First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) Psalm 41:12-13 serves as our sermon text for this morning, which reads
as follows:
Psalm 41:12–13 (NASB95)
12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You set me in Your
presence forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ! Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Gracious and Almighty God, on this Resurrection Sunday, we come before You
with hearts brimming with joy and gratitude, celebrating the victory of
Your Son, Jesus Christ, over death.
As the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15, it is the good news of
Jesus’ death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection on the third
day, according to the Scriptures, that stands as the cornerstone of our
faith.
Lord, we are humbled by the depth of Your love and the power of Your grace
that brought Jesus from death to life, ensuring our own resurrection and
eternal life in Him.
You have fulfilled Your Word and demonstrated Your faithfulness through the
ages, from the witnesses who first saw the risen Lord to all of us gathered
here today, united in the joy of His resurrection. Amen.
(E) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Introduction

(A) David prayed to the Lord of hosts in Psalm 41, “You have upheld me
because of my integrity, and set me in Your presence forever. Blessed be
the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and
Amen.”

(1) Integrity means “whole and undivided.”
(A) Integrity indicates original, unblemished condition.
(1) Because integrity means “whole, original, and unblemished,” the word
also can be used to indicate beautiful qualities such as:
(a) honesty,
(b) faithfulness,
(c) purity,
(d) reliability,
(e) uprightness,
(f) honor,
(g) incorruptibility,
(h) forthrightness,
(i) and other noble virtues.
(B) “Because of my integrity.”
(1) David wrote those words, but NOT because he wanted to sing and pray
them all by himself.
(a) David wrote Psalm 41 because he wanted you and I to sing and pray
together with him.
(b) He wanted YOU and I to say to God in sincerity and truth,:
(1) “You have upheld me[, O Lord,] because of my integrity.”
(2) Can you bring yourself to do that?
(C) God, the living God, provided that David’s words be written into His
Holy Scriptures.
(1) David’s words are in the Scriptures because the Lord your God wants you
also to pray with all honesty:
(a) “You have upheld me[, O Lord,] because of my integrity.”
(b) Can you do it?
(D) Can you honestly join with David in saying to God:
(1) “You have upheld me[, O Lord,] because of my integrity”?
(a) The answer is YES!
(b) Yes because you are the baptized child of Christ and because Christ is
risen!
(c) He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
(d) The resurrection of our Lord has guaranteed that your answer is indeed
YES, even though you might feel tempted to think that your answer should be
NO.
(E) “Because of my integrity.”
(1) Everybody wants to have integrity, but nobody actually has it—at least,
not in the original, main sense of the word.
(a) Our loss of integrity was originally Adam and Eve’s fault and only
later became ours.
(2) Integrity means “whole and undivided.”

(a) Integrity indicates an original, unblemished condition.
(b) Integrity also can be used to indicate such beautiful qualities as
honesty, faithfulness, and purity.
(c) We all want to be described with such wonderful words and, to a certain
extent, we all can be—but only to a certain extent.
(F) Do you ever hesitate to pray to the Lord:
(1) “You have upheld me because of my integrity”?
(a) Perhaps you do not think all the qualities of integrity rightly
describe you; at least, not all of the time.
(b) Perhaps you can see a different set of qualities at work inside
yourself:
(1) NOT whole and undivided, but sometimes doubleminded (James 1:8) and
other times doubtful (Matthew 14:31).
(2) NOT in original, unblemished condition, but chipped or broken, stained
with sin, hampered by the memory of wrongdoing, and marked with regret.
(3) Honest, but not always;
(4) true and faithful, but only when no temptation is present;
(5) mostly reliable and fairly honorable and hopefully incorruptible, but
nobody’s perfect!
(G) Such realizations might make it feel a little brazen or dishonest for
us to pray David’s words:
(1) “You have upheld me because of my integrity.”
(a) We all want to have integrity.
(b) In most cases, any of us would gladly describe ourselves as having
integrity, but we probably would NOT want to talk that way in the presence
of God for He knows our hearts (Luke 16:15).
(c) He knows where the integrity falls apart.
(d) Perhaps it is wisest and best to mumble Psalm 41 when it states, “You
have upheld me because of my integrity,” or to pray those words with the
thought that they probably refer to someone else but NOT so much to you or
me.
(H) Why then did David write these words in Psalm 41?
(1) David wrote Psalm 41 because he wanted us to sing and pray together
with him.
(2) David’s words are in the Scriptures because the Lord our God also wants
us to pray those words together with David.
(2) “You have upheld me because of my integrity.”
(A) Throughout the season of Lent, the sermons and our worship services
have focused upon Psalm 41.
(B) There have been two points of emphasis as we focused on Psalm 41:
(1) In one way or another, all of God’s Psalms—including Psalm 41—speak
about our Lord and His work of salvation on our behalf (Luke 24:44).
(a) That is why God included the Psalms in His Scriptures;
(b) They all “bear witness,” said Jesus, “about Me” (John 5:39).
(2) Because the Psalms are about Jesus, they are also about you.
(a) You are, after all, the baptized of Christ.
(b) When you were baptized:
(1) you miraculously entered into Christ’s holy body (Romans 12:5; 1
Corinthians 1:30) just as surely as He entered yours (John 14:20; Galatians
2:20).
(2) And Christ is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) Alleluia!
(3) You and your risen Christ are now joined together as one flesh (1
Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 5:32).
(4) “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew
19:6).
(C) What does our union with Christ indicate?
(1) It indicates that, when Jesus of Nazareth died upon His cross, you and
I and all the baptized of Christ died there with Him.
(a) Baptism is why Paul could say, and why we each can say with Paul:
(1) “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20).
(b) In addition to that, Baptism also indicates that, when Jesus rose from
the dead, God the Father also:
(1) “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in
Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).
(2) At your Baptism,
(a) your Lord’s perfection became yours, and your sins became His (1 Peter
2:24);
(b) His strength became yours, and your weakness became His (2 Corinthians
12:8–9);
(c) His life became yours, and your death became His (Romans 6:4); and
(d) His perfect and unblemished integrity became yours, and any lack of
integrity in you became His
(D) You are now “partakers of the divine nature,” as Peter declares in his
second epistle (2 Peter 1:4).
(1) Because of your participation in the divine nature of Christ in and
through your Baptism, every Scripture passage that speaks about Jesus now
also speaks about you.
(2) In all of human history, only Christ Jesus, our Lord, could pray to His
Father on the basis of His own merit:
(a) “You have upheld Me because of My integrity.”

(3) But Jesus has now joined Himself to you.
(a) In that miraculous joining, whatever the Scriptures say about Jesus can
now also be said, in all faithfulness and honesty, about you:
(1) “You have upheld me because of my integrity.”
(3) Integrity means “whole and undivided.”
(A) Integrity means “in the original, unblemished condition.”
(1) Integrity indicates such qualities as:
(a) honesty,
(b) faithfulness,
(c) purity,
(d) reliability,
(e) uprightness,
(f) honor,
(g) incorruptibility,
(h) and forthrightness.
(i) Those qualities all describe Jesus, the One who was crucified (1
Corinthians 1:23).
(j) Because of our Lord’s personal integrity (Acts 2:24), “God raised Him
up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be
held by it.”
(B) As you heard in today’s Gospel these words:
Mark 16:1–6 (NASB95)
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James,
and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the
sun had risen.
3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us
from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was
extremely large.
5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a
white robe; and they were amazed.
6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the
Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold,
here is the place where they laid Him.
(4) By the power of His death and in the victory of His resurrection, Jesus
has now given all of His integrity to you so that His perfect integrity may
be yours forever!
(A) Our Lord’s personal integrity has been delivered to you in the water of
Baptism, which joined you to both His death and His resurrection (Romans
6:3–5).
(B) Our Lord’s personal integrity has miraculously entered into your heart
and mind through the proclamation of the Gospel.
(C) Our Lord’s integrity likewise enters your mouth and fills your entire
body when you participate in the blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
(1) With confidence, we can proclaim that yes, Christ lives—and we with
Him—as we hear in Romans 6:9:
Romans 6:9 (NASB95)
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die
again; death no longer is master over Him.
(D) Our Lord’s personal integrity, given personally to you, is the power by
which you now can pray to the Lord, with all godliness and honesty:“
(1) You have upheld me because of my integrity.”
(2) That same integrity, poured out by our God, is the only reason why I
can likewise pray with you.

Conclusion

(A) King David did NOT rely upon his own integrity when he prayed.
(1) King David relied upon the integrity of his Christ, who was both
David’s Son and David’s Lord.
(2) You and I do NOT and cannot rely upon our own integrity any more than
David did.
(3) David’s Son was born also to us (Luke 2:11).
(4) David’s Lord died also for us.
(5) David’s prayer is therefore our prayer, and David’s rejoicing in
eternity is likewise our rejoicing, both now and forever:
(A) “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to
everlasting! Amen and Amen.”
(B) Why? Because Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! Amen.
(B) Let us pray:
Lord, as we proclaim with Paul that Your grace towards us has not been in
vain, may we, too, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in Your work,
knowing that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain.
Empower us by Your Spirit to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus,
living as people of hope, transformed by the reality of the empty tomb.
On this glorious day, help us to grasp the magnitude of what it means to
say, “Christ has risen indeed!”
May this truth renew our minds, inspire our hearts, and guide our actions.
Let the joy of Easter not just be a momentary celebration but a lasting
reality in our lives, shaping us to be bearers of Your light and love in a
world that so desperately needs the hope of the risen Christ.
In the mighty power of the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, we pray. Amen.
(C) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(D) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
(E) In the Name of the Father…Amen.

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Old Testament lesson from Exodus 15 serves as our sermon text for
this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
464:1-3 The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done
ref
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

1
The strife is o’er, the battle done;
Now is the victor’s triumph won;
Now be the song of praise begun.
Alleluia!

2
The pow’rs of death have done their worst,
But Christ their legions hath dispersed.
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!

3
The three sad days have quickly sped,
He rises glorious from the dead.
All glory to our risen Head!
Alleluia! Amen.

Introduction

(A) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
(B) Today is a day of joyous celebration!
(1) With great songs of holy joy we affirm the victory over death and the
grave that the Lord accomplished through his death and resurrection.
(2) Listen to the first stanza of the hymns for this morning as evidence of
this holy joy:
467 Awake, My Heart, with Gladness
1
Awake, my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now, after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When to the realms of light
Our spirit wings its flight.
Text: Public domain
490 Jesus Lives! The Victory’s Won
1
Jesus lives! The vict’ry’s won!
Death no longer can appall me;
Jesus lives! Death’s reign is done!
From the grave will Christ recall me.
Brighter scenes will then commence;
This shall be my confidence.
Text: Public domain
461 I Know That My Redeemer Lives
1
I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever-living head.
Text: Public domain
(C) As we celebrate the greatest victory of our faith, we take as our text
the song that was sung on the day of the greatest victory that the people
of Israel ever experienced in their history:
(1) their deliverance from Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea.
(2) The Song of Moses gives us, too, the occasion to celebrate.

(D) As in Israel’s day, with Joyous Hymns of Faith, the People of the Lord
Celebrate Christ’s Easter Victory.
(1) With the song of Moses, Israel celebrated a foreshadowing of Christ’s
Easter victory.
(A) At the Red Sea, the people of Israel faced two unpleasant options.
1) They could surrender to the Egyptian army and be taken back as slaves to
Egypt, or they could drown in the Red Sea.
2) Either option basically amounted to death.
3) In addition to their precarious situation, they also showed a lack of
faith as mentioned in the previous chapter right before our sermon text for
this morning:
Exodus 14:10–12 (NASB95)
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the
Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the
sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.
11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt
that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt
with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?
12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us
alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for
us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
(B) But God provided them with another option: salvation from the Egyptian
army by passing through the Red Sea.
(1) God parted the waters of the Red Sea so they could escape from the
Egyptians.
a) Much more dramatic than Cecil B. Demille’s version!
(2) God tricked the Egyptians into thinking that they could go through the
Red Sea too.
Exodus 15:9–10 (NASB95)
9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the
spoil; My desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword,
my hand will destroy them.’
(3) But God wiped them out.
10 “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in
the mighty waters.
(4) The Egyptians never bothered the Israelites again.
(C) In response, the people of Israel sang joyous praises to the Lord:
Exodus 15:1–2 (NASB95)
1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said,
“I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider
He has hurled into the sea.
2 “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This
is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.
(1) Their song affirmed two things:
a) God’s power active in the world.
Exodus 15:3–8 (NASB95)
3 “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the
choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone.
6 “Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD,
shatters the enemy.
7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up
against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as
chaff.
8 “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing
waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the
sea.
b) There are no other gods like their God (v 11).
Exodus 15:11 (NASB95)
11 “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in
holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?
(2) We, too, celebrate Christ’s Easter victory with hymns of faith.
(A) Our situation seemed no less perilous than Israel’s. We were left with
the same two options.
(1) On one side were the devil and his army. Oh, he wants us to live. He
doesn’t want us to die—that is, in the sense of being snuffed out of
existence. He wants to take us back to his country, where he can enslave us.
a) Slavery to Satan is our fate because of our sin.
1) Lustful thoughts
2) Words of anger
3) And if thoughts and words were not bad enough, actions including and to
the point of abuse.
b) Every time we sin, we confirm that we cannot live as free people.
1) We are slaves to sin.
2) On our own, we can’t do good, we can’t turn away from evil.
3) That means we are destined to live in sin forever in hell.
(2) The other option for us is no better: death.
(3) Moses’ song is our song because they faced the same enemy we do.
a) For the Israelites, the name of death was Pharaoh and his army.
b) For us, the name of death may be a heart attack or cancer.
c) But these are just names for the same thing: death.
d) Someone with terminal cancer is just as trapped as the Israelites were.
(4) Death, like enslavement in hell, is a result of our sin, and that makes
it just as inescapable.
a) Christians, who are often accused of being unrealistic, are very
realistic about death.
(B) But through Jesus’ cross and resurrection from the dead, God has
provided us with a third option: salvation through death.
(1) Despite the disciples’ lack of faith on that first Easter, God’s power
broke through and won the victory.
(2) Now when we pass through death, we are saved.
a) This is what happens in the waters of Baptism.
b) In Baptism we are buried with Christ and raised to a new life.
c) In a way, the baptismal waters you were drowned in are the same as the
parted waters of the Red Sea.
(C) Our response to this great salvation is holy joy—especially in song.
(1) Examples of words from the great Easter hymns.
457 Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
1
Jesus Christ is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
Text: Public domain
458 Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands
1
Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand He stands
And brings us life from heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of alleluia!
Alleluia!
Text: Public domain
488 He Is Arisen! Glorious Word
1
He is arisen! Glorious Word!
Now reconciled is God, my Lord;
The gates of heav’n are open.
My Jesus did triumphant die,
And Satan’s arrows broken lie,
Destroyed hell’s fiercest weapon.
O hear what cheer!
Christ victorious,
Rising glorious,
Life is giving.
He was dead but now is living!
Text: Public domain
(2) The joy we sing is holy because:
a) it is not based on anything we have done.
b) it is a permanent solution to the enemy of death.
c) As Peter says in his first epistle, we have:
1 Peter 1:4 (NASB95)
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not
fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
(3) Our songs of joy today affirm that our God has real power and that
there are no other gods like him.
Conclusion

(A) In John’s vision of heaven in the Book of Revelation, he hears the
saints singing the very song of Moses that we’ve heard in our text.
(1) Through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, God has given us a
place to escape the power of sin, death, and the devil.
(2) Our enemies are drowned, just as the Egyptian army drowned in the Red
Sea.
(3) Now we sing these glad tidings, and we sing them in words that John
suggests we’ll be using for all eternity. Amen.
(B) Let us pray:
4
He broke the age-bound chains of hell;
The bars from heav’n’s high portals fell.
Let hymns of praise His triumph tell.
Alleluia!

5
Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,
From death’s dread sting Thy servants free
That we may live and sing to Thee.
Alleluia! Refrain
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Amen.
Text: Public domain
(C) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(D) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
(E) In the Name of the Father…Amen.

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.

(B) Psalm 41:10 serves as our sermon text for this evening, which reads as
follows:
Psalm 41:10 (NASB95)
10 But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, That I may repay
them.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

(C) Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ! Amen.

Introduction

(A) During the season of Lent, we have focused our attention upon Psalm 41,
written by David, written concerning our Christ.
(1) Although it was written many years before the birth of our Lord, Psalm
41 speaks history concerning Jesus:
(A) During the days of His humiliation, Jesus
“went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for
God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).
(B) Thus fulfilled were David’s words from Psalm 41:
“Blessed is the one who considers the poor” (v. 1) and “he is called
blessed in the land” (v. 2).
(2) Jesus was welcomed and loved by the Galilean crowds but not by the
Jerusalem leaders.
(A) Many prominent men opposed Him, hated Him, and conspired against Him.
(B) This all took place according to what David had prophesied in Psalm 41:
“My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die, and his name perish?’”
(v. 5)
“They imagine the worst for me” (v. 7).
(3) Psalm 41 could also see the Lord’s betrayer, Judas Iscariot, coming.
(A) The Psalm said in our Lord’s voice, and our Lord even quoted the psalm
on the night He was betrayed:
“Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his
heel against me” (v. 9; cf. John 13:18).
(4) Tonight’s Gospel brings us to the death of our Lord and to these
prophetic words from Psalm 41:
“But You, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay
them!”
(I) When the Scriptures speak about “lifting up,” or “raising up,” as they
do in this psalm, the first thing that often comes to mind is God’s
miraculous power of resurrection, by which He makes that was once dead to
be alive again.
(A) Thus it is written in an earlier psalm, Psalm 40:
“He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my
feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (Psalm 40:2).
(1) To this Paul added:
“[God] raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places”
(Ephesians 2:6).
(B) Sometimes when the Scriptures speak about “raising up,” they are NOT
talking about life, but they are talking about death.
(1) In particular, “raising up” can be a reference to our Lord’s death on
His cross.
(2) Throughout John’s Gospel, for example, Jesus repeatedly used “lifting
up” and “raising up” in reference to His cross and death.
(C) Jesus said in the third chapter of John:
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up” (v. 14).
(1) Those words speak NOT about our Lord’s resurrection but, rather, His
death on the cross
(2) In the same way that the bronze serpent was raised up on a pole for the
healing of the rebellious people of Israel, so Jesus was likewise suspended
above the earth:
“for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).
(D) Jesus said a similar thing in the eighth chapter of John:
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He”
(v. 28).
(1) There again, the “lifting up” or “raising up” of which our Lord spoke
was a reference to His crucifixion.
(2) This lifting was in keeping with the words of the prophet Isaiah:
He shall be high and lifted up. . . . His appearance was so marred, beyond
human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind—so
shall He sprinkle many nations (Isaiah 52:13–15).
(E) What happened when the Lord Jesus was lifted up from the earth and
suspended upon His cross?

(1) Jesus explained in John chapter 12:
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,” He said, “will draw all people
to Myself” (v. 32), once again speaking about His death for the sins of the
world.
(F) “But You, O Lord, be gracious to Me, and raise Me up.”
(1) Here in Psalm 41, as in those other passages, the reference to “raising
up” is not so much a reference to our Lord’s resurrection as it is to His
death on the cross.
(2) “Raise me up, that I may repay them.”
(II) For what purpose was our Lord therefore lifted up, according to this
psalm? “That I may repay them!” Repay whom? Here is an amazing thing: Jesus
wanted to be raised up on His cross in order to repay those who plotted
evil against Him; to repay those who spoke evil concerning Him; to repay
those who imagined the worst for Him and who said “in malice, ‘When will He
die, and His name perish?’” (v. 5).
(A) This is a strange way of speaking!
(1) The Lord our God has worked His vengeance against His enemies in a
manner that is totally unlike all the ways that we humans like to work our
vengeance.
(2) For example:
a) The kings of the world work their vengeance by sending out armies
against those who plot against them.
b) Saul required from David a terrible and weighty bride price, requiring
that it be cut from the Philistines,
“that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies” (1 Samuel 18:25).
c) When Jesus told His parable of the tenants, even His enemies knew that
the master of the house would be within his rights to
“put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other
tenants” (Matthew 21:41).
(B) Like all of the kings of the earth, you and I equally use revenge
against those who have wronged us.
(1) We want them to feel as miserable as we do.

(2) Even little children understand the idea of payback.
(3) Adults are more subtle when it comes to working out their revenge but
still with the same disastrous results.
(4) That is why we have such familiar sayings as:
a) “The sweet taste of revenge”
b) “Revenge is a dish best served cold”
c) and “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
(C) These sayings do not apply to the Lord our God!
(1) Where we humans prefer to work our vengeance in acts against others,
the Lord of hosts preferred to execute judgment against His Son.
(2) Our God was so adamant about cleansing the sin of the entire world, so
preoccupied with your salvation, that even the vengeance He sought against
His enemies was self-inflicted:
“But You, O Lord, . . . raise Me up that I may repay them!
(3) In answer to that prayer, God the Father lifted up His Son to death:
a) “even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).
(D) The death of Jesus our God was indeed divine vengeance over every
enemy—including death itself.
(1) The death of Jesus our God was therefore NOT the triumph of His enemies
over Him.
(2) When the soldiers at the cross saw the earthquake and what took place:
“they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”
(Matthew 27:54).
a) This happened in keeping with David’s prophecy in Psalm 41, written in
the voice of Jesus:
“By this I know that You delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph
over me.”
b) Even though the enemies of God enjoyed the sight of His death, their
enjoyment was but momentary, so eclipsed and devastated that momentary
victory was by the power of Christ’s resurrection.
(III) We must therefore be exceedingly careful—and mindfully faithful—when
we think of our enemies. Jesus died. All vengeance was worked by God upon
the cross. That is why our heavenly Father now graciously forbids us to
seek vengeance. Our acts of revenge are nothing less than denials of the
Christ and His death!
(A) You were joined by Baptism to the death of Christ, according to the
words of Paul:

“I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20).
(1) Again, Paul also said:
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3).
(2) Thus, because Psalm 41 speaks about Jesus, it speaks likewise about
you.
(3) Therefore, these words are your words:
a) “But You, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay
them!”
(B) What do those words mean when you and I pray them?
(1) They mean that we, along with Jesus, have already been raised up on the
cross.
a) We, like Jesus, already have our losses and injustices avenged in His
blood.
b) In the death of Christ, all vengeance has been worked by God.
c) When we therefore seek revenge upon our enemies, our desire for revenge
becomes a denial of the cross and a rejection of the atonement.
(2) That is why God has said:
“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).
(3) That is why our Lord Jesus taught us:
“Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39).
(4) That is why the apostle Paul has added:
“The Lord is an avenger in all these things” (1 Thessalonians 4:6).
(C) Shall the Lord our God work vengeance for us on the Last Day, when
Christ Jesus our Lord returns to judge both the living and the dead?

(1) The answer is:
a) Yes, and Amen!
b) That is why there are Christian martyrs who, even now, plead with God
for His victorious return, that He might avenge their blood (Revelation
6:9–10).

Conclusion

(A) We do NOT need to think of our Lord’s vengeance on the Last Day as
something separate from His cross.
(1) The Last Day, rather, is the culmination and the full flowering of that
which was completely worked for us upon the cross.
(2) The blood of God’s saints shall one day be avenged (Revelation 6:10)
because Jesus was raised up on the cross to work God’s vengeance.
The death of God’s saints is precious in His sight (Psalm 116:15) because
Jesus of Nazareth “bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).
(3) Every injustice you have suffered:
(A) along with every injustice you have ever perpetrated
(B) They all find their fulfillment and satisfaction in these words:
“O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them!” Amen.
(B) Let us pray:
Dear Father, thank You for Your infinite love and goodness toward us, Your
dear children.
Even when we are disciplined, we know You love us.
Keep us in Your Word, in faith and in prayer. Amen.
(C) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(D) In the Name of the Father…Amen.

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) Psalm 41:9 serves as our sermon text for this evening.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ! Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Lord Jesus, who came to Your own and they received You not, grant us Your
Spirit to glorify You in our hearts.

Enlighten our souls with this living knowledge that You are the power of
God and the wisdom of God, that we may never be offended in You, but may
hold Your righteousness in an unwavering faith, and may not be ashamed to
confess you before men.
Amen.
Introduction

(A) David prayed in Psalm 41, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who
ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”
(B) During the midweek services for Lent, two things have been emphasized:
(1) that the Psalms speak about Jesus (John 5:39) and
(2) that because the Psalms speak about Jesus, they therefore speak also
about you.
(A) In Baptism, you were “joined to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 6:17) and
(B) are now “become one” as the Scriptures say (Ephesians 5:31–32).
(C) We can therefore think of Psalm 41, in part, as a biographical sketch
about you.
(1) Psalm 41 tells both your story and mine as surely as it tells the
history of our Lord.
(2) But Psalm 41 was written by King David, which means the psalm also
gives us a sketch of David.
(I) “Even my close friend,” said David, “in whom I trusted, who ate my
bread, has lifted his heel against me.”
(A) David might have been talking about Absalom (cf. Psalm 3:1), his most
handsome and charming son.
(1) Absalom grew up on King David’s knee.
(2) Absalom ate his father’s bread at his father’s table.
(3) He enjoyed his father’s generous and reconciling love and received
every comfort of his father’s house.
(4) Absalom also harbored a temper and held a grudge that led him to
conspire against his own father and murder his own brother.
(5) Absalom tried to overthrow his father and occupy the throne of Israel
for himself.
(6) In the figure of speech expressed by Psalm 41, Absalom “lifted his heel
against” David.
(7) David was knocked down hard by the blow.
(B) Think of the various muscles in the human body.
(1) Hardly any physical blow can exert more impact than a raised heel.
(2) A closed fist can certainly do damage, especially when thrown by a
strong man with an experienced arm and calloused knuckles.
(3) A swung elbow can drop an opponent larger than you, but only if it hits
the right target.
(4) By comparison, it is very difficult for anyone to receive the uncoiled
blow of a raised heel and still remain on his feet.
(5) Even a petite woman’s raised heel can “kick like a mule,” as the saying
goes.
(6) The heel explodes out like a cannonball, involving nearly every muscle
in the leg.
(C) Absalom “lifted his heel” against David.
(1) Absalom laid low the one who had lifted him up and had given him every
good thing.
(II) Judas Iscariot did the same thing to Christ Jesus, our Lord.
(A) As it is written in Matthew 26:
Matthew 26:14–16 (NASB95)
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And
they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
(B) Judas did that terrible thing because he held malice toward Jesus:
(1) inexplicable malice toward Jesus, who had given Judas every good thing.
(2) When traveling together with the disciples, Jesus entrusted to Judas
all the finances of the entire group (John 13:29).
(3) When Jesus sent out His disciples and gave them His own divine power to:
Matthew 10:8 (NASB95)
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely
you received, freely give.”
(a) the gracious, ordaining hand of our Lord was gently laid also upon
Judas’ head.
(4) On the night Jesus was betrayed, as you heard in tonight’s Gospel,
Jesus knelt even before Judas and humbly washed his feet along with the
rest of the disciples.
(5) Jesus likewise served Judas the Holy Communion of Christ’s body and
blood, given and shed even for the sins of Judas (Matthew 26:20–28).
(6) Our Lord knew beforehand:
(a) He knew from the Scriptures of the Old Testament (Zechariah 11:13;
Psalm 69:25; 109:8; cf. Acts 1:20)
(b) who would betray Him.
(7) Jesus faithfully loved His betrayer, nonetheless.
(C) Judas fulfilled in the life of Christ what King David had earlier
experienced and written in Psalm 41:
Psalm 41:9 (NASB95)
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his
heel against me.
(1) David likewise wrote in another psalm concerning Jesus:
Psalm 35:14 (NASB95)
I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning
(literally dressed in black) as one who sorrows for a mother.
(2) Yet again, David said in another psalm—again speaking words concerning
our Christ—
Psalm 55:12–14, 20 (NASB95)
12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is
it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide
myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend;
14 We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the
throng…
20 He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He
has violated his covenant.
(III) “Even my close friend in whom I trusted”:

(A) Those words are indeed about David, who suffered the betrayal of his
beloved son Absalom:
“He who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me”.
(B) Those words are likewise about Jesus, the true and messianic Son of
David, whom God had promised.
(C) Because those words are about Jesus, they are also about you; you are
the baptized of Christ and “one body” (Romans 12:4–5) with Him.
(D) Among the many emotions that betrayal can evoke, perhaps the strangest
is that of loneliness.
(1) Betrayal can make you feel abandoned and alone.
(2) Betrayal can focus your thoughts upon only that one, lost friend,
rather than all of the other friends who have remained faithful to you.
(3) David wrote Psalm 41 about himself, and he wrote it about our Christ,
in part, so that we would be able to draw comfort from the ancient fact
that we are not alone.
(4) We are in good company when we are betrayed by those whom we have made
our equal, our companion, our familiar friend (Psalm 55:12–13).
(E) “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted
his heel against me.”
(1) Many people can read those lonely words as that biographical sketch I
mentioned earlier.
(2) Life in this dreary world assures us that we shall each eventually get
to a point where we can see ourselves in this story.
(3) I know how my betrayers have made me desolate.
(4) Who has betrayed you?
(F) Think of the muscles in the human body.
(1) Our betrayers have the power to kick like a mule, bowl us over, and lay
us low.
(2) Both our Lord Jesus and our forefather David can help us with that
threat
(a) Absalom dealt his father, David, a harsh blow that laid him low, but
David survived; he rose to his feet by the power of God, and he sat down
again on the throne that had been given and promised to him by his Maker
and Redeemer.
(b) Judas Iscariot likewise dealt our Lord Jesus a mighty blow, laying Him
low in the depths of the grave.
(c) Jesus rose again from the dead.
(d) God:
Hebrews 2:9 (NASB95)
But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels,
namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned [Him] with glory
and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
(e) Jesus loved NOT His life, even unto death (cf. Revelation 12:11), but
loved those He came to save.
(f) Thus, Jesus could say to His Father in heaven, in the words of His
father David and in the closing words of Psalm 41,
Psalm 41:11–13 (NASB95)
11 By this I know that You are pleased with me, Because my enemy does not
shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You set me in Your
presence forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
(G) Those words are also your words.
(1) David said those words.
(2) Jesus said those words.
(3) You have been given God’s Spirit that you might likewise say those
words:
Psalm 41:11 (NASB95)
By this I know that You are pleased with me, Because my enemy does not
shout in triumph over me.
Conclusion

(A) There is no need to pretend here.
(1) Those who have betrayed us have indeed hurt us, having raised their
heel against us.
(2) The pain and the shame and the loneliness can be undeniably great, but
those things shall remain only for a little while.
(3) The Lord your God shall vindicate you and raise you up and set you
above your “enemies all around” (Psalm 27:6), even those who have betrayed
you and raised their heel against you.
(4) The resurrection of our Lord shall inevitably make it so.
(5) To this, we can say with David, in the final words of Psalm 41, “Amen
and Amen” (verse 13).
(B) By the power of the Holy Spirit and with confidence in the resurrection
of our God, we add our “Amen” with certainty and without fear.
(1) We say it once because we mean it.
(2) We say it twice to intensify and emphasize our hope.
(3) This is in keeping with what we learned to say from the Small
Catechism:
(A) “Amen, Amen means ‘yes, yes, it shall be so’” (Conclusion to the Lord’s
Prayer).
(4) Amen.
(C) Let us pray:
Dear Father, thank You for Your infinite love and goodness toward us, Your
dear children.
Even when we are disciplined, we know You love us.
Keep us in Your Word, in faith and in prayer. Amen.
(D) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(E) In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Theme: A glorious death

Other Lessons:
Zechariah 9:9–12
Psalm 118:19–29
Psalm 31:9–16
Philippians 2:5–11
Mark 14:1–15:47
Mark 15:1–47

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Gospel lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
LSB 560:1-2 Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blessed
1
Drawn to the cross, which Thou hast blessed
With healing gifts for souls distressed,
To find in Thee my life, my rest,
Christ crucified, I come.

2
Thou knowest all my griefs and fears,
Thy grace abused, my misspent years;
Yet now to Thee with contrite tears,
Christ crucified, I come. Amen.

Introduction

(A) No sooner had Jesus dismounted his donkey, no sooner had the parade of
Passover pilgrims begun to wind down, than some Greeks showed up.
(1) That they were Greeks isn’t particularly important; after all,
God-fearing folks from all over the world were converging on Jerusalem for
the Passover.
(2) What is notable about this group of Greeks is that they were eager for
an audience with the man of the hour.
John 12:21 (NASB95)
These then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to
ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
(B) They probably weren’t the only ones with that wish.
(1) Just days earlier, Jesus had performed his greatest, grandest miracle
up to this point:
(A) the raising of Lazarus.
(2) Everyone was talking about it.
(A) The air was electric with anticipation.
(B) Even in an era before there was “social media”, it was safe to say that
Jesus was “trending.”
(C) He had just entered the city amidst a parade of palm branches and
shouts of “Hosanna.”
(D) Those Greeks were probably just the first ones in a long lineup of
people who really, really wanted to see Jesus.
(C) But as for Jesus, He was past the point of press conferences and
interviews.
(1) Jesus was thinking, instead, about His death.
John 12:23 (NASB95)
And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to
be glorified.
(2) And as Jesus goes on to make clear when He says:
John 12:32 (NASB95)
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
(D) Jesus’ Ultimate Glory Is His Crucifixion, by Which He Draws Us to
Himself.
(E) As if there were still any questions about what lay ahead for Jesus, He
employs the use of a common metaphor to make it even clearer:
John 12:24 (NASB95)
“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.
(1) Jesus is that grain of wheat.
(2) Try to keep it and preserve it, and you get nothing.
(3) But bury it in the earth, and it rises up to bear much fruit.
(4) So it would be for Jesus.
(5) He would go the way of death and the grave, just like a seed is cast
into the ground.
(6) Jesus will lose His life only to take it up again three days later.
(7) And in His dying and rising, He will bear much fruit; He will earn the
gift of your salvation.
(F) This is what we expect to hear at the beginning of Holy Week—Jesus
talking about dying and rising. It’s why Jesus came. It’s why we remember
this week as holy.
(1) We must follow Jesus by following in His dying and rising.
(A) But then:
1) the unexpected happens.
2) Jesus turns the Palm Sunday tables.
(B) If you thought you could glide through Holy Week safely in your comfy
spot like a spectator in the stands, soaking up the Passion, pomp, and
pageantry, think again.
1) It turns out that dying and rising has as much to do with you as with
Jesus.
John 12:25 (NASB95)
“He who loves his life [literally his soul] loses it, and he who hates his
life[that is, his soul], in this world will keep it to life eternal.
(C) And here comes the phrase that pays:
John 12:26 (NASB95)
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant
will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
1) That’s you Jesus is referring to.
2) You must follow Him.
3) How it goes for Jesus, so it shall go for you.
4) Expect to get treated like Jesus got treated:
a) trials,
b) temptations,
c) Turmoil
d) Oh it gets worse!
e) Eventually, death and resurrection.
f) Follow Jesus, and that’s what you get.
(D) We don’t much care for this way of speaking.
1) But at least nobody can accuse Jesus of false advertising.
2) Jesus never claimed that following Him would be easy.
3) Yet that’s the popular myth to which lots of Christians subconsciously
subscribe.
4) Popular TV preachers and televangelists often perpetuate this myth.
5) Many of them have been known to say that following Jesus means you can
expect nothing but the best, here and now, today.
a) Follow Jesus, and watch life’s pressures and disappointments just melt
away.
b) Follow Jesus, and you won’t have depression or sickness or worry.
6) In reality, what Jesus says is this:
a) “Follow me, and give up all control.
b) Follow me to the cross and grave.
c) Follow me and fall into the earth like a grain of wheat and die.”
(E) Everybody dies, of course, so what is Jesus talking about?
1) What does he mean?
a) Well, the New Testament tells us that Baptism is a kind of death
i) that in Baptism we are buried with Jesus into death (Romans 6:4)
ii) that in Baptism we died and our life is now hidden with Christ in God
(Colossians 3:3).
iii) Amen to all that.
b) If you were thinking of Baptism before I mentioned it, give yourself a
pat on the back.
c) But remember, the dying and rising of Baptism isn’t a one-time event.
d) It’s a daily occurrence.
2) Baptism is a way of life:
a) dying to sin,
b) rising to new life with Jesus.
c) At one point, Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 15:31 (NASB95)
I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our
Lord, I die daily.
d) What he meant was that, as Luther says in the catechism, every day, our
old Adam with all his filth and sin needs to be drowned and die.
(F) What needs to die in you?
1) What part of you needs to be put to death?
2) In what area of life does your old Adam reign supreme?
3) There is a very selfish way of thinking about Holy Week that goes
something like this:
a) Jesus died and rose for me so that I don’t have to change a thing.
b) I can live as complacently and comfortably as I want, without having to
do the hard work of changing my sinful life.
4) But in fact is not the opposite the truth?
a) Jesus died and rose for me so that everything is changed in me
i) so that I can do battle daily against the sin in me
ii) against everything that prevents me from following Jesus.
iii) That’s what Luther says baptizing with water indicates.
b) Therefore, Holy Week is not about living complacently:
i) about watching Jesus’ agonizing prayers,
ii) His arrest,
iii) His trials,
iv) and His crucifixion all unfold with a spectator’s detachment.
c) Holy Week is about the urgency of putting to death every part of you
that loves this life more than Jesus and the eternal life he gives.
(G) And so, again, I ask: What—in you—needs to die?

1) What needs to be buried?
2) Is it your need to be in control and in charge at all times?
3) Or is it your utter apathy, indifference, and laziness?
4) Maybe it’s that you draw your identity from what other people think
about you, that you get your self-worth from the good works you do instead
of regarding yourself above all else as a baptized child of God.
5) Maybe you have bought into the mindset of:
a) “I have been a member of this church for so many years.”
b) “I own this church; therefore it is mine.”
c) “Since it is my church, I can do with it as I see fit.”
d) “If I do not like what the pastor has to say, or what is sung, or how
people treat me, I can take it or leave it.
e) It makes no difference to me.”
6) Or maybe you’ve let yourself be defined by your defeats and you have
resigned yourself to play the victim.
(H) What part of you needs to be put to death?
1) What are your addictions, and do you love them or hate them, feed them
or starve them?
2) Do you lack generosity because you are holding your money and
possessions far too tightly?
3) Do you charge into every challenging situation behind a shield of anger
and rage?
4) It could be anything or everything—
a) something different for each of us.
5) But whatever it is, it is evidence.
a) It is evidence of how much we love our life in this world.
b) Whatever sin has enslaved you, dear baptized brothers and sisters in
Christ, recognize the threat.
c) Put it to death.
d) Bury it with Jesus.
(2) But in that glorious death of Jesus, He lifts us up from death to life.
(A) It’s not easy.
1) It’s painful and difficult.
2) But with Jesus, that is, with faith in Jesus, all things are possible,
including the hard work of repentance.
3) In the world of sports there’s an old adage:
a) “No guts, no glory.”
b) We are often the ones lacking in the guts department, but you have a
Savior who is all guts and all glory.
c) Jesus saw His impending death as His hour of greatest glory.
d) Being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross.
e) For all the sin in you that needs to die, Jesus died.
f) And it was his moment of glory.
(B) This is certainly a strange combination:
1) death and glory.
2) You and I would never even think of using those two words in the same
sentence.
3) What seems glorious to us in this world usually involves:
a) Applause
b) accolades
c) Attention
d) For us, glory is all about basking in the spotlight, the fame and the
fortune.
e) It means winning, not losing
f) and by no means dying.
g) But the glory of Jesus is centered on the cross.
h) The glory of Jesus doesn’t shine; it bleeds.
i) It bleeds for you and for your salvation.
(C) Jesus’ greatest glory is what?
1) To do the will of His Father:
a) To accomplish what He took on human flesh to do:
i) to lay down His life as a sin-sacrifice for the world
ii) to give up His back to those who turned their backs on Him.
iii) to raise His face to spit and shame, disgrace and mockery, being
struck and beaten.
iv) We sometimes talk about the glory of Christmas or the glory of Easter.
v) And there the glory is so easy to spot.

2) But Jesus’ glory shines brightest in the darkness of death:
a) the death of Jesus for you.
b) It was truly a glorious death.
(D) Jesus said:
John 12:32 (NASB95)
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
1) By his death on the cross, Jesus lifts you up:
a) lifts you up out of your sin and shame and draws you to Himself.
2) Jesus is really undoing what Adam did.
a) When Adam sinned, he took you and me down with him.
b) Adam draws us down to the grave.
c) Adam took everybody from life to death.
d) Adam took everybody from heaven down to hell.
3) But in the glorious death of Jesus, Jesus lifts you up from death to
life.
a) In that glorious death, God and sinners are reconciled.
b) Your sin is forgiven.
c) Men and women are justified before God on account of Christ’s glorious
death on the cross.
Romans 6:5 (NASB95)
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,
certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
4) Die with Jesus:
a) and rise with Jesus.
b) Jesus is drawing you to Himself, and He will not stop until you behold
Him face to face.

Conclusion

(A) You have been crucified with Christ.
(1) His glorious death is your glorious death.
(2) You no longer live, but Christ lives in you.
(3) In Jesus, you are that grain of wheat—a solitary seed—dead to yourself
but alive to God in Christ.
(4) You’ve been buried in the fertile soil of Jesus’ death so that you,
too, might rise and bear much fruit.
(5) May this Holy Week be for you absolutely glorious! Amen.
(B) Let us pray:
LSB 560:3-4 Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blessed
[Lord] Wash me and take away each stain;
Let nothing of my sin remain.
For cleansing, though it be through pain,
Christ crucified, I come.

And then for work to do for Thee,
Which shall so sweet a service be
That angels well might envy me,
Christ crucified, I come. Amen.
Text: Public domain
(C) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(D) In the Name of the Father…Amen.

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Epistle lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Gracious and Everlasting God, as we gather on this fifth Sunday of Lent,
our hearts are turned towards the promise of a new covenant, one that You
have written not on tablets of stone, but on the very fabric of our hearts.
In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, we hear Your pledge to be our God and
to welcome us as Your people, knowing You intimately and fully, from the
least to the greatest among us.
Lord, we marvel at Your mercy, at Your willingness to forgive our iniquity
and remember our sin no more.
In this time of reflection and anticipation, we confess that too often we
have strayed from Your ways, forgetting Your laws and ignoring Your voice
that whispers in the depths of our souls.
Yet, Your love remains steadfast, calling us back to You with cords of
kindness and bands of love.
As we move closer to the mystery of the cross and the victory of the
resurrection, renew in us the covenant You have promised.
Write Your law within us, engrave it on our hearts that we might truly be
Your people, reflecting Your justice, love, and mercy in a world so
desperate for signs of hope.
Help us, O God, to understand the depth of Your love and the breadth of
Your forgiveness.
Teach us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love as we have been
loved, and to extend the grace we have so freely received.
May the knowledge of Your covenant inspire us to live lives marked by
faithfulness, to seek justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with You.
Introduction

(A) We all have our favorite ways of referring to Jesus.
(1) We often describe the Son of Man by using titles that are both
comfortable and comforting:
(A) Jesus is our:
1) Savior
2) Redeemer
3) Lord
4) God
5) Brother
6) Friend
7) Great Physician
8) Good Shepherd.
(B) Each of these titles highlights a different dimension of our Savior’s
service and sacrifice for sinners.
(B) But it’s far less frequent for us to describe Jesus as our “Priest,”
and that’s unfortunate.
(1) In today’s Epistle, the author of Hebrews sets us straight concerning
the priestly service of our Savior.
(2) He highlights how Jesus is our perfect High Priest.
(3) In fact, he mines the idea of priest for all it’s worth and, in the
process, delivers all the comfort and confidence that comes to us from the
Christ.
(4) Today we ponder the priesthood of Jesus beneath this theme:
(A) What a Priest We Have in Jesus!
(I) Our Priest, Jesus, was appointed to serve us.
(A) The author of Hebrews helpfully provides some history concerning the
high priesthood.
(1) Priestly service was part and parcel of the Lord’s design for the life
of his Old Testament people.
(2) He specifically selected the sons of Aaron to provide this priestly
service for His people.
A) They served on behalf of their fellow Israelites, regularly offering
gifts and sacrifices to God
1) both for the sins of the people and for their own sin.
B) God himself appointed them for priestly service.
(B) Because the priesthood was reserved for those who were chosen by God,
the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus, too, was appointed to priestly
service.
(1) Jesus’ priestly appointment was made public in a big way at His
Baptism.
(2) There Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and set apart to serve as
our great High Priest.
(3) There God declared:
Matthew 3:17 (NASB95)
and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well-pleased.”
(II) Our Priest, Jesus, sympathizes with us.
(A) God appointed Jesus as our great High Priest so that He can serve us
and help us.
(1) Jesus is immensely qualified to do this because he is truly one of us:
A) bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,
B) a human man among men.
(2) As one of us, Jesus knows.
A) He knows our weaknesses and frailties.
B) In the passage immediately preceding today’s text, the author of Hebrews
spells out the comfort we have in Jesus as our High Priest:
Hebrews 4:15 (NASB95)
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
C) Jesus willingly accepted our human weaknesses to suffer:
1) temptation,
2) hunger,
3) fatigue,
4) sadness,
5) loneliness,
6) rejection,
7) Persecution
8) and yes, even death, death on a cross!
(B) Because Jesus knows our every weakness, He deals gently with those
under His care who are ignorant, arrogant, and wayward.
(1) That’s all of us, by the way:
A) ignorant and wayward.
(2) Unlike Jesus, we are not without sin.
A) Temptations tangle us up.
B) Sin clings closely to us along every step of the way.
C) We have a terrible habit of straying from our Lord’s plans and purposes.
D) We deviate from His desires, always seeking to serve ourselves rather
than those around us.
(C) We can see both our sin and the amazing gentleness of Jesus in today’s
Holy Gospel.
(1) Imagine it:
A) Nearing Jerusalem, Jesus had just predicted His death and resurrection.
B) This makes three times that Jesus told the disciples He would suffer and
die.
C) But rather than pray and prepare for the Lord’s Passion as they should
have, James and John hatched their own plan.
D) They were looking for ways to get ahead, for that is the human thing to
do.
E) They came to Jesus:
1) seeking to sit in glory,
2) longing to get a leg up on the competition,
3) and climbing all over their fellow disciples in a mad dash to the top of
the heap, no matter who they had to step on in the process.
F) When the ten heard about this power play, they were indignant, indeed
very angry and very ready to retaliate against the brazen audacity of James
and John.
G) As Jesus made his way to Calvary, a civil war was about to erupt among
His disciples.
H) It was more than enough reason to ignite the anger and the wrath of the
Rabbi from Nazareth.
(D) But the Rabbi’s wrath was not kindled.
(1) As a priest, Jesus dealt gently with His wayward disciples.
(2) He neither condemned nor condoned their sin.
(3) He did not excuse their conduct, but He set them straight with
measured, priestly sympathy.
(4) He corrected them lovingly and patiently:
Mark 10:43 (NASB95)
“But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among
you shall be your servant;
(5) He also reminded them of his priestly purpose:
Mark 10:45 (NASB95)
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give His life a ransom for many.”
(E) Because Jesus is our great High Priest, we have this comfort for
ourselves.
(1) He deals gently with us.
(2) He knows:
A) our sins.
B) our ignorance.
C) our arrogance.
D) our weaknesses.
E) our struggles
F) our sufferings.
(3) And Jesus knows these things about us not merely as facts, knowledge,
or data;
A) He knows it all as if it was happening to Him.
B) He feels for us and suffers with us precisely because He is a human
being—like us in every way yet without sin.
C) Not only does our great High Priest know and feel our weakness, but He
alone can do something about it.
D) He alone will offer his life as a ransom for us all.
E) Jesus loves and takes us as we are.
F) He also loves us too much to let us stay that way!
G) What a priest we have in Jesus!
(III) Our Priest, Jesus, learned obedience through suffering.
(A) One of the biggest surprises concerning our Savior’s priestly service
is that it was a learning process for Him.
(1) In fact, we could say that Jesus learned to be a priest the hard way:
A) through the school of suffering.
(2) Verse 8 of our text says it this way:
Hebrews 5:8 (NASB95)
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He
suffered.
(B) As our priest, Jesus was a learner like us.
(1) Our Savior was a student in the school of suffering:
A) a divine disciple who learned obedience alongside His human brothers and
sisters.
B) Although he’s God and could always know everything, Jesus never used His
omniscience when it would just serve himself.
C) He didn’t cut corners.
D) He didn’t cheat.
E) He didn’t jump to the front of the line.
F) Rather, Jesus reverently and prayerfully learned obedience through what
He suffered.
(C) When was the last time you tried to learn something new and difficult?
(1) Perhaps you downloaded an app to help you learn a new language.
(2) Perhaps you watched hours of YouTube videos to learn for yourself how
to do a major home improvement project.
(3) Perhaps you downloaded a complicated recipe that you might sauté your
way to success with a new culinary creation in the kitchen.
(4) Whatever you’ve attempted to learn, how did it go for you?
(5) Were you ultimately successful?
(6) Or did you bite off more than you could chew?
(7) Perhaps what you actually learned was that difficult work is sometimes
best left to the experts.
(D) Jesus learned to be your priest in the most difficult way imaginable.
(1) He learned through what He suffered.
A) Tears would be His teacher.
B) Pain would be His tutor.
C) Neither nails nor thorns would deter Him from learning to be our perfect
priest.
D) No pain, no gain.
E) Where others would falter and fail, Jesus pressed on.
F) Verse 7 of today’s text alludes to the Garden of Gethsemane.
G) There Jesus prayed as our perfect priest.
H) There he:
Hebrews 5:7 (NASB95)
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with
loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was
heard because of His piety.
(2) Those perfect, priestly prayers continued even as Jesus suffered for
our salvation on the cross:
Luke 23:34 (NASB95)
But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they
are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
Matthew 27:46 (NASB95)
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI,
LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Luke 23:46 (NASB95)
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I
COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
(E) Those perfect prayers were an expression of our Lord’s perfect
obedience to his Father.
(1) Through the school of suffering, Jesus:
Hebrews 5:9 (NASB95)
And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the
source of eternal salvation,
(2) Only this reverent priest, Jesus, has secured our salvation.
A) What He suffered was on account of our sin.
B) The pain He endured was a penalty meant for us.
C) The death He died was the necessary ransom to redeem a world of sinful,
wayward rebels.
D) Because of His reverence:
1) His perfect, prayerful obedience
2) His Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in
glory, where Jesus continues to intercede for us as our great High Priest.
3) Our salvation is found in no one else.
4) What a priest we have in Jesus!
(IV) Our Priest, Jesus, equips us for priestly service.
(A) There’s one final surprise concerning the priestly work of Jesus.
(1) He invites us to share in His priestly work.
(2) We are also priests:
A) priests of the perfect priest, called to present our bodies:
Romans 12:1 (NASB95)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual service of worship.
(3) As God’s baptized and holy people, we have priestly prayers to offer:
A) priestly service to render to those around us.
(4) As priests of the perfect Priest, we are constant students in the
school of suffering, following in the footsteps of our great High Priest.
A) When we seek to be served rather than serve, we sin.
B) When our prayers for others falter because we are thinking about our own
needs rather than theirs, we sin.
(5) But our Lord’s perfect, priestly service counts for us.
A) His obedience counts for us.
B) He invites us to learn obedience as we follow Him.
C) He promises to perfect our lives through His perfect forgiveness and
love.
D) He is, indeed, the source of eternal salvation.

Conclusion

(A) I asked you earlier about something new and/or difficult you learned,
whether by choice or not.
(1) For me, it was learning how to swim during PE class while in 10th
grade.
(2) It took all semester for me to learn how to swim and after that I was
not comfortable with it.
(3) There were many times where I was tempted to give up, rather have a
failing grade on my record instead of learning how to swim.
(4) As we go through life, we have spent years learning physical skills or
in intellectual pursuits.
(5) Practice, discipline, and, yes, failure are all a part of the learning
process.
(6) Among the most difficult things for Christians to learn is the ability
to:
A) forgive those who sin against us,
B) to love our enemies,
C) and to obey those in authority over us.
(B) As verse 8 of our text for today says:
Hebrews 5:8 (NASB95)
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He
suffered.
(1) There is no human being who doesn’t need to be schooled in the art of
obedience.
(2) None of us is born obedient.
(3) Little children don’t need to be taught disobedience; that,
unfortunately, comes naturally.
(4) Jesus didn’t have that problem, of course, but even He willingly
submitted to learning obedience.
(5) We spend our whole lifetime learning obedience, as Jesus did.
(6) So what Jesus learned He now teaches us from His own experience.
(7) As Jesus listened to His heavenly Father, so He helps us listen to and
trust our Father in heaven.
(8) As we listen to His Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus
carries us along in a lifetime of learning to become obedient sons and
daughters of God. Amen.
(C) Let us pray:
As we worship You, O Lord this morning:
open our ears to hear Your word,
open our eyes to see Your presence among us,
and open our hearts to receive the new thing You are doing.
Transform us by the renewing of our minds, that we may discern Your
will—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
who has sealed the new covenant in His blood,
offering us the promise of life eternal.
What a priest we have in Jesus! Amen.
(D) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(E) In the Name of the Father…Amen.