Category: Higher Homilies

Chris V.

“This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11 ESV)

In the name + of Jesus. Amen. You won’t find the words of institution in John’s Gospel. You won’t read Jesus say, “take and eat,” and “take and drink,” which seems strange for a gospel that starts with the words, “In the beginning was the Word.” Why does John leave out these important words of the Word made flesh? Is it an accident? No. In fact, from beginning to end, the Gospel of John is all about the Lamb of God giving his flesh and blood for you to eat and drink for the forgiveness of your sins. John is a “take and eat” and “take and drink” gospel.

One of the first things John tells us, after Jesus calls his first disciples, is that Jesus went to a wedding. The wedding feast runs out of wine, which doesn’t look good for the person who is hosting the party. You might be embarrassed if you couldn’t offer all of your friends a drink when they come over to your house. Your friends probably wouldn’t think much of it, but for the master of the wedding it doesn’t go as well. He looks unprepared, careless, poor, and weak. He has let his friends down. He disappointed his family, and to top it off, everyone can see his failure.

Realizing this, you can almost hear Mary’s voice empathetically soften, nervously increase in pitch, and crack a little bit. “They have no wine,” she says to Jesus. To which he responds, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Nonetheless, Jesus tells the servants to fill some jars with water and take it to the master of the feast. It becomes good wine, and the master is shocked that the best wine was saved for the end. Jesus gives good gifts… in ritual purification jars none the less.

God’s glory has always been revealed to people in concrete places. In the Old Testament, the glory of God dwelled in the temple, and, ultimately, it would be revealed in Jesus hanging on the cross. In John’s gospel, God’s glory was first made manifest at a wedding feast, and he doesn’t reveal it in the way you may expect. He doesn’t come to the wedding showcasing his power, authority, and influence. Instead, it goes unnoticed by most of the guests. The true Bridegroom reveals his glory in the midst of a social disaster by giving the guests wine to drink. God reveals himself in concrete places to real sinners. All along the way, God reveals himself as Jesus going to the cross to give his body and to shed his blood. So even though you won’t read the words of institution in John’s Gospel, the book is dripping with the blood of Jesus given for you.

In many ways, we can sympathize with the master when the wedding runs out of wine. Our minds are filled with worries and cares. What do my friends really think about me? Am I going to get into the “good” college or get the “good” job? Am I going to disappoint my parents? These thoughts invade our heads like black sheep jumping through our brain as we try to fall asleep, or maybe like a wedding feast gone wrong. How do I know that Jesus’ death on the cross is for me? How do I know Jesus gives me his gifts? How do I know he reveals his glory to me? I don’t deserve his gifts, not after what I’ve done and not after what’s been done to me. I’ve tried to accept God’s gifts, but they don’t seem to change anything. I don’t feel like Jesus loves me. I don’t want Jesus to love me. These are real questions. Real struggles. Real things that faith fights against. You want to see a difference in your heart and in the things you do, but looking in those places will never satisfy your doubts. They aren’t the source of your new life and forgiveness.

Don’t be afraid; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Little flock, when it comes to comfort, look no further than the words of the Lamb of God, “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day’ (John 6:53-54). In Holy Communion, the foretaste of the wedding feast to come, the wine Jesus gives you to drink is his own very blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Come to the Lord’s Table. Be forgiven in Jesus’ name. He has prepared this table for you. At this table, his blood will never run out for you. He will never stop giving it for you to drink. His blood covers you. His blood forgives you, strengthens you, and gives you hope. Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). See the glory of Jesus revealed in his body and blood given for you to eat and drink. In the name + of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Donavon Riley

If only God had a limp, he’d be easier to chase down. It always seems like he’s ten feet away, just out of reach, and backing away. So you begin to edge near him, arms out, hands held palms up, ready to clutch at him. You’re going to get what you want from him, even if you have to chase him out of the county. You want what you’ve asked for and you’re going to have it even if you have to chase him out of the state. You can see it now. Walking through the front door, an overstuffed bag on each arm. “Where’d you get all that stuff,” they’ll ask. “I asked God for it,” you say. “It took some convincing, but he finally made good. I had to tear after him straight out into the open for half an acre. I lost him in some woods, but when he darted out again I went after him. I ripped my shirt and the sleeves going under a fence, and my face and arms got all scratched up,” you say. But nobody is listening, because you’re standing in the doorway with two overstuffed bags of answered prayers.

