Peace Lutheran Church
Posts Tagged "Midweek"
Fourth Sunday in Lent Midweek
March 14, 2024
We walk with Him to Calvary.
He prays to God to set Him free.
But as we wait, we are too week
And cannot help but fall asleep.
O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
Good night! I am going to bed. How important is a good night’s rest? A good night’s rest is very important. We all need a good night’s rest. Appropriate sleep is needed for mental focus and memory, managing stress, maintaining proper body weight, boosting the immune system, and a host of other wellness needs. Some studies suggest sleep can help to prevent illness, such as diabetes or obesity. Adults aged 18 to 60 years should get at least seven hours of sleep each night in order to achieve the benefits of sleep. If not, you run the risk of becoming sleep-deprived.
We are not made to pull all nighters, to stay awake all night, not even to finish up late night projects or papers in High School or College. It would hurt and harm our bodies and health. Many times we are like the disciples who fall asleep while Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane for an hour. They fall asleep for sorrow when they should have stayed awake. If they had, they would have witnessed Jesus is awake in agonizing prayer to the Father. He prays for His freedom. He prays, if possible, the cup be taken from Him, yet not His will but the Father’s be done. To the point that an angel comes and strengthens Him. What is this cup?
In the Old Testament we can see that this “cup” is the pouring out of God’s wrath. Isaiah 51:17, “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.” Again in Psalm 75:8, “In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs. This is the same figure of speech that is used in Revelation of the pouring out the seven bowls of God’s wrath.
What is this cup that is causing Jesus to stagger? It is none other than the wrath of God poured out against the sinfulness of mankind.
This is why he is in so much agony, to the point that He is sweating blood. Jesus’ full humanity is on display in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is not the physical assault which he is dreading so much. It is this cup. And he knows that his hour is approaching, so he goes to the Garden to plead with the Father to remove the cup—as well as to be strengthened by the Father.
The Son is strengthened so that the will of the Father is accomplished. What is the will of the Father? That the Son go to Calvary, go to the Place of the Skull to drink fully of the cup of wrath.
“Christ was going to be cast into a dreadful furnace of wrath, and it was not proper that he should plunge himself into it blindfold, as not knowing how dreadful the furnace was. Therefore that he might not do so, God first brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace, that he might look in, and stand and view its fierce and raging flames, and might see where he was going, and might voluntarily enter into it and bear it for sinners, as knowing what it was. This view Christ had in his agony. Then God brought the cup that he was to drink, and set it down before him, that he might have a full view of it, and see what it was before he took it and drank it.”
Jesus as He is praying in the Garden is viewing the sin of all humanity, including yours and mine. Again, words are going to escape us. As one commentator put it, “the agony that Jesus endured was multifaceted. The blows that encompassed His soul came from every corner. His suffering was not simple but complex. We can only begin to understand this suffering by noting that He had to suffer the penalty that sin deserved for millions and millions of people. Hence it is part of His calling to [recoil] in anguish before our God…. One would need to have been in hell for some time in order to understand what it is that is tearing Jesus apart in the garden.”
His anxiety about the cross was connected to what the cross means. It means that “he made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf.” Jesus’ humanity is fully seen here in the Garden. We see Jesus in his, dare I say, weakest moment. He remains sinless, yet he is now experiencing the fullness of what it truly means to be human. It is here that he will experience our grief. It is here that he will experience stronger temptation than any of us, so that it is fitting to say that He was tempted in every way. And it is the view into the cup that causes Christ to pray, “if it is possible take this cup from me.” Can you hear Jesus’ prayer? Papa, you can do anything. Can you take this cup from me? Is it possible that we can redeem sinners and yet me not suffer estrangement from you? Is it possible to redeem them in any way other than me being the sin-bearer?
He appeals. Silence. He appeals a second time. Silence. He appeals a third time. Silence. Why silence? Because there is no other way.
Now certainly, it would have been possible for God to have not poured out the cup of His wrath on Jesus. He would not have contradicted his nature had he chosen not to send his Son and left sinners to their just reward. But because God had purposed before the foundation of the world to save sinners, this then was not possible. God’s purpose of love was to save sinners, and to save them righteously; but this would be impossible without the sin-bearing death of the Savior.
As the obedient Son, Jesus drinks the cup of the wrath of God fully, all of it, down to the very last drop. Not a single drop remains that you or I must drink. Jesus has fully satisfied all of the wrath of God for us. He was betrayed with a kiss, suffered, bled, and died, that every single one of our sins is forgiven, fully by the grace and mercy of God.
Stay awake, watch with your Lord as He drinks fully of the wrath of God, bears all of your pain and sorrow on your behalf fully and completely to reconcile you to God forever.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Third Sunday in Lent Midweek
March 07, 2024
On donkey colt He rides to town
The people cheer, the foes plot on.
But soon we jeer, shout Crucify!
This sudden change just mystifies.
O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
Jesus enters Jerusalem in the most unlikely of ways. We would expect Him to enter in the most miraculous of ways, a shout, shining in power and glory coming down from the heavens. At the very least riding in on a majestic charger of a stallion showing His authority and might. Yet, what does He enter on? A donkey, specifically a colt upon which no one had ever sat. Why? The same reason that David had Solomon do so, to show that he comes as King in peace rather than in the midst of war, conquering, and bloodshed.
This reason is why our Lord enters on a donkey as the ultimate Prince of Peace. He comes to make peace between men and men, but ultimately to make peace between sinful humanity and a righteous, just, and holy God by forgiving all of our sins by His death and resurrection from the dead.
What is the crowd’s reaction to this? They line the streets in a joyful procession. They wave palm branches. These were often used in military parades as symbols of victory over a conquered foe. Even today some funerals will have people buried hold palm branches as symbols of Jesus’ victory over death itself. The crowds line the street and shout Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna is a Hebrew word that means save us now. The phrase Son of David is used of the Messiah, as the One from the line of David whom the Lord had promised would reign forever upon David’s throne. They rejoice in the expectation that their King has come in order to save them.
They think Jesus has come to save them from the hated Romans. Jesus has come to establish an earthly kingdom greater than David or Solomon ever could have imagined. They will have peace forever and never need for anything upon this earth again.
Yet, as the week goes on, the crowds reaction changes. A joyous crowd on Palm Sunday turn into a hateful, spiteful, murderous crowd on Friday. As they saw that Jesus was not the warrior king they had expected, enthusiasm waned. The religious leaders were plotting Jesus’ death even as He enters Jerusalem. They spread lies about Jesus and slowly, public opinion turned. Many false messiahs had come and gone, leaving devastation in their wake. Because of the lies of the leaders, public opinion in Jerusalem had turned on Jesus. He was no longer the promised one, but another charlatan come to deceive. He was not who they thought he would be. So, when offered Barabbas or Jesus, they chose Barabbas, a convicted murderer and revolutionary, and called for Jesus’ blood.
Pilate gives into their demands for fear of another riot, because then he would have lost the favor of the Emperor and possibly his own head, but more on that in two weeks. He releases Barabbas and sentences Jesus to be crucified. Jesus is humiliated, shamed, mocked, and crucified. Why? To fulfill the plan of the Father. To be our Prince of Peace and reconcile sinful humanity by bearing the punishment of our sins with a just and holy God. Jesus does come as a Savior. Not a savior from only the Romans, but from Sin, death, and the power of the devil. He saves us from all of our foes by His death and resurrection from the dead.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
First Sunday in Lent Midweek
February 22, 2024
When Satan tempts us, Lord provide
Your sword and shield to help survive
That with your Word we can defend
Ourselves through life until the even.
O Lord may the Words of my Mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock, and our Redeemer.
In the movie 300, a spartan warrior by the name of Dienekes is informed that the Persians are so numerous that when they discharged their arrows they obscured the light of the sun by the multitude of the arrows. Dienekes was not dismayed by this, but making small account of the number of the Medes, he said that their guest brought them very good news, for if the Medes obscured the light of the sun, the battle against them would be in the shade and not in the sun.
At times, that is what the arrows hurled at us by Satan feel like. He attacks us relentlessly, in a wide variety of ways. He never relents. For some he uses guile, making it seem as though it is not really a large deal. ‘One little bit will not hurt.’ For some he uses persistence, attacking the same place again and again until it weakens. ‘Go ahead, what is the worst that can happen? You are a failure. You failed to live up to the Law or do this or that.’ For some, he attacks with deception, as with Adam and Eve, ‘Did God really say that? Surely, He did not mean it.’ The attacks are so many in number. Satan has numerous tools at his disposal, how can we ever hope to fend off even one of them? Indeed, Luther writes, “If you even knew one of the arrows that Satan flings at you, you would run to the Sacrament for refuge.” We do not know all the plots that Satan has arrayed against us. We do not know when and where he will attack. Thanks be to God, as if we did know, we might fall into abject despair and hopelessness! All we know is Satan’s end goal, to cause us to lose our faith and be condemned with him in Hell forever.
If it was not enough to have such a seemingly powerful enemy against us, we know well our own weakness of our sinful flesh. It is not on the side of God, but on the side of our deadly foe every single time. On our own we will fail again and again. We have no hope of victory under our own power.
Thanks be to God that He does not leave us to fight such a foe under our own power. Rather, He sends Jesus to fight on our behalf. Jesus is tempted just as we are, yet uses the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God to fight Satan off. Jesus bears all of your sins. Upon the cross He suffers, bleeds, and dies for you. By His death, He destroys the power of death. By bearing the punishment of your sins, Jesus destroys all the assaults of Satan. Of what can he accuse you that Jesus has not already borne the punishment for? Nothing.
Our heavenly Father gives us a constant shield against the attacks of Satan, found in Jesus Christ, and what He has done for us,. When Satan attacks us, we run to the Father’s mercy and grace, shown to us in Jesus, for help and support. We comfort ourselves with His holy Word that every single one of our sins has been covered by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The same as our Lord used His own holy Word to defeat the temptations of Satan, so too do we. We defend ourselves, steadfast in the faith He has given to us through His Holy Spirit, until that day when He calls us out of this vale of tears to His nearer presence to await the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting with Him.
Until that day, stand steadfast dear flock, Fight in the shade against all the temptations of Satan, knowing that Jesus has fully defeated all of your foes, Satan included, and He holds the field victorious forever on your behalf. Satan can do no harm to you, one little word can fell him.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.