Easter 2 (year C)- John 20:19-31

The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter is John 20:19-31. In it, the risen Christ appears to ten apostles, and then a week later the appears to them and Thomas. When He comes, Jesus blesses the disciples with divine peace. Even after the first reports of Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples were fearful and timid. So the risen Lord came to where they were locked in. He came to change them. He brought greetings in the common Jewish manner, saying “Peace be with you,” in Hebrew shalom alechem. 

In the Bible, this greeting is more than a hello. It is always an implied prayer for God’s peace. Now in light of Christ’s resurrection, the greeting becomes a specific blessing from the risen Lord. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s peace. He has established a new and lasting relationship with the heavenly Father for all who truly believe in Him. After everything that has happened, the disciples need peace. They need Jesus' assurance that He has not returned to judge them for their weakness. Yet, Jesus does not stop there. After comforting them, Jesus adds a commission or a call to action. As the heavenly Father has sent Him, likewise Christ sends the apostles and through them, His whole Church. Jesus shares His resurrection victory over sin and spiritual death with His disciples. He gives the apostles the authority and the mission to proclaim His forgiveness and peace.  Christ's followers are to share the message with others. Jesus Christ is risen and alive, and His peace is to be spread. His followers are to continue His work in the world by calling people to repentance and faith.

In Scripture, peace has many implications, but ultimately peace is about relationships between God and human beings. The resurrection of Jesus is the high point of scriptural teachings about peace. Although faith in the risen Lord can contribute to other types of peace, it is basically an offer of peace with God. Christ's peace removes our estrangement from God; it offers us new eternal life in God’s holy and merciful presence.

Christ’s words to His followers also point us to our mission in this world. The peace of His resurrection is not some private possession. It is not a secret that we are to keep to ourselves. The risen Christ comes to His apostles in peace so that they can share the joy of His spiritual peace with others. He commissions them to share the peace brought by His victory over sin and death.

In Lutheran thought, pastors have a special role in sharing this divine peace in Word and Sacrament. Nevertheless, we must not confine our thoughts of sharing peace to the pastoral office. The risen Lord’s commission to the apostles is also to the whole Body of Christ, to the entire membership of Christ’s Church. All believers ought to affirm in word and deed that Jesus Christ has brought us spiritual peace through His resurrection. He is also ready, able, and willing to overcome evil in the lives of all who have faith. All of us are called to witness to God’s peace in Christ Jesus. Despite our human failures, by grace, we can all become greater channels of Christ’s peace to the people around us.

Easter Sunday (year C)- Luke 24: 1-12

 This year, the Gospel is Luke 24:1-12. This resurrection account is similar to other reports, but Luke has a unique way of telling the story. He simply says "they" came to the tomb and does not say who these women were until verse 10. The women find the tomb open with Jesus' body missing, and they are perplexed. This perplexity turns to amazement when two angelic beings tell them that Jesus has risen from the dead as He predicted. The women accept this message and return to share it with the eleven apostles and others. However, the men hesitate to believe the women's report. Peter has to go see for himself, and even then, his initial response to the empty tomb is merely wonder.

Luke's account highlights two points about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. First, the events of Holy Week had traumatized the disciples. They had not really understood or appreciated the divine plan for salvation in Jesus Christ. Although they loved Him, they had not really listened. They had not expected His crucifixion or His resurrection. They were shocked and depressed, and they were slow to understand the meaning of the empty tomb.

Secondly, as this passage starts to show and other accounts develop further, Christ's disciples slowly came to believe firmly in His resurrection. If anything, the initial discouragement, perplexity, and surprise of the disciples make their later witness to the resurrection more powerful. The disciples were not confident plotters trying to mislead others. They were humble people transformed by divine revelation and miraculous grace. Let us pray that the same divine revelation and grace may transform us into witnesses for the risen Lord Jesus!

Good Friday- The Passion of our Lord according to St. John

Good Friday is one of the most important and solemn observances of the Christian year. Lutherans and other Christians have developed a variety of devotions appropriate for the day. One of my favorites is a timeline based on Scripture. Some timelines draw together the different Passion accounts, but several years ago, I developed the following one based on St. John chapters 18 and 19. This timeline along with traditional prayers has served as a good basis for my reflections.

Friday morning just after midnight - Confrontation in Garden and Jesus' Arrest (John 18:1-12)

Friday early morning hours– Jesus is taken to the house of Annas, former High Priest; Peter's first denial; Jesus receives initial physical abuse (John 18:13-23);

Jesus sent to the High Priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin Court –Peter's second and third denials; Jesus bloodied by abuse (John 18:24-27).

Friday 6:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. - Hearing before the Roman governor Pilate; Pilate tries to release Jesus but the Judean mob objects and prefers the release of Barabas (John 18:28-40).

Pilate has Jesus beaten.- Pilate's Roman soldiers take Jesus into the court ("Praetorium") and engage in mockery and torture, including a brutal crown of thorns (John 19:1-3).