For you, I’ve got a good nights sleep. For you two, no more arguing. For you, early release from prison. For you, I’ve got a pantry full of food. For you, no more guilt about the abortions. For your family, the truth about his drinking. For you, the confession we’ve been waiting for for forty years. For you, the leukemia’s gone. For you, your little boy raised from death. And for all of us, no more chasing after God. I caught him. God. Good Father, good God. Our Father who art in heaven, take that sucker.

And we’ll have a good laugh. All that chasing amounted to something. Then we’ll go play pool, and smoke cigarettes behind the church, and sneak in after twelve-thirty on Saturday nights, but we can do that now. We asked God and he answered our prayers. He had to give us his blessing. He can’t fight us anymore. We’ve got him. He’s ours and he’s going to love us no matter what. No more talk about sin and Satan, and walking in his tracks. No more weeping. Real men don’t weep anyway. No more grinding your teeth or making an ugly face.

You want to drink? Get stinky drunk. It’s okay, I asked God. Want to steal from your neighbors? We can do that. I prayed for it. God can’t stick anything in our face anymore that we didn’t ask for, and he’s not going to make us chase after stuff all afternoon anymore either. Just grip your hands, bend your knees, and say, “Good Lord, Jesus God, give us this day our daily sign. Send us a preacher to tell us Sunday’s are optional. Thank you that things aren’t as bad as they used to be.” And don’t worry, if things go bad again, just ask God. He’ll turn something up for you.

“That’s some God,” people will say. “How do I get a God like that, who’ll give me whatever I ask for in his name?” “You can’t,” you’ll say. “I captured him, and he’s one of a kind. If you want something you’ve got to run it through me. I’ll ask him for you, if I have time. But I have to go now, I’m in a hurry.”

And when you look back you see that they’re following you. “God, you’re so wonderful,” you think. “Look at all those people who want to ask me to ask you for something. I’m so thankful that you answer me, I want to do something for you. I wish there was somebody begging right now. I’d give him all the change in my pocket.” So you pray, “Please, Lord, send me a beggar.” And you know for a fact God will send you one. You asked him for one. “Maybe I’ll ask for a whole bunch of money,” you think, “then I can take care of all the beggars.” “I’ll build houses for all of the beggars, and buy food for them, and give each of them a new car. That’d be good,” you say. “But why stop there? Why stop there, when I can stop death? I can ask God to stop death, then we’ll never have to worry about anything bad ever again.”

Then the crowd catches up with you. They tell you they don’t need your prayers anymore. They hunted up God on their own and captured him. Now he’s got to give them what they want. They don’t need to wait for you to pray for them anymore. In fact, they may just ask God to punish you for ignoring them, and making them wait.

So you cry out to God, “Why are you doing this to me? This isn’t the way it’s supposed to go. You said ask for whatever I want. You have to give me whatever I ask for.” But instead of an answer God sends Jesus, who says, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” “Well, what does that mean,” you ask. “It means you pray in my name the prayer I prayed to my Father.” “And what’s that,” you ask. “Father, take this cup from me… But not my will, but your will be done.” “Thy will be done,” is what it means to pray in my name. “Not your will, but his.” “And what is his will,” you ask. “That you pass with me through suffering and death into new life. For in this new life you will be shown that all things are given to you as gift from his fatherly hand. Before you asked, everything was already given to you on account of what I’ve done for you.” All Jesus. All gift. Heavenly joy.

Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:23-24)

Pastor Donavon L. Riley is pastor at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Webster MN. He can be reached atelleon713@gmail.com.

Rev. Mark Buetow

One question people love to ask pastors, and maybe you’ve asked it too, is “Pastor, if God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin, why did He put the Tree of Knowledge in the garden in the first place?” Well, I’m going to tell you the answer. The reason the Lord put that tree of knowledge there in the Garden was to teach Adam and Eve that the most important gift He had for them, above all else in creation, was His Word. Everything was made by His Word. They lived by His Word. If they ignored His Word or let go of it, they would die. Which is why the devil comes and questions God’s Word. It’s why it’s such a shame when Adam, who’s standing RIGHT THERE, doesn’t rebuke the serpent with God’s Word and remind Eve of what the Lord had sad. Take away God’s Word and there’s nothing but sin and death. And what about after the Fall? What’s the most important thing? Still the Lord’s Word. Because when Adam and Eve wrecked everything, the Lord’s Word was a promise. The promise of a Savior.

You see, Adam and Eve tried to separate God’s Word from the tree. When they did that the tree was nothing for them but death and misery. So how does God save them and the world? By making sure His Word is stuck to the tree. Not the Tree of Knowledge now but the tree of the cross. Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh is nailed to that tree because only God’s Word attached to a tree will save you from death! Just as God’s Word attached to the Tree of Knowledge would have saved Adam and Eve, so the Word nailed to the Tree of the cross saves us from our sins. And this time, there can be no failure because Jesus is the One keeping God’s Word, Himself on that tree. Jesus won’t let go of the Word. When the devil throws all those temptations at Him, Jesus throws the Word back in his face and he overcomes those temptations. Then, on the cross, there’s that really big temptation the one thief tosses out: “Save yourself and us!” And the people: “Come down from the cross!” Those are all just ways of telling Jesus, “Separate the Word from the tree!” But Jesus won’t. He can’t. If He does, you’ll be doomed. So the Word and the tree stay together. Jesus stays nailed to the cross. Unto the moment of His declaring it is finished. Unto the moment of His death. The Word and tree, forever joined for your salvation. Sure, they took Jesus down and buried Him but He arose because where the Word and tree are, life has to follow. There’s been a transformation. Where the Word and tree are now becomes for you the Tree of Life.

You don’t keep the Word and the tree together. If you could have eaten the fruit, you would have. You do every time you sin. Every time you turn away from God’s Word. When you remember what your pastor taught you in the catechism about loving God and loving your neighbor and then just shrug your shoulders and do it anyway. When the devil comes and says, “Hey, try this!” You say, “Lead the way!” That’s what sinners do. Our sin is just another way of telling God, “I want to ignore your Word attached to that tree and eat its fruit anyways because it looks delicious!” Worst of all is when people try to separate Jesus from His cross, as if our religion is something other than Jesus the Word attached to that tree to save us! That’s why Jesus won’t let the Word and tree be separated. Why He keeps them together. When Jesus attaches His Word to something, it sticks. He was attached to the tree to save you. Now He attaches His Word to the water of the font to wash away all the fruit juice of sin staining you. He attaches His Word to your pastor to speak the forgiveness of sins. He attaches His Word to bread and wine to deliver His body and blood. Do you see? The tree to which the Word Jesus was attached, the cross, gives you the fruit of life. The Words, “Father, forgive them.” Water and blood flowing from His side to font and cup. Eden. Calvary. Same Lord. Same Word. He does things the same way. No matter what you do and what happens to you, it is His Word and tree that save you. Jesus is the Word. He holds to the Word. He keeps that Word attached to the tree and in His gifts keeps His Word and promises attached to you. Now go, the opposite direction of Adam and Eve, clothed with Jesus, back into paradise forever. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Bruce Keseman

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Jesus is a wimpy weakling. And you? You’re an imbecilic fool, if you believe in Him. That’s what first century Jews say. That’s what first century Greeks say. That’s what all humans who live on this earth now say if they simply believes what their two eyes see. Jesus is a wimpy weakling. And you’re an imbecilic fool.

“Jews want signs,” Paul tells us. Power. Impressiveness. But what could be weaker, wimpier, and less impressive than a convict drooping dead from a Roman instrument of execution? What could be weaker? How about a damned convict drooping dead from the cross. Anyone hung from a tree is under God’s curse, forsaken by the Father. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Who would be fool enough to believe in Jesus cursed by His own Father?

Aren’t you sometimes a little embarrassed telling people the details of what you really believe? If you stop for supper at a restaurant on the way home tonight, strike up a conversation with the stranger beside you in line. Say, “Hi, I believe that a spirit from outside this universe voluntarily got Himself murdered in this universe so that I can go where He came from. Oh, and I believe a woman who never had sex gave birth to that Spirit on earth so He could be human as well as a spirit.” If the guy still hasn’t called security yet, and he happens to ask you how Jesus changes your life on earth, you can tell him, “Oh, I get to bear crosses, in other words, I get to suffer for believing in Jesus.” No doubt, that’ll convince the guy he should believe, too!

