Easter Monday

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24,13-35) 

Antiphon

℣ We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord  and His might,  

℟ and the wonders that He has done. 

Collect of the Day

O God, in the paschal feast You restore all creation. Continue to send Your heavenly gifts upon Your people so that they may walk in perfect freedom and receive eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord  who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. 

1. Corinthians 15,1-11. Easter Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Corinthians 15,1-11 2316

Ostersonntag  034 

Rupert, Founder of Salzburg, Apostle to the Bavarians in Regensburg, ✠ 710  

27. März 2016 

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who did deliver Your Son for our offenses, and did raise Him again for our justification: We beseech You, grant us Your Holy Spirit, so that He may rule and govern us according to Your will; graciously keep us in the true faith; defend us from all sins, and after this life raise us unto eternal life, through the same, Jesus Christ, Your Beloved Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One True God, world without end.  Amen. (The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind for Easter). 

2. Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. 

3. The first disciple to see the resurrected Jesus was Mary Magdalene, and the last disciple to see Him, when the epistle was written, was the Apostle Paul. About forty years later, the Apostle John saw the risen Jesus in a vision on Patmos. There is a striking similarity between Mary Magdalene and Paul: both were the least and unworthy. 

4. Mary Magdalene shouldn’t have even been a disciple. Jewish society in the first century ad was very traditional, and that meant women were not permitted to be disciples of rabbis. Nevertheless, Jesus had quite a large number of female disciples, and Mary Magdalene was perhaps the cream of the crop. She is the one of the few disciples who sorrowfully stood at Jesus’ feet when He was crucified; she lead the women who went to the tomb at Easter sunrise; and she was the first person to behold the risen Christ with her eyes. She was even able to grab ahold of Him, and she realized that Jesus was risen with a real physical body and that He was not a disembodied ghost or spirit. Her testimony would not hold up in a Jewish court because in that era Jewish women were considered unreliable witnesses. Yet, Jesus chooses Mary, and other women to be His disciples, and He furthermore gives the least reputable in Jewish society the most blessed privilege of witnessing the empty tomb and His resurrection. 

5. Paul wasn’t a disciple at first. He was a devout and zealous Pharisee who had studied under the well-renowned Rabbi Gamaliel. Paul was present when the Sanhedrin convicted Stephan of blasphemy and stoned him to death. Luke tells us that Paul consented to Stephan’s death (Acts 7,58; 8,1). Paul persecuted Jewish Christians and rounded them up for blasphemy trials. Luke tells us: »Paul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem« (Acts 9,1-2). Shortly thereafter Jesus appeared to Paul in His resurrected glory; Paul became a disciple and a preeminent apostle. 

6. The Apostle Paul states the core doctrine of the Christian faith in his Epistle: »I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and that He appeared to apostles and all of His disciples.« The cornerstone of Easter is that Jesus’ tomb is empty, and it is empty because He has risen from the dead. 

7. Saint Paul later writes in his Epistle: »Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, then we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a Man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the  First-fruits, then at His parousia those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the reign to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death« (1. Corinthians 15,12-26). 

8. When Mary Magdalene told the apostles that the tomb was empty and that Jesus had risen, they did not believe her (Mark 16,9). When two disciples from Emmaus told the apostles that they had seen the risen Jesus, the apostles did not believe them (Mark 16, 12-13). Afterward Jesus appeared to the apostles 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« (Mark 16,14). All these events occurred on the first Easter Sunday. Finally, as Easter draws to a close, the hard-hearted apostles believe that Jesus is risen, just as Mary Magdalene and the women had told them earlier that morning. 

9. The Apostle Paul writes in his Epistle: »We preach that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and so you believed.« This is the same gospel preached today, and it continues to create and strengthen faith in those who hear it. This preaching is based on historical facts: 

i. Jesus was crucified; 

ii. He died and was buried; 

iii. three days later His tomb was empty; and 

iv. His corpse was never found.

These facts are attested by both the Romans and the Jewish religious leaders. There are only two conclusions one can draw from this: either Jesus truly rose from the dead, or someone stole His body to make it appear that He had risen from the dead. The chief priests and elders convinced their guards to spread the rumor that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while they were sleeping (Matthew 28,11-15). The disciples continued to proclaim that Jesus is risen. 

