THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 19, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
-- A Confessional Lutheran Church
... View MoreTHE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 19, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
-- A Confessional Lutheran Church
OPENING HYMN: 466 “Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia”
Pastor: Halleluiah, Christ is risen!
Congregation: He is risen indeed. Halleluiah!
Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 of our Hymnal
The Verse (from Romans 6:9; John 20:29b)
Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. Alleluia.
Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures. Alleluia.
The Salutation – Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And also with you.
Collect Prayer:
O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Our Bible Readings:
First Reading – Acts 2:14a, 36-42
Psalm 116:1-14 (antiphon: v.5) Epistle Reading – 1st Peter 1:17-25
Gospel Reading – Luke 24:13-35
THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192
HYMN OF THE DAY: 627 “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Saviour”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1QxrWUqEsw&list=RDJ1QxrWUqEsw&start_radio=1
THE SERMON –
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
On the first Easter afternoon, two disciples walked down a road to Emmaus with heavy hearts.
They had heard rumors of resurrection, but they could not yet believe.
Their world had collapsed on Friday, and though the tomb was empty, their hope was still buried.
They walked away from Jerusalem—away from the place where Christ had promised life—because they couldn’t yet see what God had done.
Then Jesus came and walked with them.
But they didn’t recognize Him.
This is one of the most striking features of the Emmaus account.
The risen Christ is right there—walking beside them, speaking to them, opening the Scriptures—and yet they don’t know Him.
Their eyes are kept from recognizing Him.
Not because He’s absent, but because He is present in a new way.
St. Augustine once preached on this passage and said, “They did not recognize Him while He was speaking; but when He broke the bread, then their eyes were opened.”
Augustine went on to say that Christ teaches us here to “recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.”
The Saint was not inventing a new idea; he was receiving what Luke tells us.
Christ is known in the Scriptures, and Christ is known through His Sacraments.
This is the pattern of the Church’s life.
This is the pattern of our life in Christ.
The two disciples are confused, disappointed, and spiritually blind.
They know the facts of the Gospel, but they can’t yet see the meaning.
They can’t yet see the victory.
For Christ, for us.
And so, Jesus comes to them.
He doesn’t wait for them to climb out of their doubt.
He doesn’t wait for them to understand or to find Him, or to make a “decision” for Him.
He finds them.
This is how Christ always works.
He comes to us in our weakness, in our confusion, sorrow, and in our sin.
He comes to us through His Word, even when our hearts are slow to believe.
And He comes to us in His Sacraments, even when our eyes are dim.
The Emmaus road is not just the story of two disciples.
It is ours.
Jesus begins by opening the Scriptures to them.
He preaches Himself from Moses and the Prophets.
He shows them that the Christ must suffer and enter His glory.
And He instructs them that the cross was not a failure, but the fulfillment of God’s plan.
As Jesus speaks, something happens inside them.
“Did not our hearts burn within us,” they later say, “while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
This is what the Word of God does.
It sets the heart aflame.
It reveals Christ, creates faith.
It drives away despair and shows us that the crucified One is the risen One.
Martin Luther once preached on this text and said, “Here Christ is made known in the breaking of the bread, as He has commanded us to do in His Supper. Thus He reveals Himself to us also, not in His bodily form, but in the Sacrament.”
Luther’s point is simple: Christ shows Himself through the means He has chosen—through the Word and Sacrament that opens eyes.
The disciples’ hearts burn with the Word.
But they still don’t recognize Him.
Not yet.
When they reach Emmaus, Jesus acts as though He will walk on.
But they urge Him: “Stay with us.”
And He does.
He reclines at table with them.
He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them.
And in that moment—their eyes are opened.
They recognize Him.
Then He vanishes from their sight.
Why does He vanish?
Because they no longer need to see Him with their eyes.
They have seen Him where and how He wills to be seen.
Martin Chemnitz, the great Lutheran theologian of the second generation, wrote on this passage saying, “Christ was recognized by the disciples in the breaking of the bread, which the ancient church rightly understood as a testimony of His presence in the Lord’s Supper.”
Chemnitz is not saying that the Emmaus meal is the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
That happened on the evening of Holy Thursday.
But he’s saying that the Church has always seen here a pattern, a testimony: Christ reveals Himself sacramentally.
The Word opens the heart.
The Sacrament opens the eyes.
This is not an accident.
This is the shape of Christian worship.
It is the shape of our Divine Service.
And it is the shape of your life in Christ.
The risen Jesus isn’t recognized by sight.
He’s recognized by faith.
And faith is created and sustained by the means of grace.
You do not walk that dusty road to Emmaus, but Christ still walks with you.
We don’t sit at that table, but Christ feeds you at His table in Communion.
We don’t see Him with our eyes, but we hear Him in His Word and receive Him in His Supper.
This is not metaphor.
Nor a symbol.
Nor a memory.
This is real presence.
The same Christ who broke bread for them gives you His own true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.
When we come to the Lord’s Supper, we are not reenacting Emmaus.
Yet we are living in the same reality.
Christ is here.
Christ is present.
He is giving Himself to you.
And our eyes are opened—not to see Him with earthly sight, but to recognize Him in faith.
The disciples don’t stay in Emmaus.
They rise that very hour and return to Jerusalem.
They go back to proclaim the risen Christ.
This is what the Word and Sacrament do.
They work faith within us.
