April 11, 2025

Today's Reading: Exodus 5:1-6:1

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 5:1-6:1; Mark 15:33-47

“Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”  But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”” (Exodus 5:1-2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

If you are old enough or well-versed in classic “Biblical” cinema, you cannot hear these words from Exodus 5 without hearing the voice of Charlton Heston saying, “Let my people go.” Maybe you hear a really slow, confident “Let my Cameron go” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

What a privilege we have to prepare for what is to come by looking back at previous accounts of Scripture. Exodus 5 is a beautiful foreshadowing of what of what we will remember next week. God’s people were stuck in actual, physical slavery in the land of Egypt, and they longed for freedom.    

Forget Charlton Heston. Forget Ferris Bueller. What matters is that next week, we will relive and remember our Lord’s silent plea to the one who holds the Children of God captive. Don’t forget the words of the prophet Isaiah. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

Our Lord cried out upon the cross. He prayed for His enemies. He said, “I thirst” to fulfill the Scripture. But nothing was as powerful or as important as the final words He spoke.         

Unlike Moses, our Lord was not going to the cross to plead with the Devil to release His children from bondage to sin and death. Jesus wasn’t asking permission from anyone. He was silently taking back what was rightfully His, and His final words signaled that the fight was over. While hanging upon the cursed tree, right before giving up His spirit, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.”   

Prepare your heart well to remember the day. That day of victory is your day of victory. That was the day the Devil lost the fight over your soul. The Devil doesn’t have a choice in our release. Our Lord has put him in his place. Marked with the sign of the cross, you are HIS!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus, send Your angel legions, When the foe would us enslave. Hold us fast when sin assaults us; Come, then. Lord, Your people save. Overthrow at last the dragon; Send him to his fiery grave (LSB 521:6)

-Rev. Timothy Chase, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Truman, MN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Harrison Goodman, Executive Director of Mission and Theology

Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!