Starting this Today, every Thursday is going to be a little devotional reading and writing from the Book of Concord. This is just to mix things up a little bit and get everyone into reading through the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. Today we are looking at the article of Justification. The...
In his work, Against the Heavenly Prophets, Martin Luther teaches about the two ways in which we understand the forgiveness of sins that Jesus works for us. Luther says, "We treat of the forgiveness of sins in two ways. First, how it is achieved and won. Second, how it is distributed and given...
Today is Maundy Thursday. This is a special day of festive celebration during Holy Week when we celebrate and receive the Lord's Supper. The same Body and Blood that was delivered up for our trespasses on the cross is the same Body and Blood that is delivered into our mouths in the Sacrament of...
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds...
But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more" (Jeremiah 11:19). This...
The Gospel reading for Holy Monday, the Monday of Holy Week, is John 12:1-43. This is a long Gospel reading, but it take us through the events leading up to Jesus entrance into Jerusalem to His sermons once He entered. The key verse that helps summarize His preaching during this time is, "This...
This morning I was on the KFUO show, "His Time," with host Pastor Jonathan Fisk. During the show, Pastor Fisk and I were discussing the reading from the treasury this morning from mark 15:16-32. After reading the verse, "And they clothed Him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of...
When our Lord, Jesus The Christ, entered into Jerusalem, He was received with shouts of loud Hosannas and waving palm branches. However, Jesus knew that these same praising Jerusalem dwellers would a few days later shout out, “Crucify Him!” Jesus knew that they would reject Him and...
In the Large Catechism, Luther says, "But if you forgive, you have this comfort and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven. This is not because of your forgiving. For God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches. But God says...
Jesus says, "13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I...