April 2021 – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

What Has the Lord Done for Us Lately?

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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

We are just a few weeks past the biggest event in the world, the day of our Lord’s Resurrection, where you and all the world were reconciled to God on behalf the Crucified Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is forgiven in Christ. You have new life in Christ. You are being led by the Lord Your God. But our hearts and our minds are easily led astray. Our minds easily turn elsewhere and instead of being of one heart and mind focused on the Words and Deeds of our Lord. The church, much like the ancient Israelites a mere month after their own salvific event of the Exodus and the cross of the Red Sea where the Egyptians were thrown into the sea, is easy to complain and mumble and grumble asking what the heck the Lord is doing. What has the Lord done for us lately.

We fail to remember and do the things by which we receive the very victory and life Jesus won for us by His death and resurrection from the dead.

John in his beautiful Epistle does not want you to forget what the Lord has done for you. In the first verse, John commands you to Look and See. That is an imperative command. He is telling you look and behold for yourselves this Love of the Father. And you know this Love. This Love is not a feeling or an emotion. This Love is a person. The Love the Father has given us is His only begotten Son, and Love was given to us in this way, that He offered Himself up for us at the cross. And He continues to offer Himself to you in His Flesh and Blood by His coming to you now in Word and Sacrament. Jesus is still in Flesh and He still here for you and your salvation building you up in Him who is Love.

And by this Son, Jesus, you are called and gathered to be children of God. What Jesus has done for you at the cross, where sins are dealt with once and for all, where sins are paid for by His blood, you now receive in Holy Baptism. You are washed and purified from sins by Baptism. And you are made a child of the Heavenly Father. Behold, the Love of the Father. See Love as the Person of the Lord Jesus displaying His marks of His cross. John says elsewhere in the Epistle that God is Love. If God is Love, then the Incarnate Lord Jesus is Love in the Flesh for you. And He is still in the Flesh for you, and in Baptism you are then united to the Resurrected God-Man Jesus who is Love. Then then in Christ are being built up in love.

You have been washed in the water and Word. You have been given God’s Love, Jesus. But that was a long time ago for many of you. I mean my baptism was October 9^th 1988. Long time ago. The events of Easter were even longer before that. What has the Lord done for us lately? Often, we are no different than Israel who grumbled not a month after the great event of the Red Sea where the Lord destroyed the Egyptian army that chased after Israel on the Exodus. We too are a sinful and rebellious people and we murmur against the Lord. Have we forgotten all that He has done already and spurn what He gives us now? Do we really think that God saved us from Egypt to bring us to die in the wilderness? Or are we failing to believe and trust in His promise?

We are prone to think that Jesus is gone, that Jesus is not here with us. It’s easier to rationalize that Jesus is gone than to believe His promise that upon His ascension He in his human body can be everywhere at one time and the specific promises to His Church by which people who are dead in trespasses and sins are made alive in Him. That by those specific things, He unites Himself with us and we with him? And in so doing he offers us His love, mercy, and forgiveness? What is Jesus doing now? Is He gone or what?

Would you, who are married, tell your wife on the day of your wedding that you love her and you will continue to love her the rest of her life, but never tell her again that you love her? Would you never kiss her again after kissing her on your wedding day? Would you expect her to remember your love that you pledged to her on that day if you never displayed that love again toward her? You should express love and gratitude, constantly reminding her of the love you have for her. You would do nice things for her, buying her or picking a bouquet of spring flowers, sweeping the kitchen floor, carrying laundry, rinsing the dishes. Things that display your love for her. And likely you do these all the time.

So, it is with the Lord. For Christ is here for you in love and devotion. Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See his hands and his feet. Pierced for your salvation. And he actively gives you that salvation. He continually cleanses you from your sins. He is your advocate with the Father, the propitiation for your sins. He is constantly showering you with his love and His devotion, like a husband making sure that his wife knows his love for her.

What has Christ done for you lately? He purifies you as He Himself is pure. Now the hard part, we don’t see this much on this side of heaven. More often than not we see ourselves as dirty and unclean in our sins. We are continually shown our sins and our failings. We are told according to the Law we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, that is we deserve the consequences for our sins. So, are you pure? If you only look to yourself, you know the answer. This is the curse of Law. We would be like the one who is lawless. We would be children in the dark.

