Today's Reading: Matthew 25:31-46

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 30:1-24; Matthew 26:57-75

Then the King will say to those at His right: "Come, those blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared FOR YOU from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus will come. He has to. He's promised it. Jesus always keeps His promises. He promised He would be born of a virgin, and He was. He promised that He would die on a cross. He promised that He would rise from the dead, come back to life on the Third Day, and He did. He promised that He would ascend into heaven, and He did!

Jesus alone saves you. You don't save yourself. Not even a little bit. Jesus' blood covers all your sins. You are 100% forgiven in Jesus. Only in Him. There's nothing you could've done to earn it, nothing you can do now to keep it. You don't have to worry about losing it in the future. The Kingdom was all prepared for you when God created the universe. Saving you wasn't Plan B. From forever He planned for you to be with Him, and He doesn't just plan it, He makes it happen. He's promised it. He'll do it.

Good works, too. That's part of His plan for you--for you to do them. He makes that happen, too. He's planned for you to be where you are, right now, just so that you would have people in your life to love and serve, and so that they would have you in their lives for them to receive service, care, and love from God through you.

Paul says the very same thing in Ephesians as Jesus said. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him" (Ephesians 1:3-4). "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

You are in Christ. Eternal life is yours. Won by Christ. Delivered in His Word and Gifts. Inheritance by way of gift, not by earning. Inheritance comes because of the death of the one giving it--Christ FOR YOU. And on the Last Day, no fear for you. You're in Jesus. His blood redeemed you from your sins, and His blood also covered all your works, too. That's why they're good! According to Jesus' parable, when you're His sheep, you're a good sheep. 100%. All in Him. FOR YOU. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Introit for the Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year (Psalm 85:1, 7, 9, 11; antiphon: Jeremiah 29:11a, 12)

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 29:1-19; Matthew 26:36-56

Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. (From the Introit for the Second-Last Sunday)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. That's a Last Day promise for you. The Lord is true to His promises, He keeps them, does them. The Lord is righteous and He looks down in mercy on those whom He's made righteous, and He will make His holy ones, His saints, spring up from the ground. He will raise their bodies from the dead. Death can't and won't win! This is the Lord's Last-Day promise.

This is a Last-Day promise because it's also a Jesus promise, a promise kept in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He "came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man." He lives a righteous life FOR US, in our place. His righteousness is counted as ours. He "was also crucified FOR US under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried," placed into the ground. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone" (John 12:24). "The third day He rose again from the dead." True to His promise, His faithfulness, He sprung up again from the ground. That's Jesus alive again, never to die again.

This is a right-now promise, too. Tomorrow you'll gather for the Divine Service. There the Lord your righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) will look down upon you in mercy, and He will pour out His righteousness upon you, His forgiveness for all your sins. His Word of promise, His faithfulness, will spring up, as it were, from the ground in His Word and Gifts. Worldly, physical things that deliver the Lord's faithfulness and righteousness to you so that you would become faithful and righteous in Him. Spirit-filled Word from the Bible. Spirit-filled forgiveness from your pastor. Jesus' Body and Blood that are delivered to you through the bread and the wine of Holy Communion.

So, in these last days we wait for the Last Day. The Lord will do what He says. He will save you. He will preserve you and keep you safe. He will raise you from the dead. Jesus' death and His empty tomb and His Word and Gifts tell you so. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 26:1-19; Matthew 26:20-35

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out FOR MANY for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:26-28)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. All the Old Testament comes to a point right here. All the Lord's promises about being with His people, living with them, eating and drinking with them, saving them, have overflowed right here. The Passover Lamb, Jesus, fulfills the Passover. He eats and drinks, and then He does something new. All the Old Testament was a shadow cast by the Body of Christ (Colossians 2:17).

We live in a world of shadows, of lies. What's real? Fake news. Scams. Politics. The internet is always true, right? What about you? Are you true, honest, pure? How much of your life is shadow? How many times does your smile conceal something else? How many times are you glad that you can hide behind a screen, a username, an avatar? Is your goodness and kindness a whitewash covering up or making up for your sins?

It is a shadow. False. Empty. Sin. Your mask, your smile, your avatar will be good only as long as you can keep it going. The shadows of the world, of your sin, and of death press in. But it won't overwhelm you, won't wipe you out. You won't be surrounded and hidden and lost in darkness.

Jesus tells you what's true about you, and FOR YOU. What is true about you is that you are righteous before God in Him. What's true FOR YOU is that Jesus died and rose for you. He did this to ransom you to the Father. He rose from the dead to bring life and immortality to life.

