The only way through this life is to stick with Jesus, the Shepherd and Bishop of your soul. The only way to be without want is to look to Jesus alone for every need. The only way to see through the darkness and shadow is with Jesus, your light and path. The only way to live without fear is to be under Jesus’ rod and staff. The only way to dwell in the house of the Lord forever is to remain with Jesus now. Therefore, Jesus comes to you, opening the door to you, calling you by name, and leading you out. You hear Him and listen. He knows you, and you know Him. And if you didn’t hear Him here in this flock, you’d find a flock where His Word is proclaimed. You listen for His voice, and He gives you to follow Him by His Spirit wherever that leads.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

We know that our Redeemer, resurrected and ascended, lives, and because He lives, Merlin lives. We need not grieve like others who have no hope. We dare to mock death and the grave this day as defeated enemies. On the last day, the end of the age, we will behold Jesus face-to-face and with Him, all those who believe in Him. We will see our father, brother, and friend Merlin face-to-face, on His feet, and rejoicing with the whole host of heaven. 

Thomas demands to know for certain that Jesus has risen from the dead just as He said, but also that He is Christ foretold by prophets of old. Of course, Jesus will oblige him and give him exactly what He wants. He said the Son of Man must rise from the dead. So He goes to great lengths to demonstrate to all the disciples, the women, and more that He is truly raised in the body. Because without a bodily resurrection, we’d be lost to the grave, too. And the account of demanding Thomas is for us, too, as Jesus takes great pains to prove He is the Messiah foretold. As we heard over and over just a week ago, “That the Scriptures be fulfilled!” See the wounds! Sin, death, and hell are defeated. Know that I am the Christ. The victory is won!

Christ Jesus suffered and died to forgive your sins and give you new life. He’s not content with you remaining in your sins, leading to death. He forgives you by His shed blood, washed upon you in your Baptism, and given to you to drink in the Holy Supper. He crucifies in you all your evil rebellion against His Word, buried in a watery tomb. He proclaims, absolves, and renews you daily and richly in this Good News of forgiveness. Because where there is forgiveness, you are being made new, raised from the dead, and given to live a new life.

We are exhorted throughout the Scriptures to keep vigil, whether physical night or in the metaphorical darkness of this world. Jesus said, “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (Mk 13:33). “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning” (Luke 12:35). Also, St. Peter said, “Be sober-minded; be vigilant. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8). Or St. Paul, “continue steadfast in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2). “Let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (1 Thess 5:6). 

The way this sinful world thinks it can overpower the Almighty and His Christ is laughable. Even the most powerful of the fallen angels can do nothing without God’s permission. When governments and other powers and principalities rebel, God chuckles. “He that thrones in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord will hold them in derision.” All their might will come unraveled. Their might? A joke, a mere facade! God is with us, and we are with God—Our vict'ry cannot fail.

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

It may have seemed odd to have the Gospel about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet with tonight’s overwhelming theme of Jesus instituting His Supper for you and me. Yet, this teaches us that everything Jesus says and does, even His commands, are given to us in loving service. This is Gottesdienst, Divine Service, after all. God in Christ serves us, giving us everything, and we receive everything. And in receiving all, we made cups overflowing with Christian love for one another. 

Colossians 1:9–14 (NKJV)9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

The donkey serves Christ faithfully and nobly in surrendering its body to Christ’s service. He doesn’t look to Himself but looks to His master. The donkey that bears Christ walks safely under Christ without fear and anxiety. He does not fall victim to pride, failure, or error. Christ leads and guides Him by the bridle so He does not go astray. Christ curbs him so He does not run off into his conceit and presumption. If he falls, Christ lifts him back up. Christ corrects him with the rod if he is reluctant, idle, or lazy. He remains ever near Christ. And whatever honor is given to Christ is enjoyed by the donkey. Whatever good is done to Christ, the donkey also enjoys, whether it is garments, palm branches, singing, or praises.

The Lord Christ said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, If anyone will keep My Word, He will not see death eternally?' Here Christ points to the power of God's Word. In other words, He said, "Whoever hears My Word and keeps it with a believing heart, and clings to it until the end, he will not see death eternally?' The Word will so contend for him that even in the midst of death he will be assured, and press onward to the place where the Word resides in truth, to the right hand of the Father in eternal life.

Contrary to all thought, we celebrate the most despised: the death and cross. His death is our highest good. What is mocked and shameful to the world is a treasure and joy to the Christian. So, don’t run away. Don’t be scandalized. Don’t look elsewhere to know the mind and wisdom of God. Look to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 12:2).

You can be like those five thousand who had no care in the world but to receive Jesus’s Word and gifts. Set aside any fears, loves, or false trusts that distract you from the daily bread that never perishes: Jesus’s Word and Sacrament.

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

16 Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” 18 This salutation by my own hand—Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.

Remember that you have been clothed with Christ and are a child of God. Remember that you are forgiven, healed, and raised from the dead by the power of Christ's death and resurrection. And remember that you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you to comfort, guide, and strengthen you in your daily struggle against the devil and his minions. 

It seems we have yet another case of Jesus being misunderstood. Who would have thought? Certainly not Jacob, who, in today’s reading from Genesis 32, thought Jesus had come to kill him. And certainly not Jesus’ disciples, who were with him day in and day out, and yet somehow still managed to miss the point of the Canaanite woman coming to Jesus for healing. And let's not forget the religious leaders, who were supposed to be experts in the law and yet couldn't grasp the simple fact that God's grace and mercy are freely given to all who ask.

All this means that we enter His temple preeminently in worship, where he is spiritually and sacramentally present. And as the "Jerusalem above" (Ps 137:6; Gal 4:26) descends upon the pilgrim city below, momentarily erasing the boundaries of space and time, we participate in, but also empirically look forward to, the Day when the last enemy will have been destroyed (1 Cor 15:26,54), and we, with all the saints in glory already, will forever be “there,” where Yahweh is. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).