Jesus Is Our Light! (John 20:1,2,11-18)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

The Resurrection of our Lord Easter Day

March 31, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

While I was serving as a Pastor in South Dakota, I had the opportunity to ride on the George S. Mickelson trail.  Now, if you are not familiar with it, The George S. Mickelson Trail is a converted rail road route situated in the heart of the beautiful black hills.  It runs for 109 miles from Deadwood down to Edgemont and it contains more than 100 converted railroad bridges and 4 rock tunnels.  I can still remember what it was like to ride that day.  I can still remember the sound of the crushed limestone crackling under my tires as I rode.  I remember the smooth 4% grade that I climbed for a number of miles and then coasted for a number of other miles.  But the thing I remember the most was riding through the tunnel.  I remember the excitement as I approached the tunnel, a yawning black mouth in an otherwise impassible rock face.  I remember the way the darkness began to envelope me, as I moved deeper into the throat of the mountain.  The light from the outside quickly disappeared and my pace slowed as I removed my sunglasses so that I could better see in the new found darkness.  Though the darkness around me was never complete, it was very difficult to navigate until I reached the slight bend in the tunnel and could once again see the bright daylight pouring in, allowing me to navigate more confidently through the remainder of the tunnel.  Though the tunnel was only a few hundred feet long it wasn’t long until the darkness of the tunnel made it difficult to navigate.  However, when I made the bend and saw the light streaming in at the end of the tunnel I knew the darkness would soon come to an end and I would once again enjoy my journey riding in the full light of day.

Well, in many ways, the season of Lent is something like that tunnel experience.  The hours we’ve spent with Jesus in these past weeks have been rather somber, solemn, and serious.  Even as we’ve focused our attention on our Savior’s wondrous names of love, our attention has been on our sins and we’ve been reminded of God’s forceful anger over them.  We’ve traveled the path that Jesus took; the path that lead him to his death to pay for our sins; the path that made us deeply aware that of everything we deserved from a holy and righteous God, which is everything that Christ, our Savior, suffered in our place. 

However, as we worship this morning, everything is different. Our time spent traveling through the dark tunnel of Lent comes to an end as we emerge into the full and glorious light of another Easter.  We emerge into the joy and the comfort of our Savior’s resurrection from the dead, and we bask in the full light of our Savior’s love and forgiveness; our Savior who himself has assured us, “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, NIV84)

Though today is truly a day of joy as we bask in the Light of Jesus, our Savior, for most of Jesus followers, that First Easter did not start off with joy and celebration.  Rather, it started out in darkness and confusion.  In fact, John tells us, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”" (John 20:1–2, NIV84)

In so many ways these words not only describe the condition of the early morning when Mary set out for the tomb, but in reality they describe the condition of her sorrow-filled heart as well.  Her heart must have been overflowing with grief, sorrow, and perhaps even despair because the light of Jesus’ life had been snuffed out in death.  Her Lord and Savior who had cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2) was lying in the tomb where he had been hastily buried before the Sabbath began.  The one whom she had followed, serving him with the full devotion of a heart filled with faith, trusting that he was truly the promised Savior from sin; he was dead and she would not have the opportunity to see him again.  For May, not only had the sky over Calvary been pitch black as she stood beneath his cross, so was her heart.  Not only was the tomb, in which they had hurriedly placed his lifeless body devoid of light, so was her spirit.  How her heart must have broken when the laid him in the tomb.  How her faith must have been shaken as she returned home for the Sabbath on that Friday afternoon. But how her heart must have simply burst when she saw the open tomb and come running to Peter and John crying out, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (John 20:2, NIV84)

It was as if Mary was in a tunnel without any light, without even an exit, as she stood beside the open tomb, weeping.  Not only did she think that her Savior was dead, but it also seemed that someone had gone to great lengths to steal his body, thus dishonoring him all the more by taking away his right as an Israelite to receive a proper and honorable burial.  Yet in the same way that light does eventually begin to shine into a tunnel as one comes to the end of it, so also the Light of Jesus resurrection began to shine in Mary’s heart.  For not long after Peter and John had returned from the tomb, we find Mary back where everything had started that morning, as John tells us, “but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her." (John 20:11–18, NIV84)