They fill us with joy that we are forgiven freely for Christ’s sake.
They give us a message to share.
“We have seen the Lord,” the disciples say.
And so do you.
We have seen Him in the Scriptures, and in the breaking of the bread.
We have seen Him in the forgiveness of our sins and in the life He gives.
And now, you go out into the world—not alone, nor in sorrow, not in confusion, but with Christ walking beside you and dwelling within you.
The Emmaus account is the story of how Christ deals with His Church today.
He comes to us in our weakness.
He strengthens faith and sends us out with joy.
Your risen Lord is not far away.
He is present in His means of grace within the Church.
And so, we pray with the Emmaus disciples: “Stay with us, Lord.”
And He does.
In this life, and for eternity.
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
THE SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT
P: Blessed are You O Lord, our God, king of the universe, for you have had mercy on us and given Your only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
C: We give You thanks Father for the redemption You have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may faithfully take communion and receive the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that come from the body and blood of Christ.
P: Father, hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us.
LORDS PRAYER
C: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Preface
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P: It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to you, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God.
For in the mystery of the Word made flesh, You have given us a new revelation of Your glory; that seeing You in the Person of Your Son, we may be drawn to the love of those things which are not seen.
THE WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR INSTITUTING THE LORD’S SUPPER – PAGE 197
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: Amen.
Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Have mercy on us.
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Have mercy on us.
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Grant us peace.
The Distribution
(Our hymn during distribution is 636 “Soul Adorn Yourself with Gladness”)
Post Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 of our Hymnal
Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201
Benediction Page 202
OUR CLOSING HYMN: 644 ”The Church’s One Foundation”
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 12, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church
-- A Confessional Lutheran Church
... View MoreTHE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 12, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church
-- A Confessional Lutheran Church
OUR OPENING HYMN: 475 “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing”
(Lutheran Service Book)
Pastor: Halleluiah, Christ is risen!
Congregation: He is risen indeed. Halleluiah!
Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 of our Hymnal
The Verse (from Romans 6:9; John 20:29b)
Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. Alleluia.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Alleluia.
The Salutation – Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And also with you.
Collect Prayer:
Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Our Bible Readings:
First Reading – Acts 5:29-42 Psalm 148 (antiphon: v.13) Epistle Reading –1st Peter 1:3-9 Our Gospel Reading – John 20:19-31
THE NICENE CREED Page 191
HYMN OF THE DAY: 610 “Lord Jesus, Think on Me”
THE SERMON –
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The doors were locked.
The disciples were afraid.
The world outside was uncertain, even hostile.
And rumours were swirling.
Jesus had been crucified.
The tomb was found empty.
Mary Magdalene spoke of seeing the Lord.
But fear lingered.
And so, the disciples gathered behind closed doors, unsure of what would come next.
Into that fear and uncertainty, the risen Christ comes.
“Peace be with you,” He says.
Not once, but twice.
And then He does something remarkable.
He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
These words are not incidental.
They’re not an afterthought.
They go to the very heart of what Christ gives to His Church in that moment, and now.
Here, one week after Christ’s resurrection, the risen Lord institutes what we in the Church call the Office of the Keys.
That is, the authority Christ gives to His Church on earth to forgive the sins of the repentant. and to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant.
This is not merely a symbolic act.
It is not a general encouragement to be kind or forgiving.
It is a concrete gift.
A divine office.
One of the means of God’s grace by which the forgiveness won on the cross is actually delivered to sinners.
Notice what Jesus does.
He shows them His hands and His side.
The scars are still there; the marks of the cross remain.
The forgiveness He now gives is also not abstract.
It’s grounded in His real suffering and death.
The same body that was crucified now stands alive before them.
And from that crucified and risen body comes the authority to forgive sins.
This is crucial.
The Office of the Keys isn’t based on the worthiness of the disciples.
They had fled.
They had failed.
And yet, Jesus entrusts this office to them.
Why?
Because it is not their power.
It is His.
They are simply the instruments through whom Christ Himself continues to speak and act.
This is the Biblical, Confessional Lutheran understanding.
When a Pastor speaks absolution, it is not merely a human word.
It is the voice of Christ Himself.
In the office He commanded.
As our Lord said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.”
That’s not a wish.
Nor a possibility.
It is a promise; a certainty.
When the Church forgives sins in Christ’s name, those sins are truly forgiven in Heaven.
Martin Luther spoke about this beautifully.
In the questions and answers found in the Small Catechism, we read, “When the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command…this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”
This is no small thing.
It is everything.
Because the greatest need you and I have is the forgiveness of sins.
Not just advice.
Nor improvement.
Not moral encouragement.
Forgiveness.
We live in a world that sometimes feels guilt, but doesn’t know what to do with it.
People carry burdens.
Regret.
Shame.
Fear.
And often, they’re told to look within themselves for peace.
But there is no peace there.
Only uncertainty.
Questions.
Only the lingering doubt: “Am I truly forgiven?”
Into that uncertainty, Christ speaks a clear and certain word.
“Your sins are forgiven.”
Not because you feel it, or deserve it.
But because He died and rose for you.
And He has placed that forgiveness into the mouths of His Church.
So that you can hear it.
So that you may believe it.
This is why absolution is so precious.
It is not merely a part of the liturgy.
It is not a ritual to be endured.
It is Christ Himself coming to you with His forgiveness each Sunday.
