Easter 2 [John 20:19-31] (1-May-11)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Text: (John 20:19-31)

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Prayer: Sanctify us with the truth, Lord. Your word is truth. Amen.

When Jesus is resurrected from the dead, it is amazing how in many of the events the disciples are confused, scared.

In Mark’s gospel, after the women went to the tomb and were spoken to by an angel, we read: “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Even when we read about the women coming to the tomb of Jesus, we know that they didn’t go there because they were happy. They were coming to pay him their respects and anoint his dead body. Then when they found the empty tomb, there was confusion. Mary Magdalene maybe panicked a bit. We read twice that she said once to Peter and John, and once to the angels: “They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then she says to Jesus, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” In Luke we read about two men walking on the road to a town called Emmaus on Easter Sunday: these two men are confused. They don’t know what to make of the fact that Jesus was killed, and they don’t know what to make of the rumours that he was alive. It made them more confused than ever.

So much confusion and fear.

In our Gospel reading, things are the same. The disciples are gathered together behind closed doors, because they were afraid of the Jews.

Even now in the church today, many Christians are people who are scared. We are scared of what people think of us. Maybe they’ll think we’re a bunch of weirdos. Maybe they’ll think we’re crazy. Maybe they’ll hate us. Maybe they’ll put me to shame. Many Christians are afraid. And Christians go to the place where they think they are safe, behind closed doors.

You know, that Christianity has always been like this. And it’s easy to be afraid as a Christian, because of the promises of the bible. St Paul says that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn of many brothers. What does it mean to be conformed to the image of his Son? Have a look at Good Friday and what happened to Jesus. That’s the image that Christians throughout the world are being conformed to. And is it surprising that we should be afraid? Jesus says, Take up your cross daily and follow me. We know that in the Garden of Gethsemane that even Jesus experienced some fear as he prepared to go to the cross. But he prayed, “Father, not my will, but your will be done.”

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being closed where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Look and see what happened on that day! The doors were closed, and nevertheless Jesus came and he stood among them. And we might think, how could he have passed through the wall? Was he a ghost?

He wasn’t a ghost, because he showed them his hands and his side. He showed them the marks of the nails. It was him! It was the same Jesus who had died on the cross, not a different Jesus.

But this is exactly the same thing that happened when he rose from the dead! We read in the gospel of Matthew that when the angel came and rolled the stone away, that Jesus was not in it. The angel didn’t roll the stone away to let Jesus out, he rolled it away to show that Jesus wasn’t in it. Jesus had already walked out of the tomb – and he didn’t need the stone to be rolled away to do it. Just like at his transfiguration, Jesus body shone white like the sun, when Jesus rose from the dead, his body was glorified in such away that he was able to do things outside of the laws of nature. He does the same thing in our reading today, when he comes and stands among the 10 disciples gathered there. He enters the room without using the door. Jesus also does the same thing each Sunday when he comes in the Lord’s Supper. His body and blood is able to come and be contained in the bread and wine, so that we are able to eat his body and drink his blood.

It was always such an important thing right from the early church that the gathering of the church on the Lord’s Day, on the Sunday to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, was considered to be a continuation of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples on the Sundays following Easter. In a sense, today’s reading shows us the first church service. We often gather with a week’s worth of worries on our mind, and of failures and things that happened that we’re not happy about. We might have even had an argument in the car on the way to church! (Trust me! I know that it happens, you bunch of sinners!)

And the most important thing about our service and our gathering together as a church is that Jesus comes and stands among us. We actually gather in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus. We don’t come first and foremost to come and see each other – but we come together, even sometimes in fear, but we come together around Jesus Christ, the risen Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Hebrews: Do not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some. The purpose of the church is not to meet up for a cup of tea, but to meet together in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus.

But what did Jesus say to the disciples? He said: “Peace be with you.” And he showed them his hands and his side. He shows them the reason why they can be at peace: he was wounded for our transgressions. By his wounds you are healed. In other words, his wounds take away your sin. Your name is written on the palm of Jesus’ hands. And there is a wound there, above your name. There is a wound there, and his blood covers you. And so he says, “Peace be with you.” Your sins are forgiven.

The presence of Jesus should always bring us peace. But the disciples have to hear with their own ears the words from the mouth of Jesus that there is no fear here anymore. They have to hear that their sin is washed away, and they will not be consumed in the presence of God. And so, Jesus says, “peace be with you.”

The same thing happens in church, before we come to the Lord’s Supper. The pastor says: “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” Martin Luther said that this part of the service is like a mini-absolution, as if Jesus is coming to assure us that the sacrament is for our peace, for our forgiveness.

And so, when Jesus said these words, and showed them his hands and his side, we read that the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

The disciples who are gathered together are not always going to be gathered as the same small company of people. Jesus says, “I am sending you.” I am sending you in different directions: I will send you to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And when I send you in these different directions, you are not going to be alone, but I will also gather people around you by my Holy Spirit. And as the Father sent me, even so I am sending you.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

Here is where Jesus gives to these apostles his own ministry. The apostles are given as a gift to the world to speak the gospel and by doing so to gather the church. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” The apostles are sent out and are told to speak that same peace. And where that same peace is spoken in the church, we know that the same Jesus is there speaking it through them.

