Each Day in the Word, Friday, March 31st

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

John 12:20-50

20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 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. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 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.

27 “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. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

34 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?”

35 Then Jesus 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. 36 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.

37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 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?”

39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

40 “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.”

41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

42 Nevertheless 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; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

44 Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 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. 48 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. 49 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. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

John records for us what certain Greeks said: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” That is something to be posted inside every pulpit in the world, addressed to the pastors: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” That is a nice reminder to us all that Jesus is what it’s all about. Next, in the lesson, Jesus then teaches us what it’s all about: “Unless a grain of wheat dies it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (24).

Jesus is in the death-and-resurrection business. Meanwhile we keep trying various fixer-upper programs on ourselves. What we fail to realize is that, in and of ourselves, we are spiritually dead. So, we keep trying to make ourselves look alive to God. “Works righteousness!”—That is what Luther calls all these attempts to make ourselves acceptable to God.

The truth is that we are dead as doornails before God in our feeble attempts to make our ourselves and our religion appear “meet, right, and salutary.” We are dead as doornails before God in our feeble attempts at parroting a particular set of confessions or rituals, and equating that with true belief and following of Christ.

Jesus had no time and truly little patience for sightseers, tire-kickers, and window shoppers. Instead, He calls us to follow Him into death and a new transformed life. The message of His Gospel is that we come before God with empty hands. We come before God and confess freely that we are dead as doornails by ourselves and by any of our outward showings of religiosity. Jesus calls us to His unique death-and-resurrection transforming power so that we are remade from the inside out. Then, and only then, that grain of wheat that died, can “produce much grain” in Him.

Let us pray: O almighty God, mercifully look on Your people, and by Your great goodness govern us in body and preserve us in soul; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Thursday, March 30th   

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

John 12:1-19

12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!”

14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
Behold, your King is coming,
Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

This lesson today might give you a bit of literary whiplash. All of a sudden, now we are back to Sunday of Holy Week, Palm Sunday, and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. However, this gives us a chance to see the close connection: Jesus is hailed as King on Palm Sunday, and then the notice above Jesus’ head on Good Friday is this: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

Of course, that’s the real irony here, isn’t it! That’s the real kicker of Holy Week, and we ride along like we’re in on an inside joke. Everyone keeps calling Jesus the King, and we know that He really is! He comes in on Palm Sunday to proclamations of being king, He parades around the town all week as though He IS king, then He is arrested, and the Pharisees charge Him with blasphemy because He says He is the Son of God—and we snicker to ourselves again because we know that He really IS the Son of God as well!

And then He’s handed over to the Romans and the soldiers mock Him as king, and again we grimace at what is being done to our Lord, but we also know how the story ends so we also have something of a snicker because we know the secret that they obviously don’t know—namely that Jesus really IS king.

Then, they crucify Him… and what is the sign above His head? It says, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

Oh, the irony. We know the secret. Sure, we grimace at what Jesus has to go through, and we know the price He is paying for our sin, and we are in no way cavalier about that. Our entire salvation is based on this fact that Jesus died in our place there on that cross. But oh, the irony! “Behold, your king is coming.” Yes, we receive Him in faith—our King, indeed.

Let us pray: O almighty God, mercifully look on Your people, and by Your great goodness govern us in body and preserve us in soul; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Six of the seven seals opened

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Judica – Lent 5

Revelation 6:1-17

We come back to the heavenly throne room this evening, with the throne and the One seated on it, the 24 elders, the four living creatures, the Lamb, and the scroll with the seven seals which only the Lamb is worthy to open.

Six of the seven seals are described in chapter 6. What we should notice here is largely a retelling of the things Jesus already told His disciples during Holy Week, the things that would be going on in the world during this New Testament period as signs pointing to Jesus’ coming at the end of the age.

We come to the first seal: Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

The first through the fourth seals depict four horses and their riders, sometimes referred to as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. This vision has some things in common with two visions of riders and colored horses that the prophet Zechariah saw as Jerusalem was about to be rebuilt after the captivity. There were four, because they go out into all four directions of the compass, into all the world.

This first horse is white in John’s vision. White is used throughout Revelation to symbolize cleanness, purity, and victory. This rider has a bow, and he has a crown. There are two words for “crown” in Greek. There’s the king’s crown, like a crown of gold, and then there’s this kind of crown given to the rider on the white horse. It’s the wreath given to the victor. It’s what the winner of the Greek Olympic games received, and it’s the kind of crown Jesus promised to those who remain faithful unto death. This rider is sent out conquering and to conquer, and he will be victorious.

The interpretation of this rider seems pretty clear if we look forward to Revelation 19, where a rider on a white horse appears again at the end of the world to bring final victory to the Church. There the rider is identified as the Lord Jesus Himself. So this rider in chapter 6 also appears to be the Lord Jesus, or at least His preachers, riding out into all the world to conquer, not yet with the sword, but instead with the Gospel. That’s exactly what Jesus told His disciples would happen in this New Testament period. This Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world, and then the end will come.

Then we come to the second seal: When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

Red is the color of blood and fire, and this rider clearly represents violence, war, and bloodshed, including the persecution of Christians. What did Jesus tell His disciples? You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…They will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you…and lawlessness will abound. The world has always seen war and bloodshed, and Christians have been persecuted since the time of Christ. Will it get worse? It’s already getting worse, isn’t it? And it looks like it will get worse yet in the near future. But we shouldn’t worry. Jesus told us many times that it would be this way.

What else can we expect during this New Testament period? When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

Black is the color of calamity and mourning, and this rider represents famine, scarcity, and economic imbalance. He has a balancing scale in his hand, like the kind that was used in the marketplace for weighing out food. “A quart of wheat for a denarius” is kind of like a loaf of bread for a day’s wages. Talk about inflation! Food becomes scarce and the price of food becomes impossibly high at times during this New Testament period, just as Jesus told His disciples that there would be famines in the earth before His coming, sometimes naturally caused, but sometimes caused by men, as right now at this moment climate activists are getting rid of the very fertilizer that the world depends on for abundant crops. Interestingly, it’s grains like wheat and barley that depend most on fertilizer, while olive trees and grape vines (where the oil and wine come from) don’t depend on it as much.

When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

“Pale” is actually a greenish color. It represents sickness and the plagues that cause it. The rider of this horse symbolizes death that spreads through pestilence, but also through violence and famine and hunger, not to the entire population of the world at once, or even to most of the world at once, but to “one fourth” of it, which, figuratively, signifies a sizable portion. And then there’s Hades right behind Death, that is, eternal destruction in hell, which follows death for the vast majority of people who die. Together, the four horsemen sum up all the things that bring death and misery into the world as a result of mankind’s rejection of the work of the first horseman, the preaching of the Gospel.

Now on to the fifth and sixth seals.

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

This is the first time the altar in the throne room is mentioned, the “golden altar which is before God,” as we’re told in chapter 9. The souls of the martyrs are pictured there. They weren’t defeated or lost when their bodies were put to death. Their souls are always in the presence of God. And they’re pictured longing to know how much longer this New Testament period will last, how long before justice is done, how long before the enemies of the Church are finally vanquished. The Christian isn’t to take vengeance himself. But that doesn’t mean there is no vengeance. Vengeance is Mine, declares the Lord. It is Mine to repay. The souls in heaven recognize that. But they’re comforted, and God assures them that it will only be a “little while” longer that they have to wait to see the Lord’s vengeance on His enemies and theirs. What needs to happen first? The full number of the elect has to be gathered into the Church, including those who will also lay down their lives as martyrs for the Gospel.

Finally (for this chapter), the sixth seal is opened. I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

This sounds almost exactly like what Jesus described to His disciples. It’s a picture of what will happen right at the end, on the last day.

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

As Jesus put it to His disciples, Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Finally unbelievers will stop mocking God—and His people. Finally they will pay attention to Him. But it won’t be with worship that they welcome Him, but with dread. They dread “the wrath of the Lamb.” That’s somewhat ironic, isn’t it? Because lambs aren’t usually angry creatures; no one is afraid of what a lamb will do if it gets angry. But Christ, the Lamb of God, will have plenty of wrath for unbelievers on the last day, and people will no longer view Jesus as a gentle teacher. They won’t be singing to Him as if He were their boyfriend, as so many so-called worship songs do today. All the “COEXIST” bumper stickers will be peeled away. And unbelievers will cower at the wrath of Jesus, even as so many Christians have been made to cower in the face of their persecutors and oppressors over the centuries.

Who is able to stand on the great day of His wrath? Only His blood-bought people. Only those who have feared His wrath during this life and have taken refuge where He has offered it: in His blood, shed on the cross for our sins. What great comfort these words must have been to John’s readers who were already suffering the hatred of the world, whose eyes told them they had made a mistake trusting in Jesus! No, it was no mistake. Through all the misery, calamity, afflictions and death of this world, the Lamb reigns on His throne. And the only thing keeping Him from coming back sooner to avenge His people is the knowledge that there are still a few more sinners who will hear the Gospel and believe it before the end, who will repent and escape, together with us, from the real and permanent destruction that’s coming on the unbelieving world! Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, March 29th

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Mark 15:20-47

20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. 24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, 41 who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

In our Bible lesson today, as the Apostles’ Creed says,  Jesus “was crucified, died, and was buried.” As we look at Jesus on the cross, we know that He is not dying for His own sins, because He did not have any. We who did sin are the ones who deserve to be punished. Instead, Jesus dies in our place.

As we come to Him confessing our sins and clinging to Him in faith, something wonderful happens! Luther called it the “blessed exchange”: Jesus exchanges His righteous and holy life for our sin and death. He goes to the cross to pay for our sin, and we get His righteous and holy life—a forgiven life, a restored life, an eternal life! That is not a particularly good deal for Jesus, but an incredibly great deal for us! Therefore, as Christians, we keep our life’s focus on that cross. Remember that the cross signifies that blessed exchange with Jesus, which includes His atonement for your sin and its spiritual consequences. All this is exchanged at the cross and received in faith.

That is what Jesus did for you! That is what the Gospel means—Christ Crucified for you means that your sins are forgiven, that you have a holy life now, and an eternal life with Christ in heaven forever! That is what Jesus means when, on the cross, He says, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30). His work of salvation for us is now accomplished. We receive that work in faith, and we are saved, forgiven, justified with God, and now live in peace with God. “Truly this Man IS the Son of God!”

Let us pray: O almighty God, mercifully look on Your people, and by Your great goodness govern us in body and preserve us in soul; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, March 28th

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Mark 15:1-19

15 Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2 Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”

3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

6 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. 9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.

Morning has arrived, and the whole Jewish council—the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes—have condemned Jesus, bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate. Among other things, Pilate then asks three questions: “Are you the King of the Jews?”; “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”; and “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” Answers: Yes, Jesus is the King of the Jews; the crowd asks for Barabbas to be released, instead of their King; and then they demand that Jesus, their King, be crucified.

Then Jesus the King is scourged, struck on the head, spat on, and mocked as a King: clothed in a purple robe and crown of thorns, mockingly bowed to and worshiped, and saluted with “Hail, King of the Jews!” All in all, it’s a very rough day to be the King of the Jews, and the day is not over. It only gets worse for this particular King.

Fortunately, we know that for this King, His kingdom is not of this world. Good thing too, because with subjects like this, who needs enemies! But then, that’s the point, isn’t it? We who should rightly receive Jesus as King have been born into the same sinful world that despises Him and lives in rebellion against Him. All of fallen humanity would continue in this rebellion against the rightful King if nothing had been done. So, Jesus our gracious Sovereign did what needed to be done for His subjects—He took on human flesh Himself, subjected Himself to God’s holy Law, fulfilled it for us, and then paid the penalty for breaking that Kingly Law with His own life… for us! The King takes the penalty for the rebellion of His own subjects—where else in this world does such a thing happen? It does not. In faith we proclaim, “Hail, King of God’s Kingdom!”

Let us pray: O almighty God, mercifully look on Your people, and by Your great goodness govern us in body and preserve us in soul; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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