Sermons

Easter 6, 2026 (May 10)

Sermon Rogate 2026

Moses prayed for the people. Prayer.

Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” Prayer.

Prayer is both a command and a gift. It runs in both the way of the Law and the Gospel. You get to pray. You have to pray. You are honored with the gift and promises of prayer, and you much pray.

You pray on the basis of four things. First, you pray because God has told you to pray. Second, you pray because God is true and keeps His promises. Third, you pray because of Christ’s redemption. You are redeemed and forgiven by the holy precious blood of Jesus and His innocent suffering and death. He has redeemed and forgiven you. Fourth, you pray because you are God’s dear child through holy baptism and you get to pray as dear children ask their dear father.

St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.”

Notice that he singles out men. Women are to pray as well, but Paul particularly emphasizes and stresses that men should pray, and do so without anger or quarreling. You are not to be angry and quarrel with one another. You are not to be angry and quarrel with God. In today’s Old Testament reading, you heard how they quarreled with God. They were wrong. Don’t be like them.

Why, do you think does Paul have to stress the necessity of men praying? I have two reasons. First, Paul stresses that men are to pray because they are called to lead. The man leads his bride in the marriage. The man leads his family. He is the head. Therefore, he sets the example for the rest of the family. He must begin his sacred task of leading his family in prayer. If he, as a husband, isn’t praying for God’s wisdom, strength, and guidance as a husband, he will be deficient. And if he, as a father, isn’t praying for God’s wisdom, strength, and guidance to raise his children in the ways of the Lord, he will have lack as a father.

The second reason Paul emphasizes that men should pray is because too many men don’t do it. In my time as a pastor, I’ve had many women voluntarily tell me about their prayer life and prayer routine. I’ve had far fewer men tell me about their prayer life and prayer routine. In general, women pray more than men; men need to rise to the occasion.

When our Lord went up the mount of Transfiguration, He took three disciples: Peter, Jame, and John. The other nine disciples remained at the base of the mountain. As our Lord was up the mountain, a curious event took place. Down below, a man brought his son to the disciples, and the son brought a demon. The man implored the disciples, that they might cast the demon out. They could have, yet failed to do so.

Eventually, Jesus came down. The man quickly pleaded with Jesus to cast the demon out. Jesus did. Later, the other disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to cast the demon out. Jesus said, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything except prayer.” One wonders if there is any other kind of demon. It could be that every demon can only be driven out by prayer.

On that occasion, the disciples failed to pray, and because they failed to pray, they failed in their task. You are to pray. Your Lord tells you to pray and has attached great promises to prayer.

You can probably guess the common excuses for failure to pray. Men say they forget. Men say they don’t know how. Men say they don’t have time. Men say they’re too busy.

Those excuses are childish. They’re childish because they are the excuses a child makes when failing to do his chores.

You must pray, you can pray, and your prayer is good; good based on the One to whom you pray.

To grow in prayer, first put prayer on your schedule. If you don’t have a regular schedule, talk with me after the service and I will get you one. Prayer needs to be part of your schedule, your calendar, and your regular life.

Once prayer is part of your schedule, you need a routine of what you pray for. Write things down. On Monday, you can pray for the many you know who are sick and suffer various ailments. On Tuesday, pray for inactive and non church-going people, that they repent and come back to church. On Wednesday, pray for fathers and mothers to raise children in the Word of God. On Thursday, pray for our government leaders by name, that they govern wisely and justly. On Friday, pray for peace. Peace in families, peace among communities, and peace in the world. On Saturday, pray for churches and church leaders to be faithful to the Word of God.

That’s a beginning. Set aside time every day. Have a plan of what you pray for. Pray as the dear forgiven and redeemed child of God that you are. Pray confidently, for your Lord promises, “Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will answer you and deliver you.”

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Easter 5, 2026 (May 3)

Easter 5, 2026

St. Peter exhorts us to long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word, that by it we may grow up into salvation. That is, we are to long for the Word of God and grow in it, mature in it, flourish in it, so that we become more and more what we are meant to be. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for His own possession, that you may declare the marvels of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, now you have received mercy.

Why would Peter have to write, “Long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word”? Because many don’t long for it. Why would Peter have to write, “So that you may grow up into salvation”? Because many don’t want to grow up into salvation.

Peter’s words expose the sin of sloth. Sloth. The church has long called the sin of sloth, “sorrow at what is good.” God places good things before us. We are to recognize His good gifts, rejoice in them, receive them with awe, and be thankful for them. Instead of rejoicing in them and being thankful for them, we grow bored with them, sorrowful at them and resent them.