While it was still dark, Mary had seen the stone rolled away and run back to report her fears.  Later, in the daylight, she had returned to the tomb to weep and tell the angels the same story she told the disciples.  Then it happened!  As she wept, she turned and noticed a man standing behind her.  Through tear-dimmed eyes she didn’t recognize him. But when he said, “Mary,” her heart turned over.  “Master,” she cried out in amazement.  This was her lord.  She was not in error.  She had seen them lay his body in the grave, and she recognized him now.  With amazing suddenness her tears were dried for her and the weight was lifted from her heart.  All past sorrows were gone.  Darkness had vanished.  Now she knew that her Savior was living!  She had finally left the tunnel of sorrow and now stood in the bright light of Jesus Easter victory!

What a day that had to be for Mary and the others, and what a day it is for you and me!  For as we have gathered in worship this morning, we, too, have left the dark tunnel of Lent and are basking in the light of Jesus, our Savior.  We are basking in the joy of Jesus resurrection.  For we know that because Jesus was delivered over to death and raised to life once again, we have been justified before our God!  We have been acquitted of all our sins!  We have been declared not guilty and are once again at peace with the Lord our God!  No longer can the guilt of our sins prevail against us, because Jesus’ resurrection assures us that his death has completely washed away even the guilt of our sins.  No longer can satan bedevil us, because Christ’s victory on Calvary has crushed the serpent’s head.  Not even death can hold us any longer because we know that just as Christ, our Savior, passed through death only to take back his own life and rise again, so also, Christ our Savior will lead us through death to our life forever by his side in our heavenly kingdom.

This is Jesus, who is the light of our Salvation.  This is Jesus, who is the Light of the World.  He is the one who gave his life and took it back again so that we might live in his light forever.  Though there may be times in this world when we pass through dark tunnels of sorrow and uncertainty, our Savior is always there, lighting our path with his presence.  Our Savior is there assuring us that by his resurrection we are at peace with God.  Our Savior is there, assuring us that no matter what we face in this life, he is with us and leading us on to his heavenly kingdom.  Even when we enter the dark tunnel of death, we will have nothing to fear.  We will have nothing to fear because we know that Jesus himself will lead us through that tunnel to the wondrous light of eternal life by his side, forever in heaven.  What a day that will be when we can join with Mary and all the others singing the praises of our Savior’s wondrous love for us.   

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Savior (John 19:30)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

Good Friday

March 29, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Scarcely had the sponge soaked with sour wine moistened our Savior’s parched lips when we hear him cry out with a loud voice, “Tetelestai!” Which means, “It is finished!”  Although a single, four syllable word in the Greek language, these three English words, “It is finished!” are incredibly significant for each and every person of the world.  In fact, we would not be exaggerating if we should call them the most important words in the history of the world!  For when Jesus said, “It is finished,” he didn’t speak in a weak whisper, or even so quietly that you would have had to lean in close to be able to hear what he was saying.  Rather, he cried out in a loud voice so that all the world would hear.  Our Savior cried out these words as his proclamation of victory in the midst of the darkness of Calvary.  These words were not the words of a man who was surrendering to death, but the words of a soldier who has conquered in the battle, and won the victory over sin and death forever.  These words are the words of our Savior whose mission has been completed.  These words are words of wondrous love, whose wondrous name of love we know as, Savior.

Could there be any greater love than the love that our Savior reveals to us as he willingly goes to the cross?  In his great love for us, he allowed himself to be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquity.  In his great love for us, he endured the punishment that would bring us peace so that by his wounds we could be healed.  In his great love for us he endured even the pain of hell itself as he was rejected by his own Father.  But now that has all come to an end, for as we look closely at his face, we see his love as he cries out his declaration of victory for us.  With these words our loving Savior was telling all who would listen, “I have won.  My work of salvation is done.  I have opened wide the gates of heaven for mankind.  I have kept all the law perfectly for every person.  I have paid the price demanded for each and every sin.  Not one sin is left!  I have suffered the agonies of hell and damnation—agonies that were reserved for sinners.  I have endured the full punishment and anger of my Father over sin.  I have shed my precious blood to redeem all mankind.  And now my work of salvation is complete and finished and done.” 