10. The Christian faith is grounded upon the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection. St. Paul declares: »If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man arrived death, by a Man has arrived also the resurrection of the dead« (1. Corinthians 15,14-15.20-21). The risen Jesus did not appear to one person, who then claimed a personal vision or an unverifiable event as the sole veracity of his statement. Jesus appeared to many different people, in varying numbers and in different places throughout a forty-day period. He appeared to women and men. He appeared to one person, two, eleven and even five hundred at one time. He appeared at His tomb, in Emmaus, a locked room, Jerusalem and Galilee. His resurrection was witnessed by many different people, and thus their claims establish a solid testimony of verifiable and reliable statements. 

11. Our faith is trustworthy and true. Jesus’ tomb is empty, and He is risen. Our sins are forgiven. Mary Magdalene was the first to see, believe and proclaim the Easter gospel. The Apostle Paul saw the risen Christ three years later (AD 36) and began proclaiming the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Each of us here today can trace our faith back to Mary Magdalene and the Apostle Paul. Their faith and their testimony set the foundation upon which our faith was established nearly 2000 years later.  Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, who died but now lives forevermore, give us the joy and certainty of faith in Your resurrection so that whatever befalls us in this life, nevertheless You have the keys of Death and Hades, and these cannot prevail against You or us.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

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.  

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

Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!

Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

그리스도는 부활합니다! 그는 실제로 증가하고 있습니다! 

Cristo ha resucitado! Él ha resucitado!  

»Death is swallowed up in victory. 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 15,54-56) 

Easter Vigil

A Brief Easter Vigil Litany

Beloved in the Lord, on this most holy night, in which our Lord Jesus passed over from death to life, we are gathered here in vigil and prayer. This is the Passover of the Lord in which, by hearing His Word and celebrating His Sacraments, we share in His victory over death. 

In this most holy night our Savior, Christ, the Lord, broke the power of death and by His Resurrection brought life and salvation to all creation. Let us praise the Lord, for He truly keeps His Word. The sun of righteousness has dawned upon us who have sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. 

Rejoice now, all you heavenly choirs of angels; rejoice now, all creation; sound forth, trumpet of salvation, and proclaim the triumph of our King. Rejoice too, all the earth, in the radiance of the light now poured upon you and made brilliant by the brightness of the Everlasting King; know that the ancient darkness has been forever banished. Rejoice, O Church of Christ, clothed in the brightness of this light; let all this house of God ring out with rejoicing, with the praises of all God’s faithful people. 

On this holiest of nights the whole Church of our Lord Jesus Christ recalls His death and burial, rejoicing with great joy in the Gospel of His glorious and mighty resurrection from the dead. The Apostle Paul says: 

»Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through Baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.«  Romans 6,3-11 

Homily

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Let no one mourn their transgressions, 

Isaiah 14,9 2216

Osternacht  033 

Ludger, Bishop of Münster, Germany, ✠ 809  

26. März 2016 

1. One of the last actions undertaken on Karfreitag is recorded in the Gospel according to St. Mark: »And Joseph of Arimathea bought a linen shroud, and taking Jesus down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud and placed Him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb« (Mark 15,46). St. Mark tells us that Jesus now rested from His labors on the seventh day. 

2. Hades received a visitor shortly after the stone had been rolled in place, and Hades trembled when Christ knocked upon its gates. Jesus had promised: »The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the confession of the Name of Jesus« (Matthew 16,18). Hades was now in fear. 

3. St. John Chrysostom in his famous Paschal homily proclaims: „Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions (Isaiah 14,9). Hades was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, but crumbled before what it had not seen!“ 

4. Christ has died. He slept in His own grave. He descended to Hell. Christ rose from the dead. His grave is empty. He ascended from Hell and left His tomb at Easter sunrise. The gates of Hades have been unlocked and torn open. Jesus is the Greater Samson who has carried upon His shoulders the twisted gates of Hades (Judges 16,3). Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hades (Revelation 1,18). 

5. Karfreitag ends with the Son of God dead and the darkness of sunset across the land. Easter morn dawns with the rising of the Bright Morning Star, and Jesus shines forth as the Resurrected Light of the world! Fear not Death nor Hades, for your Savior has conquered His foes. 

6. Again the blessed Chrysostom: „O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept. To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages.“ 

7. Lift up your heads, for your Sleeper has awakened. Christ has risen and He brings with Him a train of captives set free from sin, death and the devil. We rejoice with the psalmist: »For with You, O Lord, is the fountain of life; in Your Light do we see light« (Psalm 36,9). The Easter Vigil is almost over, and our single candle flame shall be surpassed by the Glory of the Light of the Risen Christ.  Amen. 

for pardon has dawned from the grave.

