st. john's lutheran church

A burial fit for a king.

Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead!

Jesus enters Jerusalem as King, Prophet, and Priest--the anointed Messiah and Lord. The inhabitants of the city asked "Who is this?" Many still ask that question today. How do you answer? Is He your Lord? He came and died for you and, risen to life again, lives and reigns. He purchased you with His own blood.

Jesus is the Hero of the world. He who is the Life came to do battle with death. At the tomb of Lazarus, we see the fight become--a fight which will be finished on the cross and in Jesus' victorious rising from the dead.

In the mercy of Christ Jesus, God works His proper work of grace, giving us faith and granting the forgiveness of sins. In response, we worship Him, offering our thanks and praise.

Jesus is the Savior of the whole world--of Jews, Samaritans; of you and me.

In our text for today, Jesus says two things must happen--are necessary. You must be born again. The Son of Man must be lifted up.

We are chips off the old block of our forefather Adam and have inherited sin and its effect: death. But in Christ Jesus we are reborn children of God--made righteous by His blood on the cross and made inheritors of eternal life.

We are children of God the Father--a reward that will never fade and cannot be taken from us.  This is the motivation for our religious life. God is with us. God is for us.

"Mountaintop Experiences" are the high points in our spiritual journey--moments when we are keenly aware of God's presence and will for our lives. But there is something even more firm--the Word of God--which sustains us in the valleys of life and sheds light into the murky darkness, guiding us in hope.

Jesus teaches us the true meaning of the Law, revealing our need for a Savior, our need for the grace He shows us by His death and resurrection. Forgiven and joined to Him in baptism, we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we shine His light in the world.

You are the salt of the earth...the light of the world.

In Christ Jesus, you are blessed!

We have our unity in Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead, in whom we are baptized and have our life.

Like John, we know who Jesus is, and like Andrew, we tell our neighbors about Him.

There is reason to hope! The Servant has come to heal and forgive.

Jesus, our Savior, came to save you. He accomplished this through His suffering and death--a suffering first shown at His circumcision. In Holy Baptism, He has claimed you as a child of God, redeemed by His precious blood.

Christ the Savior is born! Alleluia!

Christ your Savior is born. Alleluia!

"How long, O Lord?" is a question of lament common in the psalms. Languishing in prison, John the Baptizer questions Jesus, echoing the psalmist's lament. We, too, come to Jesus with our questions and doubts, and He points us as He did John to Himself and His kingdom. Jesus is no stranger to suffering, and He bore our sins upon Himself on the cross. Risen from the dead, He reigns over our lives. While our circumstances may not cause us to recognize it by sight, by faith and by hope, we look to Jesus and His coming again when every tear will be wiped away by His own hand, and all pain and crying and death itself will be gone forever. Until then, we wait in hope.