As I said, here we see the first church service taking place, and Jesus founds the church by calling the apostles to his own ministry, the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of speaking and applying the forgiveness of sins.

St Paul says: “How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”

And in today’s reading, Jesus sends these apostles with a word of forgiveness on their lips.

And in the church today, this continues. Pastors are the ones in the church called to continue this ministry of the apostles. That’s why pastors are said to hold the “Office of the Ministry” or said to be “ministers”. When pastors are ordained into the ministry, they are called to the ministry and sent to the church with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, to forgive the sins on behalf of Christ, and the withhold forgiveness on behalf of Christ.

When I as a pastor say, “On behalf of my Lord Jesus Christ” it doesn’t mean that Jesus is not here. It means that the words I speak are Christ’s own words. It means that the pastor in the presence of Christ, and speaking the words of Christ himself. It is no longer I who speak, but Christ who speaks through me.

It’s so important for us in the church today to understand what pastors are actually for, and why we have them. The ministry of the apostles was passed on to pastors, just like St Paul passed on this ministry through the laying on of hands to Timothy. Having pastors was not the church’s idea, it was Jesus Christ’s idea. Jesus is the one who said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

In the church, we have pastors and we have hearers, and we’re the church together. Just because I am a pastor, doesn’t mean I don’t need pastors either – the ministry I hold is a blessing me as well as you, but I also need to be on the receiving end of the ministry of other pastors. Pastors are actually not free therapists, and when I say that I receive the ministry of other pastors, I’m not saying that I go and receive therapy from them. Pastors are called to preach the gospel. We are called to forgive sins on behalf of Christ in his presence.

St Paul says as a pastor to his congregation at Rome, “I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” The relationship between the Holy Ministry and the congregation is one where we are mutually encouraged: you are encouraged when you hear the forgiveness of sin, and I am encouraged when you believe it.

The difference between the 12 apostles and the future generations of pastors is that the apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus – and I am not. Thomas was included by Jesus as one of the apostles, as a true member of the company of the 12, not as second-generation pastor. Thomas was given the special gift of being allowed to see the risen Lord Jesus for himself, and to put his finger into his side, and to touch his wounds.

But then Jesus tells Thomas what his hearers are going to be like. He says: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

You are an apostle, and I have allowed you to see me. But for the rest of church history, your hearers will not be called “seers” but “believers”. When Jesus sends his apostles in 12 directions throughout the world, and when pastors are sent to speak that same Easter Sunday gospel throughout the world, even up until 2011, the church will not be a gathering that sees the risen, resurrected, glorious Jesus standing in the middle of the church, but it will be a group that believes that Jesus is there, in the flesh, forgiving their sins through the ministry of the pastor, speaking to them through the Holy Scriptures, filling them with the Holy Spirit through their hearing, and their singing of hymns, psalms and spiritual songs. They will believe that Jesus is there, breathing out the Holy Spirit through Holy Baptism, they will believe that Jesus is there, on the altar, in their hands, in their mouths.

That’s what the church is: that’s what it means to gather together in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. Jesus is just carrying on in our churches what he did on day he rose from the dead, and the Sundays that followed.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven.

Amen.

And the peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus, our risen Lord.

Easter Sunday: Audio Sermon (24-Apr-11)

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Easter Sunday [John 20:1-18] (24-Apr-11)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (7am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (10am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm) and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Text: (John 20:1-18)

Prayer: Sanctify us with the truth, Lord. Your word is truth. Amen.

If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

This is what St Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. Listen to these words, and hear them well. These are words that separate wheat from chaff and sheep from goats.

St Paul continues to say:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

So what do you think? Is Christ raised from the dead or isn’t he? Are we of all people most to be pitied? Is Christianity a joke?

St Paul continues to say:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

There was once a prominent preacher that I once knew personally who said in his church on Easter Sunday: “Well, obviously Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead.”

What do think of that, folks? What’s more shocking: the fact that he said this, or the fact that the whole congregation didn’t walk out in disgust?

If Christ is had not been raised, says St Paul, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

Easter Sunday is not a day when we say, “Jesus lives on”.

Easter Sunday is not a day when we say, “Never mind that Jesus died – he lives on in our hearts.”

Easter Sunday is not a day when we say, “Jesus died, but his “spirit” somehow lives on.”

Easter Sunday is not a day when we plaster a cheap plastic bandaid happy ending onto a tragic story about a man who got killed.

Easter Sunday is the day when Christians throughout the world say, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

He died. And he came back.

He died. And he got up on his feet.

He laid down his life, and he took it back up again.