But our Lord who loves us, who has made called and gathered us to the heavenly Father by the cross, has called us children of God. This is a promise to be believed. Yes, it beyond all our understanding, but why would God speak a promise like this if He did not mean it for our good? Yeah, we may not understand, but we know His Word is true, so we are called to believe.

And by His sacrifice at the cross, by His hands and feet, we are God’s children. And we are loved, loved so much that He constantly calls us back from sin and he works to purify us. This is the call to remember our baptism, the promise that we are indeed called children of God.

Our Lord is active right this minute purifying our hearts and our minds by the preaching of His Word, the proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus is delivered to you. Love in a Person is given to you. And you have Love placed onto your very lips when you eat and drink His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Hence the prayer we pray is answered immediately when we pray that with fervent love we reach out to one another. We are infused with the very Love of Jesus.

There is only man who was pure from sin. The very Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He was pure for you that he might give Himself up for you at the cross. And the Crucified and Risen Lord now purifies you from the inside out. For His resurrection to be ours on the Last Day, the actual flesh and blood of Jesus as the new mankind must come to us. And He does come in Flesh and Blood. And He does what He promises. He saves you and gives eternal life by His Body and Blood. He first washes you and calls you his brother and sister, children of His Father in baptism, and then puts Himself into you by the Sacrament of the Altar.

In Christ there is no sin, and now He comes into you. You are pure because of Christ. “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” You are in Christ my dear friends in Christ. You are children of God! Believe the promise from God, and hold Him to it.

When God looks at you for the sake of Christ, you have no sin, that is the promise. He has cleansed you. He has washed you in His blood. You are in incorporated and find your home in Him, and He likewise finds a home in you via the Sacrament of His body and blood. Think about how awesome this truly is: When you receive the Lord’s Supper, Christ, by creative power of His promise, is physically choosing to abide in you. His love abides in you because God is Love.

Will you sin in this after baptism? Yes, you will because you still live in this sin filled world in your sinful flesh. But you have a Love given to you that appeared to take away sin. Confess your sins, repent, and believe the promise of Christ. You have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation for your sin. And this Love, the God-Man Jesus, is given to you here every week. You receive Jesus, Love in the Flesh, for you that you might not forget, but always rejoice in the Gospel. What has God done for us lately? Well, everything that you might be like Him when He appears. Little Children, let no one deceive you and lead you otherwise.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Luther Before the Emperor and the German Nation

In early afternoon on April 17th, the imperial marshall and the imperial herald led Martin Luther through a roundabout route from his lodging to the back entrance of the bishop’s residence, where the rulers and representatives of all the German territories, free cities and lands ruled by bishops and monasteries. Crowds filled all the streets and they wanted to avoid any incidents along the way.

As they entered the chamber where the Diet met, Luther looked around to see all the majesty of the gathered powers of his people. He had never been in the presence of secular power before, having been raised in a common household and joined a monastic community. He did not realize not to focus on the emperor was a breach of custom. On a table in the center of the room were piled many of his books. The imperial marshall warned him not to speak unless spoken to.

The Emperor had chosen an aide of the archbishop of Trier, Johann von der Ecken, to speak for the court. He addressed Luther in German and Latin. The emperor had summoned Luther to determine if he would acknowledge that the books printed under his name were his and if he would stand by his books or retract anything in them. This was at odds with the summons itself, so Luther was unprepared for the question. Luther’s lawyer, a judge in the service of Elector Frederick, asked that all the titles be read aloud. This was done. Not all of Luther’s works were there, but the collection was fairly up-to-date.

