CW 733 Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive

What does the world tell you when you’ve been wronged? You’re told to hold a grudge. When you’ve been injured, you’re told to get even. When you’ve been hurt, you’re told to never let those people hurt you again.

Our hymn this week teaches us a better, godly, more merciful option. It teaches us to forgive the sins of others just as Jesus has forgiven our sins.

Verse one: “Forgive our sins as we forgive,” you taught us, Lord, to pray, but you alone can grant us grace to live the words we say.

The way to deal with the hurts others have caused us is to remove the debts those others owe us. Jesus teaches us a parable about forgiveness in this week’s Gospel lesson from Matthew 18:21-35. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus shows that forgiveness means no longer holding a person’s debt against them. A servant is forgiven a very large debt, but then he goes out and refuses to forgive another servant’s much smaller debt. The point of the parable is that we all owe a hopelessly huge debt to God. But our heavenly King has forgiven that huge debt of our sins. Now we are to forgive the much smaller debts that are owed us by others. We can’t do this on our own. Only the love of the Lord inside of us moves us to live with this kind of forgiveness.

Question: What does it mean when we sing “forgive our sins as we forgive”?

Verse two: How can your pardon reach and bless the unforgiving heart that broods on wrongs and will not let old bitterness depart?

We sinfully love to hold grudges. Holding a grudge makes us feel good. When we hold a grudge, the other person is the bad guy, and we are the righteous victims. We like to remember all the slights and wrongs people have done to us. We want to get even. This gives us a sense of power over that person and allows us to justify committing all sorts of other sins. They wronged me, so now I can speak badly about them to others. They wronged me, so now I don’t need to help and be a friend to them. They sinned against me, so I don’t need to forgive them.

Question: Why is it so hard to forgive other people?

Verse three: In blazing light your cross reveals the truth we dimly knew: how small are others’ debts to us, how great our debt to you!

Our God is like the master in Jesus’ parable. “Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, ‘Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt” (Matthew 18:26, 27). We are

really big sinners! We have our inborn sin, our sins of commission that we commit with our naughty thoughts, our nasty words, and our not-so-nice actions, and our sins of omission where we fail to do all the good and godly things God wants us to do. This is a huge debt we have created before our God and King!

Yet God forgives our debt of sin! Except, that God does not forgive our debt by simply cancelling it. The King’s Son – Jesus Christ – paid off our debt. Not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. Our King has turned his mercy on us his servants because he treated his own Son as if he was a guilty servant with a huge debt of sin.

Question: Why do the sins of others often seem so big and your sins often seem so small?

Verse four: Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls and bid resentment cease; then, bound to all in bonds of love, our lives will spread your peace.

Instead of holding grudges or getting even, the apostle Paul gives us a better way to deal with sin: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). The forgiveness of Jesus gives you the power to forgive others, to release old grudges, and to dismiss old grievances that you have been holding on for too long.

Because God has canceled your huge debt of sin against him, now you can cancel someone else’s smaller debt of sin against you. You don’t have to resent them. Instead, you can release them. Instead of being unloving towards them, you can show Jesus’ love to them. You can forgive them … just as in Christ God has forgiven you.

Question: How does Jesus’ forgiveness help you to forgive others?

CW 694 – Jesus I My Cross Have Taken

Hymns are important to us as Christians. Hymns are sermons set to music. Singing God’s Word has a way of touching the heart in different ways than the spoken or written Word does. We often leave worship humming the last hymn we sang in church that morning.

Over the course of this school year, our four pastors at First Evan and Water of Life Lutheran Churches, who support Wisconsin Lutheran School, will be writing hymn devotions. We want the parents to read these devotions – or listen to the podcasts – together at home with your children. The devotions will be written on the Hymn of the Day. This is the major hymn in the center of our worship services. The Hymn of the Day carries the main thoughts and theme of the worship service. Our WLS students sing the Hymn of the Day in chapel on Wednesdays and will hear it again in our churches for worship on Sundays.

The second hymn we will look at reminds us of the two poles of Christian life. On the one hand, we know that as followers of Christ, we will face trial, persecution, and suffering for the sake of Jesus. On the other hand, we know that these things are nothing compared to the love our Father has showered on us and the eternal joy that we look forward to in heaven.

In our Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday from Matthew 16:21-26, Jesus tells us that as his followers, we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him. This may sound like a harsh promise. We like the things of this world, but Christ reminds us that suffering in this life is nothing compared to the eternal suffering in hell that awaits those who reject Christ.

Verse one: Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow you; destitute, despised, forsaken, you on earth once suffered, too. Perish ev’ry fond ambition, all I’ve ever hoped or known; yet how rich is my condition, God and heav’n are still my own!

The hymn writer echoes the words of Jesus that we must take up our crosses and follow him. As Christians, we will face suffering. Instead of focusing on the pain of our suffering, we focus on the suffering Christ endured for us. We remember that Christ endured the shame of the cross on the torments of hell in our place. He took all our sins on himself and paid for them with his life. This is why we can be content even though we suffer. We know the eternal reward that Christ has won for us.

Question 1: Why can we be sure that heaven is our reward?

Verse two: Let the world despise and leave me; they have left my Savior, too. Human hearts and looks deceive me; you are not, like them, untrue. And, since you have smiled upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might, foes may hate and friends may shun me; show your face, and all is bright.

We live in a world that has been twisted and polluted by sin. Our friends and families will not always love us the way we want them to. They will break promises to us; they may even hurt us. But our heavenly Father will never betray or hurt us. God loves us no matter what. God comes to us again and again with his love and forgiveness. When we are alone, we can turn to God as our dear Father and put our hope and trust in him. God will never fail us, and God never breaks his promises.

Question 2: What are some of the promises that God has made to his followers?

Verse three: Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn, and pain! In your service pain is pleasure, with your favor loss is gain. I have called you Abba, Father; you my all in all shall be. Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Notice the shift in tone in this verse. Despite facing all kinds of suffering in this life, the Christian remains defiant. The world can throw anything it wants against us. Satan can rage in all his power. But we tremble not; we fear no ill; he cannot overpower us. We know that the victory has been won. We know that Christ has defeated the power of Satan. And so, we rest content in the promises of our God, knowing that he is watching over us and caring for us.

Question 3: What are some of the challenges a Christian will face in their life of faith?

Verse four: Haste, my soul, from grace to glory, armed by faith and winged by prayer; all but heav’n is transitory, God’s own hand shall guide you there. Soon shall end this earthly story, swift shall pass the pilgrim days, hope soon change to heav’nly glory, faith to sight and prayer to praise.

Christians know that this life is not the end. We know that the things of this world will be destroyed at the end of the world. Fame, wealth, and fortune – in the long run, all these things count for less than nothing. The only thing that will truly matter is whether a person believes in Jesus as their Savior. Jesus expresses this truth in Matthew 16:26, “After all, what will it help a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?” This is why Christians can joyfully endure suffering in this life. We know that it is temporary, but the joy of heaven is eternal.

Question 4: Why can Christians endure suffering with joy?

Life is difficult. It is full of pain and sadness. The world wants to distract us by thinking it has an answer to suffering. But the answers of the world are empty. The things it offers will not last. Only the truth of God’s Word is eternal. Our faith in Christ reminds and assures us that eternal life has been won for us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is why a Christian can stand defiant and hopeful when faced with the struggles of this life.

CW 510 - In Christ Alone

Hymns are important to us as Christians. Hymns are sermons set to music. Singing God’s Word has a way of touching the heart in different ways than the spoken or written Word does. We often leave worship humming the last hymn we sang in church that morning.

Over the course of this school year, our four pastors at First Evan and Water of Life Lutheran Churches who support Wisconsin Lutheran School, will be writing hymn devotions. We would like the parents to read these devotions – or listen to the podcasts – together at home with your children. The devotions will be written on the Hymn of the Day. This is the major hymn in the center of our worship services. The Hymn of the Day carries the main thoughts and theme of the worship service. Our WLS students sing the Hymn of the Day in chapel on Wednesdays and will hear it again in our churches for worship on Sundays.

The first hymn we’ll study together is “In Christ Alone.” Our WLS students will sing this hymn for the Joint Outdoor Worship Service on September 10. “In Christ Alone” is a newer hymn that has quickly become a favorite song around the world.

