The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord – Pr. Faugstad exordium & sermon
Festival exordium:
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1Co. 15:17).
If Christ has not been raised, all His promises were lies.
If Christ has not been raised, the Christian Church is a worldly organization created by men.
If Christ has not been raised, your Baptism did you no good.
If Christ has not been raised, you eat bread and drink wine in Communion and nothing more.
If Christ has not been raised, there is no place prepared for you in heaven.
If Christ has not been raised, the dead who are buried in our cemeteries will stay dead.
If Christ has not been raised, you got up early this morning for no good reason.
“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain” (1Co. 15:14), and you might as well ignore it.
If Christ has not been raised, you are of all people most to be pitied (1Co. 15:19).
If Christ has not been raised, all these things are true.
But Christ HAS been raised.
Since Christ has been raised, your faith is NOT futile, and you are NOT in your sins.
Since Christ has been raised, all His promises are verified.
Since Christ has been raised, the Christian Church shall prevail against the gates of hell.
Since Christ has been raised, you were raised with Him in the waters of Baptism.
Since Christ has been raised, you receive His living body and blood in Holy Communion for the forgiveness of your sins.
Since Christ has been raised, a place is prepared for you in heaven.
Since Christ has been raised, the dead who now sleep will also rise.
Since Christ has been raised, you have not wasted your morning.
Since Christ has been raised, our preaching is not in vain, and God’s powerful words of life enter your ears and heart.
Since Christ has been raised, you are counted among those who will inherit eternal life.
Yes, Christ has been raised. That is why we joyfully share the Easter greeting as the faithful have shared it for thousands of years:
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
We sing our festival hymn #348, “He Is Arisen! Glorious Word!”
He is arisen! Glorious Word!
Now reconciled is God, my Lord;
The gates of heaven are open.
My Jesus died triumphantly,
And Satan’s arrows broken lie,
Destroyed hell’s direst weapon.
O hear
What cheer!
Christ victorious
Riseth glorious,
Life He giveth—
He was dead, but see, He liveth!
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Sermon text: St. Mark 16:1-8
In Christ Jesus, who did not do what people expected, but who did do what He said He would, dear fellow redeemed:
“Jesus is dead. He is gone.” That thought haunted their minds ever since Friday afternoon when they saw Him breathe His last. They saw Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take His lifeless body down from the cross, wrap it in a linen shroud with spices, and bury it in a tomb nearby. They saw the men roll a stone across the entrance and depart. Then they went home, too, to observe the Sabbath rest.
These women had traveled with Jesus from Galilee and provided for His needs. They saw the miracles He performed. They watched Him cast demons out of people and raise the dead. They heard His powerful teaching. They believed that He was the promised Messiah. But now He was dead. What were they to do?
Overwhelmed with sorrow, they determined to serve Jesus one last time—they would give Him a more proper burial. They purchased and prepared spices and made their way early Sunday morning to the tomb. They shuddered thinking about the terrible wounds they would once again see on their Lord: the bruises on His face, the gouges from the crown of thorns, the holes in His hands and feet from the large nails, the gash in His side from the soldier’s spear. They had no doubts about what they would find at the tomb: the dead body of Jesus.
They were in for a surprise, or really a series of surprises. They found the large stone rolled away from the entrance. Looking inside, they saw an angel waiting for them. He told them not to be alarmed. They wouldn’t find what they were looking for because Jesus had been raised up. And He was on the move! They were to tell the Lord’s disciples that He was going before them to Galilee, where they would see Him, just as He had said.
The women took off from the tomb, full of trembling, amazement, and fear. But why did they react like this? Why was this such a surprise? If your parents told you they were taking you to the zoo for your birthday, and that you would see monkeys, lions, and giraffes, would you be surprised to go there and see those animals? They might not look exactly as you imagined, but you wouldn’t really be surprised. You saw what they said you would.
