Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
9 E Homestead Ave. Palisades Park, NJ 07650 201-944-2107 Sundays 11:00 a.m. We preach Christ crucified (1. Corinthians 1,23)

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Odds and Ends

I just posted two sermons from Holy Week: Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Sorry, no audio is available for those two, but I have posted the audio for my sermon on Easter Sunday.

Also, check out the our organist's website: Vanessa Perez. Vanessa is a tremendous blessing to our church! She is a classical pianist who performs around the world. Her Bach performances are awesome! She has CDs available, too. You can find them at her website or on Amazon.com.

Good Friday. John 19,16-30

+ We preach Christ and Him crucified +


John 19,16-30     Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudaeorum
Karfreitag  031 schwarz
Soter and Caius, Bishops and Martyrs at Rome 177 and 296
22. April 2011



            1. O Almighty, Eternal God, who for us has caused Your Son to suffer the pains of the cross, so that You put away the power of the enemy from us, grant us to observe the memory of His suffering so that we may attain the forgiveness of sin, and the certain release from eternal death, to serve You in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness (Löhe). Furthermore, we beseech You graciously to behold this Your family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed, given up into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross (Book of Common Prayer) so that by His holy and righteous merit we, by virtue of His penal substitution, His vicarious atonement, and the blessed exchange, receive by faith the promise of everlasting salvation.  Amen.   
             2. Our sermon text for this evening, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to John where the holy apostle writes: 16So Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus over to the chief priests to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.“ 20Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’“ 22Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.“ 23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also His tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24so they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.“ This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, They divided My garments among them, and they cast lots for My clothing.“ So the soldiers did these things, 25but standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, Woman, behold, your son!“ 27Then He said to the disciple, Behold, your mother!“ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, to fulfill the Scripture, I thirst.“ 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished,“ and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.  This is our text.
            3. Shortly before Jesus was baptized and began His ministry, John the Baptizer proclaimed:  »Behold, the Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29). When Jesus began preaching, His message was: »Repent, for the reign of heaven/God is at hand!« (Matthew 4,17). For six hours on Good Friday: „I. The crucified Jesus is proclaimed before all the world as the king of Israel, and II. The Scripture is fulfilled in His suffering“ (Wenz 1 §3).

I.
            4. The crucified Jesus is proclaimed before all the world as the king of Israel. Pilate had an inscription (titulum) written and placed above Jesus’ head when He was crucified. It was common for the Romans to place the criminal’s crime upon his cross so that passers by would know why the person was being executed by the Roman State. Jesus’ criminal offense was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek: מנצרת, מלך היהודים ישו, Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudaeorum, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, thus in English: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, and as it is commonly rendered today upon crosses and crucifixes INRI. This was the charge the Jewish rulers levied against Jesus before Pilate.
            5. Jesus, then, hangs upon the cross in great agony and suffering as the King of Israel. The Roman emperor had established the Family of Herod as the sanctioned kings of Israel. Any other claim to the Judean throne was officially a challenge to Rome’s rule and if considered serious such a claim could be punished by death. Barabbas and some of his compatriots had been captured for attempting to incite rebellion against Rome. The Jewish crowd cried for Barabbas’ release instead of Jesus’. Jesus took Barabbas’ place and He was crucified between two insurrectionists as an insurrectionist. Jesus is the King of the Jews.

