Vigil of Easter

 Video of Service

The Resurrection of Our Lord: Vigil of Easter

April 4, 2026

Text: Mark 16:1-8

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

            This is the night...  Of death succumbing to resurrection and life.  The great passing through the valley of the shadow, then, coming up and out.  The drowning and death of Old Adam.  The emerging and arising of the new man, the New Creation in Christ.  Darkness to light.  Repentance and faith.  Mortification of the flesh.  Growth in the Spirit’s fruits.  Out with the old and dying and dead.  In the with the new and living and eternal.  In foreshadowing, and accomplished fact.  In delivery of the gifts, and following in His train.  This is the night.

            This is the night... Creation out of nothing.  God’s almighty Let there be!  And so, there is.  Formed and filled.  And it is good.  In fact, very good.  And man and woman.  Male and female.  Fashioned in God’s own image and likeness.  Tending the Garden.  Stewarding creation.  Having dominion over fish and birds and livestock and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.  This is the night.

            But we know what happened.  The beguiling serpent.  The woman deceived.  The man, silent, when he should have spoken.  Taking and eating what God had forbidden.  Not good.  Not good.  A Promise, yes.  The woman’s Seed, crushed, but crushing the serpent’s head.  Yet, before you know it, a brother’s blood crying from the ground.  Adam’s seed, corrupt... all.  And so, a Flood.  Of worldwide proportions.  The death of all the living.  Except one man and his family.  Our father, Noah.  His sons.  Their wives.  Saved in an ark.  Eight souls in all.  And pairs of animals in which is the breath of life.  A starting over.  A reset for the God who is grieved, and death for humanity, hellbent on self-destruction.  But delivery through water, to life, for the one who is righteous by faith in the LORD, his God.  And another Promise.  The bow in the clouds.  God points His weapon away from earth.  Never again shall there be a Flood to destroy the world.  God’s solemn oath.  This is the night.

            Israel, trapped, with their backs against the sea.  Before them, slavery and certain death.  Behind them, a watery grave.  But there is the pillar of fire, God’s Glory.  And there is the rod, and the Word of God.  Lift up your staff.  Stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.  A strong east wind.  The Read Sea parts.  Israel crosses through the water on dry ground.  But Egypt pursues.  The hoards of Pharaoh, with chariot and horse.  Moses, stretch out your hand again.  And the waters of the sea come crashing down.  Water destroys the enemies of God.  Water saves the children of God.  “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea” (Ex. 15:1; ESV).  The passing through.  The coming up, and out.  To freedom.  To life.  And communion with God.  This is the night. 

            Baptism by water.  And Baptism by fire.  Three faithful men who will not bow the knee.  Who will not prostrate themselves before a pagan idol.  They will pay the price.  And they are willing.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Nebuchadnezzar’s fury.  A fiery furnace seven times hotter.  God will deliver us, O king, from your hand.  But even if not, we will not bow down.  And so, bound.  Cast down.  In smoke and flame.  Even the executioners are killed.  But now, the men are unbound, and unhurt, walking around in the midst of the fire.  And who is that with them?  We only cast three.  That fourth One appears like a son of the gods!  He is, as it happens, the Angel of the LORD.  Which is to say, not a son of the gods, but the Son of God!  God will deliver us, O king, from your hand.  And He does.  That is precisely what this God does for those who belong to Him.  And so, passing through.  And coming up, and out.  To freedom and life.  This is the night. 

            The Vigil of Easter, from ancient times, was a night of Baptisms and Confirmations (we don’t have any ready to go this year, but it’s always fun when we do).  The passing through water.  The death and defeat of God’s enemies (and yours!).  The devil.  Old Adam in you.  Your sin.  Your guilt.  The coming up, and out of the blest baptismal water.  Forgiven.  Born anew.  Washed clean.  Clothed with Christ, and His righteousness.  A New Creation.  To live by faith.  Image restored.  Likeness reclaimed.  And then, the blessing of the Spirit, as the faith is confessed.  On pain of death (we ask even our children... are you willing to die, rather than fall away from this faith?).  A Baptism of fire.  Because, do what they might, the world and its prince cannot kill us.  Our God will deliver us from their wicked hands.  And He does.  Always.  Even if it be through suffering and martyrdom. 

            Because, this is the night.  Dissipating into Day.  What do the women find, as that Day dawns?  The stone rolled back.  No Jesus in the tomb, but a young man, dressed all in white, seated on the right side, like he is waiting for them.  “Do not be alarmed,” the angel says.  “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; he is not here.  See the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:6).  It is the first Easter sermon.  And the women are the first to hear it.  They are not to keep it bottled up, this news, as though it is a secret to themselves.  Go, tell His disciples.  And especially Peter.  He’ll meet you in Galilee.  You’ll see Him for yourselves!

            And they flee in fear.  Trembling and astonishment.  Because the night is over.  Everything has changed.  Jesus took hold of the night by its ears and leapt with it into the abyss.  It is the death of the darkness forever.  But, for Jesus... He was just passing through.  Through the night.  Through death.  And now, He has come up, and out! 

            In this moment, all the women have is the preaching of it, still reverberating in their ears, and in their hearts.  But the angel promised that soon, they would see Him.

            And that is us, tonight.  This is the night when we hear the preaching.  The Good News that Christ Jesus is risen from the dead.  Not the sense or sight of it.  Just a sermon.  Reverberating in our ears, and in our hearts.  But also, a Promise.  We will see Him soon.  And, indeed, we will.  The Risen One is coming.  This is the night, but soon, the Day.  It is, with us, as with all the saints of old.  We’re passing through.  Then up, and out.  With Jesus.  With our Lord.  It is the grand old story.  It is our story.  And here is the climax, the earthshaking culmination of all that came before... the sum and substance of our eternal future: Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  Up and out, and into resurrection life.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.           

  

Good Friday

 Video of Service

Good Friday Tenebrae

April 3, 2026

Text: John 19:28-30 (ESV): “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’  A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.  When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

            In the Name of Jesus X.  Amen.

            “I thirst.”  Suffering, dying, making atonement for the sins of the world, for your sins and mine... It’s hard work.  Our Savior is human.  Like us.  The Son of God does His saving work in a body.  Flesh of our flesh.  Bone of our bone.  And so, He is physically parched.  And wine-vinegar won’t slake Him.

            He has emptied Himself.  Poured Himself out for us.  His blood.  His strength.  His very life.  And now, knowing that the work of our redemption has been accomplished, He speaks forth His emptiness, His longing to be filled.  By water?  Certainly.  But more than that.  For what is He thirsting? 

            For you.  To be His own.  For you.  To live with Him, in His Kingdom, forever.  For you.  To desire Him, as He desires you.  To live for Him, as He has lived for you.  To die in Him, as He has died for you.  And so, to rise with Him, as He is risen and lives for you.  The Blessed One hungers and thirsts for your righteousness (Matt. 5:6), your justification.  And that is what He accomplishes by His death on the cross.  What is it that can satisfy His thirst?  You.  Only you.  Beloved, look again at the crucifix.  See Him bleeding, dying on the tree.  He does all this for you.

            The sour wine.  The gall.  That won’t do it.  This, rather, is to fulfill the Scripture, which said: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Psalm 69:21).  As it happens, that is a fine description of the best we can do to quench the Savior’s thirst by our own efforts.  To be righteous before Him by our own strength.  To justify ourselves.  Swill.  Spoiled.  Polluted.  Rotten.  That is what we give Him.  It will never do.  It is with us as the Prophet Isaiah says: “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Is. 64:6).  Filthy rags.

            “I thirst,” Jesus says.  But only He can provide that for which He thirsts.  And He does.  So, “When Jesus had received the sour wine”... as though swallowing the last sin left on earth... the final transgression to be atoned... the big one, our self-justification... He said, “It is finished.”  That is, it is complete.  This that I am now doing has come to its conclusion, and reached its goal.  And so, He lays His labor down.  He rests, as He did on the Seventh Day of Creation.  He dies.  For you. 

            What, exactly, is included in that declaration, “It is finished”?  His suffering?  Yes.  But more.  The Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins.  The Propitiation.  And so, our guilt.  Our condemnation.  Our enmity with God.  What is left to do?  Just this: A Sabbath rest in the tomb, thus sanctifying our sepulchers as soft beds from which we will one day awaken.  And then, getting on with the business of resurrection and life. 

            So, “It is finished.”  And He “bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”  Not just a poetic way of saying He took His final breath this side of death, although it is that.  He is breathing forth the Holy Spirit into the world, and upon all who will believe in Him.  His death unleashes something.  He’ll do it again on Easter evening, when He breathes on His disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).  He will manifest it fully when the Spirit blows through on Pentecost, fifty days later.  And on us in every Baptism.  And on the wind of His Word.  Where His death... and life... touches us in the body given, the blood poured out, set before us as a banquet, the Holy Supper. 

            That is the satisfaction of His thirst.  That you receive Him, and all His saving gifts.  The Spirit He pours out.  The Father who loves you.  The life He gives you.  The Kingdom He bestows. 

            And what is our response?  As we sang, “What language shall I borrow To thank Thee, dearest Friend” (LSB 450:5)?  The sour wine, my own swill, will never do.  How about this?  Another request!  “O make me Thine forever!  And should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never, Outlive my love for Thee” (emphasis added).  Live in Him, and love Him.  Be loved by Him.  That is my response.  And yours.  Every day by His mercy.  Each day in faith.  Treasuring His every Word.  Longing to see Him with my own eyes.  Rejoicing to receive Him as He comes to me... to us... in His Means of Grace.

            It is that for which He’s been thirsting all along, isn’t it?  There He won it (the cross).  And here He gives it (the Church).  Oh, beloved.  Behold your Savior, and your God.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.    

Maundy Thursday

 Video of Service

Maundy Thursday (A)

April 2, 2026

Text: Matt. 26:17-30

            What does Jesus give us in His Words, instituting this Supper?  Chiefly this: “this is my body” (Matt. 26:26; ESV); “this is my blood of the covenant” (v. 28); and why does He give it?... “for the forgiveness of sins.” 

            This is a profound saying.  Our Lutheran ears and dull hearts are probably desensitized to this, because we’ve heard it so often.  We know it, already.  We know it.  Well... I’m not so sure.  Saturated, as we are, in the ethos of American Evangelicalism... which sees in the Supper, at best, an exercise by which we stretch our faith up to heaven (where the humanity of Jesus is confined), to commune on His body spiritually, there; or, at worst, a mere symbol of His body and blood (which is, again, confined to heaven), an ordinance, an obligation, to be obeyed by us... We’re immersed in that.  It has to have an influence on us.  Do you see, by the way, how that teaching gets the direction of the Sacrament precisely backwards?  Us to God, that’s what it makes it.  It becomes something we have to do for God, not something God does for us.  It’s as bad as the Roman idea of the Sacrifice of the Mass, where we offer to God the Sacrifice of Jesus.  No, when Jesus institutes the Sacrament of the Altar, the point is, He comes down.  He comes to His disciples.  He comes to us.  And He doesn’t sacrifice Himself in the Supper (much less do we sacrifice Him).  That happens, once for all, on the cross.  Rather, in the Supper, He gives all the benefits of His sin-atoning, life-saving Sacrifice, to us.  That is the direction.  Not us to God.  Jesus to us!

            Also telling, a 2019 Pew survey found that 69% of self-identifying Roman Catholics denied the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament, believing rather that the bread and wine are just symbols of His body and blood.[1]  If that is true of Catholics, one wonders what a similar survey would find among Lutherans.  Granted, the survey is not confined to those who regularly attend Church.  One hopes, and expects, those who attend Church to be better catechized.

            Still, the point is... don’t take it for granted that we know this, the bodily presence of Jesus in the Sacrament, for the forgiveness of our sins.  Or that we believe it, even if we do know it.  It ain’t necessarily so, to quote the George and Ira Gershwin anti-religion hymn.  And anyway, never underestimate the devil’s power to lead fragile consciences into doubt about this.  Especially because this is a reality unavailable to our senses.  Right?  We can’t see it.  Looks like bread and wine.  Tastes like bread and wine.  As a matter of fact, it is bread and wine.  And that’s all you’ll find if you subject it to scientific testing.  You won’t find little bits of first century middle eastern male DNA interspersed in the wafer or the drop.  But faith recognizes that it isn’t only bread and wine.  Faith believes the Word Jesus speaks of the bread and wine.  This is My body.  This is my blood.  There is a reality hidden underneath the earthly elements.  A supernatural reality, to be sure, but nonetheless real.  That bread is Christ’s body.  That wine is Christ’s blood.  Why?  How?  Because He says so.

            The only solution to ignorance about this, on the one hand (be it willful, or unwilful)... and spiritual doubt, on the other... is preaching and catechesis.  You need this preaching.  So do I.  You may think you are strong on this doctrine, but that is just the kind of self-security the devil loves.  Because then he can spring his trap out of nowhere, so that the very next moment you’re attacked by doubt, or even unbelief.  So Jesus has to breathe this Word into you, again and again.  This is My body.  This is My blood.  Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.  Because this does not make sense to fallen flesh.  It can only be divinely revealed.  Foolishness to natural man.  The power of God to those born anew of the Spirit. 

            That is what I’m looking for, by the way, from our guests when they present themselves for the Supper.  And frankly, from you, too...  Well, first that they are baptized in the Name of our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  That is number one.  Are you a baptized Christian?  Under no circumstances should an unbaptized person commune.  You have to be born before you can eat. 

            But then, what do you expect to receive in the Sacrament?  I’m looking for a clear confession that the person expects to receive the true body and blood of Jesus, in their mouth (no faith stretching up to heaven business), under the bread and wine.  (Of course, I help them come to this confession as we talk.  It’s not an academic test).  And then, why do you want to receive His body and blood?  For the forgiveness of sins.  Because that is what Jesus distributes in the Sacrament. 

            And then, yes, it is also true that I want to know our guests are in fellowship with us before they commune.  That is, that they have been catechized in the Lutheran Church and are members in good standing of a Missouri-Synod congregation.  But even then, the question remains (and we can’t take it for granted, anymore, that Missouri Synod Lutherans know and believe this): What is the Sacrament?  Why do you want it?  It is the true body and blood of Jesus, given me to eat and drink, for the forgiveness of my sins. 

            And not only should we know and believe this as a matter of doctrine.  This teaching... these Words of our Lord... should be the precious treasure we carry in our hearts and minds as we come forward to receive this Gift.  In fact, there three moments I find profoundly moving every time we celebrate the Supper.  (I want you to find them moving, too, because that means you really believe this.) 

            First, when Jesus says to us of the bread, this is My body.  Because now it is.  His Word does what it says.  And so, with the wine, this is My blood.  Now it is.  The very body nailed to the cross for my sins...  It’s right here, in this little bit of bread.  And the very blood shed as the price for my redemption... It’s right here, in this tiny sip.  I know it, because that’s what He says. 

            Second, the elevation of the body, and then the blood of Christ, after the consecration of each element.  What is that we are seeing?  Our fallen eyes don’t recognize it, and sometimes our fallen hearts rebel against the very idea of it... But faith sees it... knows it, believes it... That is Jesus!  Jesus for me!  Jesus for us!  With us!  In the flesh!  There are times I almost weep for the beauty and joy of this reality.  How do we not fall on our faces with wonder? 

            And, third... and above all... when the body... the blood... of Jesus Christ, the Son of God... hits my tongue.  It is the death and resurrection of Christ, cleansing me from the inside out, and giving me life.  It is the touch of the One who heals me, body and soul.  Strengthening me.  Uniting with me, so that we are one.  Pumping in my heart, and coursing through my veins.  Taking possession of me, body and soul.  Communion with the Lord Jesus.  And so with the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  And, with the body of Christ that is the Church.  Making of me, already, here and now, a New Creation, a possessor of eternal life. 

            All by grace.  I don’t deserve it.  I don’t do anything to make it happen (the direction is not me to God).  Jesus comes down to me... to us (this is you, too, isn’t it?  This is what He does for you!)... He comes down to us in this Gift.  To forgive our sins and be one with us.

            Really, though, dear Lutheran...  Tired of hearing it?  I already know that?  That’s a sure sign you need to hear it again, and take it to heart.  And know, once again, the wonder of it. 

            O Lord Jesus, grant us Your Spirit, so that we do, indeed, take this to heart, and believe what You here give us, receiving it often, with joy, and wonder, and thanksgiving.  Give us a hunger and thirst for this Gift... for You, O Christ!  Grant it, dear Jesus.  Our mouths are open, and our hearts are ready.  Fill us with Your true body and blood.  And so, live in us.  That our sins be forgiven, and we live in You.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.               

---

[1] “Pew Survey Shows Majority of Catholics Don’t Believe in ‘Real Presence,” https://www.ncronline.org/spirituality/pew-survey-shows-majority-catholics-dont-believe-real-presence, accessed March 30, 2026.

Palm Sunday/ Sunday of the Passion

Video of Service 

Palm Sunday/ Sunday of the Passion (A)

March 29, 2026

Text: John 12:12-19; Matt. 26-27

            Christ Jesus is on the move.  He is invading enemy territory, reclaiming what once was His.  As rightful King, He comes into the Holy City. 

            Or, is it so holy?  The Glory of God had departed from the Temple centuries ago.  You can read about it in Ezekiel 10.  That Glory (that is God the Son), veiled in the Glory cloud, mounted His chariot, with its whirling cherubic wheels, and simply lifted off and out.  Babylon destroyed that Temple.  God let them.  In fact, God sent them for the very purpose.  And though many of the exiles returned and rebuilt, the Glory did not return.  And the sins of the people continued to sully.  And the righteousness of the Pharisees, and elitism of Sadducees, could not fill the void.  Counterfeit righteousness.  Self-righteousness.  Human elitism.  It is not holy.  It is not sufficient. 

            But now, He comes.  The Glory, veiled in human flesh.  He is met by waving palms and shouts of acclamation: “Hosanna!”  Save us, now!  (That is what the word means.)  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel” (John 12:13; ESV; emphasis added).  He rides in.  Like the conquering kings of old, who paraded with their forces through the streets of a vanquished city.

            He comes, though, not on a mighty steed, surrounded by armored legions.  But humble.  Mounted on a donkey, as Zechariah prophesied: “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9).  And He is surrounded by legions of exultant pilgrims and jubilant children, in fulfillment of the same prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!”

            He comes.  Knowing, however, that the shouts of acclamation will turn by the end of the week.  The Pharisees are already plotting.  And the Chief Priests.  And the Council.  Soon, Judas.  By Friday, what will the crowds be shouting?  “Let him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22-23).  “His blood be on us and on our children!” (v. 25).  When the Glory of God returns to Jerusalem, what happens?  They kill Him.  We kill Him.  He knows this.

            Nevertheless, He comes.  To cleanse the Temple He once vacated.  To fill it again with Words of Life and Light, His teaching (He teaches all week long).  To fill the congregation of His hearers, and His disciples with Himself.  And then, to fill the Passover bread and wine with His very body and blood, the body and blood that would given and shed on the cross for us, for the forgiveness of sins. 

            He comes.  To bring the iniquity of Jew and Gentile... all of us... to its fulness, with the very murder of God.  To load it on His own back, and carry it up the hill.  He comes.  To the final showdown between death and Life; a showdown in which death is, apparently, victorious.  And so, to die our death, and fill our tomb. 

            But then, the Third Day.  Death’s victory becomes death’s defeat.  And Life’s defeat, it turns out, becomes His resurrection victory over death, forever. 

            And so, this day we gather with our palm branches and shouts of acclamation: “Hosanna!”  Save us, now!  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  We already know how this ends.  Still, we hear it again, and anew.  And we walk with Him through all the suffering and misery and horror and triumph.  This is all for us.  Accomplished long ago, but delivered, here and now, in real time.

            Jesus comes.  To us, now.  Really.  In the flesh.  Otherwise, why the palms?  Why the “Hosannas” and the “Blessed is He”s?  If we’re just pretending, I have better things to do this week, and so do you.  But if we’re not pretending… If this is real… If Jesus Christ, the King, is here, in the flesh, coming among us, invading our Church building, and so, everything that is us, and ours... our vocations, our marriages and families and relationships, our neighborhood and community, and our very bodies and souls…  If that is true... you and I have nothing better to do, ever. 

            Do you believe that?  There is often a disconnect, isn’t there, between our deeply held convictions and how we actually behave.  Even how our fallen minds think.  In any case, Jesus has nothing better to do this week... or ever... than hand-deliver this blood-bought new reality to you.  In Person.  Here, in His Church.  With all His life and love.  Beloved, He loves you.  Not only in words.  Not only in warm and fuzzy feelings in His heart.  Jesus loves you concretely.  In real space and time.  With His bodily presence, with you, and for you.

            That is why He comes.  To reclaim what once was His.  You.  He created you... with the Father and the Holy Spirit, our gracious God... He created you.  But you know, our first parents sold us out, and we’ve been selling ourselves ever since.  And so, He redeems you.  He buys you back from your slavery to sin, death, and Satan.  From the hell your sins deserve.  Not with gold or silver.  But with His holy, precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.  He is the Ransom.  He is the Sacrifice of Atonement that satisfies the Father’s righteous wrath.  He pays the price, to His last ounce of blood.  Why?  That you may be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. 

            The war is won in cross and empty tomb.  But He delivers that victory now, here, in this place, and among this people.  He invades.  He liberates each one of us.  He looses our chains, throws open our dungeons, lightens our darkness, and sets us free. 

            And look what has happened.  His blood makes the city holy once again (the Glory returns on the cross!).  And whatever the blood touches... holy.  This place.  This people... the very people sitting next to you, and all around you.  You.  And all that is you and yours.  The blood of God’s Lamb, that takes away the sin of the world.  He comes, your rightful King.  To reclaim what is His.  And that means you.  He claims you.  You belong to Him, once again.  And He belongs to you.  And He loves you.  And He cares for you.  And He is with you.  To save you now.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.    

The Annunciation of Our Lord

 Video of Service

The Annunciation of Our Lord

March 25, 2026

Text: Luke 1:26-38

            Luther imagined Mary must have been meditating on our Old Testament reading (Is. 7:10-14) when the angel appeared to her.  In particular, the words, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (v. 14; ESV).  That is a good assumption.  Because God’s Word does what it says.  And if, indeed, she is meditating on these Words of Holy Scripture, immersed in the Word of God, and this Promise, specifically… how profound that it is in her reception of that Word, that the Word becomes embodied.  In her womb.  “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

            What happened?  There sat Mary… undoubtedly a very young woman (most women were married in their teenage years)… a virgin, betrothed to a man named Joseph… of the House of David (ah, the royal line!)… in Nazareth of Galilee, a place of immense significance to the prophets (for example, Matthew, quoting the Prophet Isaiah: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” [Matt. 4:15-16])…  There she sat, and whatever she was doing, you can imagine how startled and troubled she was, when, all at once, there is a holy angel of God, Gabriel, appearing in majestic glory. 

            And he speaks: “Greetings, O favored one”… favored, not because she is sinless or intrinsically holy by her own merit (this it the “Hail Mary” of Roman fame… don’t be afraid of it, Lutherans!  It’s in the Bible.  But also, dear Romans, don’t pray it to the blessed Virgin as if she were a divine mediatrix!)… the word for favor is actually one upon whom grace has been bestowed (by God!), or, yes, “full of grace!”  “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28).  Oh, He’s with her, alright, in this moment, in a way she can’t possibly begin to imagine!  And, because the angel knows he’s scared her half to death, “Do not be afraid, Mary”… angels always have to add that to their sermons… Why?  Why does she not have to be afraid?  Because he isn’t here to kill her (that is a very real worry for a sinner).  Rather, “you have found favor,” grace, “with God” (v. 30).  And, as a result, what?  You’re going to give birth to God’s Son!  Henceforth, you will be… Theotokos in Greek (that is the theological term)… “the mother of God.”  “(B)ehold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (v. 31).  “He will be great… the Son of the Most High,” the Father… “And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,” a King!  THE King!  The Promised Son of David who will reign forever… “and of his kingdom there will be no end” (vv. 32-33).

            Now, naturally, Mary wonders, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (v. 34).  She knows about the birds and the bees.  She is, after all, a young bride-to-be, contemplating a family of her own with Joseph.  But this conception will be different than any other.  Apart from any union with a man, God will do this.  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (v. 35).  Note that this is a Trinitarian act: The Spirit comes upon her.  He is the Power of the Most High, the Most High being the Father.  And, what?  The Son… God, the Son… becomes Mary’s Son, flesh of her flesh, dwelling, now, in her womb. 

            And as Mary hears those Words… God’s own Words… preached by the angel, so it happens.  The Word enters her ear, and takes up residence in her womb.  Because God’s Word does what it says.  “Let there be,” and there is (Gen. 1:3).  “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19).  “Go; your son will live” (John 4:50).  “(T)he demon has left your daughter” (Mark 7:29).  “(Y)our sins are forgiven” (Matt. 9:2).  “(T)his is my body” (Matt. 26:26), “this is my blood” (v. 27).  Unlike our words, which we may or may not do, God’s Word does… creates… accomplishes… makes it so.

            That is how it happens with us, too.  Mary is the pattern.  The Word of God is preached into our ears, and takes up residence… not in our wombs, but in our hearts… our minds, our bodies, our souls.  That is, the Father sends His Power (His Spirit) upon us, by the Word (“faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” [Rom. 10:17]), so that God’s Son, Jesus, comes into us, and possesses us.

            So, now the Lord is with Mary tangibly, concretely, incarnate (in the flesh), as an embryo in her womb.  From the moment of conception!  Growing, as the cells divide and multiply.  No mere clump of cells.  God.  That is what those cells are.  And Human Life, Mary’s Son.  And this is such unimaginably-good news, because, what our Lord becomes, He redeems.  He becomes our flesh, to redeem our flesh.  He has a human soul, to redeem our souls.  And here He is, a tiny Blastocyst… (a Blastocyst who holds the universe together!)… a tiny Blastocyst to redeem our blastocysts.  A Zygote, to redeem our zygotes.  And Embryo, to redeem our embryos.  A Fetus… a word which simply means “baby,” so let’s stop with the ridiculous attempts to use words that sound less human, so we can advance a cultural narrative… a Fetus, to redeem our fetuses.  Think what comfort this is for any of you who have suffered a miscarriage, or a stillbirth… who didn’t get to meet your precious child outside the womb.  Jesus became what your child was, to redeem your child.  And then He is born, and so, a Newborn to redeem newborns, a Child for children, a Teenager for teens, an Adult for adults.  Every stage of life, included in His work of redemption.

            He took on this body, became a Man, why?  To be the Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins.  What is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to accomplish, He comes to accomplish in our flesh.  “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me… Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book” (Heb. 10:5, 7).  As God planned all along.  As all the Scriptures testify.  His will is to hang that body on the cross for the sins of the world.  Our sins.  Thus reconciling sinners… us… to Himself.  To be both just in punishing our sins, and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Christ Jesus, releasing us from our punishment (Rom. 3:26).

            And then, that God might raise that body, and glorify that body at His own right hand.  Why?  That we, likewise, be raised, bodily, from the dead, and glorified, bodily, to live in eternal Communion with Him.  What He became, now, we become.  Beloved, we are baptized into that body.  The body conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, when the Power of the Most High overshadowed her.  The body crucified, dead and buried.  The body raised to new and eternal life.  The body that sits at God’s right hand.  The body that will come again to judge the living and the dead.  We’re immersed in that body at the font.  And that is the body we eat in the Holy Supper, so that He enters not only by the ear (the Word proclaimed), but the mouth (because we are what we eat).  To possess us whole.

            Well, the angel could say to us, too, could he not?... “Greetings, O favored one”… O filled-up-with-God’s-grace one… because “the Lord is with you.”  In a way that, apart from the Holy Spirit, you couldn’t even begin to imagine.  That is, in the flesh.  Embodied.  In His Word and Sacraments.  It is happening again, here and now, the Word doing what He says.  Here is Jesus, for you.  How could that be?  Beloved, “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37) 

            And what do we say to that?  The same thing Mary says.  Okay!  Yes!  That is faith receiving what the Lord gives.  Himself!  “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38).  Indeed.  And so it is.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.          

Fifth Sunday in Lent

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Fifth Sunday in Lent (A)

March 22, 2026

Text: John 11:1-45

            “Jesus wept” (John 11:35; ESV).  Isn’t that beautiful?  Jesus wept, not because He didn’t know what He was about to do.  He wept, not because there was nothing He could do in the face of death, as we weep in our helplessness and uncertainty.  Jesus wept because death was never how it was supposed to be for us.  God did not create us to die.  He created us to live!  And so, He wept because of the brokenness of His creation, and the devastation death visits on the people He loves.  He wept because death has brought that devastation to His dear friend, Lazarus.  And now the grief and tears of these two dear sisters.  And those who had come to console the women, weeping and wailing.  Jesus was deeply moved in His spirit.  Greatly troubled with and for the mourners.  You know, that is true for you, too.   When you are weeping.  When death touches you.  Your sadness and tears are joined to those of Jesus.  And they are precious to God.  As king David prays, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” (Ps. 56:8).  Jesus is not just sympathetic and compassionate in your pain.  He is with you in it.

“Jesus wept.”  Remember that.  Especially when it seems like He is not with you in your pain.  Like He is far away.  Like He does not hear.  As when He heard from Mary and Martha, “Lord, he whom you love is ill” (John 11:3), and did not immediately come to the rescue.  In fact, our Gospel says that because Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was (vv. 5-6).  That is almost incomprehensible.  Only faith formed by the cross can even begin to grasp that sometimes… oftentimes… Jesus delays His help… brings us to the brink, and even over the brink… so that He can rescue us when we are beyond rescue.  That is, after all, what He does for all of us, ultimately.  Beyond rescue in our sins, but He rescues us.  Beyond rescue as we rot in the grave, but He rescues us.  Beyond rescue in the devil’s grasp, but He rescues us.  And it brings glory to God, and the Son of God is glorified in it, isn’t He?  Because there is no question that He alone is our Helper.  We didn’t help ourselves.  We couldn’t.  And no one, and nothing, else could have helped us.  This salvation is from Christ alone.  And so we put our whole faith in Him.  Remember that.  Remember. 

“Jesus wept.”  Remember that, even as you lament that, if He had been here, the thing wouldn’t have happened in the first place.  Both the sisters do this, right?  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (vv. 21, 32).  “Lord, if You had been here, I wouldn’t be in this financial mess.”  “Lord, if You had been here, the cancer would not have recurred.”  “Lord, if You had been here, my marriage would not have failed.”  “Lord, if You had been here…”  We’ve prayed that one, too.  Where is He in it?  Oh, beloved…  Not abandoning you.  Don’t think that.  Never think that.  Where is He?  Loving you… even in spite of all appearances (our sight and our knowledge are so limited!)… and doing all things for your good, in His perfect time, and in His perfect way, that God be glorified, and you be driven to Him as your only Savior, your only help in time of need.

“Jesus wept.”  But He is the Resurrection and the Life (“I AM,” He says [v. 25], another of the great “I AM” sayings in John’s Gospel).  He is the Resurrection and the Life, and He has come to do mortal battle with death.  And so, what does He do in our reading, but come right up to the tomb, get right in death’s face.  “Take away the stone” (v. 39), He says.  Lord, You don’t want to do that.  He’s been dead four days!  Now, that is important.  After four days, the body has begun to decompose.  There is a stench.  And a mess.  But that is the point.  Decomposing bodies are no match for the One who is the Resurrection and the Life.  So they roll the stone away. 

And now, Jesus speaks.  First, a Word to impart faith.  “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (v. 40).  And then a prayer: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me” (v. 41).  Note this: It is a prayer of thanksgiving, even before delivery of the gift.  Now, that is instructive.  You can thank God even before you perceive His answer to your prayer.  Even when He delays.  Even as you pray one of those, “Lord, if You had been here” prayers.  In any case, Jesus prays it out loud for the sake of those standing around Him, and for us, who hear it in His Scripture, that we may know the Father sent Jesus for this very purpose.  And then, the command: “Lazarus, come out” (v. 43). 

What happens?  Immediately?  The dead man came out!  Still bound in the linen strips.  He came out!  Because Jesus told him to.  Because God in human flesh told him to.  Because He who is the Resurrection and the Life told Him to.  When He speaks, so it is.  His Word does what it says.  This is what He does for you when He speaks you to life in Holy Baptism, and in His lifegiving Word.  And then, another command, this time to the bystanders: “Unbind him, and let him go” (v. 44).  This is what He does for you when he commands His called and ordained servants to unbind you from sin and death in the preaching of the Gospel and the Holy Absolution.

And what is the result of all of this?  Faith!  Many of the Jews who were with Mary and Martha believed in Him (v. 45).  And joy!  Of course, joy!  And yet, don’t misunderstand.  As great as this miracle may be, it is only a foreshadowing of what is to come.  And, in fact, for Lazarus, it is only temporary.  In some ways, if you can speak of it this way, it was disservice to him.  Because Lazarus would have to die again.  I suppose, at least, we can say he could face it the second time without any fear. 

But it foreshadowed the great things of our salvation.  This miracle would lead directly to our Lord’s own death on the cross for our sins.  This raising of Lazarus really outraged the Jewish powers that be, the Chief Priests and Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin.  We can’t have Jesus going around raising dead people, because then people will believe He is the Christ.  And if that happens, we’ll lose our power, and our comfortable position.  So, “from that day on they made plans to put him to death” (v. 53). 

But can you kill the Resurrection and the Life?  You can, if He lets you, as shown by His submission to crucifixion.  But you can’t keep Him dead.  What does the raising of Lazarus ultimately foreshadow?  Our Lord’s resurrection from the dead on the Third Day!  And that one is permanent.  Eternal.  And so is the resurrection life that spreads as a result.  What will happen for Lazarus, and his sisters, and us on the Last Day?  Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, who died, but who is risen from the dead, will speak once again.  He will come right up to our tombs… get right in death’s face.  And He will call each one of us by name, as He commands us to come out!  And, immediately, we will come out!  Because death will have no more power over us.  And so we will be forever with the Lord.

“Jesus wept.”  Even though He knew that is what He would do… what He will do for Lazarus, and every one of us, in the End.  Because life is how it should be for us.  Eternal life and communion with the Son of God, who became flesh for us, and so with the Father, and the Holy Spirit. 

By the way, you know why He had to call Lazarus by name when He commanded the dead man to come out?  (I love this, and I wish I could remember who I got it from.  I have several suspects from my Grand Rapids days.)  You know why?  Because if He hadn’t specified, every dead body in the whole cemetery would have come rolling out, bone joined to bone, dust reassembling, and it would have been utter chaos!  Just like the confused saints who thought it was Resurrection Day on Good Friday, and came out of the tombs appearing to everybody (Matt. 27:52-53).  Rest a little longer, guys.  Soon.  Soon.  The Day is coming soon. 

On that Day, Jesus will say it to all of us.  And give eternal life to us, and all believers in Christ.  What a Day that will be.  In the meantime, yes, there is weeping.  Jesus weeps with you.  He does not forsake you in sadness.  But there is also hope.  Hope that does not disappoint us.  The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  It’s coming!  It’s coming.  Come, Lord Jesus.  Come soon.  He will.  And He does.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.