Category Archives: Sermons

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Easter Festival–“He Is Not Here, But Has Risen” (Luke 24:1-12)

C-54 Easter Morning (Lu 24.1-12)Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel which was read earlier.

This is not right. This is not the way things were supposed to happen. The promised Messiah of long ago has come into the world and now He lies in a tomb. What is worse is that He didn’t even receive the proper burial treatment due to the Sabbath. Now, earlier in the morning, the women go to the tomb of Jesus to properly treat His body for burial. They have everything they need to anoint the body as far as spices go. One thing they don’t have is the muscle that is going to be necessary to dislodge the stone at the mouth of the tomb. Right now, that’s probably the least of their concerns. Their main focus is to give Jesus’ body the proper burial that it deserves.

But as they arrive at the tomb, something is amiss. The stone that was supposed to be set at the mouth of the tomb has now been rolled away. This stone was not just any stone. It was chiseled to fit exactly at the mouth of the tomb, a perfect fit for the entrance, so that once it was set it place, it would not be able to moved. This would have required several strong men to move this stone into place. It would be practically impossible to dislodge the stone from the outside, but somehow, someone did this.

As the women enter the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, they went in boldly seeking their Lord, knowing that His dead body would be right where it was left after Joseph of Arimathea laid it in there. Instead, they discover that the body is gone. This must have shaken the women to their very core, because His tomb had been desecrated and the body taken.

To ease their sense of discomfort, “two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.” These men that appear are angels. Just as angels appeared to announce the birth of Jesus, so do angels appear this morning to announce the resurrection of Jesus. They appear dazzling, reflecting God’s splendor. The message they bring is of great importance, because it is the assurance that the women needed of who Jesus was and what He came to do. “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

That’s the question of the day, isn’t it? Are you here this morning to seek the dead or the living? If you’re here looking for the dead, then you’re in the wrong place. On the other hand, if you’re here this morning looking for the living, then you’re right where you need to be.

Today we come to celebrate the fact that the greatest promise God ever made has come to fruition. The promise is of a Savior. The promise is of a Savior who was born into this world. The promise is of a Savior who lived in this world. The promise is of a Savior who died for this world. The promise is of a Savior who rose again for the sake of this world, for your sake. What was Jesus’ role? “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

Do you hear it? It is necessary that Christ rose. If you believe He rose, then you know that Christ is more than a Man. He has conquered death. He has destroyed sin and crushed Satan. With His life, death, and resurrection, He has rescued you from the grave. Although your sins should have made you die, and stay dead, yet Christ broke death’s power, so that you will live and rise to eternal life. Christ has been raised in the flesh-so that you will be raised.

This is what makes our celebration today so very different from the many other celebrations taking place today. We don’t just gather to joyously commemorate a past victory, as awesome as it was. We don’t gather to commemorate the fact that once upon a time Jesus came and triumphed and then went back home to heaven where He now resides, far removed from us and our everyday lives. No, we gather today to celebrate the living, triumphant present-tense Immanuel King! We gather today to celebrate the marriage feast of the living and triumphant Bridegroom, who laid down His life for us and who today, in a very real and present-tense way, brings His victories over sin, death, and the devil to us to celebrate with us in our midst!

The women were so excited at the words of the angels that they went to tell the others of Christ’s resurrection. Unfortunately, Luke records that “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” How tragic for them. When the eleven first hear the Word of the Lord about the resurrection, they don’t believe it. If there was anyone who would have believed the women’s message, no, who should have believed the women’s message, it should have been the disciples. They were the ones who spent the last three years with Jesus, who were His inner circle, who knew everything that must happen. Yet they were the first who could not believe what the women were saying. But for one of the disciples, maybe there was still hope.

Peter rises and runs to the tomb. He stoops down and looks in, and he sees the linen cloths by themselves. He marvels, but that doesn’t mean he believes. You can just as easily marvel at tornado damage as you can at a miracle. All Peter knows for sure is that the body is gone. Maybe someone took it…but who would unwrap it and leave the cloths behind?

Confusion and perplexity reign among the disciples, or at least for a little while. The story doesn’t end there for them. Christ will appear to them that evening, showing them His hands and His side. And where the women believed from the Word they remembered, the risen Lord will speak peace to His disciples and give them faith by His Word also.

Christ is risen from the dead. He is risen before His people know it. He is risen before His people believe it. He is risen to give them faith and life; and so He is risen for you.

You can know this for sure – of this you can be certain: Christ has died and Christ is risen from the dead. You haven’t seen Him face to face yet, but He tells you it is true in His Word. Faith comes by hearing, not by seeing; and as the resurrected Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.” That is you.

May this eternal Easter Good News of Christ Jesus be and remain with you always. Look here and always remember that blessed Easter reality: “He is not here, but has risen.” May God grant you the opened eyes and ears of faith to always recognize this joyous Easter reality so that you may always have reason to celebrate. Yes—that tomb from two thousand years ago was and is empty, but with good reason. The reason is because Christ rose from the dead just as He said He would. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Easter Sunrise–“Death Vanquished” (John 20:1-18)

C-53 Easter Sunrise (LHP) (Jn 20.1-18)Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel which was earlier.

It does not matter how many times you encounter it, it never feels natural, never feels right. Death always feels wrong. Something inside does not accept that we will not hear that voice, see that face, touch that hand, experience that laughter ever again. The grief counselors can talk until they are blue in the face about how death is simply a part of life and how we must accept it as inevitable and natural. But we never do.

Mary did not accept death. She had no doubt that her Lord, her Teacher, was dead. She had witnessed the horror of it. Standing beside His mother, she had seen the light die in His eyes as He hung gruesomely upon the cross. She had seen them take His limp body from the wood, heard the horrid sound as they pulled nails. He was dead. She had no doubt of that.

