Pious Lutheran

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas , Caravaggio, 1602 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! This Tuesday is the 175th anniversary of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. 175 years isn’t much when compared to the 505 years since the Lutheran Reformation, or the 2000 years since Jesus began His public ministry, or the thousands of years before that when God founded His church with Adam and Eve, but 175 years is still worth remarking on today. The LCMS had humble roots here in the US, not unlike the church on that first Easter morning. Jesus began with just 12 apostles, although on Easter morning Judas had already hanged himself and Thomas was mysteriously missing, so there were just 10 at the first Easter. The apostles were hiding inside for fear of the Jews, afterall if their master was crucified, then certainly they were next. But from those few men the church spread across the face of the earth! Likewise, the LCMS was founded April 26, 1847, by just 14 small congregat...

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! “ When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ” You would’ve thought that before buying and preparing spices for Jesus’ burial they would’ve first figured out who was going to roll away the 3,000 pound rock from the entrance of the tomb, but they didn’t. So here are these three ladies walking to the tomb wondering how they’re going to get it open. But upon their arrival they saw that the very large stone had already been rolled back! With an earthquake, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone and sat on it and terrified the guards. It turns out the women didn’t really have to worry about rolling back the stone, nor for ...

After Adam and Eve had sinned and God laid upon them and their descendents the curse of death, “ the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. ” After they sinned they had suddenly realized their nakedness and were ashamed of who they were, they attempted to cover themselves with figleaves, but to no avail. Sin gives us many reasons to be ashamed, many reasons to hide and cover-up our wickedness. This shame as the result of sin is such a base instinct now that we cannot help but cover-up our shameful bodies. For Adam and Eve to be clothed God had to kill lambs, not just shear them, but shed their blood and take their skins. Likewise, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ was sheared and killed like a lamb, so that we would be clothed with His righteousness. Jesus was “ like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, ” when Pilate asked Him questions, “ Jesus gave him no answer. ” At Jesus’ crucifixion He was sheared, qui...

Jesus asked: “ Do you understand what I have done to you? ” What is it that Jesus has done to us? The apostles didn’t get it that evening, but they did later, and so the apostle John explains that Jesus loves His own people who are in the world, and He loves them to the end. This doesn’t mean that Jesus loves us until the end of this world, but rather that He loves us completely, to the telos, to the fulfillment of all things. This love of Jesus for His people was exemplified when He washed His apostles’ feet.  The significance of this action was more than just cleaning their dirty feet, but it helped to illustrate the depths of Jesus’ love for His people. When Jesus celebrated this last supper with His apostles, it was a very intimate and private meal, almost secretive even. Only Peter and John knew the location of the meal and made the arrangements, possibly to prevent Judas from betraying Jesus before the appointed time. Since it was such a private meal they weren’t interrupted ...

Entry of Christ into Jerusalem,  Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320 Palm Sunday is a profoundly beautiful day in the life of the church, it’s also a very strange day, confusing to many people. Is it a day of jubilation to celebrate that Jesus is our King, or a day to remember the passion of our Lord? The answer is yes, it’s both! Jesus is the King who comes to save us. Our confusion lies in trying to reconcile both accounts. We have a grand procession and yet the cross is veiled in black. We sing All Glory Laud and Honor and we sing A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth.  Our confusion is nothing new. The Jews in Jesus’ day were confused as well. Some of Jerusalem greeted Jesus like a king, laying down not just cheap palm branches, but laying down their cloaks on the filthy road for a donkey to walk on. Our clothes are cheap today, so we hardly notice this detail, but they were expensive treasures in Jesus’ day. Later that same week some of Jerusalem demanded that Jesus be executed, shouting o...

Death of Absalom,  Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860 The story of David and Absalom is in some sense a distorted mirrored image of the relationship God the Father has with His Son Jesus and us. This story is also the direct fulfillment of the curse laid on David after his sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, where the Lord said: “ The sword shall never depart from your house… I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. ” The fruits of David’s sins are made immediately manifest in the life of Absalom. At the beginning of our reading this evening we were introduced to three people: Tamar, Amnon, and Absalom. All three of them are David’s children, although Tamar and Absalom are born of a different mother than Amnon. We read that “ Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar. ”  Tamar was beautiful, and Amnon wanted her, but half-sibling marriage was condemned by God. So Amnon plotted a means by which to get her alone with him, forced himself up...

Abraham Sacrificing Isaac, Laurent de La Hyre, 1650 Alright, listen up, better pay attention, there’s going to be a test. No, I’m not going to ask you questions and give you a grade, however the Lord does test us. God tests His people in order to strengthen their faith in Him. “ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ” Thus, as we heard in Genesis: “ God tested Abraham and said to him… “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. ” God tested Abraham by making sure that he believed His Word and would keep it.  Can you imagine how Abraham would’ve felt! I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d gotten sic...