You have heard the testimony of those to whom the Lord Jesus appeared after He had risen from the dead. And yet, it seems that you can hardly bring yourself to believe that it is true. Or perhaps it is more difficult for you to believe that it actually makes any difference for you and your life.
There are those times, to be sure, when the news of the Resurrection warms and gladdens your heart. But then there are those other times when your sinful heart is cold and hard, and you refuse to embrace the Gospel. Then you go on mourning and weeping, as though sin were not forgiven, as though death were not defeated, and as though there were no hope or help in all the world.
It is hard for you to believe, because there is nothing quite so contradictory as the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. It occurs in the midst of sin and death and unbelief, which seem so irrefutable. And you have nothing to hang on to but the Word of the Gospel, which offers exceedingly great and precious promises — but which also seem entirely too good to be true. After all, you still get sick and die. You struggle to cope and make ends meet. You wrestle with temptations and fall into sin.
Let’s face it, the honest fact of the matter is that your faith can be quite feeble and flickering at times. By God’s grace you believe — but God help your unbelief, because you cannot help or convince yourself. Your poor little Christian faith and life can be downright scary and precarious, actually; and then there is that Word of the Law, that he who does not believe shall be condemned.
How sobering is that, when Jesus has just reprimanded your unbelief and hardness of heart!
But in this way He calls you to repent. To despair of yourself, yes, but to believe in His Gospel. He turns everything around, and He makes all things new, including you, your faith and life. That is what He has accomplished by His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead; and that is what He proclaims and gives to you by the preaching of His Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins.
Consider the evidence, and take to heart that the Lord Jesus is the Savior of sinners like yourself:
It is the sinful woman from whom He cast out seven demons to whom He first appears, and whom He sends to announce His Resurrection.
It is those first two disciples of Emmaus — who were so foolish and slow of heart to believe, who were so brokenhearted and sad — to whom He reveals Himself in the Breaking of the Bread.
It is the hard-hearted, unbelieving eleven disciples, who had deserted Him in His Passion, whom He sends out as His holy Apostles to preach the Gospel to all creation.
You see? He harbors no grudges. He does not despise, reject, or cast off His struggling followers.
Nor does He cast you away from His presence. Far from it! Instead, He calls you to Himself by preaching His Gospel to you. He forgives you all your sins, and He remembers them no more. He casts out all your demons, and He cleanses your body, soul, and spirit with the gift of His Holy Spirit. As He did in your Holy Baptism, so does He do again and again by His Holy Absolution. He raises you up from doubt and death to fear, love, and trust in Him, to live by faith in Him.
He reveals Himself to you here at His Table, where He feeds you with His life-giving Body and Blood. And because this same Lord Jesus Christ, who died for you and rose again, is with you and accompanies you on the way, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that shall be able to hurt you.
Despite the frailty and weakness of your mortal flesh, sickness, sin, and death will not have the last word concerning you. The Gospel has the last word concerning you, both body and soul. You, too, shall rise and live in perfect peace and health, forever and ever. This is most certainly true.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Showing posts with label Easter Saturday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter Saturday. Show all posts
07 April 2018
22 April 2017
Faith and Life in the Gospel of the Resurrection
Your Savior, Christ Jesus, has risen from the dead. The One who bore your sins in His own Body on the Cross, who was crucified for your transgressions and buried in the dust of the earth, He has been raised for your justification. As He is alive and lives forever, so shall you not die but live. You are baptized into His death; believe also that you share His Resurrection and His Life.
Throughout this first week of Easter, again and again you have heard the testimony of those who saw Him crucified and risen. Dear Mary Magdalene has spoken, declaring what she saw and heard when she went to the tomb that Sunday morning. Likewise, those first disciples of Emmaus, who were catechized by Jesus on the way, and who recognized Him in the Breaking of the Bread.
The Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, in the Name of Jesus and at His divine command, have testified to His Cross and Resurrection. Even the angels and archangels and all the host of heaven have declared that the Lamb who was slain is living, that He reigns forever, and that He is worthy of all blessing, honor, glory, and praise on account of His great salvation.
Therefore, beloved of the Lord, disciple of Jesus, do not weep and mourn as though there were no hope. And do not harden your heart by refusing to believe what you have heard concerning Him.