In our Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday from Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am” (Matthew 16:15)? That is the most important question in the world. And it is a question every human must answer. By God’s grace, Peter answered the question correctly, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). By God’s grace, we answer the question correctly when we sing, “In Christ Alone.”

Verse one: In Christ alone my hope is found; he is my light, my strength, my song; this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My comforter, my all in all; here in the love of Christ I stand.

Jesus Christ is our hope when we are hopeless; our light in the darkness; our strength in our weakness, and our song when we don’t feel like singing. In our current culture where we focus so much on emotions and feelings, Jesus is our solid rock. He’s the One we turn to for help after the Maui fires, Hurricane Hilary, droughts, floods, and other storms of life. He is the One who comforts us, calms us, and gives us peace. This all comes because Jesus Christ stands with us.

Verse two: In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe; this gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied; for ev’ry sin on him was laid; here in the death of Christ I live.

Jesus is the Son of God whom the universe cannot contain, yet he contained himself within the womb of the Virgin Mary. He through whom the universe was spoken into existence, had to learn how to talk as a baby. He who would later walk on water, had to learn to walk as a

toddler. The Son of God left his home in heaven to come to earth to save those he loved. But those he loved did not love him back. The Jews and Romans put him to death on the cross. Our sins put him to death on that same cross. There Jesus endured his Father’s wrath over our sins. That’s why he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)? God the Father poured out his anger on his only begotten Son … so he would not pour out that anger on us. Now through faith in Jesus, we are called the Father’s sons and daughters.

Verse three: There in the ground his body lay, light of the world by darkness slain; then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave he rose again! And as he stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me; for I am his and he is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

In my church at Water of Life, our worshipers get very soft in singing this third verse. It’s almost a whisper as we sing about Jesus’ corpse being laid in the tomb. But then we get loud! Piano, pipe organ, brass, and voices are bursting forth with praise because Jesus’ resurrected body has burst forth from the grave! Because Jesus stands in victory, now we stand in victory. He is ours because he has made us his own. He bought us back from the devil – not with gold or silver – but with his holy, precious blood.

Verse four: No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the pow’r of Christ in me; from life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand; till he returns or calls me home, here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

We sing verse four as loudly as we sang verse three. Except for me. I usually get choked up with this fourth verse. It is our response to Jesus’ death, resurrection, and eternal victory. Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross and out of the tomb, now we have no more guilt or fear of death. From our first cry to final breath, our Lord Jesus Christ is in control. We are safe in his hands. Nothing – not the devil nor his demonic forces – can ever pluck us out of Jesus’ nail-scarred hands. Because we stand with Jesus in faith today, we are kept safe and secure until we stand with Jesus around his heavenly throne for all days.

By God’s grace, we know who Jesus Christ is. What a blessing that we stand in faith with Peter and the disciples confessing our faith in Jesus Christ. What a blessing that we stand in faith with our Christian brothers and sisters at Water of Life, First Evan, and Wisconsin Lutheran School to sing our faith in Jesus Christ.

Discussion Questions:

1. How does Jesus help you when you feel alone or afraid?

2. Why is the death of Jesus so important?

3. What does Jesus’ resurrection prove?

4. Why don’t you ever need to be afraid of dying

CW 590 – O Holy Spirit, Enter In

As we celebrate Pentecost, we invite the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts, homes, and churches. We ask him to enter in and equip us with Christian faith and for works of Christian service.

Verse one: O Holy Spirit, enter in and in our hearts your work begin, your dwelling place now make us. Sun of the soul, O Light divine, around and in us brightly shine, to joy and gladness wake us that we may be truly living, to you giving prayer unceasing and in love be still increasing.

God has chosen you, called you, and now he equips you for work in his Kingdom. But we are often hesitant, resistant, and even defiant in our acts of service. Consider some of God’s hand-picked leaders and how they reacted to God’s call to service. Moses was God’s chosen leader for the people of Israel. But Moses questioned whether the people would follow him. Jonah was sent by the word of the Lord to the people of Nineveh. But Jonah sailed in exactly the opposite direction. Peter had vowed that he would die for Jesus. But Peter cowered in fear and denied being Jesus’ disciple when he was questioned by a servant girl at the fire in the high priest’s courtyard.

We are very much like these prophets and apostles. The Lord tells us he is with us, yet we tremble in fear. The Lord assures us that he has a plan for our lives, yet we question, doubt, and complain. The Lord commands us to go in his name, yet we sit on the sofa with other things taking precedence over evangelizing lost souls.

This is why we pray for the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts and make his dwelling within us. He shines his light of faith into the dark recesses of sin and unbelief that lurk within our hearts. He wakes us from our sadness with the gospel of gladness. He turns our unloving hearts into hearts that desire to display God’s divine love through our words and actions.

Verse two: Give to your Word impressive pow’r that in our hearts from this good hour as fire it may be glowing, that in true Christian unity we faithful witnesses may be, your glory ever showing. Hear us, cheer us by your teaching; let our preaching and our labor praise you, Lord, and serve our neighbor.

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush. The Word of the Lord came to Jonah. The resurrected Jesus appeared personally to Peter on Easter morning, Easter evening and then numerous times over the next 40 days. Peter then received the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Seeing, hearing, and believing the Lord has to change a person! How can it not?!

The Holy Spirit has been poured out on you in your Baptism. The heavenly Father has forgiven you in the Absolution following your confession of sins. The risen and ascended Christ speaks to you in your Bible. God’s Word and Sacraments have an impressive power to break apart your stony hearts of sin. They warm up your cold soul. They unite you from factions into faithful witnesses. Christ’s teaching and preaching moves you to labor and service in his Kingdom. Through Word and Sacraments, now you are a changed person. Just like Moses, Jonah, and Peter.

Verse three: O mighty Rock, O Source of life, let your dear Word, in doubt and strife, in us be strongly burning that we be faithful unto death and live in love and holy faith, from you true wisdom learning. Your grace and peace on us shower; by your power Christ confessing, let us see our Savior’s blessing.

A burning bush, a giant fish, tongues of flame, and the sound of rushing wind all seem like rather peculiar ways of changing people … but that’s how our God works. Sometimes it is through peculiar or ordinary or seemingly mundane means. … But they are all miraculous!

The Holy Spirit works through his gloriously humble means of grace. He works through the pouring of water and a few syllables of Scripture to change a baby from heathen status to heavenly status. He works through a paper-thin unleavened wafer and a little sip of grape wine to assure believers of the forgiveness of their sins. He works through black letters printed on pages of a book, through the sound waves from voices singing hymns and liturgy and entering our ears, and through our memory banks when we recall a passage of Scripture. He works through the voice of a child or a friend talking about the love of Jesus so that hearts are softened and stand before the Lord’s altar to commune together in unity of faith and doctrine

It is these Words and Sacraments that equip us with the strength we need to remain faithful, even to the point of death. They equip us to confess Christ now, so that we may be blessed to see Christ before his throne in heaven.

O Holy Spirit, enter in, and equip our hearts for lives of faith and Christian service. 

CW 876 - Fight the Good Fight

Christians are often pictured as meek and mild people who humbly turn the other cheek. We certainly do those things. Yet, the Bible also calls on us to be strong and militant in our Christian beliefs. This is the dichotomy of the Christian. The Bible pictures us as seeking peace through kindness and gentleness. But the Bible also pictures us as active, energetic, and even athletic.

Verse one: Fight the good fight with all your might; Christ is your strength and Christ your right. Lay hold on life, and it shall be your joy and crown eternally.

The opening line of verse one is from St. Paul’s words to Pastor Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12) This is not a fight using weapons and fists. It is spiritual warfare. The good fight of faith refers to the constant battle in this world between God and Satan, between truth and falsehood, between the new nature and the sinful flesh. Do not give up. Continue to battle against evil, false teaching, and sin.

We go into this spiritual battle with spiritual weapons. St. Paul describes these weapons: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to take a stand on the evil day and, after you have done everything, to stand. Stand, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness fastened in place, and with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace tied to your feet like sandals. At all times hold up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. Also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:10-17).

Verse two: Run the straight race through God’s good grace; lift up your eyes and seek his face. Life with its way before us lies; Christ is the path and Christ the prize.

