The Ministry of Jesus
A meditation on Jesus’ crucifixion
using the Stained Glass Windows
of Grace Evangelical-Lutheran Church
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.
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