The sin of sloth commonly manifests in two ways. One way is laziness. The other way is busyiness.

Proverbs says, “As a door turns on its hinges so the sluggard turns in his bed.” Laziness. In today’s world, laziness is often shown in distractions. You could have a meaningful face to face conversation with your wife, but instead scroll. You could learn a new hobby, repair a window, play catch with your grandson, draw pictures with your granddaughter, but instead numb yourself with spiritually vacuous entertainment, absorb sport news from people you will never meet, and waste time on Marketplace looking at things you will never buy. You could do a task that would bless your family but instead choose sleep, comfort, or avoidance.

One of the primary battlegrounds for sloth in our culture is the family dinner table. You are given a limited number of days to eat at the dinner table with spouse and children. Many young men who aren’t married yearn to have a family gathered around the table, and yet, many men who are given a wife and children to gather around the dinner table find every reason to avoid it. They microwave leftovers for their kids while they themselves do other things. They eat standing up. Meals are rushed; food consumed but not appreciated; meals are eaten alone. Sloth always works this way. It offers you boxed food and quietly steals the steak and potatoes. If feeds you cheap calories and robs you of nourishment.

God is not stingy with His good gifts. He feeds the birds. He clothes the lilies. He very much more loves you, and loving you He gives plentiously. He surrounds you with a world of possibility, beauty, challenge, and meaning. Why do we grow bored? When we have yards and flowers and trees and birds and flesh and blood family members to enjoy time with, why do we complain of boredom? When boredom sets in, we should turn to wonder, but instead we turn to distraction. We numb ourselves with entertainment rather than engaging the life God has given.

A man named G. K. Chesterton once said, “The chief sin is boredom.” He’s on to something. Boredom is not a lack of stimulation. It’s refusal to love what God has placed before you.

The Holy Spirit requires us to long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that we may grow up into salvation. The sin of sloth comes into sharp focus when we examine our devotional life. Who lacks access to Scripture? Who genuinely cannot make time for worship? Sloth doesn’t show itself as rebellion. It simply has us sorrow at spiritual good. When you avoid the Word of God and the gathering of the saints, you are left hungry, restless, and quietly anxious.

There is another layer of sloth that is just as dangerous and far more deceptive. Busy. Busy doing so many things, but not doing the most important things. Busy, under the illusion that what you’re doing is ever-so important, but in truth neglecting the things God wants you to do.

The first form of sloth—laziness—is easy to recognize, though difficult to overcome. The second form of sloth hides behind productivity. The constantly busy man, the man who boasts that all he does is work, can be just as slothful as the man who does nothing at all.

Remember: sloth is sorrow at spiritual good. You can avoid that good through distraction and entertainment, but you can also avoid spiritual good by filling your life with activity that feels important but is not. The man who works sixty hours a week and then gives his children half-attention while answering emails is not diligent. He sorrows at his true calling and hides behind busyness.

Notice the pride involved. You begin to believe that you are too important, too important to have a conversation at the table with your family, too important to read the Word of God, too important to have worship as a non-negotiable priority, too important to spend time doing schoolwork with your son, too important to attend Bible study. Many fathers pay lots of money for their son to be on a traveling league team, but really the son just wants to play catch with dad.

So, what do we do? Peter says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow up into salvation.” Be humbled before the good things God has given you. Embrace the wonder and joy that infants and toddlers have at good things, and imitate that same joy and wonder.

You were made by a personal God for a purpose. The calling that God has for you is meant for every day of your life. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the wonders of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. He chose you. He cares for you. Blood is thicker than water, but you belong to the family of Christ, in which your heavenly Father does not have sorrow at you and is not too busy for you. The water of baptism is thicker than blood. You have the mark of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit upon your forehead.

Combat sloth with movement toward love. Purposeful, deliberate movements to love. If sloth is inaction, distraction, and busyness in the wrong things, be more intentional every day and every week in movements toward love. Continue to be here every week. Visit people in nursing homes. Do the Congregation at Prayer schedule. Teach your children and grandchildren the catechism. Love your spouse, recognizing that your spouse was crafted by God from before the foundation of the world and destined for eternity.

Rejoice as God exposes and tempers out the sin of sloth in your life. God desires you to have life, and to have it fully. Joy, after all, is a serious business of heaven.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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.