The opening line of verse two is from Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us.” The writer pictures the Hebrews as running a race on the track in a Roman stadium with a crowd all around them cheering them on. People involved in a foot race will eliminate anything that might hinder them such as carrying any extra weight or wearing something that entangles their legs. In the same way, Christians desire to get rid of the burden and loose clothing of sin, which would slow down and trip up a runner in a spiritual race. Undue concern for the things of this world and temptations to sin are examples of things that can hinder Christians in the race God laid out for them. Instead, we lift up our eyes to keep us fixed on the prize of our race, which is Jesus Christ.

Verse three: Cast care aside, lean on your guide; his boundless mercy will provide. Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove Christ is its life and Christ its love.

We fight the good fight and run the straight race by casting our cares aside and leaning on God’s Word as our guide. This verse is reminiscent of Jesus’ words about worry in his Sermon on the Mount: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unbelievers chase after all these things. Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:31-34). We live in a sinful world filled with daily problems. We don’t want to add unfounded and senseless worry to that long list of problems. Instead, we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. By doing that, we are leaning and trusting that Christ will provide all we need for this life and for the life to come.

Verse four: Faint not nor fear, his arms are near; he changes not, and you are dear. Only believe, and you will see that Christ is Lord eternally.

This final verse reminds us of a number of God’s promises. “Faint not nor fear” reminds us of God’s promise: “Tell those who have a fearful heart: Be strong. Do not be afraid. Look! Your God will come with vengeance. With God’s own retribution, he will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4). “His arms are near” reminds us of: “My righteousness is near. My salvation goes forth, and my arms will bring justice to the peoples. The seacoasts will wait for me. They will have confidence in my arm” (Isaiah 51:5). “He changes not” therefore we do not need to be afraid, but only believe: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). 

CW 461 - He Is Arisen! Glorious Word

Jesus speaks to his troubled disciples of all ages in this week’s Gospel, “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. You know where I am going, and you know the way” (John 14:1-4).

Jesus tells us to stop being troubled. The Greek word for “trouble” has the picture of water that is churning or seething, as in a rough surf on Lake Michigan. The news of the betrayal, denial, and departure of Jesus have caused the disciples’ hearts to churn with fear and apprehension.

How often don’t you notice that your heart is churning with fear and seething with apprehension? We Americans are becoming increasingly anxious, depressed, and isolated. Jesus doesn’t simply pat his disciples on the head and say, “There, there, everything will be all right.” He tells why they have no reason to be troubled. He points us to his home he won for us through his death and resurrection. Our hymn points us to the same confidence.

He is arisen! Glorious Word! Now reconciled is God, my Lord; the gates of heav’n are open. My Jesus did triumphant die, and Satan’s arrows broken lie, destroyed hell’s fiercest weapon. O hear what cheer! Christ victorious, rising glorious, life is giving. He was dead but now is living!

Jesus doesn’t promise to remove our troubles from us. Rather, he promises to remove us from our troubles. He promises to remove our troubles eventually and eternally in heaven. The gates of heaven are open for those who believe in Jesus. Heaven opened because of what happened to Jesus on the cross and out of the grave.

 It appeared as if Jesus was defeated when he died on Calvary’s cross. The opposite was true. “My Jesus did triumphant die.” With his sacrificial death, Jesus "destroyed hell's fiercest weapon" – death itself. “Satan’s arrows” – the ones he shot into Adam and Eve and their countless children – have all fallen broken at the foot of the cross. Jesus endured the hellish agony and his Father’s just wrath for humanity’s sins. Through his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection, Christ is victorious, rising glorious. He was dead but now is living. When we die, we will rise to go on living in the Father’s heavenly mansions that Jesus has ascended to prepare for us. Let this knowledge calm your troubled, churning hearts. 

CW 804 – I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb

The prophet Isaiah prophesied a day when God would come to be with his people. He would come to tend his people like he was their Shepherd and they were his little lambs. “Like a shepherd he will care for his flock. With his arm he will gather the lambs. He will lift them up on his lap. He will gently lead the nursing mothers” (Isaiah 40:11)

The prophet Ezekiel also promised the day when God would search for his lost sheep and gather them to himself like a shepherd searches for his flock. “I myself will seek the welfare of my flock and carefully search for them. As a shepherd searches for his flock when his sheep that were with him have been scattered, so I will search for my flock and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. … I will seek the lost. I will bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured. I will strengthen the weak” (Ezekiel 34:11, 12, 16).

Jesus is the fulfillment of these prophecies and promises. He says, “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me (just as the Father knows me and I know the Father). And I lay down my life for the sheep. I also have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).

The hymn, "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb," celebrates Jesus, our Shepherd and Savior, who came among us as the prophets foretold. It is a simple hymn that children love to sing. Unfortunately, many adults shy away from singing the hymn because they consider it too childlike. Yet, that’s exactly why we should sing it! All of us – children and adults – are Jesus’ little lambs. This hymn presents simple – but profound – truths.

Verse one: I am Jesus’ little lamb; ever glad at heart I am, for my Shepherd gently guides me, knows my need and well provides me, loves me ev’ry day the same, even calls me by my name.

The hymn speaks of the Shepherd's love for us and our joy in his care. It doesn’t matter our age – the hearts of all of us quicken as our Shepherd is near. We are excited that he gently guides us. He made us his own in Baptism. He calls us by name. This simple truth that Jesus knows our needs and provides for those needs is a profound confidence in the basinet and on the hospice bed.

Verse two: Day by day, at home, away, Jesus is my staff and stay. When I hunger, Jesus feeds me, into pleasant pastures leads me; when I thirst, he bids me go where the quiet waters flow.

The Good Shepherd takes care of us day by day. We don’t ever have to wonder or worry about where our next meal is coming from. When we are hungry, Jesus feeds us. When we are thirsty, Jesus gives us something to drink. He feeds our hungry bellies and thirsty throats with food and water. He feeds our starving souls and thirsting faiths with the Bread and Water of Life of his Holy Word.

Verse three: Who so happy as I am, even now the Shepherd’s lamb? And when my short life is ended, by his angel host attended, he shall fold me to his breast, there within his arms to rest.

There are times when we wander from the Shepherd, as lambs often do. We look for greener pastures and sweeter waters. But Jesus keeps a watchful eye on us. He calls us back to him. He corrals us back into his flock with his staff. He beats away the predatory lions and wolves with his rod. He seeks out his wandering, doubting, fearful lambs. He rescues us with his forgiveness and love. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for us. Now we know that when our life is ended, Jesus will send his angels to gather our souls so that we will find eternal rest in the green pastures and quiet waters of the Good Shepherd’s paradise.

Whatever your age, you are Jesus’ precious little lamb. The Good Shepherd loves you every day the same. And every day he calls you by your name. Never tire of hearing your Shepherd’s voice calling his lambs to come near.

CW 452 - The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done

Jesus told his disciples about the strife to come. Matthew tells us in his Gospel that “Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again” (Matthew 16:21). Jesus warned the disciples about his deadly strife, but he also assured them of the victory that would follow the strife.

Just as he had foretold, Jesus was rejected and betrayed. He suffered many things at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders and Roman soldiers. Jesus was mocked by those at the foot of the cross. Hanging upon the cross in weakness and humility, it appeared as if the battle was done … and that Jesus had lost

But the opposite was true! The battle was done … but Jesus had won! He had bested sin by paying the price with his divinely human blood! He had crushed Satan under his bloody heel! And he would defeat death with his third day resurrection!

The refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Verse one: The strife is o’er, the battle done; now is the victor’s triumph won; now be the song of praise begun: Alleluia!

The empty tomb has shaken the world. Death is dead. The devil is defeated. The angels rejoice. The saints sing.

Verse two: The pow’rs of death have done their worst, but Christ their legions has dispersed. Let shouts of holy joy outburst: Alleluia!

Christ took his Sabbath rest. He awoke from the sleep of death. The Victim is the Victor. The grave is open. And now there is an empty tomb for rent.

Verse three: The three sad days have quickly sped, he rises glorious from the dead. All glory to our risen Head: Alleluia!