II.
            6. The Holy Scriptures are fulfilled in His suffering. Jesus, the King of the Jews, fulfilled the Law and the Prophets when He was crucified. The law declares that the sinner will die (Ezekiel 18,20). The law is unrelenting and fierce. The law condemns each sinner with a horrific judgment: sinners are enslaved to the devil, sinners will suffer in this earthly life and will one day die in punishment for their sin, sinners will suffer eternal separation from Yahweh. The law leaves sinners in utter despair. The law brings us to the foot of the cross.
            7. Roman law condemned Jesus to die as a rebel against Rome. The titulum announced Jesus’ crime against Rome. Mosaic law condemned Jesus as a filthy sinner: cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Deuteronomy 21,23). Jesus suffering on the cross shows us how serious sin is. Sin must be punished. Sin must be eradicated. Sin must be killed. Thus Jesus suffers on the cross as a sinner. »Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by having become a curse for us« (Galatians 3,13).
            8. Behold, the Son of Man on the cross! Look at Him; do not shy away. Behold the high price of the law necessary to pay for sins! It began when Jesus was beaten to a bloody pulp: twenty lashes from a cat-of-nine tails formed deep cuts in an „x“ pattern across His back, and then nineteen more lashes across His chest. Roman whips used broken pottery, bits of metal, and even nails to tear into the condemned’s flesh. A crown with 6-inch long thorns was pressed down hard into Jesus head. Then Jesus was forced to carry the cross beam out to Calvary where He would be crucified. Crucifixions were shameful and gut wrenching. The Romans didn’t accord criminals any dignity: they were crucified naked. There was the smell of sweat mingled with fear, along with urine, and other bodily releases. The body was caked with blood. Groans and cries for mercy were uttered by the crucified and the onlookers. Jesus’ dying words portray the utter depth of sorrow and degradation. Jesus turns to His dear mother, Mary, and says, »Woman, behold, your son!«. Then Jesus said to His disciple, John, »Behold, your mother!« Jesus was being parted from His family and friends, and they from Him. His last will and testament is that John care for His beloved mother. And from that hour John took Mary to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, to fulfill Psalm 69, »I thirst.« John mentions this statement of Jesus in his Gospel and thus points us to verse 3: »I am weary with My crying out; My throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for My God.« Please take a moment tomorrow and read Psalm 69; it is only 36 verses long and can be read in a few minutes. Read the psalm and see how David prophecies Christ’s crucifixion in vivid detail.
            9. Crucifixions were excruciating deaths. „As the criminal slowly sagged down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. As he pushed himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he placed his full weight on the nail through his feet. Again, there was searing agony as the nail tore through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of his feet. Hanging by the arms, the pectoral muscles were paralyzed and the small muscles between the ribs were unable to act. Air could be drawn into the lungs, but could not be exhaled. The crucified fought to raise himself in order to get even one short breath. He suffered hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, and searing pain as tissue was torn from his lacerated back from his movement up and down against the rough timbers of the cross. Another agony was a deep crushing pain in the chest as the sac surrounding the heart slowly filled with serum and began to compress the heart. The compressed heart struggled to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood to the tissues, and the tortured lungs were making a frantic effort to inhale small gulps of air (Dr. C. Truman Davis). 
            10. Jesus suffered this way for six hours. The way to end this horror was when the crucified could not or would not push up on his legs to breathe – asphyxiation would occur in seconds. „The cross of Jesus grieves us not only because we are sorry for Him in His suffering but also because of what it says to us. To each sinner the cross shows, „This is what your sin means.“ We cannot dodge that accusation“ (Nagel 116). The cross reveals the deadly seriousness of our sinful nature. Christ crucified is the costly ransom made paid in full for our sinfulness. Behold, there is Jesus, the King of the Jews!
            11. The full condemnation of the law is hung on Jesus when He is crucified. His Heavenly Father’s holy and terrible wrath against sin and the sinner is poured out upon Christ in all its Divine fullness. In this very action of God the Father, He is also showing us His abundant and merciful gospel. John the Baptizer had pointed to Jesus three years earlier and cried out with joy: »Behold, the Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29).
            12. Behold, the Son of Man on the cross! Look at Him; do not shy away. Behold the rich gospel shown to pay for sins! Jesus told Nicodemus three years earlier: »For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned« (John 3,16-18a). On the cross Jesus thirsted on our behalf, and to those who also thirst for God’s forgiveness, Jesus proclaims: »If anyone thirsts, let that person come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, „From His heart will flow rivers of living water“« (John 7,37-38). And finally, there is the magnificent promise spoken by Jesus in the midst of death: »I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though that person dies, yet shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die« (John 11,25-26).
            13. After Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, »It is finished,« then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. This final dying word of Jesus is not a statement of defeat, but a simple and powerful exhortation of victory. Jesus’ suffering and humiliation under the law is over. The sin of the entire world has been purchased. The ransom price has been paid, and the Heavenly Father’s wrath and anger against sin and the sinner has been sated. The gospel leaves sinners in ecstatic joy. The gospel brings us to the foot of the cross and shows us Jesus, the Lamb of God, the King of the Jews, who redeems us back to God.
            14. Behold, the Son of Man, the King of the Jews, hangs lifeless on the cross. Jesus suffered and died for you. Your sins, all of them, are forgiven. Eternal life is now yours. Salvation is given unto you. On the cross, Jesus reconciles you back to God the Father. Jesus has made peace between God and us. Behold, Christ crucified for you.  Amen.
            15. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, who desires all people to be saved, on this night we remember the great gospel proclamation, »For God has loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not be lost, but have eternal life« (John 3,16). Jesus Christ our Savior is the gift of salvation that You have given Your fallen creation. On the cross we see the law in all its fierceness as it condemns Jesus as the Chief of Sinners and He was therefore rightly and justly punished. We also see on the cross the gospel in all its loving-kindness as it shows us the great love of Christ Jesus who willing and gladly took upon Himself our sins, bore our punishment in our place, suffered and died so that we may now have forgiveness and life everlasting in His glorious fellowship. May the loving sacrifice of Your Beloved Son instruct our minds and impassion our hearts so that we daily remain confident of our forgiveness and joyful in our right standing before You, O Lord.  Amen. 



