The love of Jesus in the midst of the world’s hatred

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Maundy Thursday

John 13:1-14:21, 15:1-25

The first 15 verses of John 13 are the ones traditionally read on Maundy Thursday, along with St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians recalling the institution of the Lord’s Supper. We will celebrate the Supper tonight. But since we just reviewed the Lord’s Supper last week at Vespers, and since we’ve been following the Apostle John all week long in his recounting of Holy Week, I thought it would be useful for us to hear more from his Gospel, to see a fuller picture of Jesus’ final evening with His disciples on that first Maundy Thursday, even as we focus on the first 15 verses.

Jesus had a lot to say to His disciples that evening, from the love of Jesus for His disciples, to the love that Jesus demands of His disciples for one another, to the hatred that the world has for Jesus, and for His disciples.

But it begins with love—Jesus’ love for His own, who were in the world. Love from beginning to end, from start to “It is finished!” Who are “His own”? In chapter 1 of John’s Gospel, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” There, “His own” are the people of Israel, the ones who had been brought into that Old Testament with God long ago, the ones who were supposed to receive their promised Christ with joy and thanksgiving, but who were about to crucify Him instead.

But some did receive Him, John says, and to them He gave the right to become children of God. They became “His own” in the truest sense—the apostles and, really, all who truly believed in Him. He was about to endure the agony of Gethsemane, and of Golgotha, for love of them, because, by His sacrifice, by His suffering, He would earn for them a place in the heavenly mansions, and these who believed in Him would be spending eternity with Him there, and not only they, but all who would believe in Him through their preaching. He would endure the agony for love of the whole world, in the sense that He died for all, that all should become His own through Baptism and faith. But above all, He would do it for love of those who actually did and would believe in Him, the ones whom He calls His “friends.” That means that you, too, who believe in Christ Jesus were in Jesus’ heart on Maundy Thursday evening, together with His beloved apostles.

His apostles, whose feet He proceeded to wash. What a humbling sight! To see the One through whom the heavens and earth were made stooping down onto His hands and knees like a servant and performing the lowly task of foot washing. It reminds us of the Epistle we heard on Palm Sunday, and the point of the foot washing was really the same point Paul was making to the Philippian Christians: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. “Let this mind be in you.” That’s essentially what Jesus told His apostles. You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master.

Of course, Peter objected at first. “Lord, You should not be washing my feet! You should never stoop down to serve me!” But that’s precisely what Jesus came to do, to stoop down to serve sinful mankind. Yes, the Greater came to serve the lesser. The rich Man came to serve His poor servants. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. And so He told Peter, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. In other words, if you will not accept My service that I render to you, then you are no Christian. Because to be a Christian is to submit to the Lord serving you, because you realize that, although you are the one who was supposed to be serving God, you had failed, and the only way to be saved is if God stoops down to serve you, through the humble service of Jesus.

And if the Lord of all so willingly stooped down to serve His lowly servants, if the Lord of all so completely loved those who were beneath Him, how could His disciples fail to serve one another, or to love one another? No, He calls on His servants—apostles and laymen alike—to “wash one another’s feet,” that is, to serve one another in abject humility. He gave them a “new commandment,” to love one another.

What makes His commandment “new”? Well, it’s new for several reasons. It’s new in the sense that it’s being issued under a New Testament. Under the Old Testament, under the Law, love was required of the Israelites as their part of the agreement, as a condition of justification. But in the New Testament, which Jesus was just about to institute on that very night, justification is pronounced, God’s forgiveness is given, not on the basis of our love, but on the basis of faith in God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.

