesus brings. Colossians 1:19-20 says, “In Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Christ to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.” And in Romans 5:1-2 we read, “Since we have been justified (counted right with God) by faith (in what Jesus did for us) we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace (of God) in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

To strengthen the faith of those frightened disciples, Jesus then spoke to them what we, as Lutherans, call both Law and Gospel. As Jesus had done with Peter earlier on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus scolded the disciples and said, “Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” - so that they could clearly see their own sins and failings. It wasn’t just doubting Thomas who needed help. They all needed the help and forgiveness and hope that only Jesus could give - as we all need that forgiveness and hope still today. We need the scolding, too.

Jesus then gave to His disciples the Gospel - the Good News that He really had risen from the dead and was not a spirit or ghost, but was the living Lord Jesus who could help and bless them always. He gave them proof, too, as He later did with doubting Thomas. He said, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bone as you see I have.” And when He had said this, “He showed them His hands and His feet” - where the nails had been. And when the disciples still “disbelieved for joy” - maybe thinking that this was “almost too good to be true” and marveling at all this, Jesus gave them one more proof. He said, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.” Jesus was showing them that He had been raised with the same human body, able to eat, yet changed and glorified, so that He could appear and disappear, even in a locked room, as He was just doing. And for 40 more days, Jesus appeared to the disciples and to many more people and ate with some and did other things that showed that He was truly alive.

Jesus also did one more very crucial thing that Easter evening. He pointed His disciples to the importance of His true Word and the true Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Jesus knew that after 40 days, He would ascend into heaven and return to His Heavenly Father. He would still be with us as true God and man, but we would not be able to see Him and touch Him and talk with Him in the same direct way as those first disciples.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul wrote of the many people to whom the risen Lord Jesus appeared directly before His ascension, and then He wrote, “Last of all, (as if this would not keep happening), as to one untimely born, Jesus appeared also to me.... unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Jesus brought Paul to faith in Him. A little later, Paul wrote, so now “we preached” (the Word of God) and so “you believed” (in the Good News of the Savior Jesus.)

That is exactly what Jesus wanted to happen, as He spoke on Easter evening. He said to the disciples, “These are My Words, that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (and the other Writings of the Old Testament) must be fulfilled.” 

Then Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to hear and understand the Scriptures, in which “it is written” that He, Jesus, the Christ “should suffer (enough to die) and on the third day rise from the dead.” That is exactly what Jesus had now accomplished, completely fulfilling what the Scriptures had predicted, for their salvation and the salvation now available to the whole world.

“You are witnesses of these things.” Jesus then said. They were actually eyewitnesses, for Jesus then told them, You have seen these things and heard My Word. You have the proof that I died but also rose from the dead in victory for you. It is now your job to share this Good News with everyone you can - “that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in My Name,” Jesus said, “to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Jesus wanted His disciples to start there. He still cared for His own Jewish people and wanted them, too, to believe in Him as Savior. And, Jesus said, you will not have to do this on your own, in your own power. “These are My Words,” Jesus said, and “I will be with you always” - though they could not see Him or hear Him so directly after His ascension. Jesus also promised, as our text ends, “I am also sending the promise of My Father upon you. But stay in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus was referring to the third Person of the Trinity, Who would come at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, who then worked through the Word proclaimed by Peter and others and brought 3,000 people to faith and the gift of Baptism and, later, the Lord’s Supper.

As we heard in our first Scripture lesson for today, those disciples then continued to proclaim the Good News of Jesus in the temple and wherever they could, and the Holy Spirit continued to bring more people to faith in Jesus.

The Lord also inspired Peter and John and Matthew and Mark and Paul and others to write down what they had seen and heard from Jesus so that still today, we can see and hear Christ and His Word and all that happened through the New Testament, as well as the predictions that pointed forward to Jesus.

And we thank our Lord for parents and family and pastors and teachers who shared that same Word of Christ that brought us to faith and baptism and to be here tonight. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3, “All Scripture is breathed out by God,” and is vital for not only bringing us to faith in Christ but for keeping us in that faith.

And Jesus said, “If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free,” - free from the condemnation of sin and free for the blessings and peace of this life, and for eternal life to come. And we even have the privilege of letting others know of that Good News, too,

Let us pray: Now may the Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe (only where they are safe) in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)

Preparing for Worship - April 14, 2024

The first lesson this week is again from the New Testament, Acts 3:11-21, and the history of the early Christian church. A man lame from birth was begging at a gate of the temple. Peter has no money to give him, but he gives him something much greater and better. Through Christ’s power, the man is healed. For the first time in his life, he can walk and leap, and he praises God and hears of Christ the Savior (Acts 3:1-10). People want to praise Peter and John, but Peter points to Jesus Christ, the Author of Life, who was rejected by many and died but rose again. Peter calls the people to repent of their sins and turn to Christ for forgiveness and to be refreshed and restored by the Lord and await His return and final restoration of all things on the last day.

