Fourth Sunday of Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter (C)
Good Shepherd
April 29, 2007
Text: John 10:22-30

The Lamb of God is also the Shepherd of God’s people. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17; ESV). The people of God “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v. 14). Now the Lamb Himself is the Good Shepherd who tends the sheep. You are the sheep. You hear His voice. He knows you each by Name. You follow Him (John 10:27). He leads you beside still waters. He restores your soul. He leads you in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake, so that even though you have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you need fear no evil, for He is with you, comforting you with His rod and His staff (Ps. 23). That’s what it means to have Jesus as your Good Shepherd.

What an appropriate day to feature the Sunday School students in our service as they sing songs and hymns about the Catechism. They are confessing their baptismal faith before Christ and His Church. And of course, we are confessing along with them, for we share the same faith and creed. We share the same Shepherd. We hear the same voice and follow it into green pastures.

That is how our Shepherd leads us… by His voice. He speaks to us. And as we learned last week, He does not speak to us or call us by means of warm feelings or noble thoughts or bodiless voices. He speaks to us in real words, His Word. We confess with Luther in the Small Catechism that the Holy Spirit “calls me by the Gospel.” The Gospel is manifest in words. It is the Word of God that all your sins have been forgiven on account of Christ, that He died for your sins and is risen for your justification, that God is gracious and merciful to you because of His Son, indeed, loves you because of His Son, and that in His Son Jesus Christ you have a Good Shepherd who continues to speak to you and guide you where you need to go.

For most of us, it begins with Baptism. There our Triune God speaks to us, calling us by name and calling us into His own Name, the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He calls us to be His own. He speaks His good Word over us and washes us with His living water. He brings us into His Church, the community and family of faith, where we can continue to be nurtured in our Baptismal calling by the Word and the Sacrament of the Altar.

It is in this community gathered around the Word that we find green pasture. This is where our Shepherd, Jesus, leads us; namely, where His Word is, the Church. Luther, commenting on Psalm 23, writes, “Here the prophet himself explains what kind of pasture and fresh water he has been discussing, namely, that kind by which the soul is strengthened and restored. That, however, can be nothing else than God’s Word.”[1] He continues:

"The prophet accordingly applies many kinds of names to the Word of God.
He calls it a fine, pleasant, green pasture; fresh water; the path of righteousness;
a rod; a staff; a table; balm, or the oil of gladness (Ps. 45:7); and a cup that is
filled to overflowing…

"In other words: these sheep of the Lord are not only instructed and guided,
refreshed, strengthened, and comforted by God’s Word; but they are also
continuously kept on the right path, protected in body and soul in all kinds of
distress, and finally they conquer and overcome all tribulation and sorrow,
of which they must endure only as much as the verse mentions [namely,
walking through the valley of the shadow of death]. In short, they live in
complete safety as men whom no sorrow can befall, because their Shepherd
tends and protects them.

"We should, then, learn from this psalm not to despise God’s Word. We should
hear and learn it, love and respect it, and join the little flock in which we find it,
and, on the other hand, flee and avoid those that revile and persecute it…

"As often, therefore, as the Christian who belongs to a church in which God’s
Word is taught enters this church, he should think of this psalm. With the
prophet he should thank God with a happy heart for His ineffable grace in
placing him, as His sheep, into a pleasant green meadow, where there is an
abundance of precious grass and fresh water – that is, for being enabled to be
at a place where he can hear God’s Word, learn it, and draw from it rich comfort
for both body and soul.[2]"

Thus far Luther. What great grace is given us that we should enjoy all the blessings and benefits of the purely preached Word here in the Holy Christian Church and as heirs of the blessed Reformer, Martin Luther. Our good Shepherd has led us to lush, green pastures. We feast on His Word continually. But it is not so everywhere else. Some refuse to hear the Shepherd’s voice. Some are even ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing, trying to sneak into the sheepfold to steel the sheep. These are the false teachers, who often appear as good and Christian (remember, they’re dressed as sheep), but inside seek to kill your faith in the Lord Jesus. Our Good Shepherd would protect us from these enemies so that we do not stray from the healthy pasture to which He has led us.

Yes, it is a great blessing to be members of Christ’s Church, tended by the Lord Jesus Himself and His undershepherds, the Christians pastors, where the Word of God is preached in its truth and purity and the Word in visible form is offered to us faithfully in the Sacrament of the Altar. For it is in the Church that our Lord Jesus tends us with His Word, and in which we hear His voice. This is all a gift of grace. Let’s never forget that. Let’s never despise this good and gracious gift. Let’s not despise the Word or take it for granted. For the Lord doesn’t need us for the faithful proclamation of His Word. He can take it to others. It can be preached by others. That is why we should constantly pray that our Lord would keep us faithful to His saving doctrine. We should constantly pray that He would keep us within the sheepfold and grazing on His green pastures, lest the ravenous wolves lead us astray into mortal danger, and we lose the Word, along with our faith. Let us not despise the Word, but daily give thanks for it and make it our constant companion, reading and meditating upon it, hearing it preached and taught, learning it, marking it, and inwardly digesting it. That’s the opposite of despising the Word, when we gladly hear and learn it and recognize that it is a free gift of God, given by grace.

Thanks be to God, the children of our congregation know this. They have confessed this truth again in their music this morning. It reminds us of something Luther said in the Smalcald Articles: “thank God, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd.”[3] These children have heard the voice of their Shepherd. They have been clothed with Christ and His righteousness in their Baptism. Their sins have been covered by the blood of the Lamb, who is also their Good Shepherd. They do not despise His voice, but gladly hear and learn His Word. And today they have confessed their faith to us, and strengthened our own faith with their confession.

The Lamb whose blood covers the sins of our children covers our sins as well. He is our Shepherd, too. We also hear His voice. He knows us, and we follow Him. And like little children, we believe in Him, trusting Him to lead us to green pastures and feed us only with the best of food. He is a faithful Shepherd. He will never lead us astray. So in the confidence of our Lord’s leading, we say with David, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 23:6). We dwell there, because in His Word He calls us there and leads us there. Thanks be to God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[1] Martin Luther, “Psalm 23,” Luther’s Works, 55 vols., Jaroslav Pelikan, ed. (St. Louis: Concordia, 1955) 12:164.