Each time the words are spoken:
“I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Those words are for you.
Personally.
Individually.
Certainly.
And they do what they say.
They forgive sins.
They free the conscience.
And restore peace.
We also see these words reflected in our other readings today.
In Acts, the apostles stand before the authorities and boldly confess, “We must obey God rather than men.”
The Apostles were beaten and abused.
They suffered.
And yet they rejoice.
Why?
Because they know they are forgiven.
Because they know Christ is risen.
Because they have been entrusted with a message that no power on earth can silence.
And in 1st Peter, we hear of a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A hope that sustains us even through trials and persecution.
Through suffering.
Even through death itself.
But that hope is not vague.
It isn’t abstract.
It is grounded in the forgiveness of sins.
Because where there is forgiveness, there is life and salvation.
This is why the Office of the Keys matters so deeply.
It’s not about authority for its own sake.
It is about the delivery of Christ’s saving work to repentant sinners.
It is about bringing the treasure of the cross into your ears, your heart, and your life.
And yes, there is also the other side of the Keys.
The withholding of forgiveness.
The goal here is not condemnation.
But so that the unrepentant may be called to repentance – recognition of and sorrow over sin.
So that those who persist in sin, without sorrow, may be awakened.
So that they too may come to receive forgiveness.
Even this, is an act of love.
Because Christ desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
(1st Timothy 2:4)
But for those who repent, who confess their sins, the word is clear and unwavering.
You are forgiven.
Fully.
Freely.
For Christ’s sake.
Dear friends, this means you don’t have to wonder.
You do not have to guess or search for signs within yourself.
You have the external word.
The spoken absolution and promise of Christ.
And that is enough, for it is certain and sure.
Finally, we come to the closing words of John’s Gospel for this chapter.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
This is the purpose of it all.
The signs.
The resurrection.
The giving of the Holy Spirit.
The institution of the Office of the Keys.
All of it is written so that you may believe.
And by believing, you may have life.
Not just knowledge or information.
Life, now, and for eternity with the risen Jesus.
And how does that life come to you?
Through God’s Word and Sacraments.
Through the forgiveness of sins.
So, when you hear the absolution, you are hearing the very purpose of John’s Gospel being fulfilled in your ears.
Christ is assuring you that He is indeed the Son of God who has taken away your sin.
Like the disciples, the doors in our lives may be or seem closed at times.
Fear may creep in.
The world can be hostile.
But Christ still comes.
He stands among His people today in His Church.
He speaks His peace.
Breathes His Spirit.
And forgives.
“Peace be with you,” He says.
And in that peace, believers have victory over death.
You have the Saviour Himself.
Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194
THE LORD'S PRAYER
THE WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR
INSTITUTING THE LORD`S SUPPER PAGE 197
Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) Page 201
The Distribution
(Our hymn during distribution is LSB 641 “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart”)
Post Communion Collect (Right-hand column) Page of our Hymnal
Benedicamus and Benediction Page 202
OUR CLOSING HYMN: 484 “Make Songs of Joy”
RESURRECTION SUNDAY
April 5, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
-- A Confessional Lutheran Church
... View MoreRESURRECTION SUNDAY
April 5, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
-- A Confessional Lutheran Church
OPENING HYMN: 457 “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today”
Lutheran Service Book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9a41CvVEHw
Pastor: Halleluiah, Christ is risen!
Congregation: He is risen indeed. Halleluiah!
Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 of our Hymnal
The Introit
Exodus 15: 2a, 6, 13, 17-18
2“The LORD is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation. 6 Your right hand, LORD,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, LORD,
shattered the enemy.
13 In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, LORD, you made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. 18 “The LORD reigns
for ever and ever.”
Pastor: Halleluiah, Christ is risen!
Congregation: He is risen indeed. Halleluiah!
The Salutation – Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And also with you.
Our Collect Prayer: Almighty God the Father, through Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You have overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us. Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by Your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Our Bible Readings:
First Reading – Isaiah 25: 6-9 Psalm 16 Epistle Reading – 1st Corinthians 15: 1-11
Gospel Reading – Mark 16: 1-8
THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192
HYMN OF THE DAY: 464 “The Strife is O’er, the Battle Done”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu5Ctty9kiA
Pastor: Halleluiah, Christ is risen!
Congregation: He is risen indeed. Halleluiah!
THE SERMON –
Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed!
Halleluiah!
Today we celebrate nothing less than God’s victory over sin, death, and the devil.
And through our Saviour Jesus Christ, it is your victory as well.
It’s that personal, that real.
The Apostle John wrote:
“For this is how God loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
You can place your name in that verse.
For God so loved you, that he gave His only Son to die on the cross, so that you would live.
But the cross was not the final word, nor was the tomb, but the resurrection!
The resurrection is the center, the core of the Christian faith.
The Apostle Paul said it clearly in 1st Corinthians:
“If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith is in vain . . . .”
“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,” Paul wrote, “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
There were many witnesses to the truth of the resurrection: the disciples, the women at the tomb, and hundreds of people who the Bible tells us saw the resurrected Jesus.
That truth today has become the world’s largest religion.
But this is much more than about numbers.
It’s about victory over the one thing we cannot escape from on our own -- death.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of Jesus 700 years before the birth of Christ, saying,
“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.”
Today we say and sing Halleluiah in our Easter Service, again and again.
The word comes from the Hebrew, it means: Praise God!
