Sermons

Easter 3, 2026 (April 19)

Easter 3, 2026

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

That’s one of several great “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John. Others are, “I am the bread of life.” “I am the way and the truth and the life.” “I am the door.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Each “I AM” statement is a way of Jesus definitively saying that He is God. The “I AM” hearkens back to Moses and the burning bush. Moses wanted to know God’s name. God said, “You shall say to the people, ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.” The Greek for “I AM” is the Hebrew YHWH. Jesus uses the name of God, YHWH, because Jesus is God.

Every “I AM” statement reveals something more about who God is and how God has mercy on you.

“I AM the bread of life.” Bread. Bread is a product of living under the fall. By the sweat of your brow you eat bread. Bread keeps you going. Bread gets you through another day. Bread is a synonym for the things you need in life. Billy Joel sings of them putting bread in his jar. Money is sometimes referred to as ‘dough’; bread. You pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus is the bread of life. He is what you need to make it through another day.

“I AM the way and the truth and the life.” I am the way. Everyone is going somewhere, whether they recognize it or not. You want to go to heaven, and in order to get to where you want to go, you need to know the way. Jesus is the way. All religions do not lead to heaven. Only through Christ and His suffering, death, and resurrection, do you have the way of life open to you.

He is the truth. Lies hurt. Lies break down. Lies destroy. While it is true that the truth sometimes hurts, the truth hurts in a healing sort of way. Lies are like an infectious wound, where you need the truth to open and lance the lie. You don’t want your doctor lying to you. You don’t want a teacher lying to your child. You don’t want your spouse lying to you. You want truth. Honesty. Jesus is the truth. His Word is truth.

He is the life, which also brings us to His Word, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” Other people have been resuscitated; that is, brought back to life for a time. The widow of Nain’s son was brought back to life. Lazarus was brought back to life. But, they aren’t yet resurrected. They were brought back to life for a time, and then died again. Resurrection is when you are raised to life in a glorified body, never to die again. Jesus is the resurrection. He is bodily risen, victorious over sin, death, and the grave. His body will never die nor see corruption. Your body will one day be resurrected, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Jesus is the light of the world. Life cannot happen without light. You know that after three cloudy days in a row you begin to crave sunshine. You also know that however many lights you have in your house, in your garage, and around your property, manmade light is nothing compared to the light of sun by day and moon by night. Jesus is the light of the world. When does crime more often happen: day or night? When are you more susceptible to sin and vice: During the day or during the night? It’s no coincidence more evil happens under the cover of darkness. As it says in John’s Gospel, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not comprehended it.” He is the light. The one who put the Sun, the moon, and the stars in place is the light of the world.

Jesus says, “I AM the door.” To better understand the door imagery, you have to put it in the context of middle-eastern shepherding at the time of Jesus. Think of a shepherd during the dry months. He has to take his flock farther and farther to find pasture. To do this, he pastures them out in the wilderness, sometimes for lengthy stretches. To keep them safe at night, he makes several pens out in the wild. Some of these pens are caves, with rocks and stones built up around the entrance. Other pens are make-shift using brambles, rocks, and branches. These pens have one narrow opening for the sheep to enter. At night, the shepherd sleeps in that narrow opening. His body literally becomes the door. If any sheep tries to leave at night, it has to go over him. If any predator wants to get in, it has to go over him. He is the door. The barrier. The layer of protection. Thus, Jesus is the door. He guards you. He puts Himself between you and danger.

And finally, Jesus says, “I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Notice: it’s only here that Jesus says, “Good.” He does not say, “I am the good light.” He does not say, “I am the good bread.” He does not say, “I am the good door.”

Only with shepherd he says, “Good.” Why?
In part, it’s because there were other shepherds. Moses was a shepherd over the people. David was a shepherd-king. So, in order to set Himself apart from the other shepherds, Jesus clarifies that He and He alone is the good one.

He’s also the good one by sacrificially dying. The bread doesn’t die. The light doesn’t die. The resurrection and the life doesn’t die.

But the shepherd, the good one, does.

One of our hymns sings, “What punishment so strange is suffered yonder; the shepherd dies for sheep who loved to wander.” The Scripture says, “We all like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” We have known things, actions, decisions, that are bad for us, and we’ve done them anyway. We’ve know things that are purposefully sinful and hurtful to others, and we’ve done them. We have known God’s Word, and we have said, “no” to what God tells us to do; just as we’ve said, “yes” to what God forbids.

Yet, in spite of our transgression and sins, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He’s precisely the Good Shepherd by laying down His life for you. He numbers Himself among the sheep. He sprints toward the jaws of the wolf, suffers death upon the cross, atones for the rebellion of the world, and rises again on the third day.

In these ways, He is the Good Shepherd. The Good, noble, beautiful, true, lovely, excellent shepherd, good in a way no other shepherd is. His life is laid down for you, taken up again for you, and He continues to Shepherd you in His fold.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Easter Day 2026

Easter Day 2026

The women went to the tomb with haste. But, they didn’t need to hurry.

The women wondered who would roll the stone away from the tomb. But, they didn’t need to wonder.

The women brought spices to anoint His body. But, they didn’t need to anoint Him.

The women expected to find the dead body of the Lord Jesus. But, they didn’t find His dead body.

It was a wonderful occasion of all their expectations being wrong. They didn’t need to make haste. The stone was already rolled away by the angel. His body had already been anointed for burial. And, He wasn’t dead. He had died. He is the crucified. He still bears the scars. Nonetheless, He is risen. Resurrected. He lives.

You’ve also had rare occasions of your expectations being wrong, particularly your negative expectations. You’ve had meetings you expect to go bad, and they go well. You’ve had times you expect conflict, and instead of conflict reconciliation. Or in a simpler fashion, you’ve expected your team to lose, and they’ve won.

Everything the women expected turned out different. Better. More wonderful than they imagined. The Resurrection and the Life lives.

When the women looked in the tomb, they didn’t see Jesus.

If our Lord knew that they were going to the tomb, why didn’t He wait? At a minimum, Jesus waiting for them would have been a courteous thing to do.

Jesus didn’t wait for them for two reasons. First, it’s not His fault they thought He was still dead in the tomb. He had told them that He would rise. The angel emphasizes, “Remember how He told you, while He was in Galilee.” So if the women, or we, forget Jesus’ Words, that’s not His fault.

The second reason Jesus didn’t wait in the tomb is the simple reason that He’s not God of the dead but of the living. He is the resurrection and the life. The One who is the resurrection and the life has no business remaining in the grave. He’s not a cryptkeeper. He’s not about tombs. He is a gardener, and He is about gardens.

So, having risen from the dead, conquering sin, death, and the grave, Jesus took care of His tiny portion of creation, the tomb. He tended to the burial garments. He folded up the facecloth as though performing military honors and saying, “Well done. You did your job.” After putting the tomb in order, He left. And entered the garden. He is the gardener.

It began in a garden. Before God gave Adam a soul, God formed Adam’s body. And, in that first garden remember all that is lost in sin.

Sin destroys. Sin breaks. Sin hurts. We preach Christ risen from the dead; we also preach Christ crucified. His body bears the scars. One of our Holy Week hymns puts it, “Grant that I your passion view, with repentant grieving. Let me not bring shame to you, by unholy living. How could I refuse to shun every sinful pleasure? Since for me God’s only Son, suffered without measure.”

Learn from Adam’s fall. Resist sin. Embrace righteousness. Walk each day in the ways of the Lord. Abhorring what is evil. Hold fast what is good.

Risen from the dead, our Lord went into the garden in the cool of the day. He’s the gardener. Perhaps He picked a piece of fruit. Perhaps He pruned some vines. Maybe with each step He took, Easter lilies burst forth from the soil in triumphant joy trumpeting out the hymns of Easter. Whatever the case, the Lord loves gardens. He loves life. He is the resurrection and the life.

Our Lord Jesus Christ died on Good Friday. Having died, He underwent separation of body and soul. That’s what death is: separation of body and soul. Soul and body are not meant to be separated. We are not merely embodied souls; we are not merely ensouled bodies. What makes you you is the union of your body and soul.

Jesus’ bodily resurrection shows the great honor that is due your body. In the order of creation, God made Adam’s body before He made Adam’s soul. Your body is just as important as your soul. One is not greater or less than the other. Both belong together.

This is why it’s wrong to say the body is “just a shell” or to treat the body as though it’s something to be discarded. It isn’t. The body is hallowed. Sacred. The treatment of the body, both in life and in death, matters.

The pain of death is the severance of the union of body and soul. For the Christian, that means the soul goes to be with the Lord, as Jesus told the repentant thief, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” The soul goes to be with the Lord. And, the souls who are with the Lord are still waiting. They’re in peace. They have no suffering. But, neither do they have everything yet. All our dead in the cemetery are still waiting for the final day; for vindication, for judgment to life eternal, and for the resurrection of the body. They know, even more than you do, that their flesh will be raised in glory.

Jesus’ bodily resurrection shows the great honor and dignity, reverence and awe that is due our bodies. They aren’t shells. They aren’t to be discarded. The way we treat and use our bodies in life, and the way we treat our dead, matters.

The payment price for your sins is met in full by His suffering and death. Satan’s head is crushed underfoot. Jesus lives. He is the resurrection and the life. He has joined you to Himself in triumph. You belong to Him.

The graves will give up the dead. Your bodily resurrection and bodily glorification will follow.

The next time you go into your church’s cemetery, remember what the German words mean:

Because I live, you also will live.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Holy Saturday 2026

Holy Saturday 2026

Earlier during Holy Week, Mary Magdalene dumped the flask of expensive ointment on the body of Jesus. The value of that ointment was about three hundred days wage. Remember, if you make $50,000, then the value of that ointment would be about $41,000. It was excessively expensive.

Seeing that, the disciples were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”

It wasn’t a waste. It was given to the poor.

It wasn’t a waste, because it was dumped on Jesus to prepare Him for burial. It was given to the poor, because Jesus was poor. As He said, “The Son of Man has no house, no home, nowhere to lay His head.”

Mary Magdalene prepared Jesus for burial.

Which then brings us to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who also prepared Jesus for burial and, we’re told, buried Him.

Between the two, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus gave Jesus a kingly burial, the sort of kingly burial to rank among the ancient Kings of Judah. Mary Magdalene had anointed Jesus’ body with excessively expensive ointment. Joseph and Nicodemus treat His body with an excessive amount of burial spices; approximately a hundred pounds worth. A kingly amount.

They bury Him in a garden, like the Kings of old. They bury Him in a new tomb, a tomb for a rich man. A kingly tomb.

They do these things because they recognize that Jesus is a king. The king. Pilate said to the people, “Behold, your king.” It was true. Above Him on the cross it read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The King laid in the tomb to bring His people out of the tombs into the land of the living.

Mary Magdalene did a good work by anointing His body to prepare Him for burial. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus did a good work, by tending to His body and giving Him a kingly burial. That our Lord would be buried in a garden and buried among a mountain of burial spices is prophesied in King Solomon’s Song of Songs. “My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the bed of spices; until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.”

The beloved Son was carried down to a garden. He was wrapped in a bed of spices. He was buried on a mountain of myrrh. He remained there until the day breathed and the shadows fled early on the first day of the week.

I began this sermon by saying that what Mary Magdalene did wasn’t a waste. And, it’s true. Her expensive ointment, dumped on His body, wasn’t wasted.

And, what Joseph and Nicodemus did wasn’t a waste either.

I guess, then, that the women who went early on Easter carrying burial spices; I suppose those spices were wasted. Because He’s not dead.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good Friday Tenebrae Service 2026

Good Friday Tenebrae 2026

Pilate said, “Behold, the man.” Stunning. “Behold, the man.”

Since the word “Behold” is there, we are required to slow down and ponder.

Twice the Psalms ask, “What is man?” The Psalms don’t ask because they don’t know what man is. The Psalms ask because they want to know more, “What is man, that God should regard him? What is the son of man, that God should care for him?”

You know how different man is from every other creature the Lord God created. Vastly different from the birds and the fish, from the creeping things and beasts of the earth. In posture, in language, in intellect, in beauty, in creativity, in relationship, in worship, man is the only creature like God.

Man is different. Man was made in the image and likeness of God. In man, God had a creature like Himself. Not equal to Himself, but like Himself.

Forming man from dust, breathing into his nostrils, the man became a living being.

Behold, the man.

The one who looks like God because he’s in the image and likeness of God. Behold, the man. The Gardner. The bridegroom. Standing tall and upright, looking out at the wonder of all God has done. Living not for himself, but for others. Spotless. Sinless. Unafraid. Unashamed. Eager and ready to exercise proper dominion over creation.

Behold, how far the man fell; how bent and crooked he became. Twisted upon himself. Self-indulgent as the coils of a snake. Blaming God and the woman whom the Lord gave to be with him. He did not own his own most grievous fault. When the man sinned, it was no longer, “Behold, the man” but, “Behold, the un-man.” A mere shadow of what he should have been. It is not true that to err is to be human. To err is to be sub-human. To sin is to be a worm, and not a man, destined to return to the dirt from whence it was taken.

John the Baptist once said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Pilate said it even better: “Behold, the man!”

Behold the man, Jesus, our second Adam where the first Adam failed; a second Man where the first man pulled us down.

The man, who no matter the impossible weight of sin, did not break under the crushing load but carried it up the hill, who never looked to His own interests but kept His sacred eyes up and looking out to the needs of others. The man who did not shy or shirk from duty. The man who never blamed His Father or you for what He suffered. The man who did what had to be done for justice to be met.

The man. Despised and rejected by men.

The man, naked and shamed before the word.

The man, reviled and mocked by criminals condemned to the same fate.

The man, praying for enemies.

The man, blessing persecutors.

The man, forgiving transgressors.

The man, loving the loveless.

The man, fighting the foe to win you back.

The man, devoured by the wolf so the sheep can live.

The man, laying down His life so you have life abundant.

Behold, marvel and awe, the man, Jesus, who is a man as a man should be. The Bridegroom. The Gardener. A man that we men want to emulate. Our champion, captain, and head. Strength manifest in love, sacrificing Himself so you may live, placing Himself between you and wrath. Your second Adam, your bridegroom and protector, your light, life, and forgiveness. Jesus, the Son of God.

And behold, what Jesus does in you. He forms you from His Word. He breathes into you His Holy Spirit. He raises you up into what you were meant to be: Men and woman of His own creation. His handiwork. Restored to His image in likeness. Behold you, the fruit of His redeeming love.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good Friday Chief Service 2026

Good Friday Chief Service 2026

Psalm 23 is the most popular and favorite Psalm. One thing in it’s favor is it’s short. Another thing in it’s favor is the incredible comforting imagery.

Understand, all 150 Psalms are in a particular order. It’s not random. There is wisdom and purpose to the arrangement of all the Psalms, which means Psalm 23 has to follow Psalm 22.

It’s as though Psalm 23 is chiefly a Psalm of comfort for you only because Psalm 22 is chiefly a Psalm of dereliction for Jesus. You don’t get Psalm 23 if Jesus didn’t first go through Psalm 22. The Lord is not your shepherd, unless the Lord first cries, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

Psalm 23 has brief allusions to Psalm 22. For instance, “I shall not want.” How is it that you shall not want? Because in Psalm 22 you see Jesus suffer great want in your place. “Even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.” How is death only a shadow for you? Because in Psalm 22, Jesus suffered the death in your place.

Psalm 23 exemplifies that the Lord is your Good Shepherd and it provides many details as to how the Lord is your Good Shepherd. Psalm 22 provides the details of how your Good Shepherd laid down His life for you.

Your Lord prays, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”

You know why. Jesus knew why.

This is justice. The soul that sins shall die. The wages of sin is death. God’s Law is good as God Himself is good. Payment for sin must be met in the death of hell.

In preparation for Holy Communion, one aspect is that we should be horrified by our sins and regard them as very serious. When you speak poorly about someone else, when you spread slander and lies, when you spend a week and don’t think about the Word of God, when you get bored hearing of Jesus’ suffering and death, be horrified and repent. God is just. Justice demands payment for sin. As one of our hymns sings, “Ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great. Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.”

The One, the only One who knew no sin became sin. The Father looked on the Son and the Father saw sin. Seeing sin, the Father forsook the Son and the Son suffered hell. “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

Jesus continues, “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” As divine justice is being met in the death of the Son of God, still Jesus looks purely and completely to His Father. The Father forsakes Him as is necessary, and the Son still cries out.

“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Notice how amid His torment, Jesus also praises. “In you our fathers trusted, they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.”

As Jesus dies, He recounts briefly the saints of old: Abraham, Moses, David, and others.

“All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

The religious leaders, who should know Psalm 22, have Psalm 22 fulfilled before their eyes. They even take part! They mock Jesus with the same words as prophesied in Psalm 22!

Jesus continues, “Yet you are He who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.” Conceived by the Holy Spirit. Born of the Virgin Mary. From the womb, Jesus knew He is the Father’s only-begotten beloved Son.

“Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion.”

Remember Joseph and his eleven brothers. Remember how the brothers betrayed Joseph, stripped him of his garment, and dipped the garment in blood. When they presented Joseph’s bloodied garment to their father Jacob, Jacob said, “Joseph without doubt was torn by wild beasts.”

Around the cross, sinful mankind does not act like men. They act like wild beasts. The Psalm compares our cruelty and mockery to dogs and wild bulls. Ravenous and eager to destroy, even eager to destroy the innocent Son of God.

“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” Jesus knows what He is doing. He knows why He is doing this. He knows what will happen. He will die, for that is divine justice. He will meet all the Law’s demands in His sacrifice. He will be taken down. He will be buried. He will rise again. Easter evening, He tells of His name to His brothers; the disciples. In their midst and in our midst His Father is praised.

“The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever.” Pair that with Psalm 23. “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied” and “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

“Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.”

That is happening in your midst right now. As Jesus died, He said “They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.” As He hung on the cross, you were not yet born. And yet, though you weren’t yet born, you have heard. Chiefly, you have heard that the Lord has done these things. All that happened and the way that it happened took place just as God intended. Your Good Shepherd, who has led you to the font and brought you to the pastures of His Word, who prepares a table before you, laid down His life for you in the exact manner of Psalm 22. He knew what He was doing.

He died. Satisfied. Content, that the price is paid and you are redeemed.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.