[2] Ibid., pp. 148-149.

[3] SA XII:2 (Tappert).

Call Day at Fort Wayne and St. Louis

On a personal note, our congratulations to and sincere prayers for dear friends and brothers Christopher Raffa (and wife Julie) from the Fort Wayne Seminary, who received his call as assistant pastor of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, West Bend, Wisconsin, and Timothy Winterstein (and wife Tennille) from the St. Louis Seminary, who received his call as pastor of Trinity and St. Paul's Lutheran Churches, Fisher and Euclid, Minnesota. Congratulations to many other friends who received their calls and vicarages over the past two days. It is an exciting time. Ministry has many joys and many sorrows, but it is always good.

Almighty and gracious God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hast commanded us to pray that Thou wouldest send forth laborers into Thy harvest, of Thine infinite mercy give us true teachers and ministers of Thy Word, and put Thy saving Gospel in their hearts and on their lips that they may truly fulfill Thy command and preach nothing contrary to Thy holy Word, that we, being warned, instructed, nurtured, comforted, and strengthened by Thy heavenly Word, may do those things which are well-pleasing to Thee and profitable to us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

O almighty God, who by Thy Son, Jesus Christ, didst give to Thy holy Apostles many excellent gifts and commandedst them earnestly to feed Thy flock, make, we beseech Thee, all pastors diligently to preach Thy holy Word and the people obediently to follow the same that they may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

(Prayers from The Lutheran Hymnal [St. Louis: Concordia, 1941] p. 103)

Third Sunday of Easter

Third Sunday of Easter (C)
April 22, 2007
Text: Acts 9:1-22; John 21:1-19

The apostles Peter and Paul are perhaps the two most dynamic figures in the New Testament, with the exception of Jesus Himself. Think of where we would be without the apostolic ministry of both Peter and Paul! Between the two of them, they wrote most of the New Testament, 13 letters from Paul, 2 from Peter, with many scholars speculating (and tradition is on their side) that the Gospel of Mark is closely tied to Peter’s personal account, while Paul is one of the sources Luke consulted for the writing of his Gospel.

So what gives these two apostles the authority to speak on behalf of Jesus Christ and instruct the Church of God in the doctrine of the Christian faith? It is the Divine Call of Jesus Himself when He says to Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17; ESV). It is the Divine Call of Jesus Himself when He says of Paul, “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). And notice what makes both of these instances Divine Calls. It is Jesus, God in human flesh, thus the divinity of the call, who speaks or calls with actual words. Jesus calls both Peter and Paul into the apostolic ministry with actual words that were heard and recorded to be read in the Holy Scriptures.

We American Christians tend to get a little sloppy when we talk about God “calling” us to do this or that. What we really mean when we say that God “called” us to do something, is that we felt in our heart or in our gut that the action in question was the right and God-pleasing thing to do. And it may be true that the action in question was indeed the right and God-pleasing thing to do. But the fact is that God never calls us to do or be anything by means of feelings in our hearts or guts. He calls us through actual words; through His Word. We can expect to hear His voice nowhere else than in His Word preached and read and distributed in the Holy Sacraments.

The reason for this is that we cannot trust our sin-tainted feelings. As my vicarage bishop was fond of saying, “How do you know the feeling in your gut isn’t just a bad can of chili?” Or even worse, how do you know that warm feeling in your heart or that softly whispering voice in your head isn’t from the devil? He speaks, too, you know. So we cannot trust our feelings. Our trust must be in actual words, in the living and active Word of God, which is always sure and certain.

Jesus called Peter and Paul with actual words. “Feed my sheep,” “Rise and go, you are my chosen instrument.” And they were called to an office that others were not. Theirs was the office of apostle. The word “apostle” means “sent one.” The apostles were sent to speak a message, and their message belongs to Another, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter and Paul were sent to speak the Word of Jesus Christ. And they were bound by that Word. So when we read their writings in the Holy Scriptures, we can be absolutely certain that the Word we are reading is the Word of Jesus Christ Himself.

Pastors are the successors of the apostles, and by that I don’t mean to imply that our words are inerrant, or that the Holy Spirit inspires our writing in the same way that He inspired the writing of St. Peter and St. Paul. But the Office of the Holy Ministry is entrusted with the public proclamation of that same Word of Christ. Your pastor, too, is called by Christ to an office to which others are not called, that of speaking the Word of Christ publicly in preaching. He must not speak his own words, but the Word of Christ. And just as you receive the writings of St. Peter and St. Paul as the Word of Christ, so you receive your pastor’s preaching as His Word. Of course, you search the Scriptures to make sure it is Christ’s Word your pastor is preaching, but having found his preaching faithful, you believe it and obey it as coming from Christ Himself.

What gives the pastor such authority? Again, it is the Divine Call of Jesus. And here again, we tend to get sloppy with our language. For example, when a young man announces his intention to study for the Holy Ministry, we often say prematurely that God has called him into the ministry. But let’s be careful here that we don’t equate that young man’s desire to be a pastor with the Divine Call. Again, it could be a bad can of chili at play. Or it could be the passing fancy of the young and naïve. Or, as we mentioned, the devil may have something to do with it. St. Paul writes, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” (1 Tim. 3:1). The desire is noble, but it is not yet a Divine Call. Remember, Divine Calls come in actual words. I desired the Office of the Ministry when I was eleven years old. But I was not yet called. I was called when as a 26 year old man, not quite yet even a seminary graduate, I heard the actual words, “Jonathon T. Krenz: Epiphany Lutheran Church, Dorr, Michigan; English District.” Real words. A real call. Everybody in the room heard it. The Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher, himself a called and ordained servant of the Word, said it on behalf of his Lord and his Church. Jesus Christ Himself called me to serve you here. The noble desire that began many years ago did not come to fruition until the actual words were spoken.