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

Prayer 

O God, for our redemption You gave Your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross and by His glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of the enemy. Grant that all our sin may be drowned through daily repentance and that day by day we may arise to live before You in righteousness and purity forever; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. 

Holy Saturday

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.”66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27,57-66) 

Antiphon

℣ For my soul is full of troubles, 

℟ and my life draws near to Sheol. 

Collect of the Day

O God, Creator of heaven and earth, grant that as the crucified body of Your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with Him the arrival of the third day, and rise with Him to newness of life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. 

2. Corinthians 5,19-21. Good Friday

✠ We preach Christ and Him crucified ✠

Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudaeorum

2. Corinthians 5,(14b-18) 19-21 2116 

Karfreitag 031 schwarz

✠ The Annunciation of our Lord. W ✠

Dismas, the penitent insurrectionist at Christ’s right hand 

25. March 2016 [1]

1. O Almighty and Everlasting God, who has willed that Your Son should bear for us the pains of the cross, so that You might remove from us the power of the adversary; help us to remember and give thanks for our Lord’s passion so that we may obtain remission of sin and redemption from everlasting death; through the same, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen. (Veit Dietrich for Karfreitag). 

2. »For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has arrived. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.« 

3. Tonight is one of the rare occasions in the Church Year where Karfreitag and the Annunciation fall on the same date. This happened in 2005, but won’t occur again until 2157! 25. March is when Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her she would bear the Son of God, and 9 months later Jesus was born. This conjunction of Church feasts is important because Jesus was crucified on the anniversary of His conception. He goes from the womb to the tomb on this day. 

4. Furthermore, Jesus’ preaching was fulfilled on Karfreitag. The Synoptic Gospels record on four different occasions where Jesus had said He would suffer, be crucified and die (Matthew 16,21; 17,22-23; 20,17-19; 26,1). Tonight, as we remember our Lord’s crucifixion, we ponder the Apostle Paul’s proclamation in his Epistle: »If anyone is in Christ, then he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has arrived. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself.«  

5. How did Jesus make the old new? St. Paul tells how: »For our sake God the Father made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.« Jesus was made to be sin upon the cross. Again St. Paul: »Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree [Deuteronomy 21,23]— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might appear to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith« (Galatians 3,13-14). 

6. The irony of Jesus’ execution was not lost upon the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees who had plotted His death. Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah and God. The Jewish leaders called this blasphemy, and the law of Moses said blasphemers were to be stoned to death (Leviticus 24,16). However, they could not execute Jesus since the Romans had ordered that only the governor could execute capital punishment. Prefect Pontius Pilate would have to review the Sanhedrin’s verdict and pronounce sentence or dismiss the case. [2] (The Jews had lost the right of ius gladii (law of the sword) when Palestine became a Roman province in AD 6. Although they retained the right to stone fellow Jews if it was confined to just Jews and would not cause a major uproar for the Romans.). So their argument before Pilate was that Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God, thus breaking a Jewish law, and that in making this declaration He had also claimed to be the King of the Jews, breaking a Roman law. Sedition against Rome by non-Roman citizens was punished by crucifixion, and the Romans were planning to execute three Jewish seditionists the next day. The Jews understood crucifixion to be akin to hanging on a tree, and so by having Jesus crucified the Sanhedrin condemned Him under the Mosaic law thereby making Him a curse and an outcast among Jewish society. Their deft political and religious maneuverings gave them an all-around wining decision. 

7. Pilate knew how shrewd the Sanhedrin were, having dealt with their religious zeal for years as governor. He understood the underlying motives for their request, tried to thwart it, but in the end he wanted to preserve peace during the feast of Passover lest a riot break out and Roman legionnaires had to be sent in to crush the violence. In one final act of oneupmanship, Pilate ordered the crime for Jesus’ crucifixion to placed above His head as „King of the Jews“. The Sanhedrin balked at this, and they wanted Pilate to change it to „He said he was the King of the Jews“. But Pilate made Jesus’ claim official when he had the inscription (titulum) written and placed above Jesus’ head when He was crucified 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 with the Latin abbreviation „INRI“. 