It’s a new commandment, in the sense that it has a new paradigm, a new pattern to show us what love truly looks like. God loved the Old Testament Israelites. He loved Adam and Eve. He loved the patriarchs. He loved David. But in all the wondrous works God did for people in the Old Testament, all the miraculous demonstrations of redemption and salvation, God didn’t have to give up anything. He didn’t have to sacrifice anything of His own. So no one could see just how deep His love for mankind ran. But in the incarnation of the Son of God, in His humiliation, in the suffering He had already undergone before Holy Week, in the suffering He would endure on that very night and into the following day, God gave up more than we can imagine. He suffered things that He didn’t have to suffer, but chose to suffer, for love of sinners. As I have loved you, Jesus says to His disciples, so—in this same way—you must love one another.

And that’s another thing that’s new about it. The command to love has a new focus: “one another,” fellow Christians. More than anything else, Christians, who know the love of Christ, are to be known for their love of one another, are to be devoted to one another above anyone else in the world. So every single church that calls itself Christian should take stock of itself, and each member should ask himself, have I kept this commandment? Am I keeping it? Am I determined to keep it? Because, if you’re content to disobey this commandment, to treat fellow Christians with scorn and contempt, or even with apathy, then you might as well stop calling Jesus your Lord. If you love Me, He says, keep My commandments. His command for Christians to love one another is at the top of the list.

Of course, the only way you’ll be able to do that is if you remain grafted into Him by faith, like branches attached to a vine, which brings us to that famous I AM statement of Jesus that you also heard this evening: I am the vine, you are the branches. When we were under the Law as the way to God, as the way to be accepted by God, we were doomed to failure, because doing good works in order to gain God’s favor is like a branch trying to produce fruit on its own, without being attached to the vine. But under the Gospel, under the New Testament in the blood of Christ, God has accepted us and made us His own through faith in Christ, and now believers are able to keep the Lord’s commandments, by His power that works in us. The way of the Law led to death, but the way of the Gospel, the way of faith, the way of Christ leads to eternal life.

And that’s just what Jesus said about Himself, in that other famous I AM statement that you heard earlier: I AM the way, and the truth, and the life. Jesus had begun to speak to His apostles about His departure—which included His departure to the grave, but then also His departure from the earth to the right hand of God the Father. And He gave them that beautiful picture of what He would be doing while He was “away”: Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas objected, Lord, we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way? But they did know the way, because the way is Jesus, and they knew Him.

And yet, there was one there who didn’t know Him, not really. Judas Iscariot knew Jesus to be many things, but he didn’t know Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He didn’t believe, and, therefore, he was unclean before God. He wasn’t even there to hear most of what you heard this evening, because he had already left to go tell the Jews about the Garden of Gethsemane, where they would be able to find Jesus and arrest Him within a few hours. Judas, unlike the other apostles, was still of the world—the world that hated Jesus and still hates Him, the world that hated His apostles, the world that hates all who truly love Jesus. They hated Me without cause, Jesus lamented. He had only done good. He had only spoken the truth. He had only acted in love. But if you don’t love the truth, then you can’t love Jesus. And if you don’t love Him, then, the truth is, you hate Him.

Tomorrow, we’ll see the culmination of the world’s hatred toward Jesus. But the more the world’s hatred is put on display, the more the love of Jesus shines into the darkness, that He was willing to endure all of man’s hatred for love of His friends, including those who were not yet His friends, including those who hated Him at the time but later were made to see His love and to be converted by it. May the love of Jesus shine brightly in you and through you, that, in the midst of this world’s hatred, His love, and your love, may shine as bright as the day into this present darkness, too. Amen.

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Walk in the light that you still have

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Holy Tuesday

John 12:34-50

Last night, we heard Jesus say that He must be lifted up. And the people clearly understood that He was talking about His death, because it left them utterly confused. The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

The “Law,” which here refers to the Old Testament in general, does say that the Christ would remain forever. For example, all the Jews knew the promise God made to King David, a prophecy which ultimately spoke about the Son of David, the Christ: I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Or think of those familiar words we hear at Christmas, Unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The Christ would remain forever.

And yet, what all the Jews seem to have missed was that the Christ also had to suffer and die, and that “remaining forever” meant that He would rise from the dead, as Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 so clearly teach. So the people were confused by Jesus’ words about the “Son of Man,” thinking that maybe He was not referring to the Christ after all.