Pilate hesitates but the mob still cries out against Jesus (John 19:4-15).

Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon - Pilate hands Jesus over for crucifixion. Weakened by interrogations, sleep deprivation, and beatings, Jesus is forced to carry his own cross to the place of execution; then He is crucified under the charge of being "King of the Jews" (John 19:16-22).

The soldiers cast lots for His garments (John 19:23-24).

Friday 12:00 noon - 3:00 p.m. - Jesus continues to suffer on the cross. His mother, other women followers, and one male disciple (usually identified as John) remain with Him. Jesus commends His mother into the disciple's care (John 19:25-29).

Friday 3:00 p.m. - Death: Jesus says, "It is finished" and expires. The soldiers do not even bother to break His legs, but one pierces His side with a spear (John 19:30-37).

Friday before sunset - Burial: With the Sabbath approaching, Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus make arrangements for a quick but respectful burial in a nearby rock tomb (John 19:38-42)

Maundy Thursday/Holy Thursday- Luke 22: 7-20

One reading for this occasion is Luke 22:7-20, one account of the Lord's Supper. Historically, Lutherans have had strong theological opinions about the Sacrament. We have been clear that this Sacrament instituted by our Lord is more than simply an act of remembrance. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away sin and death by offering Himself on the cross. Lutherans affirm that in some mysterious and unique way, Jesus comes to be with us tangibly along with the consecrated bread and the wine.

The proper minister or celebrant uses Christ's Words of Institution to bless the bread and the wine and assures believers of Christ's living presence in, with, and under the physical elements. Jesus brings us His forgiving and strengthening grace through the outward means that He established. We are offered His grace whenever we observe the Lord's Supper/Holy Communion/Eucharist. We are called to repent and receive the Sacrament in faith and in reverence.

Hopefully, we can enjoy this great gift as we commemorate its institution on this Thursday of Holy Week. Unfortunately, external circumstances or schedules make it impossible for some to gather and receive the Sacrament on this day. Yet, we can still meditate upon the Scriptural accounts and contemplate the Lord's Supper. Looking to past and future observances of the Sacrament, we can still pray for Christ to come and be with us wherever we are. Thanks be to God for Christ's unique and real Presence in the Lord's Supper and for His spiritual presence with believers scattered throughout the world!

Palm Sunday-Lent 6 (year C)- Philippians 2

 Many people know this Sunday as Palm Sunday from the Gospel accounts of Jesus entering Jerusalem on this day.  Many also expect the reading of a long account of Christ's Passion. Although the events are distinctive, the two readings from the Gospel tell us what happened this week. Jesus our Lord was glorified and then rejected and horribly killed.  As human beings, we may have some difficulty keeping these two aspects of Holy Week together in our thoughts. Yet, they belong together, and in the Epistle from Philippians 2, the Apostle Paul ties the themes together in a beautiful way. 

Philippians 2: 5 -11 reads: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This passage from Philippians may be an early Christian creedal hymn, and the words can be applied to many commemorations of the Christian faith. As we look at them on Palm Sunday, the words are very appropriate at the beginning of Holy Week. Their devotional significance is to draw us closer to the "mind" or attitude of Christ (2:5). The divine and unique Son of God deserves praise as the King of Israel and the King of all creation. Yet, He comes in humility in order to redeem human beings.

We see this humble acceptance of the human condition at His birth and throughout His earthly ministry, but it culminates in Holy Week and Good Friday: "He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8). These words summarize the details of the Passion Gospels. Christ voluntarily humbled Himself. The divine Son became the servant so that He could accomplish the ultimate obedience to holy principles, obedience unto death which had no rightful dominion over Him. Furthermore, the death He accepted was not just any death but death upon the cross. He accepted crucifixion, one of the most degrading and horrifying means of torture and execution devised by cruel men. Our Lord expresses His glory through the humility of the cross!

Lent 5 (year C)- Luke 20:9-20

The Fifth Sunday in Lent dwells more strongly on the theme of Christ's Passion, and the Gospel for the day from Luke 20:9-20 emphasizes this theme, The parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, also known as the parable of the Wicked Tenants, points to the growing tension between Jesus and the Jerusalem establishment. In this story form, our Lord presents His claim to divine Sonship and predicts the response of wicked unfaithful people. They will reject Him, kill Him, and will face the consequences of rebelling against their true master. The religious leaders understand Christ's meaning, and they accelerate their plots to eliminate Him.

The last two weeks of Lent emphasize a major theme of the Christian message. That theme is that human rebellion against God leads to Christ's suffering and death. If unrepented, it also leads to divine wrath. Sinful people oppose Jesus Christ most directly when they recognize and despise His claim to be God's Son. This warning applies to all of us. As we move toward the commemoration of Christ's Cross, let us be aware that we too share in the rebellion against God. We just like people in the first century have been disloyal and selfish tenants of our divine master. So we are called to repent. We should also seek to be more appreciative of Christ's sufferings for our sake. And in gratitude for Jesus' redemptive work, we should turn to Him in faith and love.