8. The Gospel according to John records four specific Scriptures that Jesus fulfilled during His crucifixion. The Roman soldiers cast lots for His seamless tunic; this was prophesied in Psalm 22: »They divide My clothes among them and cast lots for my garment« (Psalm 22,18). Jesus said: »I thirst«; this was prophesied in Psalm 69: »They put gall in My food and gave Me vinegar for My thirst« (Psalm 22,15; 69,21). The Romans did not break His legs or any other bones in His body; this was prophesied in Psalm 34: »God protects all His bones, and not one of them will be broken« (Psalm 34,20). Finally, the Romans pierced His side; this was prophesied in Zechariah 12: »I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son« (Zechariah 12,10). 

9. Beloved John tells us: »When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said: „It is finished!“, and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.« This final statement from Jesus is not a cry of defeat, but a simple and powerful proclamation of victory. Jesus’ suffering and humiliation under the law is over. The sin of the entire fallen 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 overwhelming joy. The gospel brings us to the foot of the cross and shows us Jesus, the Lamb of God and the King of the Jews who has redeemed us back to God.

10. 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 reconciled you back to God the Father. Jesus has made peace between God and us. Behold, Christ crucified for you. 

11. Karfreitag draws to a close with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus [3] asking Pilate for the body of Jesus so they might bury Him before the day of Preparation arrives at 6 pm Friday evening. Pilate consented, and they placed Jesus in a new tomb that was in the garden near Calvary (John 19,38-42). Sometime between His death and resurrection Jesus descended into hades. John Chrysostom describes Jesus’ harrowing of hades: 

Let no one fear death, for the death of Christ has set us free.

He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed hades when He descended into it.

He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Hades took a body, and discovered God.

It took earth, and encountered Heaven.

It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?

O hades, where is thy victory? (Chrysostom in an Easter sermon preached in 400). 

12. Beloved John tells us in his Apocalypse why Christ’s descent into hades is important: »When I saw Jesus, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His hand on me, saying: „Do no be afraid; I am the First and the Last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and hades!“« (Revelation 1,18). Jesus is the King of the Jews, and He rules over death, the grave and even hades. He has triumphed over them and given us the victory. 

13. The Christ who was crucified, died, was buried and descended into hades did all this for you. Karfreitag ends in darkness and shadows, but behold Light is dawning and the Bright Morning Star is about to arise and shine upon all the earth! 

14. In Christ you are now a new creation. The old died on the cross with Christ, and the new arose with Him on Easter. Darkness has fallen on Karfreitag, but the light of Easter dawn is about to rise above the horizon. St. Paul tells us: »In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.« Tonight we have heard of this Divine reconciliation and the great cost is was to achieve. But the gift of reconciliation is free grace. Pass on that grace to others in need of it. 

15. Finally, meditate on these words from the hymn Christ Be My Leader: 

Christ is our Savior in calm as in strife; 

Death cannot hold us, for He is the life. 

Nor darkness nor doubting nor sin and its stain

Can touch our salvation; with Jesus we reign (LSB 861,3).

   Amen. 

16. Let us pray. O Almighty and Most Merciful God, pour out on us Your abundant blessing so that all who in true faith share this night in joyful celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead may be filled with Your heavenly benediction. Once we were in darkness, but now we are in the Light, even Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen. (A prayer from the Easter Vigil in the LSB Altar Book 532)

Which is poured out for everyone.

✠

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. 

Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 2011 Cambridge University Press. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand. 

Maier, Paul L. In the Fullness of Time. Copyright © 1991 Paul L. Maier. 

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 Dr. Paul L. Maier dates Karfreitag as 3. April 33 (In the Fullness of Time 153). 

2 Maier 144. 

3 Both men were members of the Sanhedrin; they were probably the only tow of the seventy who opposed Jesus' verdict by voting nay or abstaining. 

Good Friday meditation

The Ministry of Jesus

A meditation on Jesus’ crucifixion

using the Stained Glass Windows

of Grace Evangelical-Lutheran Church

For a more traditional Stations of the Cross, click here. 

The Good Shepherd

I am the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10,11) 

Our Good Shepherd Window is above our altar. Jesus seeks for the lost and brings them home. He chases away predators who would devour His people. 

Lent begins with Jesus overcoming the devil’s temptation. Lent leads us to Calvary and the cross where Jesus laid down His very life in order to redeem us back to God the Father. 