It wasn’t possible for Jesus to spell out the mystery for them at that time, during Holy Week. He couldn’t explain it all to them. Events had to play out as the prophets had said, which meant that the people had to be left in the dark as to the details, for the moment. But they weren’t entirely left in the dark. Jesus provided all the light they needed to believe and to be saved. He said to them, A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

From the very first chapter of his Gospel, John has been describing Jesus as the Light that came into the world to give light to all men. He describes Jesus that way, because Jesus spoke of Himself that way. While He was in the world, He was the light of the world, the one true source of light, of knowledge, of wisdom, of who God is and how sinful man can be reconciled to Him. As the Light, He exposed people’s sins, but He also exposed how those sins would be paid for, and how believing in Him was the only way to be saved. That light didn’t reveal everything everyone ever wanted to know, but it revealed enough.

We no longer have the light in the same way those people did, in the Person of the Son of God walking among the people of Israel. Instead, He’s given us the light of the Gospel. People turn to so many sources for knowledge, for wisdom, for understanding. They turn to philosophers, theologians, experts, scientists, dieticians, specialists, gurus, yearning for enlightenment, yearning for someone to follow, to tell them what they need to do, what they need to understand. And all the while, the Gospel goes out, like a still, small voice into the world. “Here is the true light, in the good news of Jesus. Believe in Him, that you may become sons of light!”

“But, that’s not as good as having Jesus, the Light, right there in your midst!” The truth is, the light of the Gospel of Christ has been far more successful in enlightening people than it was to have Him right there with them. As John writes, Although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

You see? Having the Light shining brightly on them, seeing all the miracles that Jesus did—most of the Jews still didn’t believe in Him, as Isaiah told them ahead of time that they wouldn’t, and they still didn’t listen. And because they cared so little about the Word of God, because they despised it, God blinded them further and hardened their hearts further, so that the more they saw and heard from Jesus, the less they perceived. What a terrible judgment God brought against those people!

Now, remember that everything that happened to Israel in the Old Testament, and also at the time of Jesus, serves as a pattern and as a warning for us. There’s still time to humble yourselves before God, if you’ve been exalting yourself. There’s still time to hear Jesus calling you to follow Him, if you’ve been putting it off, for some foolish reason. The light of the Gospel still shines in the world, wherever people hear the preaching of it. Even here. Even now.

Then follows another warning from the apostle John, who tells us that many, even among the rulers of the Jews, did believe in Jesus, but! (And you never want to have the conjunction “but” come after “they believed in Him.”) Even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. Here’s an example of what Jesus talked about in the verses we heard last night. He who loves his life will lose it. Those rulers knew better. They knew that Jesus was God’s gift to them, God’s own Son, sent to Israel to save them. But they still valued their important place in the synagogue more than they valued Jesus. As John puts it, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Oh, don’t let this be you! Is there anything you value more than Jesus? Your job, your reputation, the praise of men? Is there anything you’re not ready to give up today, right now, if obedience to God requires it? If so, repent, before it’s too late. Surely you don’t want it to be said of you, they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. Likewise, to not believe in Jesus is to not believe in the Father who sent Him. As He’ll say later to His disciples, He and the Father are One. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father’s being. So to listen to Jesus is to listen to the Father. To know Him is to know the Father. And yes, there’s some Trinitarian mystery involved in that, but the basic truth is simple enough. You can’t have one while rejecting the other. And if you have Jesus, you have God, the eternal Father, as well. What more could you want?

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

Again, Jesus shined His light on everyone, because God wants all men to be saved. As He said back in John chapter 3, He came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved, so that all who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. As for those who didn’t believe in Him when He came the first time, they didn’t have to worry about Jesus killing them or destroying them, judging them right there on the spot. That’s not why He came the first time. He came not to judge the world but to save the world. But not all men are saved, because so many reject the word of Jesus that provided, and still provides, a way for all sinners to be saved. The Father commanded His Son to speak to the world for Him, that men should believe in Jesus, and that all who believe will be reconciled to the Father through the Son. So the Son spoke.