So why didn’t the followers of Jesus believe Him when He said He would suffer and die in Jerusalem and then rise on the third day? The evangelist Luke records a longer message from the angel reminding the women about this: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luk. 24:5-7). Jesus clearly told His disciples what would happen. There should have been no surprise. But they did not believe.
They did not believe because they failed to see the big picture. They could not understand what benefit the death of Jesus could have. They wanted to keep things the way they were. Jesus was doing wonderful work. If Palm Sunday was any indication, He was gaining momentum and followers. If He died, all that work would come to a screeching halt. His death was the last thing the Jews and the whole world needed.
Because they couldn’t understand the purpose of His death, which was to redeem the world of sinners, they missed the significance of His resurrection. Something similar happens today. We are generally clear about the purpose of Jesus’ death—He died on the cross to pay for our sins. But we are not always so clear about the significance of His resurrection.
Jesus’ resurrection proves that He is the Son of God, and that everything He said is true. If He could predict His own resurrection and then come back to life, who can doubt the accuracy of anything He said?
Jesus’ resurrection also shows that His Father accepted His sacrifice for sin. Romans 4:25 says that He “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Both things were necessary, His death and resurrection. If He had died and stayed dead, that would prove He was not God and that His sacrifice was not sufficient. His resurrection declares to the whole world that sin is paid for, death is defeated, and we are accounted as innocent before God.
Jesus’ resurrection is also a preview of our resurrection. Because He lives, we who trust in Him will live, even though we die (Joh. 11:25, 14:19). This resurrection victory was handed to us at our Baptism. The apostle Peter writes that Baptism is not about getting clean on the outside. It is deeply spiritual, “an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1Pe. 3:21). The water-and-Word of Baptism is full of the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Jesus precisely because He has risen. St. Paul writes that through Baptism, “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
In Baptism, we received Jesus’ resurrection victory. We received the full inheritance of His righteousness and life. We are destined for heaven with Him! But that is easy to forget while we are still here on earth. We often fail to see the big picture. We struggle with sin and the guilt it produces in us. We have doubts and sometimes even crises of faith, when we wonder if God really loves us. We don’t feel much like we’re “walking in newness of life.” Our death is getting closer and closer, and we’re not sure we’re ready for it.
Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, no one can be ready for death. Death is batting nearly .1000, with the exception of people like Enoch and Elijah whom God took directly to heaven. The rest of humankind from Adam to the present has had to die. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). We are sinners, so we will die, everyone in this room, unless Jesus returns first.
But we believers don’t look at death like the women looked at Jesus’ death, as though it were final. We don’t cling to the remains of the dead like the women wanted to cling to Jesus. Instead, we cling to Jesus’ Word, His promise. He promised His disciples that He would rise from the dead on the third day, and He did. He promises us that He will come again on the last day to raise us from the dead, so He will.
On the last day, it shouldn’t surprise us when we “see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luk. 21:27). It shouldn’t surprise us when we see the holy angels with Him, the same angels who shared the good news with the women at Jesus’ tomb. It shouldn’t surprise us when we see all the graves in our cemeteries opened up. It shouldn’t surprise us when we find no one in the caskets. But we won’t even have time for that investigation, since we will be caught up “in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1Th. 4:17).
This is what sets us apart from the world. This is why we do not “not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1Th. 4:13). We know that death is not final. Jesus put a stop to death’s terrible reign. He let death devour Him, so He could tear open its insides and free everyone stuck in its dark belly. On the last day, His clear voice will wake us from our temporary sleep. We will blink our eyes and take in the light coming from the One who is Light and Life.
His same voice that will wake us from death is the powerful Word you are hearing today. He tells you today that your sins are forgiven. He paid for them on the cross and left them buried forever when He rose from the dead. He tells you at the altar, “This is My body; this is My blood for the remission of your sins.” He gave you this Holy Meal for your strength and comfort until He comes again.
