Easter Monday

Counterfactual

1 Corinthians 15:14–21 (ESV): And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

My family makes fun of me for being dismissive of their "What if?" questions. To their "What if [this]?" and "What if [that]?" I usually respond, "That's hypothetical"  or "That's counterfactual." Perhaps it is a flaw in my character, but I have very little interest in what could have been, what might be, or what potentially could happen - I want to focus my attention on what has happened, what is certain, and what we know will happen in the future.

However, counterfactuality can be used powerfully for rhetorical effect, as St. Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15:14-21. He entertains for a moment the implications that would follow if Jesus had not come back to life and emerged from the grave, never to die again. In that case, then (1) preaching the Gospel is pointless; (2) it is futile to trust in Christ; (3) we are misrepresenting God; (4) we remain dead in our sins—condemned to hell; (5) those who have died as Christians are in hell; and (6) Christians are foolish, deluded dupes for hoping for a future resurrection from the dead.

But IN FACT, Jesus is risen, so all these hypothetical statements are false, and each can be turned into its opposite truth. God turns everything around in the resurrection! So this means that (1) preaching the Gospel is life-giving; (2) it is fruitful to trust in Christ; (3) we are accurately representing God's message of salvation; (4) we are alive in Christ—destined for heaven; (6) those who have died as Christians are safe with Christ in Abraham's bosom; and (6) Christians are wise and sensible in hoping for a future resurrection from the dead.

Easter Sunday has greeted us with the good news from the angel to the women: Jesus “has risen; He is not here” (Mark 16:6). The empty tomb proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, and there is nothing counterfactual about that!

Prayer: O God, in the paschal feast You restore all creation. Continue to send Your heavenly gifts upon Your people that they may walk in perfect freedom and receive eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Prayer requests: for the family of Jeri Gruetzner, who will be laid to rest today; for Bessie Mahaffey and Alma Gause, under hospice care; for our homebound members: Joe and Lynn Cottle, Carolyn Dube, Duane Gruetzner, Delma Roitsch, Willard and Ann Teinert, Joycelynn Harvey, Virginia Wilkins, Cheryl Kieschnick, Wilbur Gaskamp, Doris George, Alice Kovar, Helen Ray Gustafson, Uce Gruetzner, Ruth Wissen.

Worldly Hearts

Mark 15:15–20 (ESV)

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

Today, if we were to abuse an animal in the way that the soldiers treated Jesus, we would be fined and put in prison. On the surface, at least, our society will not tolerate violence. The hypocrisy is shown by the legalized murder of the unborn (in 2017, there were 17,294 intentional homicides in the US but 862,320 abortions). Violence is the way of the world.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9). We are born into this world with corrupted hearts, and it is the role of the parents and society to curb the viciousness of those hearts and urge them towards virtue. Jesus said, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person" (Mark 7:21–23).

Jesus says that it is out of the human heart that murder and all wickedness derive, and the soldiers’ barbarous mockery of Jesus reminds us of the depravity of the human heart and of why we needed God's Son to redeem us. To take pleasure in the suffering of another human is inhumane, but to take comfort from the suffering of Jesus for our sins is what God wants for us! To find solace in the piercing of Christ's sacred heart is God's remedy for our guilty consciences. And to take up our cross (which involves suffering!) and follow Jesus is God's will for our lives, which means that we are set free from the ways of the world.

After calling upon His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, Jesus asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). By this, He shows that the world is valueless in comparison with having our soul saved by Him. St. James identifies friendship with the world as enmity with God (James 4:4). St. John warns us not to love the world or the stuff of this world, for we can love only God or the world, not both at the same time. While we may safely use the things of this world to provide for our journey through it, we know that everything in this world is passing away, but “whoever does the will of God”—that is, trusts in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior—“abides forever” (1 John 2:17).

Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world, and He prayed to His Father for you: “[Father,] I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one” (John 17:14–15). By His righteousness, we stand justified before God. By His intercession, we are kept safe from Satan. By keeping our eyes fixed on Him, we are kept from falling back into the snares of this dying world. St. Paul writes to those baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1–4).

Prayer: Almighty and most merciful God, in this earthly life we endure sufferings and death before we enter into eternal glory. Grant us grace at all times to subject ourselves to Your holy will and to continue steadfast in the true faith to the end of our lives that we may know the peace and joy of the blessed hope of the resurrection of the dead and of the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The Innocent for the Guilty

The Innocent for the Guilty

Mark 15:6–15 (ESV)

Now at the feast Pilate used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Yesterday we heard about how secular rulers often use power for their own advantage. In a democracy, the "tyranny of the majority" is also a real danger. Pilate looked out at the crowd and heard their loud cries against Jesus and decided to give them the customary release of a single criminal in celebration of their festival. This was a favor extended by the Judean governor to pacify the people and avoid conflict.

The crowd of people used its voice to obtain the power of execution from Pilate. Even in an autocracy like the Roman Empire, in which governors like Pilate represented the emperor’s total authority over the provinces, the people often had strength in numbers and could use force to overthrow local rulers.

“Democracy” means that power is in the hands of the people. The United States enjoys much stability with its government functioning as a representative democracy, with checks and balances, but outside the governor’s palace, we see democratic power at its worst, when the people use their influence to bring about wickedness. The crowds demanded that Barabbas, who had committed murder during an insurrection, be set free instead of the innocent Jesus. The chief priests goaded them on.

Pilate did release Barabbas, which provided that criminal with a unique perspective on Jesus’ death, if he stayed around to watch the crucifixion: Barabbas goes free, while Jesus dies in his place, so he has Jesus to thank for his freedom.

While Jesus dies in place of Barabbas to spare his earthly life, the Gospel is that Jesus died in the place of all sinful humans in order to spare them from eternal damnation. God made Christ “to be sin” in place of us sinners even though He had no sin, so that in Christ “we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21), saved for everlasting life. Jesus “gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4), that is, so we may escape the fate of this condemned world and enjoy life in the new heavens and new earth. The innocent Christ became an accursed criminal on the cross, condemned under God’s Law, so that we guilty sinners may be forgiven and set free from the eternal consequences of our misdeeds.

“Crucify!” the crowd shouted to Pilate, and he consented. Jesus would undergo a humiliating and excruciating death on the cross. He willingly endured the pain and shame to save us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, through Your shameful death on the cross You embraced the guilt of our sin and atoned for our iniquities. Forgive Your servants and assure us that You have cleansed us of our guilt and taken away our shame that we may rejoice in the freedom of sins forgiven and in Your everlasting peace; even as You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

What Is Truth?

What Is Truth?

Pastor Roth

John 18:33–38a (ESV)

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world or from this world. The servants of a worldly king are charged with protecting him from being accosted by enemies; Jesus’ servants do not take up arms, and Jesus willingly enters captivity. Jesus admits that He is a king, but He says He has come for the sole purpose of bearing witness to the truth, in contrast with the worldly Jewish leaders who were willing to bear false witness against Him in order to preserve their worldly power.

Jesus says that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to Him, the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. Pilate’s skeptical question, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), reflects the worldview of one who was interested in using words to achieve political objectives rather than to speak the truth. So today, worldly-minded politicians are often not interested in the truth but in power. 

By contrast, Jesus’ kingdom is all about the truth of the Gospel, the way of the cross, salvation hidden beneath weakness. King Jesus came “not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for the many” (Mark 10:45), and who reigns by grace and mercy, granting pardon and salvation to His subjects, even though we are sinful rebels. That is the truth, straight from the mouth of Jesus, who is Truth!

Prayer: Almighty God, grant that in the midst of our failures and weaknesses we may be restored through the passion and intercession of Your only-begotten Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Mind of Christ

The Mind of Christ

Matthew 21:1–9, Holy Gospel for Palm Sunday

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

"Behold your King is coming to you, humble..." What a strange King! Usually kings exalt themselves. But humility is part and parcel of the mind of Christ, and this is what St. Paul says that we have in the verses leading up to the Palm Sunday Epistle: "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus..." (Phil 2:1-5).

The teachings of Christ and Paul contrast sharply with the predominant values of secularist Western culture. Christian virtues promote peace and harmony among people through each Christian’s patient submission to the needs of others and the mutual forgiveness of sins. True virtue is selflessness and love toward others. In contrast, our culture promotes self-centeredness and self-esteem (a synonym for pride). Humility is in short supply in this fallen world, but when the peace of Christ comes to rule hearts, the Lord draws us out of ourselves to look to the interests of others first.

Paul introduces Philippians 2:5-11 by inviting Christians to recognize that humility is a gift to them in Christ Jesus. Through Baptism we are in fact made humble and when we act otherwise we live a conflicted life, running against our very nature as children of God. We are no longer held in bondage to the conceited sinful nature but have received the Holy Spirit, who gives us “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:12, 16). This does not mean that we cease to be sinners, since we remain so until we die. However, we are no longer ruled by the sinful nature, but rather by the Spirit. When we come to Christ Jesus, revealed in the Scriptures, the preached Word, and the Sacraments, we learn from Him and receive rest for our souls, which breeds gentleness and lowliness (Matthew 11:29).

Any human who boasts of anything in himself in this life acts as if God is not the Creator or the Redeemer. The fact that the Son of God humbled Himself to take on our flesh, suffer for our sins, and die shamefully on the cross should tear down all of our pretensions of greatness, or rights, and of privileges. The cross should—no, the cross does—humble us prideful sinners.

In Luke 9:23-24, Jesus says that His followers are to “take up their crosses.” We know that the cross is an instrument of pain and death, so these verses are a reminder that, as Paul and Barnabas taught in Acts 14:22, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” This does not mean that bearing the cross is a work that merits salvation. Rather, the Christian receives hardship, frustration, pain, and persecution in his life—all things which challenge his faith—and bearing the cross means that in the midst of these sufferings, the Christian continues to believe in Christ’s forgiveness and mercy and does not conclude that God has forsaken him. Just as Christ’s life involved suffering before glory, so will ours be shaped by that pattern. In the Kingdom of Jesus, suffering comes before glory, humility before exaltation.

Prayer: O King who comes in the name of the Lord, through Your birth and death, earth and heaven were joined together in peace. May Your coming as King into Jerusalem in humility on the donkey help us to see that You continue to come to us as our King hidden in humble water, humble words, humble food; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer requests: Lynn Cottle, as she recovers in rehabilitation, and her husband Joe, as he patiently awaits her return home; Bessie Mahaffey and Alma Gause, under hospice care.

Humiliation and Exaltation

Humiliation and Exaltation

Pastor Roth

Philippians 2:5-11, Epistle Reading for Palm Sunday

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 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.

Though Christ Jesus is equal to God the Father, possessing all the riches of the Divine Majesty, He “made Himself nothing” (Phil 2:7) for our sake, becoming poor so that we might become rich with forgiveness of sins and eternal life (2 Cor 8:9). God the Son, who created us, laid aside everything He had and became our servant in order to redeem us, giving His life as a ransom for the sins of all people (Mark 10:45). The clause “being made in human likeness” is more literally “being born in likeness to men.” His birth was like ours and He is fully human as all of us. He came to save humans, “the offspring of Abraham,” by taking our flesh and dying “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:16-17). What a wonderful mystery, that our God loved us so much that He became a tiny embryo in the womb of Mary, grew up to live a perfect life in our place, and humbled Himself to the point of dying for us on the cross!

In His state of humiliation, Jesus lives out Matthew 5:3-5, the first three Beatitudes about being poor in spirit, mourning, and being meek or lowly. Being poor in spirit refers to a person standing before God as a beggar who expects no rewards but can only ask for mercy. God the Father exalted the humble Jesus and granted Him the kingdom of heaven. Though Jesus mourned in the anguish of death on the cross, His Father comforted Him in the Resurrection. The meek and lowly Jesus suffered patiently on the cross without resentment and His Father granted Him authority over all of heaven and earth (cf. Matt 28:18). Because of the grace of Christ, we are truly “blessed.”

According to Philippians 2:8, nobody humbled Jesus—Jesus humbled Himself! He had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again (John 10:17). The Father loved the world and so sent His only Son (John 3:16). The Son loves the Father and so desires to do the Father’s will. On account of this, God the Father has exalted Jesus above all things in heaven and on earth because of all that He had done during His state of humiliation—His Incarnation, life of obedience, suffering, and death.

Jesus exemplifies His own teaching that “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt 23:12). Jesus did not even “count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Phil 2:6) and thereby showed His perfect humility in laying aside His divine prerogatives. God the Father has now exalted Jesus’ human nature above all things since Jesus, as God the Son, always remained exalted. Now Jesus exercises “all authority in heaven and on earth” according to both His divine and human natures (Matthew 28:18). God became no less, but Man has been exalted above all creation, as the Ascension hymn so beautifully states:

He has raised our human nature

    On the clouds to God’s right hand;

There we sit in heav’nly places,

    There with Him in glory stand.

Jesus reigns, adored by angels;

    Man with God is on the throne.

By our mighty Lord’s ascension

    We by faith behold our own. (LSB 494:5)

Prayer: O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer requests: Lynn Cottle, as she recovers in rehabilitation, and her husband Joe, as he patiently awaits her return home; Bessie Mahaffey and Alma Gause, under hospice care.

Forsaken for Our Forgiveness

Pastor Roth

Leon Bonnat, 1833-1922

Introit for Palm Sunday, Psalm 22:19, 21, 1, 7-8, 11

But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

Tract for Palm Sunday, Psalm 73:23b–24, 1; Psalm 22:1, 4–5

O LORD, you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

This coming Lord’s Day is Palm Sunday, the first day in Holy Week. Liturgically, this Sunday is a bit ambiguous. The Gospel reading is Matthew 21:1-9, the so-called “Triumphal Entry” (He doesn’t actually enter Jerusalem until verse 10!), which provides the “Palm Sunday” theme (although we only know the branches were from a palm tree from John 12:13!). But another tradition calls this “The Sunday of the Passion” and focuses on the narrative of Jesus’ suffering and death read from Matthew, Mark, or Luke.

There is merit in focusing on the Passion for this Sunday, since churchgoing Christians might go a whole Church Year without hearing a Passion reading if they happen to miss Good Friday (not to mention that the Tenebrae Service has selected readings, not the full Passion account). However, the Introit and Tract appointed for Palm Sunday also get us to the heart of the Passion by quoting Psalm 22:1, which Jesus cried out to His Father from the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34).

Although the original Greek text of the New Testament was in all-caps, so any capitalization we do in translation is an editorial decision, the capitalized pronouns here reveal the deep mystery of the Passion: that the Father forsook His Son for our forgiveness. That is the answer to the question. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:5).

Of course, the cry of lament from Jesus was not merely a theological question to be answered but a real expression of the agony He was feeling, as He suffered under God’s wrath against the sin of the world. This is characteristic of the “lament Psalms,” such as Psalm 10: “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (v. 1). We may ask “why?” to the LORD, but only in prayer, and the lament Psalms teach us how to do that. The reason Psalm 22:1 is not a cry of despair (that is, loss of hope in God) is that Jesus continued to cry out to His “God,” His Father, and He knew that even though He was forsaken for our forgiveness, He would be vindicated on Easter in His Resurrection.

Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, we also can be confident that God will forgive us our transgressions and never forsake us. St. Paul uses the same verb translated as “forsaken” in Psalm 22, Matthew 27, and Mark 15 to give Christians comfort, as does the Epistle to the Hebrews:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Cor 4:7-10)

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Heb 13:5-6)

Since Christ was forsaken for our forgiveness, life, and salvation, we need never fear that God will leave us or forsake us, even in the midst of the bitterest of sufferings and sorrows!

Prayer: Lord God, our heavenly Father, we thank You especially for the Gospel and the Holy Sacraments and for Your continued presence with Your people. Forgive us where we have been slow to receive Your Word and unwilling to obey it. We rejoice in Your goodness and in the promise that You will never leave us or forsake us. Bless Your Church throughout the world so that she may give faithful witness to the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ both in word and deed. Preserve and protect Your people at all times, and bring them at last to the heavenly home which You have prepared for all who serve You in faith and love; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer requests: Lynn Cottle, hospitalized; Alma Gause and Bessie Mahaffey, under hospice care. Leaders in our city, county, state, and country, as they help us respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: Chris Cannon, Paul Pape, Greg Abbott, and Donald Trump.