Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom, AD 400

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.

If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense.

If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward.

If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast.

If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss.

If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation.

If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first.

He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious.

He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward.

O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy!

O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day!

You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today!

The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you!

The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry!

Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.

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 [1] (Isaiah 14,9). 

It 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!

O death, where is thy sting?

O Hades, where is thy victory? [2] 

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.

Amen. 

[1]  Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations (esv). 

[2]  Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? (Hosea 13,14). 

The Paschal homily or sermon (also known in Greek as Hieratikon or as the Catechetical Homily) of St John Chrysostom (died AD 407) is read aloud on the morning of Pascha (Easter in the West), called "the Great and Holy Pascha of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ" in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine rite. According to the Tradition of the Church, no one sits during the reading of the Paschal homily. Portions of it are often done with the interactive participation of the congregation.

Holy Saturday homily. Bishop Melito of Sardis

An ancient Holy Saturday homily

Bishop Melito of Sardis ✠ AD 180

2. Century

http://www.stjosephcath.org/ancient-homily-of-holy-saturday

1. Something strange is happening﹣there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and He has raised up all who have slept since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. 

2. He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, He has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, He who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won Him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: „My Lord be with you all.“ Christ answered him: „And with your spirit.“ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: „Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. 

3. „I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by My own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the Life of the dead. Rise up, work of My hands, you who were created in My image. Rise, let us leave this place, for your are in Me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. 

4. „For your sake, I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden. 

5. „See on My face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in My image. On My back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See My hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree. 

6. „I slept on the cross and a sword pierced My side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from sleep in Hell. The sword that pierced Me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you. 

7. „Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am Life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The reign of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.“ 

1. Thessalonians 4,13-14. Holy Saturday Vigil

✠ Let no one mourn their transgressions, ✠

1. Thessalonians 4,13-14   2118

Osternacht  033 

Joseph, Patriarch

Amos, Prophet, 838-759 bc

31. März 2018 

1. »We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.« We all grieve death. Death is the deadly sting that affects fallen man. The grave follows death and the separation is now physically complete. All we have left of our loved ones is a grave marker, a tombstone, a crypt or an urn. Death is brutal: earth to earth and ashes to ashes.

2. So it was for those who loved Jesus. They removed His corpse from the cross, quickly wrapped Him in a burial shroud, hastily buried him in a nearby tomb and covered His face and head with a veil. They then left to celebrate the Sabbath rest and mourn the loss of their Messiah and friend. Hades welcomed to the souls of those who died, and it welcomed Jesus too.

3. „Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and He has raised up all who have slept since the world began. God has died in the flesh and Hades trembles with fear“ (Bishop Melito of Sardis ¶ 1). 

4. Saint Paul tells us: »For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.« Paul says death is merely a sleep; when you sleep you wake up again. So too in Christ, all who fall asleep in death will be woken up by Christ. He had descended into Hades to search for those who had fallen asleep before Him. Christ visited those dwelling in darkness and in the shadow of Death. He went to free from sorrow those captive in Hades, bringing forth first Adam and Eve, He who is both the Second Adam and the Son of Eve. He took them by the hand and raised them up, saying: „Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, for I, the Christ, give you light« [Isaiah 60,1-3] (Bishop Melito ¶ 2) .Yes, the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, announcing there the gospel of His advent and of the forgiveness of sins conferred upon those who believe in Him (Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book 5, Chapter 31,  ¶ 2). 

  5. Behold, the cry is fast approaching with the rising Sunday dawn: Rejoice, for the Sleeper has a awakened! Do not fear, for He has risen just as He told you He would! Christ has risen and He brings with him a train of captives set free from sin, Death, Hades and the Devil. The Apostle Paul Paul proclaims: »All who are in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has arrived« (2. Corinthians 5,17-18). In Christ we are a new creation. The old has died on the cross with Christ, and the new arises with Him on Easter. Darkness has fallen on Good Friday, but the light of Easter dawn is about to rise above the horizon.

