Not once in the New Testament is the cross of Jesus depicted as being empty. On Easter morning we will celebrate the discovery of the empty tomb, but when you behold the cross, as presented to us by Holy Scripture, you will always find there the mangled, dying body of Jesus. And what a shameful and gory…

Thus says the Lord God: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst. Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the…

The Jews came to Jesus and demanded, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” ( Jn 10:24 ). But Jesus had already told them plainly. In his previous encounter with the Jews, which we heard read on Sunday, Jesus told them, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” In other words, “I AM Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac,…

James and John are trying to plan ahead for their future in the kingdom of God. They want to have positions of honor and power, sitting at the right hand and left of the throne of Jesus. Naturally, this request was resented by the other ten disciples, all of whom had their own ideas about who should…

There are four types of soil in Jesus’ parable: one is found outside the church, the other three are found within. The first soil describes unbelievers. These are people in whom the seed of faith has never taken root, apart from Christ and without salvation. And yet, even to these, the Word of God is…

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning…

We bow or genuflect during the Creed at the words, “and was made man,” in profound recognition of the honor that God bestowed upon humanity when he joined himself to our race. The glorious King of the universe became man and remains a man now and for all eternity. But when Jesus walked the earth, his…

John’s confusion is understandable. What is a righteous man like Jesus doing in waters meant for sinners? For many years I too did not understand Jesus’ baptism. Perhaps most Christians don’t. We might say, “I know why I need to be in this water. I know why you need this water. We are sinners. But Jesus…

After twelve days of Christmas, the season of Epiphany begins today. Epiphany must always follow Christmas, not because it’s next on the church calendar, but because the revelation of Christ must follow his coming into our dark world. When Christ was born, the angel announced that his birth would be…

The gospel text for the Second Sunday after Christmas tells us of the murder of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem. Some call this the untold Christmas story. It is too terrible and gory to be included in the Christmas narrative. And yet, these events did take place. The wise men, looking for the newborn…