The Psalm is Psalm 4. David knows that the Lord has given him relief when he was in many tight spots in his life, being shamed and attacked by vain words and lies of others. He has been angry but seeks not to let that lead him into sin.  He trusted the Lord, and the Lord heard his prayers and gave him renewed joy in his heart and more restful sleep. The light of God’s face was upon him and allowed him to dwell in safety, even in difficult times.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 24:36-49, we hear more about Jesus’ appearance to His disciples and some others after His resurrection. At first, they thought they were seeing a spirit or ghost. Jesus gives them lots of evidence that it is truly He, alive again with them, in His resurrected body. They can see His pierced hands and feet and touch Him. He asked for some food and ate it in front of them. He also gave them His Words, the Words of Scripture that predicted all this, and He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He showed them that “it is written” that He, the Christ, would suffer and die and rise again on the third day. Now it would be their job to call people everywhere to repentance and forgiveness through Jesus and His Name and Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who would soon come upon them from on high at Pentecost.

That is exactly what we see Peter and John doing in our First lesson for today, in Acts, Chapter 3. That is also how we have come to faith in Jesus to this very day, John tells us, in our Epistle lesson, 1 John 3:1-7. It is through the Word of God proclaimed to us and taught to us, along with the Word connected with water in the gift of Baptism for us. Through the love of God, in Christ, we have come to faith and are actually children of God now, as we also await Christ’s appearance on the last day, when we shall see Him as He is, as those first disciples saw Jesus on Easter. We are purified now through Christ’s forgiveness, but we also try to battle the sin, the lawlessness, to which Satan seeks to lead us astray. We live by God’s Word and confess our sins and live by God’s mercy and forgiveness and strength in Jesus.

Bible Study - Thoughts on Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35 describes the early Christian church after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost when 3,000 people came to faith in Jesus and were baptized. Most important was that “the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” As a result, we hear in Acts 6:7 that “the Word of God continued to increase“ through the sharing of Christ, “and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great number of the priests became obedient to the faith.” That was exactly what the Lord wanted to happen, through the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God and bringing more people to faith and baptism.

At the same time, we hear that these Christians were also “of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him were his own, but they had everything in common…. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:
32, 34-35). Some people say that it sounds as if they had set up a Christian Socialist or even a Christian Communist society. Everyone was equal, and no one had anything more than anyone else. It was a kind of Christian commune, in their view, and we should do the same today.

This view takes these Scriptures out of context, though, and ignores what is said in passages that follow. Chapter five of Acts tells that a couple sold a piece of property and kept part of the proceeds for themselves while lying and saying they were giving it all to the church. The problem was not in keeping some of the proceeds but in lying “to the Holy Spirit" in what they claimed to be doing (Acts 5:1-3). Peter told the husband, “While the property remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?” (Acts 5:4). The church did not own everything that people had. The people owned their property and could do with it what they wished. The problem was with lying - and they were ultimately not “lying to man but to God.” Martin Franzmann commented, “These words show how completely voluntary the sharing of property was. The term ‘Christian communism,’ sometimes applied to this aspect of the life of the Jerusalem church, is at best misleading” (Concordia Bible with Notes, CPH, 1971, p. 217).

The idea of a utopian system, where everyone shares and is equal, does not work because even a church is made up of imperfect sinners who sometimes have trouble with each other. By Acts, Chapter 6, v.1, we hear that the Hellenists, Greek-speaking Christians, were complaining that their widows were “being neglected in the daily distribution.” They felt that the Hebrew widows were getting more than the Greek widows. It just wasn’t fair.

After this, we don’t hear of an “everything-in-common” system in the Scriptures. It was not that in the first place, as we have seen in context.  Certainly, Christians were and are called to “love their neighbor,” “help the poor and needy,” and assist one another. Paul and others sponsored a large gathering of funds to help suffering Christians in Jerusalem when there was famine and other problems. If we see how much Christ loved us, we also are moved by our Lord to help others. At the same time, look at a Scripture like 1 Timothy 5:3-16, where Paul warns about people taking advantage of a system of help - people who are “self-indulgent” and “idlers” and “gossips and busybodies.” Paul also encourages families and relatives to do what they can to help their own when they can.

Historically, “communal systems” have not worked well because of sin and our sinful human nature. In my state, Indiana, in the US, there is a place called New Harmony. It was started in the early 1800’s by George Rapp and German separatists, who came to the US for freedom and thought they could establish a perfect Christian community, with all people equal and sharing. It did not last very long. Then, Robert Owen tried to establish the same sort of system in the same place. His movement was called Owenism by some, and it lasted only about 12 years before falling apart. Think also of the tragedy in Guyana in 1978, where 918 died in what turned into a communal cult led by Jim Jones, who started off as a Christian pastor in Indianapolis. The examples are many.

Again, at the same time, historically, many hospitals, charities, and social ministries were started by Christians to help people in need. Christians have often been willing to be “taken advantage of” just to help as many people as possible, especially the poor and needy and children and the suffering. Jesus certainly was often “taken advantage of” to do His saving work for us, which none of us deserved. Reading the Scriptures carefully, in context, and letting Scripture interpret Scripture can help us act responsibly as individuals and as a church. May the Lord bless us all in that and in our primary responsibility - sharing Christ and His resurrection and His Word with others
(Acts 4:33) while we also seek to show love for others.

Preparing for Worship - April 7, 2024

This Sunday is the Second Sunday of our Easter celebration. Note that we do not have reading from the Old Testament during the Easter season, but rather from the Book of Acts and the history of the early Christian church.