Amazingly, God has given me, as a called minister of the Christian Church, the exact same command, with the exact same promised attached: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Believe in Him, and you will have everlasting life. May the word of Christ and the light of Christ penetrate your hearts again this evening, that you may continue to see God through Jesus, and to treasure this light that you have—the light that gives you life that will last forever. Amen.

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Jesus will draw all men to Himself

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Holy Monday

John 12:20-33

The world has gone after Jesus!, the Pharisees and chief priests of Israel lamented as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Obviously they were exaggerating. But in a sense, it was true. Many in Israel were going after Jesus, though that number would be greatly reduced by the end of the week. But Gentiles from other parts of the world were also starting to go after Jesus, and many, many more would follow.

We heard about some Greeks who went after Jesus in this evening’s reading. They were there for Passover, which indicates that these were people of Greek ancestry but who had converted to the Jewish religion. These men were going after Jesus to see Him and to investigate these claims they had been hearing about Him being the Messiah. They may not have believed in Jesus yet as the Christ, but they were interested. They cared. They knew that their adopted Jewish religion was pointing somewhere, not to the earthly kingdom of Israel, but to a Savior and King who would bring the Gentiles into His kingdom, too, together with the Jews who would believe in Him. So they asked Philip, Sir, we would see Jesus.

I remember having a seminary professor who reminded us of these words in our preaching class. Sir, we would see Jesus. He reminded us, rightly, that this is really the chief request, the only request that all of Jesus’ sheep make of their pastor, if they’re in church for the right reasons. Hypocrites and unbelievers may come to hear a sermon with some cute story, some life lesson, some inspirational speech. But true Christians—true Christians come to sit at the feet of the shepherd whom Jesus has placed among them to see Jesus through the pastor’s preaching, just as the Greeks approached Philip, not to hear all about Philip’s life or Philip’s ideas, but that Philip might lead them to see Jesus.

Whether or not Jesus ended up meeting with these Greeks, we’re not told. But what Jesus said to His disciples certainly had ramifications for the Greeks. He answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” Several times in John’s Gospel, it looked like the end for Jesus. But each time He said, “My hour has not yet come.” Now, during the Passover of Holy Week, it had. His hour “to be glorified.” He compares Himself to a grain of wheat, a seed that’s planted in the ground. It “dies” and is buried, never to be seen again in that same form. But what comes up from that seed is a new stalk of wheat that produces many grains. So it would be when Jesus was “glorified.”

He would be glorified, first, in His Passion itself, in His innocent-but-willing suffering and death. If you’ve ever listened to St. John’s Passion by Bach, you may know that the opening song goes like this (in English): O Lord, our Lord, whose name is majestic in all the earth, show us, by Your Passion, that You, the true Son of God, have been glorified at all times, even in the greatest lowliness. The Son of God didn’t appear glorious during His Passion, but for those who know why He went through it, and that He did it all willingly and with full knowledge of what He would suffer, we see through the shame to the true glory of Christ, so that we call out with all the heavenly throng, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” Yes, Jesus would also be glorified outwardly in His resurrection. In other passages, John refers to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as His glorification. But for now, during Holy Week, the glory is hidden behind suffering for Jesus.

As it must also be for those who would follow Him. He goes on in John’s Gospel with words He had spoken on several occasions and would repeat again: He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. What does it look like to love one’s life in this world? It looks like Judas, betraying his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. It looks like Peter, denying the Lord three times to keep himself out of danger. It looks like all the disciples running away from Him in the Garden. It looks like many of the rulers of the Jews believing in Jesus but not daring to say so out loud for fear of persecution. It looks like the crowds on Good Friday, who gave in to the Jewish leaders and joined in with the cries to crucify Him. It looks like all unbelievers, pursuing nothing but an earthly life, or seeking after false gods. It looks like Christians who are more concerned with comfort than they are with bearing the cross. He who loves his life in this world will lose it, Jesus says.