Luther spoke in a subdued, soft voice. He acknowledged the books were his. Since his answer was of grave importance to be faithful to God’s word and to preserve his soul, he requested time from the emperor to careful ponder his answer. This caught the court (or most of it) completely by surprise. Some thought the seriousness of his situation moved him to give pause to his resistance. Others suspected the move was a tactic designed by Elector Frederick. After the Emperor and the princes conferred, Von Der Ecken lectured Luther to put the unity of the Church and the peace of the state before his own opinions. He should have known, von der Ecken insisted what he would be asked to do. The Emperor in his leniency would nevertheless grant him a day to think. He was summoned to return the next day. The herald ushered Luther back to his quarters. There Luther was visited by many nobles, all of whom assured him the emperor would honor the safe conduct. To do otherwise would spark a revolt. To all visitors, Luther appeared in very good spirits.

Luther Greeted by Crowds as he Arrives in Worms

Aleander, Pope Leo X‘s ambassador to the Diet of Worms was worried. Reports of the crowds cheering Luther on had reached him. He knew the imperial herald and many of the princes, lords and territories were very critical of the Papacy and its supporters. They favored Luther and many of his reforms. He suspected that many in the the Imperial court were also sympathetic to the Wittenberg monk. The Imperial Confessor, Jean Glapion, made a secret offer to meet Luther outside of Worms to come to some kind of settlement. He had the support of several nobles and the future reformer, Martin Bucer. Spalatin did not trust the Franciscan and Luther suspected a trick to invalidate his safe conduct. So Luther declined the offer.

Aleander tried to discourage Luther’s friends from entering the city, claiming they would fall under his excommunication. He tried to get the Imperial Court to have Luther enter the city quietly and stay at the Emperor’s lodging, so that he could be kept away from others. He worried that the court would try to strike a compromise with Luther. He was not successful.

Five Hundred years ago, on April 16th, Luther entered Worms from Mainz. A trumpet fanfare sounded from the cathedral announcing his arrival. The imperial herald led the way, followed by the Wittenberg wagon. Justus Jonas followed on a horse obtained by Saxon nobles for him. Two thousand people are said to have been lining the route. Luther and his party stayed in the same lodging as two of Elector Frederick’s counselors and the imperial marshall, near to the place where the Elector himself was staying. Beginning on the 17th, a steady stream of princes, nobles and lord of all ranks visited with him. One of these was Philip von Hesse, who would later become a Lutheran. Later that morning, the imperial marshall brought Luther a summons to appear before the Diet at 4 O’Clock.

Do Lutherans practice private confession?

Yes. OK, we’re done here, right?

In all seriousness, the answer is simple. But, the rationale is more complex. At the time of the Reformation, the practice concerning confession (penance) had become onerous upon the people. The problem was that the Papists demanded every sin be recalled accurately and confessed in order to be forgiven. Furthermore, penance needed also to be rightly performed in order for absolution to stick. This is impossible for human beings and makes forgiveness dependent on our work instead of the work of Jesus.

In the Augsburg Confession (1530 AD), Lutherans say: “Our churches teach that private Absolution should be retained in the churches, although listing all sins is not necessary for confession. For according to the Psalm, it is impossible. ‘Who can discern his errors?’ (Psalm 19:12)” [Augsburg Confession 11]

There’s a curious shift in language here. The author, Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther’s close friend and fellow reformation teacher, speaks here of the practice as “Absolution.” the shift in language in this discussion identifies our unique Lutheran perspective. For us the point is hearing Jesus words of forgiveness to us from our pastor. This is very different than the Romanist practice of enumerating sins, hearing conditional forgiveness, and performing penance in the hopes of receiving what has been promised.

The papists continued to push back against the Lutheran reformers in many of the articles of the Augsburg Confession. This sparked a response from Melanchthon in the form of the Apology to the Augsburg Confession.

Concerning confession, the Apology to the Augsburg Confession (1531 AD) says, “It is well known that we have made clear and praised the benefit of Absolution and the Power of the Keys. Many troubled consciences have derived comfort from our teaching. They have been comforted after they have heard that it is God’s command, no, rather the very voice of the Gospel, that we should believe the Absolution and regarded as certain that the forgiveness of sins is freely granted to us for Christ’s sake. … Previously, the entire power of absolution had been kept under wraps by teaching about works. For the learned persons and monks taught nothing about faith and free forgiveness.” [Apology 11]

There are two important notes for us to observe here. The first is that our understanding is that Absolution is to serve in calming and comforting the troubled consciences of sinners who confess. As we say in the Small Catechism, “…but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts.” Private Confession and the Absolution delivered therein is for Christians to have confidence that the forgiveness of sins promised to us in the Gospel is indeed delivered directly to us. We all struggle in understanding and believing that even our sin can be forgiven. That’s exactly why we Lutherans retain and uphold the practice of private absolution.