The First lesson is from Acts 4:32-35. The most important part of this passage is that the apostles were giving powerful testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, and that great grace of God was upon them all. They were united and willing to sacrifice what they had to help others in need. They “had everything in common” at first, but that did not last, as the events of Acts 5 and 6 tell, and there was lying and deceiving and complaining, too. In a sinful world, there is no utopia, even among Christians. The Word of the Lord continued to be spread and increased, though, and the Lord grew His church (Acts 6:7).

Psalm 148 calls everyone and everything to praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the highest heavens and the starry skies. Praise the Lord from the earth and all that is in it, including kings and all the peoples. Praise the Lord for His Name that is above all names. Praise the Lord for the “Horn” that He has raised for the people near to Him. That Horn of salvation was and is Jesus, our Redeemer. (See Luke 1:68-69.)

The Gospel is John 20:19-31. Thomas missed Jesus's Easter Sunday appearances and seemed to be unable to believe that Jesus was really alive again. Jesus appeared again about a week later, and Thomas saw Jesus and believed and called Jesus “My Lord and My God.” Jesus said, “Blessed are those, also, who have not seen Me but have believed.” He is talking about us, who have come to faith through the written Word of God, and the many who testify about Jesus to us through that Word, also. In Christ, we have “life,” now and forever.

The Apostle John was one of those witnesses to Christ Himself, as one of His 12 original disciples. John writes in 1 John 1:1-2:2 of his certainty in Christ, Who was with God the Father and came to be the Light of our world and to cleanse us from all sin. We are all sinners who need to be brought to confess those sins and trust in Jesus, Who is the Righteous One for us and our Advocate before the Father. John is absolutely sure of all this because he has seen and heard and touched and proclaimed Jesus as “the Word of Life” for us and our “Eternal life,” risen from the dead for us.

Bible Study - Additional Thoughts on Maundy Thursday Sermon

I preached a sermon a few days ago on Maundy Thursday. If you would like to listen to it or read it, you can find it here. It is called “Participation in Christ’s Body and Blood,” based on Mark 14:12-26 and 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, and is about Christ’s love and concern for His disciples, especially in transforming the Passover into a new meal of the New Covenant, in the Lord’s Supper He instituted that Maundy Thursday evening.

There is so much richness in God’s Word, and as happens often, I cannot fit into one sermon all that I think about or would like to say. Some things are also just interesting historical information that doesn’t really fit into a sermon and might not be of general interest.

I will start with a Biblical question. Some of our prayers describe the Lord’s Supper as “a foretaste of the feast to come” and also mention “the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end.” (You can find this in the third possible Past-Communion Collect on p. 166 in our hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book. If you have the Lutheran Study Bible, you can also find a discussion of “The Heavenly Banquet” on p. 1689 of the LSB, with a number of parables of Jesus and other Scriptures to look at and think about.)

We also hear, in Exodus 24:1, 9-11, that the Lord invited Moses and Aaron and other leaders of God’s people to come up and meet Him as part of sealing the Old Covenant. Based on other Scriptures, the people could only get the slightest glimpse of Him, but this passage says that they “ate and drank” with Him.

We also have the prophecy in Isaiah 25:6-9, which we heard on Easter Sunday. Once Jesus had died and risen from the dead and won His victory over sin and Satan and “swallowed up death forevermore,” there would be a joyous celebration, “a feast of rich foods” for all who reach eternal life through faith in Him. Jesus speaks of this in some of His parables, too, sometimes with the picture image of a wedding feast. See Luke 12:35-38 and Revelation 3:20-21 and the description of the “marriage feast of the Lamb” in Revelation 19:6-9, where the holy Christian church, all believers, are called “the bride” of the Lamb.

We don’t know what all of this means or exactly what heaven will be like, but we do know that there is only peace and joy with the Lord in heaven for all those who live and die in faith in Christ. There is no hunger or thirst, no tears or any troubles or sorrows. There is only joy and blessing and celebrating with the Lord, a great feast or banquet, with all the praise going to our great Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All we need to know will be answered when we reach eternal life ourselves, in heaven with the Lord.

I’ll move on now to some history. At the end of the Maundy Thursday sermon, I quoted from a Communion hymn in our hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book, #639. I had not noticed before that this hymn was written in German by Pastor Wilhelm Loehe, and then translated into English by a Lutheran, Herman Stuempfle, who has other hymns and translations in the LSB.

Rev. Loehe was never in the U.S. but was influential in helping the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in its earliest days, in the 1840s and 1850s. He was a Lutheran pastor in Bavaria and heard of German Lutheran immigrants who were coming to the U.S. but had very few pastors who knew German and could serve them. Loehe started a training program for future pastors and helped send them to the U.S. and other countries. He also helped support one of our seminaries in its very early years in Fort Wayne and provided a few of its pastors, who started Lutheran churches there and in other places, including in Frankenmuth, Michigan, along with ministry to native Americans.

