Encore Post: St. Thomas was a practical, down to earth man. Called “the Twin,” the few words we have from him were very direct. When Jesus was determined to go to Lazarus‘ Tomb, not five miles from Jerusalem, Thomas said, “Let us also go and die with Him.” When Jesus told the disciples at the Lord’s Supper that He was going to prepare a place for them, he asked, “Lord, we don’t know where You are going, how can we know the way?”
Subtle Thomas was not. Loyal, strong and down to earth, he was. When Jesus was crucified, Thomas had no doubt the Lord was dead. He knew every detail. He did not want it to be that way, but he was a realist. Jesus was gone, end of story. So when the other disciples told Thomas with joy, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas would have nothing of it. He had to see the wounds that marked Jesus in a live man to believe. Even seeing would not be enough. He had to touch the wounds. On something as important as the life of the Lord, Thomas would not be fooled.
All of this changed when Jesus appeared to him and the rest of the disciples the Sunday after Easter. The doors were locked and suddenly Jesus was with them. Jesus said, “Shalom,” or “Peace, be with you all.” This greeting, even though it is the Hebrew version of “Hello,” had special meaning for the disciples. Jesus was telling them everything was all right. Turning to Thomas, He invited His hard-headed disciple to see for himself. “Stop doubting,” Jesus said, “and believe.”
This was all Thomas needed. He dropped to his knees to worship Jesus. All he could say was, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus mildly rebukes him and then blesses us. “You have seen and believed,” Jesus said. “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” And so it is. Later, St. Peter introduces his first letter, praising God for all He has done for us. “Though you have not seen Him,” Peter says to his readers, “you love Him and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Why? Because we know we are receiving what our faith really wants, the salvation of our souls.
In the end, this faith, which Jesus gave to Thomas — a faith that would send the Apostle to India to establish the church there — is itself a gift from God. It comes through His Word and Sacraments. “These are written,” St. John tells us, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing, you may have life in His name.” Blessed we are indeed to hear and say, “He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Rev. Robert E. Smith Pastor Emeritus Fort Wayne, Indiana
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear saints: things were starting to look up. The situation had been dire, to say the least. It had not rained for a long time. Drought was upon the land. Crops would have failed. Water was drying up. Your rain god was not answering your or your priest’s prayers and sacrifices. You are all but out of food and have resigned yourself to your fate: you will make a final cake for you and your son. Then, you will wait for death from starvation.
You go to collect the sticks for your fire, but you are interrupted. A man you recognize as an Israelite calls out to you asking for a drink. You can handle that and turn to get it. But then he goes further. He asks for some bread to eat. That you feel you cannot do. You suppress whatever feelings you have for this man because his God has told you to feed him. Nonetheless, you still complain of your plight.
But this man of God is undeterred and makes an audacious promise: “thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth’” So, taking the command you received and the request of this man, you do as he says. You make him his bread. And according to the word of this man and his God, your flower and oil do not run out.
You take this man in. You house him and listen to what he says. Perhaps you begin to think that this man’s God is greater than your gods. You recognize that his words have power and authority behind them. What he says resonates, and his talk of sin makes your conscience uncomfortable. You know and hear of the evil that His people have done and the consequences they are suffering. And, with this drought, you are as well. After all, you and your people serve the same god that this prophet is denouncing.
You hear of the mercy that this God has for His people. That He continually calls them to turn from their evil and return to Him. That He has good things for them. That He wants to forgive them and have them live in their Promised Land forever. And perhaps you start to wonder if this God would or could do the same for you.
And then, your son gets sick. No matter what you try, he gets worse and worse. Finally, your worst fear is realized: he dies. You are alone. Your husband and your son are dead. You only have this prophet in your upper room.
That prophet that has been talking about sin. Your sin. And now your son is dead. Is this why he came? To condemn what you have done and then kill your son in retribution? Is it not bad enough that you feel bad for what you have done? For the things that you have guided your son into? Now you must compound the guilt by taking him? By making you all alone? Is this the work of a merciful God? It sounds like the fickle gods of the people. The gods that you were beginning to doubt.
The prophet hears your cry of complaint and despair. And he says to you, “Give me your son.” and goes to the room you have given him to stay in. You do not know what he is going to do, but perhaps you feel a glimmer of hope. Maybe this God who commanded you to feed His prophet and the prophet whose word you have listened to, whose promise has sustained your family with flour and oil will do some work to fix this mess. To deliver your son from death and you from agony.
While you sit and wait for who knows what, the prophet lays your son on his own bed. And the prophet, who has received words and messages from God time and again, has no message for this boy. There is no command to declare to the skies to withhold rain. No promise that a widow has been commanded to feed him. He only feels your hurt. The pain of a woman mourning for her son. A son whom she believed to be delivered from the famine thanks to a prophet and his God.
Elijah cries out, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Not even God’s prophet understands why the child’s life was taken. But he diligently prays on the widow’s behalf. Three times he stretches himself out and three times Elijah cries out to the Lord. And God listens. He hears the plea and responds. He grants the child his life back.
But you do not know this. Perhaps you hear the prophet cry out. But unless your boy made noise as his life returned, you do not know if the cries were successful. But you do hear the prophet start down the stairs. You tense up and look to where he will emerge.
To your joy and relief, your boy is with the prophet. And he is alive. The words you doubted were possible are uttered: “See, your son lives.” And a rollercoaster of emotions flood your body. Relief. Joy. Love. Thanksgiving.
But there is also something else. And that is faith. It is a faith that the Lord Himself began cultivating when he first commanded you to feed His prophet. A faith that, even in its infancy, acted in giving that prophet bread before you and your son. And faith that was nurtured as you heard the teachings of the prophet. When you were afflicted on account of your sins and when you wondered if His forgiveness could be applied to you. A faith that was tested when your son died. And now a strong faith in the God who can restore life to the dead. And in faith you reply to the prophet, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Elijah stayed with the woman and her son until he was called back to Israel and King Ahab. But I am sure that he continued to preach and teach God’s Word among those around him. Sure that the faith of the woman and her son was continued to be strengthened and that they remained certain of God’s mercy and trusting in His promise of a coming Messiah.
A Messiah that we encounter today at Nain. Where He encounters another widow who is bringing her only son out of the city to bury him. And having compassion on the woman, Jesus raises the boy from the dead. He speaks to the dead man and the dead man sits up and begins to speak.
St. Paul teaches us that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The woman, hearing the teaching of the prophet, knows her sin and the sin of her son. When the boy dies, she rightly understands that his death is the result of sin. But she is not right that it is the prophet causing the boy to die because of her sin.
But there is One who dies on account of your sin. The same Jesus who approaches a dead man at Nain. Who knows that He will one day hang on a tree in place of Elijah, both widows, both boys, and you. He knows that He will suffer and die, subjecting Himself to the condemnation that you and all humanity deserve.
But He also knows that He will rise. And then upon His resurrection, He will have defeated sin, death, and the devil once and for all. That His blood cleanses all who trust in Him for life and salvation. And that, though each of you have a day where you will fall asleep, He will not abandon you. He will return. And when He does, He will raise you and all the dead. And you, along with all the dead in Christ, will be given an immortal and resurrected body where you will dwell with Him eternally. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Brent Keller Trinity Lutheran Church Guttenberg, Iowa and St. Paul Lutheran Church McGregor, Iowa
Encore Post: Today, our Easter celebration of the resurrection is filled with joy. White paraments, flowers and banners decorate our churches. Well-practiced organs, choirs and musical instruments of all kinds add to our song. After all, we know the story and how it ends. Jesus is risen!
The first Easter was quite different. Reports from women close to Jesus reported visions of angels and of the Lord himself. The disciples didn’t know what to think. The five accounts of that day show the confusion. (Matthew 28:1-15, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-49, John 20:1-23, 1 Corinthians 15:3-5) Different people were running all over the place and each story is its own. One thing was for sure. The tomb was empty.
The first Sunday afternoon, two disciples were on the road home and were very unsettled. Could it be true? Was the Lord really risen from the dead? Jesus appeared to them, but did not reveal himself to them. As they walked to Emmaus, Jesus showed them how the Old Testament pointed to him and that he had to suffer, die, and rise again from the dead. They invited him to stay with them for the evening. As they ate dinner, Jesus blessed bread, broke it and gave it to them. They recognized him. He immediately vanished.
These two disciples immediately went back to Jerusalem to report to the disciples what had happened. There, they learned Jesus had appeared to Peter. As they were talking about this, Jesus removed all doubt. He appeared to them, ate some food to show them he was not a ghost, but had risen from the dead, body and soul. He then blessed the Apostles and gave them the power to forgive and retain sins.
When life gets confusing and we do not know what to do, Jesus comes to us in his word. Even though we do not see him, he is always with us. When we pray, “stay with us, Lord,” he does. We are never alone, even until the end of time itself.
A friend recently shared a TikTok-style vertical video of some guy giving an “entirely informal” talk, leaning on the back of a gator, or some such vehicle, with excellent wardrobe and professional lighting. The guy is presenting a concept that folded hands, bowed heads, and closed eyes for prayer are not Christian. His video claims a Buddhist root to the common American prayer practice.
He’s partly right. Folded hands, bowed heads, and closed eyes are very recent Christian traditions. First, let’s consider the ancient traditions concerning prayer.
The head up, hands upturned, and eyes open posture. This position in ancient Christian art usually corresponds to one of two things. One, the presiding minister, leading prayer, has this posture, while others take a different one. Two, the resurrected Christ or the Lord in His triumphant return is right before those praying. This isn’t the common everybody-praying-together posture.
The most common posture for hands together prayer is flat hands with palms together. It’s most famously recreated by Albrecht Dürer’s 1508 “Praying Hands.” Herr Dürer didn’t invent the posture. It was commonly used and heavily represented in Christian art.
It is right and proper to bow our heads and/or our bodies at the name of Jesus. “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:8-10) Not just in recognition of the Glory of God, but we ought to recognize how greatly Jesus humbled Himself for us. A little head nod is probably the least we could do in response.
You’ll sometimes see pious folks dipping their heads throughout the divine service. Usually, they are nodding their heads at every mention of Jesus’ name in the service, readings, and prayers. This is a good and laudable practice for Christians. The head nod requires more attention and focus than you might think.
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” (Psalm 95:6-7) Kneeling is also a good posture to assume. We even used to have kneelers in all of our pews for the Divine Service. It’s a posture at which 20th Century Christians may recoil with, “that’s too Catholic!” Here’s a shorthand question about those things considered Romanist (Catholic): Is this thing commended or encouraged by the scriptures? Yes? Then this thing might more likely be a catholic (Christian) thing than a Catholic (Romanist) thing.
Don’t stop there. prostration (lying face-down flat on the floor) is also an option. “Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: ‘Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’” (Isaiah 49:7)
This one you’re most likely to see at an ordination. The rubrics indicate the candidate may lie prostrate on the floor before the altar. Yes, for quite a while. All of these revolve around us, the faithful, lowering our posture beneath the Lord, or indicating Him above us.
So, what about the “entirely informal” vertical video? The Buddhist source is highly unlikely given that the modern posture appears in the early 17th century, gathering steam, East to West across the U.S. into the 20th century.
Charles Grandison Finney, Upstate NY, 1830s
Too often things fall back to Finney’s tent revivalist new measures. During the altar call, the preacher would encourage everyone to pray silently for the Spirit to work among us, “…with every head bowed, every eye closed, and every hand folded.” He would speak while the band played quietly, manipulating emotions. “I’m looking for a sign, just a hand in the air, just a finger, indicating a desire to dedicate yourself to Jesus. Sir! You there on the right!” Whether the pressure of the crowd, a push from a crowd worker, or even just a plant, someone would begin.
Eric Enstrom’s famous photo “Grace” succinctly demonstrates the 90-year shift to a hands folded, head bowed, eyes closed prayer posture. The picture of Charles Wilden, a peddler and vagabond, was taken between 1918-20. Over the years, various tales have developed about its origin. A second official version of the photo added an ethereal light source from a non-existent window opposite Wilden. Countless color paintings and lithographs have been made and sold. In most cases these illustrations sharpen the details, the lighting contrast, and … oh, yes turn the dictionary on the table into a Bible.
The new revivalist prayer posture changed our perception of the room. “The Spirit’s at work!” Probably not. It’s more likely a manufactured situation or entire event to cause us to feel a thing. There’s no particular harm in praying that way. But, it’s not good to ignore the other postures in favor of Finney’s favorite either.
Come, let us fix our eyes upon Jesus,
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
Encore Post: He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
In the silence of a cold, dark tomb, the world changed forever. Just as he promised, Jesus rose from his rest in the grave, breaking the seal of the tomb forever. And no one noticed.
The Romans were really good at torturing people to death. Crucifixion was a slow death, designed to kill with the maximum amount of pain and humiliation possible. If the Romans killed you, you were dead. Jesus, in fact, was already dead when the soldiers moved to hurry up the process to get the bodies into a grave before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath.
Once they laid Jesus in the tomb, no one expected him to go anywhere. Pilate ordered the tomb sealed by the authority of Rome, setting its seal on the stone that shut it off from the world. Had he not risen from death, the women would have completed his embalming and they would have mourned him for seven days. After a year, they would gather his bones into a stone box. In fact, this is what Caiaphas’ family did. Archaeologists have found his box. Had he not risen, likely no one today would even know the name of Jesus.
But Jesus did rise from the dead. The seal of our graves is broken. When we die now, our spirits live with him until the last day. When Jesus returns on that day, he will call our bodies from the grave and a new creation will occur. We will finally be whole — our bodies — like his resurrected body, will be fit for eternal life. Death no longer has a sting. The grave will have no victory. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
Therefore Easter strikes such a chord with Christians. It is why we greet each other with joy… Christ is risen…
Encore Post: Jesus died late in the afternoon on Good Friday, just before the Sabbath was to begin at Sunset. Two of his secret disciples asked Pilate for his body — Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. They gave him a hasty but rich man’s burial. Several of the women closest to Jesus followed them to the tomb. Joseph rolled a large stone in front of the entrance and they left him there. Later, at the request of the priests, Pilate set a guard and sealed it to prevent the theft of the body. As the second day Jesus was dead began, he was finally at rest.
As God rested on the seventh day of creation, so now Jesus rested on the first Sabbath of the new creation. By his sacrifice on the cross, he destroyed sin and the power of the devil. Soon, when the Sabbath ended, he would break the power of death as well.
As Christians prepare for a joyful Easter celebration, we often miss this moment of quiet and peace. Soon, when sunset comes, the third day will begin. Sometime between that Sunset and Dawn, Jesus rose from the dead, descended to Hell to complete his victory of Satan, and become the first to rise into eternal life. The Church will begin its Vigil of Easter at sunset and sing again the songs of Resurrection.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Pastor Emeritus Fort Wayne, Indiana
Encore Post: Good Friday is the most somber day in the Church Year. On this day, the price of our sin is paid out in full — by God Himself. The ancient plan for our salvation had been unfolding for thousands of years. The descendant of Eve, of Noah, of Abraham and of David was born to the Virgin Mary. The Son of God, the Author of Life himself, became one of us. At the Jordan River, he made holy the waters of Baptism and took on himself the sins of the world. On Mt. Zion, ancient Mt. Moriah, where the Angel of the Lord stayed the hand of Abraham, God’s Son, His only Son, whom he loves, was condemned to die as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Sentenced by Pilate, he began his final suffering and was nailed to the cross. Even as he began to die, the forgiving began — first of those who killed him and then of a thief on a nearby cross.
The greatest mystery of all came at the height of his suffering. The Eternal Son of God cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) in the language of his boyhood. We should not be surprised that we cannot understand this profound moment. Yet we know a few things for sure. We know this very moment was revealed in detail in the Scripture itself. Jesus’ words are a quotation of his father David in Psalm 22, written a thousand years before. We know Jesus felt abandoned by God. His prayers unanswered and alone show he shares fully our humanity. He is like us in every way, which is why his sacrifice for us is possible. We know that it is our sin he paid for on the cross and that price is unimaginably high. We are moved as we extinguish one light after another, remembering the depth of his suffering.
Yet this is not the last word we hear from the suffering of our Lord. As he died, he said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Sin was atoned for, the power of the Devil defeated and the seal of the grave soon to be broken. Jesus knew the Father had not abandoned him. He once again quoted his father David in Psalm 31, “into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46) and entered his three-day rest in the tomb.
Encore Post: The night God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, the Hebrews selected perfect lambs from their flocks. They had no injuries, blemishes, or birth defects. These lambs were slaughtered, their blood smeared on their doors, their meat roasted for a feast. That night, the Angel of Death passed over their houses as the firstborn of all Egypt perished.
The evening of the day God delivered us all from sin, death and the power of the devil, the disciples arranged a Passover meal for them and for Jesus. John the Baptist had called him the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He took bread and said, “this is my body given for you” and wine and said, “this cup is the New Testament in my blood.” St. Paul calls him “our Passover, who is sacrificed for us.”
The Lord’s Supper, then, is our New Passover. In it, God gives us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The Angel of Death passes over us. In baptism, we are united with him in his death on the cross. We enter the Red Sea of death with him and rise to new life when he breaks the seal of our graves.
Once again in Holy Week, we follow the Lamb of God, as he goes to his death willingly. We pray as he takes each step,
Lamb of God, pure and holy, Who on the cross did suffer… Have mercy on us, O Jesus.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Pastor Emeritus Fort Wayne, Indiana
Encore Post: At the time of Jesus, bathing was an important part of being cultured. The Romans especially prized their public baths, that was as much a part of daily life as going to the gym to work out is today. Especially when you were going to a banquet, you would visit the baths before you went. Besides this, in the tradition of the Pharisees, Jewish people would ritually wash themselves and everything they would use to serve food. Especially for the Passover, when no leaven was allowed to be eaten, these rituals would be strictly followed.
The problem was you couldn’t avoid getting your feet dirty in an age when you wore sandals and walked on dirt roads. In well-to-do homes, a gentile slave would be provided to the guests to wash their feet. A disciple would do many things for his master, but foot-washing was unworthy of them. When there was no slave, you would wash your own feet.
That is why Jesus’ action was so shocking. The last one who should wash feet is the Lord. Yet, he is the one who serves us all. Because he would wash feet, so also we are called to meet every need of everyone.
Encore Post: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday are remembered by the Church from ancient times as the days on which our salvation was won by the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord. She does this with one service that lasts the three days. The Maundy Thursday divine service begins with an invocation, but does not conclude with a benediction. Good Friday services have neither an invocation nor a benediction. The Vigil of Easter on Saturday evening does not begin with an invocation, but ends with a benediction.
The name Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin word mandatum — the first word in the Latin translation of Jesus’ command: “a new commandment I give to you: love one another.” (John 13:34) Jesus gave this command at the Last Supper, the night we also remember because he also instituted the Lord’s Supper during that Passover meal. The Maundy Thursday service ends with the stripping of the altar, the lectern and pulpit and removing of the pastor’s vestments. Often the account of the Garden of Gethsemane and the arrest of Jesus is read while this is done. We depart in silence to note the disciples abandoned Jesus.
The day that begins at sunset on Maundy Thursday witnessed the whole of Jesus’ passion and death. We call it Good Friday, because it is the day we were redeemed. It is also the first day of Christ’s rest in the tomb. This second day Jesus was in the grave began at sunset Friday. On Sunset Holy Saturday, the third day begins. The Church meets in a vigil, a service that greets Easter. Often, Christians are baptized during the vigil.
On these three days, Christ fulfilled his promise that he would take our sins to the cross, die to pay their due, make holy our graves by resting in death, defeated Satan and death and rose again to shatter the grave forever. Three days to remember and to thank God for his mercy.