The second point Melanchthon makes cuts back again to the practice of penance as the central part of confession in the Romanist understanding. The learned persons and monks continued in teaching directly and indirectly that our work of confession was somehow involved in receiving the forgiveness. Moreover, that our work of penance played a part in earning this same forgiveness. That’s wrong. We have rejected that teaching for 500 years and continue to do so today. Forgiveness from God is free.

The confidence we receive from hearing that forgiveness privately from our pastor for those specific grievous sins that trouble our hearts most is the very Word of the Gospel in our ears. God does not expect us to find confidence within ourselves in our struggle and tribulation. He gives us the very words of his forgiveness in which we may hear and trust as often as we have need.

Dear Christians, Let us live joyfully from the words of forgiveness!

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Absolution: A Sacrament?

We Lutherans have two ways to speak about Absolution. In some instances Absolution is spoken of as a Sacrament, and in other places, it is not. It might be a good time to remind ourselves how the Evangelical Lutheran Church defines a Sacrament. How we define the term Sacrament makes all the difference.

Luther in his Large Catechism follows in line with Augustine when he defines what a sacrament is. “The Word is added to the element, and it becomes a sacrament.” We should also state Luther looked at the Sacraments as vehicles by which the Lord Jesus Christ gives forgiveness of sins. Hence, why Luther spends much more time speaking about the Word that is added to the physical element than the elements themselves. In the Sacrament of Baptism for instance, the element is water, but Luther asks the question, “How can water do such things?” The answer Luther gives speaks specifically about the Word being added to it. He asks a similar question when dealing with the Sacrament of the Altar where there are two physical elements, bread and wine. He asks about the eating and drinking. Luther answers similarly. It’s the Words that make the elements into a Sacrament for the forgiveness of our sins.

Absolution does not have a physical element. It merely is the Word of Christ of forgiveness. There is nothing to which the Word of Christ is added. By Augustine’s definition Absolution is not a Sacrament.

But Luther’s use of Augustine’s definition is not the only definition for “Sacrament” that finds its way in to the Book of Concord. Melanchthon gives another definition when speaking about them, by which we can understand Absolution to be a Sacrament. Even Luther himself in his Large Catechism, speaks of Absolution as the third Sacrament. Melanchthon gives this definition for Sacrament: “Rites which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added.” For Melanchthon’s definition there is no physical element for the Word to adhere itself. And later Melanchthon plainly says that Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution are Sacraments.

So which is it? Is Absolution the third Sacrament? The answer all depends on the definition which we use when speaking about the term Sacrament. Ultimately though, it does not matter what we call Absolution. It is Christ’s gift of forgiveness of our sins, spoken to us by Christ’s under-shepherd, speaking in the stead and command of Christ.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Which Bible Translation Is Best?

That’s kind of a tough question. Different translations have different attributes, which make them good. The one thing leading to different translations is the simple fact that translation is absolutely necessary.

The Bible comes to us in a few languages. The Old Testament is primarily written in Hebrew with some Aramaic near the end. The New Testament is written in Greek. There are also two ancient translations that can help us understand God’s Word in its time frame. The Septuagint (LXX) is an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament from around 325 BC. And the Vulgate is a Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments from 405 AD.

The LXX can help us by way of its translation methodology. The pre-Christian Jewish scribes who translated the LXX made conceptual decisions from their understanding of their native tongue into the Greek. That reveals understandings that may have otherwise been lost through the loss of a Hebrew culture. It’s also worth noting that all of the Old Testament quotations by Jesus, the Apostles, including St. Paul, and the Evangelists appear to come from LXX.

The Vulgate was written very close to the close of the canon. The Bible as we received it is called the canon of scripture. At the council of Nicaea in 325 AD, we determined which books were to be included and excluded from the Bible.

