Pious Lutheran

Adoration of the Child,  Gerard van Honthorst, circa 1620 A little while of sorrow, but an eternity of Joy. Sorrow is only for a little while. Joy is for eternity. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Jubilate Sunday is interesting. The name of the day is joy, and yet the readings are fairly sobering; not particularly jubilant. But these readings are exactly what we Christians need to hear right now. This life is not always the most pleasant and easy, we all know this, I think. Being a Christian doesn’t make life easier either. Being a Christian makes life better, I believe that with my whole heart, but it doesn’t make life easier. This is what Jesus teaches us today, that life with Him is better even if it is not easier. We do have a little while of sorrow, but an eternity of joy! “ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ” We don’t often need to be told that we...

The Good Shepherd , Pieter Breughen the Younger, 1616 Jesus lays down His life for His people The Danger: Wolves Response of the hireling: offer happiness in times of ease, but flee when problems arise, thus the sheep are scattered and devoured Response of the Good Shepherd: lay down His life to save the sheep and bring them together Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today is popularly called Good Shepherd Sunday, and it’s one of my favorite Sundays in the church year. The readings today are all quite lovely and very comforting, if not a bit humbling since we’re referred to as sheep. But that’s okay, I know it’s a pretty apt comparison to myself at least. Nevertheless these are comforting readings, are they not? Ezekiel talks about God seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, and strengthening the weak. The 23rd Psalm speaks of our Shepherd’s strong and loving care for us. Peter says that we are healed by His wounds, and have been retu...

Doubting Thomas,  Caravaggio, 1571-1610 The Forgiveness of Sins Delivers from fear; Gives peace; and is Still delivered today Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! God says “ There is no peace for the wicked. ” Although they will often say “‘ Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. ” There is but One who gives us peace, namely Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who by His chastisement has brought us peace. He gives us His peace in the forgiveness of sins. In saying “ Peace be with you, ” Jesus forgave the apostles their sins. So it is with the forgiveness of sins that we are delivered from fear and given peace. Where there is forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation. But where sins are not forgiven, there is no peace, instead there is death, and thus there is fear. And so we heard: “ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. ” The apostles were filled with fear of death because they...

The Resurrection, Caravaggio,   1619 The Resurrection Jesus rose We will rise Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today is the holy day among us christians. Certainly other festivals matter too, like Christmas or the Ascension or Epiphany, but Easter is the big one.  Jesus rose “ very early on the first day of the week. ” That’s Sunday. In the earliest days of the church Christians gathered weekly on Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead, in order to celebrate the resurrection. Every Sunday was Easter, so to speak. Within a few decades the Christian church decided to have a particular festival once a year to celebrate the resurrection, coinciding with the date of Passover when Jesus was crucified, which changes yearly depending on the lunar cycle. I’ve heard some people say that Easter is a pagan holiday that Christians co-opted, but that’s simply not true. The reason that today is the holy day among us christians is because today is about the resurre...

The Resurrection of Christ , Giovanni Battista Moroni, circa 1545-1548 This is the night When the Pascha is not merely celebrated but enacted in us by faith To borrow a phrase from T. S. Elliot’s epic poem about time, tonight is a “still point in the turning world.” The Creation of the world, from darkness to light, and chaos to order; the Exodus out of Egypt, in which the angel of death passed over the faithful and the Israelites passed over the Red Sea on dry ground; the Passion of our Lord, instituting His Supper, His betrayal in the garden, the unjust trial and His bloody crucifixion; the Resurrection from the tomb; your Resurrection on the final day. All this, the past and the future of redemption is right now. This, your redemption, is not merely celebrated like a birthday or an anniversary, but it is relived in us by faith this very night. At the Passover meal the Israelites did not merely remember the historical event of the Exodus, but they relived the Passover as their own de...

Ecce Homo, Antonio Ciseri, 1871 Behold the Man Who suffered and died to forgive us Who comforts us amidst all sorrows The Lord spoke through the prophet Zechariah: “ Behold, the Man whose name is the Branch: for He shall branch out from His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord. ” In a sort of fulfillment of that prophecy, Jesus having been mocked and beaten, we heard it read: “ Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” ” Today the Christian church does exactly that: we behold Jesus in the midst of His suffering and death. It’s unpleasant to listen to the account of Jesus’ crucifixion. “ His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance…He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed Him not. ”  The crowds l...

In communion we receive the Lord’s humble service Jesus humbly delivers to us His true body and blood: For the forgiveness of our sins; To serve us by His death We humbly receive Jesus’ body and blood: We examine ourselves, We confess our sins, We receive forgiveness, strength, and life On Maundy Thursday in Roman Catholic churches and various types of Baptist and Pentecostal churches the focus of the service is on the rite of foot washing. The pope will often make a big deal about washing a dozen poor peoples’ feet. Now there’s nothing wrong with doing a foot washing ceremony, but it does kind of miss the point to make a show of washing feet. Jesus washed their feet as an example of His humility, love, and service, telling them that they should also humbly love and serve one another daily. “ I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done to you… just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ” The early church continued to wash feet, not so much as a ...