But it was not right. She knew it was not right. And she simply had to touch Him again. It was imperative to her that she see that body again. But the body was gone. She had run to tell Peter and John – big help they were. They checked it out and told her she was right: the body was gone. Then they left her, but she remained. She did not know what to do, where to go, to whom to turn to. So she stood there and started to cry.

The tears she cried were not the easy, gentle tears of the merely sad, but Mary wept the gut-wrenching, full-voiced sobs of the grieving. This was the tears of someone who was suffering from watching a person die. It wounds not only those it takes from us, but it also wounds those who are left. And sometimes it wounds us so badly we think it will kill us then and there. Mary knew something of that as she sobbed and looked into the tomb.

But something was different now. The tomb was not empty after all. There were angels there, clothed in white. One was sitting where the Lord’s head had been, one where His feet had been. And though Mary’s sorrow could never shake or destroy their joy, they are concerned for her. They ask, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Jesus’ death was such a given that she did not say, “Because my Lord is dead.” Instead, she replies, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Not knowing about the location of the body was tearing her up. Death was horrible enough, but not to be able to find the body? Not to be able to tend it and give it her last services? She had to know where Jesus was, to touch His body once more. How else could she face tomorrow? How else could she face the rest of her life?

Mary’s grief is of such a magnitude that a conversation with angels does not faze her. So she straightens up and turns and almost runs into the One who had never been far from her, the One who stood right beside her in her grief – though she didn’t know it. He gently asks, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

Hope rises in Mary’s heart. Is it the gardener? Perhaps he is the one who moved her Master’s body. She cries out, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Was it her tears that blinded Mary’s eyes that morning? Was it the grief of her heart that made all the world seem to move in slow motion, in an unreal and phantomlike manner? It all changed when He said one word. He called her name: “Mary.”

Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Although she had not recognized Him before, at the sound of her name, Mary’s heart pounded. “Rabboni!” She lunged for Jesus and held His feet. Beyond hope, beyond her wildest dreams, He stood there. Not a ghost. Not a spirit. Not an illusion or some wishful thinking. He Jesus – flesh and blood, the wounds still visible, but transfigured, shining in glory. This was her Jesus.

The tears begin again, but this time, they are tears of another sort. These were not the sobs of despair, but the tears that brim from a cup that runs over with joy. It was a tender moment, but the joys were only beginning. Jesus had work for Mary to do. He sent her first to His apostles to give them the message that He lives and that He is preparing to ascend to His Father and their Father, to His God and their God. Death was not the end of Him, and so it will not be the end of Mary or of the disciples.

Nor will death be the end of you. Jesus has changed forever how we live, how we grieve, and how we die. We still feel in our bones how wrong death is, how unnatural it is, and we hate it with a passion. But Jesus has made it something we never have to fear – not ever again. For by His death and resurrection, Jesus has wounded death itself, dealt it a mortal blow from which it will never recover. He came out it alive again, never to die again, and His promise to Mary, to His apostles, and to all His baptized children is that He will bring each and every one of us through the hole He punched in death into the home He has prepared for us with His Father.

To strengthen your faith in His resurrection victory, Jesus continues to put into your dying bodies His body that was on the tree, atoning for all your sin; that was in the tomb, sanctifying your grave; and that Mary held in the garden that first Easter Day. He covers you with His blood that He shed to wipe out the sin of the world, to give to you His righteousness. Death could not hold Jesus and it will not you either. As we are baptized into His undying life, so He will bring us out of death to life, so that we will never die again. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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Good Friday–“Death Up Close” (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

C-50 Good FridayCrucifixes make us uncomfortable—and well they should. We squirm before them, and it has nothing to do with any anti-Catholic bias. It is simply painful to look upon our Lord suffering so and to know the reason for His suffering. We shudder before it. In the darkness of that Good Friday, the totality of human sin—from the first sin of our first parents to the last sin of the last human being alive—all of it was gathered up, pressed together, and then off-loaded onto this Man. He bore the whole weight of it and owned it as His own. Thus He also bore its penalty—both temporal and eternal death.

Look upon His cross. See His wounds, the nails affixing His hands and feet to the beams. See the blood running down His face from the thorns. Behold the quivering mass of His mutilated back as He is forced to rub it against the tree, pushing up against the nails to take in a breath of air. Look, seek, and realize: this wounded Man, dying in agony, is not suffering for a single wrong that He has done. As we have seen, His whole life was only love. He was the only human being who completely loved the Father with His all and His neighbor as Himself. Yet it is because He is love that He is now upon the tree. Love will not leave the sinner in his sin. Love takes that sin upon Himself. Love is wounded to grant us healing. He is offering atonement for all the wrongs that we have done. Yes, it is hard to look a crucifix in the face, but it is necessary, because it is not Christ who deserves to be nailed to the cross, but instead it should be us.

While we should be the ones nailed to the cross, it is impossible for us to be the one to hang upon it. Because of our sinful nature, our death on the cross would mean nothing, for there is nothing about us that can redeem ourselves from the clutches of death. The only way for our sin to be purged is by the death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so tonight, we deal with death up close and personal. We do not stand beside a casket of a parent or another family member; instead, we stand at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We experience the reality of death, His death. We realize that death does indeed come close – to each of us. Death is the enemy. It would be cold and dark and empty, except that Jesus has come close to us and has faced death in our place.

Though Christ has faced death in our place, it does not mean that we are immune to the effects of death. To live in this world means that we must face death. Because of Jesus, the death that we face is merely temporal and not eternal. He has seen fit to lay down His life for us, even though we are born enemies of God, He still goes to the cross on our behalf to shed His blood to make a sacrifice that is pleasing to God, one that will do what no other sacrifice could ever do: make full restitution to God for sins committed and restore creation to its rightful place with God the Father.