The Vulgate gives us a view of translation from a native Greek speaker. St. Jerome finished translating within 80 years of the first time many Christians had seen all of the books of the New Testament together. In a 2000 year old church, that’s a significantly narrow window for understanding. That’s akin to hearing firsthand about the struggles of the great depression from one of those surviving folks, who were alive to see it.

In the LCMS, we are currently using the English Standard Bible (ESV) as our altar Bible. We have used other translations including: the New International Version (NIV), the Revised Standard Version (RSV), and King James Version (KJV). These are all good translations in their own way.

I will frequently use those and other translations in my studies and preaching. I will also stumble through some of my own translation. The process of struggling with the source languages helps us to understand conceptually rather than only in a word-by-word sense.

Sometimes you will hear Christians say things like, “our Bible is a translation of a translation of a translation of a translation going back for centuries.” And then, there will be some claim place upon that statement. None of the claims are valid, because the basis is untrue. We have the Bible in its original languages. Our English translations come from the original source, Our English Bibles have only been translated once.

That’s true of most Bibles available throughout the world. Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) and other organizations have spent over a century translating the same Bible from its Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek sources into the languages with which they’ve come in contact.

So, let’s compare a few translations concerning just one passage of the Bible. Ephesians 2:8-10 in our altar bible (ESV) reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

This passage is central to our Lutheran understanding of how grace and faith work. In the life of a Christian, grace and faith are given to us by God. They are not works we do. Nor can they be earned in any way.

Now, how else have we heard this text? The older English of the King James Version (KJV) reads, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

In the KJV, the works we do sound as if they are ordered by God in our modern ears. In the ESV, the works are prepared for us by God. The ESV is more faithful to the Greek in this case. It gets at the sense of who’s doing the doing here. And, it’s not us.

Compare those with the RSV, NIV, and New King James Version (NKJV)

RSV: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

NIV: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

NKJV: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

You’ll notice they are all very similar. In particular, the NKJV has moved in the same direction as the ESV regarding that verb concerning our works. They are “prepared” rather than “ordained.”

Now there are some Bibles called translations that are not. The New Living Translation (NLT), The Message and The Voice are not translations. They are paraphrases — a restatement of the Bible from English into English is a paraphrase. Calling those a translation implies that we can translate from English into English. Since, there is no consultation with the source text. These Bibles are nothing more than a what-this-says-to-me scribbling by the authors.

You’ll notice The Message sounds very little like those texts above: “Ephesians 2 7-10 “Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”

These paraphrases aren’t useless for Christians. But, they also aren’t the Bible in any sense. A best, they are like a study guide. The study guides are written by non-Lutherans and will contain different interpretations than we might use.

I would suggest the following translations on your shelf at home. If you can only get one, start with the first. Then add them in sequence from there. In your studies, start from the top and work through the others. These are they: ESV, NKJV, OSB (Orthodox Study Bible – we’ll discuss the attributes of that one another time), KJV, RSV, NIV, and then others. Please avoid paraphrases in general. Most of us spend so little time in God’s Word. An interpretive reading isn’t as good as a plain, clear translation.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Luther Begins his Journey to Worms

Luther began his journey to the Imperial Diet at Worms during the first week of April 1521. Yet he was by far not alone. The Imperial Herald Caspar Sturm escorted him. Augustinian monk Johann Petzensteiner accompanied him, along with Nicholas von Amsdorf, his Wittenberg colleague and friend. Peter von Suaven, a Pomeranian noble and several students came along. The city of Wittenberg supplied a cart and the University paid him traveling expenses. Judge Justus Jonas joined them at Erfurt. Melanchthon could not go, since he had teaching obligations.

The route took them across the river to Leipzig, whose city council presented him with a gift of wine. From there it was on to Naumburg, Weimar, Erfurt, where he attended University and then on to Gotha and Eisenach, where he was born and would die 25 years later. In Naumburg, he was the guest of the Burgomeister. In Weimar, Duke John, the brother of Elector Frederick, presented him with a gift to cover travel expenses. He there learned of an imperial order to confiscate his books. The herald asked if he wanted to continue. Luther replied that only force to prevent him would stop him from presenting himself before the Emperor.

On April 6, he entered Erfurt, escorted with an honor guard of sixty horsemen. He was greeted with a celebration, complete with public speeches. Luther could not help but compare the reception to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It was not a very comforting thought. Luther preached to a packed Augustinian church on April 7th, Notes were taken and the sermon immediately published. He would also preach in Gotha and Eisenach. He fell ill in Eisenach, but soon felt better. The procession reached Frankfort on 14 April, where he felt well enough to party with his friends and play the Lute. There Georg Spalatin met him. He told the elector’s secretary: “But Christ lives, and we shall enter Worms in spite of all the gates of hell and the powers in the air … even if as many devils were in that city as tiles on the roofs.”

Sunday is Coming

Part 5: Jesus’ Burial and a Guard Posted (Matthew 27:57–66)

The Law required that Jesus be buried before the start of the Sabbath Day. So, Joseph takes his body and quickly prepares it for burial, but he does not have time to fully prepare the body. This is why the women were taking spices to the tomb early on Easter morning. They were going to complete what could not be done on Friday.

But remember what the chief priests and Pharisees do on the Sabbath. They go to Pilate and ask for a guard. They know full well what Jesus said and want to make sure there are no shenanigans. At least, none that aren’t their own doing. It seems the disciples have forgotten, but these men remember that Jesus said that no sign will be given but the sign of Jonah. They remember that He said He would be raised on the third day. So, they ask Pilate to station guards at the tomb to make sure the disciples don’t steal the body of Jesus.

Soldiers are stationed at the tomb. It is made secure by sealing the stone. No one will be getting by these soldiers to steal the body of Jesus. If the tomb is to be made empty, the only way it will happen is if Jesus really is who He said to be.

The chief priests, the elders, and the Pharisees act like they do to prevent a faked resurrection. How ironic that this act of unbelief is what will provide strong and compelling evidence of the actual and factual resurrection of Jesus Christ!

As for Jesus? He is resting. He is taking his Sabbath. He is waiting for the morning and His resurrection, His victory march through hell, and His revealing to his disciples. He has completed all that He came to do. And rest assured that His work is totally sufficient to save even you from your sins. Do not doubt but believe. Do not fear, but with boldness and confidence await the glorious resurrection of your Lord. It is coming. He has promised He would rise. And your God does not lie.

This Holy Week, we have traveled with our Lord. In your churches, you have celebrated the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday. You have read again His passion, and tomorrow we celebrate again His glorious Resurrection. We shall rejoice that through His work – His suffering and death – you are freed from all your sin. No longer are you a slave to sin. In your baptism, you are made a child of God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and stand justified before the Father. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD

The King is Dead!

Part 4: The Death of Jesus (Matthew 27:45–56)

We are all used to darkness falling at the end of each day over the earth, but we aren’t used to it happening at noon. Yet this is exactly what occurred. From noon to 3 pm there was darkness over the land. According to the prophets, darkness was a sign of judgment and of sorrow. And to be sure, judgment is taking place in this darkness. Your sin is being judged right here in this text. And it is taking a toll on the One who is suffering it. Finally, about three in the afternoon, the Man cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus, in His agony, cries out the beginning of the 22^nd Psalm. Near the middle of the Psalm, the Psalmist writes: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” It is not hard to imagine how this fits Jesus. He is thirsty. He is beaten. His is zapped of all his energy. He is near death.

Upon hearing His cry and thinking Jesus is calling Elijah, He is given some sour wine to drink. Then the people wait. They want to see if Elijah will save Jesus. Of course, he won’t because Jesus isn’t crying out to Elijah. He is crying out to God. His very Father. Jesus cries out once more and gives up His Spirit.