The angel said to the women, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here.” But the angel would tell you something different about the presence of Jesus in His Word and Sacraments. He would say, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! And He is here!” He is here to distribute the riches of His grace to you and prepare you for His visible return.
He has done everything you need for your salvation. He tells you everything you need to know. So when He comes again in glory and leaves your grave empty by calling you to His side, it will be no unexpected surprise, just exceeding, everlasting joy.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(woodcut from “The Empty Tomb” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. John 2:1-11
In Christ Jesus, who does not reject us for our sins but nourishes and cherishes us as members of His holy body (Eph. 5:29-30), dear fellow redeemed:
We expect that Jesus would perform His first public sign in the heart of Jerusalem, perhaps in the temple, so all the higher-ups would know the Messiah had come. He could have done something magnificent like the transfiguration of His appearance, flying from one place to another, or putting food on everyone’s table or money in their pockets. Or His first sign could have been in His hometown of Nazareth, so all His neighbors would realize who He really was.
But Jesus did not choose Nazareth or the Holy City. He chose Cana, a little town in Galilee about nine miles north of Nazareth. And the occasion for His first sign was a wedding. A common Jewish custom for wedding feasts at this time was a seven-day celebration. The fact that the wine ran out does not automatically mean the guests at this wedding drank more than usual. It could mean that more guests had arrived than anticipated.
Running out of wine would have certainly changed the celebratory mood of those who were present. And it would have been an embarrassing way for the bride and groom to begin their life together. The situation concerned Jesus’ mother Mary enough that she brought the problem to her Son. “They have no wine,” she told Him. Jesus’ reply is surprisingly blunt: “Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
We’re not sure what Mary wanted Jesus to do. But her message to the servants, “do whatever He tells you,” indicates that she thought He might do something. We can’t forget how Mary treasured up all the things she heard and saw about her special Son through the years and pondered them in her heart (Luk. 2:19,51). Now that He was a grown man, she was waiting for Him to take the next step, to reveal who He really was, who the angel Gabriel told her He was—the true Son of God (Luk. 1:35). His recent calling of Galilean men to be His disciples certainly had her thinking that something was about to happen.
But Jesus was not going to be forced to act by His mother whom He loved dearly. He told her as a twelve-year-old that the plan was not in her hands, “Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” (Luk. 2:49). And He reminded her of the same thing now, “what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” And at this point in the account, Mary, after speaking to the servants, steps aside.
Soon after this, Jesus quietly asked the servants to fill six large stone jars with water. When this was done, He asked them to “draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” Could they tell that the water’s color had changed? Could they smell the aroma of wine? Did they comprehend what had just happened? Whether it struck them in the moment or later on, these eyewitnesses could only conclude that Jesus had powers unlike anyone else they knew or had heard of. That’s certainly the impact this sign had on the disciples. The evangelist John who was almost certainly present at the wedding reported about himself and the other disciples that they “believed in [Jesus],” that He was the Son of God incarnate.
So Jesus saved the wedding celebration. He saved the bride and groom from embarrassment. Their joy-filled union was the occasion for His first public sign through which He “manifested His glory.” Of all the places and ways He could have revealed His divinity, He chose a wedding celebration, the formation of a new home through the marital union of husband and wife.
While it might not be what we expect, a wedding was a fitting place and way for Jesus to start His public work. Marriage is the first building block of society and everything that exists within it—from home to church to state. God instituted marriage before the fall into sin, so He saw that it was “very good” even for a man and woman who lacked nothing. Marriage was a gift for them, and it was the means by which God would expand the human race.
Adam and Eve had the first and only perfect marriage. Adam rejoiced that the woman made from his rib was “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen. 2:23). The end of Genesis 2 includes this note, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (v. 24). They had a marriage without shame, without any sin. They perfectly loved one another and perfectly served one another.
But then they gave it all up because they wanted to have more. They brought sin into Paradise. Immediately after falling, they played the blame game, pointing their fingers at each other instead of themselves. But God did not destroy them for their sin or take them away from each other. He gave them a promise that would hold them together and give them hope. From the woman would come an Offspring who would crush Satan’s head (3:15).
That particular woman was not Eve but the virgin Mary, and that particular Offspring was Jesus the Christ. What Adam and Eve destroyed, Jesus came to restore. He came to rescue the human race, and with it, His beautiful institution of marriage. Marriage can never be in this life what it was before the fall into sin, but it can be more than the world considers it to be—much more.
To teach us about the greatness of marriage, Jesus likens it to His union with the Church of all believers. Ephesians 5 says that as the Church acknowledges Christ as its Head and submits to Him, “so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands” (v. 24). And as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, this is how husbands should love their wives (v. 25). When this happens by the grace of God, when neither spouse points fingers and both spouses make sacrifices for each other, then we catch a glimpse of the blessed union of Christ with His Church.
Sometimes a self-sacrificing love can be found in marriages between unbelievers. But more often the view of marriage in the world today is that it exists for my personal fulfillment, and if I am not happy, if my needs are not being met the way I want them to be, then I am going to walk. And then there is the growing number of couples who think marriage is “nothing but a piece of paper,” a formality, which is “not nearly as important as a shared expression of love for one another.” The devil attacks the best gifts of God, and that’s what he is doing to marriage today.
It isn’t just unbelievers who are affected by his lies and temptations. Satan especially works against marriages of Christians, and he has done damage among us too. He tempts us to selfishness, unkindness, jealousy, manipulation, hurtful words, and hurtful actions. He tempts us to look outside of our marriage to get what we want. He tempts us to think that happiness should be the primary concern in our marriage instead of faithfulness and sacrificial love.
But Jesus is active in our marriages too. Despite our sins against Him, He has not turned His back on us. We might get frustrated with each other, but He does not get frustrated with us. He loves us perfectly. As ugly as we know we look in our sin, He declares His bride the Church to be “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing… holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). This is because He cleansed us in Holy Baptism “by the washing of water with the word” (v. 26). He joined us to Him. He paid for our sins. He covers us in His righteousness. He keeps no record of our wrongs.
This is sacrificial love. We sinned against Him, but He took the punishment in our place. We were unfaithful to Him, but He willingly carried our guilt to the cross. We deserved eternal death, but He died to win us eternal life. Your sins against your neighbor, including your spouse, are sins against Him—and He forgives you. He forgives you, which moves you to share that forgiveness with others. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
The first sin happened because of a breakdown of marriage. The first sign that God had taken on flesh to bring salvation to the world took place at a marriage celebration. Marriage was not perpetually cursed by Adam and Eve, so that it should be avoided at all costs. Marriage is eternally blessed by God, so we should embrace it and give thanks for it as a great gift. Whether or not you are married today, you came from a marriage. You had a father and a mother. You know what a gift a healthy marriage is. You know how important marriage is for the home, the church, and the state. It is the human foundation on which everything else rests.
And that’s why Jesus is particularly interested in the home. He gives husband and wife to care for, help, and encourage one another. He gives children through their union, so that children have stability, so they are provided for, and so they receive training in the saving Word of God. He gathers the family around His Word, so we set our hope on His promises and grow in love for God and one another. Where His Word is, Jesus is present. He says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Mat. 18:20).
Jesus is present in holiness and power turning sorrows into joys, pain into pleasure, hardship into contentment. Whatever is brought into our homes because of sin, He transforms by His grace like the way He turned water into wine. Keeping His Word at the center of our home and our life together is how we know our family will be blessed, even if the future does not go the way we plan or expect. Jesus is with us drawing us closer to Him and to one another and giving us hope—hope in this life and hope for the eternal life to come.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from a work by a 10th century monk)
The Festival of Our Lord’s Ascension – Vicar Lehne exordium & sermon
Festival exordium:
“It is finished.” These are the words that Jesus spoke on the cross after he had completed everything that was necessary to save us from our sins. But just because Jesus’ work to save us was finished didn’t mean that he was done with us. There is still so much that he does for us from the position of authority that he has in heaven. He ascended to the right hand of his Father in order to be our Prophet, High Priest, and King. As our Prophet, Jesus sends out believers to spread the good news about what he has done for us and works through the good news of Scripture to bring the unbelieving world to faith. As our High Priest, Jesus intercedes for us on our behalf to the Father. And as our King, Jesus rules over not just heaven, which is his kingdom of glory, and earth, which is his kingdom of power, but also over his Holy Church, which is his kingdom of grace.
This is what Jesus ascended on high to do for you. He was seated at the right hand of the Father in glory in order to share the finished work of redemption with you. He is not done with you. He continues to give you these gifts. As your Prophet, he tells you the good news that he has finished the work to save you. As your High Priest, he reminds the Father of his sacrifice that he made on your behalf, and the Father sees your sins no more. And as your King, he rules over all things for your good so that you can be safely led by him to heaven to be with him forever. For these wonderful gifts, we praise and glorify his name by rising to sing “O Wondrous Conqueror and Great,” as it is printed in your service folders.
O wondrous Conqueror and great,
Scorned by the world You did create,
Your work is all completed!
Your toilsome course is at an end;
You to the Father do ascend,
In royal glory seated,
Lowly,
Holy,
Now victorious,
High and glorious:
Earth and heaven
To Your rule, O Christ, are given.
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Sermon text: Acts 1:1-11
In Christ Jesus, who did not leave us but continues to be with us always, dear fellow redeemed:
The disciples didn’t want Jesus to leave them. They had spent three years of their lives following Jesus and getting to know him well. During that time, they heard his words and saw his miraculous power. Because of these things that they saw and heard, they were hoping that Jesus would use his power to establish a kingdom on earth. But then, Jesus “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21). This was not what the disciples wanted. Peter even “took [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you’” (Matthew 16:22). But, even though it wasn’t what the disciples wanted, Jesus did suffer and die, just as he said he would, and his disciples were left alone and afraid.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the end. Jesus had also told his disciples that he would rise again on the third day, and that’s just what he did. When the disciples heard that he had risen, they didn’t believe it at first, but when Jesus appeared before them, they could no longer deny it. Jesus had risen, just as he said! He hadn’t left them after all. Now, the disciples were sure that Jesus would establish a kingdom on earth, and they would get to be with him as he ruled. But that’s not what happened. Instead, Jesus told them to “[g]o into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). As they did, they were to baptize all nations “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [and teach] them to observe all that [Jesus had] commanded [them]” (Matthew 28:19–20). Then, after telling them this, Jesus was taken up into the sky before their very eyes, until he was hidden from their sight by a cloud. Jesus had just told his disciples, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), but now, the disciples appeared to be alone once again, this time for good.
Do we ever feel like Jesus has left us? While we would certainly love to say that we’ve never felt this way, all we have to do is look at the sinful world around us, and it becomes extremely difficult not to feel alone. Sinful lifestyles that we know are wrong are regularly practiced and encouraged by those around us. Even though the world claims to be a tolerant one, it seems to be tolerant of everything except Christianity, making it harder and harder for us to live as Christians. Like the disciples, we want Jesus to be visible and establish a kingdom on earth that is free from trouble, but we look around for him and can’t seem to find him anywhere. During times like these, it can be very easy for us to say, “Jesus, where are you? Why have you left us all alone?”
But Jesus has not left us all alone, just as he hadn’t left his disciples alone. As our gospel reading for today says, “[the disciples] went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20). Jesus wasn’t visibly with his disciples, but he was still with them. He was with his disciples as they carried out the mission he had given them by preaching the Word and administering the Sacraments. In the same way, Jesus is with us as the Word is preached to us and the Sacraments are administered to us.
When Jesus’ Word is preached to you, or when you read his Word on your own, Jesus is present as he tells you everything that he did to save you from your sins. You were unable to follow God’s command to live a perfect life, but Jesus says through his Word, “I lived a perfect life for you, and that perfect life is now yours.” Your sins needed to be paid for with blood, and Jesus says through his Word, “My blood was shed on the cross for you. I have paid the price for your sins.” There are times when you may fear death, not wanting to leave your loved ones behind, but Jesus says through his Word, “I have risen from the dead, which means that you too will one day rise from the dead when I return in the same way that I was taken up into heaven.” You may wonder if the work to save you has truly been finished, but Jesus says through his Word, “My ascension into heaven is proof that everything that was necessary to save you was completed by me.”
How comforting it is to know that you can see Jesus whenever you want by simply opening up and reading your Bible. And because Jesus is present in his Word, that means that he is also present in the Sacraments, since they get their power from the Word. One of those Sacraments is baptism. When the water was applied in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit at your baptism, all of your sins were washed away. At that moment, Jesus gave you the forgiveness of sins that he won for you by his death on the cross. He clothed you in the white garments of his perfect life, the perfect life that he lived for you. And he sent his Holy Spirit into your heart to create faith, a faith that trusts in him.
So, Jesus is with us in the preaching of his Word and in the waters of baptism, which are connected with his Word, even though we can’t see him, but he isn’t bodily present with us, right? After all, at his ascension, he was bodily taken up into heaven, which means that his body must be stuck in heaven. But this simply isn’t true. Jesus’s body and blood are present in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Whenever we come to his table to receive the bread and the wine, which have been connected with his Word, we are receiving Jesus’ true body and blood. Even though we can’t see him, Jesus is with us in his meal to personally give us the forgiveness of sins that he won for us with the shedding of his blood.
You may not feel worthy of receiving the forgiveness of sins from Jesus in his supper. When you look at your sins, you are burdened with guilt. You don’t feel like Jesus is with you, and so, you think that he must have left you because your sins are too great to be forgiven. But Jesus didn’t come to save the worthy. He came to save the unworthy. He invites you to join him at his table so that he can freely offer you the forgiveness of sins. He freely forgives your sins not because you deserve it, but because he loves you. And you can leave his table knowing that the forgiveness that he just personally gave to you through his true body and blood was for you.
From his throne in heaven, our ascended Lord works through these means of grace, which he has promised to be present in, for our good, for the good of his church. This may not be how we expect Jesus to work things for our good. Like the disciples, who asked Jesus if he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel, we may want Jesus to give us a heaven on earth. But Jesus didn’t come to establish an earthly kingdom, nor does he rule over all things from his position of authority to make our lives a heaven on earth. He came to give us something far better: a perfect life of endless joy in heaven. The doors to heaven were opened to us when Jesus died on the cross, and then, he ascended into heaven after his resurrection to “prepare a place” for us (John 14:3). Until that time comes when Jesus returns “in the same way as [his disciples] saw him go into heaven” (verse 11), he comes to us in his means of grace, his Word and Sacraments, to prepare us for the day when we will leave this world and enter heaven to be with him forever. We are only strangers here. “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). And everything that our ascended Lord is doing for us here on earth is preparing us to come home to heaven.
When Jesus was taken up into heaven and hidden from the disciples, they were no longer able to see him. But that didn’t mean that Jesus had left them. He continued to be with them throughout the rest of their earthly lives, and when their time on earth was over, Jesus led them safely to his side in heaven. In the same way, even if you can’t see him or feel him, you know that Jesus is with you, because he gives you the same promise that he gave to his disciples “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He speaks to you through his Word. He washes you in the waters of baptism. And he personally feeds you at his supper. Your ascended Lord may not be present in the ways that you want him to be, but he is present in the ways that he promised to be and in the ways that you need him to be. Jesus hasn’t left you. He is with you always and will continue to be with you throughout your life, until he takes you up into heaven to be with him forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from painting by John Singleton Copley, 1775)