The prophet Isaiah painted a poetic picture of what this Friday would be. He described a Savior, a Suffering Savior, who would stand in our place and experience death up close. For us who are part of fallen humanity, death is justice. It is a verdict that fits the crime. We have disobeyed God and deserve death. But now the Suffering Savior comes near. As Isaiah describes it, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…. He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities…. The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…. He was cut off out of the land of the living.”

All of this was done for you, with you in mind. Everything that He bore on the cross, He bore it for you. God the Father forsook our Lord so that you would not be forsaken by God. All of your sins, past, present, and future are nailed to the cross of Christ, because He takes them upon Himself.

Our Suffering Savior knows death up close. He felt the bite of death. He winced at the piercing of the nails. He endured the taunting of the crowd and the unjust accusations. He tasted the thirst of death. He didn’t simply view death from a casual distance. He was no simple spectator. He joined Himself to us and absorbed the blows of the hammer that should have been ours. In His death He carried our sorrows. He came to the scene of our guilt. He stretched out His hands to receive our sins. He looked death in the eye. He left nothing undone. He said, “It is finished.” All was completed; the obligation for sin paid. All was accomplished.

On this Good Friday, we stand at the foot of the cross to view a crucified Jesus. We experience death up close, the death of our Suffering Savior. That is why we train ourselves in life to look upon the crucifix, to behold our Savior’s wounds, to hold them close to our heart, counting them as the most precious treasure we have.

Because of Jesus, we can look into the eyes of death and see not a conquering villain, but an enemy that has been conquered. We can see victory in death. We can find hope in sorrow, for we have a Suffering Savior who experienced death up close and personal and overcame it. Our Lord swallowed death. He tasted it for us, and now we follow Him from death to life. Amen.

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Maundy Thursday–“Best Meal Ever” (Luke 22:7-20)

C-49 Holy Thursday (Lu 22.7-20)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

What is the best meal that you have ever had? I can think of several meals that were great, but I can’t remember what the best meal I’ve ever had was. What criteria goes into deciding what makes a meal “the best” you’ve ever had? Is it the food, the fellowship, the price? Whatever your best meal might have been, it pales in comparison to the Meal that is offered to you this night.

As we focus on the theme of the Lord’s Supper this evening, the evening begins as does any other meal with Jesus and His disciples. They are enjoying the Passover meal, something that has been done before. The Passover was the significant family meal in the covenant between God and His people. The Israelites were initially slaves in Egypt, living under the harsh treatment of the Pharaoh. Their cries went to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who sent Moses to deliver them. Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go free. Pharaoh depended on Egypt’s gods to lead the country. By sending plagues that overpowered Egypt’s so-called gods, the true God convinced Pharaoh to let God’s people go. The final plague brought judgment on Egypt’s god of life, as the almighty God sent the destroying angel throughout the land, killing the firstborn in each home. God directed His people to hold a special meal centered on a lamb, whose blood was smeared on the door frame. When the destroyer saw the blood, he passed over the house. The people were protected by the blood of the lamb as a substitute for their lives. As a result of this catastrophic judgment on Egypt, Pharaoh let God’s people go. The Israelites celebrated the Passover meal thereafter.

In our text Jesus gathers with His disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover meal. Jesus was ready for His exodus. During the meal, “He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.’” Matthew adds “for the forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus instituted a new Passover based on His self-sacrifice as the Passover Lamb. He ends the first covenant and establishes the new covenant promised for the new era. Just as the lamb’s blood served as a substitution for the death of the firstborn, so now Jesus’ blood substitutes for our death. We are set free from our bondage to sin, to malice, and to evil through the forgiveness He earned by taking judgment into His own body. Sin “lets us go,” that is, releases its stranglehold on us. We are free. We are rescued from death and given the certain hope of heaven.

What Jesus does tonight is amazing, in and of itself. But we have to remember when our Lord does this: on the night when He was betrayed. One of His very own disciples is going to betray Him and yet He still does this for them. In fact, He does this for the entire Christian Church. He gives to you His body and His blood for the forgiveness of sin. He does this knowing full well that we will betray Him by our thoughts, words, and deeds. He does this knowing full well that we are enemies of God and yet gives Himself to us freely.

In this new Passover meal God forgives and forgets our past, as far as the east is from the west. Your sins are forgiven in this Meal.

Sadly, and to their detriment, many Christians neglect this Meal. But for those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, this is a Meal of great benefit. Those who struggle with the old sinful nature, who need strength to handle broken relationships, and who seek the wisdom to make decisions are united with Christ through this Meal.

When a person receives the bread and wine in Holy Communion, that person receives Jesus. As He said, “This is My body.” The heart of faith grasps the Word, which puts in the benefit, and then takes out the benefit, namely, all that Christ is according to His Word. The mouth eats physically for the heart and the heart eats spiritually what the body eats physically, and thus both are saved and satisfied by one and the same food.

This Meal—a life-giving, life-renewing, life-changing Meal—is the best meal we will ever have because we are united with Christ Jesus in this Sacrament. God changes us through the power of the Word, but also in this Meal He gives us His compassion, joy, peace, patience, kindness, moral goodness, sense of responsibility, humility, and self-control—all of which are life-giving, life-renewing, and life-changing.

That is what this Supper is about. It is not some institution that God gives only so that we remember, and it is certainly not an ordinance by which He tests our obedience to Him. It is the Father calling His children to dinner so that they might be fed. It is the Passover fulfilled: it is Christ present with us, leading us through the wilderness and feeding us with the forgiveness that keeps us alive in Him.

Christ, your Passover Lamb, gives you the remission of sins in this Supper, for He is present with you in, with and under bread and wine. Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. And so life and salvation are yours: because you are forgiven for all of your sins.