To those there watching, it would seem that’s all there was to it. Until the earth starts shaking. And rocks break apart. Even more, a short distance away something even more dramatic was taking place: In the Temple, the curtain that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place is ripped from top to bottom! It was no longer necessary. Our sins have been atoned for once and for all. No more blood of bulls and goats need to be shed. The blood of Jesus has been poured out for you. It is what we read in Hebrews 9: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest…he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

In this dark hour, at the death of our Lord, we may rejoice. For your sins are atoned for. Your guilt is washed away. You are redeemed.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD

A Life of Washing Feet

Note: The following is greatly indebted to the edifying sermon from the Rev. Dr. Robert Preus, preached at Concordia Theological Seminary on Maundy Thursday, 1988. Find it here.

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

The day we know as Maundy Thursday was a very full day for our Lord. The day began with His disciples asking him where He wished to have what would be the last Passover meal. He likely taught in and around the Temple, as was his custom when He was in the holy city. And then in the upper room, our Lord institutes what we know as the Sacrament of the Altar, where our Lord gives us His body and blood to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. In so doing, He ushers in the New Covenant in His blood. Even later that same day Jesus then went to the Garden of Gethsemane as was His custom to pray there. While there He would be betrayed by one of his own into the hands of sinners. He was tried before the chief priests, scribes, and elders. And He looked on in love when Peter denied him those three times. A very long day in deed.

But particular to this service for Maundy Thursday, we will recall the events in the upper room recorded for us in St. John. Jesus gave himself over to His disciples in love and service. As John aptly states, He loved His own to the end. Not just Thursday or at the beginning, but that He loved them to the very end. And I suggest He still is in the process of loving His own until the end of the age.

What does Jesus’ act of washing His disciples’ feet on the night he was betrayed and instituted His Supper mean? What should we take away from this act that John records for us? It certainly teaches us his love for his own. He displays divine love, a love that is humble, a love that is unlike any love known to man in the world. A love not of this world. It is a love that motivates the incarnate God to go to the cross for his fallen creation. The love he displays in the act of washing his disciples’ feet is made even more manifest and apparent when he is nailed to the cross for our sins.

Washing feet is an act of humility. And Christ our Lord calls His disciples to imitate this act of humility. But people do not understand humility. The act of Jesus washing feet and any other act of humility is more often than not understood as a sign of weakness rather than a virtue that should be emulated. Peter, speaking for all of the disciples, gives this vibe when he says that he will not be washed by Jesus. “It’s below my master to do this thing.” It’s eerily similar to the event when Jesus told Peter and the disciples what the Christ must do, suffer, die, and then rise. There Peter thought it all beneath his Master to suffer in that way. But like there, Jesus rebukes Peter, “If I do not wash your feet, you have no part in me.” Peter takes the rebuke and gets the hint that what Jesus is doing is at least signifying something very important. So, he goes whole hog the other direction, “not just my feet but also my head.” He wants it all. But then Jesus teaches him that its only his feet which are dirty and need washing.

So, it is with us. What does it mean then that Jesus is washing his disciples’ feet? He does this to show that his love is perpetual and ongoing. His love does not come and go but remains. It becomes our refuge, our home. It does not fade away, but it continues on. But the disciples of Jesus fail to understand it most of the time. As do we. He’s trying to prepare his disciples for the events that will take place the next day, when He will go to the cross. For there the very nature of God’s love is on display. God loved the world in this way, that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. He gave His son to offer Himself as a propitiation for the sin of the world. He was given a body and offered himself as a sacrifice for our salvation. That is God’s love. He humbles himself to the point of going to death, death on a cross. This is how we are won salvation. And when a person understands that the Son of God humiliated and humbled himself in this way for our salvation, then we know and understand God. And we glory in it. We cannot help but say in great wonder, “My God, How Great Thou Art.”

Another lesson that we receive from our Lord’s washing of his disciples’ feet is not so different than our first lesson. But now we see that Jesus teaches that his forgiveness is also perpetual. Sometimes we are led to believe that I have to do something first before I get forgiveness. That forgiveness is dependent upon me rather than dependent upon the work of Jesus at the cross. But this night Christ our Lord teaches again that the forgiveness of sins is His to give, and He gives it abundantly.

Think about the times that Jesus walked the earth. There were no sneakers or boots like we have nowadays. The roads were dusty, people wore sandals if they wore shoes at all. People did not drive cars, some rode on the backs of various animals, but more often than not people walked. If people were walking around, even after a bath, their feet were always dirty. And it was custom that servants would come and watch the feet of anyone sitting at the table. They would wash the part of the body most susceptible to being dirty from the day, feet. So it is with the spiritual life.

You are clean, You are justified, sanctified, forgiven, through the life-giving word of Jesus. Remember what Peter confesses, ‘You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus words are life giving, and his words speak of his love and his words match his action of going to the cross for you and your salvation. You are pardoned for your sins. But until the day of your death, when your soul and body are separated, your feet will get dirty in this world (see stanzas 5 and 6 in particular). You will continue to sin, for you are still in your sinful flesh and you will be tempted to fall. We need the forgiveness of Christ Jesus every day. And you have it every single day. Remember your baptism! Luther would say when being tempted by Satan, “I am baptized.” There is no greater comfort than returning to the promise made by Christ in your baptism. And you can do that whenever you want. Luther encourages us each day to begin the day in Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is in accordance with what Luther writes in the 4^th part in the confession about baptism: “What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” See the effects of baptism is daily. We are returning each day to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can go and confess our sins to God daily in the Prayer He has taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” You can confess your sins to your brother and sister in Christ and receive the mutual consolation. Or you can speak to your pastor and hear the absolution spoken over you individually. But the point is that God’s forgiveness for you in the Gospel is a continuous thing for you to receive and rejoice in constantly. That is why Christ gives you that forgiveness via different means: baptism, Lord’s Supper, the Word. Rejoice and be glad in them and have your feet washed by your willing Lord and Savior. It is difficult for us to believe this good news of our Lord’s love and forgiveness being continuous and perpetual unto the end, but that is what Scripture says and so we believe.

One final lesson which our Lord clearly wants to teach his disciples on the night before His death is that his disciples follow in his example. So, does that mean we should have had a ceremony to begin the service where we all washed each other’s feet? Not exactly, so what does it mean that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and what does it mean for us to follow in his example? Washing feet is not something that we do just one day a year but it is a command. That is why we call this Thursday Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word Mandatum. This is where we get the word mandate. Jesus gives his disciples a new command. Its Command Thursday. And feet washing is the command. To wash feet means to humble ourselves as our Lord humbled himself.

That means we are to look at ourselves in our various stations in our life, as a husband, wife, son, daughter, worker, boss, student, and take stock of our God given talents and assess how we can use God’s gifts that he has given us not for ourselves but for our neighbors. We aren’t to use our talents for our own gratification but God’s glory. We are to serve them not despise them. Even though they might deserve it because they are sinful and have wronged us in the past. It means we are not to take offense at people when they wrong us and sin against us.

This is what feet washing looks like. And it is hard! It is hard because you are commanded to wash the feet of not just your friends but your enemies! And you are called to do this daily. Humble yourselves before your enemies? Daily you will meet people with dirty feet need to be encouraged, who need to hear the good news that Jesus died for their sins and that they are forgiven. These people will not always be nice people even though they are Christians. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are gloomy, others proud, arrogant, mean.

In the book and class called Love and Respect, there’s a lesson about the different cycles. One is called the crazy cycle. In the crazy cycle, the wife won’t show respect until she is shown love and the husband won’t show love until he is shown some respect. You see how that makes the cycle a continual spiral downward. But we find a connection here. It would be easy to serve those who were nice and appreciative. It takes someone to be mature to break the cycle. To get over the fact of being disrespected or unloved. To show love and respect when it isn’t deserved.

Christ our Lord did that. He came to His own and they did not understand. He came and died while we were still His enemies. He washed the feet of those men who would run away from him when he was arrested. He showed love and forgiveness to His enemies, and He commands us to do this as well. We are commanded to wash feet.

Have in your own mind the mind of Christ Jesus our Lord. Receive His life blood and His body into yourself and be enlivened to live in righteousness and purity before him. Receive the washing which Christ has given to you in Holy Baptism. Return to the promise of the Gospel often. Receive the forgiveness of sins. Go wash your neighbors’ feet. Love them as Christ loved. Humble yourself before them. And the love and the forgiveness He has goes until the end.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO