Sermon for 4/19/26: Third Sunday of Easter (a)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

The Breaking of the Bread
Luke 24:13-35

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
 

          The past two weeks, we have watched people who should have known better as they’ve finally come to see the truth about the Lord. First it was Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and John at the empty tomb. Then last week it was Thomas in the room where the disciples were hiding.

          This week we follow two disciples on the road to Emmaus. One is named Cleopas, and the other is unnamed. However, they count themselves in the company of the disciples. They were witnesses to the work and words of Jesus, and ultimately they were witnesses to His death. They were even around to hear the women, who told them that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. But they didn’t believe the women, so they were heading back to Emmaus, presumably to move on with their lives.

          Jesus joined them on the road, but they were prevented from recognizing Him. We aren’t told how, but that doesn’t matter. What follows is important. The disciples give their interpretation of the events surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection. They said to Him, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” When they finished, He rebuked them for not seeing what was before their eyes, and He gave them the true meaning of the events. Using Moses and the prophets, He explained to them why it was necessary for the Christ to die as He did.

          So now they know the good news, but they are still prevented from recognizing Him as the very Christ of whom they spoke. Anyway, they finally reach Emmaus, and Jesus acts as though He will continue on. They invite Him in, and He accepts. And then something odd happens. Although He is their guest, He takes the initiative. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. At that moment, they recognized Him, and He departed from them. After they marvel at how they could have failed to recognize Him, they return to Jerusalem to share with the disciples how Jesus revealed Himself to them in the breaking of the bread.

          The account of Christ’s appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most fascinating Bible stories. It has all the aspects of a story you’d tell your children: the hero; the people the hero saves; an adventure or journey; a feast; even a hint of the supernatural; and, of course, the happy ending. There’s no violence. And the story grows with the child, as every story should.

          But this is no mere story. It is one of the pivotal events in human history. It is the first time a follower of Jesus comes to recognize by faith that Jesus is the suffering and rising Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. It shows Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise to Adam and Eve and to all their descendants.

          But the best part of all this is that the Lord teaches us how He would have us worship Him. Today we have followed the pattern He set in this text, as the Church has for 2000 years. We hear about the person and work of Christ, and then we partake of His body and blood. We’ve added more ritual, but the form is still the same as Jesus used with these two dispirited followers. The risen Lord intends for the Church to continue to gather at table: in remembrance of Him and in anticipation of the eternal Banquet. The Emmaus meal reminds us of that: it reminds us that Christ is present at the meal, and that He reveals Himself to us there.

          So where do you look for Jesus? We often look in the wrong places. We look in Bible Studies. We look on crosses that sit on bookcases and nails in walls and chains around our necks. We look for Him at Lutheran Laymen’s League and Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and Youth Group meetings. Now, before you stone me as a heretic, let me say that He is present in all these places. But we don’t see Him there by our own reason or strength.

          We can’t see Him there, because He reveals Himself first and foremost in the Divine Service. When He reveals Himself to us in the liturgy of the Word and Sacraments, we can then see Him in Bible studies, on crosses, and in meetings. He reveals Himself there as well, but we recognize Him through the breaking of the bread, even as the Emmaus disciples recognized Him so long ago.

          Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: we are on our own Emmaus road today, and it ends at the Communion rail. So I ask you now: What are you looking for as you come to the altar? Comfort? Assurance? If that’s all you want, then you’ve come to the wrong place. When you come to the altar, you come to the cross, where our Lord and Savior hung in pain and suffering to His death. Christ died, not that you would have assurance, but that you would have the forgiveness of sins and life in His name. If you need comfort apart from that, you don’t realize the importance of the gift you are being given. The body and blood of Christ are brought to you and given to you, and you receive them, and in them you receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. And most importantly, when you come to the altar, you see the Savior revealed to you in the breaking of the bread. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia
         

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hears and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 4/12/26: Second Sunday of Easter (a)

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Doubt and Faith

John 20:19-31
 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

          Thomas the disciple doesn’t deserve all the acrimony, the shade we throw at him. Well, maybe he does deserve it, but Thomas is not alone in his doubt. All the disciples doubted. All of them were frightened. All of them thought that they were seeing a ghost. And all of them falsely believed that Jesus was not standing before them in a real, tangible resurrected body, but that He had discarded our flesh in favor of some unreal apparition. It is Thomas in his questioning who makes them bold to confess, and in doing so, he lets us see, too, what they at first did not see, and he helps us believe through their testimony what they at first could not believe.

But notice how difficult it is for him—and for us—to believe. First, we must believe against what we think is reasonable; we must discard what we are sure is true; we must suppress what we feel is good and right. Thomas had to do that because he was absent when Jesus first appeared to the apostles. And when he returned, the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas refused to believe what he heard from his brethren, even if a living Jesus is what he desperately wanted. He instead believed what made sense to him, what seemed real to him, what felt right. Because even after seeing Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, none of them would believe that Jesus would Himself rise from the dead.

And so, for the sake of Thomas—and also for your sake—the Lord comes again as He came before. The doors are againbarred shut. Yet Jesus stands in their midst and says to them, “Peace to you.” The resurrected Lord shows Thomas the nails wounds on His hands, and invites Thomas to touch those wounds and the wound in His side. Don’t think that any of this was an accident. None of this happened by chance. Our Lord’s compassion exposed the doubt of Thomas so that we might believe. For when the doubting disciple was invited to touch the wounds in His Master’s body, Our Blessed Lord then cures the wounds of our unbelief and soothes the aches of our doubts and fears.

So the disciple’s unbelief was of more advantage to your faith than the faith of the other ten. For when Thomas is led back to faith by seeing and touching Jesus in the flesh, you too are made firm in your faith. You are taught to believe that our Lord truly does rise from the dead; He really can convert your dying body into a glorified, resurrected body by the same power that enabled Him to overwhelm death. You believe in and confess the resurrection not just of the soul or spirit, but also of the body—the same body you live in now, only perfected to match your redeemed state as a child of God. You believe in and confess “the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” You bring your infants and children to the font of Holy Baptism with the bold confidence that, if they hold to the one true faith, the Holy Spirit will raise them in their bodies and give them and all believers in Christ the eternal life Jesus died to win for them. You come forward to this altar, where He gives you His holy Body and precious Blood, even if what you see appears to be mere bread and wine; and in this mystery He invites you to put away your doubts and fears, and instead invites you to trust and rely and depend completely and absolutely on Him for all that you need “to support this body and life.”

“Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” That is what Our Lord says, not only to Thomas, but also to you. Do not doubt what you cannot see with your eyes. Do not fear what man can do to you. Do not let your heart be troubled. Christ has already overcome everything that frightens and troubles you. And in the waters of Holy Baptism, He has given you His victory. No longer will fear run your life. No longer can sin control you. Flee from your fears, resist your sinful urges, confess your sins, and be reconciled to both God and man. Believe what your eyes cannot see. For the same Jesus who showed Thomas His hands and side has gained for you the victory over sin and death, and He will raise you up in your body. “Faith shall cry as fails each sense: Jesus is my confidence!” ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.   

 

HYMN: View Now the Cross with Ponderous Grief

Once again I found myself inspired by one of Pastor Anderson's sermons, this time his Good Friday sermon on John 19 for the Chief Service. He was talking about Good Friday piety: how some view the day with a somber tone while others view the day with great joy. The thought sent a kernel of an idea into my head, and this is what developed, with help from thoughts from his sermon and the readings for Easter Day. 

This one still needs some work, but it's a good start, and your help could make it even better. I think there is a stanza still missing, but I'm not sure quite what it is. 

Right now the tune is WINDHAM, which is the tune for the hymn "We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died," hymn 429 in Lutheran Service Book. Feedback is love.

View Now the Cross with Ponderous Grief

1. View now the cross with pond'rous grief;

View now the cross with radiant joy;

But see the cross with great relief.

Praise Christ, whose death did death destroy.

2. Behold the scandal of the cross!

See here the foolishness of God.

Look at Christ's hands by nails embossed

His torso striped by cruel rod.

3. See Him suspended, crucified,

His love a banner, on the tree

See Him, your Savior, glorified,

Hanging in mighty victory!

4. Sinless, the King with greatest care

Cries for forgiveness, mercy sweet,

For all whose sins have nailed Him there.

And then He dies, His work complete.

5. Mourn your own sin with woe and shame,

Putting the spotless Lamb to death.

Worship the Christ, who bears your blame,

Breathing for you His final breath.

6. View now the cross with pond'rous grief;

View now the cross with radiant joy;

But see the cross with great relief.

Praise Christ, whose death did death destroy.

Alan Kornacki, Jr., 1974

LM (88 88)

WINDHAM (LSB 429)

Good Friday; John 19