Praise Him for the greatest rescue mission that has ever taken place.
The rescue of God’s most prized possession in all the universe, His children -- us.
That victory through Christ is what the joy of Easter is all about.
Of course, 2,000 years ago on the first Easter morning the mood was not festive for those who followed Christ, for the women who were going to His tomb.
Jesus had risen, but no one knew it yet.
The first Easter began in grief.
Christ’s followers hadn’t even been able to give Him a proper burial; He had died too close to the Sabbath.
By the time Joseph of Arimathea could get permission to remove the body from the cross, they didn't have the opportunity to prepare it according to custom.
So, as soon as the sun went down on the Sabbath, they bought spices and supplies to complete the burial.
Everything was arranged to get an early start the next morning.
During their walk to the sepulcher though, the women realized they’d forgotten something, ‘Who would roll the stone away.’
But as they approach the tomb, the stone was the first thing they noticed.
It looked as if an angel from Heaven had tossed it aside.
And in fact, that’s exactly what happened.
The Apostle Matthew wrote, "An angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it." [Matthew 28:2]
And it was an angel of God who told the women, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen . . . .”
The first part of the angel’s message tells the women they won’t find Jesus where they expect Him to be.
Then the angel says: "Go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you."
The angel was instructing the women to share the good news of Christ’s resurrection.
I love that the angel says, ‘tell his disciples and Peter.’
Peter, who had denied our Lord three times.
Peter, who was ashamed and mourning.
But also, Peter, who was forgiven, and who would receive the role of an apostle.
Jesus wasn’t where the women expected Him to be.
Jesus is never where people with minds focused on this world expect Him to be.
We come into this life with a ‘God-shaped’ space inside of us.
We all have questions:
-- Why are we here?
-- What’s the meaning of life?
-- Does anything happen after death
-- Is there hope for an afterlife?
These questions reveal our desire for something, or someone, who is bigger than us – someone who’s in control – who has all the answers.
Or in other words – God.
Down through the centuries different people have developed their own expectations of God.
They’ve tried various ways to fill that empty space in us where God belongs.
These man-made religions teach that somehow, through some worthy action on our part we can discover God by ourselves, and earn His favour, earn forgiveness.
But honest people quickly find they can’t save themselves.
Because as human beings, we’re imperfect, we fail.
We find ‘self-salvation’ doesn’t work.
Or as the Apostle Paul explained in Romans 3:23: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . .”
That’s why our salvation must come from outside us.
We realize the true plan of redemption is one that only God accomplishes.
It was a plan announced to Adam and Eve right after the fall in the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis 3:16 God said that from the offspring of the woman would come One who would crush Satan’s head, but that he would strike this Saviour’s heal.
It is a reference to the crucifixion, and to Christ who would save the world from its fallen state by making of Himself the one perfect sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
The one true faith, Christianity, is an ‘unexpected’ one.
Instead of making us fix our own brokenness, God does it for us through the cross of Christ.
Again, the Apostle Paul explained we: “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. (Romans 3:24-25)
By faith, not by our own efforts.
The resurrection proves that Christ’s sacrifice was acceptable to God the Father as the complete payment for sin.
A death and resurrection we are united to in our Baptism.
Yet, some may ask, if God is so unexpected, how can we know Him so He can fill our emptiness with His salvation?
Here, the Third Commandment guides us – Honour the Sabbath Day.
We find God in His true Church where the Word of God is preached and taught correctly, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are administered properly.
Faith is worked within us by the Holy Spirit using God’s means of grace: Word and Sacrament.
Christ has ascended to Heaven, but He’s remained with you
-- in the water of Baptism
-- in the bread and wine of communion which are His true body and blood.
-- and in His life-giving Word.
Christ has kept His promise to rise from the tomb.
And as believing Christians, He will keep His promise to You when He said: "I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."
Christ has risen!
He has risen indeed.
Halleluiah! Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
THE SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT
P: Blessed are You O Lord, our God, king of the universe, for you have had mercy on us and given Your only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
C: We give You thanks Father for the redemption You have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may faithfully take communion and receive the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that come from the body and blood of Christ.
P: Father, hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
C: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Preface
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P: It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to you, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God.
For in the mystery of the Word made flesh, You have given us a new revelation of Your glory; that seeing You in the Person of Your Son, we may be drawn to the love of those things which are not seen.
THE WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR INSTITUTING THE LORD’S SUPPER
Page 197
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: Amen.
Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Have mercy on us.
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Have mercy on us.
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Grant us peace.
The Distribution
(Our hymn during distribution is 636 “Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness”)
Post Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 218 of our Hymnal
Benedicamus and Benediction Page 218
OUR CLOSING HYMN: 488 “He Is Risen! Glorious Word”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMgyfG0BbHE
GOOD FRIDAY
April 3, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
“Behold, the Lamb of God, ... View MoreGOOD FRIDAY
April 3, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
John 1:29
The Good Friday service is marked by reflection on the cross of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death that earned us salvation.
The altar has been stripped to symbolize the stripping of Christ before His crucifixion. Our worship focuses on the adoration of our crucified Saviour who now reigns together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
The opening portion of the liturgy includes no praise.
It proceeds directly to the Prayer of the Day.
Although somber, our service does not end on a note of despair. The closing litany, prayer, and hymn emphasize the triumph and redemption we have through the cross.
Jesus has made complete payment for our sins through His death for us, and through faith in Him alone we are reconciled with our loving God and offered eternal life.
At the end of the service, we depart in silence without the benediction. However, Christ's death is not God's final word. We keep vigil as we prepare to celebrate Christ's resurrection on Sunday morning.
Silence is kept as the people gather.
As the Pastor enters all stand for prayer.
Pastor: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16)
Congregation: Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
C: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, your children, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given over to the hands of sinners to suffer death on the cross. He took the penalty for our sins, so that through faith in Him we are forgiven and offered eternal life.
We pray for Your grace and mercy in the name of our crucified and risen Saviour, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Hymn 440 “Jesus, I Will Ponder Now”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQvrT7OBDo
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
(Page 184, Lutheran Service Book)
Our Bible Readings:
Old Testament – Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm Reading – Psalm 22, verses 1-18
Epistle Reading – Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
Gospel Reading – John 19: 1-35
Hymn 449 “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”
Text: Bernard of Clairvaux 1091 – 1153 Musical arrangement: Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 – 1750
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IwD-gIKU-c
THE SERMON –
Today we remember a death.
The liturgical colour is black.
The mood is somber, and yet we call this Friday – ‘Good.’
That may leave us with the question, ‘Why is it called Good?’
What’s the meaning of this day, and even more to the point, what is the meaning of the crucifixion?
It's Biblical that all human beings who have ever lived are guilty when tested against the Commandments of God’s Law.
When seen by our Holy, perfect Lord, we’re all guilty.
And we’ve been so since our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and fell into sin.
It’s an inherited condition. And left untreated, it’s fatal – 100 per cent of the time.
Spiritually, eternally fatal.
Because God in His perfection, although all-loving, can’t overlook sin.
God can’t lie and say sin is OK; lying is a human trait.
But the Bible also tells us, repeatedly, that God loves us, and in fact, the Apostle John
who authored today’s Gospel text, wrote in 1st John, that “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
It’s been said that the entire story of the Bible can be traced in the shape of the cross.
Because it is the story of the reconciliation of God, with man, through + Jesus Christ.
The cross becomes a bridge that closes that huge divide, the gulf, between a loving, perfect Father, and His fallen children.
And it is mind boggling for us that it was God, Himself, who provided the solution – who brings about the reconciliation.
It was God who reached out to us by coming down to earth and taking on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
In the first Passover, God freed the people of Israel from physical bondage – slavery in Egypt.
God told the people to make a sacrifice, to take a lamb without blemish, slaughter it, and put the blood over their doorways so the spirit of death would pass over them.
Many years later, at the time of Passover, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem triumphantly on Palm Sunday.
The temple priests would have taken young lambs, without blemish, placed their hands on them, and while praying transferred the sins of people to the animal.
Then it would be sacrificed.
The death of the lamb was a symbolic payment for sin.
What the temple priests didn’t realize, was that God’s ultimate sacrifice had just entered the Holy City.
This could never be accomplished by the death of a lamb or goat, but only by a human being, yet one who was without sin.
However, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “all have sinned.”
So, God sent His only Son, to become the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, because He was the one person who kept God’s law perfectly – God’s lamb without blemish – Jesus Christ.
Through the words of the Apostle John today, we find ourselves at the place where that sacrifice for sin happened.
We have an account by the only Apostle we know who was an eyewitness to the crucifixion.
The Roman authors Seneca and Cicero wrote that those who were crucified cursed and screamed loudly, as long as they could.
But with Jesus, we hear none of this.
Christ didn’t curse His tormentors, the Roman soldiers, the temple authorities, or those who mocked Him.
Although truly innocent, in agony, and about to die, He says, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
The suffering Jesus endured that first Good Friday began even before the cross.
There were dozens of deep lashes across Jesus’ back from a flogging.
There was a crown of thorns piercing deep into the skin of his head.
Then spikes were driven through His hands and feet.
And he hung this way on the cross for hours.
But because Jesus experienced this incredible pain, He understands our pain, both physical and emotional.
Neither in times of suffering or sadness, does Christ desert us.
We can take comfort that we have a Saviour who understands sorrow, who can empathize because of what He endured – for us.
Some will blame the Romans, Pontius Pilate, the Jewish authorities, even Judas himself, for Christ’s crucifixion.
But as Martin Luther explained in a sermon some 500 years ago, “never forget that it was your sins that placed the nails there.”
It was our sins that Jesus was atoning for – not His own.
As the prophet Isaiah wrote: “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was wounded for our iniquities, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53: 6)
And yet if Jesus hadn’t suffered, if the crucifixion had not taken place, every one of us would have been destined to hell forever, eternally separated from God.
The door between us and Heaven would have been shut.
But God didn’t want that, so He created this glorious exchange – our sins, for Christ’s righteousness.
A once, and for all, exchange.
Jesus had no sooner said "I thirst," and sipped the vinegar offered to Him on the cross, when He said, "It is finished.”
This was not a cry of defeat.
It was a shout of triumph.
The battle was over, the victory won – forever.
Sin, death, and the devil were defeated because the final payment for sin had been made.
According to some modern thinkers, man is a very fine and noble creature, striving to become better.
He’s to be commended and admired.
Sin is said to be only a sociological condition.
But in the Bible, that’s not the way God sees it.
There, man is a fallen being, with a carnal nature that cannot be reconciled to God by our own efforts.