He is our Good Shepherd who cares for us and leads us home. No other religion or philosophy teaches redemption through a God suffering and dying for humanity. Christianity does, for it points us to Jesus who is the world’s Savior. God the Father sent Jesus into the world to redeem the world. 

Prayer: O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys.  Amen. 

Annunciation

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1,14) 

The Annunciation Window in our church is the first window to the right of the altar near the lectern. On the left we see the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God and sin by eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

Sin demands redemption by blood. First, the blood of lambs forgave the sins of Israel, but those sacrifices had to be repeated daily and yearly. Then God the Father sent His Only Son, Jesus, to be the promised Christ. Jesus took upon Himself human flesh and became a man. He was born to become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So great was this gift to mankind that God sent the angel Gabriel to announce His conception to Mary and Joseph. 

Prayer: O Lord, stir up our hearts so that by meditating upon the birth of Jesus we may behold from the Holy Scriptures Your mind that desires to save all men and women from sin and the curse of the Fall.  Amen. 

Nativity

And the angel said to the shepherds: "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2,10-11) 

Our Nativity Window shows the birth of Jesus truly is good news and gospel for all the world. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is fully Divine and fully human in one person. He is the fulfillment of His Father’s salvation history. 

The history to save fallen mankind goes back to the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had fallen into sin. God promised them a savior, and Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. 

The liturgical calendar of the Church marches us toward that salvation event: the crucified Christ and the empty tomb. Those are the two focal points in Jesus’ ministry to save men and women. He suffered on the cross as the payment for our sin, and He rose from the grave as the first fruits of the resurrection on the last day. 

Prayer: O Almighty God, grant that the birth of Your only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free from the bondage of sin; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. 

Baptism 

And a Voice descended from heaven: „You are My Beloved Son; I am well pleased with You.“ (Mark 1,11) 

Our Baptism Window highlights that Jesus was baptized on our behalf in order to fulfill all righteousness. He joined Himself to sinners and received a sinner’s baptism from John the Baptizer. His Father is well pleased with Him. 

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and amendment of life. Jesus had no need to repent or amend His life, but He is nevertheless baptized because we need to repent and amend our wicked ways. 

We know that God is faithful and forgiving. Just as He saved Noah from the destruction of the Flood through the ark, so our Baptism in the Triune Name saves us. Just as the ark of the covenant parted the Red Sea and Israel marched across to freedom and safety, so our baptism frees us from sin and is the sacrament that promises safe journey in the promised land of paradise and heaven. 

Prayer: O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of Your people who call upon You and grant that they both perceive and know what things they ought to do and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. 

Transfiguration 

And behold, two men were talking with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His death, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9,30-31) 

Our Transfiguration Window pictures the event when Jesus conversed with Moses and Elijah about His forthcoming exodus and crucifixion. Holy Week is the steady and somber march up to Jerusalem and the cross. 

Jesus’ transfiguration gives us a glimpse of His Divine Glory. He is no mere man like everyone else. He is the Son of God made flesh: perfect God and perfect man united in one person known as Jesus. Moses and Elijah appear in glory, and their glory is a subdued reflection of the Glory of Jesus. We know from the Old Testament that Moses and Elijah were great prophets who lead God’s people to great promises. 

Jesus would soon take up and bear His cross. In doing so, He would deliver the world from sin, death and the devil. His exodus would deliver us to the promised land of eternal life in the presence of God Almighty. His plan of salvation involved suffering, death and burial. 

Death and the grave cannot hold God. Jesus’ Glory shows that although He will die, yet death will not be the final word regarding His life. Jesus would then rise from death and the grave in victory of Death and Hades. This is where Holy Week leads us, and this is the path that we follow Jesus on. 

Prayer: O God, in the glorious transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the Voice that spoke from the Bright Cloud You wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace. Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His Glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in paradise; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. 

The Lord’s Supper

Maundy Thursday

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said: This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying: This cup is the new testament in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He arrives.  (1. Corinthians 11,23-26) 

What meal were Jesus and His apostles sharing on that Thursday 2000 years ago? They were celebrating the Passover together. During this Seder, Jesus gives His Church the new testament that is founded not on the blood of lambs but rather on the the blood of the Lamb, yes, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Isaiah 53,7; John 1,29). On the night before His death, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper and celebrated it with His apostles. He took bread and wine, that were used throughout the Passover meal, and instituted a new meal. 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 the next day, 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 and our redemption. Jesus proclaims: »This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins« (Matthew 26,28). Paul comments on this, saying: »For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He arrives.« This Sacrament of the Altar is one way Jesus gives us the forgiveness of all our sins that He merited upon the cross. 