The gates of Hades have been kicked in. Hell is vanquished. The demons have fallen. He holds "the keys of Death and Hades" (Revelation 1:18b). The gates of heaven have been opened. The saints gather around the throne of the risen Christ.

Verse four: He closed the yawning gates of hell; the bars from heav’n’s high portals fell. Let hymns of praise his triumph tell: Alleluia

While here on earth, our strife is not over. We are still engaged in battle against sin, Satan, and death. But we are confident that because Jesus was triumphant over this unholy trinity, his victory is now our victory. Sinners have been turned into saints. The captives have been set free. The sting of death has been removed. Sin has been paid for. The Ancient Serpent’s head has been crushed. Christ has turned the curse of death into a sleep for his saints. Our hymns of praise during the Easter season tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection triumph. This is a triumph that we and all Christ’s saints will be celebrating now and into eternity. Alleluia!  

Verse five: By your deep wounds, O risen King, come set us free from death’s sharp sting, that we may live and ever sing: Alleluia! (Refrain)

Hymn 824- This is the Threefold Truth

In the Lutheran tradition of worship, the pastor speaks the words of institution of the Lord’s Supper saying, “Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

"Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.'” Then the worshipers respond by saying a simple, "Amen."

But in other Christian traditions like the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Byzantine Rite, the Roman Catholic Church, and others, the worshipers will respond with a three-part acclamation.

Here are a few of those three-part acclamations:

We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again. When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.

When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory.

Lord, by your cross and resurrection, you have set us free. You are the Saviour of the world.

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

The various Christian traditions have different wording, but they all contain three similar fundamental truths that summarize the Christian faith. Christ died for us. Christ defied death with his resurrection from the dead. After his resurrection, Christ ascended into heaven and will return on the Last Day.

This is the threefold truth that is used as the refrain for a hymn that teaches the reason for our faith and worship.

Verse one: This is the threefold truth on which our faith depends; and with this joyful cry worship begins and ends: (Refrain) Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

The faith of the generations who have gone before us, the faith of us who are worshiping now, and the faith of those who will come after us is summarized by these words: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Verse two: Long used by saints of old, new-minted for our time, our liturgies confess the hope we have in him: (Refrain) Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

In our worship, we may use the red Christian Worship hymnal or the blue Christian Worship hymnal. We may use the Common Service or The Service Setting One. We may use hymnals or screens, contemporary worship or liturgical worship. Our Lutheran liturgies – the worship pattern we follow – confess the hope we have in Christ. That hope can be summarized by these words: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Verse three: On this we fix our minds as, kneeling side by side, we take the bread and wine, take him, the Crucified: (Refrain) Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

We may not always know the people who are kneeling next to us at the communion rail. But we know their faith. They have been catechized and confirmed in the same Lutheran faith as us. This unity of faith is summarized by these words: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Verse four: By this we are upheld when doubt or grief assails our Christian faith and love, and only grace avails: (Refrain) Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

The devil and his temptations pound on us. The world and its flirtations seduce us. Death and its grief assail us. Yet we know that Christ has overcome the devil. We know faith is stronger than flirtations. We know that grace comforts us in our grief. We have this Christian confidence because of this summary of the Christian faith: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Verse five: This is the threefold truth which, if we hold it fast, changes the world and us and brings us home at last: (Refrain) Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

CW 846 - I Know of a Sleep in Jesus’ Name

Losing a child to death is one of the most devastating events a parent can endure. Pastor Magnus Brostrup Landstad wrote the words of “I Know of a Sleep in Jesus’ Name” after facing such a devastating event.

Landstad composed this hymn on Easter morning, April 18, 1851. It was right after his son, Haakon, had died of typhus. As if the death of one child was not enough, Landstad had lost his little daughter, Maria Sophie, earlier that same year in January.

You can imagine that Landstad’s grief was overwhelming. Two lovely little children now in the grave. Yet, God moved Landstad to write this hymn, which became one of Landstad’s greatest.

Verse one: I know of a sleep in Jesus’ name, a rest from all toil and sorrow; earth folds in her arms my weary frame and shelters it till the morrow. My soul is at home with God in heav’n; my sorrows are past and over.

St. Paul writes about death to the Christians in Thessalonica: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Scripture uses sleep as a metaphor for a Christian’s death. When Lazarus died, Jesus said, “Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going … to wake him up” (John 11:11). Just as we expect our nightly sleep to be temporary and refreshing, so also Christians know that when we die in faith in Jesus, death is temporary—and we will wake up refreshed in heaven. Our souls will be with God in heaven, so that means our sorrows of this earth will be past and over.

Verse two: I know of a morning, bright and fair when tidings of joy shall wake us, when songs from on high shall fill the air and God to his glory take us, when Jesus shall bid us rise from sleep; how joyous that hour of waking!

Landstad found that the best words for a hymn on death was to use the language of Scripture that calls death nothing more than a sleep. He used the language that Jesus used when he came to the house of Jairus whose 12-year-old daughter had died. When Jesus saw all the people outside Jairus’ home weeping and mourning for the little girl, he said, “Stop weeping, because she is not dead, but sleeping” (Luke 8:52). The girl’s soul had already separated from her body, but she was only sleeping, because Jesus would awaken her when he raised her from the dead. How joyous will be that time when Jesus wakes each of us from the slumber and sleep of death!

Verse three: God’s Son to our graves then makes his way; his voice hear all tribes and nations. The trumpet of God will sound the day and shake all the earth’s foundations. He calls out aloud, “O dead, come forth!” In glory we rise to meet him.

Landstad once again recalls the words of St. Paul to the Thessalonian Christians: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). One day – on the Last Day – Jesus will return in the clouds to call God’s children out of their graves. That great and glorious day will be like a parent calling his or her child out of bed in the morning. Then in glory we shall rise to meet him.

Verse four: O Jesus, draw near my dying bed and take me into your keeping and say when my spirit hence is fled, “This child is not dead, but sleeping.” And leave me not, Savior, till I rise to praise you in life eternal.

Life is filled with great sorrows and devastating tragedies. We all desire a rest from them. All that we have to hold onto in the face of these sorrows and tragedies is the resurrection comfort God gives us in his Word. Landstad fled to the Word so he could make it through the days following the tragic events that devastated his family. Fellow child of God, also flee to God’s Word. There you will hear the comforting voice of your Savior saying to you, “This child is not dead, but sleeping.”

Hymn 713- I Want to Walk as a Child of The Light

One day, while Jesus was walking, he saw a man who was blind from birth. He approached the man, spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.

Jesus does what only the Creator can do - he creates and then recreates humanity with mud. Adam was made by the hand of God and now the Master Potter himself takes a bit of mud and fixes the son of Adam’s broken eyes. The man washed his face in the pool of Siloam and came back seeing … for the first time in his life. Jesus then commented, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

This formerly blind man, who had never seen light before, now sees Jesus Christ as the Light of the world. After the man was healed, he found Jesus and confessed, “Lord, I believe!” Then he knelt down and worshipped him (John 9:38). You can imagine the healed man confessing to Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, the words of our hymn, “I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus.”

Verse one: I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus. God set the stars to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus.

In the beginning of John’s Gospel, we are told that the darkness tried to overcome the light, but could not. We are given a picture of that truth later in John’s Gospel with the healing of the blind man. And it may seem as if the darkness is overcoming the light in your life by forces from outside your home and the struggles of sin within your own body. Perhaps it is the darkness of doubt and worry creeping in to steal your faith. Or maybe the darkness of depression and sadness to rob you of your joy. Or the darkness of anger and resentment to deprive your life of contentment.

But the darkness cannot win. For your triumphant Savior is the Light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome. As you follow him, he strengthens your faith to deal with the worry and doubt. He protects you from the forces of evil outside your home and sends the Holy Spirit to sanctify your sinful flesh. He leads you to find contentment in the forgiveness, peace, and joy he grants you anew every day. In the midst of the darkness of night, you can still see the stars shining in the evening sky. The bright Star shining in the darkness of this world is Jesus.

Verse two: I want to see the brightness of God. I want to look at Jesus. Clear Sun of Righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father.

By nature, we are blind and dead sinners. We want nothing to do with God. Apart from Christ, we have no good within us. Yet through Baptism, Christ raises us from death to life. Jesus shines his light into the dark recesses of our soul and the murky underbelly of our world.

He gives sight and life in the forgiveness of our sins. He may not make us see with saliva and dirt, but rather he allows us the sight of faith through water and Word in Baptism. Now that we have a new, sanctified nature, we desire to see the brightness of God. We want to look at Jesus. He is the One who shows us the way to the Father. Jesus teaches, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Now that we have been brought into the light, Paul encourages us to “Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). The difference between darkness and light is dramatic. The difference between what we were and what we are now should be equally so. They are as different as the nursery and the morgue!

Verse three: I’m looking for the coming of Christ. I want to be with Jesus. When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus. Refrain: In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike. The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

We have been healed of our spiritual blindness and given the sight of faith. Now we can see the Savior standing in front of us. We see him placing his nail-pierced hands around us. We see him leading us through the dark valley of this sinful world to his heaven of eternal Easter joy. For Christ has washed away our blindness – not in the pool of Siloam, but in his baptismal font.

He has created faith in our hearts with his comforting Words of gospel and absolution. He strengthens our faith with his consumed body and blood. Though the darkness of death continues to be seen and felt all around us, that darkness has been shattered by the light blasting forth from the open Easter tomb.

Now with our eyes wide open, we are looking for the coming of Christ. We want to be with Jesus – now and for eternity. For once we were blind, but now we see. We see that in Christ there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike. The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in our hearts, Lord Jesus.

Hymn 703- I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

“I Heard the Voice of Jesus’ Say” has a simple structure. Each verse begins with a statement made by Jesus that is then followed by a personal response by the worshiper.

Verse one: I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest; lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast.” I came to Jesus as I was, so weary, worn, and sad; I found in him a resting place, and he has made me glad.

The first verse recalls the words of Jesus, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The worship responds by admitting that he was weary, worn, and sad. But when he came to Jesus, he found his resting place, where his burden was removed, and so he was made glad.

Verse two: I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give the living water, thirsty one; stoop down and drink and live.” I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.

The second verse recalls the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at the well in our Gospel lesson for this Sunday. John recounts this conversation at Jacob’s well: Jesus answered [the woman], “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” she said, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals.” Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life” (John 4:10-14).

The worshiper hears these words of Jesus and responds that she came to Jesus and drank from his life-giving stream. She drank from the water of life and was never thirsty again. Her thirst was quenched; her soul was revived; and she now has life in him.

Verse three: I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s light. Look unto me; your morn shall rise and all your day be bright.” I looked to Jesus, and I found in him my star, my sun; and in that light of life I’ll walk till trav’ling days are done.

The third verse recalls Jesus’ words to the crowd gathered on the Mount of Olives: “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). The worshiper hears these words of Jesus and responds that he looked to the Son of God. There he found in Jesus, his sun, his star, and the light that he now follows till his traveling days are done. 

Hymn 397- My Song is Love Unknown

CW 397 – My Song is Love Unknown

“My Song is Love Unknown” is a wonderful, biblical, and beautiful text on the passion of our Lord. Much of its popularity must also be attributed to the wonderful tune written by John Ireland.

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph dated April 5, 1950, a Mr. Donald Ford stated that the tune was composed in a quarter of an hour. According to the report, it was written while John Ireland was having lunch with Geoffrey Turton Shaw, who requested, “I want a tune for this lovely poem by Samuel Crossman.” The composer then took the paper and picked up the menu. After writing on the back of the menu for a few minutes he handed it to Shaw, with the casual remark, “Here is your tune.

Verse one: My song is love unknown, my Savior’s love to me, love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be. Oh, who am I that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh and die?

It seems odd that the hymnwriter describes the Savior’s love for us as “love unknown” and “love to the loveless.” Of course, God’s love is known through Christ, but we stand in amazement at the love of God that surpasses our understanding. The idea of Jesus loving us despite our loveless condition and the wicked way in which he was treated runs throughout the hymn. This idea is found in Romans 5: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God shows us his love by doing the unthinkable – he gives his own Son for people who simply do not deserve it.

Verse two: He came from his blest throne salvation to bestow, but such disdain! So few the longed-for Christ would know! But oh, my friend, my friend indeed, who at my need his life did spend!

This verse brings us into the harsh and heart-breaking reality that Jesus was and is rejected by people. Jesus is the King who came from his throne to his people, and they rejected him, mocked him, and crucified him. But this was prophesied by Isaiah: “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (53:2-3).

Verse three: Sometimes they strew his way and his sweet praises sing, resounding all the day hosannas to their King. Then “Crucify!” is all their breath, and for his death they thirst and cry.

This verse takes us through the way the crowds treated Jesus during Holy Week. On Palm Sunday, he was greeted with palm branches and shouts of praise. The crowds were greeting him as the rightful King of Israel, as the One who would rescue them. But a different crowd was turned against Jesus by the end of the week. The devil whispering in their ear, the chief priests urging them on, and their own sinful nature enjoying the mob mentality all conspired to call for Jesus’ death.

Verse four: What makes this rage and spite? He made the lame to run, he gave the blind their sight. Sweet injuries! Yet they at these themselves displease and ’gainst him rise.

Jesus healed the sick, made the blind see, allowed the lame to walk, and even raised the dead. Yet, these things caused great offense and contributed to the anger and controversy from the religious leaders that then led to Jesus’ execution.

Verse five: They rise and needs will have my dear Lord made away. A murderer they save, the Prince of life they slay. Yet cheerful he to suff’ring goes that he his foes from death might free.

This verse points to a great irony. The crowds chose to kill the Prince of life and let a convicted murderer go free. Peter sums this up quickly in Acts 3: “You handed [Jesus] over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this” (13-15).

Verse six: In life no house, no home my Lord on earth might have; in death no friendly tomb but what a stranger gave. What may I say? Heav’n was his home but mine the tomb wherein he lay.

Verse six states that Jesus has no house nor home. This was even demonstrated in Jesus’ death and burial. During Jesus’ ministry, he traveled from city to city so that he said of himself, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). Even at his death, Jesus had no family tomb, but he was placed in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus was laid in a tomb that should have been ours, but instead heaven, which was his home, will now be our home!

Verse seven: Here might I stay and sing; no story so divine, never was love, dear King, never was grief like thine. This is my friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend!

In this final verse we sing about why we always want to be worshiping our God. Jesus received the punishment for our sin and now we receive the reward of the righteous. We receive the life, joy, and peace of heaven itself. This leads us to joyfully proclaim the love of him who has suffered, died, and risen from the dead for us. We want to sing this song of sweet praise all our days in response to God’s unknown love shown to us in Christ Jesus.

Hymn 574- The Tree of Life

The story of our salvation can be told through trees – three trees to be exact. They are the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of life, and the tree of the cross. Our hymn this week recounts this story of the three trees.

Verse one: The tree of life with ev’ry good in Eden’s holy orchard stood, and of its fruit so pure and sweet God let the man and woman eat. Yet in this garden also grew another tree, of which they knew; its lovely limbs with fruit adorned against whose eating God had warned.

God told Adam and Eve there were two trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden. They were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There at the foot of one tree, Adam and Eve worshiped as they showed their love for God by being obedient to his command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There at the foot of the other tree, they received the gift of life everlasting. Two important trees, as man and woman sought to live and walk in the presence of their Lord and their God.

Verse two: The stillness of that sacred grove was broken as the serpent strove with tempting voice Eve to beguile and Adam too by sin defile. O day of sadness when the breath of fear and darkness, doubt and death, its awful poison first displayed within the world so newly made.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God as they ate fruit from the forbidden tree. They gave in to the whispers of the evil one as the ancient serpent enticed them. “You will not surely die,” whispered Satan. “You can be like God,” was the devil’s great lie. They listened to the fallen angel instead of their Creator God. Sadness and sin entered God’s new creation. Fear and darkness now reigned. Doubt and death would now consume Adam and Eve and their countless children throughout the ages.

Verse three: What mercy God showed to our race, a plan of rescue by his grace, in sending One from woman’s seed, the One to fill our greatest need— for on a tree uplifted high his only Son for sin would die, would drink the cup of scorn and dread to crush the ancient serpent’s head!

God saw the sin, but he could not overlook the sin. God witnessed that death had entered his creation, but he could not just wish death away. God observed the great need for the human race, and he knew humans could do nothing to fulfill their own great need.

The Lord himself would deal with sin, death, and humanity’s greatest need of a Savior. He made a promise to Adam and Eve and their countless children with his vow to the serpent: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.”

For just as the devil overcame man by a tree, so in turn would the devil be overcome by the Son of Man on a tree. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son. Jesus, God’s Son, comes into our flesh and blood that he might crush the ancient serpent and pay the price demanded by sin. Christ Jesus was born of a woman so he had human flesh and blood. For the price God demanded for salvation was blood – divine blood. Only the blood of the Lamb—the Lamb who has no blemish or spot, who is a perfect sacrifice, a holy and precious offering—only the blood of the Lamb is required ... sacrificed upon a tree.

Verse four: Now from that tree of Jesus’ shame flows life eternal in his name; for all who trust and will believe, salvation’s living fruit receive. And of this fruit so pure and sweet the Lord invites the world to eat, to find within this cross of wood the tree of life with ev’ry good.

The Son of Man must be lifted upon a tree just as the bronze serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness. The tree of the cross — an instrument of torture, suffering, and death — is the tree upon which Jesus is lifted up. On the cross, Jesus suffers and dies. On the cross, his holy and precious blood is shed. On the cross, Jesus lays down his life that our lives might be restored. A perfect sacrifice brings salvation and restoration to the crown of God’s creation. There on the cross, Jesus fulfills his Father’s promise to the serpent.

Jesus turns an instrument of death into a tree of life. Christ Jesus has taken the sins of all the world to the tree and been lifted up for all to see, and from there, he draws all people to himself. Now, we gather at the foot of the cross. The cross has become the new tree of life. We gaze upon the One who became sin for us that we might be saved. He was struck by the serpent’s poison. But at the same time, he crushed the Ancient Serpent’s head.

Upon our death as Christians, we will once again be able to eat from the transplanted tree of life. The apostle John describes the fruit of this tree in the Book of Revelation: “The angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1–2). This is the life that has been restored to us – life everlasting, life in the courts of heaven, life in the presence of the Lamb, life that is ours in Christ Jesus. The story of our salvation told through trees. 

Hymn 696- Take My Life and Let it Be

In the next portion of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands us to be holy in our relationships with our brothers (verses 21-24), our adversaries (verses 25, 26), our bodies (verses 27-30), our spouses (verses 31, 32), and our God (verses 33-37). God demands us to be far holier than we are.

If you were to look at your heart from God’s perspective, from the inside, you would see all sorts of things that would shock you: murder, lies, theft, adultery, immorality, greed, lust, idolatry, hatred, envy, prejudice, pride, covetousness. It’s all there lurking in our hearts where the disease of sin lives. The outward sins we do begin with sin hidden in our hearts. We can’t see the disease of sin hiding in our bodies so God must give us a spiritual scan, a divine MRI.

Jesus’ expert medical advice is that once you are a sinner you are going to continue to sin. The Good Doctor’s diagnosis is that you are a sinner - not because you sin, but because you have the condition called sin. It’s fatal. The wages of sin is death. There’s nothing you can do about it. There’s no self-discipline, no religious tradition, no amount of keeping the commandments, nothing in the world’s little black medical bag that can cure a heart infected by sin.

That’s the bad news. A doctor always gives the bad news first, then delivers the good news. Here’s the good news. God has a cure! The cure is found in the blood of Jesus. In his blood shed on Mount Calvary, Jesus paid for our sins by becoming sin for us. He took the disease of sin into himself and allowed it to kill him. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is both the cure and the Physician who administers the cure.

Now that you have been given the prognosis of life, your response is to live your life in grateful thanks and faithful praise. That’s what Jesus is preaching about in this portion of his Sermon on the Mount. Living for Jesus means controlling your emotions. It means ridding your heart of anger and resentment. It means begging your brother for forgiveness. It means turning off the computer and only looking at your spouse. It means working hard on your marriage. It means concentrating on the way you speak.

And it means repenting when you fail to do these things. It means returning again and again to the Doctor’s office of the Christian Church. There Jesus diagnoses you in the confession of sins. He provides the cure in the absolution. He washes your wounds in his baptismal waters. He strengthens you with his Holy Supper. He allows you to live through his shed blood. Through these Means of Grace, now you wish to live as a Christian.

That’s what our hymn is about. “Take My Life and Let It Be” is about praying that we now live as forgiven and sanctified Christians. We are praying for the Holy Spirit to use our moments and days, hands and feet, voice and lips, money and intellect, will, heart, love, and our very selves and bodies always and only for service to Christ.

Verse one: Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee; take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Verse two: Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love; take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee, swift and beautiful for thee.

Verse three: Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my King; take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee, filled with messages from thee.

Verse four: Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold; take my intellect and use ev’ry pow’r as thou shalt choose, ev’ry pow’r as thou shalt choose.

Verse five: Take my will and make it thine, it shall be no longer mine; take my heart, it is thine own, it shall be thy royal throne, it shall be thy royal throne.

Verse six: Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store; take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee, ever, only, all for thee.

Hymn 390 – Jesus, Take Us to the Mountain

When you study Scripture, you realize that God really seems to like mountains. After the flood, Noah’s ark comes to rest on Mt. Ararat. Abraham has his knife raised ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mt. Moriah. God gives Moses his Ten Commandments and shines in his glory on Mt. Sinai. God burns up Elijah’s sacrifice among the 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Jesus gives his beatitudes on a mountain. Jesus prays in the garden on the Mt. of Olives. Jesus dies for the sins of the world on Mt. Calvary. Jesus ascends into heaven from a mountain.

After Peter gives his decisive declaration that Jesus is “the Christ of God” in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus and his inner circle of disciples travel to the top of a mountain. There Jesus is transfigured before them. God really seems to like mountains.

Our hymn for this Transfiguration Sunday is a conversation between Christians and Christ. We are asking, “Jesus, Take Us to the Mountain.”

Verse one: Jesus, take us to the mountain where, with Peter, James, and John, we are dazzled by your glory, light as blinding as the sun. There prepare us for the night by the vision of that sight.

Matthew records in this Sunday’s Gospel: “Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James; and he led them up onto a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was shining like the sun. His clothing became as white as the light.”

Jesus experienced a humble birth to poor parents. As a 12-year-old, the religious leaders were impressed with his knowledge of Scriptures, but they didn’t think there was anything truly special about hm. He received a sinner’s baptism in the Jordan River. Then still dripping wet, Jesus marched into the wilderness to fast for 40 days and be tempted by the devil. Throughout his ministry, Jesus was always able to perform special miracles and teach with authority, but most only saw him as human. But there was a hidden glory behind all his actions and words. That full glory was revealed upon the mountain of transfiguration.

Verse two: What do you want us to see there that your close companions saw? Your divinity revealed there fills us with the selfsame awe. Clothed in flesh like ours you go, matched to meet our deadliest foe.

Matthew reports: “Just then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.” Luke tells us what the three of them were discussing. “They appeared in glory and were talking about his departure, which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem.” Jesus is on the mountain with Moses and Elijah speaking of his departure – literally his “exodus” in the Greek. They are discussing Jesus going into Jerusalem to be betrayed, arrested, tried, beaten, scourged, mocked, crucified, and buried. This would be Jesus’ exodus. Just as Moses led the Israelites on the exodus out of slavery in Egypt, so Jesus would lead humanity on the exodus out of slavery to the devil. 

Verse three: What do you want us to hear there that your dear disciples heard? Once again the voice from heaven says of the incarnate Word: “Listen, listen, ev’ryone; this is my belovèd Son!”

God the Father speaks from heaven. His testimony trumps everything else. He proudly proclaims, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Jesus receives divine approval for his redeeming work. The Father spoke his approval at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry at his baptism in the Jordan River. God’s final approval of all Jesus’ works will be proclaimed when the Father raises his beloved Son from the dead on Easter morning. We would do well to listen to the incarnate Word of the Son of God in human flesh.

Verse four: Take us to that other mountain where we see you glorified, where you shouted, “It is finished!” where for all the world you died. Hear the stunned centurion: “Truly this was God’s own Son!”

God seems to like his mountains. Jesus and his disciples descend from the mount of Transfiguration so that weeks later Jesus can ascend another mountain. This is the mount of suffering, bloodshed, and death. There on Mt. Calvary, Jesus reveals his greatest glory as he dies for the sins of humanity. As the Son of God breathes his last and the earth quakes in mourning, the stunned centurion gives voice to what has just happened, “Truly this was God’s own Son!”

Verse five: We who have beheld your glory, risen and ascended Lord, cannot help but tell the story, all that we have seen and heard, say with Peter, James, and John: “You are God’s belovèd Son!”

It may seem odd that as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave the disciples orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead (Mark 9:9).  This was a mystery that took place on the mountain. It was something the disciples would not be able to accurately describe until much later. On the mountain, the disciples didn’t quite grasp everything that was taking place, so Jesus told them to remain quiet until the Holy Spirit came on them and they could then explain and proclaim what had happened.

We may not always grasp everything that takes place upon all of God’s mountains. But the Holy Spirit has come upon us so that what we have seen and heard, we are now invited to show and tell others. We are inviting others to follow Jesus through all the peaks, valleys, and plains of this world until we join our glorious Savior upon the mountain of the Lord in his heavenly kingdom. Until then, we share the same message that Peter, James, John, and the rest of the apostles proclaimed after Christ’s ascension: “You are God’s belovèd Son!”

CW 713 – I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Where do you see darkness in our culture? As Christians, you will notice how we are not so much living in an immoral culture as an amoral culture. The difference is that in an immoral culture, people know right from wrong, but they choose to do what’s wrong. In an amoral culture, people don’t know what is right or wrong, so they gleefully choose what feels good based on their sinful nature.
 
We are living in a culture that welcomes the darkness. They don’t know any better. They’ve lived in the shadows so long they are afraid of the light. And they want us Christians to not only tolerate their amoral behavior, we must also accept and promote it. They want to drag us into the darkness.
 
Our Old Testament lesson for this Sunday promises that Christ will come to be the Great Light that shines in the darkness. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2).
 
In our hymn for this week, we pray that we walk in the Light. We want to follow Jesus. Verse one: I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus. God set the stars to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus.
 
How have you experienced darkness in your life? Perhaps it is constant pain, depression, or desperation. Or maybe it is the loss of a family member or a close friend. Maybe it is the break-up of your marriage or your family. This darkness is felt in the hearts of the elderly abandoned in the nursing homes. This darkness is experienced by children living in broken homes. This darkness is suffered by parents who lose their child to drugs or cancer or death. This darkness is endured by all of us as we live in a broken and desperate world. Walk out of the darkness by following the Light. The Bible encourages: “You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). This Light entered the darkness of our world in the person of Jesus Christ. St. John wrote of Jesus, “The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
 
Verse two: I want to see the brightness of God. I want to look at Jesus. Clear Sun of Righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father.
 
God did not leave the earth wrapped in darkness. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light that pushed against the darkness (Genesis 1:3). Nor did God abandon his children to sin’s darkness, either. Since the darkness is not disappearing, our Savior Jesus stepped into the darkness. “[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14). Now that we have been rescued from this darkness and brought into the Light of Christ, we need to keep following the Light. Jesus teaches, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
 
Verse three: I’m looking for the coming of Christ. I want to be with Jesus. When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus.

Our world is filled with darkness. There are all kind of monsters who wish to prey on the innocent. There are plenty of scary things that fill the nightly news. Our world seems to get creepier and weirder, darker and scarier all the time. But we don’t need to be afraid. Jesus is here with us. He has entered our darkness to shine the light of his salvation. He places his hand around ours to rescue us by moving us through the darkness into his wonderful light. He is the Savior who was born for us, lived among us, suffered our punishment, and died our death. The risen and ever-living Christ is present to listen to our prayers, protect us from the monsters, scare away the scary things, crush the creepy things, and direct us through any darkness the devil, death, or this world can produce.
 
Yes, I know, the evening news still says there is a lot of darkness in the world. That cannot be denied. But the angels lighting up the night sky, the star leading the Wise Men during their evening travels, Jesus praying for us in dark Gethsemane, Calvary’s cross standing tall in the darkness of midday, and the tomb opening at the break of daylight – all these events proclaim that there is a Light in the world. And where the Light is present, darkness cannot remain.
 
The refrain of our hymn: In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike. The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

Hymn 690 - Blest Are They

This Sunday begins a set of five Sundays that feature Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. After Jesus called his disciples and crowds began to follow him, he began teaching them what it meant to be his disciples. Jesus begins his Sermon with the Beatitudes or statements of blessing. Our Hymn of the Day wonderfully summarizes the Beatitudes in musical lyrics.

Verse one: Blest are they, the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God. Blest are they, full of sorrow, they shall be consoled.

In his Beatitudes, Jesus represents a radical reversal of almost everything we have ever been taught about the meaning of blessing. We like to believe we are blessed if we have wealth.

Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We believe that sorrow over death is awful and should be avoided. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted.”

We are poor in spirit when we see that we are nothing but beggars in total need of God’s help. We recognize our spiritual poverty, our sinfulness, and our unworthiness in God’s sight. We are blessed when we get rid of those sins and receive Christ’s forgiveness in return. We mourn at the death of a Christian loved one. But we are blessed at the same time with joy because we know that our Christian loved one is with Jesus around his glorious throne with all other blessed saints.

Verse two: Blest are they, the lowly ones, they shall inherit the earth. Blest are they who hunger and thirst, they shall have their fill.

We believe we get what we want if we are noisy and demanding. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the gentle, because they will inherit the earth.” We act like God, church, and the Bible are boring. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled.

When we are gentle and patient, when we are not noisy and demanding, when we do not put ourselves ahead of others, we will inherit the earth. God will bless us with the things we need in life, not because we deserve them, but because God wishes to give them to us. Being meek means that we realize that we don’t get what we deserve. Instead, we get so much more.  

We are like beggars, hungering and thirsting for the righteousness we receive in Christ’s Bread of Life and Living Water. Make the Word of God a part of your daily life. Assemble regularly with your fellow Christians hearing God’s Word in worship and Bible study. Receive the Lord’s Supper often. Live in daily appreciation of the blessings of your baptism. Then you are filled with all the blessings of salvation God has granted you through Jesus Christ.

Verse three: Blest are they who show mercy, mercy shall be theirs. Blest are they, the pure of heart, they shall see God!

We have been taught that mercy is a sign of weakness. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the merciful, because they will receive mercy.” It is in our human nature to lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead in life. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God.”

God’s kind of blessings comes from imitating Jesus. We are merciful to others because Jesus was merciful to humanity. Jesus has been merciful to us by dying and saving us, even though we didn’t deserve it. He forgives us, even though he knows we will keep on asking for more forgiveness. Imitating Jesus means having a pure heart. But having a pure heart does not come naturally to us. Every day we need to ask, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10) When we have this pure heart, we will be able to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and we will dwell in his presence for all eternity.

Verse four: Blest are they who seek peace, they are the children of God. Blest are they who suffer in faith, the glory of God is theirs.

We believe that revenge leads to satisfaction. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.” The peace of Jesus flows into us so that this peace flows out from us to others. Then we are called peacemakers. God’s kind of blessing also comes from suffering for Jesus’ sake. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Verse five: Blest are you who suffer hate all because of me. Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom; shine for all to see. Refrain: Rejoice and be glad! Blessèd are you, holy are you! Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!

We have tended to call people who are being persecuted “fanatics”. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. In fact, that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” We are abused and shamed just as Christ was abused and shamed. We are enduring it all for him. We endure this suffering because he endured it first for us. We rejoice in our persecution because we are being counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

People are searching for blessing. Where can it be found? On a hill along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Upon the bloody Roman cross standing outside the walls of Jerusalem. In the open and empty borrowed tomb. Blessing is found in water, Word, bread, and wine. May you be blessed in Christ.

Hymn 705 – Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount moves from the promises of the Beatitudes to his commands for the Christian life. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to be salt and light. His words remind us that we don’t need to discover how to become salt and light. Jesus simply calls us to be what we are. Salt preserves. Light shines. We do what God calls us to do. We are what Jesus makes us to be.

It is no surprise to you that we are living in an evil and corrupt world. The world needs to be salted. The world is shrouded in the darkness of sin and unbelief and death and needs to be lighted. We cannot do this naturally on our own. On our own, we are corrupt and evil, dwelling in darkness. So, we need God to make us into what we are not by nature.  The Word of God converts and sanctifies us to be salt and light. Our hymn proclaims how important it is for the Lord and his Word to guide our ways.

Verse one: Oh, that the Lord would guide my ways to keep his statutes still! Oh, that my God would grant me grace to know and do his will!

Jesus teaches in his sermon, “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus calls you salt because you are precious. You serve a purpose. You are baptized to be the salt of the earth. You are baptized to be the light of the world. Jesus calls you salt not because of how much you can do, but because of how much he has done. He loves you. He declares you forgiven of your sin. He has spared you from hell. He chases the devil away from you. He has rescued you from death. He has made you his own. He sets you apart from the rest of the world to know and do his will.

God’s will is for you to live as a sanctified Christian keeping God’s statutes and also telling others about Jesus who kept God’s statutes perfectly for you and for them. Your privilege is to talk about all the wonderful things Jesus did out of love. This is who you are as salt of the earth. As Jesus has confronted your sins, now you are to confront the sins of those around you. As Jesus has forgiven your sins, now you are given the opportunity to forgive the sins of the repentant around you. Your life is the salt that penetrates the hardest heart. Your Christian love adds flavor to an otherwise bland life. Your example of Christian living may work to preserve and purify another person’s eternal soul.

Verse two: Order my footsteps by your Word, and make my heart sincere; let sin have no dominion, Lord, but keep my conscience clear.

We know that this world is very dark. The Lord knows it, too. Sin and the darkness it causes appear to have dominion over the world and its population. To dispel the darkness, Jesus Christ entered the world as Light from Light, true God from true God (Nicene Creed). He is the Word who spoke light into the darkness at creation. He is the Word made flesh in his incarnation in the darkness of Mary’s womb. He is the Word made flesh that breathed his last in the darkness that shrouded the Judean countryside on Good Friday. He is the Word made flesh that broke the darkness when he bodily burst forth from the tomb on Easter dawn.

Jesus teaches, “You are the light of the world. … Let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” As Christian parents, Christian citizens, and members of the Christian Church, we are called to be a part of a counterculture which works hard to shine the light of Christ into the shadowy corners of the world and the dark recesses of people’s souls. You are light, shining the Light of Christ. You are the moon, reflecting the greater light of the Son. This is your identity. This is your calling. Let your light shine and “live such good lives among the pagans that … they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).

Verse three: Assist my soul, too apt to stray, a stricter watch to keep, and should I e’er forget your way, restore your wand’ring sheep.

We are salt that can lose its saltiness. We are light that can be overcome by the darkness. We are sheep who love to wander. We pray for the Holy Spirit to continually sanctify us through his Word to assist our souls so that we are salty again, so that we are lights in the world, and so that we are sheep who are restored to the Good Shepherd’s flock.

Verse four: Make me to walk in your commands— ’tis a delightful road—nor let my head or heart or hands offend against my God.

Jesus teaches, “Whoever practices and teaches [these commandments] will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” We bristle that God is so demanding with his commands. Still, his commands leave us with two options. We can either reject God in our self-righteous anger, or we can rely on the solution he has provided in his Son. Jesus came into this world to be our Savior and Substitute. He lived the life of perfect righteousness God required. He walked the way of God’s demanding commands. He never once let his head or heart or hands offend against his God.

Jesus offers his righteousness and fulfillment of God’s commands to us. We pray that we remain in God’s Word so the Holy Spirit continues to sanctify us, so we now walk in God’s commands. Instead of them being demanding, we see this as a delightful road. It is delightful because Jesus has already walked down this road for us. And when we mess up and stray from the road, we ask for Jesus’ forgiveness, and he applies his righteousness to us. Because of Jesus we can enter the kingdom of heaven. As we walk to heaven, let us keep praying and singing that the Lord would guide our ways there.

#7 - Hymn 377 - To Jordan's River Came Our Lord

Over the past few weeks, we have knelt with the shepherds to worship the Infant in the manger. We’ve traveled with the Persian astrologers who followed the star to praise the Christ Child. Today we take a huge leap – 30 years later. We are on the banks of the Jordan River with John the Baptizer to celebrate the Baptism of our Lord.

Until his baptism, Jesus was recognized and worshiped only by a handful of people. Shepherds at his birth. Simeon and Anna in the temple when he was 40 days old. Magi from the East when he was a toddler. The neighbors in Nazareth probably didn’t have a clue. To them, Jesus was the carpenter’s son, working in his father’s shop.

And then one day, Jesus stood in the Jordan River, shoulder to shoulder with the people he came to save. What a day this is! Christmas joy becomes baptismal joy. No longer do we celebrate the birth of a baby, now we rejoice in his baptism. Our hymn for this Sunday focuses on Jesus’ baptism.

Verse one: To Jordan’s river came our Lord, the Christ, whom heav’nly hosts adored, the God from God, the Light from Light, the Lord of glory, pow’r, and might.

Jesus is the long-awaited Christ. That title means he is anointed. He will be anointed with water and the Holy Spirit. He comes to the Jordan River as we confess in the words of the Nicene Creed: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.”

Verse two: The Savior came to be baptized—the Son of God in flesh disguised—to stand beneath the Father’s will and all his promises fulfill.

As Jesus is standing in the water, God’s Son is standing in solidarity with sinners. God is standing in the river on the edge of the desert and he is not ashamed to be counted among the same people who rejected him in the lush Garden, thus turning this world into a desert. Jesus is fulfilling all righteousness in this water, so we might be made righteous ones through that same water. Jesus is baptized in our sewer, to put our sins upon him, so that with that same water, we might be cleansed. He takes the filth, stench, and sewage upon himself so we might be purified, rinsed, and restored.

Verse three: As Jesus in the Jordan stood and John baptized the Lamb of God, the Holy Spirit, heav’nly dove, descended on him from above.

When he sees Jesus, John objects and tries to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” Don’t step in this water, Jesus! It’s filthy! It’s full of sins! But Jesus steps right on in. It’s where he wants to be. It’s where he needs to be! The Holy Spirit descends upon the Son in the form of a dove. Just as Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil, so the Father sends the Holy Spirit to anoint the Son for His office as Prophet, Priest, and King.

Verse four: Then from God’s throne with thund’rous sound came God’s own voice with words profound: “This is my Son,” was his decree, “the one I love, who pleases me.”

Matthew writes that “suddenly the heavens were opened.” Such a small sentence. It’s easy to miss. But do not take this phrase lightly. When this happened before “when the floodgates of the heavens were opened,” (Genesis 7:11) God sent a flood to destroy the sinful humanity with whom he was displeased. He sent down judgment. He commissioned his wrath upon the world. He deluged the world with the waters of absolute annihilation. But now God opens the heavens to announce his pleasure, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with him.” He sends down the Holy Spirit with power and peace. He commissions his love upon the world in the form of his Son. He deluges the world with the waters of pure grace.

Verse five: The Father’s word, the Spirit’s flight anointed Christ in glorious sight as God’s own choice, from Adam’s fall to save the world and free us all.

The Spotless One was washed in Jordan’s baptismal water so you might be spotless in your baptismal water. Jesus’ work at the Jordan River was not in power, but in weakness. Not by force but in love. Not by separating himself, but by joining us in our cesspool. So that, through faith in him, we might be saved, freed, and join Jesus in the heavens.

Verse six: Now rise, faint hearts: be resolute! This man is Christ, our substitute! He was baptized in Jordan’s stream, proclaimed Redeemer, Lord supreme.

When Jesus stepped into the Jordan River that day, everything was changed. Not for him, but for you. Not for him, because he came for this; but for you because he came for you. Because you have been baptized, you don’t need to fear or faint. You can be strong. You can be resolute. You no longer live a life that will end in death, but you will die a death that will end in life. You no longer live a life under the condemnation of sin, but under the forgiveness of sin. For in Jesus’ baptismal river and your baptismal font, with Word and water, heaven has been opened to you … and it shall never be closed again.