Don’t you sometimes wish God had saved you by some method more palatable to modern sensibilities? Then you wouldn’t have to be so embarrassed by your faith. You ingrate! The Jesus you have isn’t good enough for you? You want an impressive Jesus. An impressive Jesus would come down from the cross. An impressive Jesus would leave you without a Savior.

The apostles wanted an impressive Jesus. The apostles are Jews. The Jews want signs, power. So when Jesus says He’s about to be glorified, the apostles have to be thinking, “Finally! Finally, He’s going to put His power on display. He’s going to do something that will make us proud.” But, nooo, Jesus says He’ll be glorified by doing what a good grain of wheat does when the farmer in your congregation plants it in the soil. Jesus will die. With all your ingratitude attached to Him, so it is no longer attached to you. And then He will come out of the soil alive. Because that’s what a good grain of wheat does.

In short, if you want to see Jesus in all His power and glory, look at Him writhing in pain on a cross. No wonder the message of the cross is offensive to Jews who want to see impressive signs of power. And, too often, to us as well.

The cross is just as offensive to Greeks who crave wisdom. Jesus’ way of salvation sounds downright foolish.

How many of you attend a congregation named “Holy Cross Lutheran Church”? Go home and repaint the sign in front of your building to say, “Holy Lethal Injection Lutheran Church.” Everybody, go home and tell your church council you want the brass cross on brass altar replaced with a beautiful brass syringe. In our church chancel, we have a lindenwood carving of Jesus on the cross. Wonder if we can get a craftsman in Italy to sculpt a lindenwood carving of Jesus in front of a firing squad instead. Next time there’s a baptism at your church, ask your pastor to make the sign of the holy electric chair both upon the forehead and upon the heart to mark that person as redeemed by Christ the executed.

Sounds absurd. But the cross is nothing else than the first century equivalent of a lethal injection, a firing squad, and an electric chair. You stake your eternity on a ridiculous claim that Christian preachers have been making and Christian believers have been believing for 2000 years: that when some first century Jew got crucified for a capital crime, He was satisfying all God’s wrath against every sin of every sinner from Adam until us.

That’s preposterous! No wonder the cross is offensive. It’s wimpily weak. And imbecilicly foolish.

Ahh, but that’s God’s weakness. And God’s foolishness.

God’s weakness is stronger than man’s strength. Jesus draws one last breath. Hangs His head. Gives up His Spirit. And in that moment of pure weakness Jesus accomplishes what all the powers of earth put together could never accomplish. He pulls you out of hell and into heaven. Tetelestai! It is finished. The weakness of the cross is God’s power to save you. That’s why we believe, no matter how weak it looks.

And the foolishness of the cross is God’s wisdom to save you.

Gather all the wisest people in the world. Ask them to solve the world’s problems. Give them a week. Give them a year. Give them a decade. They’d come up with hundreds of ideas. Some might be good ideas. But even all of their good ideas put together wouldn’t end the suffering in this world.

There’s one solution I guarantee those brilliant-mind braintrust wouldn’t think of. And neither would our puny minds. No one would suggest that God put His Son onto this planet fully intending to have Him executed. But that’s what God did. So it wasn’t cute Fluffy who got a Silence-of-the-Lambs treatment. Jesus is the Paschal Lamb sacrificed so that eternal death passes over you—precisely because that death did not pass over Him.

And no human mind would open the cupboard, see a loaf of bread and bottle of wine and think, “I know a good way for God to get His salvation to us otherwise hellbound people. He could use bread and wine. And He could, like, put in our mouths the body and blood of His Son, the same body and antivenom blood that was crucified 2000 years ago for us snakebit sinners.” That’s human silliness. But it’s divine wisdom.

When the Holy Spirit uses nothing more than a splash of water that has nothing more attached than God’s promise—and nothing less attached—a little baby who can’t do anything but scream and poop suddenly possesses wisdom that exceeds all the smartest unbelievers in history. It’s a cruciflood! She may not realize she is doing it but like still dripping-from-the-font little Ruth who grabbed her pastor’s pectoral cross and hung on for dear life, that child is clinging to Jesus’ cross by faith, even if she doesn’t realize it. And, if you think that’s impressive, with nothing more than words printed on the pages of an ordinary book that happens to say “Bible” on the front, and with nothing more than words spoken by an ordinary man like your pastor, the same Spirit keeps you clinging by faith to that cross through good times, tough times, and especially the sin-filled times of life.