What wondrous love our Savior conveys as he cries out, “Tetelestai! It is finished!”  For this single word was the very word that the ancient Greeks would inscribe on tax bills to show that they were completely paid in full.  Thus, with these words Jesus took the crimson ink of his blood and wrote “Paid In Full” across the bill of sins that we had run up before God.  Nothing more needed to be added because Jesus blood had completely washed away our sins.  Nothing more needed to be done because on the cross, as our Savior cried out, Jesus declared that he had completed the work of our salvation!  “With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30, NIV84) 

Could any other words demonstrate our Savior’s wondrous love for sinners?  When our Savior had completed our Salvation, he willingly bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  Though death stood near the scene on Calvary that day, death did not dare to approach our Savior until he allowed it.  How different his death was from ours!  We die because death is the consequence of sin that our first parents brought to all people.  We die because our lives are snatched away from us.  We die, because the Lord chooses to separate our souls from our body.  There is nothing that we can do to prolong our lives in any way.  But when Jesus died, he died at the moment he chose.  Not until he had completed our salvation did he allow death to come near to him.  Only when he had procured our Salvation did our Savior pray, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) and “with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)

It is never easy to be reminded of our Savior’s death, because we know the death he died was the death we deserve.  Yet, as we stand at the foot of our Savior’s cross today, we find comfort in the fact that his death has removed the sting of death forever.  Because our Savior willingly gave his life over to death, death is nothing more than a lion whose claws and teeth have been removed.  Though death still growls for us, it can no longer harm us!  Because our Savior paid the price our sins deserved, we no longer need to be afraid!  Rather we can confidently fall asleep in Jesus’ wounds, knowing that the last beating of our hearts will be a soft knocking at heaven’s door. When it opens, we will be home with Jesus, our Savior from sin, our Savior from death, our deliverer to eternal life.

All this is wrapped up in the simple name, Savior!  For included in that name of wondrous love, is all that Jesus, our Savior did to free us from our sins, and make us his own.  Though we use this name so easily and so often, it truly is a comfort to us, for it is our Savior who has saved us and made us his through his blood!  In the same way that a life guard will save drowning swimmers by pulling them out of the water and brining them to the safety of dry land, our Savior saved us from drowning in our sins.  By his death, we have been declared righteous before the Lord our God.  All this is wrapped up in the lovingly wondrous name of Savior, as John tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10, NIV84)   

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Lamb (Revelation 5:6-10)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Why is it that little children are so attracted to little lambs?  Though many of them may not have every had the opportunity to see one in real life or stroke its soft fleece, yet in their beds, so many little children clutch a facsimile close to their hearts as they fall asleep.  Even after they have out grown their child’s bed, so often that lamb might still occupy an important position on their dressers, bookshelves, or even display shelves.  What is it that makes lambs so attractive to little children?  I don’t know for sure, but I do know exactly what makes The Lamb attractive to us who are God’s little ones, and children of our heavenly Father.  It is the wondrous love that the Lord reveals to us through his Son—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word—that make Jesus, the Lamb so important for us.

This, in fact, is exactly what the Apostle John reveals to us in our lesson today.  For as he writes he describes Jesus as a Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:6–10, NIV84)

In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John calls Jesus “the Lamb” some 20 different times, and for John.  Here, John described Jesus as looking like a Lamb that had been slain, and for John, this was a term packed with meaning.  In fact, this was something that took him back nearly 70 years to the day when he was at the Jordan River with his teach, John the Baptist, and John had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29, NIV 84) 

The Apostle John knew what those words meant.  He knew how the angel of the Lord had swept through Egypt on the First Passover so many years before.  He knew how the angel had struck down the firstborn in every home but passed over these homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb smeared on the doorposts.  John also knew the meaning of the blood of all those lambs, hundreds of them, thousands of them, sacrificed on all of the Passover celebrations since the first one in Egypt.  He knew how the blood of all those lambs pointed to the blood of the real Lamb, Jesus Christ—God’s own Lamb, sent from heaven.  His blood would be so precious that it would cancel all sin.  His blood would be so precious that those covered by the blood of God’s Lamb would be spared when God’s eternal judgment passed over.