Easter Sunday is the day when Christians say, “Christ is risen!” We say “Christ is risen from the dead”, and we say nothing less than that “Christ is risen from the dead.” If we say anything less than that, we have stopped being a church, and we have become a social club that says prayers. If we say anything less than “Christ is risen”, we have failed our God, we have failed the Scripture, we have failed Jesus himself. If we say anything less than “Christ is risen”, we have turned around, seen the man we thought was the gardener, and we still don’t recognise him. If we say anything less than “Christ is risen”, we have not recognised that that gardener is in fact our Lord Jesus Christ, and he has not yet called us by name.

If Christ had not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Bad luck, if he hasn’t been raised.

But listen to the words that we reply: “He is risen indeed!”

In the Nicene Creed, we say that Jesus Christ is “God of God, light of light, true God of true God.”

Why do you think we need to say the words “true God”?  Has this ever occurred to you? Because at the particular time when the Nicene Creed was written, there were plenty of people, and plenty of people who called themselves Christians, who believed that Jesus was something less than God. They thought that he wasn’t actually equal in his majesty to the Father. They believed that there was something holy about him, spiritual about him, godly about him, but he wasn’t actually God.

So when they wrote the Nicene Creed they said, “true God of true God”. This means, we believe that he is true God and nothing less that God. If we say he is God, and we don’t actually mean that he is God, but something less, then we are liars, wordsmiths, we’re playing games with words. God means God. Jesus is God. He is 100% man and 100% God. And just to make sure you really know what we’re talking about, we also say, “True God from true God.” Nothing less than God.

In the Small Catechism, there is a question that says, “What is the Sacrament of the Altar?” What is the Lord’s Supper? What is Holy Communion?

Luther says: “It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.”

Did you notice what it says? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now why say the word true? Is it the body and blood of Christ, or isn’t it? Why do we need to say “true”?

Well, the reason why it says “true” is because there are plenty of people that believe bread and wine are on the altar, and Jesus is somewhere else. And that’s not what he said. He said, “This is my body”. So we say it is the true body and blood of Christ. It is nothing less than his body and blood. If we say that it is something less, then we’re playing with words again, we’re not giving straight answers, we’re liars. In the Lord’s Supper, we eat the body of Christ, and we drink his blood. It is his true body and his true blood. Nothing less than his body and blood.

And then here we are at Easter and we say, “Christ is risen!” And you reply, “He is risen indeed!”

So why do we need to say indeed? Because there are plenty of people who do not believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead, and so we need to say, “Christ is risen! And yes, it is true!” Truly he is risen! Christ is risen, and yes, I believe it. Christ is risen, and it actually happened in history, and a certain time in history, and it never happened before like this, and it will never happen again like this. Christ won’t die again, and he won’t rise again. It happened once, and it happened for sure. It happened indeed.

I believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell. On the third day, he rose again from the dead.

The truth of Christianity is not something that can be judged from your experience. We can’t say Christianity is true because it “works”. You might think that Christianity “works” for you at the moment. It seems to do the job. It keeps me happy. It presses my buttons. It makes me feel good. As Maria sings in the Sound of Music: “Then I remember my favourite things, and then I don’t feel so bad!”

But have you ever experienced a resurrection before? Have you ever seen a person rise up from the coffin, shake off the dirt and walk out the room?

No, you haven’t. So if you judge Christianity according to your experience, what do you judge Easter on?

Do you think something’s true because it’s true for you? Do you believe that something is true for you, but not for someone else? Do you think that nothing’s really true unless you experience it to be true?

So what about Easter then? How can Jesus rise from the dead for you but not for everyone in the world? Is he risen or isn’t he? Is he risen indeed, or is he risen with my fingers crossed behind my back?

He’s either risen or he’s not. And if Christ had not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and so is your faith. In other words, if Christ had not actually, physically, bodily been raised from the dead, then stop paying me a salary, stop putting money in the plate, go home, stop praying, and stop wasting your time.

Now, if Jesus’ resurrection can’t be judged by your own experience, what do we judge it on? Well, we’re left with a collection of writings called the New Testament, which the people who wrote them professed to be eyewitnesses. Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John said that they saw these things with their own eyes. St John writes: “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

St Paul says: “He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to [Peter] then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

Christianity is a religion that says, “Go and test it.” Go and judge what is written. Judge it according to history’s own rules. Look at what the history books say about Julius Caesar. Look at what the history books say about Cleopatra. Look at what the say about the Chinese Emperors. Then look at where the history books got their facts from. Then look and see how much clearer and how much more detailed the New Testament is. Look at the witness that is given in these books. Test it and see for yourself. “Come and see”, as Philip said to Nathanael.

Do your research. Check it out.

Look at the detail. The Jewish leaders knew that Jesus had said in advance that he would rise from the dead, and they were worried that the disciples might come and steal him away, and pretend that he was risen from the dead. So Pilate set guards to watch the tomb. But we read that when the women came to the tomb, the guards were no longer there. Jesus was no longer there. Four different writers wrote down these details, with their own perspective. They obviously didn’t copy each other’s versions. And the fact that the tomb was empty was not just because of Mary Magdalene saw, but also, Peter and John. John in fact saw that the tomb was empty first because he ran faster than Peter. The grave cloths were folded in a certain way. Everything is described. The other women who came early to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus body all saw that the tomb was empty. And not only that, but Jesus made himself known to his disciples, to over 500 people. And he said to his apostles, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

And the apostles went out, and they said, “Christ is risen!” And the church replied, “He is risen indeed!”

Even today, I am saying from this pulpit, “Christ is risen!” And the church replies, “He is risen indeed!”

Yes, says St Paul, indeed, says St Paul, truly, says St Paul, really, says St Paul. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Christ is risen! And when we say “He is risen indeed” we say, Yes, he is risen for us. He is risen for me! When we say “He is risen indeed”, we say, Yes, he is risen, and he we draw me after him, he will raise me too. Romans 4:25 says: He was delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification.

Because in baptism, you are already dead and awaiting that final day when Christ will open your graves, he will call the winds from the north, the south, the east, the west, and your bodies will be raised incorruptible, immortal, glorious, like his glorious body. That’s why we say, “The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in body and soul until life eternal.” That’s why Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day.”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

The gardener is Jesus Christ after all. We recognise him. And he looks at you and he calls you by name. He will never let you go.

And Mary turned and she said to Jesus in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” which means Teacher. You are risen from the dead, my teacher, my master, my Lord, my God, my friend, my Jesus. You are risen for me! You are risen indeed!

Amen.

Good Friday: Audio Sermon (22-Apr-11)

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Good Friday [John 19:28-30] (22-Apr-11)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am) and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text (John 19:28-30):

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of 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.

Kɛ kɔr kä mɛmɛ, mëë ci Yecu ɛ ŋa̱c ɛn ɣöö ci ŋɔaani diaal ku thuuk, cuɛ mɛmɛ lat kɛ ɣöö bi ruacni Kuɔth tëë ca gɔ̱r a thuɔ̱k, cuɛ wee i̱, "Ci rɛw ɣä näk." Kä tëëkɛ dhaar mi ci thia̱ŋ kɛ kɔaŋ mi wac ɛn wanɔ. Cukɛ li̱pä mi ci thia̱a̱ŋ kɛ kɔaŋ, la̱th wi̱i̱ taŋ lurä, kä cua jɛ thi̱eŋ thok Yecu. Kä mëë ci Yecu jɛ lot, cuɛ wee i̱, "Cɛ ku thuuk!" Cuɛ wi̱cdɛ guɔ̱l piny, kä cu yiëëdɛ cu jiɛɛn.

Prayer: Sanctify us with the truth, Lord. Your word is truth. Amen.

Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us!

No one takes my life away from me! He says. I lay it down of my own accord! He says. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

Today we see the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, laying down his own life. Carefully placing it down on the altar of God. Jesus carefully lays down his own life on the altar of the cross, making the one, true, perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

Once during his life, a centurion said to Jesus, “I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus says to his disciples: “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?”

Jesus is a man of authority. He can say to his angels, Go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and to someone else, do this, and he does it.

He can say to the earth, quake, and it quakes. He can say to the floods, rise, and it rises. He can say to the lightening, strike, and it strikes. He can say to the thunder, crash, and it crashes. He can say to the rains, pour, and they pour.

After all, at the beginning, he said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.

So look at the people of the world, the sinners, the blasphemers, the nations – look at them as they turn red in the face, not from shame, but from anger, pouring out all their anger on one man, pouring out all their fury on one man, pouring all their hatred on one man. All the hatred of the world is poured out on this one man, on this one Jesus, on this one innocent Jesus Christ.

He is arrested.

He is put on trial.

The charge is false.

He is crowned with thorns.

He is spit upon.

He is struck on the head.

He is stripped of his own clothes.

He is whipped.

He is nailed to the cross.

He is given vinegar to drink.

He is left to die.

Where are you, angels? Where are you, earthquakes? Where are you, thunders? Where are you, hailstorms? Where are you, floods?

Isn’t it about time for you to show up? Are you going to sit there at let your Maker be treated like this?

Isn’t it time for you, earth, to open up and swallow these mockers? Isn’t it time for you, waters, to rise and rage and wash away these sinners? Where are you? Are you going to fight for your Creator?

Where are you, angels? You supported Jesus when he was tempted by the devil, you comforted him in the Garden of Gethsemane -- Where’s your comfort now? Can’t you hear your master’s groans? Can’t you hear his sighs?

Abraham built an altar and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the top of the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his knife and took the knife to slaughter his son.

At the altar of the cross, the angel is ready, he is eager, and waiting. He is ready to come screaming out of the heaven, and say: “Stay your hand!” “Stop!” “Don’t do it!”

And Jesus says, “No.” I have the authority to lay down my life.

Stay back, angels. Restrain yourself, earthquakes, floods, rains, fires. Stay back.

It is the time for me to lay down my life. It is the time for me to exercise my authority – stay back, don’t come to my defense. It is not even the time to come and clot my blood – it is time to let it drop the ground. Restrain yourself. I have the authority to lay down my life.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us!