But what does it look like to hate one’s life in this world? There really are no examples of it during Holy Week except for Jesus Himself. Safety? He hated it. Comfort? He hated it. The praise and acceptance of the church leaders? He hated it. His own life? He hated it. Meaning, He gave it all up in order to obey His Father’s will, before everything else. That’s where Jesus went, toward faithfulness and obedience that led to the cross. And that’s where He calls on all who would follow Him to go, too. And just as He received honor from the Father after His earthly life was given up, so we, too, will receive honor from the Father, if we continue to serve, and to follow, and to hate our life in this world for His sake.

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven,

Jesus wasn’t “giddy” about what He was about to suffer, not “eager” to endure it. He dreaded it. His soul was deeply troubled by it. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, He did pray, “Father save Me from this hour! Take this cup from me!” But He added the most important thing of all to that petition, “Not My will, but Yours be done!” Jesus knew already in the early part of Holy Week what His Father’s will would be, so already then He submitted His will to His Father’s will, and, instead of asking to be saved from His Passion, He put Himself in His Father’s hands and, above all else, prayed, “Father, glorify Your name!”

Let that be your prayer, too, when you’re faced with bearing your cross or dropping it on the floor, when you have to decide whether to suffer with Jesus or enjoy peace and comfort with the world. For the Christian, in the end, there is no choice. For the Christian, it’s faithfulness to Jesus, whatever the cost may be. And if that’s not your choice, as it wasn’t Peter’s choice in the courtyard of the high priest on Maundy Thursday night, then realize that you stop being a Christian when you choose peace and comfort over Jesus, and you can only be brought back through genuine sorrow and repentance, as Peter, thankfully, was. As for you, don’t follow Peter in falling away. Instead, follow Jesus when facing the cross, and say, “Father, glorify Your name through whatever happens to me as I bear the cross for Jesus’ sake.”

As He had done at Jesus’ Baptism, as He had done again at Jesus’ transfiguration, the Father spoke from heaven, saying, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Jesus didn’t need to hear the Father’s approval of Him, or of His plan for Jesus’ Passion. The people there needed to hear it, and Jesus came right out and told them what it was all about.

Now is the judgment of this world. Now its ruler will be cast out. But how was the world judged then, during Holy Week? The judgment that the world deserved fell upon the Lord Jesus. So the devil, the ruler of this world, is cast out in the sense that he can no longer accuse or hold onto any who believe in Jesus, who are buried with Him through Baptism into death, because He suffered the judgment that the world was legally bound to suffer, and now all who seek God’s approval through Him are delivered out of the devil’s kingdom and into His own.

That’s what He means when He says, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. Again the Lord prophesies how He would die, that He would be lifted up, on a cross. And even the image of Him hanging on a cross with outstretched arms really is a picture of Jesus drawing, inviting, welcoming all peoples to Himself, Jews and Greeks, men and women, rich and poor—all who acknowledge their wretchedness before God and who wish to be reconciled to God through Christ crucified. He draws the world to Himself, He invites the world—all men—to be saved through Him from the ruler of this world and from the judgment that will come upon the world, upon all those who wish to be judged apart from Him. “Be reconciled to God through Me,” His image cries out from the cross. For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that, in Him, we might become the righteousness of God. Amen.

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The world has gone after the King

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Palm Sunday

Philippians 2:5-11  +  John 12:1-19

All four Gospel writers describe Holy Week. Many of their accounts overlap, but each one also includes certain details that the others leave out. Some years, we hear a combined account, a harmony of the four Evangelists. Other years we focus on just one. This year, we’re going to turn to St. John, every day this week (except for Wednesday, our one day off), to view the events of Holy Week and the Passion, that is, the Suffering of the Lord Jesus, from the inspired perspective of the apostle who often referred to himself simply as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” May the Lord grant us His Holy Spirit to guide and to bless our meditation.