The seminary I attended was the seminary Loehe helped start. It had moved to Springfield, Illinois when I attended from 1969-73, and then was moved back to Fort Wayne, and still is there, as Concordia Theological Seminary. There were and still are halls or areas named after Rev. Loehe, and some of those whom he recruited, including Pastors Wyneken, Sihler, and Craemer, as far as I remember. Pastor Loehe still benefits our churches through his hymns and other things he wrote, as well as his part in our Synod’s history.

I will stop my ramblings now. A blessed Easter season, in Christ’s name.

Sermon for Maundy Thursday - March 28, 2024

Sermon for Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2024

“Participation in Christ’s Body and Blood”

Mark 14:12-26 and 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

The text for our meditation tonight is the Gospel lesson, along with some thoughts from our Epistle. (All quotations are from the ESV translation, except for a few from my own self-translation. The hymn quoted is Hymn 639, “Wide Open Stand the Gates,” stanzas 2-3, from the Lutheran Service Book. Text by Wilhelm Loehe, Translation by Herman Stuempfle, (c) 2002, GIA Publications. Lutheran Service Builder (c) 2024, CPH.)

It is Thursday of Holy Week in our text, and the arrest and suffering and death of Jesus is drawing very close. But He is not thinking about Himself, but about doing His Father’s will and helping His disciples and providing gifts that are a blessing to them and to you and me to this very day.

First, Jesus made sure that He and His disciples properly celebrated the remembrance of the Passover, when God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt almost 1500 years earlier. Old Testament Law said, in Deuteronomy 16:2-3, “You shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, from the flock or the herd, at the place the Lord will choose, to make His Name dwell there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it.”

That is exactly what Jesus made sure happened. He sent out two of His disciples to find, following His directions, the place for eating the Passover meal. They then had to purchase an unblemished lamb and have it properly sacrificed at the Temple and the proper Passover meal prepared. This was all part of Jesus’ saving work for us here on earth. He was like a second Adam, perfectly following His Father’s will, unlike the first Adam and Eve, and unlike the Old Testament people of God, who so often broke the Old Covenant (Jeremiah 31:32) will of God too - and as we all still do, too often.

The sacrifice of the lamb was also prophetic of what Jesus would soon do. John the Baptist had earlier said of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29,36). By His perfect life in our place, and by His sacrificial death and shedding of His blood, instead of ours or an animal’s, Jesus would forgive all our sins and count us acceptable to God through the gift of faith. He would also free us from Old Testament rituals, like Passover, to follow His New Covenant, as we will hear.

At the Passover meal, Jesus showed His continuing care for His disciples, too - and even for Judas. We hear that while they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me.” Then, a bit later, Jesus said, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with Me.” The other disciples do not seem to realize who it is, but Judas certainly knows that Jesus is aware of what he, Judas, plans to do. Jesus then gives a very serious warning to Judas. “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Jesus is giving Judas a chance to wake up and repent of what he is planning.

But Judas does not care. John’s Gospel tells us that Judas was a thief and had stolen from the disciples’ money bag before (John 12:6). Maybe he just wanted the thirty pieces of silver promised him more than he cared about Jesus or anything else. Other Gospels tell us that Judas soon left the Passover meal to prepare for betraying Jesus. Jesus’ attempt to help him fell on deaf ears.

It is also interesting that when Jesus brought up a betrayal coming, the other disciples began to be sorrowful and to say, one after another, “Is it I? Is it I?” They seemed to have a guilty conscience, too, as if they all had let Jesus down before and might be capable of failing Him again. And, of course, a little later on that evening, when Jesus was seized by the religious authorities and led to the Garden of Gethsemane by Judas, Mark tells us that all the disciples left Jesus and ran away. Jesus had warned them, too, with the prophetic words of the Old Testament, “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” (Zechariah 13:7 and Mark 14:27). But the disciples did not heed Jesus’ warning, either, and they all fled from Jesus in that dangerous situation, so fearful for them.

But even with their weaknesses and failings, John’s Gospel tells us (John 13:1), “Having loved His own who were in the world, Jesus loved these disciples to the end.” And he did so that Thursday evening in one more very special way, even before He and the disciples went out to the Garden of Gethsemane, and He went to His suffering and death and resurrection, for them and for us.

While they were still eating the Passover meal, we hear that Jesus took some of the elements of that meal and transformed it into a whole new meal of the New Covenant, the New Testament He was bringing in, the meal of love and forgiveness and strengthening that we now know of as the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. Other Scriptures give us more detail, including Jesus saying, “Do this, in remembrance of Me.”

But it was much more than just a remembrance of Jesus. Our text tells us that Jesus “took bread” - some of that flat unleavened bread used at Passover - “and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to them and said, ‘Take; this is My Body.’ And He took a cup’ (a cup of the wine used at Passover) and when he had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, ‘This is My Blood of the (New) Covenant, which is poured out for many'" (for the forgiveness of sins).

We also know that Jesus later promised, before He returned to heaven, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). As true God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is “omnipresent,” always present with us as well as with those in heaven.

But the Lord’s Supper is a very special, personal way He comes to us. We can’t understand it, but we believe that when we receive the bread and wine, we also receive Christ Himself, His Body and Blood. Jesus didn’t say, “This is a symbol, This is a representation.” He said, “This is My Body! This is My Blood! Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

And these were not just gifts for those disciples on Maundy Thursday. Jesus said, “Keep on doing this.” And decades later, Paul wrote to Christians in Corinth in our Epistle lesson for tonight, and for us still today, with very similar words. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?” The word for “participation” is the same word translated as “communion” or “fellowship” or a “closing sharing” in and with Christ Himself and His Body and Blood in this Holy Communion.

This is also why the Scriptures stress the importance of proper preparation for the Lord’s Supper. We don’t just say, “You all come” to everyone who is present, as some churches do. There is the need for baptism and faith and instruction, in what we call Confirmation of the faith. For Paul also warns, soon after the words we just heard, that “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord and not discerning the Body" (1 Corinthians 11: 27-29).

That doesn’t mean we have to be perfect people to receive the Lord’s Supper. None of us are or could come close to that. In fact, our sins are the reason why we need God’s Word and the Lord’s Supper again and again. And when we do come, repentant for our sins and trusting in Christ’s love and promises, we do really receive forgiveness of our sins, through that Body and Blood sacrificed on the cross for us; and we receive strength to carry on with our lives, in Him, whatever we face.

I was working on this sermon on Tuesday when I heard of a bomb threat and a possible shooter at one of our local high schools. Thankfully, none of it turned out to be true, but we do live in very troubled times, and how much we need that strength and assurance in Christ that we receive in the Lord’s Supper.

Receiving Holy Communion builds our unity with one another, too. Paul also writes, in our Epistle lesson, “Because there is one Bread, we who are many are one body, for all partake of the one Bread,” which is Christ. United in that way in Christ, we have more strength at least to try to be more patient and understanding and caring and forgiving to one another, as Jesus has already been with us.

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus closed the giving of the Lord’s Supper with these words, “I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God,” in heaven. That is where Jesus is now, in glory, after having been raised from the dead and returning to His Father in heaven. And with Him are all of our loved ones and friends who lived and died in faith in Him. They now enjoy His presence and blessings in a perfect way, in heaven.

And some suggest that when we are united with Christ in the special closeness of His presence in the Lord’s Supper and are united with fellow believers, we are also united with our loved ones, through Christ, in some of the closest unity we can have with them, until we reach heaven ourselves. They are with Jesus, and so are we, in this very special gift of the Lord’s Supper. We are all united in Christ.

Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn before they went to the garden of Gethsemane, and there’s a hymn in our hymnal, #639, that suggests that closeness that I’d like to read in closing:

“(Christ) speaks the Word the bread and wine to bless.
       ‘This is My Flesh and Blood.’
     He bids us eat and drink with thankfulness
        The gift of holy food.
     All human thought must falter -
         Our God stoops low to heal.
     Now present on the altar, for us
         Both Host and Meal.

     The cherubim, their faces veiled from light,
          While saints in wonder kneel,
      Sing praise to Him Whose Face with glory bright,
          No earthly masks conceal.
      This sacrament God gives us.
           Binds us in unity,
       Joins earth with heaven beyond us,
           Time with eternity.”
 
Let us pray: “Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe, in Christ Jesus. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)

Preparing for Worship - March 31, 2024

This Sunday is Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. There are a number of possible readings since there can be a Sunrise Service and others. I will include here the one you will most likely hear.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 25:6-9. It is a prophecy of the heavenly joy for all believers in the Promised Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. The veil of sorrow and death that covers all people will be taken away, along with all tears and reproach. It will happen on the mountain of the Lord as Jesus suffers and dies and rise again in victory. He dies and rises for all people, but the heavenly blessings come only to those who are brought to trust in Him and wait with joy for His salvation. The celebration in heaven is pictured as a great feast and celebration.

In Psalm 16, David knows that he has no good apart from the Lord. He praises the Lord for the cup of blessing and the beautiful inheritance he will have from the Lord. In v.9-10, David prophesies of the Holy One, Jesus, his coming Savior, who will die but not see corruption. He will rise and make known the path to eternal life through Him and provide joy and pleasures forevermore in His presence in heaven.

In Mark 16:1-8, women come to the tomb of Jesus on the Sunday after His death on the cross. They come to anoint the body of Jesus with spices but find the stone rolled away from the tomb, the grave empty, and a young man (an angel) announcing that Jesus has risen from the dead. They are to tell the disciples and Peter to go to Galilee, where they will see Jesus alive again, just as he had said (Mark 14:28). The women flee from the tomb, and at first, in fear and trembling, they tell no one. That quickly changes, the other Gospels tell us. (What scholars think are the earliest manuscripts of Mark do not have verses 9-20, but these verses simply affirm what is said in other Scriptures. Some think that the abrupt ending in verse 8 may be a way of saying that Jesus did rise and the tomb was empty. Eyewitnesses tell us that. What ending will you put on this for yourself? Will you believe in what all the Scriptures affirm - that Jesus died and rose also for you, that you may have eternal life? See also, for example, John 20:19-31.)

The Epistle lesson is from 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Paul affirms that Jesus died and was buried but rose again on the third day. Paul mentions many people who saw Jesus alive again. Paul himself was one of those people, a strong unbeliever and persecutor of Christians until Jesus appeared alive to him. He turned his life around to faith in Him by God’s grace. Paul was now a preacher of the Good News of Jesus because he knew it was all true. Paul also says that as he wrote this letter to the Corinthians, there were many others still alive who had seen the Risen Lord and were eyewitnesses to Him.

Preparing for Worship - March 24, 2024

This Sunday is the 6th Sunday in Lent and can be celebrated as Palm Sunday, remembering Jesus riding into Jerusalem, or as The Sunday of the Passion, remembering, in one long reading of two chapters, the Passion story of our Lord, with many of the events of Holy Week, including Jesus’ suffering and death. There is no way to comment on all of the Passion story here. I will mention all of the possible readings but focus just on the shorter ones.

The Old Testament lesson is from Zechariah 9:9-12. Verse 9 is quoted in Matthew 21:5 as a prophecy now fulfilled in the coming of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey on the Sunday before His death. Instead of an animal sacrifice, the blood of Jesus would be shed on the cross to bring in the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Jesus would thus set free those imprisoned by sin and give them hope and peace. This would be Good News for all nations, to the end of the earth, through Christ Jesus.

The Epistle, Philippians 2:5-11, gives a summary of this saving work of Jesus, who was the Son of God and yet was willing to give it all up to become a man. He humbled Himself and was willing even to die on a cross to serve us and pay the penalty for our sins. He was then raised from the dead and highly exalted and returned to His heavenly glory. He is our Lord, together with the Father (and the Holy Spirit). Believers bow before Him now, and on the last day, every person will have to recognize who He is.

In the Gospel lesson, John 12:20-43, we hear that some Greeks, non-Jews, were attracted to Jesus, but many of His own Jewish people would not believe in Him as the Savior. Some wanted to believe but wanted their place and honor among fellow Jews more than following God’s plan. See my sermon on this podcast site for Wed., March 13, 2024, for more detail on John 12:23-36, too - especially the call to believe in Jesus, who is the Light of the world. The alternative Gospel reading is Mark 14:1-15:47, to get a fuller picture of the story of Christ’s suffering and death.

There are two possible psalm readings, too. Psalm 118:19-29 fits best with the Palm Sunday story and expresses the joy of the coming of the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem, but also the sorrow of the rejection of Jesus. He would be rejected by many of His own people and yet would be the Cornerstone for the Christian faith through what he would do for us. Some people sang “Hosannah” on Palm Sunday, quoting v.25, “Save us, we pray, O Lord," and that is what Jesus came to do and did do. The alternative psalm is Psalm 31:9-16, a prophetic psalm of David. David suffered many things in his life, and they predicted the sorrows of Jesus and His suffering. See the mention of those plotting to take the life of Jesus and how His friends fled from Him. However, Jesus trusted in His heavenly Father and said, even in the agony of His death, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” He trusted the steadfast love of His Father’s plan and brought that everlasting love to us by His sacrifice and death for us.

Bible Study - Old Covenant and New Covenant

God made a promise already in Genesis 3:15, after the fall into sin, that an Offspring of Eve would eventually defeat the power of Satan. (We know, of course, that that Offspring was Jesus.) This promise was already connected to a particular person, Abram (Abraham), and his descendants in Genesis 12:1-3. The promise included the fact that all families of the earth would eventually be blessed through one of his descendants. (Again, that descendant was Jesus.) Though he struggled, Abram believed in the Lord and His promises, and he was counted as a righteous man by faith (Genesis 15:6).

God renewed this promise with a “covenant” with Abram in Genesis 15:7-19. There is a ceremony described that seems strange to us but familiar to people in Abram’s day. Some animals were cut in half. Then, normally, the parties in a covenant, an agreement, would both walk between the pieces of the animals to show their willingness to keep this covenant. Some say that they were both indicating that they deserved to be killed like those animals if they did not keep their part of the agreement.

In this case, though, Abram did not walk between the pieces. Only a smoking pot and a flaming torch went between the pieces. Smoke and fire were often symbols of God Himself being with His people, in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. God was indicating that He would keep His promise of a descendant as a blessing for all nations, even if Abram’s descendants broke their covenant with God. (Abram’s descendants did shatter the Old Covenant by their sins and especially by their unbelief in the true God, as we will hear. And just as God promised, as He went between the pieces of animals Himself, His own Son would die in payment for the sins of God’s people.)

In Genesis 17, God renewed His promise again and changed Abram’s name to Abraham, “the father of a multitude of nations.” The line of promise and the promised descendant would run through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Jacob’s twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, and eventually through the tribe of Judah, including David and his descendants from Judah. There was a focus on the land of Israel, where these descendants would eventually live, and the nation of Israel, and God’s renewed covenant with them, when he raised Moses to lead them out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to this promised land. It was God’s doing for the sake of His people and His future promises.

Over time, God would call all males to be circumcised and gave His commandments and many other rules and regulations to this Jewish nation. But He reminded them that He had acted first, on their behalf, in love for them. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” In gratitude to Him, His people were to follow His will and especially follow only Him as the one true God. God gave them many other prophets and the Old Testament Scriptures to lead and guide them, as well.