And our reading today is what that is all about--giving it to you. What's true about you and for you is that Jesus' Body and Blood are yours in His Supper. That's what is true. When nothing else is true or it all seems fake and empty and a shadow, "This is My Body; This is My Blood" FOR YOU.

You're bodied and blooded to Jesus. He is yours and you are His. And you're not alone, either. You and I are in this together because we both receive Jesus' Body and Blood. I'm here for you, and you're here for me. We tell each other what's true about us and for us. Jesus is! He's our Savior. He forgives us. He gives us His light. He makes His promises to us and keeps them. It all comes together at the Supper of His Body and Blood. It's the point of it all! Always more of Jesus' forgiveness and life and light for more people--"poured out for many." Even for me and FOR YOU. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 25:1-18; Matthew 26:1-19

For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, "Take this wine cup of wrath from My hand and make all the nations, to which I am sending you, drink it." (Jeremiah 25:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Lord pours out His wrath on His people and the nations. His wrath over sin and against sinners seems unquenchable. It's not just fire and brimstone or lightning bolts from heaven. It's not plagues and pandemics, at least not always. The wrath that's coming in Jeremiah is a little bit different.

The wrath in Jeremiah is nation rising against nation. Babylonians over Israel. Persians over the Babylonians. Eventually Greeks over them, Romans over them, and on down the line to the nations we have today. But what's the big deal? That's what happens in a sinful world. Right?

It wasn't supposed to be that way for Israel. The Lord would give them power, protection, prosperity. But Israel wanted to be just like the other nations, not only by having a king. That was just a symptom. The real problem is they didn't want the LORD to be their King, and truth be told, they didn't want Him to be their God. So the Lord gave them just what they wanted. They got the false gods. They used sex as their god and sacrificed their own children. They got the kings and alliances and treaties. They also got being conquered. That's what it's like for the other nations.

None of that sort of turning away from Him will do. He can't stand false gods, false worship, and sins WE produce. So, the Lord pours out His wrath on His people and on the nations. The Lord's wrath seems unquenchable. He pours it out, but not in the way we suspect.

"Father, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless not My will but Thy will be done" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus, the Son of God, takes the wrath of God into Himself. He drinks that cup to the dregs, nothing left. He drinks the wrath that means hell itself. Jesus drinks that up for you. He is conquered by death and forsaken by His Father so you won't be. He is counted as a sinner so you receive the overflowing cup of God's mercy and forgiveness.

That Cup is yours (more on that tomorrow). Jesus gives it to you overflowing with forgiveness in the Supper. There is no wrathful cup for you. So in a world full of sin and death there are forgiveness and life and salvation and peace for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

And when Jesus finished all these words, He said to His disciples, "You know that the Passover happens in two days, and the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified." (Matthew 26:1)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Table of Duties, Wives

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:21-40; Matthew 25:31-46

Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. (Small Catechism: Table of Duties, Wives)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Submission in the world is the way of power and force. It's one person dominating another, being in charge of another. But this is NOT what Paul's talking about here with wives and husbands! Submission between husbands and wives, as far as Christians are concerned, has to do with serving and being served. It's the way of love, the way of Christ FOR YOU.

Jesus is Lord, but not in the almighty power way. He does have that. But Jesus is Lord for you in the saving-you way, the dying way. Lord means Savior. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).

He gave His life for the sake of His Bride, the Church. She is His own Body. He is Her Head, Her Savior. The Church submits to Christ by being saved by Him. He submits Himself for Her sake, to die and rise for Her. You are a member of His Body, for you are baptized into Him through "the washing of water and the Word," (Ephesians 5:26) and you receive His Body and Blood as "He feeds and cares for her" (Ephesians 5:29). His Bride is more important than His own life. You and I are, too, for we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:11).

So, ladies, the best husband is one who will serve you as Christ served the Church. Guys, the best lady is the one you would serve and put first. Dying to self, putting another's life and wants first--husband's submission. Dying to self, letting another serve--wife's submission. "Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ" (Ephesians 5:21).

This all points to Christ. It's why He, His Father, and the Spirit created us. It's why He marries and gives in marriage. "What God has joined together..." (Matthew 19:6). He gives His life for His Bride, the Church, His Body. You are of that Body.

It's not the way the world does it. Christ's serving, forgiving, is His being your Lord, your Savior. It's true with us, too. Loving. Serving. Forgiving. He works that in us by His Spirit. Faith toward God and sincere love for each other, even husbands and wives. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. (Ephesians 5:23 NIV)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:1-20; Matthew 25:14-30

If we believe that Jesus died and rose, thus we also believe that God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You can have hope. In a hopeless world, there really is hope. You don't have to despair. There's no reason to give up or be angry at others. No reason to get upset by what happens or to be afraid of a virus. You don't have to be scared. You have hope.

The world is hopeless. That's the foundation of a lot of people's worldview. The world's hopeless because it's meaningless. The only meaning we have is what we make for ourselves. The universe came from nothing. The world will return to nothing. We're just a speck of dust in the vast universe that's spinning out of control--no rhyme or reason to it. There's destruction, disease, and death. It's what we see. It's what we experience.

But there is hope. When someone dies or there's disease or destruction, you don't have to grieve like other people who have no hope. You don't have to get angry. You don't have to despair. Your hope has a Name: Jesus.

When everything seems hopeless, Jesus is your Hope. When everything's dark, He is your Light. When you've got conflict and fear, He is your peace. When you've got sins, Jesus is your redemption. When you're struggling in the good works God's given you to do, Jesus is your righteousness. When you die--whenever and however you die-- Jesus is your life.

Jesus is risen from the dead! His empty tomb changes the universe. Dead people don't stay dead anymore! His empty tomb changes your universe--and your eternity, too! Not only because Jesus died and rose for you, but because you've been baptized into His death and His resurrection. You will rise from the dead because in Baptism you have already. Now death is just a nap. You will sleep in Jesus because you're baptized.

You'll rise in Jesus, too. He will raise you from the dead, along with all those who have already fallen asleep trusting in Him. At the final trumpet, the Last Day, you and all other believers in Christ will rise from the dead and live forever with Jesus. His Father will do this for you, by the Spirit, though His Son. Your Baptism says so!

Christ is risen! You're baptized! Different parts of the same gift, the same truth, the same hope. That hope is yours, delivered at the font. Now Jesus is yours and you are His, now and forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Exodus 32:1-20

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 22:1-23; Matthew 25:1-13

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Salvation. Freedom. Life. All those things the Lord Jesus worked for His people Israel. It was Him. Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). He doesn't just save us from sin and death, but He also saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and from death by Pharaoh. (The exodus is a type, a picture, of Jesus' salvation at Calvary.)

Ten Plagues. The Red Sea. That's how He did it. "With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm" (Deuteronomy 4:34). No one could oppose Him, stop Him from saving His people. So also you: Nothing could stop Him. Not your sins. Not Pilate. Not the religious leaders. Not even death itself. In fact, the Lord used all those things to save you. Israel was saved, safe and secure, dwelling at the foot of the Lord's mountain, in His presence, until He would bring them into the Promised Land of Canaan. (A type, a picture, of Jesus' Church and His bringing you to eternal life with Him.)

Unfaith. That's what it was met with. The Israelites were stiff-necked, stubborn. They didn't have faith in Yahweh. They wanted a god just like the gods in Egypt they'd been rescued from. That's right, they weren't just rescued from slavery to Pharaoh but slavery to the false gods of the Egyptians. We, too, turn back to false gods: money, success, political leaders. Whatever or whoever will promise us a better life or at least make us feel better. "Behold, O Israel, the gods that brought you out of the land of Egypt."

What's the Lord to do now? Wrath. Punishment. More plagues! Maybe a virus or an economic downturn. Those are certainly consequences of a sin-filled, sin-broken world. But is that what the Lord will do with you? Wipe you out? Not so with Israel! "Remember," Moses says. He throws the Lord's promises back in His face. So also you. Jesus stepped in for you. He took your punishment at Calvary, and when you get caught in your sins, which really do deserve wrath and hell for you, the Lord's promises stand for you. The true Red Sea of your Baptism has saved you, delivering forgiveness. The true manna of Jesus' Body and Blood give you new life, set apart from your sins, and also eternal salvation.

In His crucifixion, in His dying for you, in His empty tomb, rising for you: "Behold, your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt." In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Matthew 24:15-28

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 20:1-18; Matthew 24:29-51

On account of the elect those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:22)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Lord cares for you. He and His Father, in the unity of the Spirit, created everything in the universe as a gift for you. This Triune God knitted you together in your mother's womb. The Son became man for you, died, rose, and ascended to run the universe for your good. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to you in the water and Word of Holy Baptism. Jesus breathes more life into you through the Word of God. Jesus delivers the forgiveness of sins to you through the pastor He hand-picked. Jesus uses His power to deliver His Body and Blood to you for the forgiveness of sins in order to strengthen your faith toward God and that you would have fervent love toward those around you.

Things are going to get bad. If you think they're bad now, well, I've got news for you, they'll get worse. That's what Jesus says. He's warning us so that we're not surprised or unprepared. "There will be great tribulation," Jesus says, "such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be" (Matthew 24:21). Wars. Rumors of wars. Famines. Earthquakes. Persecution. Christians will fall away and betray one another. Love will grow cold (Matthew 24:6-12). And false Christs and false prophets "will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24).

Sound scary? You bet! But read that first paragraph again if you need to. I'll say it again here: The Lord cares for you. He won't abandon you. That's His baptismal promise to you: "I am with you always until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). That includes the last days Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24. In fact, He cuts those days short for you. You were chosen in Him from creation, and at Holy Baptism. "I have called you by name, you are mine," He says (Isaiah 43:1).

You're not on your own, especially in the scary times. Jesus is there for you. He cares for you. He created you. He saved you. He gathers you to His table where He gives you His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, which strengthen and keep you, body and soul, unto life everlasting. And on the Last Day He will gather you to Himself forever to live with Him in eternal life. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will be gathered. (Matthew 24:28)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Today's Reading: Introit for Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year

(Psalm 130:1-2, 7-8; antiphon: vs.3-4)

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 11:1-23; Matthew 24:1-28

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. (From the Introit for the Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What if when you went to church tomorrow, you had to write down all the sins you did this past week and then, one by one, the pastor would read them. Church would last a lot longer than an hour! And who would come back again to be shamed that way?

Yet that's how so many people think God operates--that He's just compiling a big long list of your sins and you'll have to hear it read before you enter the pearly gates.

But that's not what the psalm says! If the Lord did that, if He kept track, we'd be done for. Doomed. But He doesn't, because with Him there is forgiveness. That's why He sent His Son and why Jesus the Son lived and died and rose again. To get rid of the record! To hide the evidence and cover it with His blood. To make the accusations against you illegible so they must be thrown out of court. Jesus has paid for your sin in full.

The Divine Service is just the opposite of a time of shame for what you've done. Tomorrow everything in the worship service is a promise and reminder that God does NOT mark iniquities. He DOESN'T keep track. He has expunged the record. Blotted out your sins. Forgotten them. Forgiven you.

From the words of the Invocation, recalling your Baptism, through Absolution, the reading of God's Word, the sermon preaching Christ crucified and the Supper delivering the life-giving Body and Blood of Jesus--all of this is the Lord's promise that He does not mark your iniquities. There's no keeping track. There's no keeping score.

The Divine Service is one big reminder that with the Lord there is nothing but forgiveness for sinners. No shame there--only rejoicing in having such a merciful and loving Savior. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, I believe, were sinners more

Than sands upon the ocean shore,

Thou has for all a ransom paid,

For all a full atonement made.

("Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness" LSB 563, st. 4)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 8:18-9:12; Matthew 23:13-39

"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant." (Jeremiah 9:11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Wow, Lord, tell us how you really feel! Yahweh has had enough of Israel's idolatry. Jerusalem is done for. The Babylonians wiped it out in 586 BC and it got flattened again in 70 AD. God doesn't want His people trusting a city. He wants them to trust in Him. In fact, the real desolation of Jerusalem isn't that the Babylonians or Romans tore it down.

The real desolation of Jerusalem, the real ruin of the city of Judah is that on a hill outside that city, all that is evil, all that is horrible, all that is sin and wickedness and deserving of punishment, all that is hellish, was heaped upon Jesus. Jerusalem's destruction was a picture of what would happen to Jesus. The enemies of God would destroy the city. They killed Christ. Sin, death, and the curse of the Law all got a hold of Him and killed Him.

That all happened so that we have something to trust in other than our crumbling cities. We try to find refuge, comfort, and solace in people, places, and things. But none of the things that we love to make into our gods can save us. All attention on the desolation of Jerusalem: the Son of God crucified for sinners.

So that you will never be desolate. So that you will never be alone. So that you will never be destroyed. The destruction and crumbling of the things around us is the Lord's way of reminding us that nothing in this world is permanent. Nothing in this world can save us. There is nothing left but the Son of God on Calvary, His salvation delivered by water, Word and Supper. Without that, everything is a crumbling desolation and wasteland. With that, with Him, with His gifts, wherever we are is full of life and joy and gladness.

Do you ever feel like the Lord has wiped out your city? Ruined your life? Let everything be wrecked? It can't be so. Not with Jesus having died and risen for you. Whatever seems horrible and destructive now is simply a reminder that your only hope is Jesus and all that He has accomplished for you by His life, death, and resurrection. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We, where no trouble distraction can bring,

Safely the anthems of Zion shall sing;

While for Your grace, Lord, their voices of praise

Your blessed people shall evermore raise.

"Oh, What Their Joy" LSB 675, st. 3)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch