Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: April 2013

Monday, April 22, 2013

Boston, MA and West, TX

With sad hearts, the news media covered two tragedies this past week: the bombing at the Boston Marathon and the factory explosion in West, TX. We pray, and keep in our prayers, those injured and mourning loved ones and those caring for their physical and spiritual needs.

O Heavenly Father, creation's Providence, work through the men and women who are helping those in Boston and West to bring comfort to those injured and suffering, bring peace to those hurting and restore them all to health and strength, so that in Your Light they see the light of Your providence and love. Amen.

Here is a portion of an old German Lutheran prayer which petitions God for protection:

"I commend to You my life and soul, my honor and good desires. Let Your mercy and goodness always accompany me. Keep Your hand over me, whether I go or stay, sit or walk, awake or asleep. Shield me from the arrows, which are daily flung, from pestilence, the creeping darkness, from contagious diseases, and the midday spoilage. Bless my food, give me what You will, and what I need. Help me to properly use Your gifts.

Keep us all from war, hunger, pestilence, and from an evil, sudden death. Protect my soul, my going out and coming in from now and until eternity. Bestow upon me a blissful end and let me cherish the upcoming days and await the appearance of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ with desire and delight.

God the Father bless me and protect me, God the Son illuminate Your face on me and have mercy upon me, God the Holy Spirit place Your countenance upon me and give me Your peace. Amen." (Kirchen-Gesangbuch für Evangelisch-Lutherische Gemeinden ungeänderter Augsburgischer Confession, 1892. Translation © 2001 The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind.)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Genesis 1,1-4.26-31. Jubilate

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Genesis 1,1-4a.26-31;2,1-4a 2513

Jubilate (3. Sonntag nach Ostern) 038 weiß

Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop † 1109

21. April 2013

1. O Almighty God, who shows to all people who are in error the light of Your truth, with the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant faithfulness unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, so that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession of faith, and follow all such things as be agreeable to the same (The Book of Common Prayer). Amen.

2. ²⁶Then Elohim said: „Let Us make manin Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.“ ²⁷So Elohim created man in His own image, in the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸And Elohim blessed them.

3. The Prophet Moses tells us that when Elohim had finished creating the universe, He rested from this mighty work. He blessed this day of rest, and commanded men and women to also take a weekly day of rest. Jesus Himself honored this commandment during His earthly life. His body also rested in the grave from His work on the cross.

4. The Psalmist declares: »O creation, say to God: „How awesome are Your deeds! Your power is so great that Your enemies come cringing to You“« (Psalm 66,3). On the 8. day, Jesus rose from His grave. Sunday now marks the day of resurrection and the new creation. Thus we join with all creation in praising Jesus for His awesome resurrection work.

5. Not all of creation, however, agrees with the Psalmist. We are all sinners, but there are some who are so thoroughly wicked that they rejoice in chaos, destruction and death. We have witnessed this evil attitude once again this past Monday with the bombs set off at the Boston Marathon. Rather than rejoice in life, health and activity, two brothers relished in serving up death and carnage upon human bodies and spirits. Our sermon text from Genesis espouses life and praises Yahweh God as the God who gives and sustains life as His good work in all of creation. Sinful people, however, would rather celebrate death and bring pain upon God’s creation, especially upon men and women who are His crowning achievement in all the universe.

6. This wicked attitude should not surprise us, for as Moses later tells us in Genesis 3: the devil deceived Adam and Eve into sin and rebellion against the Triune God. He tricked them into exchanging life for death and wisdom for lies. Jesus later told the Jews who opposed Him: »You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies« (John 8,44). The sons and daughters of the devil still carry out their murdering and maiming even in our day.

7. In the midst of such wickedness and heartache, the resurrection of Jesus shines forth as a beacon of victory and life. Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection of all mankind (1. Corinthians 15,20-22). His resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection at His command on the last day. All of creation, however, will benefit on this last day. The Apostle Paul writes in His Epistle to the Romans: »For I consider that the sufferings of this present time [καιροῦ] are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now« (Romans 8,18-22).

8. The Holy Scriptures teach that the decay and depravity of this world will not ultimately have the final say in our lives. Terrorists and murders can hurt people and take their lives, but the resurrection of Jesus promises to overcome the horrors of this world. On the last day, Jesus will restore life, make limbs whole and bring a new creation from destruction. The Introit praises Yahweh with the words of the Psalmist: »Shout for joy to Elohim, all the earth, Hallelujah. Sing the glory of His Name, Hallelujah.« (Psalm 66,1b-2a). Truly do we join in that praise and jubilation, for Christ Jesus is the Joy of God and the Glory of His Name. Jesus gives us this joy and glory now with forgiveness and faith and later on the last day with everlasting salvation.

9. The Scriptures furthermore teach that mankind’s sin and the curse levied against us by Yahweh will be removed by Jesus. Right now, we have forgiveness and absolution pronounced upon us for our sin, but on the last day Jesus will remove all sin and undo the curse. This is simply a return to the created order found in Genesis 1 and 2. When Jesus resurrects our body, it will be a body without any taint of original sinfulness. Our resurrected body will be a body and soul fully in the image and likeness of God. This is simply a return to original righteousness wherein we, by nature, will fear God and believe in Him every single second of our eternal existence. With original sin removed, the actual sins we now commit will also be a thing of the past; we simply will not commit any sin for we will be pure and holy by nature. Without sin, the curse upon sin will be unnecessary. This means men will no longer sweat and struggle in their work; women will no longer give birth in great pain; men and women will be once again in full communion with each other as equals created in God’s image and likeness; people will not grow old and die in the eternal life to come.

10. Many philosophically ask: Does history repeat itself, or is it linear? The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Chinese pioneered the understanding that history is cyclical, meaning that mankind’s history alternates between Dark and Golden Ages. A staple of modern Western civilization is the understanding that history is linear, meaning that Event A occurs which leads to Event B and then Event C, and so forth; this is essentially the philosophy of cause and effect.

11. The Holy Scriptures view history as both cyclical and linear. In linear thinking: Adam sinned, which lead to war, suffering and other heartaches. God intervened with Jesus, the Second Adam, and redeemed mankind. In cyclical thinking: God created mankind to live in a perfect Golden Age, but Adam sinned and brought forth a Dark Age. God continues to intervene in history with the goal of returning mankind to a smaller version of a golden age. This cycle occurs over and over throughout the centuries. In the grand view of history, God is always cycling mankind back into the Golden Age, meaning that God is working to restore mankind, once and for all, back to the Golden Age of Eden. It works out this way: God created Adam and Eve to live in a Golden Age. Adam sinned and brought forth a Dark Age. God sent Jesus, the Second Adam, to restore mankind to the Golden Age. This golden restoration was inaugurated with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection; it will be brought to grand fulfillment on the last day when He restores all creation back to the idyllic nature of Eden.

12. We rejoice that God does not give up on His fallen, sinful creation. Jesus is the Golden Child, the one who restores mankind back unto God and the joys of eternal life in His Divine presence. On the 6. day of creation, Elohim proclaimed: »It is very good.« God the Father declared of Jesus: »Behold, this is My Son in whom I am well-pleased.« This Jesus suffered on the cross and rose from His grave, thereby meriting the proclamation once again of „very good“ unto fallen mankind in God’s eyes. On the last day, Jesus will declare of all Christian believers: »You are very good, for I have resurrected your body and soul in My image and likeness.« God be praised for all Jesus does for us! Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Risen Christ, who preserves the lives of His people, remind us of Your redeeming merit which promises us future, eternal victory so that we may patiently endure the sufferings of this fallen world as we hope upon the new Eden that arrives at Your return. 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, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

John 21,15.19. Misericordias Domini

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

John 21,15-19 2413

Miserikordias Domini (2. Sonntag nach Ostern) 037 weiß

Tiburtius and Valerianus, Martyrs at Rome 229

14. April 2013

1. O Almighty God, who has given Your only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace so that we may always most thankfully receive that His precious benefit, and also daily endeavor ourselves to follow the blessed steps of His most holy life (The Book of Common Prayer). Amen.

2. When the disciples had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter: „Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?“ He said to Him: „Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.“ He said to him: „Feed My lambs.“ He said to him a second time: „Simon, son of John, do you love Me?“ He said to him: „Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.“ He said to him: „Tend My sheep.“ He said to him the third time: „Simon, son of John, do you love Me?“ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time: „Do you love Me?“ and he said to Him: „Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You.“ Jesus said to him: „Feed My sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.“ This He said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this He said to him: „Follow me.“

3. On the night of His arrest, the Apostle Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times. His denial was caused by fear: Peter was afraid that if he confessed knowing Jesus, then the Jewish temple soldiers would arrest him as a corroborator with Jesus. Peter feared for his life, and in a moment of weakness said what he had earlier vowed he would not say: „I do not know this Jesus!“ In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus gives the Apostle Peter three opportunities to profess His faithfulness to Him. Three times, once for each denial, Jesus asked Peter: „Do you love Me?“ and three times Peter confesses: „Yes, Jesus, I love You.“ Resurrection faith triumphs over the cross’ shadow.

4. Jesus exhorted Peter to feed and tend His sheep. Here Jesus instituted das Predigtamt (the Preaching Office). Through this Office the Holy Spirit gives to the Church Christ’s gifts of the Word and the Sacraments. Our Lutheran Confessions speak of it this way: „To obtain faith, God has instituted the Preaching Office, giving the Gospel and the Sacraments, through these as through means, He gives the Holy Spirit who works faith, where and when He wills, in those who hear the gospel, which teaches that through Christ’s merit, not through our merit, we have a Gracious God, when we so believe“ (The Augsburg Confession 5,1-10). What Jesus tells Peter here in John 21, He tells all the apostles in Matthew 28: »Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you« (28,19-20).

5. The Holy Spirit feeds and tends the Church through the Word and the Sacraments. By these He teaches the Church through the Holy Scriptures, exhorting her to cling to Christ and refuting all manner of false doctrines. By these He creates, preserves and strengthens faith in the crucified Christ. By these He proclaims our salvation and forgiveness merited by Christ Jesus our Lord. The apostles were sent to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments to the Church on her behalf. The apostles then ordained into office bishops and pastors to carry on this preaching and administering of the Word and the Sacraments.

6. Jesus furthermore bade Peter: »Follow Me.« This command to follow Jesus was extended to each of the apostles, disciples, bishops and pastors. Today, the Preaching Office exhorts individual Christians to follow Jesus. This is a serious exhortation. Jesus told Peter that following Him would lead to suffering and crucifixion. These tribulations would glorify Jesus. Following Jesus in the 21. century is still full of tribulations. Christians who live in Muslim countries daily face persecution and martyrdom for being Christian instead of Muslim. Christians in America are routinely mocked and denigrated in society, film and on TV. Through the Word and the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit encourages us and strengthens our faith in the midst of such trials and tribulations. In the midst of tribulation, the Apostle Paul encourages us with these words: »Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written: „Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.“«

[Deuteronomy 35,32] (Romans 12,12.14.19).

7. Paul can write these words because the one who suffered for all the world and experienced the tribulation of crucifixion, is now the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. This Christ who suffered is now our exalted, risen Christ. Christ has conquered, and He promises His Christian people the victory as well. He has experienced the depths of our human existence and He gives us hope, encouragement and the promise of eternal life with Him in pure heavenly bliss.

8. To follow Christ is to follow Him upon the path of suffering and tribulation during this earthly life, but more importantly, to follow Christ is to follow Him to the cross, through the grave and into eternal life and triumph. The love of Christ sustains us along our earthly journey, and faith in Christ receives all His help and blessings His richly pours upon us in our time in both the good times and the bad. We love Christ who first loved us and redeemed us back to God the Father. We follow Christ who sought us out and returned us safely to His fold. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd, send forth the Holy Spirit to our church and in our lives so that we know we are Your sheep and follow You in both faith and sanctified living. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12th Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Mark 16,9-20. Quasimodogeniti

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Mark 16,9-14[15-20] 2313

Quasimodogeniti (1. Sonntag nach Ostern) 036 weiß

Hegesippus, Church historian, † 180 at Jerusalem

7. April 2013

1. Almighty and Everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery has established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith (The Book of Common Prayer). O Risen Christ, eight days after Your resurrection, You had to give the Apostle Thomas convincing proof that You were indeed alive and well. Help us, O Holy Spirit, to use convincing words when we speak to neighbors about Christ and His resurrection, so that they may hear the gospel and believe unto salvation. Amen.

2. Now when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After these things He appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Afterward He appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. And He said to them: „Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.“ So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

3. When Jesus had risen from the dead, His reception was met with skepticism by His apostles and disciples. The women left His empty tomb in fear. Peter and John went to the tomb, but did not understand what it truly meant. Today we heard in our Gospel Reading how Thomas refused to believe the testimony of his fellow apostles. The days surrounding Easter Sunday are muddied with unbelief.

4. „There’s lots we can miss out on without great loss in this life and even in death, but this one word: „The Lord is risen“ – that’s vital and necessary. We can’t miss out on that one if we want access to life eternal with Him and His holy Church“ (Löhe 159). And yet, in the hours and days following Jesus’ resurrection His disciples were in danger of just that: missing out on eternal life with Jesus.

5. We can rationalize their unbelief, for after all, how often does a person rise from the dead after being in the grave for three days? If we search the entire Holy Scriptures for resurrection miracles we will only find a small handful of examples of them in both the old and new testaments. Three people are resurrected in the Old Testament and three people are resurrected in the Holy Gospels by Jesus.

This is no coincidence. By the time Jesus died, six people had been raised back to life. This mirrors the six days of creation, one person for each day, and on the seventh day Yahweh rested from His work. The seventh person raised back to life is Jesus on His day of rest so that all people might enjoy the eternal day of rest of everlasting life on the new heavens and earth. Following Jesus, there were three more resurrections that occurred in the early days of the apostles.

6. If unbelief clouded the hearts and minds of Jesus’ apostles and disciples, who saw Him personally raise three individuals back to the life, and the last being Lazarus merely weeks before Jesus’ own resurrection, how much more does unbelief threaten to cloud our own hearts and minds who have no personal witness of Jesus raising people back to life. This lack of experience, however, is no excuse for anyone today, twenty centuries removed from the first Easter Sunday, from hearing and believing in Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus rebuked His apostles and disciples when they had heard the proclamation of His resurrection and yet refused to believe the testimony given to them. Jesus issues this same rebuke to people today who after hearing the proclamation of His resurrection, also still refuse to believe what they have heard.

7. Do not let unbelief cloud your hearts and minds. Do not dismiss the working of the Holy Spirit in your hearts and minds when you hear the gospel preached to you. There is only one path to eternal life in heaven, and that path is the resurrected Jesus. He Himself tells us: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me« (John 14,6). The world says that there are many paths to God, and these need not be through Jesus, but Jesus and the Holy Scriptures say otherwise: eternal salvation is through Jesus only. This is why Jesus is adamant about His apostles and disciples believing the proclamation they had heard of His resurrection.

8. By the working of the Holy Spirit through the proclaimed word, Jesus’ apostles and disciples all believed in Him and His resurrection. Through their preaching, many others heard the resurrection gospel and likewise believed. The Apostle Paul reminds us that: »Faith comes by hearing the preached word of Christ« (Romans 10,17). This proclamation has been carried out throughout the centuries by succeeding generations of Christians who have cast a wide net of preaching throughout the whole world. You and I are merely a small portion in the large catch of fish that have been drawn into the holy ship of the Church (Mark 1,17).

9. Jesus sent His apostles out with this command: »Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned« (16,15-16). Q: How is faith created? A: Faith is created by preaching and baptizing, which is simply the ministry Jesus has given His Church and her pastors to do. You believe because you heard the gospel and were baptized. This is how the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith.

10. The world has moved on from recognizing Easter. Other news now grabs their attention. We, the Church, continue to celebrate and remember Easter. We will do so for a full fifty days until we reach the Feast of Pentecost. It is our duty as Christian disciples to remind our neighbors that Easter is not over nor forgotten. The Easter proclamation is about the risen Jesus. He is not a ghost or a spirit. He is not an inspirational story. His empty tomb is not a cleverly devised myth promulgated by His disciples. The Easter proclamation is about the risen Jesus whose resurrection is proof that the sins He paid for on the cross are indeed forgiven. His resurrection is proof that God the Father is well-pleased with His Son, and if He is well-pleased with Jesus then He is well-pleased with us, too. We need to hear this gospel time and again to encourage us when the world wears us down with tribulations and doubts. Our neighbors need to hear this gospel so they do not forget about the life Jesus has purchased and merited for them. The world needs to hear this gospel for it creates Christians who are salt and light upon the earth, thus providing a check upon the wickedness of this fallen creation.

11. In one of His parables, Jesus describes preaching as a man taking a handful of seed and throwing it to and fro upon all types of soil (Mark 4,3-8). As the gospel is preached, some words fall upon fertile hearts and yields faith and salvation. May the gospel of Jesus’ resurrection sustain faith in your hearts and minds, for you are heirs of the 1. century apostles and disciples who first proclaimed the risen Jesus here and there in the world. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You have done great things for us, and we are glad. You are risen, You are risen indeed. We have heard the gospel of Your resurrection, and we believe, even though we have not seen You with our very eyes. Keep us grounded in this saving faith when the world and our sinful flesh seek to draw us back to the darkness and misery of unbelief, so that we may soar high in the heavens certain and overjoyed at Your resurrection and its power in our lives, namely, that as You are risen and live forever, so too will we. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

Saturday, April 6, 2013

John 20,11-18. Easter Sunday

✠ Jesus Christ, Gottessohn ✠

John 20,11-18 2213

Ostersonntag 034 weiß

Joseph, Patriarch

Amos, Prophet, 838-759 B.C.

31. March 2013

1. O Lord Jesus Christ, on this festive day You awoke from Your sleep in the grave and now raise up all who have slept since the world began. God had died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. God has also risen to new life and death quakes in trepidation, for Your life is our life unto glorious eternity. Amen.

2. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her: „Woman, why are you weeping?“ She said to them: „They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.“ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to Mary Magdalene: „Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?“ Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him: „Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.“ Jesus said to her: „Mary.“ She turned and said to Him in Aramaic: „Rabboni!“ (which means my great teacher). Jesus said to her: „Stop touching Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them: ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’“ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples: „I have seen the Lord!“﹣and that He had said these things to her.

3. On the first Easter Sunday, the Gospel according to John records how Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb to finishing giving Jesus a proper burial. She had found the tomb stone rolled away, and she straightaway went and told the Apostles Peter and John (the author of the Gospel of John). These two apostles ran to the tomb and discovered that the tomb was indeed as Mary had reported: the stone had been moved away, the body of Jesus was not there and his burial linens were set aside complete with the napkin that covered His face neatly folded up. They believed what they saw, but they did not yet understand the Scripture which said He must rise from the dead. After investigating the empty tomb, Peter and John returned home.

4. Our sermon text picks up the story from that point. Mary Magdalene remained behind, but the facts were still the facts: Jesus was dead, and now His body was missing, but worse yet, whoever took Him away had removed His burial clothes. All that was left for Mary to do was to break down and cry. The apparently obvious desecration of her rabbi’s body was too much to bear, but she looks inside one final time. Now she sees two angels seated where Jesus’ body had once lain. Perhaps these angels had removed the body of Jesus, but before they are able to answer she turns and asks someone she perceived to be the cemetery gardener: „Did you take Jesus away? Tell me where He is and I will re-bury Him.“

5. The Scriptures that proclaimed Jesus must rise from the dead (Psalm 16,8-11; Isaiah 53,10-12; Hosea 6,1-2; John 20,9)

had not sunk in to even Mary Magdalene yet. There are several Scriptural texts John had in mind here with this reference. The Prophet Isaiah proclaims: »It was the will of Yahweh to crush His Servant; He has put Him to grief; when His life makes an offering for sin, He sees His offspring; He prolongs His days; the will of Yahweh prospers in His hand. Out of the anguish of His life He sees and is satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, makes everyone to be accounted righteous, and He bears their iniquities. Therefore I divide Him a portion with everyone, and He divides the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His life to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of everyone, and makes intercession for the sinners« (Isaiah 53,10-12). The Prophet Hosea prophesies: »Come, let us return to Yahweh; for He has torn us, so that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He binds us up. After two days He revives us; on the third day He raises us up, so that we may live before Him« (Hosea 6,1-2).

6. Consider also Psalm 16,8-11 where David writes: »I have set Yahweh always before Me; because He is at My right hand, I am not shaken. Therefore My heart is glad, and My whole being rejoices; My flesh also dwells secure. For God shall not abandon My soul to Sheol, or let Your holy one see corruption. You make known to Me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.« The Apostles Peter and Paul use Psalm 16 when preaching Jesus’ resurrection, arguing that the text cannot be about David since David is still sleeping in his tomb.

7. With one word, Jesus creates resurrection faith. Jesus simply says: „Mary.“ Recall the Prophet Isaiah again: »But now thus says Yahweh, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: „Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine“« (Isaiah 43,1). Jesus called Mary by name; she is His and He had redeemed her. Jesus has called each of you by name, too. In the waters of Holy Baptism you were baptized into the Triune Name of God, and He, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, called each of you by name, made you His son or daughter and redeemed you.

8. Mary responded with faith: »Rabboni!«, that is, my great rabbi or my great teacher! The man who stood before her was no mere teacher or gardener but the Great Teacher and the Gardener who is the very Messiah and Christ who gives her everlasting life. In her great joy, Mary was touching Jesus. We just do not know for certain: was Mary embracing Him or was she prostrating before Him at His feet and grabbing His ankles in a posture of worship or was she just putting her hands on Jesus to verify that, yes, this is a very real, physical and alive body of Jesus who had been dead two days earlier?

9. Jesus indulges Mary touching Him, but only for a brief moment, for the time quickly arrives where she must stop. Mary would revel longer in her joy of being in the presence of the risen Jesus, for Jesus has important work for her to do.: »Stop, Mary. It is time for you to go and proclaim to the apostles and disciples what you have seen and heard this morning. Tell them that I am risen; tell them that I am going to ascend to My Father and God.« Mary is the first of the disciples to see the risen Christ Jesus, and He sends Mary to be an apostle to the Eleven Apostles

10. Mary told the apostles that she had seen the risen Jesus. The tomb had been opened, His body is not there and Mary has seen, spoken to and touched Jesus. The horrors of Friday’s crucifixion and burial give way to the shock of an empty tomb and the exultant joy of the risen Jesus. Thus Christ Himself reveals to John in his apocalypse: »I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.« (Revelation 1,18). To hold the keys to something is to exercise authority over it. Death and Hades were locked jail cells for sinful men and women when they died. Death could not be prevented, and Hades could not be avoided. All people die, and since all people are sinners, Hades was our destination. Jesus’ resurrection changed all that. Jesus has the power over Death and Hades. Jesus has overcome Death with His own resurrection and on the last day Jesus will empty all the graves and bring forth resurrected bodies, some to eternal life on the new heavens and earth and many to eternal death in hell.

11. An empty tomb on Easter is not the cornerstone of our Christian faith. The cornerstone of our faith is why the tomb is empty. The Apostle Paul explains the importance of Jesus’ resurrection: »Since Christ is raised from the dead, therefore, the dead will also rise. If Christ has been raised, then our sins are paid in full. Those who now die in Christ have entered Paradise and await the last day when Christ gives them their very own risen body« (1. Corinthians 15,12.17-18). This is the best news for us! We live this life, get sick and eventually will die. Jesus’ resurrection promises that death and the grave are not the end for us, but they are now a transition to eternal life in God’s presence. Thus the apostolic epistles refer to death as sleeping. When you go to sleep you wake up in the morning. For Christians, death is merely going to sleep in the body and waking up in the presence of the Risen Lord Jesus.

12. The Apostle Paul again describes the importance of Jesus’ resurrection: »Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: »Death is swallowed up in victory

[Isaiah 25,8]. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

[Hosea 13,14]« The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ« (1. Corinthians 15,51-57).

13. Jesus has redeemed all the world back to His Heavenly Father. Easter Sunday is a glorious day of victory. Christ is risen from His grave! You have been baptized into Jesus’ resurrection, and He promises that on the last day He will likewise raise you up from your grave. We are heirs of the gospel proclamation made by Mary Magdalene, the apostles and all bishops and pastors who continue to preach this gospel heritage. Rejoice and be glad for your sins are forgiven and everlasting salvation is yours through the risen Christ Jesus. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Jesus Christ, You died but then arose, You have the keys of Death and Hades, keep us always in this resurrection faith so that we do not fear death or hell but trust in Your redemption for us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

Matthew 27,33-54. Good Friday

✠ We preach Christ and Him crucified ✠

Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudaeorum

Matthew 27,33-50 [51-54] 2113

Karfreitag 031 schwarz

Eustace, Abbot of Luxeuil, France. Apostle to the Bavarians, † 629

29. March 2013

1. O silent, blessed Good Friday! O evening after a hard day’s work, O Lovely Evening Star after darkness filled the day! O Divine Rest for sinners! O Hope of eternal life, O Blessed End of suffering, passion and tears! Lord have mercy on us in Your reign, grant and keep us in Your great peace from which all joy grows and hope too. Have mercy on us O Lord, grant us Your peace O Jesus (Löhe 157). Amen.

2. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), the Romans offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when He tasted it, He would not drink it. And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over Him there. And over His head they put the charge against Him, which read: „This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.“ Then two insurrectionists were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided Jesus, wagging their heads and saying: „You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.“ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying: „He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if He desires him. For he said: „I am the Son of God.“ And the insurrectionists who were crucified with Him also reviled Him in the same way. Now from 12 noon there was darkness over all the land until 3 p.m. And about 3 p.m. Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: »Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?« that is: »My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?« [Psalm 22,1] And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said: „This man is calling Elijah.“ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink. But the others said: „Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.“ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said: „Truly this was the Son of God!“

3. The events that occurred at the moment of Jesus’ death are events that filmmakers enjoy putting into their catastrophe and end-of-the-world movies. Indeed, such disaster movies are in vogue again, just as they were in the 1970s. Not to be left behind, the TV networks have cashed in on the genre, with shows like The Walking Dead, True Blood and Revolution. The forthcoming movie Star Trek: Into Darkness also taps into this popular genre.

4. „It appears at times that our world embraces all kinds of alarming messages of the end time, while fewer hold to the Church and her Biblical preaching of the end time“

(Wenz 1). Perhaps this is because our 21. century Western culture works hard to avoid death and all appearances of death. Many people are just uncomfortable with death and dying. We work hard to avoid staring at death in all its pain and heartache. We can avoid hospitals, funeral homes, cemeteries and the mirrors in the home, but eventually the cold hand of death catches up with us and we find ourselves in the hospital as a patient or a visitor, we are at the funeral home looking at a loved one lifeless in a coffin, we are paying respects to someone at their tombstone or we are seeing age advance upon us in the mirror.

5. Christians and churches are not immune from ignoring the reality of death. In many churches you might hear about your good buddy Jesus who is your life coach cheering you on to better and better things. Rarely might you hear about Christ and Him crucified for sinners. Karfreitag, however, forces all Christians and churches to look upon death, yes, the death of Jesus, with our own eyes. Karfreitag does not let us shy away from the horrors of death.

6. The Romans took death seriously. Their crucifixions were public. They were carried out along a main thoroughfare so that every one had to pass by and look at the crucified. If you were a criminal condemned to crucifixion, then the Romans humiliated you, made you suffer and ensured that as many people as possible witnessed it.

7. The Gospel explain how Jesus was found guilty by the Jewish Sanhedrin of blasphemy, which is the sin of speaking sacrilegiously about or claiming to be God yourself. Jewish law held this to be a crime punished by death, usually by stoning. In Jesus’ day, however, the Jews couldn’t carry out capital punishment, so they were forced to bring such cases to the Roman governor and try to convince him that a criminal was guilty of execution by the cross. So the Jewish leaders hauled Jesus before Pontius Pilate and argued for His guilt and execution. Pilate tried to avoid giving such a judgment, but the priests and the Pharisees were unrelenting in their charges. So Pilate assented to their charge of guilt and handed Jesus over to be crucified.

8. Jesus’ path to death began when He was beaten to a bloody pulp: twenty lashes from whip formed deep cuts in an „x“ pattern across His back, and then nineteen more lashes across His chest. The Romans didn’t use an Indiana Jones-style bullwhip, but a Roman a cat-of-nine tails fashioned with broken pottery, bits of metal and even nails to tear into the condemned’s flesh. A crown with 6-inch long thorns cut deep lacerations into Jesus scalp. Then Jesus was forced to carry an 100 pound cross beam out to Calvary where He would be stripped naked and crucified. The crucified reeked sweat mingled with blood urine and other bodily releases. The body was bruised and joints often dislocated. Groans and cries for mercy were uttered by the crucified and the onlookers.

9. At Calvary the Romans stretched out Jesus arms and nailed each wrist to the horizontal cross beam. Then His feet were nailed together on the vertical beam so that His body formed a T. „As the crucified 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). Jesus suffered this way for six grueling hours. There were two ways to end this horror: 1. when the crucified could not, or refused to, push up with his legs to breathe, thereby asphyxiating in seconds, or 2. if the fluid pooling around the heart caused congestive heart failure.

10. This is how Jesus suffered, but the Gospels tell us that He did not suffocate or suffer heart failure. Rather, Jesus yielded up His life by His own accord. Let us not avoid this death, but let us look it straight in the eyes, for „the death of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary is the end of the world, as we have known it“

(Wenz 3). Let us confess the whole truth here too. On Karfreitag, God died. We don’t think of God being capable of dying because He is immortal and omnipotent. Q: How can God die? A: He took upon Himself mortal human flesh and blood. The reason Jesus was incarnated in a human body was so He could be the sacrificial lamb for the salvation of the world. The moment Jesus left Mary’s womb He began a path that lead to the cross with His very death for sinners.

11. When Jesus died, the Jewish leaders who had handed Him over to Pilate were elated. That blasphemer who equated himself on par with God the Father was dead. So much for being the Son of God, for he had died. Not much of a God there, suffering and dying humiliated and condemned by the law and the covenant as a Roman criminal against the State. Pilate who knowingly condemned an innocent man to death, comforted his conscience that in doing so he settled the bloodlust of the Sanhedrin against Jesus and thus quelled a potential mob uprising during the very important Jewish feast of Passover. Peace was tentatively maintained, all at the cost of a single man’s life.

12. Behold, the Son of God crucified, and the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sin of the world, yes, for all your sins! Christ crucified is the costly ransom that paid in full all our sinfulness. Behold, there is Jesus, the King of the Jews, and He is dead!

13. But what does the Christ crucified mean for us? His crucifixion means that there can be no doubt that God loves each and every fallen, sinful man and woman. Three years before He was crucified, Jesus told Nicodemus: »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.« (John 3,16). God desired to save the world from sin, death and hell so He sent His one and only Son as a vicarious sacrifice to redeem the world. God did not spare Himself, but rather He sent His very best for you and your salvation.

14. As Jesus died, Matthew the Evangelist points out several important events that miraculously occurred. 1. the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. This curtain separated the holy place from the Holiest of Holies. Only the high priest could enter the Holiest of Holies and be in the Divine presence of Yahweh, and that once a year on the Day of Atonement, the day when corporate absolution was proclaimed upon the people of Israel. As the rightful High Priest, Jesus offered His very own blood for the atonement of all the world when He suffered and died upon the cross. The curtain was now torn in two to show that free access to God’s presence is now granted to all people on account of the atonement achieved by Jesus.

15. 2. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. This earthquake may have been the event that actually tore the curtain in the temple. This earthquake is a manifestation of Yahweh’s awesome power and dominion over creation. As such, this event bridges the act of the temple curtain being torn and the tombs opening up.

16. 3. In Jesus’ day the conventional method of burial was to be interred in a cave with a stone rolled in front. Families were often buried together, depending on the size of the particular cave. Modern day free-standing mausoleums are similar to the cave and stone in the 1. century. Matthew recounts that the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. Again, the earthquake at Jesus’ death is what probably caused this incredible event to happen as the shaking of the earth would either roll the stones away or shatter them into a pile of rubble. Matthew furthermore reports that these risen saints were coming out of the tombs after Jesus’s resurrection; they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many.

17. Imagine the scene of dead loved ones coming back to life and visiting relatives and friends. These were no ghosts or zombies, but people with real, resurrected bodies alive again. This mini-resurrection was the fruit born of Jesus’ resurrection and was a foretaste and preview of the great resurrection that is to arrive on the last day when Jesus returns to this earth in a cloud of heavenly glory. Such an event shows that Jesus’ death on the cross had broken the power of death and the grave, for His atoning sacrifice conquers those two ancient foes of mankind.

18. Finally, when the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said: „Truly this was the Son of God!“

Most of the priests and Pharisees condemned Jesus as a blasphemer for declaring Himself to be God Almighty, but the Roman legionnaires at His crucifixion confessed Jesus to be the Son of God. Truly the gospel and salvation was given out to the Gentiles!

19. Yes, the Son of God died on the cross, and in His dying He paid the law’s price for sin, ransomed us back to God the Father and blessed us with eternal life. Jesus went to His cross nobly and lovingly to save you. He wants you in His everlasting presence and He has merited your presence there by His vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice.

20. The holy apostle proclaims in the Epistle to the Hebrews: »Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of all, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him« (Hebrews 9,27-28). Jesus is the Lord over Death and the Lord of Life. He proclaims: »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). We have seen this truth born out again tonight in the Holy Scriptures that speak of His crucifixion. Jesus is your Resurrection and your Life. Go in peace on this night of salvation. Amen.

21. Let us pray. 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 (The 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 in the gospel, the promise of everlasting salvation. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

✠

Exodus 12,1-14. Holy Thursday

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

Exodus 12,1.3-4.6-7.11-14 2013

Gründonnerstag 030 weiß

Malchus and his companions, Martyrs 260

28. March 2013

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. Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: „Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man will take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor will take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you will make your count for the lamb, and you will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will kill their lambs at twilight.Then they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. In this manner you will eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you will eat it in haste. It is Yahweh’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. This day will be for you a memorial day, and you will keep it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you will keep it as a feast.“

3. Tonight, on Maundy Thursday, we begin the pinnacle of the Church Year and remember die große Heilsgeschichte (the great salvation history) of our Lord Jesus Christ. The final three days of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Saturday) constitute what the Church calls the Triduum, and they take us through the final hours of Jesus’ precious life, His humiliation, suffering and death on the cross.

4. There is a continuity between the testaments. Yahweh gave the Mosaic old testament on Mount Sinai, and He gave the Christian new testament on Mount Calvary. The old testament prepared the way for the new testament.

5. The great feast in the old testament was the Passover meal. Yahweh was about to redeem Israel from Egyptian bondage by sending His angel to pass through the land killing all the firstborn of men and cattle. Each Jewish family was to take a lamb, kill him and put the blood on their doorposts. The angel would passover each house that had this blood and thereby the firstborn would be spared. Each year the Jews celebrate this feast with a Passover meal and remember the great act of deliverance they received from Yahweh’s hand.

6. The great feast in the new testament is the Lord’s Supper. On the night before His death, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper and celebrated it with His apostles. This Abendmahl (evening meal) is the first Sacrament delivered unto Christ’s Church. Jesus tells us that this bread is His body and this wine is His blood. Which body and blood is this? The very body of Christ that would be crucified tomorrow, and the very blood of Christ that He would shed on the cross. Thus the Church teaches the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. This (bread) is the body of Christ; this (cup) is the blood of Christ. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, the Apostle Paul teaches that we participate in the body and blood of Jesus. Thus we participate in Christ’s death. »For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He arrives« (1. Corinthians 11,26).

7. It is easy to see from the Holy Scriptures how the old testament flowed into the new testament. Jesus Himself taught: »Do not think that I have arrived to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not arrived to abolish them but to fulfill them« (Matthew 5,17). The Bible is ultimately about Jesus. The old testament was established to prepare the way for the new testament. The Passover was a type for the Lord’s Supper. The old testament was glorious, but the new testament surpasses the old with even more glory.

8. The Passover meal leads us to the Lord’s Supper and the Paschal Lamb. This Lamb is the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Passover leads to the Lord’s Supper, and the Lord’s Supper brings us to the cross and the crucifixion of Jesus. The Sacrament of the Altar unites us to the crucified Christ with the Effect that the forgiveness Jesus purchased on the cross is given every time you receive the Lord’s body and blood. Christ has achieved the forgiveness of sins on the cross, but this forgiveness is not distributed or given out on the cross (Luther 213). Christ distributes the forgiveness won on the cross through the Word and the Sacraments (Luther 213). „If you now seek the forgiveness of sins, you do not run to the cross, for you will not find it given there. Nor must you hold to the suffering of Christ ... in knowledge or remembrance, for you will not find it there either. But you will find in the Sacrament or the gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers and gives to you that forgiveness which was won on the cross“ (Luther 214).

9. The old testament and its Passover feast were Yahweh’s great act of deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery and entrance into the land of Canaan with milk, honey and many other rich blessings. The new testament and its Lamb of God is Yahweh’s great act of deliverance of the world from sin, death and the devil that culminates with the entrance into eternal life with a new heaven and earth.

10. Yahweh told Israel: »The blood will be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.« John testifies the following at Jesus’ death: »But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there flowed out blood and water« (John 19,33-34). In this way, the Roman soldier verified that Jesus was indeed dead as His heart had stopped as water had pooled around His heart. John later explains the importance of the water and the blood in his first epistle, writing: »This is He who arrived by water and blood﹣Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Holy Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Holy Spirit, the water and the blood; and these three agree. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this eternal life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has eternal life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life (1. John 5,6-8.10a.11-12).

11. The old testament promised life and prepared the way for the new testament which not only promised life but fulfilled the promise. The old testament gave life, but it was necessary to repeat the testament over and over, day by day, year after year. The new testament gives life, but it only was necessary once, for the new testament life is effective every day throughout all eternity. The old testament had its myriad of lambs led to sacrifice and prepared the way for the new testament with is solitary Lamb of God who gave up His life one time for the salvation of all the men and women past, present and future.

12. The shed blood of Jesus, our Paschal Lamb, is the sign of our redemption. God the Father looked down from His heavenly throne, saw the flowing blood and the lifeless body of His Son, and He passed over us with His anger and wrath. The crucifixion of Jesus assures us that God has a friendly heart toward us, a heart that if full of compassion, love, mercy and forgiveness upon His fallen creation and sinful mankind.

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 through faith and believe that in this Sacrament Jesus gives you what He has promised and merited for you on the cross, namely, the forgiveness of all your sins.

14. The old testament prescribed a yearly Passover meal to commemorate and celebrated the great act of deliverance from Egyptian slavery. The new testament also has a prescribed meal to commemorate and celebrate the greatest act of deliverance from sinful depravity, death and the devil. The institution of the Lord’s Supper is an ongoing feast that is rightly celebrated every time the church gathers to worship her risen Christ.

15. „Dearly beloved, in God’s behalf, ... according to mine Office, to administer to all such as shall be religiously and devoutly disposed the most comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ; to be by them received in remembrance of His meritorious Cross and Passion, whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins, and are made partakers of the reign of heaven. Wherefore it is our duty to render most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God our Heavenly Father, for that He has given His Son our Savior Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament. Which being so Divine and comfortable a thing to them who receive it worthily, and so dangerous to them who will presume to receive it unworthily; my duty is to exhort you in the mean time to consider the dignity of that holy mystery, and the great peril of the unworthy receiving thereof; and so to search and examine your own consciences, and that not lightly, and after the manner of dissemblers with God: but so that you may come holy and clean to such a heavenly Feast, in the marriage-garment required by God in Holy Scripture, and be received as worthy partakers of that holy Table“ (Book of Common Prayer). Amen.

16. May the Almighty and Merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, accomplish this in you and me. You have been invited by Christ Jesus Himself to His Heavenly Father’s glorious banquet of eternal life. This Lord’s Supper of Christ’s Body under the bread and His Blood under the wine are a foretaste of that heavenly feast to come. Do not excuse yourself from Christ’s invitation and Supper, but receive His invitation with joy and thanksgiving for He has established and instituted this Supper for your blessing. The Supper has been set; join me in receiving it for our salvation and forgiveness. Amen.

16. 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.

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, April 22, 2013

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013