Jesus says: Now is not the time to come to my defence. Don’t defend me from the people for whom I have come to die! Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.

They don’t know what they are doing, but I know what I am doing, says Jesus. I am using the authority that was given to me, the authority to lay down my life.

Look at how Jesus is revealed as a man, a true man, and look at how he is hidden as God. Look at how what you see with your eyes is a bleeding human body, and believe with the eyes of faith that he who you see is the eternal Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Look at how what you see with your eyes is that all the strength of his body is taken from him, and believe with the eyes of faith that he is the one who has the authority to lay down his life, and the authority to take it up again.

We read in our reading: After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil 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.

After all this, after the beatings, the whippings, the nailings, the bleedings, Jesus pours out his love for the world in one last action. He knows that all was now finished. And in one last act of cruelty, he is given not water to drink to give him refreshment, but sour wine, vinegar, to add salt to the wound, to add fire to the pain.

Remember how in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had said, “Lord, if this it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But not my will, but your will be done.”

He drinks the cup. He drinks the all the last anger of the world that was left of the world to give him. He drinks all the last anger of God upon sinners.

The angels are held back in restraint. It’s not their time to fight. It’s time for the fury, the anger, the rage of the world to be unleashed upon their greatest enemy, the one true God, who in the cool of the evening, walked through the Garden of Eden, and said, “Where are you?”

It’s time for the fury, the anger, the rage of God the Father to be unleashed upon the world, but not in a consuming fire to devour the whole world, but the fire of God’s anger burns the lamb of God, the sacrifice is made for the sins of the people.

This fire of God is fire that burns with anger, but also burns with love. The angels are held back, the elements are restrained from defending their God, because the world needs to be saved. It needs to be died for. God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only Son. He loved the world in this way that he abandoned, forsook, gave up his Son into the hands of his enemies, to sinners, to blasphemers, to mockers, so that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life.

God so loved the world that he gave his Son vinegar to drink.

And Jesus drinks the cup. He drinks it to the dregs.

Jesus drinks the sour wine, the vinegar, and he gives us to drink of the living waters, the Holy Spirit.

We are the ones who crown Jesus with thorns. Jesus is the one who gives us the crown of life.

We are the ones who spit in Jesus’ face. Jesus is the one who washes us clean, and wipes every tear from our eyes.

We are the ones who whip the back of Jesus. Jesus is the one who healed us with his own wounds. With his stripes we are healed.

We are the ones who nail him to the cross. Jesus is the one who draws us to himself, who engraves us on the palms of his hands. Jesus is the one who says, “No one will snatch you out of my hands.”

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us!

We read: When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished”, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Everything is finished!

Everything is completed!

He has redeemed you, a lot and condemned person!

He purchased and won you from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with silver or gold, but with His holy precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.

It is finished.

And with all the authority in heaven and earth, with all the authority that made the sun, the moon, and the stars, with all the authority that formed and shaped the earth, he lays down his life. I have the authority to lay down my life, and I have the authority to take it up again.

With this authority, he lays down his life, as the lonely Lamb of God. He lays it down and places it carefully into his Father’s hands. He commends his spirit gently and lovingly into the Father’s hands.

He said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Lamb of God, you have taken away the sin of the world: grant us peace! Amen

Maundy Thursday: Audio Sermon (21-Apr-11)

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Maundy Thursday [Words of Institution] (21-Apr-11)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (20-Apr-11, 7pm), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm), and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (7pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take and eat, this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way he took the cup after the supper and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Take and drink, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

Prayer: Lord God, our heavenly Father, enlighten our darkness with the light of your Holy Spirit, so that I may preach well and we all may hear well, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A German seminary professor in the 20^th century called Hermann Sasse once said: “If we desire to understand Luther’s concern and the concern of the old Evangelical Lutheran Church to maintain the Sacrament of the Altar and keep it pure, then we must realise a fact which the majority of people in our church no longer understand: the fact, namely, that there would be no church at all without the Holy Supper. Where the church is, there the Supper is celebrated; where the Supper is celebrated, there is the church. Where it is no longer celebrated, there the church dies… Can we conceive of the church at the time of the apostles without the breaking of the bread of the early congregations of Jerusalem, without the Lord’s Supper of the congregations of St Paul? Anyone who is familiar with the NT must answer no! A Sunday without the Supper, a Lord’s Day without the Lord’s Supper is inconceivable in the church of the NT. For the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the heartbeat of the church.” (Lonely Way, vol 1: 480, CPH, St Louis.)

In our Gospel reading today, we read: “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

Listen to those words again: Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

He loved them to end – he loved them right up to the end of his life – it was this love that propelled him towards the cross, it was this love that compelled him forward, it was this love that caused him to “lay down his life for his friends”. And not just for his friends, but for his enemies too. St Paul says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He loved them to the end.