Sadly, the Old Testament is a story of sin and rebellion against God, even by His own chosen people through whom He would work out His plan for all nations. Some were faithful to Him, but many were not. The one nation split into two, and eventually, many of the people of both nations were carried into captivity in other lands. Only a “remnant” of the people returned to Israel over time. It was during these unsettled times that God gave the promise through the prophet Jeremiah of a whole New Covenant, in Jeremiah 31:31-34. That was the reading we had just a few weeks ago and prompted me to prepare this study. I am greatly simplifying what I am saying. There was continuity between the Old Covenant and the New, but the New Covenant would not be like the Old.

The problem with the Old Covenant was that the people kept breaking it, “though I was their husband, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:32). God uses the picture image of a marriage. God was a faithful husband to His people, but they had been like an unfaithful wife. They kept cheating on Him and going after false gods. That led to breaking all the other commandments and the overall will of God, too.

Central to the New Covenant would be the “forgiveness of sins” and “a new heart” and “renewed knowing of God.” Old Testament prophets had also predicted this and the coming of a “suffering Savior” for the sake of His people and all the people of the world. (See Ezekiel 11:19: “one heart and a new spirit… I will remove the heart of stone … and give them a heart of flesh.” See Ezekiel 36:25-27, too, and Isaiah 53.)

The birth of Jesus Christ was the beginning of that New Covenant. See Luke 1:30-33. His whole life and ministry and suffering and death brought that forgiveness and new life to us and, as promised, to all nations and peoples in the world. He died for all (1 Timothy 2:6), and His blessings are now available to all. (Of course, people can reject Him and His gift of eternal life, which was earned for them, and still be lost.) See His Words, as He gave the Lord’s Supper to us in Luke 22:20: “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My Blood.” Soon after, He would make the ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross. Paul and other New Testament leaders are now “ministers of a New Covenant,” which can only be seen “through Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6, 12-17).

The best description of the contrast between the Old Covenant and the New is found in the Book of Hebrews. “Jesus is the Guarantor of a better covenant” because He is risen from the dead and is our High Priest and “continues forever” (Hebrews 7:21-25). The priests of the Old Covenant were temporary and were sinners themselves, in contrast with Jesus, who was perfect and “the Source of eternal salvation” for all who trust in and seek to obey Him (Hebrews 5:1-10). See especially Hebrews 8:6-13. The New Covenant is “better, enacted by Christ on better promises,” fulfilled by Him and His perfect, once-for-all sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 9:11-15, 25-26). The whole passage from Jeremiah 31:31-34 is then quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12. Then we hear, “In speaking of a New Covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).

This is very important because some say that we still have two different covenants by which we can be saved. Christians are still saved through Christ, while, in this view, Jews can follow the Old Covenant and still be saved through it, apart from faith in Christ. That part about Jews is clearly wrong, according to the New Testament. Jesus says that He is the Way, and no one can be saved apart from Him (John 14:6). Peter preached that “there is salvation in no one else” but Jesus (Acts 4:12).

Besides this, there is no way that Jewish people can do all the expected things without a temple in Jerusalem, as a place for all the expected rituals, etc. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans and has never been rebuilt. See also the contrast in Hebrews 12:18-24 between the Old Testament Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law and the New Testament Mount Zion and the Heavenly Jerusalem promised to us through Jesus, “the mediator of the New Covenant and His sprinkled blood” and the Good Word of hope and forgiveness He brings us (Hebrews 12:24).

We do not have to be concerned, either, about groups like the Seventh Day Adventists, who try to put us back under Old Testament Law, saying that, even as followers of Christ, we must worship on Saturday and do no work that day, and follow other dietary rules and rituals if we really want to be saved. We also do not have to worry about cultic groups like the United Church of God, which insists that we must follow all the Old Testament festivals and stop celebrating Christmas and Easter, etc., if we really want to be acceptable to God.

We have confidence for our eternal future in Christ alone. We do not have to worry about whether we have kept all of God’s Old Testament laws well enough. We read in Hebrews 9:26, “As it is, He (Jesus) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once" (no worry about reincarnation or any of those non-Christian ideas), "and after that comes the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”

We have the blessing of Hebrews 13:20-21 as our own, too. “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal (New) Covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever." Amen.

Sermon for Sunday, March 17, 2024

Sermon for Sunday, March 17, 2024

“Who Serves Whom?"

Based on Mark 10:32-45

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel lesson, Mark 10:32-45, as read a few moments ago. You are welcome to follow along, as it is printed in your bulletin.

Jesus and His disciples were headed for Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading the way. Our text says that the disciples were amazed and afraid, probably because they knew that there was opposition to Jesus, and the center of that opposition was in Jerusalem. Maybe they would have some trouble if He went there.

Jesus then took them aside and told them for the third time what would happen to Him, with even more detail. “He, the Son of Man, would be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, who will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him over to the Gentiles (the Roman authorities). And they will mock Him and spit on Him and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days, He will rise.”

Hearing this, you would think that the disciples would rally around Jesus and be thinking about how to help and support and encourage Him. But it wasn’t that way at all. Instead, the next thing we hear is that two prominent disciples, James and John, came to Jesus, asking, ”Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of you.” (Matthew’s Gospel tells us that they even involved their mother in making this request) (Matthew 20:20-28).)

