Acts 2:42-47; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10

Today we hear about Jesus as both our Shepherd and the door for us, the sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who leads us to green pastures and still waters. And Jesus is the door, the gate by which we enter eternal life. As we follow Jesus, we know that He is always leading us toward righteousness—toward an eternity dwelling in the house of the Lord.

Acts 2:14a, 36-41; 1 Peter 1:17-25; Luke 24:13-35

Today we see Jesus appear to His disciples on the road to Emmaus. They say afterward that their hearts burned within them as Jesus opened up to them the Scriptures. In the Reading from Acts, those gathered on Pentecost are cut to the heart by Peter’s words. And in the Epistle, Peter speaks of purified souls and hearts. It seems our hearts are being greatly affected by Christ. They are cut, burning, and purified by the Word of Christ.

Acts 5:29-42; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

We gather today still in the glow of the most joyous and amazing celebration of Easter, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from the dead. The sights and sounds of that celebration linger in our memory, not as just a past event finished and forgotten, but as Peter calls it today, “a living hope,” as enduring and strong as the certainty of our living Lord and the promised future of our own resurrection. We return to continue the Easter celebration because in the afterglow of the days since Easter Sunday, many still do not know that hope. Like the absent apostle Thomas, we still face what seems to be a hopeless world. Today we remember that our only hope is built on a divine Savior whose crucifixion wounds were endured for us and for all. Indeed, we are to learn that every Sunday throughout the entire year is an Easter celebration as our living Lord draws us into His holy, life-giving wounds through His very same body and blood given us in Holy Communion. Thomas saw and believed. Peter rejoiced. Though we do not now see Him, “you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8), the only sure and living hope.

Acts 10:34-43; Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10

Death is our common enemy. But God has chosen to do battle with our enemy and has given to all the same victory won by Jesus Christ. The veil of death cast over all is now removed in Christ Jesus. Death and all its terror and power has been answered by the resurrection of Jesus once for all. We participate in this victory in the banquet our Lord has prepared, first in the Holy Communion of His crucified and risen flesh and blood, and then in the marriage feast of the Lamb, which has no end. Though for now we wait by faith for Him to bring to consummation all things, we wait as a people saved by His blood and marked for everlasting life. So let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation!

Deuteronomy 32:36-39; Philippians 2:5-11; John 12:20-43

Throughout most of Christianity, this day is referred to as Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion. This dual name indicates the two-fold emphasis to this observance. The service begins with the Liturgy of the Palms---commemorating Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There He is greeted by worshipers who have strewn His pathway with palm branches and articles of clothing. Symbolically, the congregation processes into church holding palm branches to remind us of the honor and glory that is due the "One who comes in the name of the Lord." However, in Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday pageantry dramatically changed to persecution. So also the liturgy today moves from triumphant to penitential. As we hear Jesus foretell His Passion our joy is subdued, and eagerly we await the joyful pronouncements of Easter morning.

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:1-11; John 11:17-27, 38-53

Each Sunday in Lent brings us closer to Holy Week and closer to the foot of the cross. In a sense, we are annual pilgrims traveling on the way of and to the cross. Each year is slightly different from the one that has come before on that cross way. According to the liturgical year in the Church, we are closer today to the death of Christ and His glorious resurrection than we were a week ago. And, according to our earthly lives, we are drawing closer to our own individual death and resurrection. Along this way, we intersect with the cross, which serves as a sign for our lives at all times. May we each be blessed in our pilgrimage!

Isaiah 42:14-21; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41

Some of the central people in the Gospel narratives we get to know by name; others we do not. Although the man born blind is a major person in John 9, we never learn what his name might be. We meet his parents and his neighbors and we meet the Pharisees to whom he tells the story of the miraculous restoration of his sight. Although we do not learn his name, Jesus said of the man born blind that the works of God were displayed in him. As the One brightening our lives with the light of salvation, Jesus brings a new vision to our lives—an eternal vision of life with God that never ends. God knows our names. He directs the cross currents of our daily lives. In His light we see light—and that is what matters!

Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-30, 39-42

One guideline consistently commended to hikers is the importance of bringing along sufficient water for the journey. It is important to be refreshed and revitalized along the way, wherever our paths may take us. As we gather for worship, our gracious God refreshes us here in this place where, as American hymnist Christopher Wordsworth beautifully phrased it, “Gospel-light is glowing With pure and radiant beams And living water flowing With soul-refreshing streams” (TLH 9:4). As we join in worship, our cups run over with that living water. Once again, we are renewed and satisfied and made ready to journey further in the name of the Lord.

Genesis 12:1-9; Romans 4:1–8, 13–17; John 3:1–17

The pages of the Bible are filled with some very human people. In the appointed Readings of the Sundays in Lent, we encounter several. In today’s Old Testament Reading, we hear of Abraham, who followed the guidance of God faithfully to the land of promise. Yet in Genesis, we also read that when in a challenging situation in Egypt, he misrepresented his wife as his sister and profited from the deception. Nicodemus, to whom Jesus explained the Gospel in great detail, kept his association with the Lord a secret. Even at the time of the burial of Jesus after the crucifixion, Nicodemus labors with Joseph of Arimathea “secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). It is well that we are reminded as we confess in the Nicene Creed that “for us men and for our salvation” our Lord “was made man.” As imperfect and very human people, we are assured by the Spirit that we are loved by God, who knows us as we are, and that we truly are “precious in the sight of the LORD” in life and in death (Psalm 116:15).

Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Knowing the history of words can help make them meaningful for us. The word truth comes from the English word true, which comes from the Old English word treowe, which comes from the ancient Indo-European root word drew, which means “tree.” The concept behind the word is that, like a tree, the truth stands straight and firm. The image brings to mind the word of the psalmist in the very first psalm, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, . . . but his delight is in the law of the LORD. . . . He is like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:1a, 2a, 3a). Underscoring the blessedness of being true like a tree, the psalmist states that “the LORD knows the way of the righteous” (Psalm 1:6a). In this Lenten season of repentance and reflection, we may well take to heart the advice of Paul to his co-worker Timothy, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). May we be trees of truth to the glory of God!