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Luke 24:1-12 - Lectionary for Easter Day, Series C

4/18/2019

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4/18/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Gospel this week points out the message of the resurrection. It’s decidedly one of the most controversial issues of Christianity. Or at least it should be.

We notice that the first witnesses to the resurrection were women who had come to make sure all the elements of an appropriate burial were completed. They found that the tomb was open and that Jesus was not there. The reason was given to them by an angelic appearance. These first witnesses, we should remember, would not have been considered qualified to give testimony in court. But God in his grace chose them to be the first to give testimony to his resurrection. He speaks to and through even those who would otherwise be ignored.

The angelic message reminded the women of what Jesus had already said. Despite the fact that Jesus had told his followers of his death, burial, and resurrection several times, they were unable to grasp the idea and had neglected it. With Jesus’ death, their hope also died. But with Jesus’ life, their hope could come to life again. Christianity is all about the resurrection of the dead. We who believe in Jesus, though we die, yet we will live. He shows himself to be the resurrection and the life. And he does exactly what he promised. Jesus promised many other things as well. We do well if we believe he will keep those promises also.

Some of those people to whom the women reported, “to the eleven and to all the rest,” believed their report. Others thought it was some sort of nonsense. Yet over the forty days to follow, they saw Jesus with their own eyes, risen from the dead. Our first reaction to the Gospel may be negative. Yet given time and exploration, we find that the claims of the resurrection are true. Jesus is the Lord of resurrection.

Christianity is the only major world religion based on an actual historical event and on definitive truth claims. The event of the resurrection and the truth claims of Jesus, not our history, not any moral stance, not any testimony about how we feel in Christ should run the show. Christianity is built on the truth of God, just as real today as it was to those women at the tomb.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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1 Corinthians 15:19-26 - Lectionary for Easter Day, Series C

4/17/2019

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4/17/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In 1 Corinthians 15:25-26, we read about the enduring power of Christ’s reign. We find that “he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (ESV). We humans have plenty of enemies, and some of them are formidable. In our current culture in the United States, there is a lot of talk about criminal violence, especially shootings at or around school properties. And this is a serious issue. Last year about fifty people died in these incidents. That’s too many. In fact, anything that can reasonably be prevented or treated and that is life threatening is a serious issue. Without mininizing people who are shot going to school, we’ll observe that many more die in traffic accidents caused by someone being impaired or distracted. Even more die from influenza infections. One of the largest killers of humans in the United States is abortion, in which one person can legally give instructions to end the life of another person, all the way up to the point of birth. And yet there’s another cause of death which we really can’t do anything about. It’s called time. Given enough time, no matter our lifestyle or our genetics, every last person’s body will cease to function, every last human being now alive on the planet will die. Some sooner, some later.

The Bible calls death an enemy, and it is indeed an enemy. Normal, healthy people do not want to die. A desire for suicide is never considered a natural or healthy desire. It’s giving in to the enemy, death. We should rather expect that given normal circumstances, people want to and are probably able to live a relatively long and healthy life. But death remains the enemy.

What does God do about it? The context of 1 Corinthians 15 makes it very clear. He becomes human in the place of you and of me. He gives his life to an untimely death, and thanks to his divine ability, he proclaims that he has died in your place and in my place. Not that we won’t die, given time. But in his resurrection Jesus has defeated death itself. It no longer can reign over us, because, like Jesus, we also will rise from the dead. The enemy has been defeated.

Some day the Lord will show that defeat clearly by bringing this world in which people are born, live, and die to an end. He will bring in the new heavens and new earth where we will simply live. In the meantime, the Christian can face even the enemy of death unafraid. Jesus has passed through death into life, as will we.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Psalm 16 - Lectionary for Easter Day, Series C

4/16/2019

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4/16/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In Psalm 16, verses 7-9, we read of the Psalmist’s response to the Lord. He blesses the Lord, he has set the Lord before him. The Psalmist makes a conscious effort to give honor to God, to remember the Lord’s actions and character. This should be the attitude of every Christian. We who claim that God has redeemed us in the person and work of Jesus should make every effort to be not only aware of, but also thankful for, God’s character, revealed in His Word.

A recent study indicated that confessional Lutherans, particularly pastors, tend to be very good with their systematic theology, with commenting on church polity, and make observations about the way the Christian faith is articulated. However, they are relatively weaker in actual use of the Bible. Passages which speak to the concerns they can articulate in their theology don’t readily come to mind. Some will say that the Bible doesn’t speak to all the issues of our time and culture, though it does. It’s a matter of looking adequately at the category of thought and identifying how the Scripture views a current issue.

Like the Psalmist, we need to recall what the Lord has said. Are we confronted by unbelief? Is it a matter of selfishness? Maybe we or others we know are trying to deal with our identity, or with loss, disappointment, pain, or fear of the future. If we think about it, nearly every problem in our society fits into one or more of those seven categories. If not, there are many others we can find in the Scripture. And as we understand what the Lord has said about His character and ours, and how we would deal with the troubles in our world, we will be better equipped to rejoice and take confidence in the identity we have in Christ. Then our heart is able to instruct us. Then we can look to him in hope, day or night.

May Christians everywhere be aware of the riches found in God’s Word!

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Isaiah 65:17-25 - Lectionary for Easter Day, Series C

4/15/2019

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4/15/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

When I was a young Christian and spent quite a bit of time with my high school friends, some would speak of their hopes for a heavenly home, mixed with their fears about the nature of tha Is it disembodied  Maybe I want to reach a heavenly rest but I will miss all these things - good things - that I enjoy here. I was talking once with a Christian singer/songwriter on a concert tour. Before the concert, he said he enjoyed deer hunting. He was looking forward to an eternity where he could shoot a deer, it would fall down, get up, congratulate him on a good shot, and be completely unharmed.

These ideas about eternity are entertaining. But they are contradicted, in part, by Isaiah 65:17-18, In verse 17 we are told that in the new heavens and new earth we won’t remember “the former things.” Do you enjoy fishing, hunting, gardening, making cheese, or playing the trombone in this life? That’s perfectly fine. Eternity will be a place of delight. But “the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind” (v. 17, ESV). We can expect the Lord to give us joys and delights that we don’t have now. Yet we will not miss anything. We will be glad in what the Lord gives us. It will be better than we can imagine.

That’s just the point of the Christian life, isn’t it? We are made new in Jesus. We don’t cling to the old. And as we look to God’s recreation of all, we can’t imagine what it will be like, but we know it will be good.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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    About Throwing Inkwells

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