Some people consider that kind of talk sacramental silliness. And if all you believe is what your eyes see, it is sacramental silliness. But we believe what God says. So to us who are being saved, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For 2000 years, our Lord has been using water, words, bread, and wine to say, “Christ crucified is for you.” I need Christ crucified. Desparately. So if that’s foolishness, I say, “Give us more foolishness!”

Sure the message of the cross is offensive. But believe it. Speak it. Rejoice in it every day of your life. It is wimpily weak, imbicilically foolish, . . . and incredibly effective. Christ Crucified is God’s power, God’s wisdom, and your salvation.

Pastor Bruce Keseman is pastor of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Freeburg, IL. He preached this homily at the closing Divine Service at Crucified 2014 in Mequon, WI.

Rev. Aaron Fenker

John 12:20–33

Well, it’s pretty much over, isn’t it? The appointed end has come. The week is winding down. People from all over the nation and even the known world gathered together. The time is run short. Perhaps new friendships were made during that time. Maybe old friends saw each other again. There’s fun and games. Small groups enjoying the Word and fellowship, and, when it’s all over, there’s the long trip back home. It’s all come down to this. Nothing is left undone. Everything’s been packed up nicely. Well, everything except one thing: It was His time. It was high time for Him to be glorified. He had been waiting for it, but now “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” It’s the reason He’s come from the Father. It’s the reason He’s at the Passover Feast – Holy Week. He’s come to be seen in His glory. Jesus reveals Himself. He wants you to see Him this way: There! – behold Him! Crucified! He wages the glorious battle there for you. A crown becomes the Victor’s brow. There He enters His glory, He sits upon His throne, suffering, sighing, bleeding, dying, crucified for you. That’s His glory. It’s His only glory. That’s the only glory that saves you, and JESUS WANTS YOU TO SEE HIS GLORY, THAT IS, HIS BEING CRUCIFIED AND RAISED FOR YOU.

(I. It’s a glory that was seen at Calvary.)

Calvary, Golgotha, the place of the skull, is the place where this glory was seen. It had to be this way. “What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” This was His only purpose for coming. It’s why He was born. He came to manifest His glory. This was finally the time for Jesus to be glorified. Yes, “the hour has come,” for thus the Father willed it, who fashioned us with clay. It was willed from the foundation of the world, and that purpose is now being fulfilled as the Son obeyed His Father’s will, and so He says, “I have come to this hour.” His glory is come, shining forth in the sky, transfixed amidst the firmament for all to see, and it’s this glory that saves you. There we are drawn: all our sins, our curse, our death, our sickness, our pain, crucified in Him. The curse of it all!: God crucified (crowned, enthroned, dead). The glory of it all! “And I, when I am exalted, will draw all people to myself.” God crowned, enthroned, dead: so glorious that it’s too holy for even the blessed angels to behold.

He is glorified there, but glorified even yet again by the Father, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” We hear the name of glory: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” And it was a name glorified again – resurrection glory on top of crucified glory. You need this glory because no other glory can save you except Golgotha glory, crucified glory – Jesus’ glory. The glory of our last minute victories, our good grades, our high marks, our reputation among our friends can’t save us. It’s only false glory. The glory we lord over others, with whatever measure we use to judge others and put them down so that we can be king or queen of the hill. Repent! Jesus’ glory saves you “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” The judgment of the world and devil, the judgment over our sin, which is the forgiveness of that sin, our victory over devil and world, the glory of this judgement is seen in Jesus crucified for you.

(II. It’s a glory seen in our day.)

Jesus crucified, His true glory, is seen even in our day. It was seen for the Greeks BEFORE He was crucified. They asked Philipp, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’…Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’ ” Jesus speaks of His being crucified. From Jesus’ own mouth, “Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” It’s even seen today. And it doesn’t matter where you are! Look to the preaching. You see Him crucified with your ears, just like the Greeks did that day! Jesus is portrayed there, held there for you as crucified for your sins. See your baptism: “I will draw all people to Myself.” Jesus has dragged you to His death on the cross for you. You’ve been baptized into that death and also His resurrection. See the fruit of Jesus’ cross! His death “bears much fruit.” It wasn’t just water that blossomed forth from that tree, but blood too. You not only see but receive the glory of Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. You’ve seen and received it here in Gainesville, and it’s a glory you see and receive from your altar at home. Jesus’ glory of cross, death, and empty tomb is seen and heard from every single Pulpit, Font, and Altar, and it’s in those places for you.

