Thursday
after Lent IV
April 3,
2014
The Lord be
with you
This coming
Sunday is the Fifth Sunday in Lent. During the Lenten season certain elements
are changed or removed from our service, to return on Easter and the Easter
season. For our liturgy this coming Sunday we will be using the Service of
Prayer and Preaching (page 260) for our liturgy. The changes include substituting
the “First Song of Isaiah (aka Confitebor
tibi, Domine) (LSB 927) for the New Testament Canticle and using the Lenten
versicles on pages 260 and 263. (This is a non-communion service.)
The assigned
lections for Sunday are Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:1-11 and John 11:1-53. The
Psalm is Psalm 130. The antiphon is verse 7. The Gospel lesson is again rather
long as it is again an entire chapter. Last week I used the entire Gospel
lesson for my text so we skipped reading it at the normal time. This week I’m
using the Old Testament lesson and so the Gospel will return to its regular
local.
The text for
the sermon is Ezekiel 37:5. The sermon is titled “Death and Life.” The opening
hymn is “O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life,” LSB 552, verses 1, 9-10,
and 4. This is one of those hymns that have various verses that are inserted
between verse one and three. Verses 5-6 are about the raising of Jairus’
Daughter. Verses 7-8 are about the raising of the Widow’s Son. Verses 9-10 are
about the raising of Lazarus, which is our Gospel lesson. Our sermon hymn is “O
Holy Spirit, Enter In,” LSB 913. Our closing hymn is “Onward, Christian
Soldiers” LSB 662.
The coming Sunday is also the The
Commemoration of Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Dürer, Artists. The only real impact this commemoration will have in the service will be in our prayers when we thank God for the witness of these two men as well as all the artists, past and present, who have blessed us all through their work by presenting our faith in so many wondrous ways.
Below is a
video of the Lutheran Warbler singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”
Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We continue with Colossians.
Below is the
summary of the lessons provided by the LCMS.
By
His Word of the Gospel,
Jesus Christ Is the
Resurrection and the Life
The
illness and death of Lazarus happened “that
the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). This is
accomplished on the cross (John 17:1). Jesus’ miracle
of raising Lazarus prompted His arrest and crucifixion, whereby He would die “for the nation” and gather “into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad” (John 11:51–52). As He called Lazarus from the tomb and
commanded others to “unbind him, and let
him go” (John 11:44), Jesus also calls us and releases us from the bondage
of sin and death. We would not “submit to
God’s law,” nor could we “please God” (Rom. 8:7–8), but “he condemned sin” in His own flesh so “that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:3–4). Now through the Gospel, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells” in us (Rom. 8:11). His Word breathes His Spirit into our
mortal flesh, animating us with His own life. As His ministers preach according
to His divine command, the Lord Jesus calls us from the grave into the good
land that He gives us (Ezek. 37:12, 14).
Sunday’s Lessons
Ezekiel
37:1-14
37:1 The hand
of the Lord was upon me, and he
brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord
and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2And
he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of
the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3And he said to me, “Son
of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy
over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause
breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6And I will lay sinews upon
you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put
breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I
prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and
behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8And
I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them,
and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9Then he
said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the
breath, Thus says the Lord God:
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may
live.” 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came
into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he
said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold,
they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut
off.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and
raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of
Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your
graves, O my people. 14And I will put my Spirit within you, and you
shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I
am the Lord; I have spoken, and I
will do it, declares the Lord.”
Romans
8:1-11
8:1 There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For
the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of
sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the
flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the
flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to
the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live
according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6For
to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is
life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to
God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those
who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You,
however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to
him. 10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of
sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of
him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who
dwells in you.
John
11:1-53
11:1 Now
a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister
Martha. 2It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped
his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the
sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But
when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for
the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So, when he heard
that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7Then
after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The
disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and
are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve
hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he
sees the light of this world. 10But if anyone walks in the night, he
stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11After saying these
things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to
awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen
asleep, he will recover.” 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but
they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14Then Jesus told
them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15and for your sake I am glad that
I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16So
Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we
may die with him.”
17 Now
when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany
was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had
come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20So
when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary
remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you
had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know
that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23Jesus said to
her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know
that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and
believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to
him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is
coming into the world.”
28 When
she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The
Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it,
she rose quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come into
the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31When
the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly
and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep
there. 32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell
at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come
with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And
he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus
wept. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But
some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have
kept this man from dying?”
38 Then
Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay
against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister
of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he
has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you
that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took
away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you
that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said
this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you
sent me.” 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud
voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44The man who had died came out, his
hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
45 Many
of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did,
believed in him, 46but some of them went to the Pharisees and told
them what Jesus had done. 47So the chief priests and the Pharisees
gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many
signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in
him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49But
one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know
nothing at all. 50Nor do you understand that it is better for you
that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should
perish.” 51He did not say this of his own accord, but being high
priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52and
not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who
are scattered abroad. 53So from that day on they made plans to put
him to death.
Just two quick notes
Portals of Prayer have arrived. Copies have been placed in your
mailboxes. Extra copies are available for you to give away.
The next Church Council meeting has been postponed one week. This is no
big surprise as our regular meeting time is the third Sunday of the month, but that
also happens to be Easter Sunday.
The Lutheran
Warbler’s videos are often used in my worship notes to give you a preview of
one of Sunday’s hymns (like today). She now has a Lenten CD available. If
interested, just watch the video below.
Well, I pray
we will see you Sunday morning.
Blessings in
Christ,
Pastor John
Rickert