The Cross and Resurrection of the incarnate Son of God, Christ Jesus, have made all the difference in the world, both for you and for your neighbor and for all of creation. How, then, shall you demonstrate that difference, the redemption of the Lord your God, in your life and conversation?
His Resurrection has set you free to be patient and generous with those who frustrate you. To exercise compassion and charity for those who need you. To forgive those who sin against you.
If you are a child, confess the Resurrection by honoring your parents, by serving and obeying them, by loving and cherishing them to the glory of God in Christ Jesus. And if you are a parent, care for your children, and discipline them, in the peace and hope of His Resurrection from the dead.
As the Lord was patient with those first disciples of Emmaus; as He was all mercy and compassion for Mary Magdalene; and as He dealt with His Apostles, with Peter and Thomas and Saul of Tarsus — so does He now also deal with you in love. Believe it, and live, and so love one another.
His Words of love to you are not empty promises. His Holy Baptism is not powerless. He has not died and risen for nothing or in vain. And He has not come to condemn you for your sins, but to save you from death and the devil, to call you to repentance and to faith, and to give you life with Himself, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, by His forgiveness of all your sins.
Indeed, your life and your salvation are already achieved and accomplished; for they are whole and complete in the Body of Christ. Here, then, He meets you at His Table to lay that life and salvation upon your heart, to press it into your hand, and even to feed you with it, that is, with Himself.
Seven times, or seventy, or seventy times seven, with grace, mercy, and peace, He lays His hand upon you, and He removes all of your doubts and fears with His Peace. He forgives you all of your many sins. He casts out all of your demons. He heals all of your diseases in both body and soul — if not in your body here on earth, then hereafter in the resurrection of your body at the last.
Be sure of this: There is no poison in the Cup that Jesus gives you, but free and full salvation for you. As He lives, and death no longer has mastery over Him, so shall you not die but live forever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Throughout this first week of Easter, again and again you have heard the testimony of those who saw Him crucified and risen. Dear Mary Magdalene has spoken, declaring what she saw and heard when she went to the tomb that Sunday morning. Likewise, those first disciples of Emmaus, who were catechized by Jesus on the way, and who recognized Him in the Breaking of the Bread.
The Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, in the Name of Jesus and at His divine command, have testified to His Cross and Resurrection. Even the angels and archangels and all the host of heaven have declared that the Lamb who was slain is living, that He reigns forever, and that He is worthy of all blessing, honor, glory, and praise on account of His great salvation.
Therefore, beloved of the Lord, disciple of Jesus, do not weep and mourn as though there were no hope. And do not harden your heart by refusing to believe what you have heard concerning Him.
The Cross and Resurrection of the incarnate Son of God, Christ Jesus, have made all the difference in the world, both for you and for your neighbor and for all of creation. How, then, shall you demonstrate that difference, the redemption of the Lord your God, in your life and conversation?
His Resurrection has set you free to be patient and generous with those who frustrate you. To exercise compassion and charity for those who need you. To forgive those who sin against you.
If you are a child, confess the Resurrection by honoring your parents, by serving and obeying them, by loving and cherishing them to the glory of God in Christ Jesus. And if you are a parent, care for your children, and discipline them, in the peace and hope of His Resurrection from the dead.
As the Lord was patient with those first disciples of Emmaus; as He was all mercy and compassion for Mary Magdalene; and as He dealt with His Apostles, with Peter and Thomas and Saul of Tarsus — so does He now also deal with you in love. Believe it, and live, and so love one another.
His Words of love to you are not empty promises. His Holy Baptism is not powerless. He has not died and risen for nothing or in vain. And He has not come to condemn you for your sins, but to save you from death and the devil, to call you to repentance and to faith, and to give you life with Himself, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, by His forgiveness of all your sins.
Indeed, your life and your salvation are already achieved and accomplished; for they are whole and complete in the Body of Christ. Here, then, He meets you at His Table to lay that life and salvation upon your heart, to press it into your hand, and even to feed you with it, that is, with Himself.
Seven times, or seventy, or seventy times seven, with grace, mercy, and peace, He lays His hand upon you, and He removes all of your doubts and fears with His Peace. He forgives you all of your many sins. He casts out all of your demons. He heals all of your diseases in both body and soul — if not in your body here on earth, then hereafter in the resurrection of your body at the last.
Be sure of this: There is no poison in the Cup that Jesus gives you, but free and full salvation for you. As He lives, and death no longer has mastery over Him, so shall you not die but live forever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
02 April 2016
The Art of the Christian Life
She who is forgiven much, loves much, and she eagerly receives the Gospel of Christ Jesus. For she has known a hellish, demonic life, but the Lord Jesus set her free. He rescued her from Satan, sin, and death. He has become her strength and her new song, because He is her great Salvation.
That is why she has also mourned when He was crucified, truly dead, and buried in the earth, and why she is the first to see and believe and rejoice in His Resurrection from the dead. For His death was the propitiation for her sins, and His Resurrection is her righteousness and everlasting life.
She has already known the mercy of Christ and His victory over sin, death, the devil, and hell, in His forgiveness of her sins, His casting out of her demons, and His healing of her body and soul.
Therefore, she is now quickly raised up from her misery, pain, and fear, and brought into the genuine joy and gladness of her Lord’s Resurrection.
She is not a pastor, but she is a Christian and a member of the Church, which is the Bride of Christ. And in the history of the Church, she has been known as “the apostle to the Apostles,” because the Lord Jesus sends this dear Mary to report the news of His Resurrection to the Eleven who remain.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this same good news is also reported to you, because it is for you.
Do not doubt that it is true. Do not harden your heart against this Gospel, nor refuse to believe it.
To clarify the point, I understand that you do not doubt or deny the historical facts of the Cross and Resurrection. But, just so, do not question that those solid facts are for you and your salvation.
That is where the real contest is actually fought. That is where the devil and his demons attack. They would lead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. First of all by enticing you to sin, sometimes in gross and obvious ways, but more often in ways that are slippery, subtle, and sophisticated, yet no less damnable and deadly. Then, when they have led you astray, they assault and accuse you, aiming to drag you down, to drive you into the grave.
The art of the Christian life is to shut your eyes and ears to those “facts” of your sin, which seem so irrefutable, and to recognize Jesus, not by sight, but by faith in His Word of the Gospel, in the waters of Holy Baptism, and in the Breaking of the Bread as you recline with Him at His Table.
He joins you in the fight, and He joins Himself to you by the speaking and confession of His Word. But His form and His appearance have been transfigured by His Cross. That is to say, He is ugly and unrecognizable in the eyes of the world, but beautiful and marvelous to His God and Father. So, it is only by His Word and Holy Spirit that you see Him as He is and receive Him by faith.
He comes not to argue and debate with you, neither to cajole and coerce you, but to cast out your demons by the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of your sins. He heals you and raises you up by the catechesis of His Word, which not only exposes your sins but forgives them by His grace. And in mercy He reclines at the table with you here, and He makes Himself known to you in this Holy Communion by giving you His Body and His Blood to eat and to drink at His Word.
And take this to heart, dear child of God: He causes His Gospel to be preached to all of creation even by those very men who refused to believe it at first. Consider that, and cling to that in hope.
He causes His Gospel to be preached to all of creation, because all of creation has been redeemed by His death and by His blood, and all of creation is sanctified by His bodily resurrection from the dead. All things are recreated and made brand new in Him.
By no means are you excluded. By no means are you beyond the reach of His Gospel.
Whatever your sins have been, whatever your losses, whatever your sadness, sickness, or trouble, this Gospel of the crucified and risen Christ is preached to you, because it is for you. It is yours.
If you are an infant in the womb, a baby at your mother’s breast, a toddler still in diapers, a rowdy little boy or a moody little girl; if you are a teenager, an adult, an old woman or a young man; if you are the chief of sinners, a dirty rotten scoundrel, a loser, a liar, a failure, or a joke — Christ the Lord has died for you, and He is risen for you. He forgives you all your sins and gives you His life.
Neither sin nor death can harm you; neither Satan nor hell can have their way with you; for Christ Himself is with you to guard you and protect you, to save you by His grace through faith in Him.
See here, there is no poison in this Cup which your Lord pours out for you in peace, but His holy and precious Blood of the New Testament, the Medicine of Immortality. Here He lays His hands on you in love, and from all that ails you He delivers you and heals you and makes you brand new.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
That is why she has also mourned when He was crucified, truly dead, and buried in the earth, and why she is the first to see and believe and rejoice in His Resurrection from the dead. For His death was the propitiation for her sins, and His Resurrection is her righteousness and everlasting life.
She has already known the mercy of Christ and His victory over sin, death, the devil, and hell, in His forgiveness of her sins, His casting out of her demons, and His healing of her body and soul.
Therefore, she is now quickly raised up from her misery, pain, and fear, and brought into the genuine joy and gladness of her Lord’s Resurrection.
She is not a pastor, but she is a Christian and a member of the Church, which is the Bride of Christ. And in the history of the Church, she has been known as “the apostle to the Apostles,” because the Lord Jesus sends this dear Mary to report the news of His Resurrection to the Eleven who remain.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this same good news is also reported to you, because it is for you.
Do not doubt that it is true. Do not harden your heart against this Gospel, nor refuse to believe it.
To clarify the point, I understand that you do not doubt or deny the historical facts of the Cross and Resurrection. But, just so, do not question that those solid facts are for you and your salvation.
That is where the real contest is actually fought. That is where the devil and his demons attack. They would lead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. First of all by enticing you to sin, sometimes in gross and obvious ways, but more often in ways that are slippery, subtle, and sophisticated, yet no less damnable and deadly. Then, when they have led you astray, they assault and accuse you, aiming to drag you down, to drive you into the grave.
The art of the Christian life is to shut your eyes and ears to those “facts” of your sin, which seem so irrefutable, and to recognize Jesus, not by sight, but by faith in His Word of the Gospel, in the waters of Holy Baptism, and in the Breaking of the Bread as you recline with Him at His Table.
He joins you in the fight, and He joins Himself to you by the speaking and confession of His Word. But His form and His appearance have been transfigured by His Cross. That is to say, He is ugly and unrecognizable in the eyes of the world, but beautiful and marvelous to His God and Father. So, it is only by His Word and Holy Spirit that you see Him as He is and receive Him by faith.
He comes not to argue and debate with you, neither to cajole and coerce you, but to cast out your demons by the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of your sins. He heals you and raises you up by the catechesis of His Word, which not only exposes your sins but forgives them by His grace. And in mercy He reclines at the table with you here, and He makes Himself known to you in this Holy Communion by giving you His Body and His Blood to eat and to drink at His Word.
And take this to heart, dear child of God: He causes His Gospel to be preached to all of creation even by those very men who refused to believe it at first. Consider that, and cling to that in hope.
He causes His Gospel to be preached to all of creation, because all of creation has been redeemed by His death and by His blood, and all of creation is sanctified by His bodily resurrection from the dead. All things are recreated and made brand new in Him.
By no means are you excluded. By no means are you beyond the reach of His Gospel.
Whatever your sins have been, whatever your losses, whatever your sadness, sickness, or trouble, this Gospel of the crucified and risen Christ is preached to you, because it is for you. It is yours.
If you are an infant in the womb, a baby at your mother’s breast, a toddler still in diapers, a rowdy little boy or a moody little girl; if you are a teenager, an adult, an old woman or a young man; if you are the chief of sinners, a dirty rotten scoundrel, a loser, a liar, a failure, or a joke — Christ the Lord has died for you, and He is risen for you. He forgives you all your sins and gives you His life.
Neither sin nor death can harm you; neither Satan nor hell can have their way with you; for Christ Himself is with you to guard you and protect you, to save you by His grace through faith in Him.
See here, there is no poison in this Cup which your Lord pours out for you in peace, but His holy and precious Blood of the New Testament, the Medicine of Immortality. Here He lays His hands on you in love, and from all that ails you He delivers you and heals you and makes you brand new.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
14 April 2012
You Shall Not Die, But Live
Your Savior, Christ Jesus, has risen from the dead. He who bore your sins in His Body on the Cross, who was crucified for your transgressions, He has been raised for your justification. As He is alive and lives forevermore, so shall you not die but live. You are baptized into His death; believe also that you share His Resurrection and His Life.
Throughout this week, again and again, you have heard the testimony of those who saw Him crucified and risen. Dear Mary Magdalene has spoken, declaring what she saw and heard. So, too, those first disciples of Emmaus, who were catechized by Him on the way, and who recognized Him in the Breaking of the Bread.
The Holy Apostles, Peter and John, in the Name of Jesus and at His divine command, have testified to His Cross and Resurrection. Even the angels and archangels and all the host of heaven have declared that the Lamb, once slain, is living.
Therefore, do not weep and mourn as though there were no hope. And do not harden your heart by refusing to believe what you have heard.
The Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus have made all the difference in the world, both for you and for your neighbor. How, then, shall you demonstrate that difference, the redemption of Christ Jesus, in your life and conversation?
His Resurrection has set you free to be patient and generous with those who frustrate you. To exercise compassion and charity for those who need you. To forgive those who sin against you.
Children, confess His Resurrection by honoring your parents, by serving and obeying them, by loving them and cherishing them with thanksgiving to Christ. Parents, care for your children, and discipline them, in the peace and hope of the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.
As He was patient with those first disciples of Emmaus; as He was all mercy and compassion for Mary Magdalene; as He dealt with His Apostles, with Peter and Thomas and Saul of Tarsus, so does He deal with you in love. Believe it, and live, and so love one another.
His Words of love to you are not empty promises. His Holy Baptism is not powerless. He has not died and risen for nothing or in vain. And He has not come to condemn you, but to save you and to give you life.
Indeed, your life and salvation are already achieved and accomplished, whole and complete, in Him. And here He meets you at His Table to lay that life and salvation upon your heart, to press it into your hand, and even to feed you with it, that is, with Himself.
Seven times, or seventy, or seventy times seven, with grace, mercy and peace, He lays His hand upon you and removes all your doubts and fears. He forgives you all your sins. He casts out all your demons. He heals all your diseases of both body and soul; if not in your body now, then hereafter in the resurrection of your body.
There is no poison in the cup that Jesus gives you, but free and full salvation for you. As He lives, and death no longer has mastery over Him, so shall you not die but live forever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Throughout this week, again and again, you have heard the testimony of those who saw Him crucified and risen. Dear Mary Magdalene has spoken, declaring what she saw and heard. So, too, those first disciples of Emmaus, who were catechized by Him on the way, and who recognized Him in the Breaking of the Bread.
The Holy Apostles, Peter and John, in the Name of Jesus and at His divine command, have testified to His Cross and Resurrection. Even the angels and archangels and all the host of heaven have declared that the Lamb, once slain, is living.
Therefore, do not weep and mourn as though there were no hope. And do not harden your heart by refusing to believe what you have heard.
The Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus have made all the difference in the world, both for you and for your neighbor. How, then, shall you demonstrate that difference, the redemption of Christ Jesus, in your life and conversation?
His Resurrection has set you free to be patient and generous with those who frustrate you. To exercise compassion and charity for those who need you. To forgive those who sin against you.
Children, confess His Resurrection by honoring your parents, by serving and obeying them, by loving them and cherishing them with thanksgiving to Christ. Parents, care for your children, and discipline them, in the peace and hope of the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.
As He was patient with those first disciples of Emmaus; as He was all mercy and compassion for Mary Magdalene; as He dealt with His Apostles, with Peter and Thomas and Saul of Tarsus, so does He deal with you in love. Believe it, and live, and so love one another.
His Words of love to you are not empty promises. His Holy Baptism is not powerless. He has not died and risen for nothing or in vain. And He has not come to condemn you, but to save you and to give you life.
Indeed, your life and salvation are already achieved and accomplished, whole and complete, in Him. And here He meets you at His Table to lay that life and salvation upon your heart, to press it into your hand, and even to feed you with it, that is, with Himself.
Seven times, or seventy, or seventy times seven, with grace, mercy and peace, He lays His hand upon you and removes all your doubts and fears. He forgives you all your sins. He casts out all your demons. He heals all your diseases of both body and soul; if not in your body now, then hereafter in the resurrection of your body.
There is no poison in the cup that Jesus gives you, but free and full salvation for you. As He lives, and death no longer has mastery over Him, so shall you not die but live forever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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