Imagine that you came to God in prayer and asked, “Lord, give me what I want. Promise You’ll give it to me, even before I tell You what I want.” Children do that sometimes, and I suspect that we all do at times. We are sure we are right about what we want and can become demanding and pretty self-centered in what we want. We can certainly ask for what we wish, but we sometimes forget to pray also, as Jesus taught and did in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, not my will, but Your will be done” (Mark 14:36).

Jesus, in our text, simply said to James and John, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And then it came out - in a very selfish request. They said, “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at your left, in Your glory.” They had no thought about Jesus and what He said was ahead for Him. Likely, they were still thinking the typical Jewish way that sometime soon, the Messiah would not suffer and die but would overthrow all of Israel’s enemies and set up a glorious earthly kingdom where He would reign and the Jews would have a great time, as in earlier days. And James and John wanted the best spots in that new kingdom of glory. Jesus could not, of course, grant such a request from them.

Jesus told James and John that they did not even know what they were asking. Could they drink the cup and receive the baptism coming for Jesus Himself? James and John said they were able to but did not realize that He was talking about His own true suffering and death, coming very soon, and drinking the cup of suffering described in the Old Testament as the punishment for the sins of the world. Jesus alone would drink that cup in payment on the cross for all sins. And He would have a baptism of blood as He suffered. That is what some early church fathers called His suffering and death. But, Jesus predicted when James and John would later become faithful apostles, they would suffer much for sharing the faith of Jesus. (James was the first of the original 12 disciples to be killed just for being a Christian, and John was banished from the churches he later served and exiled to the Island of Patmos by the Romans simply because of sharing “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (You can read about this in Acts 12 and  Revelation 1.)

Anyway, when the other 10 disciples of Jesus heard what James and John had asked for, they were angry and indignant at them. It may well be that they were jealous of James and John and that these two had thought first of pushing for these positions of honor. They may have cheated the other disciples out of these positions of honor. Again, there is no mention of Jesus in all this, and any concern expressed for Him and what He was facing.

This wasn’t a new problem for the disciples. If you look back to Mark 9:33-37, you’ll read that Jesus saw the disciples arguing and asked them what they were discussing. They kept silent because they were arguing about which of them was the greatest. Jesus had to set them down and say, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

And in our text for today, Jesus had to set all 12 disciples down again and say, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles (the Romans and Greeks and others) lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.” It’s all about power and control and keeping that control. The Scriptures do say that we need government to provide some order and authority. And Jesus taught in the temple on Tuesday of Holy Week those famous words, “Render (give) to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (including taxes).

But, Jesus said, in our text, that it should not be that way of power and control among you, as God’s people. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”

The disciples were clearly not doing very well in their serving. They were thinking too much about themselves and what they wanted instead of God’s will and the needs of others, including Jesus. Jesus had to step in and serve them by showing them their sins and weaknesses and calling them to repentance. Even more important, He had to provide the forgiveness of their sins and set them free from the condemnation of their sins. The last verse of our Gospel reading says, “For even the Son of Man (Jesus Himself) came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

A ransom is the price paid to set someone free from some kind of bondage. The death of Christ on the cross, along with His perfect life in our place, is the ransom price paid by Jesus to set us free from the curse of sin and Satan and death and gives us a whole new and eternal life through Him and faith in Him.

Psalm 49:7-8 says, “Truly, no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice” (be enough). That’s why God the Son had to humble Himself and become man, one of us, and serve us and pay the ransom price for us and for the whole world. As true God and man, only He could do that for us. And He did!

We are used to saying, “We love because God first loved us.” But who serves whom? We can also say, “We serve because God first served us.” And our Lord continues to serve us, and we need that because we are sometimes just like the disciples in our text, even in our churches and schools. Many good things are happening, but we also have our struggles, at times, as sinful people, and we want things our way and have trouble being humble and caring servants of others. But God is always there to help us and serve us. Think about what we are doing this morning. We call this a Divine Service. We come to praise and thank God and give gifts. But even more importantly, our Divine Lord is coming and serving us.

• He has already forgiven all our sins at the beginning of the service.
• If a child or adult is baptized, as last week, God brings faith and new life to that person.
• When we hear our Scripture readings, we are gathered just like those disciples in our text, hearing the Law that shows us our sins and weaknesses but also God’s great love and help, especially in Jesus.
• When we pray, God does hear our prayers and does respond in the way He knows best.
• And in the Lord’s Supper, our Lord Jesus actually comes to us, in, with, and under the bread and wine, to forgive us and strengthen our faith.

It is all Divine Service to us, for our own good and benefit, but also to help us love and serve our Lord and others in a better way.

One example. When the disciples were arguing with each other about who was the greatest, Jesus taught them, but He did one more thing I haven’t already mentioned. Jesus set a little child in the midst of them and said, “Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.” If we help and serve a little child, it is as if we are serving Christ Himself. That’s what makes our school and all our programs for children so important, whether we are directly involved or give support in other ways. We are serving Christ as we lovingly serve children and help them know the love of Jesus.

The same thing is true for us at home. It is not much fun to change diapers or get up in the middle of the night to get a child a drink. It is a challenge to help in so many ways. But we are serving our Lord and His will, as we once were served when we were children years ago. And the Lord serves us and gives us strength, too, all along the way.

Let us pray: Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they are safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord and His loving service to us. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)