(III. It’s a glory seen on the Last Day.)

Jesus’ glory is seen in His death on the cross. His glory is seen in His resurrection. Jesus’ glory is that He has been crucified for your sins. It’s the glory He came to reveal, it’s the glory He reveals to you today and every Lord’s day, because it’s the glory that saves you! And it’s a glory we’ll see face to face in the life to come. For on that day we’ll all see that

Those dear tokens of His passion

 Still His dazzling body bears,

Cause of endless exaltation

To His ransomed worshipers.

With what rapture,

Gaze we on those glorious scars!

INI + AMEN.

Rev. Joel Frische

Exodus 12:1-14

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

It’s starts out so nice. Dad brings home a cute little fluffy, perfect, one year-old male lamb. It’s kind of like getting a new pet. But then just a few short days later you go “Silence of the Lambs” on it. You take that sweet little lamb, slaughter it, smear its blood on your house, roast it with fire, even its head, legs and its innards. Then you pair it with some wine, a bit of flat bread and bitter herbs and then you eat poor little fluffy. But that’s not all. If there is anything of fluffy left, you go pyromaniac on it. You incinerate it by the next morning. What starts out so nice, gets ugly really quickly.

But sin is ugly and messy. God’s judgment over sin is real. The wages of sin is death. There’s no getting around that one. It’s clear in the Old Testament just as it is in the New. Feast on the forbidden fruit like Adam and Eve, break God’s commandments, close your ears to His Word, expect to die. He’s gonna go pyromaniac on you!

But just as sin is messy business, so is salvation. You’re old enough. You’ve been taught the Christian faith. You know that God’s work in Christ for the salvation of His people isn’t some cute, fluffy story. It involves, at times, suffering, blood and gore, and yes, even brutal death. For sin to be atoned, covered up, washed away, blood must be shed, a death must take place. So it was for Israel, so it is for you. Sin requires payment, a payment you or no other sinner can make. A payment bigger than even a cute little lamb. And know this, if Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world doesn’t pay it FOR YOU, death will never pass you over.

Atonement for sin in is messy business indeed. Consider that Passover lamb. There were approximately 600,000 men, not including women and children, whom God freed from bondage in Egypt. If even half of those men had wives and children you’d have tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of households, each with a one year-old, spotless, male lamb to be slaughtered at twilight on the 14th day of the month, roasted, eaten and the leftovers burned. But God was at work, bringing life from death. God’s people feasted on the flesh of a lamb without blemish, whose blood on the doorposts spared them from the angel of death and set them on the road to the Promised Land. Actually it foreshadowed a greater blood and a greater redemption.

The story is far bigger than that. God had something better in store for these children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, definitely something better FOR YOU. He’s got more for you than a piece of real estate in the Middle East or a plate of lamb chops. Christ is your Passover Lamb, sacrificed FOR YOU. He is the spotless Lamb of God, whose blood has purchased and freed you from the bonds of sin, death and the power of the devil. But in this Passover of old, the Lord has much to teach you about your salvation in Jesus.

When God’s people of old observed the Lord’s Passover as they prepared to depart with haste to the Promised Land, everything changed. What Yahweh, the Lord is about to do to set His people free is so huge that their entire calendar is reordered. The month of their redemption now becomes the first month in their record of time. Time is reordered according to the Lord’s salvation for His people.

And every year at this time from henceforth they were to observe this great feast to Yahweh. He commanded them to keep the feast. It was a statute, a Law. And yet this Passover feast, even generations later, bound them together with those who had gone before them. For redemption from bondage was not just for those people at that time, but for all Israel, for all time. And as huge as the Passover Feast was for God’s people of old, Jesus takes it, He fulfills it and makes something greater FOR YOU!