Am I just splitting hairs here? Why am I making such a big deal about imprecise language? Because first of all I want you to know and believe that my ministry and the ministries of countless pastors who have gone before and will come after me, as well as the ministries of pastors who have disappointed the sheep, are true ministries, not because of the man in the office or his own personal warm feelings and noble thoughts, but because of the actual Word of Christ. Likewise, the preaching and writings of St. Peter, who three times denied his Lord when Jesus was on trial, and the preaching and writings of St. Paul, who zealously persecuted the Church of God, are absolutely sure and certain because they have the actual Word of Christ to back them up. So it is with all the apostles. He called the apostles with actual words when He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19).

Secondly, however, I am making this important distinction because you also have a call from God that places you in His family and in His Name, clothes you with the death and resurrection of Christ along with His righteousness, and marks you as one redeemed. I am speaking, of course, of your Baptism, when real words were spoken over you along with the application of the cleansing water, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That is your call! You are called to be Christian! You’re not a Christian because you feel the Lord’s presence. You’re not a Christian because you desire or decided to be. You’re a Christian because you were called with actual words as the pastor applied actual water. It’s something God did to you. And now you have authority, too. You have authority over sin, death, and the devil, because you are in Christ, and Christ has conquered them forever. You have authority to forgive your neighbor when he trespasses against you, because your trespasses have been forgiven by Christ. You have authority to live in the joy of the Gospel in your daily vocations (a term which, by the way, means “callings”), not fearing the threats of the Law, because your Lord Jesus has fulfilled the Law in your place and given you His righteousness. This isn’t something you just imagined. This is not indigestion. And it is certainly not the voice of the devil. It is the living voice of Christ, our living Lord, who through His Spirit calls you by the Gospel.

Peter and Paul heard the actual voice of Jesus saying actual words. And you do, too. You are the sheep who hear His voice as His called undershepherds feed you. You hear Him here where He promises always to speak to you and tell you anew that you are forgiven all your sins and called to be His own. You hear His voice in the writings of the apostles and prophets. You hear His voice in the absolution and sermon spoken by the called servant of the Word in this place. You hear Him invite you to His table. And You hear Him continually speak His Name over you, the very same Name He spoke over you in your Baptism when He called you, the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Second Sunday of Easter

Second Sunday of Easter (C)
April 15, 2007
Text: John 20:19-31

“The Peace of the Lord be with you always.” I speak these words to you every Divine Service in connection with the Lord’s Supper. And you respond, “Amen,” “Yes, yes, it shall be so.” But what exactly do these words mean? What sort of peace are we talking about here? World peace? Peace in our hearts? Peace and quiet? There are many varieties of peace according to the world’s definition of the word. But the Holy Scriptures speak of a different kind of peace, the kind of peace our Lord gives to the disciples in our text when He says, “Peace be with you.” It is the peace of God that passes all human understanding. It is the peace with God that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ, being justified through faith (Rom. 5:1). In other words, it is the forgiveness of sins that comes to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The disciples were gathered together in fear. Confusion and apprehension had taken hold of their hearts and minds. They needed the peace that only Jesus can give. And so it was that while they were locked away in hiding, for fear of the Jews, “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19; ESV). And as we see so often in example after example in the Holy Scriptures, when Jesus speaks His Word, it does what He says. Jesus actually bestows peace when He pronounces it upon His disciples. It is nothing less than a Holy Absolution. It dispelled the sins of fear and confusion and doubt that had taken the disciples captive. It is the same as if Jesus said to them, “I forgive you all yours sins. I forgive you for your unfounded fear. I forgive you for being confused, even though I told you beforehand that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and after three days rise again. I forgive you for your doubt, even though you know the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation. I forgive you, for in My death, I have conquered sin forever! And I stand among you living and victorious!”

It is this peace that the disciples needed. And it is the very same peace that Thomas needed. Thomas thought he needed to put his fingers into Jesus’ wounds in order to believe. But the reality is that he needed to have his sins forgiven and abolished by Jesus’ Holy Absolution. That’s all it took to produce the unforgettable confession, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28). And that’s all any sinner needs: The forgiveness of sins, pronounced by Jesus Himself. That’s true peace in a world torn apart by sin and death.

It is no accident that Jesus instituted Holy Absolution and connected it with the office of the apostolic ministry immediately after pronouncing His peace upon the Eleven. Jesus absolves the apostles for their sin of fear, confusion, and doubt, and then He charges them to speak His absolution to sinners throughout the world. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (v. 21). The ministry and absolution always go together, for Christ Himself speaks through the mouths of His ministers. Jesus breathes His breath, His Spirit, into the apostles so that they speak only His Word. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld” (vv. 22-23). The business of the ministry of Christ is always the forgiveness of sins, which is true peace in the biblical sense.

This is why you have a pastor. You need this same peace. You need this same Holy Absolution. You believe and confess along with the Small Catechism that “when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”[1] In other words, the pastor is just the instrument, the “broadcast system” so to speak. It is Christ Himself who forgives your sins. His Word always bestows what it says. So when you are afraid the Lord has abandoned you, when you are confused about His clear Word and doctrine, and when you doubt His promises to you in the Gospel, cling to this Word, which is pronounced over you every Divine Service. It is Christ who says to you, “I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And know that when He speaks, His Word is accomplished. The deed is done. If Jesus, who cannot lie, says that you are forgiven, you are forgiven. Peace be with you.

Now there are two responsibilities given to pastors in the institution of Holy Absolution, both of them connected and with the same goal, but we are often tempted to pass over the more unpleasant of the two. That is this business of withholding forgiveness or retaining the sin of an unrepentant sinner as long as he does not repent. This is never pleasant business. In fact, it is the hardest part of your pastor’s job. It is always tragic, and will most likely always result in misunderstanding and hard feelings on the part of some members of the congregation, and perhaps even ostracism of the pastor. Yet our Lord commands it. Why? Because unrepentant sinners must be broken down by God’s Law. They must be killed by the Holy Commandments of God so that they see their great need for Jesus Christ and His forgiveness. Forgiveness and restoration of the sinner is always the goal. But the Law must first have its way. And this is true for all of us sinners. The Law must kill us and bring us to repentance so that we see our great need for forgiveness and salvation in Christ. We cannot pass over sin as if it is not a serious matter. We can’t be satisfied with general lip service to the fact that “we’re all sinners.” The Law must convict us of actual sin. It must get right to the heart of the matter with surgical precision and skill. It must nail us to the wall and slaughter us. It must do this in preparation for the life giving medicine of the Gospel.

And that is the other responsibility given to pastors in the institution of Holy Absolution, by far the more pleasant task, and always the goal. That is, the responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel, absolving those who repent of their sins, giving them the peace of the Lord. It is the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ on behalf of sinners, on your behalf and mine. It is taking the person who has been killed by the Law and breathing the life-giving and Spirit-giving Word of Christ’s forgiveness into them, so that they come to new life. And remember, Christ is the One actually pronouncing both words. He is the One killing the sinner through the Law, and He is the One making him alive again through the Gospel. The minister only serves as His mouth. Therefore in Holy Absolution, Christ deals with us Himself.

So there is a lot packed into that little phrase, “Peace be with you.” And now you know exactly what is meant when, as your pastor, I say to you, “The Peace of the Lord be with you always.” Now you know why you say, “Amen.” I am absolving you of your sins; or better, Christ is absolving you through the Office of the Ministry. That’s also why I make the sign of the cross over you when I say it. It is a short hand way of saying once again, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And that’s why you come to church, so that you can hear that forgiveness and be assured of its reality again and again. The whole Divine Service is about retaining the sins of unrepentant sinners through the preaching of the Law and forgiving the sins of the repentant through the preaching of the Gospel. We confess our sins in the very beginning and receive absolution. We hear our Lord’s Word of Law and Gospel in the readings. The sermon is always supposed to pin-point the sin in you, and pronounce forgiveness and healing for that sin. And the Holy Supper is nothing less than Christ doling out His gifts of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, through the very Body and Blood given and shed for that forgiveness on Calvary and now raised from the dead.

So, dearly beloved in Christ, along with Thomas and all the apostles and all Christians from the very beginning of the world, the peace of the Lord is with you always, on account of Christ, which is to say, I forgive you all your sins, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[1] Catechism quotes from Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986).

Easter Triumph! Easter Joy!

Pastor’s Window on April, 2007

“Easter Triumph, Easter Joy”

Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!!

I’m sure many of you heard about the recent Discovery Channel special, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which aired on March 4, produced by Hollywood’s Titanic director James Cameron and directed by Simcha Jacobovici. Some of you may have even watched this documentary, with its blasphemous claims that the bones of Jesus of Nazareth had been found in a tomb in Talpiot, Jerusalem, along with the bones of His family, including his wife (!), Mary Magdalene, and their son, Judah. We spent enough time in Bible Class addressing the claims of the documentary, so I won’t go into a thorough rebuttal here. Of course, these claims are spurious, having absolutely no basis in truth. The historical and scientific research behind the documentary was irresponsible to say the least, and really downright dishonest. What these archeologists found were the bones of a family with very common Jewish names. And, by the way, this tomb was discovered way back in 1981, and dismissed by reputable scholars at the time as nothing more than an interesting, ancient family tomb. Which is to say that this is nothing new. Leave it to Hollywood to exploit the Christian faith during Lent, seeking to make a quick buck, and if possible, introduce doubt about the most important claim of Christianity: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In this respect, Hollywood is acting as a tool of the devil, who in these Last Days would deceive even the elect, if that were possible (Matt. 24:24). Beloved, do not be deceived. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not allow the voice of antichrist to distract you from the voice of your true Shepherd. Be assured: He is risen, just as He said (Matt. 28:6)!

St. Paul tells us just what is at stake with regard to the claim that Christ is risen. He asserts that “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” (1 Cor. 15:14-15; ESV). In other words, if Christ has not been raised from the dead by God the Father, the whole Christian faith collapses. It is nothing more than a sinister lie. In fact, Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (v. 16). Your very salvation depends on the truth that Jesus of Nazareth died for your sins and conquered death by being raised from the dead. In fact, the resurrection itself is the Father’s declaration that Christ’s sacrifice is acceptable, our debt is paid, and our sins are no longer held against us.

Thus Paul writes this confident assertion, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20). Faith clings to this sure and certain fact. Christ is risen, and if Christ is risen, those who die in Christ, or “fall asleep” in him, will also rise. Death has no mastery over us, for it could not hold our Lord. The risen Lord Jesus will return on the last day and call us forth out of the grave. Our souls will be reunited with our bodies made perfect in the resurrection, like unto His resurrection body, to live forever with Him in a new heaven and a new earth. The curse of Eden is reversed. “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” (vv. 21-23). This is the blessed confidence we have as those baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom. 6:5).

We should not be surprised when the world denies the resurrection, nor should we be surprised when the world mocks us for our Easter faith. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Still, our Lord leaves us in the world. Why? Because He has a message for us to confess to all people. It is a confession we also make to one another every Easter. It is the basis of our Easter joy. As Christians, we boldly confess and confidently believe: Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!!

Pastor Krenz

Renewal in the Sacrament

We can all agree that these are troubled times for the LCMS. But while we are suffering as a church-body both as a consequence of our own sin (toleration of false doctrine and practice) and the holy cross (those who suffer for their confession of the truth), there is reason to hope. There are many good things happening in the LCMS, and here is just one example: There is a renewed emphasis on the Sacrament of the Altar, its theology and benefits, as well as a renewed emphasis on frequent reception, including the promotion of weekly communion. This can only be a good thing.

Timotheos, of Baalam's Ass fame, whose family spent Holy Week and Easter with us, brought this important Sasse quote to my attention:

"The renewal of the doctrine of the Sacrament, which we are experiencing today with astonishment, will be followed by the renewal of the correct celebration of the Holy Supper. And if this renewal is carried out first in a few places, and in smaller circles, if it is really the rightly understood and rightly celebrated Sacrament of the Altar, then the church will necessarily be renewed through it. For the church, which is the body of Christ, is built on earth when Christ feeds his community [Gemeinde] which truly believes in him with his true body and blood."

-Hermann Sasse, The Lonely Way: Selected Essays and Letters, Volume I (1927-1939), Matthew C. Harrison, trans. (St. Louis: Concordia, 2001) p. 337.

In Memoriam +William Harris 1926-2007+

In Memoriam +William Harris 1926-2007+
April 10, 2007
Text: Job 19:21-27; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; John 11:17-45

“Lord, let at last Thine angels come, To Abr’ham’s bosom bear me home, That I may die unfearing; And in its narrow chamber keep My body safe in peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing. And then from death awaken me, That these mine eyes with joy may see, O Son of God, Thy glorious face, My Savior and my fount of grace” (LSB 708:3). The prayer we just sang was one of the hymns I sang to Bill the night before he died. Most of the evening as I read Scripture to him and prayed with him, I wasn’t sure if he was comprehending. But when I sang this verse, Bill’s eyes were suddenly focused. This was his prayer. His soul was singing, too. And God answered it. The Lord’s angels did come the next afternoon and take Bill’s soul to be with Jesus. And the Lord will make good on all His promises to Bill. He will keep Bill’s body safe in the grave and his soul safe in heaven until the Day of Resurrection when Bill will see again with his own eyes the risen Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Bill died that Saturday afternoon in the confidence that this was not the end for him, but rather a glorious beginning. What was the source of Bill’s confidence? The risen Lord Jesus Himself. Bill knew that his Redeemer lives!

It’s not that Bill didn’t take his death seriously. Death is always a serious matter. And it is always sad. It is not natural, despite the old cliché. It is not what God intended for us. God created us to live eternally. But then sin entered the world. Death is the penalty for sin. Bill knew that he was a sinner, and that he would have to die. And so all of us sinners who live in this fallen world will also have to die. It is not natural, but the wages of sin is death.

But Bill also knew of another death, the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of the sins of the whole world. Bill knew that the blood of Jesus Christ covers all sin. And Bill also knew that Jesus’ death atoned for Bill’s sin personally. But that is not all. We celebrated Easter, the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, this past Sunday. And it is our Lord’s resurrection that enabled Bill throughout his earthly life, and even now in heaven, to confess with Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (19:25-26; ESV). Job was confessing the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in this passage, as well as the certain resurrection of all flesh on the last day and the eternal joy of all believers in Christ. Bill was baptized into the death and resurrection of his Lord Jesus Christ. The death and resurrection of Christ has become Bill’s own. And so Bill knew and firmly believed that he will rise again on the Last Day. And we join him in that same confession.

Jesus lives! The victory’s won. Jesus has conquered sin. He has conquered Satan. And He has put death to death. He is the resurrection and the life, as He said to Martha at the death of her brother Lazarus. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). These words are not just poetic platitudes. Jesus backs them up with action. Coming to the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus “cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’” And “The man who had died came out” (vv. 43-44), simple as that. Jesus is the Lord of life and death. He is the Life of the world and the Conqueror of death. So when Jesus calls to a dead man, telling him to arise, the dead man rises.

So He will call Bill forth from the grave on the Last Day, just as surely as He called Lazarus. And so He will call all of us, and those who believe will inherit eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth. Christ is risen, and He will raise us also. This is how it will happen: “we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15-17). It will be an eternal Spring day, a new creation, our bodies made perfect like unto Jesus’ resurrection Body. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. “[D]eath shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). All will be made new and perfect in Christ.

It sounds too good to be true, but it is real, as real as the pews you’re sitting on and the voice you’re hearing and the body you live in. Only none of it will be tainted by sin. The natural order will be reestablished. We will live forever with God and Christ Jesus His Son. Bill will rise again, and you will rise again, because Christ is risen, and He has defeated death. Consequently, this is the reality that awaits us.

In the meantime, we wait. And we behold the host arrayed in white, of which Bill is now a part. His voice still blends with ours as together we sing with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. And Bill continues to join us at the Lamb’s High Feast, the Supper of Jesus’ body and blood, only now from the other side of the altar. Jesus lives! The victory’s won! Death no longer can appall us! Nor can it hold us, for it could not hold our Lord. Praise be to God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Resurrection of Our Lord

The Resurrection of Our Lord (C)
April 8, 2007
Text: Luke 24:1-12; 1 Cor. 15:19-26

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!!

It was a tragedy beyond all tragedies when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden. Our first parents sinned against the express command of God not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All the other trees were free and good for food. But not this one. Yet Adam and Eve did not obey God. They sinned. And the wages of sin is death. So when that original sin took root in Adam and Eve, it infected the entire human race, so that you and I are dying of the same disease. We rebel against God. We are sinners. And the wages of sin is death.

Thus “If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19; ESV), because if Christ has not conquered sin and death which entered the world through the original sin of Adam, then we have no hope beyond the grave. We are sinners like our father, and like him, we will die. The wages of sin is death.

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20). This is our hope. This is our joy. This is our certainty. Christ has conquered sin and death. The proof is that God raised Jesus from the dead. In so doing the Father declared that all sin’s wages are paid in full by His Son’s suffering and death. He declared the whole world justified, not guilty, righteous on account of Christ. And so now through our risen Lord Jesus we have peace with God and full access to His throne of grace. This, all because Jesus lives! He is risen from the dead! The stone has been rolled away from the tomb for us. We see clearly that the grave could not hold our Lord.

The women who followed Jesus went looking for His lifeless corpse, “but when they went [into the tomb] they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24:3). Instead they found two men in dazzling apparel who said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (vv. 5-7). It is all one redeeming action. Our Lord became one with sinful humanity in His incarnation, thus submitting Himself to the death sentence which is over us all. He gave Himself over into our hands to be crucified, put to death as a criminal. But in so doing, He engaged death in mortal combat and came out the Victor. He abolished sin and crushed the old wily serpent’s head! Christ is risen, and sin, death, and the devil are forever vanquished.

Yes, in His resurrection, our Lord reversed the curse of Eden. “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 Cor. 15:21-22). Or as Paul writes in another place, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many… If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:12, 15, 17).

So you see how vital for us is our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. If Jesus has not been raised, we are still in our sins. We are dead. For Adam has passed his sin and guilt to us all. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And because of this we have no fear of death. Our risen Lord Jesus will raise us too. He has the power over life and death, for He is Life Himself, and He has conquered death once and for all.

There is an order to this resurrection: “Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Cor. 15:23). Christ conquered death that first Easter. But we still have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. Death is conquered, but it stubbornly clings to us in this fallen flesh. Eternal life is already ours, yet it has not been fully revealed in us. But one day it will be, on the Day when our Lord returns and calls us forth out of the grave. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (v. 26). On that Day, death will be destroyed forever.

But in the meantime death has lost its sting. It cannot harm us. For our Lord is risen. And He keeps the souls of those who fall asleep in Him in perfect heavenly bliss, even as their bodies rest in the grave, until that Day when He will reunite their bodies and souls to live eternally in a new heaven and a new earth. That is what God promises in our Old Testament lesson: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create… no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress” (Is. 65:17-18a, 19b). In other words, the creation that fell in Adam’s sin has been recreated in Jesus’ resurrection. And we are no longer under the curse of death.

The tragedy beyond all tragedies has been reversed by the Victory beyond all victories, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands For our offenses given; But now at God’s right hand He stands And brings us life from heaven” (LSB 458:1). And so at the Lamb’s High Feast we sing our triumphant alleluias. Easter triumph, Easter joy! It is all ours in our Lord’s resurrection. Sin is abolished. Death is dead. And Satan’s head is trampled. Our Lord is present with us now as Host to give us to eat and drink from the fruit of the tree of life, His risen body and blood. So with joy we come before His altar declaring to one another, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!! In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Easter Sunrise

Easter Sunrise (C)
April 8, 2007
Text: John 20:1-18; Job 19:23-27

Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!!

When the apostles, Peter and John, reached the empty tomb, they were confused, “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (John 20:9; ESV). Mary Magdalene did not understand either. She stood weeping outside the tomb, as one who grieves without hope, and even when she stooped to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, she declared that she was looking for nothing more than a corpse. “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him” (v. 13).

But Job understood. Job understood the resurrection, though he lived thousands of years before the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus. Sitting in sackcloth and ashes, scratching his boil infested skin with a potsherd, mourning the deaths of his children and the loss of his earthly possessions, on the brink of death himself, Job boldly confessed, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26). It is a sublime Easter proclamation in the midst of suffering and death. First Job proclaims our living Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and then he connects the sure promise of our own resurrection from the dead to the Life of our Lord.

This is a great comfort to us who have had to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. It is a great comfort to us who have taken up our crosses and followed Jesus through Lent and Good Friday. Christ is risen. Death could not hold Him. And since He is risen, and since we are baptized into His resurrection, death cannot hold us either. So as Paul says, we do not grieve as those 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” (1 Thess. 4:13-14). Paul describes those who have died in Christ as having “fallen asleep,” because the expectation is that if they are only asleep, they will wake up. So it is with all of us who are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Death is but a slumber. And then on that Day our risen Lord will raise us. On that Day our tombs will be as empty as His, for at His call we will spring forth out of the grave with new resurrection bodies, like unto His resurrection body, to live with Him in a new heaven and a new earth.

So we are not confused when we see the empty tomb of Jesus. His resurrection was foretold long before in the Holy Scriptures. But we confidently sing with Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Indeed, in this flesh we will yet see God. These very eyes, made perfect in the resurrection, will see Him. That is the promise. That is the new reality in our risen Savior.

Of course, the world doesn’t believe this, and as those still in the world, we have to wrestle against their lies and mockery. It seems that every year around Lent or Easter time there is some new challenge to the historic Christian faith promoted by the secular culture in order to introduce doubt. You know what I’m talking about. This year it was the so-called tomb of Jesus, in the past it was The DaVinci Code, and the list could go on and on. Perhaps we pastors should thank them because they give us something to preach about. Don’t be led astray by these things. You know the One in whom you have believed. Those who produce such lies and blasphemies are blind and deaf to God’s Word. But thanks be to God, you are not. The Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel. You have heard the living voice of Jesus. It is not the voice of a man long dead. It is the voice of the Ever-Living God-made-flesh who died for your forgiveness and has been raised for your justification. You hear that voice, and of course, you pray that those who rail against our Resurrected Lord would also hear that voice and come to share in the resurrection that has been won for them.

Thankfully Peter and John and Mary and all the other disciples did not continue in their doubt. We have their eye-witness testimony that they had seen the risen Lord. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is an historical fact as well-established and attested as any other event in history. But it is also an article of faith, because you don’t see our risen Lord’s body manifest with these fallen eyes. Rather, you see Him by faith in bread and wine and hear His voice in the Word. But one day you will see Him, plain as day, when the old order of things has passed away.

In the mean time we cling to the promise. And though it is not manifest, the new reality of Life in Christ is already present with us. Death has no power over us. The victory is Christ’s. The saying is true, “‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ 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 Cor. 15:54-57). Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!! In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Easter Vigil

At Epiphany's Easter Vigil service I preached St. John Chrysostom's Easter sermon. You can read it by clicking on the following link: <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-easter.html>. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!!

Good Friday

Good Friday (Tenebrae)
April 6, 2007
Text: John 19; Ps. 8:5

“It is finished,” says Jesus, as He bows His head and gives up His spirit (John 19:30). Which is to say, He dies. What exactly is it, which is finished? It is the whole work of salvation. It is the reconciliation of fallen humanity to the righteous and holy God. It is the payment of our debt for sin. It is the culmination of Jesus’ entire mission. He reaches His goal on the cross where He suffers all hell and dies for our sake, because of our sins, in order to abolish sin, death, and the devil forever. That is, after all, why He came.

To accomplish this goal, Jesus had to be forsaken by the Father. That is the definition of hell, to be utterly forsaken by God. To be thus forsaken by God is the complete absence of anything good, of any blessing or comfort, of any relief. In this connection, Luther comments on Psalm 8:5 which he paraphrases in this way: “Thou wilt let Him be forsaken of God for a little while, but Thou wilt crown Him with honor and adornment.”[1] He writes:

"In this verse David describes how miserably Christ will be forsaken. No human
words can describe this as clearly, briefly, and simply as here. He is not speaking
of the physical suffering of Christ, which was also great and difficult, but of His
sublime, spiritual suffering, which He felt in His soul, a suffering that far surpasses
all physical suffering. He describes the highest degree of this suffering and says:
'Thou wilt let Him be forsaken of God for a little while.' What this is, no man on
earth understands, and no man can reach or express it in words. For to be forsaken
of God is far worse than death."

Again, the spiritual suffering of one forsaken by God is something that we cannot even begin to imagine. But by this suffering of God in the flesh, we are healed, and Jesus’ victory of salvation is won. Luther continues:

"This is what David talks about here, as though he wanted to say: 'Sin and death
are conquered, the enemy is destroyed, the kingdom of heaven is won. It
happened in this way, that the Lord, our Ruler, true Man and Son of Man,
travailed with body and soul in His tender humanity. He underwent such
need and anguish that He sweat blood and felt nothing so much as that He
was forsaken of God. In His soul He had to quench and extinguish the
temptation of being forsaken by God, the devil’s flaming darts (Eph. 6:16),
hellish fire, anguish, and everything that we have deserved by our sins.' By
this the kingdom of heaven, eternal life, and salvation were secured for us."

Now let us not be deceived about why it is so important for us to reflect on our Lord’s anguish. First of all, we have to understand that if God were fair, He would never have punished His Son in this way, for His Son is sinless. No, it was our punishment that Jesus suffered, in our place, for us who are sinners. If God were being fair, He would have punished us. But in His mercy, He sent His only Son to suffer what we deserved, that we might go free and enjoy everlasting life. Secondly, when we reflect on our Lord’s innocent sufferings and death, the Word of the Gospel drives us to faith in Him alone for salvation and all things needful. In the death of Jesus Christ we learn of our merciful God. And we learn of all the benefits of our Lord’s suffering and death: the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, eternal life and salvation, an inheritance which can never perish, spoil, or fade, and the blessed hope of the resurrection of the dead. On the cross the Lord Jesus takes all our sin and shame upon Himself, and in exchange, we get His righteousness, so that when God looks at us now He sees nothing but the perfection of His Son.

That is what it is that is finished when Jesus bows His head and gives up His spirit. Nothing less than the redemption of the world. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[1] Luther’s comments on Psalm 8:5 from Luther’s Works, 55 vols., Jaroslav Pelikan, ed. (St. Louis: Concordia, 1955) 12:124-130.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday (C)
April 5, 2007
Text: Luke 22:7-20

“This is my body, this is my blood.” These are the plain and simple words of Jesus. Let no one put you in doubt. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the same Word that God spoke in the beginning when He said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good” (Gen. 1:3-4; ESV). The Word of God always does what He says, and the result is always good. He is not like our words, which are often meaningless and not performative in and of themselves. We always have to back our words with action in order for them to be true. But not so the Lord, for His Word in reality does the action. As soon as the Lord speaks, it is as He says. Therefore when He says of the bread, “This is my body,” and when He says of the wine, “This is my blood,” we have no reason to doubt, for the reality of the matter is called into being by His almighty and creative Word. Thus “What is the Sacrament of the Altar? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.”[1]

Our Lord established His Supper for a reason. It was not just one last party with His friends. On the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus was establishing precedent. “This do.” He was establishing the meal that would sustain His people until His return on the Last Day. The expectation is that His people would receive this meal often. And this is why. In our life on this earth, we still have to suffer under the tyranny of the fallen flesh and the weight of the holy cross. Even though Jesus bore our sins and griefs on the cross, abolishing them forever, and even though by virtue of our Baptism into His death we already enjoy new and eternal life, we don’t yet enjoy it fully. It is not yet fully manifest. We still have to live in a fallen world, in the fallen flesh, and with sin. And so we need nourishment. That is what our Lord provides in the sacrament. He nourishes us with His body and blood, the very same body and blood that were shed for us on Calvary’s cross. In the Holy Supper He delivers the benefits of Calvary to us in Dorr, Michigan.

Now, this may strike some of you as an odd way of speaking, but this delivery system is vital, for the cross of Christ does us no good if there is no way of delivering its benefits to us who are separated from it by 2000 years and thousands of miles. Thankfully, the Lord has provided also for this need. He gives us the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments. And in particular, He gives us His Holy Supper by which we truly receive the body and blood of the sacrificial Lamb of God orally. The body and blood so far separated from us by history and geography are really and truly present with all of their saving benefits in this meal. So when we need the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, we don’t flee to the cross, but to that place where Christ has promised to be present and to dole out the benefits of the cross, the Sacrament of the Altar.

Don’t misunderstand me, the cross is the most important event in human history. Our salvation was won there by our Lord Jesus Christ. But you can’t go to the cross. It no longer exists. And even if it did, our faith is not in relics, but in the living Lord Jesus. So we go where the living Lord Jesus is present with His body and blood. Luther makes this point very explicitly in his writing against the sacramentarians, or those who deny that the body and blood of Christ are really present and orally received in the Sacrament. He writes:

"We treat the forgiveness of sins in two ways. First, how it is achieved and won.
Second, how it is distributed and given to us. Christ has achieved it on the cross,
it is true. But he has not distributed or given it on the cross. He has not won it in
the supper or sacrament. There he has distributed it through the Word, as also in
the gospel, where it is preached. He has won it once for all on the cross. But the
distribution takes place continuously, before and after, from the beginning to the
end of the world…

"If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not
find it given there. Nor must I hold to the suffering of Christ… in knowledge
or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the
sacrament or gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to
me that forgiveness which was won on the cross.[2]"

So tonight once again we are privileged to receive that salutary meal wherein Christ has promised to give us the benefits of His cross in His body and blood: the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. Once again Christ sets the table for us and hosts His Holy Supper. And once again our faith is strengthened and our bodies nourished for the bearing of the holy cross until the Day of Resurrection.

The disciples needed the strengthening of the Holy Supper before they went through Good Friday. And so do we. We always need it. We can’t get enough of it. And the Lord promises to be there with His gifts as often as we eat it and drink it. So why wait? The Table is set, the Feast is prepared, and the Lord is among us with His sumptuous fare, the food of eternal life. Let us sing, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord,” and come to His Table. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[1] Catechism quotations from Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986).

[2] Martin Luther, “Against the Heavenly Prophets,” Luther’s Works, 55 vols., Conrad Bergendoff, ed. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1958) 40:213-14.

Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion

Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion (C)
April 1, 2007
Text: John 12:12-19/ Luke 22:1-23:56/Phi. 2:5-11

The greatest drama in the history of creation unfolded that week of our Lord’s Passion. The Savior of the world entered the Holy City, Jerusalem, with shouts of acclamation and praise, and cries of “Hosanna!” which means, “Save now.” And that is precisely what Jesus had come to do. He had come to “save now.” It is what His very Name means, “Jesus,” “The Lord saves.” But the salvation He came to deliver would not be accomplished amidst triumphant cries of acclamation. Rather, it would be accomplished amidst the bitter cries of a Man suffering utter rejection by God… a Man nailed to a Roman cross, the sins of the whole world heaped upon His shoulders.

The unbelievable part about it is that the very Man who is forsaken by God on the cross is God in the flesh. It is God who gives Himself up for us. “O sorrow dread! Our God is dead,” sings the hymn-writer (LSB 448:2), for Jesus is the God-Man who dies for us. It had to be so. This is the mystery of which St. Paul writes in the Epistle lesson. There he urges us to have the same mind as that of Christ Jesus, the mind that we already possess as the baptized members of the Body of Christ, for though Christ was in the form of God, He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:5-8; ESV). In other words, our Lord Jesus, who is very God, chooses not to use His divinity for His own advantage, but rather empties Himself, makes Himself nothing, and submits to death for our forgiveness.

As we learned in Catechism class, Jesus is one person with two natures, the divine and the human. He is 100% God and He is 100% man, which, when added together, equals 100% Jesus. And He is the only One who ever was or will be constituted in this way. He had to be both God and man in order to accomplish our salvation. He had to be God so that He could live a sinless life and win the victory over sin, death, and the devil. And He had to be man so that He could live the perfect life in our place, and be our substitute in paying the price for our sin, which is death and hell. In this way He is the Second Adam, the representative of all humanity who reverses the curse of Eden. And He is also the representative of God, for He is God in the flesh. So He is the perfect mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).

Luther writes at length on this topic, that Jesus is both God and man in one person, a doctrine called the personal union of the two natures in Christ. And he spends so much time on this topic because of the absolute necessity that Jesus be both God and man for us men and for our salvation. He writes:

"We Christians must ascribe all the [properties] of the two natures [the divine and the human]… equally to [Jesus]. Consequently Christ is God and man in
one person because whatever is said of him as man must also be said of him as
God, namely, Christ has died, and Christ is God; therefore God died – not the
separated God, but God untied with humanity… On the other hand, whatever is
said of God must also be ascribed to the man, namely, God created the world
and is almighty; the man Christ is God, therefore the man Christ created the world
and is almighty…"

Luther would not have the implications of this truth that our Lord is both God and man in one person lost on us. He continues:

"O Lord God! We should always rejoice in true faith, free of dispute and doubt,
over such a blessed, comforting doctrine, to sing, praise, and thank God the Father
for such inexpressible mercy that he let his dear Son become like us, a man and
our brother! Yet the loathsome devil instigates such great annoyance through
proud, ambitious, incorrigible people that our precious joy is hindered and
spoiled for us. May God have pity! We Christians should know that if God is not
in the scale to give it weight, we, on our side, sink to the ground. I mean it this
way: if it cannot be said that God died for us, but only a man, we are lost; but if
God’s death and a dead God lie in the balance, his side goes down and ours goes
up like an empty scale! But he could not sit on the scale unless he had become a
man like us, so that it could be called God’s dying, God’s martyrdom, God’s blood,
and God’s death. For God in his own nature cannot die; but now that God and man
are united in one person, it is called God’s death when the man dies who is one
substance or one person with God."[1]

According to Luther’s illustration, all humanity of all times and places is placed on one side of the balance. Jesus sits according to His flesh in the other side. And since He is not only human, but also God, He is able to outweigh us all. He is able to tip the scales of justice in our favor so that He takes all our sin upon Himself.

That is what our Lord Jesus does for us. We are like the Jerusalem crowd, one minute crying Hosanna and praising God for sending the Messiah, the next minute calling for His crucifixion. He does not meet our messianic expectations. We want Him to save us in a blaze of glory. Instead, He submits to death and the cross. That’s just how He works. And as it turns out, we are God’s murderers. For our sins, our wickedness, our rebellion against God is what nails the Lord Jesus to the cross. But Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God who goes uncomplaining forth, riding on in majesty into the Holy City of Jerusalem, amid shouts of Hosanna, save now, to die. He does so willingly. He does so for us. And in so doing He makes peace with God on our behalf. He wins us the full and free forgiveness of all our sins. He absolves us.

And that is what Holy Week is all about. Today we begin a holy week, a week full of commemoration and reflection on the Passion of our Lord’s Jesus Christ, His innocent suffering and death as the penalty for our sins. And all of this will culminate eight days from now at the beginning of the new week in His victorious resurrection from the dead. But we have to wait for that. First we must pass through this somberly joyful week, contemplating the death of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. This week will take us once again into the upper room where our Lord Jesus took bread and wine and gave it to His disciples, promising them that it is in fact His very body and blood, sacrificed for them for the forgiveness of sins. And so He will do this same miracle among us, just as He does every Divine Service. And this week will take us to the foot of the cross on Good Friday, as we witness once again in the reading of the Holy Gospel, the chilling suffering and death of Jesus, our Paschal Lamb, whose death brings us peace and forgiveness. On that night, all the light will leave this sanctuary, the symbol of our Lord’s death and burial. But then, on Saturday night, which is really the beginning of the new day according to the Hebrew way of marking time, as we are keeping vigil, the light will return. Then the stone will be rolled away and we will see that the tomb is empty. We will see that death could not hold our Lord Jesus. But we have to wait for that. We must have Good Friday first. The Lord bless your commemoration of this week. May He grant us diligence in observing this holy time. And may He assure us all of the peace we have in Christ, the peace which passes all understanding and guards our hearts in Christ Jesus, the peace of sins forgiven and eternal salvation. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[1] Martin Luther, Vol. 41: Luther’s Works: Church and Ministry III, On Councils and the Church (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). pp. 103-104. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. Cited in unpublished exegetical study on Phil. 2:5-11 by Rev. David Fleming, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI, March 27, 2007.