But he also loved them to the end in a different way. Since Jesus died and rose again, surely we need him to love us not just to end of his life, when he died on the cross, but we need him to love us when he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and continually until the end of the world.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

This is what the Lord’s Supper is. Christ continues to give himself to us, and he wants us to come and eat his body and drink his blood, and in this way, he continues to love us until the end of the world. He feeds his church with his own words, the same words which he spoke while he walked around during the days of his flesh, but also he feeds his church with his own body and blood, the same body of Christ that touched people and healed them, the same body of Christ that eventually would be nailed to the cross, and the same blood that eventually would be poured out upon the earth.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Before Jesus is about to go and die for the sins of the world, he leaves us a will. It is his testament, it is his covenant, it is his will. And when a person dies, and the will is read, then everyone knows who will get this house, and who will get this amount of money, and all that sort of thing. With Jesus, we open his will every Sunday, not in his absence but in his presence, every time we meet together as Christians to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. And he distributes not houses and money and land, and whatever else. But he gives us his own body and blood to strengthen and preserve us in body and soul until life eternal. We come together to eat his body and drink his blood in remembrance of him.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take and eat, this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup after the supper and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Take and drink, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

This Last Supper, this Supper of our Lord, first happened on the night he was betrayed. It is such an important night! It is the night on which the salvation of the whole world begins. It is the night when the nations begin furiously to rage together against the Lord, and against his Messiah! All the anger of the world is poured out on Jesus Christ on this night, it begins on this night, and continues long into the afternoon of Good Friday.

As it says in the Gospel: Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Jesus knew that his hour had come. Jesus knew what Judas was planning. Judas was about to betray his Lord, but his thoughts were already betrayed to Jesus. Judas, thinking that Jesus did not know what he was about to do, was going to deceive Jesus, but Jesus already knew, and so Judas himself was already deceived.

We see such majesty of Christ on this day. We see his power and his glory. But also we see his utter humility and his total love for the world, his total obedience and submission. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

So at this time, on the night he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take and eat, this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Christianity without the Lord’s Supper is a weak and dying Christianity. It is an unfaithful Christianity. Without the body of Christ eaten and the blood of Christ drunk in the church, there is no Church, which is the body of Christ.

The Lord’s Supper is no side issue in the church. It is the heart and centre of the church – it is the lifeblood of the church. It is the church’s own life, it is the church’s own energy, its strength in the midst of weakness, its truth in the midst of lies, and its rock when everything else is sinking sand.

If you want to plunge yourself into depths of Christianity, come to the Lord’s Suppper, and come often. Jesus Christ himself is so friendly and so inviting and so considerate when he deals with us, that he says “as often as you drink it”. He doesn’t tell us how often we should receive the Lord’s Supper, but he says that it should at least be often. He doesn’t make a law and a rule about it, but who would not want to coming running as often as we could, and take, eat and drink these precious gifts?

There is so much of an attack about the Lord’s Supper today, and there always has been. There are whole churches who never celebrate the Lord’s Supper at all – they will crumble and die. There are whole churches who believe that Jesus’ words, “This is my body, this is my blood” are in fact simply not true, and that instead, we are simply coming to eat a piece of bread, and drink a bit of wine, to “remember Jesus” in the same way that they remember Jesus all the time. There are whole churches who think they know better than Jesus, and think that it can’t possibly be his body and it can’t possibly be his blood. There are whole churches that change the things that Jesus commands us to use, and think they know better that Jesus Christ himself, and substitute unfermented grape juice or even soft drink for the wine, biscuits and chips for the bread.

Now you might think, why get worried about differences between churches about this sort of thing? Because, simply put, they are not doing what Jesus said. If Jesus said, “This is my body”, then it is our calling as Christians to believe that what we eat in the Lord’s Supper is in actual fact Christ’s body.

Nevertheless, we’re not chewing his bones with our teeth or anything like that, but we simply believe that we receive the body of Christ by means of the bread, and the blood of Christ by means of the wine. He says: This is my body, this is my blood. Jesus said it, I believe it, and that settles it. This is no side issue in Christianity. It is the heart and centre of the church. We might say that there are differences in beliefs and culture within churches, but we have to seriously ask whether these differences are things that have been built on the Words of Jesus or not.

It’s also a common thing for people to play off the words “This is my body” with the words “Do this in remembrance of me”. People say, “It’s not his body, it’s just a meal with which to remember Jesus.”

What we have to understand is this: today, when we say the word “remember” we often mean something we’re thinking about, like “I remembered the answer”. But in the bible when it says “remember” it means “do something”. If a husband remembered in his head his wife’s birthday, but didn’t get her a present or flowers or something, she would say, “you didn’t remember my birthday!” Now he wouldn’t then say, “Yes, I remembered it, but I didn’t do anything about it”!!

In Genesis, when Joseph is in prison, he tells a man to “remember me to Pharaoh”. He means, “Do something”, don’t just think about me in your head!

So when Jesus says “Do this in remembrance of me”, it means “remember me by eating my body and drinking my blood”. Remember me by doing something.

Some people sometimes accuse the Lutheran Church of being arrogant when it comes to the Lord’s Supper and about the Lutheran teaching. But the Lutheran Church has always been a church which is supposed to believe what the bible teaches. It’s not supposed to have any “doctrine” that’s not in the Scripture. If there’s something taught in the Lutheran church which is against the bible, then it has to go. The bible also has to be the authority, not what we think the bible means from our reason, and not what a pope says the bible should mean. The bible has to be preached in its own integrity, in its own authority. If that’s what it means to be arrogant, then we shouldn’t be worried if that’s what we’re called.

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But when we come to the Lord’s Supper, we have to know not just what it is, but also what it’s for. It’s given for you, and it’s for the forgiveness of sins.

It’s a gift – it’s not a gift that you give to God, and it’s not something that you do to earn forgiveness from God. It’s a gift which God gives to you. It’s for you, and it’s for the forgiveness of your sins.

Because sometimes Christ comes to bring judgment – many times in the gospels we read about Jesus telling people off! And we know from St Paul that it is possible to receive the Lord’s Supper unworthily, and to judgment. This happens when we don’t believe what the Lord’s Supper actually is (the body and blood of Christ), when we don’t “discern the body in the Lord’s Supper”, and if we believe that it condemns us. I know that sometimes people feel this quite deeply. I’ve met people who have said, “I can’t come the Lord’s Supper today, because I don’t feel worthy. I have a bad heart.” If you often feel like this when you come to the Lord’s Supper, then tell your pastor about it. Don’t keep it to yourself.

Jesus doesn’t give you his body and blood to give you a bad conscience. He comes to give you a good conscience. He doesn’t come in the Lord’s Supper to condemn you, but he comes to forgive you. He comes to make you clean. That’s what the Lord’s Supper is for.

So as we come to the Lord’s Supper as a church, we need to come united in our faith that these gifts are in fact the body and blood of Christ, and that they are given for you, and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. That’s what it means to do this in remembrance of Jesus.

But one last thing: the way we understand the Lord’s Supper influences the whole way in which we understand worship. Many people think that when they come to church, they are coming to do something for God, or to do something for Jesus. And there are parts of the service where we do offer ourselves to God, we give him our prayers, and our bodies and souls to him in his service. But the most important thing we come to church for is to receive Jesus Christ’s own gifts. We come to be served by Jesus. That’s why from old times, coming to church was called “the divine service”. It is called the divine service because God serves us. Jesus Christ in fact washes our feet. He bends down, gets on his hands and knees and scrubs your feet clean. He bends down to make sure his words are in our ears, and he bends down to make sure that his body and blood are in our hands, in our mouths, and strengthening and preserving our bodies and souls.

So as we remember the night on which our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed, let’s come to have our feet washed by him in the Lord’s Supper, let’s come willingly and eagerly to eat his body and drink his blood, given for us and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. And just as the Lord’s Supper was the heartbeat of the church in the time of the writing of the New Testament, let it also be the heartbeat of the church in our midst. No-one can take us out of the hands of our Good Shepherd: let nothing in the whole world take the body and blood of our Good Shepherd out of ours! The Lord’s Supper is the life of the church.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread! Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.

Amen.

Palm Sunday: Audio Sermon (17-Apr-11)

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Palm Sunday [John 12:12-19] (17-Apr-11)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text (John 12:12-19):

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel!”

Kä cukɛ kar nöör ka̱n, kä cukɛ jɛ wä lor, rɔalkɛ i̱, "Liakɛ Kuoth! A puɔ̱th tekɛ ram in bëë kɛ ciöt Kua̱r, min la Kuäär I-thɛ-rɛl!"

Prayer: Lord God, our heavenly Father, enlighten our darkness with the light of your Holy Spirit, so that I may preach well and we all may hear well, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the Apostles’ Creed, it’s amazing how little it says about the earthly life and ministry of Jesus: “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.”

The Nicene Creed doesn’t say too much more: “For us [that is, the whole world] and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.”

One minute we’re talking about his birth, and then in the next breath we’re talking about his suffering and death. What about all the other stuff in between? What about his miracles and his preaching? What about all the different things that he did – How he walked on the water, fed the 5000 people, healing the blind, the lepers, raising the dead? Aren’t these things important?

Of course they are important. But all these things point back to his birth and show to the world, who Jesus is – that he is true man and true God – or they show what he is going to do for the world – that he is going to suffer and die and rise again.

What about today? What about Palm Sunday? What does this have to do with anything? Well, listen to these words that the crowd say today: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Blessed is he who comes – where does he come from? He comes conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. That’s where he comes from.

And what’s he coming for? He’s coming to suffer under Pontius Pilate, to be crucified, to die, and to be buried. That’s why he’s coming.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

In our reading we read: The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”… The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

In the Gospel of John, the reading about when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, which we celebrate today, occurs in chapter 12. In chapter 11, the chapter which comes just before it, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. And this is an amazing thing! Lazarus had been dead for four days, and Jesus went to the tomb and said, “Lazarus come out!” And we read that the man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

What an amazing event!