To God alone be the Glory
+

                All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, John © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson. 
                Davis, Dr. C. Truman. “The Crucifixion of Jesus”. http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/crucifixion.html. Copyright © 1982 New Wine Magazine.
                Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.
                Nagel, Norman. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis. Frederick W. Baue, Ed. Copyright © 2004 Concordia Publishing House.
              Wenz. Armin. A sermon preached on John 19,16-30 on Karfreitag, 10. April 2009. Copyright © 2009 The Rev. Dr. Armin Wenz. Translation © 2011 The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind.

1 Corinthians 11,23-32. Maundy Thursday

X Take, this is My body and My blood of the new testament X

1 Corinthians 11,23-29[30-32]
Gründonnerstag  030 weiß
Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop † 1109
21. April 2011

            1. O Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us the joy of Your bread to eat and Your cup to drink in remembrance of Your sufferings, we pray, enlighten us so that by true self-examination we may worthily receive that Sacrament, in true discernment of Your presence.  Amen.  
            2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to St. Paul the holy apostle writes: 23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, 24and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.“ 25In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.“ 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He arrives. 27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.  This is our text.
            3. On this night, Maundy Thursday, we begin to draw to a close Lent and Holy Week. The final three day of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Saturday) constitute what the Church calls the Triduum. These next three days are the pinnacle of Lent and Holy Week and take us through the final hours of Jesus precious life, His humiliation, suffering, and death on the cross, and lead us to that first Easter dawn.
            4. Our Lord Jesus Christ institutes the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper during the Jewish feast of Passover. The old testament Passover, which Moses tells Israel, is to be a day of remembrance for you; you shall perpetually celebrate it as a festival to Yahweh (Exodus 12,14). The Passover involves a meal: lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. The Passover reminds Israel of Yahweh’s great act of deliverance from Egyptian slavery and entrance into the Promised Land. Year after year, Israel celebrated the Passover, and even today Jews continue to celebrate Passover.
            5. In A.D. 30 Jesus celebrated His last Passover with His disciples (Thursday 31. March). Passover is the great festival of redemption and a feast of hope looking forward to the arrival of the Messiah. Thus the Apostle Paul proclaims: »Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed« (1 Corinthians 5,7). Jesus arrived to fulfill the old testament. He is our Passover and Deliverer from sin, death, hell, and the devil. He is our Paschal lamb who was slain for the world’s sin. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover, and He fulfills the old testament by establishing a new testament. The old testament flows to the new testament and the new testament flows from the old testament. The old testament prepared the way for Jesus, and the new testament is founded solidly upon Jesus. Thus, Jesus institutes a new Passover meal, a new testament Sacrament, that we call the Lord’s Supper. This Holy Communion is grounded upon Jesus and points our gaze upon Him alone.
            6. This Holy Sacrament involves the elements of bread and wine which becomes the body and blood of Jesus. Here the Apostle Paul exhorts us: »Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself« (27-29).
            7. St. Paul tells us to examine ourselves so as to guard against unworthy eating. There are two main ways Christians become guilty of unworthy eating. If a person does not recognize the sacramental presence of Christ in this meal so that he or she removes the real presence of the bread and the wine (Roman Catholic transubstantiation), then such a person does not rightly understand the Sacrament and partakes of it unworthily. If a person does not recognize the sacramental presence of Christ in this meal so that he or she removes the real presence of the body and blood (Reformed memorialism [Gedenkheit]) so that the bread and wine are mere symbols of the absent body and blood of Christ, then such a person does not rightly understand the Sacrament and partakes of it unworthily. A worthy eating understands that the verb „is“ means „is“. Thus, the worthy recipient knows and believes that the bread is bread, the wine is wine, and by nature of the sacramental union the bread is also Christ’s body and the wine is also Christ’s blood. We do not need to know how this is but only believe that it is by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures.