6. For our sake Christ took on human flesh, suffered, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into Hades. All this He did to ransom us back to God the Father. Christ bore His cross and shed His blood to save the world from its sinfulness. 

7. The Serpent lead Adam out of the earthly paradise of the Garden of Eden, but Christ our Savior leads us into the heavenly Paradise to dwell with Him for all eternity. Let us leave this place, and with her eyes on Jesus follow Him from the grave to His empty tomb and the bright light of His resurrection.  Amen. 

8. We pray: O Almighty, Ever-living God, whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead, and rose from there to glory, grant that Your faithful people, who were buried with Him in Holy Baptism, may, by His resurrection, obtain eternal life (Holy Saturday Collect).  Amen. 

for pardon has dawned from the grave. 

✠

Holy Saturday. Matthew 27,57-66

Holy Gospel

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. 

Hebrews 9,15.26b-28. Good Friday

✠ We preach Christ and Him crucified ✠

Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudaeorum

Hebrews 9,15.26b-28   2018

Karfreitag  031 

Guido, Abbot at Pomposa near Ferrara, Italy. ✠ 1046 

30. März 2018 

1. О Lamb of God, the Suffering Servant, let Your suffering, Your blood, Your wounds be written on our hands and hearts, that we meditate upon Your Passion, Your death, Your blood, so that we remain certain that You will wean us from the world, sanctify, wash and purify us (Starck 83).  Amen.  

2. »Therefore Christ Jesus is the Mediator of a new testament, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first testament. Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that judgment arrives, 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.«  

3. The Epistle to the Hebrews proclaims: »Jesus is the Mediator of the New Testament, and He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, having been offered once to bear the sins of all.« The Apostle Paul says that the crucified Jesus is the fulfillment of the old testament, has put an end to it and has established the new testament upon the cross. The old testament instituted by the Lord through Moses at Mt. Sinai was bloody and deadly. Every morning and evening priests slaughtered hundreds of lambs at the temple in Jerusalem for countless Jewish families seeking the Lord and longing for His forgiveness. These lambs were pure, spotless and holy. Their innocent blood paid for men and women’s forgiveness. Day after day, year after year, for 2 millennia, the Lord received this brutal and bloody slaughter of innocents, for it was the only way His holy wrath and righteousness could be sated against vile, wicked sinful human beings. 

4. This old Sinai testament was only a temporary solution, for dead lambs could not fully and finally satisfy the death of mankind’s sin. This testament was meant to prepare Israel for a new and better testament. So when John the Baptizer arrives in the Jordan preaching repentance and preparation for the imminent arrival at the Messiah, he pointed out this Messiah, one Jesus of Nazareth, and proclaimed: »Behold, the Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29) Three years later this Lamb of God established this new testament when He was crucified. 

5. The new testament instituted by Jesus on Mt. Zion was more bloody and even deadlier then the Old testament, for God Himself suffered and died for the sins of the world. The Apostle John recalls the facts for us tonight in his Gospel: »So Pilate delivered Jesus over to the chief priests to be crucified, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the place of the skull, which is Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified Him with two others, one on either side and Jesus between then. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews« (John 19,16-19). 

  6. We tend to romanticize Jesus’ crucifixion and remove the horror and spectacle of it as much as possible. The Romans did neither; they took their crucifixions seriously and reserved this form of capital punishment for the vilest of criminals. On a Friday 2000 years outside ago of Jerusalem, Pilate had ordered the crucifixion of 3 notorious Jewish criminals. Their crime was sedition against Rome; Barabbas and his compatriots had been arrested for a recent uprising or riot in Jerusalem with the goal to rebel and overthrow Roman rule over the Jews. Pilate had no qualms about punishing those who took up arms against his legionnaires and he knew the best way to quell such rebellious fervor was to publicly and gruesomely execute such men as an example do not trifle with, nor question, Roman rule over Jerusalem, Judea and Palestine. The priests and Pharisees wanted to swap out Barabbas for Jesus and eventually Pilate relented to the passioned request and sentenced Jesus to crucifixion.