For you tonight, the best meal has been served: a meal that feeds your soul, strengthens your faith, and forgives you all of your sins. The Table has been prepared and our Lord Jesus invites us to be His guests, to give to us the best meal ever. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Funeral for +Bernice Schroder+

LSB Icon_040The text that I have chosen for Bernice’s funeral comes from John 11:17-27.

17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Here ends our text.

Frank, Lynnda, Penny, Rosey, family and friends of Bernice, one need not look any further to the front of the sanctuary to see why we are here today. Today we come together to grieve the loss of a mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. As we look towards the altar, we see before us the body of Bernice, and that is all that we see, just a body. What is missing is the soul of Bernice. Some may wonder what happened to the soul. Bernice had no question what would happen to her at the point of death because she had the assurance that she was a baptized child of God. Because she was a baptized child of God, she knew that when her Lord called her name, she would be with Christ forever. For those of us gathered here today, we can be sure of that fact as well.

As we look at our text for today, we see Jesus enter Bethany to find that His close friend Lazarus has died and has been buried. When Jesus meets up with Martha, she tells Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Poor, poor Martha. If only she knew what she was saying, then maybe she would have chosen her words more carefully. All she wanted was to have her brother alive with her again. Isn’t that what we want today, to have Bernice and all of our loved ones with us again? We have exactly what we want, just not how we want it.

To get this answer, we look to the words of Jesus to Martha: “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” For Martha, it was her faith in Jesus that caused her to call for Jesus in her hour of bereavement. For those of us gathered here today, it is our faith in Jesus that we turn to in our hour of bereavement. It is that same faith that Bernice clung to all the days of her life, even unto the end.

If there was one thing that she valued more than her family, it was her faith. In all of my visits with her when I would bring her the body and blood of her Lord, she would always confess her sins. She knew who and what she was. She knew that she was a damned sinner, just like everyone else she knew, without any favor with God. But she also knew that on account of Jesus Christ and His life, death, and resurrection, she was forgiven of all her sins.

The faith that Bernice had is what brought Bernice comfort in her final days. She had no doubt what would happen to her when she breathed her last breath on Tuesday. She knew that because of Jesus, her eternal salvation was secure. Notice what I said. She knew that because of Jesus, not herself. She knew that she could never earn her salvation because she was a sinner. There was nothing that she could ever do to save herself, regardless of how hard she tried. She knew that. She knew the only answer must be Jesus.

God provided the means of salvation for Bernice and God provides that means of salvation for you as well. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was the best thing that could ever happen for Bernice, and she would be the first person to tell you that. As Jesus said to Martha, “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.” Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. And because He rose again, so also will Bernice, and so will we.

Jesus does not just foretell a resurrection of the end times. He is the Resurrection. This sacred truth was on Bernice’s lips throughout her lifetime. She received the Resurrection and the Life in the very body and blood of Jesus in her Lord’s Supper. There she received the forgiveness of her sins and the strengthening of faith.

Bernice was first resurrected in the waters of her baptism. Last Tuesday she was raised forever from this world of pain and sorrow. And on the last day, when all of the graves are opened, she and all those who are asleep shall rise to be reunited with their bodies to live forever in the presence of God.

While it is natural for us to mourn, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who fall asleep in Jesus. For the Lamb has been sacrificed. Christ Jesus died to atone for your sins, as well, and He was raised again for you so that you may be with our Lord forever. In His innocent suffering and death, Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world – for Bernice, for you and for me.

Our heavenly Father assures eternal life to all those who believe. Bernice was one who was counted in that rank. For you, her family, that was her wish for you, that you would remain faithful to God, just as He promises to remain faithful to you. For all of us gathered today, that is the desire of God our heavenly Father: [that] “all people [would] be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” That truth is only found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave His life for us on Good Friday, only to take it up again on Easter Sunday where He rose victoriously over sin and death, once and for all, so that we would be triumphant over sin and death and have everlasting life in Him.

Do not doubt the promise that God has made to you through Jesus Christ. When God makes a promise, He keeps that promise. He promised to send forth a Savior to redeem this sinful and fallen world, and He did. That Savior promised to Martha at the death of Lazarus that all who believe in Him will never die. That is a promise that Bernice believed in and clung to until her dying breath. And now, that promise has been fulfilled for Bernice, as she enjoys the eternal riches in heaven, won for her by Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Palm/Passion Sunday–“Passion” (Luke 23:1-56)

C-42 Palm SundayGrace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

In order to get a glimpse of Luke’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion, one only needs to watch “The Passion of the Christ.” While the movie is not fully accurate, it describes the scene that Luke records for us today. The movie focuses more on the beating and torture of Christ, but not why Christ was beaten and tortured. Since death entered the world, it was no longer “good” as God had once declared it. Something had to happen in order for it to become “good” again and that’s where Jesus’ Passion comes into play.

As we have seen throughout this Lenten season, we have a world that is completely infested with sin with no human cure available. The only cure to sin must be a divine cure, and so we have Jesus, who comes as the divine cure to creation’s problem with sin and death.

Days before His crucifixion, the people sat in the temple, listening to the words of Jesus. Perhaps they thought of Him as the Messiah, maybe someone who would set them free from Roman rule. And when asked the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”, answering anything other than “no” would surely mean death. But death was what was necessary to remove death. It would require death of the innocent to ride death from the guilty, guilty because of a crafty serpent asking if God really meant what He said.

Throughout the beatings and sneering and false statements against Him, Christ was the King. His being king is correct on levels, though they would only have acknowledged one at best. Christ is the King of creation. Everything is under His authority. This fact they would not acknowledge because there was only one king and his name was Caesar. Any king other than Caesar had to be silenced. The rulers of the people, to put down the perversion of Christ and His teaching, saw one mean to do it – death.

