Faith founded on Scripture

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/701517805 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for the Week of Easter

Acts 10:34-41  +  Luke 24:13-35

The account you heard this evening about the disciples on the road to Emmaus is the reason why we reviewed all those Old Testament prophecies last week. It’s important to know the events of Holy Week. In fact, it’s vital for us to know them. But it’s just as important to know the Word of God that prophesied those events ahead of time. Because that’s how the Holy Spirit works faith in a person’s heart, not by seeing the crucified and risen Lord Jesus, but by hearing the Spirit-inspired words pointing to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. Faith has to be founded on Holy Scripture.

Who were the two disciples walking toward Emmaus? One is called Cleopas. They weren’t among the Twelve apostles, but they were obviously disciples of Jesus. They had witnessed all the events of Holy Week, and then their hopes that Jesus might be the Christ were dashed when He died. Even the reports of the women and of the empty tomb weren’t enough to give them hope.

Why did Jesus not allow them to recognize Him as He walked with them? Why did He “restrain their eyes”? Because the kind of faith they would need for the rest of their life doesn’t come from seeing. It comes from hearing.

And so Jesus walked through the Old Testament with them, making the connections between prophecy and fulfillment, even as we did last week. Using the Holy Scriptures, Jesus swept out the debris in their hearts, the debris of misinterpretation that plagued the people of Israel, the notions that the Christ would appear glorious at His coming, that He would restore an earthly kingdom to Israel, that He would take up the throne of His kingdom without suffering, without dying, and without rising from the dead. As they walked, they began to see the truth, that the Christ had to come and suffer for sin, that He was to be like the Passover lamb, and like all the Old Testament sacrifices, shedding His innocent blood in order to keep safe all who believe in Him. He had to be lifted up on a cross, like the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the desert, so that all who look to Him in faith are saved from the serpent’s venom. He had to be like the tabernacle and the temple, God’s dwelling place on earth. And the temple of His body had to be destroyed and rebuilt in three days.

The hearts of those two disciples burned within them as they listened to the Word of God that Jesus spoke, and only then, after their faith was kindled by the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures, only then did Jesus reveal Himself to them and allow them to recognize Him. He didn’t first show them visible proof of His resurrection. He first led them to faith through the Word. Then He allowed them to see.

And so it is with us, too. We haven’t seen Jesus. But He has sent His Gospel out into the world, and His Holy Spirit has caused our hearts to burn as He shows us that all of Scripture, in fact, all of history was pointing to the cross and to the empty tomb of the Christ. That’s the message that brought us to faith, and it’s the same message and the same preaching of Law and Gospel that will bring others to faith. No programs, no activities, no youth groups, no amount of fun and entertainment will bring a single soul to trust in Jesus for salvation. Only the Scriptures. Only the Word of God. Only the preaching that centers on Christ, and on Him crucified. And risen! In accordance with the Holy Scriptures.

And if the Scriptures were telling the truth about the Christ’s death and resurrection, then you can be sure they are also telling the truth about Christ reigning at the right hand of the Father, and about His constant care for His Holy Christian Church and for every single baptized believer.

So even though you don’t see Jesus, listen to the Scriptures! Listen to the Word of God! And your faith will grow! And then, if you know someone who doesn’t know the risen Lord Jesus, don’t try to convince them with arguments and proofs. Use the Scriptures. It’s the Holy Spirit’s only tool for bringing people to faith. And if we come to know Christ through the Scriptures, then He will surely abide with us here on earth by His Spirit, until we see Him in person, with our own eyes, when He comes again. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on Faith founded on Scripture

Prophecies fulfilled, Easter Sunday

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/700266325 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Easter Sunday

1 Corinthians 5:6-8  +  Mark 16:1-8

Just as Good Friday was a unique day in the history of the world, so today is also unique. Easter Sunday marks the first permanent defeat of death, when a Man who died actually rose from the dead, not to live out the rest of His earthly life only to die again, but to live forever, with a glorified body, no longer subject to death, making Him truly the Lord of life and the Ruler over death.

And, as with Christ’s suffering, death, burial, and descent into hell, this day was also prophesied ahead of time in Holy Scripture, as we just said in the Nicene Creed, “He rose from the dead according to the Scriptures.” Spend a moment with me reviewing some of those prophecies and let your hearts burn within you as did the hearts of Jesus’ disciples as He led them to see the connection between prophecy and fulfillment.

The prophecy of Christ’s resurrection most cited by the apostles after His resurrection was from Psalm 16: I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in hell, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. King David wasn’t writing about himself, as the apostles pointed out, because David’s tomb was still in Jerusalem, where his body still lay, thoroughly corrupted and decayed. No, he was writing about his greater Son, his Offspring, the Christ, whose body would not be left by God to rot in a tomb.

Another prophecy from Psalm 22: I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted One; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard. We saw on Good Friday how this Psalm painted the picture of Christ’s crucifixion and death. But even after His suffering and death, Christ, the afflicted One, would be heard and helped by His Father. Yes, the Father let His Son be afflicted and die for our sins, but there would still be help for Him, because He wouldn’t remain dead.

Isaiah 53: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief. If he makes his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD will prosper in his hand. From the labor of his soul, he will see and be satisfied. By knowledge of him my righteous servant will justify many; for he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul to death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Yes, Christ was numbered with the transgressors. He was crucified right alongside two criminals. He made His soul an offering for the sins of the world. But then, after the Christ gives up His life, Isaiah says that He will see His offspring. God will prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. After bearing their iniquities, after suffering and dying for the sins of mankind, the Christ would live again to continue to do the Lord’s will, to spread the Gospel. To build His Church, against which the gates of hell will not prevail. None of that could He do if He were to remain dead.

The simple prophecy about the Christ from Psalm 110 also proves that He had to rise from the dead. The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! How could the Son of David rule in the midst of His enemies if He remained dead, having been put to death by His enemies? How could He reign at the Father’s right hand? How could His enemies be made His footstool if their Good Friday victory hadn’t been erased by Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday?

Or there’s the prophecy from Isaiah 49:6:  Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” If God’s Servant had remained dead, if the light of life had been snuffed out for good, then the Christ couldn’t be a Light to the Gentiles, couldn’t be the Lord’s salvation to the ends of the earth. Only by rising from the dead could He continue to shine His light throughout the world in the preaching of the Gospel to bring both Jews and Gentiles into His Holy Christian Church.

But if we want to see that the Scriptures always foretold the resurrection of the Christ, there’s really no need to go any farther than the first book of the Bible. In Genesis 3:15, God says to the devil: I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel. The Seed of the woman, that special offspring of Eve and of Mary would have His heel bruised or stricken by the devil. He would suffer. He would even die. But the only way for the Christ to bruise or crush the serpent’s head—to destroy the devil’s power over the sinful human race—is by not remaining dead.

And so the Easter morning story unfolds, with the faithful, believing women, our dear sisters in the faith, making their way early in the morning to Jesus’ tomb, near the hill of Calvary, where He was crucified. They go, not expecting to find Him alive, but to find Him dead, because they don’t yet understand the prophecies. But they arrive to find the stone rolled away from the entrance, and an angel sitting where Jesus’ body had been. He’s the first to announce the good news: Do not be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen; he is not here. See, here is the place where they laid him.

And then the angel reminds them of what may be the greatest prophecy of all: Go and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you. How many times had Jesus’ told His disciples that He would rise from the dead on the third day? But, they thought, surely no one, not even Jesus, could do such a thing, could raise Himself from the dead. He must be speaking in riddles. He must mean something else.

No, He said what He meant, and He did what He said. Christ, our Passover, has been slain. But He took up His life again.

Now, what does that mean for you?

For the unbeliever, it means you won’t get away with your sin forever. Because, just as the Scriptures prophesied the death and resurrection of the Christ, so they also prophesy a day of judgment on which Jesus Himself will judge those who despised His Word and His sacrifice. But the good news is, there is still time! There is still today to repent of your sins and put your hope in this divine Man who died and rose again. It’s the very reason He came, that sinners should have a Substitute who would pay for their sins with His death, so that they can now have their sins forgiven by God and live forever by trusting in Him.

For the believer, you know what Christ’s resurrection means. It means He is a mighty Savior, a worthy Redeemer, worthy of your trust, worthy of your obedience. Our Lord Jesus is called the firstborn from among the dead and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. He was the first to conquer death, but He won’t be the last. For all who believe in Him will also rise again to eternal life. Sickness? Disease? Death? What are they? They have no power, not really, not anymore. Hardship? Persecution? Injustice? These are only temporary things. You have a living Savior who now reigns at the Father’s right hand on your behalf, for your benefit. He has made you part of His body through Holy Baptism and faith. He has marked you as His own. And He will come for each believer, when it is time, first to guard the soul as the body sleeps in the grave, and then to raise the body, too. And then the great prophecy of Job will be fulfilled, not only for him, but for every believer: For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Christ is arisen! He is risen indeed! A blessed and happy Easter to all of you, in the name of the living Lord Jesus. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Prophecies fulfilled, Easter Sunday

Prophecies fulfilled, Holy Saturday

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/701504907 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for the Vigil of Easter

Christ is arisen! We begin our celebration of His resurrection already tonight, which is already the beginning of the third day, according to Jewish reckoning. But there is one more prophecy about the Christ that we should consider before jumping all the way into the joy of the resurrection tomorrow morning. It’s that somewhat obscure prophecy that’s referenced so briefly in our Apostles’ Creed. He descended into hell.

The Old Testament prophecies about this are few. Only two, as far as I can tell. First, from Psalm 16: For You will not leave my soul in hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. The apostles cite that verse several times with regard to the Christ’s resurrection, the fact that His body would not see decay, because He would rise from the dead. But if His soul—that is, His whole self, according to Hebrew meaning—was not left in hell, then He must have descended there first. So the Christ would descend to hell before rising from hell and death.

Then there’s a verse from Hosea 13: I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Hell, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes.

Tonight, let’s let Martin Luther guide us briefly through this wondrous prophecy and article of faith. We hear portions of his sermon on Christ’s descent into hell:

Before Christ rose and ascended into heaven, while He still lay in the grave, He also descended to hell, in order that He might also deliver us out from there who should have lain captive therein. It was for this same reason that He also had gone into death and was laid in the grave, that He might bring His own out from there. But I do not want to treat this article in a lofty or detailed manner—how it was done, or what it means to go to hell. No, I want to stay with the simplest understanding, as one would describe it to children.

This is also how one finds it often depicted in murals, how He descended with a choir cape and with a banner in His hand. He comes before hell and strikes down and slays the devil with the banner. He storms hell and brings out His own (not as if the souls of the believers were in hell, waiting to be brought out, but in that hell before had a claim on all people, and now it no longer has any claim on those who believe in Jesus).

For such a picture demonstrates well the power and the benefit of this article. This is why the article exists and is preached and believed, to show how Christ has destroyed the power of hell and has taken away from the devil all his might. If I grasp that, I have the proper knowledge and understanding of it and shouldn’t investigate or speculate further how it happened or is possible.

We should very simply bind our hearts and thoughts to the word of the Creed, which says: “I believe in the Lord Christ, the Son of God, who…descended to hell.” That is, I believe that Christ, who is God and man in one person, went to hell, but did not remain there. As Psalm 16 says of Him: “You will not abandon My soul to hell nor allow Your Holy One to see decay.”

Christ went as a conquering hero and personally broke into hell and bound the devil. Whether the banners, gates, door, and chains are made of wood, iron, or of nothing at all, it doesn’t matter at all, as long as I grasp that which is demonstrated through this picture, what I should believe about Christ, that neither hell nor devil can take me or harm me or any who believe in Him…For although hell remains hell, per se, and holds the unbelievers prisoner—as also death, sin, and all misfortune hold them, too—so that they must remain and perish therein; and although it still terrifies and threatens us, too, according to the flesh and the outer man, nevertheless, all of that is, by faith, destroyed and torn apart, so that it can no longer harm us at all. Now all the devils must run away and flee, even as death and its venom and the whole of hell with its fire must be put out before Him, so that no Christian has to be afraid of it anymore.

But our Lord Christ has not left it at that, that He died and descended to hell, (for that would not yet have helped us in the end), but He also left death and hell again, brought life back again and opened heaven wide and thus publicly demonstrated His victory and triumph over death, the devil, and hell, that He, according to this article, rose again from the dead on the third day. For by rising from the dead, He has become a mighty Lord over death and everything that has the power of death or that serves death, so that it can no longer consume or hold Him. Sin can no longer fall upon Him or drive Him to death. The devil can no longer bring a complaint against Him, nor can the world or any creature trouble Him or harm Him.

This boast now belongs to the Lord Christ alone. But He did not do it for Himself; He did it for us poor, miserable people who otherwise would have had to be eternal captives of death and the devil. For prior to this, He, for His own part, certainly did not have to die or go to hell. But since He clothed Himself in our flesh and blood and took up all our sin, punishment, and misfortune, He also had to help us out of these things by coming back to life and becoming a Lord of death, in order that we, too, might also finally come out of death and all misfortune in Him and through Him.

Here a strong faith is needed, which holds this article up powerfully and writes this saying upon the heart in large letters, “Christ is arisen,” making this phrase as large as heaven and earth, so that faith sees, hears, thinks, and knows nothing else but this article, as if nothing else were written in the whole creation. As St. Paul writes to the Romans: “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who will condemn? It is Christ who has died, yes, much more, who has risen from the dead.”

Let us hold to this truth and dwell upon it daily, for all our wisdom, salvation, and blessedness depend on it. To that end, may God help us through His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Comments Off on Prophecies fulfilled, Holy Saturday

Prophecies fulfilled, Good Friday

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/699941790 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Good Friday

Today is like no other day in history. On this one day, not quite 2,000 years ago, an innocent Man—the only truly innocent, sinless Man in history, a Man, who was also God our Creator—suffered, died, and was buried. That makes this day unique. But it’s unique also in another way. No other day in history has been described ahead of time with as much detail and with as much accuracy as Good Friday, as, one by one, the prophecies about the coming Christ were fulfilled in the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus. Let’s take a moment to consider just a few of them.

Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away, but he did not open his mouth. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, makes this verse’s meaning a little clearer: “In His humiliation, justice was removed from Him.” We saw that last night before the Sanhedrin. We saw it today before Pontius Pilate. No justice for Jesus, only humiliation and unjust condemnation. As Peter wrote, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. You and I were the unjust. But the Just One allowed Himself to be condemned so that sinners like Barabbas, sinners like you and I, could go free.

Meanwhile, we’re told about Judas’ remorse and his returning of the 30 pieces of silver, which he threw into the house of the Lord, and with which the priests then purchased the potter’s field. Zechariah 11: So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter. “That princely price they set on Me.” It’s all the life of Jesus was worth to Judas. It’s worth even less than that to many. How much is His life worth to you? What would your words and actions reveal? I’ll tell you. They would reveal that many things in this life have been worth more to you than Jesus, worth more to you than your God. So repent and, unlike Judas, turn to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness. And then mean the words of the last stanza of the hymn you just sang: Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a tribute far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Psalm 22: For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. An incredibly vivid depiction of a crucifixion before crucifixion even existed. Even the soldiers’ dividing Jesus’ garments among themselves was prophesied 1,000 years before it happened as the Holy Spirit painted the picture for us through the words of the Prophet-King David. The cross was always in God’s view, and now He wants it always to be in view for us, too, that we may know the price of our redemption and the love of God who willingly paid that price for us.

Also Psalm 22: All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He  trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!” Even the mockery the Christ would receive at the foot of the cross was prophesied by King David. The sentiment of the religious leaders then is like the sentiment of so many still today. If you trust in God, nothing bad is supposed to happen to you. If God truly delights in you, then He will save you from all earthly harm, and from shame and disgrace. If He doesn’t, then He must not delight in you, or He must not be a good God, or He must not exist. But looks can be so deceiving. It often looks like God has abandoned His own. But in truth, Jesus was never so pleasing to His Father as when He bore the sins of the world and received the punishment for them. Doing the will of God often comes with great pain. But in the end, it will always be worth it.

Also Psalm 22: My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws…And they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. The final moments of the cross are depicted in the Psalm. He’s almost done, and He knows it. But He has to complete the picture drawn by the Holy Spirit through King David, so He asks for a drink, because He has a loud shout yet to make, declaring the great “It is finished!” that declares His atoning work complete. All the suffering needed to earn mankind’s salvation had been suffered. No further payment for sins can possibly be made.

Also Psalm 22: For He was cut off from the land of the living. The Scriptures prophesied ahead of time the death of the Christ. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone, and yet it surprised nearly everyone, except for old Simeon who held that same Jesus in his arms some 33 years earlier and warned Mary about this day: Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, too. And so our Savior died, having fulfilled every last prophecy. But there were still prophecies to be fulfilled. Even though the soldiers had been ordered to break the legs of the three men being crucified to help them die faster, before the sun set, they came to Jesus and found Him already dead. So, not having the faintest idea they were fulfilling the Scriptures, they chose not to break His legs, but to pierce His side instead, fulfilling the words of Moses in Exodus 12: None of his bones shall be broken, making the connection between the Christ and the Passover Lamb; and also the words of Zechariah in chapter 12, They will look on the One whom they have pierced.

Then Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus acquired Jesus’ body, and Joseph, a rich man, laid Jesus in his own, newly hewn tomb, so that Isaiah’s prophecy could be fulfilled: And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death.

The reason for it all, for all the suffering and for the death of the Christ, was also prophesied in Holy Scripture. Isaiah spelled in out for us in chapter 53: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. The wounds we had earned for our transgressions were all endured by Jesus during those six hours He spent on the cross. The peace with God that He earned is now offered to us freely, through faith. The healing we all needed was earned for us by Jesus, who gave up His own health and comfort and offered His body to the stripes and scourges and blows that we deserved for our sins.

Now, through faith and Holy Baptism, you have been united with the death of Christ, buried with Him through Baptism into death, that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, you, too, should walk in a new life. And if a person has never been baptized and has never learned the great significance of this day, then now is the time, time to repent, time to trust, so that each and every one of you can say with the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Yes, all of history was leading up to this Good Friday, as shown by the Old Testament prophecies. And now the Lord God has led you here to hear this Gospel again, the Gospel of Christ crucified, to call you again to repentance and faith in Him, and to assure you that, if the Father did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Jesus, graciously give us all the things we need, both for this life and for the next? Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on Prophecies fulfilled, Good Friday

Prophecies Fulfilled, Maundy Thursday

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon Download Bulletin

Sermon for Maundy Thursday

You heard again this evening the events of Maundy Thursday. This evening, and over the next two days, I’d like you to focus on the many Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. One by one, they point us to Jesus as the Christ, and to the great works He accomplished for us and for our salvation.

We already saw a great prophecy from Zechariah fulfilled on Palm Sunday: the King’s arrival in Jerusalem, righteous and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey. On Maundy Thursday, we see at least four prophecies being fulfilled.

The first is the prophecy of the betrayal of the Christ. I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.

That’s a prophecy from Psalm 41, a Psalm of David, whose life was, in many ways, a type or a foreshadowing of the life of the Christ, the Son of David. Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. And a similar prophecy in Psalm 55: For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, And walked to the house of God in the throng. It hurts to be attacked by an enemy. But it hurts far more to be betrayed by someone close, someone who was supposed to be on your side, someone you thought of as a friend, a friend who turns out to be your bitterest enemy. That’s the kind of betrayal Jesus, the Christ, suffered for us, betrayal by one of His twelve chosen apostles, who worshiped with Jesus and who literally shared bread with Jesus, not only over the previous three years, but on that very Maundy Thursday night, betrayed by a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. Don’t feel bad for Judas. He did what he did by his own will and choice. Instead, think of the pain it caused our Savior. He walked knowingly into a trap laid for Him by His friend so that He might save us from the devil’s trap, who was created to be a friend of God and of the human race, and yet betrayed both God and man and made himself into our bitterest enemy. Only by suffering betrayal from the hand of Judas could the Christ save us from the great betrayal perpetrated by the devil.

Then there’s the prophecy of the New Covenant or the New Testament that Jesus instituted on that very Maundy Thursday night, the New Testament in His blood. It was Jeremiah who foretold it: Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” And so we have in the Sacrament of the Altar a covenant or a testament, not of blessings in return for obedience, but of forgiveness for disobedience, that we might now walk according to God’s commandments, not in order to win heaven for ourselves, but gladly, willingly, as those who rely on Christ Jesus, who won heaven for us by giving His body and shedding His blood on the cross, and who gives the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to all who believe in Him, whether Jew or Gentile, right here in this Sacrament of His true body and His true blood.

Third, there’s the prophecy from Zechariah of the attack against the Christ and the scattering of the sheep that would happen as a result. All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. And so we see Jesus, the Good Shepherd, doing exactly what He said a good shepherd does, standing between the wolf and the sheep, so that the wolf strikes the shepherd instead of the sheep. The sheep, the disciples, are allowed to scatter while the wolf is busy attacking the shepherd. That was cowardly on the disciples’ part. It was a “stumbling,” as Jesus called it. But the Good Shepherd didn’t come to be rescued by His sheep. He came to rescue us from sin, death, and the power of the devil, from our own shameful weakness and cowardice. So learn to overcome cowardice and to embrace courage in your walk as Christians as you see Jesus standing up courageously in the face of His enemies, and ours.

And finally, Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be thus? Now, which Scriptures have Christ being led away violently, and yet quietly? Well, I think of the verse from Isaiah 53, He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In fact it was that very verse from Isaiah where the Evangelist Philip began to explain to the Ethiopian eunuch how Jesus had come in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, how He was the promised Christ, and how He had earned salvation for all by His atoning sacrifice on the cross. And which Scriptures have God the Father giving the Christ this bitter cup to drink? Again from Isaiah 53: The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

See how all these miraculous, divine prophecies come together, one by one, to point to Jesus as the Christ who would suffer by God’s own design, not for His sins, but for ours, to earn us a place by His side in His glorious kingdom. Let these prophecies and their fulfillment serve to prove God’s love for our fallen race and His desire that all people, including you, should repent and believe in His Son. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on Prophecies Fulfilled, Maundy Thursday