7. It began when Jesus was beaten to a bloody pulp: 20 lashes from a cat-of-nine tails formed deep cuts in an „x“ pattern across His back, and then 19 more lashes across His chest. We’re not talking about a bullwhip here, for Roman whips were 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 head. Then Jesus was forced to carry an 100 pound cross beam out to Calvary where He would be crucified naked. There was the smell of sweat mingled with fear, along with urine, and other bodily releases. The body was caked with blood. Groans and cries for mercy were uttered by the crucified and the onlookers. 

8. The Romans stretched out Jesus arms and nailed each wrist to the cross beam. Then His feet were nailed together on the vertical pole 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 6. Grueling. Hours. The way to end this horror was when the crucified could not or would not push up on his legs to breathe, or if the fluid pooling around the heart caused congestive heart failure – asphyxiation would occur in seconds. 

9. John concludes his Passion narrative with that ominous verse: »When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said: It is finished!, and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.« As Jesus exhaled His final breath upon the cross, Pilate’s order was fulfilled: 3 notorious seditionists had been successfully executed. The Jewish leaders, the 70-man Sanhedrin, comprised of prominent priests, Pharisees and Sadducees had also achieved their goal: that blasphemous gadfly Jesus had finally been silenced. Peace with Rome had been maintained. The Sadducees and priests their temple and its sacrifices intact, the Pharisees and scribes had remove their most vocal opponent to their teachings and relative calm had been maintained at yet another stressful Passover celebration in Jerusalem under the watchful eyes and rule of the Roman Gentiles. Indeed, it was finished. 

10. The lifeless body of Jesus on the cross also finished something else vastly more important to the Lord then the insignificant machinations of Pilate and the Sanhedrin; God had fulfilled the promise He had made thousands of years earlier. In the Garden of Eden, Satan had used a serpent to entice Adam to sin against his God and Creator. Hardship and death resulted as mankind’s curse, but the Lord had one final say in all this, and he looked squarely at the Devil and his complicit dragon and said to them: »Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel« (Genesis 3,14-15). Christ fulfilled His promise on the cross where He paid in full the costly ransom price for our sinfulness. Salvation has been secured; forgiveness has been obtained; the Devil has been defeated; it is finished. 

11. The Devil had deceived Adam into rebellion by promising him wisdom. He had wrapped himself around the tree of knowledge of good and evil, like the mythological Nidhogg, to tempt him with fruit bearing the flowers of wisdom. Jesus brought life once again to mankind by taking His place upon another tree bearing the thorns of suffering and portending the mythical Yggdrasil as is gallows. By His crucifixion Jesus has crushed the head of Satan. That tree’s name is the Cross; long ago, trembling, drenched in blood, it bore a Powerful King (Cædmon 44-45, Wessex version). „Therefore, let no one fear Death, for the death of Christ has set us free. He has destroyed Death by enduring death“ (Chrysostom). Do not be afraid, for Jesus now has the keys of Death and Hades (Revelation 1,18). Jesus has triumphed over them and given us the victory: our sin is forgiven, Paradise is now ours and we have been commended into the saving embrace of God. Karfreitag ends in darkness and shadow, but tomorrow is the vigil of Holy Saturday as we await the next chapter of Jesus’ Heilsgeschichte (salvation history).  Amen. 

12. 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, Jesus Christ our Lord (A prayer from the Easter Vigil in the LSB Altar Book 532).  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, Vol. 4. © 1963 Henry Regnery Co. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Davis, Dr. C. Truman. “The Crucifixion of Jesus”. http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/crucifixion.html. Copyright © 1982 New Wine Magazine. 

Starck, Johann Friedrich. Starck’s Prayer Book. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House. 

Good Friday meditation

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.