John, like the other three Evangelists, includes an account of Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, sitting on a donkey. We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, John records what happened the day before, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in the little town of Bethany, at the house of a man named Simon the Leper.

Matthew and Mark include this account, too, but it’s John who tells us when it happened, the day before Palm Sunday. It’s also John who names Martha as a servant at the dinner, and Martha’s sister Mary as the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with that expensive perfume, and who wiped His feet with her hair. Their brother Lazarus was also there—an important detail added by John, because Lazarus is the one who had recently been raised from the dead by Jesus after he had spent three days in the tomb. That’s where we get that beautiful discourse between Jesus and Martha, where Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

Well, some who were in attendance at that supper were there especially to see the resurrected Lazarus, and the Jesus who had raised him up. Word was spreading quickly that this Jesus was truly the Son of God, the promised Christ, and it was the resurrection of Lazarus that sealed the deal for many of them—which added to the Palm Sunday multitude, and which also convinced the chief priests that they not only had to kill Jesus, but Lazarus, too, to regain their iron grip on the people of Israel and to keep them from following Jesus any longer.

We learn from this encounter that Judas was a thief even before he was a traitor. That’s why, John says, he was upset with the “waste” of this expensive perfume that Mary poured out on Jesus’ feet. But we also learn that Jesus accepts the humble service of His saints, both men and women, as well as the costly gifts they give to honor Him, because they love Him, and because they’ve been listening to His word, as Mary had been listening to Jesus talk about the crucifixion He would soon endure—something that had gone right over the heads of all the apostles. Leave her alone, Jesus said. She has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not always have.

And with that, the tone is set for Palm Sunday.

The next day, Jesus came with His disciples to the Mount of Olives, just up the road from Bethany, to the east of Jerusalem, with the Kidron Valley running in between. Jesus sent two of His disciples to go fetch a donkey and her colt, knowing exactly where they would be, and that the owner would gladly send them in the Lord’s service for this special day. He needed the donkeys, because He had a prophecy to fulfill, from the book of prophet Zechariah: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The donkey was there to identify Jesus as the Christ, the promised King of the Jews, riding into Jerusalem as foretold, without Him having to say a word. And, it was also there to remind the people what the Christ would be like, and what He was coming to do: Lowly, humble, righteous, He was coming to bring them salvation—to bring it in a lowly way, not by destroying sinners, not by making war with their earthly enemies, not by raising Israel up to rule over the other nations. How, then? How would He bring them salvation? For that, they needed to turn to the prophet Isaiah (as we’ll do again on Friday): 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 King would bring salvation by suffering and dying for the sins of His people, so that, by His blood, He might make peace between God and sinners, so that all who believe might be saved.

No one there that day understood what Jesus was coming to do during that Passover week. No one knew on Sunday that He would be dead by Friday evening. No one could have imagined the turmoil and the drama of the coming week. No one, except for Jesus, who faced it willingly, who faced it “gladly,” in the sense that He knew the salvation His suffering would accomplish for millions of people, past, present, and future. And so He kept going, all the way into the city, all the way to the cross.

But the crowds, in spite of their ignorance, were glad to welcome their King that day. “Hosanna!, they cried. ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ They weren’t just making up their own song of praise. The whole thing, including the Hebrew word “Hosanna” is a quotation from Psalm 118, a song of praise and thanks to the LORD, the God of Israel, who brings salvation to His people, who acts on His people’s behalf—a Messianic Psalm that speaks of the suffering of the Christ and of His eventual deliverance from His suffering. That part they didn’t connect to Jesus.

But we do! And when they acclaimed Him as the The King of Israel, not really knowing what kind of King He was, we acclaim Him as King in the fullest sense, because we know Him as the King who suffered and died for us, as the righteous King who shares His righteousness with all who believe in Him, as the King who now sits at the right hand of God the Father, reigning over all for the good of His holy Church.

Still, not everyone acclaimed Him as King that day. The Pharisees were livid at this “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, appalled that their fellow Jews were welcoming Jesus with their palm branches and their praises, and with these Messianic verses. They said to one another, “See? You are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

It must have felt like that to them, at that moment, as it seemed like their power was slipping away through their fingers. The world has gone after Jesus. Everyone’s following Jesus, listening to Jesus, believing in Jesus, talking about Jesus! They couldn’t stand it. So they made plans to kill Him, so that no one else could go after Him ever again.

It would have worked, except that He rose from the dead after they killed Him, and He has kept on calling out to the world, through the ministers whom He has sent, “Repent and believe the good news! Your King has come to save you!” And ever since the Day of Pentecost, the world has been “going after Him”—many going after Him to kill His religion, to persecute His Church, or, even worse, to corrupt it, and to persuade Christians to abandon Him, to abandon His word, to fit in with the world, to focus on an earthly life where Jesus is little more than an afterthought. Such enemies of Jesus have been around as long as the Pharisees have, and they’ve had far too much success in the world.

But some, a few, a remnant have gone after Jesus, and go after Him still, to seek Him, to worship Him, and to receive the salvation He came to bring. A few still believe in Jesus as their Lord, their Savior, and their King. A few still gather together in His name, every Sunday if possible, and then every year for Holy Week, to spend the week hearing the word of their King and meditating on His teaching and on His Passion. For this we, too, have gathered, by the grace of God, having been chosen by God to hear His Gospel and to believe in His Son, and to receive life in His name. May His Holy Spirit accompany us in our worship and in our devotion as our King comes to us again this week in Word and Sacrament. And let us always be found among those who go after Him! Amen.

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6th Chief Part: The Sacrament of the Altar

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermons on the Small Catechism: The Lord’s Supper

Jeremiah 31:31-34  +  1 Corinthians 11:23-32

The Sixth and final Chief Part of the Small Catechism is the Sacrament of the Altar. As you know, Lutherans have a unique position on this teaching, neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant. But it’s the only position that agrees with Holy Scripture, and so we hold to it gladly and give thanks to God for the precious gift of this Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.

There are two main questions concerning the Sacrament of the Altar. What is it? And, What is it for?

First, what is it? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself, for us Christians to eat and to drink. The Roman Catholic Church agrees with us about the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ, but they reject the part about bread and wine still being present. Instead, they believe in Transubstantiation, that the substance of the bread and wine is converted into something else, so that the bread and wine are gone, replaced by Christ’s body and blood that now just look like bread and wine. Meanwhile, the Protestants (modern Evangelicals, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, etc.) agree with us about bread and wine being present but reject the part about the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ. Instead, they believe in Representationism, that the bread and wine (or grape juice in many cases) merely symbolize or represent the absent body and blood of Christ.

But we believe, according to Holy Scripture, that bread and wine, and Christ’s body and blood, are truly present in the Sacrament, received, eaten, and drunk by everyone who participates in the Sacrament. Jesus is not using figurative language here, as He institutes this Sacrament. He isn’t speaking in riddles or using any symbols. “This is My body. This is My blood,” He said. Or in some passages, “This is the New Testament in My blood” or “This is My blood of the New Covenant.” As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. You see? We partake of the bread that is the communion of the body of Christ. If we just stick with Scripture and with the plain words of Jesus, it isn’t that hard.

It’s also what the Christian Church has always taught and believed. It wasn’t until the year 1215, at the Fourth Lateran Council, when the doctrine of transubstantiation became official. And it wasn’t until the 16th century that anyone in the Church started denying the Real Presence of Jesus body and blood in the Sacrament, as the Reformed theologians broke away from Rome and felt free to change whichever teachings didn’t mesh with their human reason.

And so we stick with the plain and simple words of Jesus about what the Sacrament of the Altar is. Because to play around with the words of Jesus is to dishonor Him greatly. But to take Him at His Word, to believe this unbelievable thing that He said, is the highest form of worship. It gives Him all the glory for us to submit our fallen reason to His Word, and to cling to His Word above all things.

The second main question concerning the Sacrament is, What is it for? What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

The Roman Catholic Church says it’s for offering up to God a sacrifice of atonement for the living and the dead. Every time the Eucharist is celebrated, the priest is said to be offering the body and blood of Jesus to God the Father as a sacrifice for sin, as if the sacrifice Jesus made once on the cross needed to be re-offered over and over again. Even if no one else eats or drinks except for the priest, they say that the mere act of the priest offering up this sacrifice to God benefits all those for whom the Mass is being celebrated, whether they’re alive or dead.

Meanwhile, the Protestants say that the benefit of observing the Lord’s Supper is that Christians are obeying the command of Christ to “do this,” making a public testimony that they believe Jesus suffered and died for our sins. It’s their act of obedience toward God.

The Romanists are dead wrong about it being a repeated sacrifice offered up to the Father, because Christ gave Himself once on the cross for all sin. He was the one and only High Priest who offered up that sacrifice to God the Father. No human being dare try to offer it up again. And the Protestants get this part wrong, too, as they entirely miss the main purpose of the Sacrament.

So, What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? That is shown us by these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins,” namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. In other words, by eating and drinking the very body and blood of Christ that were once given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins, we are made partakers of Christ’s sacrifice, and we are given the gifts that He earned by His sacrifice, even the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So the main purpose of the meal isn’t to give something to God, but to receive from God the best gifts He has to give.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? Just as in Baptism, it isn’t the water that does such great things, but the word of God that’s spoken in connection with the water, so in this Sacrament it isn’t the eating and drinking that does it, but the words that are there: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words accompany the bodily eating and drinking as the chief part in the Sacrament, and whoever believes these words has what they say and as they declare, namely, forgiveness of sins. Faith doesn’t have to be there to receive Christ’s body and blood. Even an unbeliever would receive that, if he were to somehow participate with us in the Sacrament, because what the Sacrament is doesn’t depend on faith, but solely on the Word of Christ. So an unbeliever would receive the body and blood of Christ, but he would receive it for his judgment, as something harmful to him, whereas the believer receives it for the forgiveness of sins. Because the forgiveness of sins is a promise, and faith is always required to receive a promise.

What else is required for a person to receive the Sacrament worthily? The Roman Church used to teach that you had to be fasting, or that you had to go to confession in order to be worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper. But we say in the Catechism, He is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” But whoever does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared. For the words “for you” require nothing but believing hearts.

So, faith. Believing hearts. That’s what makes a person “worthy,” that is, “well-prepared” to receive the Sacrament. Some people get the idea that they have to be practically sinless to go to the Sacrament. But that’s not true at all. Not sinless, but penitent. Sorry for your sins. Trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. And believing what He says about the Sacrament, both that it is His true body and blood, and that He’s giving it to you, once again, for the forgiveness of your sins, so that when you eat His body and drink His blood, you can be certain that He is including you in His sacrifice, that He still accepts you as a member of His body, and that He still includes you in the eternal inheritance of all who have been redeemed and reconciled to God through His body and blood, given and shed on the cross, and now given to Christians to eat and to drink in the Sacrament of the Altar.

How often should you use the Sacrament? As often as you realize you still live in the sinful and unbelieving world, which seeks to drag you away from faith in Christ Jesus. As often as you realize the devil is targeting you for destruction. As often as you realize that one of your most deadly enemies is the very sinful flesh you carry around with you all the time, which will gain the upper hand over you, unless the Lord Himself helps you. So, how often should you use the Sacrament? As often as possible! May God lead you to see it as an indispensable treasure. And may the true body and blood of Jesus strengthen you and preserve you in the true faith unto life everlasting. Depart in peace. Amen.

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