To return to Pilate’s question about kingship, Jesus’ answer was simple: “You have said so.” Christ is indeed the King of the Jews. He is the King of the Gentiles. He is the King of the Romans. He is the king of all who believe in Him. He is the King of creation. There was one thing that this King brought that no other king ever could: forgiveness. Paying taxes to Caesar did not bring forgiveness. Roman citizenship did not bring forgiveness. Simply being a Jew did not bring forgiveness. Forgiveness is the gift of God by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.

When the waters of Holy Baptism hit our heads, we were marked as a child of God. Forgiveness comes only through Christ and from no one or nothing else. He plainly says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Faith in anything other than Christ is futile, for it was His body and blood, pierced and broken on Calvary’s cross that defeated death and nothing else.

Time and time again in their mockery did they tell Christ to save Himself. “He saved others; let him save himself.” “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” All of them are mockeries of Christ and the salvation from death that He brought with Him. Maybe the greatest bit of mockery was the sign above Christ’s head, “This is the King of the Jews.” Not only does this mock Christ, but also the Jewish people as a whole. It says that if you want a king besides Caesar, here He is, a pathetic man dying on a cross. It mocks the divinity of Christ, His triumph over death and the belief of the people worked by the Holy Spirit. What they failed to realize is that Christ needed no saving because it was He that came to do the saving.

One person, a criminal being crucified alongside Jesus, saw Christ for what He was – innocent. His words were plain, but spoke volumes: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” While he may have been speaking strictly because they were criminals, his words apply to creation as a whole. We were receiving what our deeds deserved: death. Death came with Adam and Eve but with death came the promise of a Savior.

Death was not meant to be in the equation. It was an unknown variable that set creation spinning a way that it was not meant for it to spin. Through Christ, Satan was defeated and death removed, though we still feel the effects of death.

All of creation is guilty and thus unable to do anything about it. Christ, the only innocent, took the guilt upon Himself in order to make creation innocent.

In the last moments of Christ’s life, the world around Him began to change. The Creator, who took on flesh and was born into creation, is at this moment of death, bringing in new and eternal life, a new creation. With the curtain of the temple torn, it symbolized the completion of Christ’s victory over death, therefore allowing Jesus to commit His spirit into the hands of the Father.

The death of Christ marked the end of creation as we know it. Sin and death no longer have dominion over creation. Satan lost the keys to creation which he wrongfully stole from God through sin. No intercessions by the priests were needed because the greatest intercession was made. No more animals needed to be sacrificed because the sacrificial Lamb was offered. When Christ uttered the words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”, He signified that His work was finished, once and for all. Nothing could undo what had just been done.

Through the life of Christ and His Passion, we have received life – life that came at an expense – the death of Christ. The King of the Jews, who “humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross,” died so that all of creation would be reborn in Him, purged from death and made “good” in the eyes of God. This was the way that creation was meant to be and what took place at our Lord’s Passion was necessary for creation to be restored. Today is not a time to focus on the brutality of Christ’s death or death itself, but to focus on what that death brought about – the dying of death and a restored creation. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Lent 5–“Rejected Cornerstone” (Luke 20:9-20)

C-39 Lent 5 (LHP) (Lu 20.9-20)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Today in our Gospel reading, we find ourselves in the middle of Holy Week in Jerusalem, and the people around Jesus is becoming more and more polarized as Jesus moves forward on His mission to save the world by the cross. There are those who continue to follow Jesus to wherever He would lead while there are those who are searching high and low for any excuse to put Him to death. His enemies are doing what they do best by questioning His authority. Surely there must be something that Jesus will say that will give His enemies the proof they need to put Him to death as a heretic.

The question before Jesus is one that has been asked time and time again: “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” Rather than answer this same old question again and with little time before the cross, Jesus instead tells a parable to illustrate who He is. The answer that He gives is not the one that the people are looking for, for He claims to be the cornerstone of our life and our salvation.

The parable that Jesus tells is not a difficult one to understand if you are the Jewish leadership. It is quite unmistakable who is who in the parable: the owner of the vineyard is our heavenly Father. The vineyard is the people of God and it is the Lord who has planted the vineyard. If God has planted the vineyard, then that means that we are His creation and that we are made for fellowship with God. However, if you are one who is listening to Jesus’ parable and are looking for a way to trap Him in His words, then you will surely miss the point of Jesus’ parable.

As Jesus tells the parable, it is clear that the vineyard owner rented the vineyard out to tenants to run in his absence. You would expect that upon his return, the tenants would hand over the vineyard to the owner. Unfortunately, that is not what Jesus says.

As the man send a servant to get some of the fruit of the vineyard, the tenants beat the servant and he returns empty handed. This occurs a second time and the vineyard owner sees same results. He does it a third time and the results are the same. Surely this is not the results that the land owner had expected. In order to stake his claim, the landowner decides to send his son to the tenants in hopes that the something will change. In the end, the tenants refuse to do what is right and kill the son.

The tenants had entered into a business arrangement with the owner to pay Him a fair share of the profits from the vineyard, but when the servants came to collect on behalf of the owner, the tenants abused them and sent them away empty-handed. They even went so far as to kill the Son of the owner in the hope of stealing His inheritance.

Jesus deliberately exaggerated the role of the evil tenants in order to show the awful abuses of the religious leaders down through the years. During various times in Israel’s history, they have worshipped false gods – even in the temple area. At times, they even offered human sacrifices. As far as the prophets were concerned, most of them spent the majority of their ministry behind bars and many of them died at the hands of those who should have honored them. Even the last of the great Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, lost his head to a ruler’s sword.

As unusual as the tenants are, the owner is even more so. His first servant returned with severe injuries and no fruit. What landowner would not immediately form a group to go after them and at the very least put the tenants in prison? Instead, this land owner sends servant after servant. Then, when the servants return beat up and bloody, he sent His son? Yet this owner sent his son knowing that he would most certainly die.

This is such a picture of God the Father. He patiently sent, not just three, but thousands of prophets to His people. He has every right to wipe us out for the sin we have committed, but He is patient with us instead, as the Apostle Peter wrote: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

God the Father has even sent His Son to a violent death like the owner in the parable. God, in His love for us, sent His only begotten Son to die for us in order that we might have a new life. Even as the wicked tenants threw the son outside the vineyard and then killed him so also the corrupt Jewish establishment sent Jesus out of town to die on a cross. 

This parable of Jesus was one of things that had happened and of things yet to come. The people had rejected Him; not only the locals but the Jewish rulers as well. God our heavenly Father has created this vineyard and sends His Son to redeem it, but instead of listening to Him, we put Him to death instead. Not realizing what our Lord was saying, the people exclaim, “Surely not!” and Jesus tells them, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Instead of listening to Jesus, instead of asking for His forgiveness, Luke records that the scribes and the chief priests sought to put Him to death.

The death of Jesus had to be. His death was the payment for the world’s sin. Sinners treat God terribly with disrespect and irreverence. God gives them daily bread and they fail to be thankful. God gives them things to use in service to their neighbor, and they hoard it for themselves and use it to boast of their accomplishments. God gives them bodies and minds to be used for honorable purposes, and they misuse and pollute them both for temporary pleasure in self-destructive ways. That’s how sinners treat God. But that is not how God treats sinners. He gives us Jesus, for this is how God treats sinners: with patience, mercy and grace. He patiently waits. He continues to send His Word and preachers to proclaim it. He patiently showers you with forgiveness in His Word and Sacraments to keep you in the true faith, even as He patiently gives this dying world more time so that more might hear and be saved.

Jesus, who was the rejected stone, conquered sin, death, and the power of the devil with His holy life, His suffering, His death on a cross, and His resurrection from the dead. He is now the living cornerstone for me, for you and for all who believe. We have a Savior who suffered extreme rejection for us and is now alive. Jesus is the cornerstone that establishes the church forever. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Lent 4C–“Prodigal” (Luke15:1-3, 11-32)

C-37 Lent 4 (Lu 15.11-32)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Children can be such a blessing and they can equally be a curse. They can bring such joy to a parent’s heart and they can also bring such sorrow as well. This has been the case from the beginning of creation. Adam and Eve brought great joy to their Father and then they also brought great sorrow following the fall into sin. Cain and Abel brought joy to Adam and Eve but that joy quickly turned into sorrow following Abel’s murder. The theme continues throughout the Scriptures and that is the basis of Jesus’ parable to the tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, and scribes.

As Jesus begins the parable, one might imagine that at one time, there was a good relationship between the father and his two sons, or at least we hope. But the younger son has something important to say to his father: “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” Allow me to translate for you what this son said. “I wish you were dead so I can get my death benefits from you.” What a crude and outrageous request that the son makes. Jesus does not give us an idea of how old the father is, but whether he is young or old is irrelevant. The son doesn’t care about his father; he just wants the inheritance. I don’t know about the rest of you but if I were to make that request of my father, I would have been knocked into next week. That is not a request that a child makes of his father and hopes to walk away from it. But instead of knocking the son into next week, the father grants the son’s request and divides his property between the two sons. Shortly after that, the younger son leaves.

This son must be feeling really good about himself. He stood up to his father, told him in no uncertain terms that he wished that he were dead in order to receive his inheritance. The father gives it to him, no questions asked, and now here he is with the world at his fingertips. Everything must be going right for this young man! Everything is going well until the son starts to sow his wild oats. At that moment, he went from having the world in the palm of his hand to eating the slop of pigs.

Have you realized who the young son in the parable is yet? It is a person that you are very familiar with, for the young son is you! You are the one who is greedy, seeking what you can from your Father and squandering it. Our heavenly Father has given to us richly. Martin Luther writes in his explanation to the First Article of the Creed: “He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” He has created us, He has given to us life, He provides for all of our needs and we cannot keep one simple rule: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” Instead of abiding by the Father’s command, we squandered all that we had in the Garden of Eden and were forever cast out of it.

As we return to the parable, we see the son living in utter poverty, with nothing to eat but the slop he is feeding the pigs. He realizes that he has done wrong by his father and sets out to return home in hopes that his father would make him like one of his hired hands. He says, “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.””

Did you hear what the young son said? What is the basis of the speech he is planning to give to his father? It’s the same thing you said a few moments ago: we are sinners that are in need of forgiveness. This is the son’s confession of sins. He knows that he has sinned. He knows that he has broken the Fourth Commandment. He knows that the only thing for him to do is to go and confess his sins and ask for forgiveness from his father.

Isn’t that what we did at the beginning of the service? Didn’t we acknowledge our sin to our heavenly Father? Didn’t we confess how we have failed to keep His commandments and statutes and instead turn to our sinful ways? There is only one thing for us to do: confess our sins, return to our Father, the fountain and source of all goodness, the one who is able to forgive us for all that we have done wrong, all that we have done contrary to His divine Word. We no longer can live off of the slop of sin, for it is keeping us from our Father in heaven. We return to Him in prayer, asking for our sins to be forgiven because we are indeed sinners in need of salvation.

For the young man, as he is on his journey to his father’s home and is still a great distance out, his father saw him and ran to him. What the father does is out of character in many ways. In those days, a man of his stature would not have run because he was considered an elder, a man of certain esteem. Running in such a way would have been embarrassing. Secondly, why would he run after his son who more or less told him he wanted him dead and embrace him? It doesn’t make sense what the father did. But it does make sense because this was the father’s son. Even after all that the son has done in his wasteful life, at the end of the day, this is his son. He doesn’t chastise him for squandering all that he gave him. He doesn’t give him the “I told you so” speech. No, he gives to him the royal treatment: jewelry, clothing, food and drink, a great party – the works.

For you and I, our heavenly Father does nothing short of that for us. He gives to us the “best robe” as we are robed in Christ’s righteousness. You and I receive from God the gift of His name in our Baptism, marking us as those who have been redeemed by Christ. We are given that sonship that the young son had given up before his journey. We receive the fattened calf that was killed for the party, but we don’t receive it in the form of a calf. We receive it in the form of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This Lamb of God was slaughtered for us upon Calvary, His blood washing over us to forgive us all of our sins in His sacrifice for us. The words that the father uses in the parable are descriptive of us as well: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” That’s us. Dead in our trespasses of sin, but made alive in the waters of Baptism. The image of God lost upon us in the Fall, but found and restored again by Christ’s death and resurrection.

Wouldn’t it be nice if that is how the parable ends, how our life ends? Unfortunately, there is more to both stories. In the parable, there is still the older brother, the one who did right by his father all these years, never disobeying, always being the “good son.” He reminds his father of the years of dutiful service he has rendered. But his virtue was not rewarded with even a young goat for celebration. Here Jesus is drawing a portrait of the Pharisees and experts in the law. They were proud of the dutiful way in which they observed all of God’s commands. They felt fully justified in criticizing Jesus for His fellowship with sinners and tax collectors. They were not about to join in joyfully celebrating the repentance of a sinner.

Isn’t that us? Aren’t we always making it all about us and what we’ve done rather than what God has done for us in Christ Jesus? Fortunately for us, it is the Father who has the last word in all of this. He is the one who never turns His back on the children who turn their backs on Him. He is the Father who comes running to us after we have run away from Him. There is always hope for the prodigal son and so there is hope for us as well. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Lent 3C–“Repent” (Luke 13:1-9)

C-35 Lent 3 (Lu 13.1-9)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Of all of the parables that our Lord spoke, this probably ranks up as probably one of the least favorites. One of Jesus’ big words in our text for today is “repent.” Whether that means “face up to your sins and confess them” or “turn around and reorient your life,” it doesn’t have much of an appeal to us, does it? To make matters worse, there’s the story of a barren fig tree which faces the option of producing fruit or getting chopped down – which again, when applied to us, is less than inviting. So on the surface, at least, it adds up to a rather gloomy word, and it’s nobody’s favorite.

As Luke begins this portion of his letter, there is a group that comes to Jesus and does what they do best: complain. There are those in the crowd that complain to Jesus about some Galileans who were murdered by Pilate, suggesting that they were aware of how God does indeed punish sinners. Jesus proceeds to ask some questions to them that makes them think before they answer, questions that should make us think before we answer.

Jesus asks them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

What a nasty thing our Lord says! He uses that word which should not be spoken: repent. It’s a word that no one wants to hear, especially being spoken to them. Brutal murders, shocking accidents, death in whatever form – all are sermons of God’s Law: the soul that sins will die. Death is one way God calls people to repentance, lest they perish eternally. Some falsely conclude that if nothing really bad happens to them in life, it is a sign that they have been living good lives. Jesus is teaching that not only certain very wicked people need to repent but repentance is necessary for everyone.

What a shocking statement for Jesus to make, that everyone needs to repent or perish. Who does He think He is to make such a bold, sweeping statement like that, the Son of God? Oh wait, that’s exactly who He is. He knows exactly what will happen to the unrepentant sinner and that is why He is here. He comes to urge the people to repent of their sins. He comes as the means of their repentance. He comes as the one who will give His life for the lives of the repentant. He comes and will be our Judge on the last day.

To reinforce His message, he tells a parable of the fig tree. Looking at Jesus’ parable, it’s straight talk. It’s not pleasant. It’s not comforting, and it’s nobody’s favorite. But there it is, straight and to the point. The terms are established by God, not us. Our excusing and rationalizing, our complaining and postponing, our good intentions and sincerity of purpose all evaporate into the air and the voice that speaks inquires about the fruits of our lives.

If you are uncomfortable with that, then that is the way it should be. God is very patient, not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance. However, the delay in judgment should not cause people to put off repentance. The time will finally come when the unfruitful tree is cut down. The opportunity for repentance does finally come to an end.

God is patiently calling us to repent. We return to Jesus’ parable about the fig tree. It wouldn’t bear any figs! Year after year it grew, but bore no fruit. The owner wanted to cut it down. But the vinedresser said, “Give me a chance with it. I’ll take care of it, there’s still a chance. If it doesn’t produce fruit for you next year, then cut it down.”

That fig tree is you. There’s so much good fruit that we could be producing, but we aren’t. God isn’t through with us yet. Jesus comes in as our friend, our Savior. He gives His life for us on the cross. He comes to us in His Word. He supplies our needs, comforts our fears, and dries our tears. He washes us clean in Baptism. He feeds us with heavenly food in the Lord’s Supper. He does all this, waiting for us to produce that fruit that He can use.

As patient and long suffering as God is, there is a deadline for our repentance. The writer to the Hebrews says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” The tree in the parable has a year to bear fruit. In a similar way, those who refuse to repent in this life will be removed from the Kingdom of God in the next.

So what shall we do about it? How can we capitalize on the offer God makes? What response can we make? Jesus gives us the answer: repent. We do nothing more and nothing less than that. There’s nothing new to Jesus’ answer; and yet as old and as basic as it is we tend to forget it and act otherwise.

That is the central theme during the season of Lent. We sing just before we hear the Holy Gospel: “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” That return of which we sing is nothing short of repenting. How are we to repent? Why do we need to repent? Have we really done that bad that we need to repent? If we take stock of ourselves I think we’ll often find that we’ve been careless at some point or other in our lives—that we’ve lived as if God doesn’t matter, or allowed a cynical attitude to develop, or conformed to the mood and mindset of the age in which we live. In short, instead of living our lives according to God’s commandments and His ways, we live our lives in the way which makes us happy, regardless if it’s contrary to the Word of God.

How do we live then? The standard is too high, and we don’t even measure up to the “not good enough” of which Paul and Ezekiel speak of in our other readings for today. But God is on your side and wants you to flourish! The answer is and has always been and will always be Jesus. Jesus goes to the cross in order to buy you back and to restore you to your rightful place as God’s heir. He gives His life in order that your life will not be taken. He dies so that you will never die that final death.

Maybe the word “repent” isn’t so bad of a word at all. Maybe the parable of the barren fig tree isn’t so bad either, for it reminds us that life is to be lived on God’s terms, it also reminds us that life and can be good and full and productive. Once again, Jesus gives to us the words that are most needed – words that remind us what our heavenly Father desires of us and the gift of forgiveness that comes through repentance. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Lent 2–“To Jerusalem” (Luke 13:31-35

C-33 Lent 2 (Lu 13.31-35)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Things are beginning to heat up for Jesus. Pressure is starting to be applied to Him. Even the Pharisees are coming to warn Jesus about what is going to happen. They tell Him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” This doesn’t sound like the Pharisees that we know. They have tried to pick a fight with Jesus at every opportunity but now, they warn Him, looking out for His interests. These Pharisees sound so helpful, almost even nice. Are they different from the Pharisees who have been opposing Jesus every step of the way? More than likely, they are up to their old tricks, trying to deceive Jesus into abandoning His journey to Jerusalem. If Jesus turns and runs, He’ll surely lose credibility with His following. But perhaps the Pharisees are perceptive: they realize that any man who wants to be a leader of the Jews must establish Himself in Jerusalem. Any ploy that could keep Him away from there would surely foil His plans. These are not Pharisees who have turned over a new leaf; they have already rejected Jesus and His purpose. As far as they are concerned, nothing has changed.

While the Pharisees here are likely not concerned with what will happen to Jesus, very real threats of death do indeed face Jesus in Jerusalem. Opposition to Jesus has been building for a long time. His preaching and teaching has been less than well received by the ruling Jews of the day. He was labeled a heretic because He claimed that He was the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Death was coming quickly for Jesus and instead of turning away from it, Jesus marched headfirst into Jerusalem to face His death.

Just a few weeks ago we heard how at the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus, Moses, and Elijah discussed His impending death. Now, what they had discussed on the mountain seems to be getting closer to reality. For the Pharisees, nothing could be better than this. They know that Jesus is going to be killed, one way or another. The Scribes and Pharisees have been plotting this for quite some time. Jesus knows very well what will happen when He makes it to Jerusalem. There won’t be a parade. There won’t be a warm reception for Him. He knows that when He gets there, He will meet His death. But there will be more than that. He knows that when He enters Jerusalem, you will have life.

Death for Jesus means life for you, the believer. He willingly goes to Jerusalem, to fulfill the Father’s will in order that you would have life. Our Lord’s journey becomes the journey of every Christian, for He leads us from death to life. That is what the scribes and Pharisees did not understand or did not care about. They were more concerned about putting a heretic to death instead of what His death would accomplish. The death of Jesus would restore creation to its rightful place as the beloved of God. Jesus is not afraid to go to Jerusalem, but why would He? He goes because of you, regardless of the rejection that He has faced up until now and the rejection that He will face there.

Thus, as He goes to the cross, no one can keep Him away from Jerusalem-not Herod and all of his soldiers or the Pharisees with all of their plans. This is the Son of God going about His Father’s will, and He will not be diverted from the journey. He is going to Jerusalem. And because He is going to Jerusalem, Herod and the Pharisees will work out the details for His death. If He isn’t going to go away, they will make Him go away.

But bear this in mind: They don’t make Him go away. The Lord is still in charge. He does not die on that cross because of Herod’s strength or the plottings of the Pharisees. Nor is He scourged and crucified because of the power of the Romans. He goes to that cross only because He goes willingly, because this is God’s plan for your salvation. This is the all-powerful Son of God, and He will not be denied your redemption.

This is your comfort and hope: Your Savior is not a weak man who is overpowered by evil men who seek to put Him to death. No matter the hatred of His enemies, He goes to Jerusalem. No matter the plots and plans of man, nothing keeps Him from suffering the full judgment for your sin. Nothing could deter the Son of God from that mission of salvation. No one, not Satan and his seductive attempts to buy Christ from His mission; not even Christ’s own disciples could dissuade Him from going to the cross with the hopes of Him staying with them forever; not even His enemies who threatened Him with suffering and even death; nothing in this world could side-track Him from that for which He came into the world. He came to be a ransom for many. He came to die that we might live. He came as Redeemer and ushered in the full meaning of God’s eternal love.

And so we say again: Jesus goes to the cross and dies only because He wills to. He did it willingly. He submitted to the suffering and the nails and the death because He willed to do so for you, in accordance with the Father’s will.

Fortunately, God loved us even while we hated Him. Jesus is God’s Son sent to rescue us. The events of today’s Gospel happened while Jesus was on His way to complete that rescue. He was taking His farewell tour of Israel before He went to Jerusalem to offer Himself up as a sacrifice for us. That is the reason He said, “It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” That is also the reason He had no fear of Herod. He knew that His death would take place in Jerusalem, not in Galilee.

Jesus’ heart for His people will send Him to Jerusalem, for her and for us. Once more, on Palm Sunday, Jesus would come to Jerusalem and be acclaimed by words of praise, but He will still be rejected and crucified. This is precisely why He would come. This had been Jerusalem’s purpose throughout her favored history: this would be where the Son would God would give His life for the Church. Jerusalem will be saved and so will you, as will all those who repent and are gathered into Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.