Each Day in the Word, Maundy Thursday, April 6th

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Revelation 19:6-10

6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Yet, again, we are given a picture of heaven from the book of Revelation and we get to see the parallel that this vision has to our confessional Lutheran worship. The next time you are in God’s Divine Service (no matter where you are, in a Sanctuary or in a home), when the singing takes place (be it a part of the Liturgy or a hymn), close your eyes and listen for just a few seconds. Now you get a sense of the vision to which the Apostle John was given.  Multitudes in sound, being glad, rejoicing and giving God the glory.

At this time, the Church (the invisible body of believers worldwide) is the bride of Christ, and His Word and Sacraments are what create and sustain faith; feeding His bride with what keeps her ready; most specifically, a taste of the marriage supper as His bride. At that time, the bride becomes His wife and we will be partaking of that marriage supper for eternity.

Not surprising, it is God’s Word and Sacraments that bring His saints to be arrayed in the righteousness of Christ; declared and imputed upon them through God-created faith in His fully atoning merits. Fine linen indeed!

‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ What an appropriate reading for this Holy (Maundy) Thursday; the day celebrated for Christ’s institution of His Holy Supper. By God’s grace we are not brought worship men, we have been brought to properly worship (that is receive from) the One, true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And what is this Holy Trinity bringing us to receive? Forgiveness, life and salvation. Blessed are we, indeed!

Let us pray:  O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion.  Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen

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Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, April 5th

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Mark 15:20-32

20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. 24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

The myrrh that was offered to Jesus (at verse 23) could act as a narcotic, providing some numbness to His mind and body. This is exactly why Jesus refused to drink it. In other words, He was confirming that avoiding suffering is not the way of God, and He was fulfilling God’s will to drink the whole cup (the dregs) of wrath (see Isaiah 51:17).

Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Christ who is to come  fulfills more prophecy at verse 24. What Scripture is that?

They divide My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots.

(Psalm 22:18 NKJV)

Verse 28 contains within it the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” So Jesus, being placed with two robbers, is yet another fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Then, at verses 29-32, when the mocking words of passerby’s with the chief priests and scribes are spoken, it’s, yet again, all fulfillment of prophecy:

All those who see Me ridicule Me;

They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

      “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;

Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

(Psalm 22:7-8 NKJV)

Fulfillment upon fulfillment! Unbelieving flesh desires not the suffering way of God; even calling for Jesus to avoid it. Now who could possibly be behind those ‘salvation changing’ mockings? Thanks be to God, Jesus remained the faithful, fulfilling suffering servant. And He did it for you!

Let us pray:  Merciful and everlasting God, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all to bear our sins on the cross.  Grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in Him that we fear not the power of sin, death and the devil; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

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Jesus suffers the injustice of the priests

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Holy Tuesday

What we heard about in this evening’s readings, especially how the Jewish leaders targeted Jesus in order to bring Him down, sounds, in many ways, so much like what we saw in today’s headlines. Political targeting of an opponent. Hauling your political opponent in front of a kangaroo court. Seeking out a crime to accuse someone of because you hate them and what they stand for and you want them out of the way. And justifying it all by claiming, falsely, that you’re just following the law.

Let me be very clear: I’m making zero comparisons between Donald Trump and the Lord Jesus. The comparison is between what corrupt national leaders are doing now with what corrupt Jewish leaders were doing then.

Jesus threatened the political power of the Jewish priests, their hold over the Jewish nation. They held their power, their dominion over the people of Israel, by claiming to be experts in their field. Why did they view Jesus as a threat? Well, He revealed them not to be the experts they claimed to be. He revealed that they had twisted the true religion of the Old Testament into something unrecognizable. They made sins out of things that God never called sins. They made their own traditions more important than God’s word. And they missed entirely the genuine humility and the heartfelt mercy God sought from mankind, obedience that begins in the heart and that flows from perfect devotion to God. Instead of cringing at God’s Law, which was supposed to reveal mankind’s sin, the priests bragged about God’s Law, as if they had been keeping it quite well. And because they sold themselves as experts, they were able to hold their power over the people and convince the people that they, the priests, had to be followed, because they, the priests, were so much better than everyone else.

But Jesus had exposed them for the charlatans they were. He gave the Word of God back to the people, exposing the bad interpretations of the priests. He gave the people a path to God, a path to righteousness that actually worked! The path of repentance and faith in God’s mercy in Jesus, the Christ. Instead of the people being beholden to the priests to make atonement for them day after day and year after year, they were invited to trust in Jesus, the very Lamb of God, to make atonement for them by His own blood. Instead of playing on the nationalism of the Jews, as the priests had done, Jesus made the entire Jewish culture and Old Testament priesthood irrelevant going forward, since it had all been pointing ahead to Him as its fulfillment. In doing that, Jesus was ripping away the priests’ iron grip on the people and on their power.

So Jesus had to be gotten rid of. More than that, Jesus had to be made to suffer. They had to make an example of Him, to make the people afraid of ever disagreeing with the priests, of ever questioning their authority.

Of course, Jesus could have refuted them, refuted their charges. He could have fought back against them, could have called upon 12 legions of angels to defend Him, could have called on His Father to strike them down with a plague or with leprosy or with blindness or any number of things that God did, at times, in the Old Testament when His people were being threatened.

Instead, He suffered it. He stood there and took the hatred aimed at Him. He took the abuse, both verbal and physical, the slaps, the spitting, the beatings. The unjust condemnation by His own people, by the leaders of the religion He had created, by the very men He had created. He took it in silence. The only charge He finally did answer was whether or not He was the Christ, the Son of God. To that He admitted. And for that they condemned Him.

Jesus suffered it, as the One sent to bear the sins of the world, and part of bearing the world’s sins was being on the receiving end of the world’s sins. Mankind has been behaving unjustly since the beginning of time, since the fall into sin, behaving unjustly toward other men, but even more, toward God. And so true justice would require sinners to suffer for their injustice. True justice, God’s justice, demands payment. But God, in His mercy, sent His Son, the Righteous One, to be on the receiving end of man’s injustice, the Just suffering for the unjust, to bring men to God. For all the false religion that has been spread in the world, for all the political targeting and personal targeting that all men have done, for all the abuse and violence that men have done, for all the hypocrisy men have shown, Jesus suffered it.

Watch Him suffer it. Watch Him endure it, in silence, for your salvation. Repent. Believe. And make it your daily goal to avoid all injustice and unfairness in your own behavior, and to suffer injustice yourself without bitterness, without complaint. Rejoice in that day when you are treated unfairly, and be glad, for so they treated the prophets who were before you. So they treated the Lord Jesus Himself. Leave it to Him to mete out justice in due time. And learn from Him to endure the world’s hatred with patience, knowing that your Lord endured it first, for you. Amen.

 

 

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Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, April 4th 

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Mark 15:1-5

15 Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2 Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”

3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!”But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. (vss 3-5)

The passivity of Jesus submission to His father’s will continues. Any man would be freaking out at such clear false accusations, but not the Son of Man. Why? Why does He say nothing? Well, as good Lutherans your answer should be “What does Holy Scripture say?”  And this is what it says:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

(Isaiah 53:7 NKJV, emphasis mine)

According to Isaiah, not only was the Messiah going to suffer cruel punishment on His way to the grave, but He also would do so without opening His mouth. The thought behind this phrase is that the Jesus would not speak in defense of Himself.

Whereas Jesus could have responded to His accusers with “an open mouth” and given a strong, lengthy defense of His innocence, Jesus chose to restrain Himself before His accusers and tormentors. Rather than calling twelve legions of angels to fight this battle for Him (cf. Matthew 26:53), Jesus humbly, passively submitted to His enemies. And He did it for you!

Let us pray:  Almighty and everlasting God, grant us your grace so to pass through this holy time of our Lord’s passion that we may obtain the forgiveness of our sins; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

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Jesus suffers the sins of His disciples

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Holy Monday

We continue to watch the Lamb tonight. We watch everything He does during this Holy Week. We pay attention to everything He says. But above all, we watch Him suffer. The word “suffering,” by the way, literally means to allow something. The familiar King James verse, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me,” means, “Allow the little children to come to Me.” So when we see Jesus suffer, it isn’t just the agony of the beatings and torture that Jesus allowed to be done to Him. It’s also the other things He allowed to be done to Him, the other things He put up with, willingly, as part of the payment price for our sins. And the vast majority of the suffering we heard about this evening was caused, not by soldiers or priests or Jewish councils. No, before that, Jesus suffered the sins of His own disciples.

The ritual Passover meal had ended. Jesus had finished stooping down to wash His disciples’ feet. Imagine the good Lord kneeling before Judas and washing his feet, knowing full well what Judas was about to do. Jesus alluded to Judas’ betrayal already then. But afterward, as He sat down again to continue the common, more informal supper with His disciples, Jesus couldn’t hold in how much He was hurting, knowing that one of His twelve closest companions in the world, one of His chosen apostles, one of His friends, one of those who had been sent out to preach in Jesus’ name and to do miracles in Jesus’ name, one of those who had heard Him most and seen Him most, and known Him the best, was about to betray Him.

And that betrayal wasn’t a little slip, like sharing a friend’s secret without thinking about how it will affect your friend. Judas had actively sought out Jesus’ enemies who wanted Him dead. He had been pretending for some time that he believed in Jesus as his Lord and his God while actually disbelieving. He had made arrangements with the priests to trap Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and to identify Him with a kiss of friendship so that they could bind Him, arrest Him, and lead Him away to judgment. Knowing all this as He sat there at the supper table with His disciples, Jesus couldn’t contain the pain or the secret any longer: He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” And as the rest of the disciples asked in horror and confusion, “Lord, is it I?” Judas actually had the gall to ask the question himself.

But Jesus didn’t stop him from going through with it, did He? He didn’t even call out Judas by name or shame him in front of the rest of the disciples. He let him go to do what Satan had been instigating him to do. He suffered it, for you and for me, because mankind had been betraying God for thousands of year. But if we were to be forgiven, if justice were to be done, then God had to suffer the ultimate betrayal in the flesh, as a Man, in the Person of His Son.

Judas’ sin was, in a sense, the worst one that Jesus suffered, because the other eleven had a willing spirit, had a New Man, that was willing to stay with Jesus, to listen to Jesus, but their flesh, their Old Man, was weak. As Jesus told them in the Garden, “The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” Judas, on the other hand, didn’t even have a willing spirit. He had inwardly turned away from Christ some time ago. His spirit was with Satan again.

Still, the weakness of the other eleven caused plenty of suffering for Jesus, too, from their dispute among themselves, right there at the supper table with Jesus, about which of them should be considered the greatest, even as Jesus, who was by far the greatest, was about to lay down His life for them; to their arguing with Jesus and pridefully insisting that, even though He told them that they would all fall away that night, no, He was wrong, He didn’t know what He was talking about; to their giving in to sleep in the Garden when He had specifically pleaded with them to stay awake with Him and watch for just one hour; to Peter’s sudden misguided act of violence toward one of the servants in the Garden; to all the disciples’ abandoning Jesus, when fear for their own lives took the place of faith in the Lord of life.

Yes, there were other things that Jesus suffered in tonight’s readings, including the dread of the cup He was about to suffer and being treated like a violent criminal by those who came to arrest Him, although He had never, ever lifted a finger against anyone. But the sins of the disciples were front and center on that Thursday night of Holy Week. And Jesus suffered it, for you and for me, because mankind had been giving in to pride and fear and weakness for thousands of years. But if we were to be forgiven, if justice were to be done, then God had to suffer the pain caused by our pride, fear, and weakness in the flesh, as a Man, in the Person of His Son.

Some people are like Judas, who come to Christ, who come to His Church for a while, looking for something earthly, hoping for something that will confirm their own wrong beliefs. But eventually, when they hear the true Gospel, they go away profoundly disappointed, not wanting at all what Jesus actually offers, or they stay and pretend to believe while secretly clinging to their sin. If only they would turn and repent and see that Jesus may not offer what they want, but He offers and gives exactly what they need.

The rest of the Christians in the world are like the eleven disciples, whose spirit is indeed willing, but whose flesh is always weak. And so Jesus urges us to watch and pray so that we don’t fall into temptation.

Prayer is a powerful tool Christ has given us to beat down our sinful flesh, prayer and watchfulness. But just as necessary and even more powerful is that Supper that Jesus instituted on the same night in which He was betrayed, where the Suffering Servant kindly and gladly offers His body and blood to the very ones whose sins He suffered. For those with a willing spirit, who know and abhor the weakness of their flesh, that Supper offers both the forgiveness of sins and strength to fight and to resist temptation. It even sustains a willingness to suffer for Jesus’ sake, because you know that your Lord’s suffering wasn’t in vain. It’s the price of atonement for your sins, paid in full by the Lord who loved you and was willing to suffer for you. Amen.

 

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