In Holy Scripture, man behaves in the same way we see in our daily news: terrorism, murder, theft, greed, idolatry.
And these are all a result of the original fall into sin.
It’s behind every broken home, every troubled life, every sorrow and grief.
But Christ loves us, and came to save you, and me, from the penalty of all this.
It is God, who still reaches out to us through the Holy Spirit, with the gift of faith that saves.
Christ continues to come to us in His Word, and the Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, which are found in His true Church.
And here is the great power of the Gospel, of Christ's Good News.
That we are saved through faith in Him, alone, despite our natures.
We can learn from Jesus that while we’re mighty sinners – He’s an even mightier Saviour.
The Apostle John wrote his Gospel in Greek.
The Greek word for finished in the Bible, "tetelestai,” doesn’t simply mean, “it’s over.”
It was the term used for a business contract successfully completed, and it meant: paid in full.
That’s what Jesus was saying to us about salvation from the cross.
No co-payment is necessary, or possible.
When it comes to redemption, He’s done it all.
The Apostle Paul explained in Ephesians, Chapter 2, verses 8 to 9:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God so that no one can boast.”
The gift of faith, alone, in Jesus as Redeemer saves us.
And that is the best news we could ever hear, because we could never do it on our own.
Today, when you look at the cross, I’d ask that you not only see the pain and agony of the crucifixion, but also see God’s love in Christ.
Because God the Father didn’t send Jesus, and Jesus didn’t willing go to the cross out of anger or hatred.
Many people wish that someone in their life would love them unconditionally, would love them so much they would die for them.
The truth is, someone did.
His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
And so, may the knowledge of God’s love and forgiveness for you, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, now and forever.
Amen.
A LITANY FOR GOOD FRIDAY
P: Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by?
C: Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. (Lamentations l:12)
P: The Lord says:
My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
I led you from slavery to freedom,
but you led your Saviour to the cross.
I brought you out of Egypt,
but you handed me over to the high priests.
C: Holy God,
holy and immortal One,
have mercy on us.
P: My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
I led you on your way in a pillar of cloud,
but you led me to Pilate's court.
I bore you up with manna in the desert,
but you struck me down and scourged me.
C: Holy God,
holy and immortal One,
have mercy on us.
P: My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
I gave you a royal sceptre,
but you gave me a crown of thorns.
I raised you to the height of majesty,
but you have raised me high on a cross.
C: Holy God,
holy and immortal One,
have mercy on us.
P: My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
I gave you saving water from the rock,
but you gave me gall and vinegar to drink.
For you I struck down the kings of Canaan,
but you pierced your Saviour with a lance.
C: Holy God,
holy and immortal One,
have mercy on us.
P: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
C: By Your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
P: If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
C: And through faith we shall also reign with Him.
P: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless You.
C: By Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
+ SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT +
P: Blessed are You O Lord, our God, king of the universe, for you have had mercy on us and given Your only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
C: We give You thanks Father for the redemption You have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may faithfully take communion and receive the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that come from the body and blood of Christ.
P: Father, hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us.
LORDS PRAYER
C: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Preface
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P: It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to you, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God.
For in the mystery of the Word made flesh, You have given us a new revelation of Your glory; that seeing You in the Person of Your Son, we may be drawn to the love of those things which are not seen.
THE WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR
INSTITUTING THE LORD’S SUPPER PAGE 197
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: Amen.
Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Have mercy on us.
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Have mercy on us.
P: Lamb of God You take away the sin of the world,
C: Grant us peace.
The Distribution
(Our hymn during distribution is 627 “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Saviour”)
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
C: Lord Jesus, you carried our sins in Your own body on the cross. You came so that we might have life. May we and all who remember this day find new life in You, now and in the world to come, where You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
OUR CLOSING HYMN
436 “Go to Dark Gethsemane”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alPJNxQStRY
A SERMON FOR HOLY THURSDAY
April 2, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Our Bible Readings:
... View MoreA SERMON FOR HOLY THURSDAY
April 2, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
Our Bible Readings:
Old Testament – Exodus 24:3-11
Psalm 116:12-19
Epistle – Hebrews 9:11-22
Gospel – Matthew 26:17-30
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Tonight the Church gathers at the threshold of the Triduum—the holy three days in which Christ hands Himself over for the life of the world.
Holy Thursday draws us into the Upper Room, where Jesus gives His disciples—and the whole Church—a gift so profound that Christians should never cease to marvel at it: the Sacrament of His body and blood.
Matthew tells us that on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where will You have us prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
It is a simple question, but reveals something important: Jesus is the one directing this night.
Events do not sweep him along.
He is not a victim of circumstance.
He is the Lord who prepares His own Passover, the true Passover, in which the Lamb of God will give Himself to make complete payment for the sins of the world.
THE COVENANT IN BLOOD
The Old Testament reading from Exodus Chapter 24 gives us the background.
Moses sprinkles the blood of sacrificed animals on the people and says, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.”
That covenant bound God to His people, but it was a covenant that required repeated sacrifices—blood that was shed again and again, year after year.
Hebrews Chapter 9 reminds us that these sacrifices were shadows pointing forward to something infinitely greater.
Christ, our great High Priest, enters not an earthly tent, but the heavenly sanctuary, offering not the blood of goats and calves but His own blood.
His sacrifice is once for all, perfect and complete.
And now, on this night before the crucifixion, Jesus takes the Passover meal and transforms it.
He takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to His disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Then He takes the cup and says, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
The echoes of Exodus are unmistakable.
The covenant is renewed—but now with Christ’s own blood.
The forgiveness once symbolized is now delivered.
The Lamb once foreshadowed is now present.
THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST
Confessional Lutheran theology has always insisted on taking Jesus at His Word.
When He says, “This is My body… this is My blood,” we do not reinterpret, spiritualize, or reduce His words.
We confess them.
Martin Luther, in the Large Catechism, puts it with his usual clarity: “It is the Word, I say, which makes and distinguishes this Sacrament, so that it is not mere bread and wine but is, and is called, the body and blood of Christ.”
Luther’s point is simple: the power of the Sacrament does not come from our faith, our feelings, or our understanding.
It comes from Christ’s own testimony.
Because He says it is His body and blood, it is.
Because He commands us to eat and drink, we do.
Because He promises forgiveness, life, and salvation, we receive them.
This is not a symbolic meal.
It is not a mere memorial.
It is not a reenactment.
It is Christ giving Himself—His true body and true blood—to His people.
THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS
Psalm 116 asks, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?” The psalmist answers, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”
Tonight Christ places that cup of salvation into your hands.
The forgiveness He won on the cross is not left in the abstract.
It is not a distant promise.
It is placed on your tongue.
It is poured into your body.
The very body that hung on the cross, the very blood that was shed for you, is given to you for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
.
This is why the Sacrament is not optional for the Christian life.
It is not an add-on or a bonus.
It is a means of grace from our Saviour.
Here Christ provides what He died to give.
THE MEAL OF UNITY
Matthew tells us that after the Supper, “when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
The disciples go out together.
They will soon scatter, but for this moment, they are united around Christ’s table.
The Lord’s Supper is a meal of unity—not a unity we create, but a unity Christ gives.
Paul says, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
In receiving Christ’s body, we are joined to Him and one another.
This unity is not sentimental.
It is sacramental.
It is grounded in Christ’s real presence and His true forgiveness.
Christians who receive Christ’s grace and mercy love are called to reflect that love to others.
THE MEAL THAT SUSTAINS US
Holy Thursday also looks forward.
Jesus says, “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
The Supper is a foretaste of the feast to come.
It sustains us on our journey through this world.
It strengthens us in our trials, nourishes us as we walk through the sorrows of this life, until the day we are raised to new life in Christ.
In the coming hours of the Passion narrative, Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, mocked, beaten, and crucified.
But before He goes to the cross, He gives His Church one of the means by which the benefits of that cross will be delivered to every generation.
He gives His body and blood as food and drink for sinners.
RECEIVING THE GIFT
So how do we approach this Sacrament?
With reverence, yes—but also with joy.
With repentance, yes—but also with confidence.
With humility, yes—but also with expectation.
We come as people who know our need.
We come as people aware of our sin.
But we also come as sinners who know our Saviour.
We come trusting His Word, His promise, believing that what He gives is exactly what He says: His body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
That is what Christ places into your hands this night, and each Sunday.
Forgiveness. Life. Salvation.
Not as ideas, but as gifts.
Not as abstractions, but as His very body and blood.
This Holy Thursday, we stand with believers throughout the world and across the ages.
We hear Christ’s words and receive His gifts.
And we are drawn into the mystery of His love—a sacrificial love that goes to the cross willingly for us. A Saviour that rises from the dead, and feeds us until the day we feast with Him in His eternal kingdom.
Amen.
PALM SUNDAY
March 29, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
OPENING HYMN: 442 “All Glory, Laud, and Honour
... View MorePALM SUNDAY
March 29, 2026
Pastor Tom Steers
Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto
OPENING HYMN: 442 “All Glory, Laud, and Honour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zha0euqzKX0&list=RDzha0euqzKX0&start_radio=1
Lutheran Service Book
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Page 184-185
THE INTROIT
Psalm 24, verses 7-10; antiphon Ps. 118:26
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord. 7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
THE KYRIE (Lord Have Mercy) Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
Congregation: And with thy Spirit.
COLLECT PRAYER:
Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
OUR BIBLE READINGS:
First Reading Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 118, verses 19-29 Epistle Reading Philippians 2:5-11 Gospel Reading John 12:12-19
THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192
HYMN OF THE DAY 443 “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPSKbXxpudU&list=RDHPSKbXxpudU&start_radio=1
THE SERMON –
Thousands of people in Jerusalem come out to welcome and shout praises to a man they’ve heard about.
Rumours are spreading throughout the Holy City.
A prophet has raised a man from the dead in Bethany, a town only three kilometres away.
A number of people from Jerusalem knew Lazarus; some had even gone to his funeral and seen Jesus raise him from the tomb.
Many ask, who was this prophet, this miracle worker?
Could He be the Messiah, the expected King of Israel, who they thought would free them from the Romans?
The streets are lined with people waving palm branches, shouting: Hosanna to the Son of David!
Hosanna is a Hebrew word that comes from Aramaic, the ancient language Jesus and His disciples spoke.
Hosanna means: ‘Save, Rescue, Saviour.’
But there were a number of responses to this figure riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Some came from friends.
Some from enemies.
There were those in Jerusalem who had actually heard Jesus and seen the miracles He performed.
There were those in the crowd who may have been healed by Christ Himself.
The Gospel according to Mark tells of a blind man named Bartimaeus.
Jesus met him as He traveled to Jerusalem, and gave him sight.
Bartimaeus responded by following Jesus on the way (Mark 10:46–52).
So Bartimaeus would have been in the gathering.
Bethany, where Lazarus lived with his sisters Mary and Martha, was just on the other side of the Mount of Olives.
It was the starting point for Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
People from Bethany would have been telling everyone they met that Jesus had raised their neighbour.
Christ had performed all the signs of the Messiah:
-- the blind received sight,
-- the lame walked,
-- the deaf could hear,
-- the dead were raised up,
and the poor had good news preached to them. (Matthew 11:5)
It’s not surprising people were looking for more of the same.
Some in the crowd were big fans of Jesus, because they were looking for someone to use divine power to make their lives easier on earth.
No small part of that would have been getting rid of the Romans.
They wanted an earthly King who could access divine strength.
They wanted the ‘bread king’ who could miraculously feed the masses, and Christ had.
They wanted the state of Israel to be re-established, political change.
Then there were the enemies of Christ.
These enemies came from the full spectrum of political life in that day.
There were the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, Chief Priests, Herodians loyal to King Herod.
Many of these groups were sworn enemies of one another during normal times.
It says something about their hatred of Jesus that they were able to overlook their intense dislike for one another to come together against Christ.
They simply wanted Jesus dead.
Because if Jesus were successful, their comfortable lifestyles would end.
These enemies had a vested interest in the religious establishment of the day.
The activities at the temple provided them with money, power, and prestige.
They were very happy with the status quo.
Although they couldn’t deny the signs and miracles Jesus did, they insisted Christ performed His many wonders by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. (Matthew 12:24)
They were jealous of Christ, of His authentic power.
Then, some were just in Jerusalem because it was Passover.
The Law of Moses instructed devout Jewish men to spend the days of the Passover in the temple areas if they could.
There were also many extra Roman soldiers who were deployed to keep the peace during this Jewish festival that brought about 200,000 visitors to the city.
During the Passover, Jerusalem would swell to about five times its usual population.
However, few of the people who witnessed the Palm Sunday procession had a clear understanding, and faith, that this figure riding into Jerusalem on a donkey actually was the Messiah …God’s only Son, the anointed Saviour of the world who would sacrifice Himself on the cross as payment for our sin.
The crowds did not understand that Christ was on His way to do battle for the very souls of mankind.
Very few realized that where they would spend eternity hung in the balance, as this humble figure rode into Jerusalem and up to the temple.
In the Bible verses immediately following today’s Gospel reading, Jesus teaches about the battle awaiting Him.
Christ said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23–24)
This is Jesus teaching us that He must die in order to win.
He, like the seed, must lie in the ground to bear fruit.
This is a totally different kind of glory.
The Passover pilgrims think glory would be Jesus ushering in a new age of prosperity for Israel.
Jesus’ enemies think they can destroy His glory by killing Him.
But Jesus says it’s His death that will glorify Him – that His death will bear much fruit.
How ironic that both Jesus and His enemies see death as the eventual outcome.
The enemies view Christ’s death as the way to put an end to Him.
But Jesus knows His death will be a victory over sin, death, and the devil.
This is where satan, the great deceiver, deceived himself.
Jesus regularly, and plainly said, He was to suffer, die, and rise on the third day.
The prophets were clear as well.
When Jesus encountered demons and cast them out, they knew He was the Son of God.
The devil didn’t see that his plans to put Jesus to death would backfire, so that Christ would use death itself to defeat him.
Jesus knew everything was in place for His sacrifice; He had put these things in place, intentionally.
Before He rode that donkey into Jerusalem, Christ had always said, “My hour has not yet come.”
Now He said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
He explained, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
The final events that would lead to His death, the climax of His mission, were just a few days away.
This plan of salvation seems strange to the sinful human mind.
The idea that redemption would come from one who suffered the shame of death on a cross doesn’t make sense to many.
Not then, not now.
The Jesus who dies for our sins is an uncomfortable Saviour.
We don’t like to admit we have sins for which someone must die.
We don’t want to look at the reality of the cross, and realize that it should be us up there.
Some don’t much care for the Jesus who willingly died for us who were born spiritually dead in our trespasses.
And that is because it’s humbling to admit we need God’s forgiveness to have life, and can only be saved by Christ.
Nevertheless, God loves us, and sent His only Son to offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice.
The one who entered Jerusalem in majesty on Palm Sunday, would carry a cross out of Jerusalem on Friday.
Just as surely as He carried that cross, He also carried the sin of the world, yours and mine.
His sacrificial death, His substitutionary atonement, would earn us forgiveness, life, and salvation.
It was the only way; we couldn’t do it for ourselves.
From a worldly standpoint, the procession into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday seemed a lot more victorious than the procession out of Jerusalem to Calvary.
But the true victory took place on the Friday we call good.
There on a cross, the King who rode in majesty defeated the devil with His own body and blood.
And the victory Christ won with His death enabled a new procession, a procession that began three days later and has not yet ended.
This is the marching on of the Christian Church.
This will be the procession up out of the grave and into eternal life.
Jesus Christ died for our sins, and because of that you who believe in Him will follow our Saviour into Heaven.
Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Page 198 Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201
CLOSING HYMN: 441 “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty”
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