            8. Jesus Himself exhorts us to eat and drink the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him (25), and St. Paul declares that as often as we partake of this Sacrament we proclaim Jesus’ death until He returns. The Holy Scriptures truly teach that the Lord’s Supper is a commemoration and a memorial meal of Jesus’ crucifixion for us and in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper, then, focuses our attention upon Christ crucified. And naturally, we will feel sorrow and guilt over what Jesus endured on our behalf to redeem us back to His Heavenly Father.
            9. The Sacrament of the Altar, however, does not merely look back in remembrance to Jesus’ crucifixion but the Sacrament also looks forward to celebrating it with Jesus also partaking of it  on the last day. The Gospel according to Matthew records that after Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday, He said to the apostles: »I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s reign« (Matthew 26,29). Holy Communion, then, looks back and remembers Jesus crucified for us and also looks ahead with the hope of Christian faith that we will one day eat and drink this Sacrament with Jesus our Lord also partaking of it in our midst.
            10. Jesus rightly teaches that this Sacrament is partaken in remembrance of Him and His crucifixion, and He furthermore properly teaches in this Lord’s Supper we receive the forgiveness of sins. Jesus said to the Jews: »I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the Living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the Bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this Bread will live forever« (John 6,51.53-58).
            11. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record that Jesus spoke concerning the Lord’s Supper: »this is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for everyone for the forgiveness of sins« (Matthew 26,28). „These words, „Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,“ show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation“ (Luther 31).
            12. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to examine ourselves and approach the Lord’s Table worthily. „That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: „Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.““ (Luther 31). The Lord’s Supper is for sinners. We gather together for this meal to receive the Lord’s absolution upon our sinfulness, and in this Sacrament the Lord puts His absolution in our mouths. „This Communion is a meal for the sinner because it is the meal of the penitent and those who are repentant. It is the meal for sinners in view of the cruel death of Jesus who have been deeply frightened over their own debt and godlessness. It is the meal for sinners who do not look for someone else to be guilty for the death of Jesus, but confess that they are the ones responsible for it, so that He had to die“[1] (Wenz 3 §24).
            13. If you desire the forgiveness of your sins, then come to the Lord’s Supper and receive the absolution that Jesus paid for with His very own body and blood. Receive Him in this Sacrament in faith and believe that in this Sacrament Jesus gives you what He has promised, namely the forgiveness of all your sins.
      14. We leave the altar in God’s peace, for Christ gives us His body and blood. Therefore, we have life everlasting, life won upon the cross and given out in the Sacrament of the Altar, and we will have life in a resurrected body forever in the Lord’s presence. Tonight we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in church fellowship, but on the last day we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper with the Lord Jesus Himself partaking of the meal again. Jesus is both the Giver and the Gift; receive the salvation He graciously and freely gives in this holy and blessed Sacrament.  Amen.
            15. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, You have caused Your wonders to be remembered; You are gracious and merciful. In this Sacrament of the Altar You give us Your true body and blood in the true bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins. Help us to rightly remember all You have done for us in Your life and crucifixion whereby You merited the forgiveness of each and every sin we have or will commit, for Your forgiveness is properly given to us through this new testament Passover meal we call Holy Communion, so that we may always know and believe that we are at peace with You on account of Your holy merit that has been applied to us as our own merit. Amen.