Prayer: 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 Passion 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 and we thus receive it by faith in You.  Amen.

The Crucifixion

Good Friday

»In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.« (2. Corinthians 5,19-21) 

Jesus’ preaching was fulfilled on Good Friday. The Synoptic Gospels record on four different occasions where Jesus had said He would suffer, be crucified and die (Matthew 16,21; 17,22-23; 20,17-19; 26,1). As we remember our Lord’s crucifixion, we ponder the Apostle Paul’s proclamation in his Epistle: »If anyone is in Christ, then he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has arrived. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself.« (2. Corinthians 5,17-18)  

How did Jesus make the old new? St. Paul tells how: »For our sake God the Father made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.« Jesus was made to be sin upon the cross. Again St. Paul: »Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree [Deuteronomy 21,23]— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith« (Galatians 3,13-14). 

In Christ you are now a new creation. The old died on the cross with Christ, and the new arose with Him on Easter. Darkness has fallen on Good Friday, but the light of Easter dawn is about to rise above the horizon. St. Paul tells us: » In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.« Christ crucified proclaims this Divine reconciliation and the great cost is was to achieve. But the gift of reconciliation is free grace. 

Prayer: O Christ Jesus, who loved the world so much that You gave Yourself up for us all, we remember this day Your suffering and sacrifice for Your fallen creation, so that by Your death none should perish, but everyone who believes on You has eternal life.  Amen.

The Paschal Candle

Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) 

Our Paschal Candle is to the left of the altar. It represents Christ and His resurrection. It is lighted at the Easter Vigil and remains lighted during the season of Easter and at Baptisms and funerals. 

The Easter Vigil held on Holy Saturday before Easter Sunday is the most holy night our Savior, Christ, the Lord, broke the power of death and by His Resurrection brought life and salvation to all creation. Let us praise the Lord, for He truly keeps His Word. The sun of righteousness has dawned upon us who have sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. 

On this holiest of nights the whole Church of our Lord Jesus Christ recalls His death and burial, rejoicing with great joy in the Gospel of His glorious and mighty resurrection from the dead. The Apostle Paul says: 

»Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through Baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.« (Romans 6,3-11)  

Prayer: O Almighty God, grant that we, who in devout expectation look forward to the resurrection of Your Son, may enjoy the glory of that resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. 

The Resurrection

Easter 

At Easter sunrise the Angel announced the resurrection of Jesus to the women who had arrived to finish the Jewish burial rite on Jesus. Everything had been done in haste on Friday as the Sabbath was fast approaching. The women wanted to finish the rite and give Jesus a proper burial. 

Two Old Testament events bookend our Resurrection Window. On the left, we see Samson carrying off the gates of Gaza (Judges 16,1-3). As Samson carried off these gates, so our Lord Jesus broke down the gates of Death and Hades. On the right, we see Jonah delivered from the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2,10). Jesus said: »As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth« (Matthew 12,40). 

Furthermore, the Apostle Paul tells us: »But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead; He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive« (1. Corinthians 15,20-22). 

Prayer: O Almighty and Eternal God, who through the resurrection of Your Son has sealed the testament of man’s reconciliation, Grant unto us who joy in this, Your testament, grace to show forth in our lives that which we profess with our lips.  Amen.

The Ascension

Our Ascension window is opposite the altar and faces west. Two Old Testament men are portrayed on either side of the main window. On the left is Enoch who walked with God, and he was not, for God took him (Genesis 5,24). On the right is Elijah who went up by a whirlwind into heaven (2. Kings 2,12). Both of these men did not die, but were taken directly into heaven. 

This window bears Revelation 19,16 in Greek: BASILEUS BASILEON KAI KYROS KYRION which translates as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Jesus is this King and Lord; He is above all other kings and lords. He ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection. He promised to return for us. And He will, for He is preparing heaven for our eternal dwelling. This is the culmination of His suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus did all this for you; He saved you, redeemed you and forgiven you. 

Prayer: O God, who has gone up on high leading captivity captive, bestow on us the gifts of eternal peace; and as by sending into heaven You have withdrawn Yourself corporeal my from human sight, he graciously pleased to enter into our hearts.  Amen.