In ancient times, palm branches were symbols of victory. You give palms to someone who is a winner: maybe someone who has won a war, or maybe an athlete who has won a race. Maybe palm branches are a bit like medals for us – you give a medal to someone who was brave in a war, and also to someone who wins a sports competition.

And so the crowd welcome Jesus as he enters into Jerusalem with palm branches, because he has won a victory over death. He has conquered death! He has raised a man, Lazarus, from the dead. And so in the reading, we read: “The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.”

And so they say to Jesus: “Hosanna!” “Save us, now, Lord!”, it means. You raised Lazarus from the dead, now save us!

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Blessed is the one who has defeated death, who has the power to raise people from the dead.

They also call him, “The king of Israel.”

On Palm Sunday, the people say, “Hosanna! Save us!” At the end of the week, people say, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel – let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him.”

On Palm Sunday, the people say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” At the end of the week, Pilate says to the crowd, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

On Palm Sunday, the people say, “He is the king of Israel!” At the end of the week Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross, which read: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” And the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’, but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews’.”

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.

 When the crowd welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem, they want him to be an earthly king. If he can raise a man from death, he can also crush the Romans! They want him to be a political figure – someone who can sit on a throne and restore Israel.

But Jesus didn’t come to crush the Romans, he came to crush the devil. He came to crush the serpent’s head! He came to redeem you, a lost and condemned person. He came to purchase and win you from all sins, death and the power of the devil, not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death, so that you may be his own, and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus says: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

I have won the victory!

The people came to meet Jesus with palms because he had won a victory of death, he had raised Lazarus from the dead. But did they expect that he would then die himself? Did they expect that he would win the victory over not just one death, the death of Lazarus, but over every death, over all death? Did they expect his weapons to be his willingness, his humility, his obedience, his silence before his accusers, his endurance of many tortures, his wounded and weak body, his blood spilt out, and his last breath breathed out? Did they expect this to be the way in which he would win the victory? Where are the palm branches then? Where are the people waving palm branches as he carries his own cross? Where the palm branches as he walks his way to mount Golgotha? Where are the palm branches as he gasps his last breath? Where are the palm branches when they carry his body and lay it in the tomb?

Jesus has power over death. He had the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. But he also has the power to lay down his own life, and he has the power to take it up again. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”

And so we say, “Hosanna!” Save us! Save us, as you go to die for the sin of the world! Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom! Save us, as you take away the sin of the world!

We say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Blessed is the one who came victorious from the tomb of Lazarus, and who will also come out of his own tomb victorious! Blessed is the one who comes conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. Blessed is the one who is coming to suffer under Pontius Pilate. Blessed is the one who is coming to be crucified, to die and to be buried.

We say, “You are the king of Israel!” You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – you are our king, crowned with thorns, covered in the royal robes of red blood, and of human flesh. You are the king of the world, commanding darkness over the whole earth even when you are breathing out your last breath. You are our king, pouring out water and blood from your side, to wash us in holy baptism and to refresh us in the Lord’s Supper.

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.

Palm Sunday is always a day when we welcome Jesus as the one who has conquered death. We praise him as the one who has won great victories! We praise him as the one who has done great things! We say, “You have done all things well”, just as when you created the world, you looked at everything you had created, and behold, it was very good!

We welcome Jesus as the one who has done great miracles. We welcome him as the one who had raised Lazarus from the dead. But we also welcome him as the one who is going to suffer and die for the sin of the whole world. We welcome him as the one who is going to lay down his own life, as the one who is going to say, “It is finished” and give up his own last breath, to yield up his own spirit into the hands of his Father.

And so we say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

We look back to the past at what he has done and we also look ahead to the future at what he is going to do.

And also, as we come to the Lord’s Supper today, we will also welcome our Lord Jesus Christ with the same words: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the one who came out of the tomb, and who promises to come wherever two or three are gathered in his name!

Blessed is the one who won the victory over death, and now comes to give us his own body and blood, to give us the victory over death. He gives us his body and blood to strengthen and preserve us in body and in soul until life eternal.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the one who came to take away the sin of the world, and blessed is the one who now comes to give us his own body given for us, and his own blood shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.

Blessed is the one who comes, true God and true man, who doesn’t just leave us with the history of his suffering and death, but comes to make history with us, now, and comes and feeds us, now, and brings the same body that died on the cross, and the same blood which was shed on the cross to us, now.

And so we say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

We look back to the time when Jesus suffered and died on the cross for us. But we also look forward to the times again and again when he comes to give us his own body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. And we look forward to the time when we will see the things for ourselves which St John writes about: “I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

But we are already joining in with all that, because we are singing together with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.

The future is not when these things will happen in heaven. They already happen. The future will be when we see what we now believe by faith.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, we welcome you as our king, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. Hosanna! Save us, Lord. Come to us, as you have promised, in the name of the Lord, holding life and death in your hands, and feeding us with your own body and blood. Hosanna in the highest. Amen.