This is what the Lamb of God meant to the Apostle John, but what does it mean to you that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  In answer we look especially at the blessed meal the Lord places before us today. In his Holy Supper, the Lamb himself is present to serve us. In it he offers the very body that he gave and the very blood that he poured out for our sins on Calvary’s cross. With his body and blood, he wants to assure us of the blessed truth that he was indeed slain for us. As we come to his altar, he puts his hand on our shoulders, looks into our eyes, and reassures us individually that he was slain for us. “Here,” he says, “my body, given for you. Here, my blood, shed for you. Your sins are forgiven.  Go home in peace.” In this blessed way, he reassures us of his forgiveness and strengthens our trust in him as our Lamb. Now we can look forward to the day when we have to appear before the judgment seat of a holy God. We can take that step with confidence and joy. Only because of the Lamb who was slain for us. The Father in his grace has washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Father in his wondrous love has made us his little ones through faith in his Lamb. How we look forward to singing eternal praises to such a loving Father and to the Lamb slain for us!

In our lesson John describes those praises as golden bowls full of incense, as he writes, “they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:8–10, NIV84)

Tonight we join in praising the Lamb of God for his wondrous acts of love for us.  We praise him for the forgiveness of sins that he won for us through his death and resurrection.  We praise him that he made us a kingdom of priest who are able to share the message of salvation with all those around us.  We praise him by living our lives in such a way that our words and actions clearly reveal that we belong to the Lamb who was slain for us.  Though it is easy to sing God’s praise here, the Lord wants us to praise him in every aspect of our lives.  So let us do just that!  Let us carry the Lamb of God, our Savior, with us wherever we go, like a child carrying that cherished toy animal.  Let us carry the Lamb of God with us as we enter our workplaces, where unbelieving employees sneer at our words and scoff at our actions. Let us carrying him close to our hearts in the high school hallways and college classrooms, where so many try to scratch through the varnish of our protected childhood religion. Let us carry the Lamb with us on the hospital bed, where reality never takes a nap, in our families, where visually and verbally the love of God’s Lamb needs to be conveyed, in our congregations, where there’s always so much to be done and so few, it seems, to do it, and in our synodical fellowship, where we, as fellow priests in God’s kingdom, join hands to take the gospel to every nation and to train workers to go in our place.

In the same way that little children are so often attracted to little lambs, so also we, as God’s children are attracted to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  What great love he has revealed in our lives by making us his own through faith.  Not only have we been made his own, but we have the opportunity to carry the Lamb of God with us wherever we go.  God grant that we never leave him on the dresser top of our lives, but always hold him close to our hearts, ready to share him with everyone who needs to learn about this special Lamb of God, our Savior.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified! (John 12:23)

Sixth Sunday in Lent Palm Sunday

March 24, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Imagine with me, for a moment, what it must have been like to be one of Jesus’ disciples.  Imagine what it must have been like to have Jesus come to you and personally call you to follow him; personally choosing you as a disciple.  For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been following him, listening to him preach and teach, watching him as he performed miraculous signs and wonders, being amazed as he drove out demons and brought the dead back to life.  For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been learning from him as he’s taught you about the kingdom of heaven and about himself, the Son of God—the Messiah for whom you had been waiting all your life.  Every day that you followed him you learned more and more about the kingdom of heaven.  Every day that you followed him you grew stronger and stronger in your faith.  Every day that you followed him you were prepared all the better to take the message of salvation to those who needed to hear it the most.  Then, suddenly, Jesus pairs you up with a partner and the two of you go out preaching and teaching the message about Jesus in the towns and villages where he was about to go.  You are given the authority to heal the sick and drive out demons.  You taste the success of sharing the message of salvation with your fellow countrymen, and you can’t wait to come back and tell Jesus all the experiences that you’ve had preaching and teaching in his name.

But lately something has been different.  Jesus has been traveling more and more as of late, and it is clear that he is making his way back to Jerusalem.  Even though the Chief Priests and the teachers of the Law have made it their mission to do away with Jesus, it is clear that you will make it back to Jerusalem for the Passover.  On Friday, you passed through Jericho, where Jesus suddenly stopped to tell a man named Zacchaeus that he had to stay and Zacchaeus’ house that day.  On Saturday you celebrated the Sabbath with your Savior, and later that evening you were part of a banquet given in Jesus’ honor.  It was a banquet at the house of Simon the Leper.  It was a banquet that Lazarus was at, the same Lazarus whom you had seen raised from the dead by Jesus.  It was a banquet that Martha served, and it was a banquet where Mary brought a bottle of expensive perfume and used it to anoint Jesus’ head and feet, drying her feet with her hair.  Though you grew indignant with Judas who thought that it was such a waste, you quickly changed your thoughts as Jesus’ rebuke echoed through the room, ““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (John 12:7, NIV84)

On Sunday, you were part of the great procession of people traveling from Bethany to Jerusalem for the upcoming Passover.  As you approached Bethphage, you were one of the two disciples to whom Jesus turned and said, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ (Luke 19:30-31, NIV84)  When you went, you found everything just as Jesus had described it.  You said what he told you to say, and they let you take the animals with you.  When you came back to Jesus, you placed your cloak on the donkey for Jesus to sit on and you went along with him, amazed by the celebration of the crowds with you.  Amazed at the people taking off their cloaks and laying them and palm branches in the road for him to ride over.  Amazed at the people shouting out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is He  who comes in the Name of the Lord!”  Amazed as you suddenly began to remember the words of the Prophet Zechariah “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9, NIV84)

On Monday, you were with Jesus when he went to look for fruit on a fig tree, found none and cursed it.  You were with Jesus as he entered the temple area “and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mark 11:15–17, NIV84)

Now it was Tuesday, and you saw the tree that Jesus had cursed, the tree that had shriveled because Jesus had simply said, “May you never bear fruit again.”  It was Tuesday and you had been in the temple with Jesus all day.  You heard him teaching and preaching to the people there.  You heard him answer all the questions and challenges that the religious leaders brought to him either directly or indirectly.  You heard Jesus delivering warnings against the Scribes and proclaiming woes upon the Pharisees, look directly at them and say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”" (Matthew 23:37–39, NIV84)

You went with him as he left the temple one last time, when suddenly Andrew and Philip came to Jesus and told him about some Greeks who were asking for the opportunity to meet with Jesus, see him and learn from him.  To which Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." (John 12:23–33, NIV84)

How many times hadn’t you heard Jesus speak about his coming sufferings and death?  How many times hadn’t you heard him talk about it and not wanted to believe it?  How many times hadn’t you heard him talk about his impending sufferings only to hear him say, that the hour was not yet upon him?   But now, this time, Jesus says that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!

Though you did not know it, the hour of his glory was closer at hand than you would have realized.  Yet, if we take a moment to look at it we can see how Jesus was indeed glorified throughout his life, even as he humbled himself to keep God’s Law for us.  Yet, now, as Jesus speaks, he is looking forward to the glory of his suffering, the glory of his crucifixion, the glory, even of his death.  Though for us these may not seem like very glorious events, each one of these events meant that Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan of our salvation and bringing an end to satan’s power over us.  This was the glory that Jesus revealed in the Garden of Gethsemane as he clearly showed the soldiers that he was the one in charge.  This was the glory that Jesus revealed in his trials as he answered very few questions moving the trials along so that he would be found guilty and be put to death.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed before Pilate as it became very clear to him that Jesus had done nothing deserving of death.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed on the cross as he prayed for those who crucified him, as he fulfilled the scriptures, as he cried out for all the world to hear, “It is finished!”, and as he willingly bowed his head and gave up his life.

This is the glory that Jesus revealed in his resurrection from the dead to assure us that we have been set free from all our sins.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed to the women on Easter morning, to the disciples locked together in their room, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to all those to whom he revealed himself in those 40 days after his resurrection.  This is also the glory that the Lord continues to reveal each time his word is proclaimed.  For whenever the word of God is taught and we are convicted of our sins and moved to turn to our Savior for forgiveness, Jesus is glorified.  Whenever the Word is taught and people are called to faith in Jesus as Savior, Jesus is glorified.  Whenever we share our faith with those around us and tell others about the confidence that we have, our Savior is glorified.  Even today, as our children brought palm branches to the front of our church and laid them on the altar, Jesus, our Savior was glorified.

Though Jesus did willingly humble himself for us so that he might live in our place and keep God’s law perfectly for us, by his death and resurrection, he has indeed been glorified forever.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our Savior by growing in our faith through worship and the Word.  Though we must leave this joyful day and walk through the dark and sorrowful days of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we do so, looking forward to the joy of Easter.  We do so, knowing that through everything our Savior did for us, the hour has truly come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN