Each Day in the Word, Monday, April 3rd 

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Mark 14:32-42

32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.

41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

As Jesus’ human nature succumbs to the reality of the weight of the worlds sins about to be fully paid for by Him, He is crushed and beaten down. His humanity’s only constant? His Father and prayer (which He will faithfully offer). Jesus takes the same three disciples who saw His glorious transfiguration, but now they witness how He is exceedingly sorrowful.

In the setting of such sorrow His disciples, rather than watching and praying, fall asleep, therefore, not lending any nearby comfort to Jesus. But the battle that Jesus fights in this hour He must of necessity fight alone. He alone must now will “to lay down His life” (Jn. 10:17-18), “to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28), to be made sin and a curse for us (2 For. 5:21; Gal. 3:13).

Yet, again, Jesus reveals what is impossible for man on his own, namely, trust in the Father’s will no matter what the outcome. With man, the flesh is always right there to resist or think that it can bend God toward man’s will. But with Jesus, He faithfully submits to His Father’s will for us! The disciples falling asleep reveals the weakness of man’s flesh. The two-natures of a Christian (Spirit & fallen flesh) will ever be at battle. The two-natures of Christ (God & perfect flesh) win the victory for us!

Think of it, Jesus knew exactly what the Old Testament said was going happen to the Messiah. The beatings, the stripes, the disfigurement to the point of no recognition (see Isaiah 50:6 and Isaiah 53). Only the strength of God could press on through such a horrific, inescapable outcome. And yet, Christ was not forced to do any of it, but He did it in submission to his Father’s will — and He did it for you!

Let us pray: Almighty God, grant that in the midst of our failures and weaknesses we may be restored through the passion and intersession of Your only-begotten Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

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Learn a lesson from the Lamb

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Palm Sunday

Selections from Zechariah  +  Philippians 2:5-11  +  Matthew 21:1-9

From the Prophet Zechariah: Thus says the LORD God: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst. Many nations will be joined to the LORD in that day, and they will become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the LORD of hosts, the Holy Mountain. The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness. And this will come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will speak peace to the nations; His dominion will be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth,’ ” says the LORD.

Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver—that princely price they set on me. Then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” It will come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It will be one day which is known to the LORD—neither day nor night. But at evening time it will happen that it will be light. And in that day it will be that living waters will flow from Jerusalem, and the LORD will be King over all the earth.

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We began our service with the Palm Sunday Gospel, the story of Jesus’ famous ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. He knew what He had to do. He had six more days of teaching to do, for His disciples, for His followers, and for His detractors. So much teaching, with His words, with His deeds, with His willingness to be led away to injustice, condemnation, and death. A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth. And so the Lamb taught even with His silence, as Isaiah said He would: He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

It was in silence that the Lamb of God rode down from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. He didn’t need to speak during that ride. The donkey spoke for Him—not as a donkey literally once spoke to the false prophet Balaam, but as the fulfillment of the words of the prophet Zechariah that you heard twice this morning. It told them that their King was coming to them, that He was humble and righteous and had salvation to bring for His people. The crowds also spoke. They cheered and hailed Jesus with the words of Psalm 118: Hosanna (Save!) to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! And Jesus silently accepted their praise and their acknowledgment that He was the Messiah and the true King of the Jews.

It was just the day before when Jesus silently accepted the worship of Mary in her home as she poured that expensive fragrant oil on His head and His feet. But He couldn’t remain silent when Judas the Betrayer criticized Mary for “this waste.” Then Jesus had to speak up to defend her, and to inform them what it was for: for the day of His burial, which would happen within a week. So, yes, Jesus knew very well why He would be riding into Jerusalem the next day, and what the end of it would be.

And still He went! And He kept going! When Thursday arrived, the Lord’s final day of freedom on this earth, what would He do with it? You heard in today’s reading: He had to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. This, too, had been prepared in advance, just as the donkey had been on Sunday. He told His disciples how to find a man who would just happen to have an available upper room in his house, during the busiest time of year in Jerusalem, that he would gladly lend to Jesus to celebrate His last Passover.

The first part of the evening was the ritual celebration of the Passover as Moses commanded it to be celebrated, with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. And this night is what it was all about! When Jesus, the Lamb of God, would go into captivity and shed His blood, so that everyone who takes refuge under it, as the Israelites in Egypt once took refuge under the blood of the Passover Lamb, should be safe from the destruction of death and hell, and from the guilt of sin, which is now washed away in the blood of the Lamb when sinners are brought to Holy Baptism.

So when Jesus and His disciples finished that Passover meal, it marked the end of the Old Testament Passover as Jesus stepped forth to fulfill that shadow, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

But Jesus wasn’t done teaching His disciples that night. You also heard this morning what He did as soon as that first meal had ended. He got down on His hands and knees and washed His disciples’ feet. In true humility. In an expression of genuine love. And yet that would be the least service Jesus would render before the week was done.

Both Jesus and St. Paul, in today’s Epistle, spell out for us what we should learn from the Lord’s humble service. If He was willing to stoop down and serve His disciples—and us!—in such a lowly way, with such genuine love, then we who claim Him as our Lord must have the same mind toward one another. There’s no room for pride in the Christian, no place for building ourselves up. Humility was one of the hallmarks of our Redeemer during His earthly life. So it must also be the hallmark of the Christian.

Our Lord made Himself obedient to death, even the death of the cross, in humble obedience to His Father and in humble service for us. Take the time during this Holy Week to reflect on the things Christ willingly suffered for you and for me. Repent and believe in Him for salvation! Through faith in the Lamb of God, you have the forgiveness of sins now and eternal life to look forward to. Now learn from the Lamb! Learn to imitate Him in His humility, in His love, in His devotion to His heavenly Father, and in His zeal for the salvation of sinners. Amen.

 

 

 

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Each Day in the Word, Palm Sunday, April 2nd

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Revelation 4:6b-11

6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”

Revelation’s vision of the heavenly throne room now introduces people to God, who is the Creator. The scene pictures a rightly ordered universe in which God is at the center. Around the throne are four living creatures, who represent the created order (although, in all honesty, it is always hard to understand exactly what is being represented, being that they aren’t normal things to our human insights).

Although Revelation is usually seen as a book of destruction, God’s fundamental identity is that of Creator. This scene anticipates the outcome of the book, where God’s purposes culminate in new creation. The words “holy, holy, holy” and the images of casting down crowns by heaven’s glassy sea have inspired many of the hymns that are used in worship.  A few examples are:

 

~  The Liturgy’s Proper Preface

~  Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty

(TLH 246; LSB 507)

~  Isaiah, mighty seer in days of old (249 TLH; 960 LSB)

~  Heavenly Hosts in Ceaseless Worship (LSB 949)

 

How blessed are we that through our confessional Lutheran worship practices we are to be able to join in with what is always taking place in the heavenly realms. God’s Divine Service continues to be heaven on earth as Christ continues to come to us through His Word & Sacraments creating and sustaining the faith that gets us in!

Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; 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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Each Day in the Word, Saturday, April 1st

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

John 13:16-38

16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

18 “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ 19 Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. 20 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

21 When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.

23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.

25 Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. 29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.

30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.

31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. 33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”

Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”

37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”

38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (34). Jesus said this to His disciples in the upper room on the night when He was betrayed. This is Jesus’ “new command.” The Latin for command is mandatum. From this, we get the word “maundy” as in “Maundy Thursday.” Lots of things happened on that evening in holy week—the foot washing, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, the upper room discourse, the prayer in the garden, the betrayal and arrest—so rather than focus on this one command, a better name might be “Holy Thursday.”

Be that as it may, what’s “new” about this commandment “love one another”? First, the kind of love that Jesus is talking about is not according to the standard for “love” in this fallen world, which is the simple standard of tolerating all behavior and accepting everyone just as they are. Jesus’ love is an even higher standard than that, not a lower one.

Second, Leviticus 19:18 says, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Thus, the command to love one another is not the new thing here. No, what’s new is the standard to measure against: Leviticus 19:18 tells us to love our neighbor to the same degree (equal) that we love ourselves, whereas Jesus says to love each other as He has loved us. Again, Jesus’ love for us is an even higher standard, especially since Jesus is about to show the full extent of that love by dying on the cross.

Obviously, we cannot love to that same extent, but we can show a sacrificial love for each other which goes beyond mere tolerance and acceptance, and even beyond demands for equality and justice. “Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (16-17). Jesus’ love, for us and through us!

Let us pray: O almighty God, mercifully look on Your people, and by Your great goodness govern us in body and preserve us in soul; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Friday, March 31st

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

John 12:20-50

20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

34 The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

“Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”

41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

44 Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

John records for us what certain Greeks said: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” That is something to be posted inside every pulpit in the world, addressed to the pastors: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” That is a nice reminder to us all that Jesus is what it’s all about. Next, in the lesson, Jesus then teaches us what it’s all about: “Unless a grain of wheat dies it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (24).

Jesus is in the death-and-resurrection business. Meanwhile we keep trying various fixer-upper programs on ourselves. What we fail to realize is that, in and of ourselves, we are spiritually dead. So, we keep trying to make ourselves look alive to God. “Works righteousness!”—That is what Luther calls all these attempts to make ourselves acceptable to God.

The truth is that we are dead as doornails before God in our feeble attempts to make our ourselves and our religion appear “meet, right, and salutary.” We are dead as doornails before God in our feeble attempts at parroting a particular set of confessions or rituals, and equating that with true belief and following of Christ.

Jesus had no time and truly little patience for sightseers, tire-kickers, and window shoppers. Instead, He calls us to follow Him into death and a new transformed life. The message of His Gospel is that we come before God with empty hands. We come before God and confess freely that we are dead as doornails by ourselves and by any of our outward showings of religiosity. Jesus calls us to His unique death-and-resurrection transforming power so that we are remade from the inside out. Then, and only then, that grain of wheat that died, can “produce much grain” in Him.

Let us pray: O almighty God, mercifully look on Your people, and by Your great goodness govern us in body and preserve us in soul; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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