April 25, 2023

Today's Reading: Luke 10:1-9

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 34:1-28, Luke 17:18-35

“Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10:3)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Mark would have been a terrible televangelist. Those guys for the most part promise you a successful stress free middle class life with an attractive spouse, well behaved children, and a three car garage. Mark, on the other hand, makes it clear in his Gospel that suffering comes before glory in the Christian life.  If, as one strain of church tradition tells us, Mark was one of the seventy-two, then he heard it straight from Jesus, “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 

This is the truth of your baptismal identity. You came up out of the waters of the font marked as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified and that mark functions as a target for Satan and his minions.  Belief in Jesus is not a shortcut to a life of  private jets, and yachts where the world bows to your every whim. Instead your life as a Christian is lived in a world that is hostile to your very existence. The world that rejected him also rejects His followers. This is part and parcel of the mystery of theology of the cross. Your very life with Christ is tied up in the mystery of his suffering on the cross. 

Mark’s entire Gospel points to the cross and he does not want Jesus to be understood apart from the cross. Jesus is not to be understood as a worker of miracles, or as a great teacher. He is to be understood as the one who suffered and died to give his people victory over sin and death. Many times in this life that victory is hard to see. If the cross is a mystery, then so is the life of faith. This means that you can suffer and still be a Christian. You can live as lambs in the midst of wolves because Jesus the Crucified One is with you. 

Your life as a Christian will be full of peaks and valleys. The here and now will always be full of wolves seeking to separate you from Christ, but His victory is your victory, and His Resurrection points to your own resurrection. Your present may contain darkness, but your future contains only light. In Jesus the kingdom of God has come near to you and remains near to you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

For Mark, O Lord, we praise you, The weak by grace made strong, Whose labors and whose Gospel Enrich our triumph song. May we, in all our weakness, Reflect your servant life And follow in Your footsteps, Enduring cross and strife. “By All Your Saints in Warfare” LSB 518, st 15.

-Pastor Grant A Knepper is Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Modesto, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.