Jesus takes this Passover and He makes it His own. He fulfills it. He makes it a Feast for you that’s not just a memorial of his death, but a life-giving feast of redemption from eternal death. Every celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a Passover anew, death passes over you and you partake of life eternal. “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Your Passover Lamb who was CRUCIFIED on the cross once for all for the sins of the world, for your sin, now offers Himself to you, feast after feast after feast. And as you partake of His flesh and blood He binds you with Him and with all believers in heaven and on earth.

Just as the Passover of old was so huge that it reordered the calendar, look at how Christ CRUCIFIED really does the same for you. Time is reordered. It begins with your Baptism, the 8th day, the day of a new creation. Every day is now a Sabbath rest in Jesus as your Old Adam drowns and dies and your whole life is reordered in Him. Each new church year follows the life of Christ, a journey from the manger to the cross to the empty tomb and then to the out into the church, where God’s people feast on the Lamb who was slain.

That Feast is the climax of what takes place in the Divine Service. The hymns, the liturgies, everything building up to that moment when your spotless Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world comes to you with His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation, targeted right at you, in your mouth. And then out of your mouth comes prayer and praise that confess back to the Lord His goodness, His mercy and His love for sinners.

We even eat Christ’s Passover Feast with haste, not in the same exact way that ancient Israel did, but not that differently either. They were on the brink of the exodus, the way out of bondage, the road to the Promised Land. So they ate with haste, their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand, ready to go. So it is for you when you feast on Christ’s body and blood. You are a stranger and pilgrim in this fallen world, on the road to a new heaven and a new earth, where the Feast of the Lamb and His bride never ends. When you partake of the foretaste of that great feast to come, you’re ready to depart, not just to go home, but to be with Christ for all eternity. Lord now let Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.

You see, the Passover is your story, because it’s all about Christ the spotless Lamb, without blemish, sacrificed, for you. JESUS CRUCIFIED! DEATH PACIFIED! YOU JUSTIFIED, SANCTIFIED, holy in Jesus. Your paschal Lamb has set you free. Alleluia!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Mark Buetow

St. John 19:31-37

Cruciflood. No, I didn’t say it wrong. I said cruciFLOOD. That’s what your baptism is. It’s a cruciflood! Jesus was crucified for you. And when He died and His side was pierced a crucified flood of water and blood flowed out. Water! Into the font. Baptism. Blood! Into the cup. The Sacrament of the Altar. Water and blood. Flooding from the pierced side of crucified Jesus means a cruciflood for you. This cruciflood saves you. It washes you. It drowns your wicked Old Adam and it lifts you up in the ark of the church. Jesus crucified for you. A cruciflood poured out for you.

You see, on the second day of creation, God made a firmament to divide the waters above from the waters below. He called the firmament “heaven” or “sky.” And in the 600th year of Noah’s life, the Lord’s wrath against sin pierced that firmament and the windows of heaven were ripped open and the water above fell upon the earth and drowned it. Drowned the people. Drowned the plants. Drowned the animals. Everything died. Nothing left. Nothing except what the Lord saved. Noah and Mrs. Noah and Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives and the animals he put in the ark. The Lord saved them. The Flood didn’t harm them or the animals aboard the ark because the Lord saved them for the sake of His promise to send a Savior some day. And on Good Friday, Jesus, that promised savior, is lifted up on the cross, crucified between heaven and earth, and He too is pierced by the wrath of God. And killed. And the flood that comes out destroys all your sin. All of it. Nothing left. Every sin you’ve imagined in your thoughts. Every sin you’ve spoken with your mouth. Every sin you’ve done with your body. All sins. Every sin. Your sinful flesh. Dead. Drowned in the cruciflood that pours from Jesus’ side.

And just as the waters of the Flood lifted up the ark above the drowned world, so the cruciflood from Jesus’ side lifts up His church. The ark of the church floats upon the waters from Christ’s side. The cruciflood has drowned your enemies: devil, world, sinful flesh. These waters have all at once drowned your Old Adam and saved your New Man. The cruciflood of water from Jesus’ side is the spring of the River of Life by which your sins are washed away and you are raised from the dead to live with Jesus forever. And remember that when Noah got off that boat, there were animals to be sacrificed. A holy cookout in which the blood of beasts was shed and the Lord smelled the sweet aroma of the meat and fire. That’s the cruciflood of Jesus’ blood! With a sacrifice of the animals Noah received the gift of the flood being over. And they were rejoicing not just to get out of the smelly ark where he was cooped up with his kids! They were rejoicing that God’s anger was over and dried up. Just so Jesus, the Lamb sacrificed by being crucified on Calvary, is the promise that God can no longer be angry over your sin. His cruciflood of blood is given to you in the Cup of His Supper as the pledge and promise that God’s anger is over. Jesus was crucified. He was pierced. The cruciflood that pours forth is your salvation. Crucified. Jesus on Calvary. Cruciflood. Jesus at the font and on the altar. And you, safe in the ark of His church unto life everlasting. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. George Borghardt