Which is poured out for everyone.
X

                All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 
                Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.
                Luther, Martin. Luther’s Small Catechism. Copyright © 1986 Concordia Publishing House.
                Wenz, Armin. A sermon preached on 1.April 2010 (Maundy Thursday) in Oberursel, Germany on 1 Corinthians 11,23-32. Copyright © 2010 The Rev. Dr. Armin Wenz. Translation © 2011 The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind.







[1] Nein, das Abendmahl ist Mahl der Sünder, weil es das Mahl der Buße, der Umkehr ist. Das heißt: Es ist das Mahl für die Sünder, die angesichts des grausamen Sterbens Jesu über ihre eigene Schuld und Gottlosigkeit zutiefst erschrocken sind. Es ist das Mahl für die Sünder, die nicht andere Schuldige für den Tod Jesu suchen, sondern die bekennen, daß sie selber schuld daran sind, daß er sterben mußte.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011

NY1 reporter Rosemary Shultz has an excellent report on Easter that she filmed at our church on Easter Sunday. Click on the link below to see her video:

Bergen Christians Renew Faith On Easter

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Mark 16,1-8. Easter Sunday

X Jesus Christ, the Son of God X



Mark 16,1-8

Ostersonntag  034 weiß

Egbert, priest, † 729. Johann Walter, Kantor, † 1570

24. April 2011



            1. O Lord Jesus Christ, grant that the festival of Your glorious and gracious resurrection which we celebrate this days may indeed be for all of us a true Easter festival, a festival of resurrection, of life, of liberty, of grace, of forgiveness, of righteousness, and joy. And grant that today no one of us may leave this house, dedicated to Your glory, without recognizing, believing, and therefore rejoicing in the fact that also each one of us has long ago been truly reconciled through You to our Heavenly Father, and that in You all our sins have long ago been forgiven (Walther 229).  Amen. 

            2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to Mark where the holy evangelist writes: 1When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?“ 4And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back – it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they placed Him. 7But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.“ 8And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  This is our text.

            3. Jesus has done it; He is through (Nagel 118). But Mary Magdalene, Salome, and the other Mary didn’t know it yet (Nagel 118). While the apostles hid in fear, the women ventured forth at the break of dawn to Jesus’ tomb. They went to the tomb to finish burying Jesus. He had died so late on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. The women, John, Lazarus, and Joseph of Arimathea had precious little time to place Jesus in a tomb before sundown. Permission needed to be granted by the Romans to remove His corpse from the cross, then a burial linen needed to be wrapped around the dead body, the tomb needed to be opened, Jesus placed therein, and the tomb resealed with a large stone. All this needed to be done by 6 p.m. Friday, for at 6 p.m. the Sabbath began and they had to be home resting in observance of the seventh day.

            4. Jesus’ burial, therefore, had been done in haste. On Sunday morning the women would give Jesus a proper burial with deliberate respect, honor, and love. They did not expect Jesus to be risen from the dead, for the pressing issue on their minds was who would open up the tomb for them.

            5. We worship the same God that these faithful women worship. Our God is a great and awesome God. God the Father sent an angel to roll away the stone from Jesus’ tomb. God met the need of these women.

            6. These noble women were the first to hear the gospel. They were not only noble in stature, but noble in society. These women were prominent disciples of Jesus. Mary Magdalene (who is the only lady mentioned by name in all Four Gospel accounts of Easter Sunday) was a woman from whom Jesus had exorcised seven demons. She was a wealthy woman who supported Jesus’ ministry out of her means. And Salome was the wife of Zebedee, the mother of the apostles James and John, and (according to Christian tradition) the sister of the Virgin Mary. The other Mary mentioned here was the mother of James, and this other James was also an apostle of Jesus. These women traveled with the twelve apostles. They saw the miracles Jesus performed. They heard the teachings and parables. They ate and fellowshipped with Jesus. They supported the ministry of Jesus. Mary, Salome, and the others believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and the King of Israel. These women were noble in their deeds, awakening early on Sunday morning to apply spices to Jesus’ lifeless body so as to complete the Jewish burial rite. The angel who appeared as a young man in a white robe changed all that.

            7. These dear women look in the opened tomb and find a different man than the one they had expected to see. The women had expected Jesus to be a lifeless corpse lying on a stone shelf in the tomb. Much to their surprise, the women behold a young man seated on the right side, dressed in a white robe. Without a word from God, the sight of the empty tomb could be the effect of several different causes. God sends an angel to explain what the empty tomb means. This angel gives the women the straightforward facts: Jesus was crucified, He is risen, and He is not here at the tomb. The women went to the tomb expecting to find a dead Jesus, but instead they find an empty tomb and the proclamation of a living, resurrected Jesus.

            8. Mark’s resurrection account is unlike the other Gospel accounts in that the Gospel according to Mark ends without anyone actually seeing the risen Jesus. In fact, Mark’s Gospel ends with the women trembling, astonished, and afraid at what the angel had told them. The shocking news was overwhelming. And so ends the Gospel Reading for Easter Sunday from the Gospel according to Mark.

            9. What makes this Gospel account so compelling and powerful is the fact that the women did not see the risen Jesus. The only evidence they have for His resurrection is that the tomb is empty and the angel proclaims to them that Jesus is risen. Like the women, we are seated here this morning hearing that Jesus is risen. The Gospel according to Mark proclaims it. The pastor preaches it. And like the women, we hear the gospel message and believe that Jesus is risen.

            10. The Gospel according to Mark begins with God’s messenger announcing what God was about to do (1,2-8); it closes with God’s messenger announcing what God has done [16,-8] (Garland 613). In Mark 1 the way is to be prepared; in Mark 16 the way has been prepared and the disciples are to follow, going to Galilee, where Jesus has gone before them (Garland 613). The angel gives them the task of proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection to Peter and the disciples. The women are not to dilly-dally around the empty tomb but to make haste and go straightaway to the disciples and proclaim the gospel. Jesus is on His way to Galilee, and that is where the women and the disciples can see Him in His resurrected body.

            11. The Apostle Peter gets special mention here for at least two reasons. First, Peter is the first and last disciple named in Mark’s Gospel (Garland 614). Mark wrote his Gospel around A.D. 43[1] (Eusebius 50). Eusebius, advisor to Emperor Constantine and Church historian, says that Mark’s Gospel is based on what he heard Peter preach in Rome. This year’s Easter date is also important because tomorrow, 25. April is the liturgical day set aside for Mark the Evangelist who was martyred in A.D. 68. in Alexandria, Egypt. That is the same year when both Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. Second, Peter is singled out because he had three times denied knowing Christ on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Peter is still an apostle and a disciple, and the angel wants him to especially know this. Jesus does not give up on His disciples, no matter how great their failure or how many their faults (Garland 614). That good news is the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection. The risen Christ and His empty tomb proclaim that Jesus has triumphed over death. Sin and the devil have also been conquered. Hell hath no fury for those who are in Christ Jesus.

            12. „Jesus lives, and by His words and Spirit He puts His death and His life into you. You are baptized. „Your life is hid with Christ in God“ (Colossians 3,3). Go, tell, live that. There is angel’s work to do. Jesus has done it, crucified and risen, but some don’t know it yet“ (Nagel 120-1). Go and proclaim Christ’s resurrection.

            13. The Early Christians used to greet each other at Easter with this salutation in Greek: Cristo~ anesth! Alhqw~ anesth. Hallelujah! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed. Hallelujah! He is risen and we are redeemed back to God the Father. He is risen and our sins are all forgiven. He is risen and death has been conquered. He is risen and Satan has been defeated. He is risen and we now have everlasting life. Jesus is risen and He does not give up on you, His disciples. Rejoice, and be glad, for Christ has triumphed over death and the grave. He is the Resurrection and the Life: He is our Resurrection and our Life, now and eternally. Amen and amen!

            14. Let us pray. O Lord, Most Merciful and Gracious God! The power of Your resurrection makes it clear to us that we are redeemed from the fear of death, and that we are no longer shaken and horrified by our life on this sinful earth. O Lord, make us joyful of Your resurrection and fill us with delightful hope so that we whether we live or are awaiting death we are nevertheless assured of the resurrection of the dead. O Lord Jesus, You were once dead but have become alive again so that You have the keys of death and hell so that we sing our Hosannas and our Hallelujahs for You are our propitiation both in the hour of our parting and in our resurrection! By Your death and Your resurrection, we live!  Amen. (Löhe 6 §7).

Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden.
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                All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Mark © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson. 
                Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History. Copyright © 1998 Hendrickson Publishers.
                Garland, David E. Mark, The NIV Application Commentary:. Copyright © 1996 David E. Garland.
                Löhe, Wilhelm. A sermon preached on Mark 16,1-8 on Osterfeste. Translation © 2011 The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind.
                Walther, C. F. W. The Word of His Grace. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod Translation Committee, translator. Copyright © 1978 Graphic Publishing Company, Inc.



[1] Many conservative theologians date the Gospel according to Mark between A.D. 50-60. See Garland 26-28 for details about Papias’ dating of the Gospel.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Holy Week Schedule

Maundy Thursday Divine Service with the Lord's Supper, 21. April at 7:30 p.m.

Good Friday Divine Service, 22. April at 7:30 p.m.

Please join us for our Word and Sacrament Divine Services this Holy Week.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

John 12,12-19. The 6th Sunday in Lent: Palmarum

X In the Name of Jesus X

John 12,12-19
Palmarum (6. Sonn. der Passionszeit)  028 branches of palm trees“
Anicet, Bishop of Rome, Martyr 173
17. April 2011

            1. O Almighty and Everlasting God, who of Your tender love towards mankind, has sent Your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, so that all mankind should be redeemed by His great humility; mercifully grant, that we may both look to His cross where salvation was purchased, and also be made partakers of His resurrection. (Book of Common Prayer 36).
            2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to St. John where the holy evangelist writes: 12The next day the large crowd that had come to the Feast of Passover heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, „Hosanna! Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!“ 14And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15„Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is arriving, sitting on a donkey’s colt!“ 16His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him. 17The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, „You see that you are gaining nothing. Behold, the world has gone after him.“  This is our text.
            3. On this day we remember and celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The liturgical name for this day is Palm Sunday (Palmarum) receives its name from today’s reading from the Gospel according to John, where the holy evangelist and apostle writes, »They took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Jesus« (John 12,13). John, along with the three Synoptic Gospels known as Matthew, Mark, and Luke, declares that the Son of Man rides into Jerusalem on a colt. There are numerous symbols and prophetic fulfillments with Jesus’ triumphal entry.
            4. Jesus’ reception was not uncommon. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey in the spirit of Solomon who also rode up to Jerusalem on a donkey for his coronation as David’s successor (1 Kings 1,33.38). On Palm Sunday, a colt is blessed to bear upon his young back the Son of Man. This colt receives and rejoices in Jesus by being a colt and doing what a colt does, namely, a steadfast beast of burden upon which a person can ride. Jewish tradition dating back to the Old Testament kings reveals that it was the common practice for the Jews to carry green palm branches and to place their garments before the king at public celebrations (Gerhard 286; 2 Kings 9,13; Nehemiah 8,15). Christ’s entry into Jerusalem began on the Mount of Olives, and thus it is probable that some of these palms were olive palms. Olive branches signify peace (Gerhard 291; Genesis 8,11). Palms also signify victory and conquest (Gerhard 292). The usual cry was „Hosanna!“ for they were welcoming in the king, a son of David. „Hosanna“ means „O Lord, help us!“
            5. All the Scriptural images portray the messiah as the triumphant King who rides in justifying and saving (Zechariah 9,9). The disciples and the crowd saw Jesus fulfilling the Prophet Zechariah, and so they began joyously singing: »Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of the Lord! We bless You from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He made His light to shine upon us«. (Psalm 118,26-27a).
            6. Finally, the disciples and the crowds are getting the messiah they had anticipated. Jesus is openly and publicly claiming to be Israel’s king and messiah. In short order they expect Jesus will call down fire from heaven, drive the Romans out of Judea, and establish a glorious temporal reign greater than that of David and Solomon. Even the Pharisees begin to resign themselves to the fact that Jesus is destined to restore Israel’s fortunes, for they despair that the entire world has gone after Him. Such is the hope of men and women. We want Jesus to be a regal king in the image of King Arthur and Camelot who will right all the wrongs and conquer all the foes that infest the land. For the Jews it was remove the pagan Roman occupiers, for us it is lower our taxes, give us jobs, and eliminate the national debt.
            7. Yahweh, however, has grander and longer-term plans than the immediate and temporary concerns that occupy average citizens and their nation. After His triumphant entry on Palm Sunday, Jesus set about the affairs of His kingdom. His first act was not to drive the Romans out of the temple courtyard, but the Jews. It was not the pagan Roman presence that had tarnished the temple but Yahweh’s own people had turned the temple from a house of prayer into a den of insurrectionists. God’s people need to understand that it is not just the other person who needs redemption but themselves. Jesus arrived to cleanse His temple, redeem His chosen people, and even suffer for the sins of the pagan nations, including the Romans. Jesus arrived not merely to be the King of the Jews, but to be the King of the world for the psalmist proclaims, »All nations … will come and worship before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your Name« (Psalm 86,9).  
            8. Thus the Prophets acclaimed that the messiah would justify and save sinners, like you and me. Zechariah proclaims Jesus to be a Righteous Savior. The Holy Gospels recount that Jesus was a Suffering Servant and not a King Arthur. Jesus has a realm centered on Calvary and not Camelot. Jesus’ royal steed was not a veteran, armored warhorse but a humble donkey bearing his first passenger. Jesus’ throne was not a splendid chair but a wooden cross. Jesus did not wear a golden diadem but a crown of thorns.
           9. Human nature naturally assumes that victory should be glorious and wondrous, and yet, four days after His triumphant entry Jesus was betrayed, sentenced to death, and executed as an enemy of the Roman State. Triumphal victory turned into horrendous defeat, however, Christ’s victory was couched in His defeat. Christ’s victory lay in the cross, and by His sacrifice He conquered sin, death, and the devil for you and me. Christ gives these victorious gifts to us.
            10. „Christ’s gifts are two-fold. First He bestows on us freedom from evil and then He grants us Himself as our own. In whomever Christ dwells, he can say then: Whatever belongs to Jesus belongs to me, too. His righteousness is mine, His purity is mine, His life is mine, His suffering and death is mine, His blessedness, His heaven is mine. Hallelujah!“ (Walther 31).
            11. Before Christ hung on the cross as our paschal lamb, He first entered Jerusalem as our king. Martin Luther liked to say that ,,Our salvation does not depend on the fact that we believe Christ to be the Savior of the godly, but that He is a Savior to us and has become our own“ (Luther 1,21). It is not enough that Christ saves us from the rule and tyranny of sin, death, and hell, and becomes our king, but He offers Himself to us for our possession, so that whatever He is and has may be ours“ (Luther 1,27). Christ’s righteousness is our righteousness; His blessedness is our blessedness. He is our King, our Savior, and our Son of Man crucified for us so that we are now redeemed back to our Heavenly Father. Jesus arrived in the Name of the Lord, and He is blessed. He brings with Him the coming Reign of David, and it is a blessed reign of forgiveness and justification that Christ gives to us. That’s why all of us should truly welcome this Christ-King, recognizing Him as our Righteous Helper, and by the power of the Word, Sacraments, and faith, enjoy Him now and forever!“ (Luther 5,370). So with the disciples we acclaim, »Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!« (Matthew 21,9). And with the psalmist we affirm, »Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!« (Psalm 115,1). The Lord's glory is Christ Jesus who faithfully entered Jerusalem on a donkey to show us God's loving-kindness.   Amen.
            12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Son of Man who was lifted up on the cross, pour out upon us in Your Word and Sacraments grace and mercy so that we who believe in You will have eternal life.  Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!
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                All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, John © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson. 
                Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 1771 Oxford University Press.
                Luther, Martin. The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, Vols. 1 and 5. Eugene F. A. Klug, Ed. Copyright © 2000 Baker Book House Company.
                Walther, C. F. W.  Treasury of C. F. W. Walther, Volume 1: Festival Sermons and Prayers from the Advent through Epiphany Seasons. Copyright © 2008 Joel Baseley, Translator and Editor.