St. John 19:16b-42

In the name of Jesus. Amen. Tetelestai. Greek verb. Perfect passive. Completed action. It has been accomplished. It is finished. The account has been paid.

Say it. “Tetelestai.” Believe it. Be saved by Jesus’ cross alone. It is finished. Tetelestai.

He’s done. God’s dead on the Cross. Hell’s finished. Salvation has been achieved. God’s wrath is satisfied. The punishment due you has been paid for by the Son of God Himself. Perfect passive. Done deal. Jesus did it.

The conquerer of sin, death, and the devil is hanging, beaten and dead, on a Cross. He is God’s answer to sin. He is God’s remedy for death. He destroys death by dying. Death died in Him. For you. For me. For all.

Good Friday. The Cross. The Crucified Christ. That’s our theology, our Faith, our hope.

Luther said it this way: “Crux sola est nostra theologia,” The Cross alone is our theology. Christ and Him crucified for you. That’s daring to be Lutheran.

The Cross is justification by grace alone, received faith alone, from Scripture alone. The Cross is the Law of God. The Cross is the Gospel of God. The Cross is the righteousness God requires and the Cross is the righteousness God gives. The Cross is your salvation — your justification and your sanctification.

We try to dodge His Cross — the hideous sight of our salvation being won by His corpse hanging naked and lifeless on the Tree. We would get around Him. We’d take Him off the tree if we could. You know, “He’s not on the Cross any more.”

We would replace the Christ the Crucified with a present-tense religion that is more sanitized and sensible to us — one that looks a lot more like us! Our decisions, our giving Jesus our life, and our commitment (and re-commitments) to Him. We’d make a religion all about what we do, what we think, how we feel. What church means to me and how it can make my life better today.

Sure, you’ve got sins, but you will do better next time. You’ll do more good works and get your life together. That sin will never happen again. It’s not like it was that big of a deal anyway. It’s not like you killed someone.

But… you did. I did, too. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment that should have fallen on us fell upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. You crucified the Lord of Glory. You killed God. I did too.

But God has saved you in His death. You see, this dead God means a living you. Your sin, your evil, your transgressions have died with Him. Hell smolders no more for you.

Tetelestai. It is finished. Not “It’s almost finished and all you have to do is repent, choose, accept…” No, if you could do something, anything to fix your sins, God would not have had to die to save you.

So, “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Crucified, hanging on the Cross having answered for your crimes. Look on Him. Behold Him. Fix your eyes on Him and be saved in His Cross.

What you couldn’t do, God has done for you in the Cross of Jesus Christ. He was crucified for your sins. He was raised for your justification, for you forgiveness.

Receive His Cross today. Take eat His Body. Take and drink the blood flowing from His crucified side of Christ. Be forgiven. Be enlivened.

For you have been crucified with Him in the waters of Holy Baptism. You died to your former sins. The way you used to live, think, feel, and tried to save yourself was tetelestai-ed. That’s over and done with, and buried with Jesus.

And you have been made alive, raised with Jesus. Perfect passive. Completed action. He lives for you. You live now for others. You live and love others as He lived and loved others too, as He lives and loves you.

Jesus was dead. Now He lives forever. You live too. Present tense. Right now. Never to die again.

And on the Last Day, with your own eyes you will see the One Crucified for your sins. St. John says He sits on the throne looking as a Lamb having been slain. Jesus is always and forever the Crucified One. That means that you and I are always and forever saved in Him.

Tetelestai. Greek verb. Perfect passive. Completed action. It has been accomplished. It is finished. The account has been paid.

Say it. tetelestai. Believe it. Be saved by Jesus’ cross alone. It is finished. tetelestai. In the name of Jesus. Amen.