Manuscript for Lent 1 Wed

 + First Lent Midweek Service +

 

422 ON MY HEART IMPRINT YOUR IMAGE

1 On my heart imprint Your image,
    Blessèd Jesus, King of grace,
That life’s riches, cares, and pleasures
    Never may Your work erase;
Let the clear inscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
    Is my life, my hope’s foundation,
    And my glory and salvation!

Text: Public domain

 

PSALM 23

¹The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

 

READING Luke 22:1–38

¹Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. ²And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

³Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. ⁴He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. ⁵And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. ⁶So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

⁷Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” ⁹They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” ¹⁰He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters ¹¹and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹²And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” ¹³And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. ²¹But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. ²²For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” ²³And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

²⁴A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ²⁵And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, ²⁹and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, ³⁰that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, ³²but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” ³³Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” ³⁴Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

³⁵And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” ³⁶He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” ³⁸And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

 

 

CATECHISM REVIEW

What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

These words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

 

 

SERMON

Throughout these Wednesdays in Lent we will be reading the passion of Jesus Christ from Luke’s Gospel and a section of our Small Catechism. Now when we bring up the Catechism, it’s not because it has the same weight as the Bible, but because it helps us understand the Bible and it will help us explain the Bible to others.

The Catechism teaches us, for example, how to think about the words Jesus said on the night He was betrayed. He took bread. He said, “This is my body.” He took the cup. He said, “This is my blood”. So the Catechism has us say, This Sacrament “is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine.”  The outsider looking in at our communion sees us eating bread and drinking wine. We confess and proclaim we have the body and blood of Christ. It IS the body and the blood. Is means is, not more, not less than “is”. Jesus said, “This is my body” - There’s not something more to his words than that, as though he were saying, “this is a ritual symbol of me.” “This is a token for you to have of me, while I’m really up in heaven, completely separate and apart from you.” Is means is. Nothing more, and nothing less than is. Jesus didn’t say, “This is kinda like my body” or “this represents my body.” He said, “This is my body.” So also He says, “This is my blood.” He knew exactly what it would take to save us, so He gave up His body and shed his blood on the cross. He knows exactly what it takes to save us now, so He gives us His body and His blood. That’s what it is.

The Lord wants you to believe Him, to trust what He says, to take him at his word.

Also, the Catechism teaches us how we ought to think of the purpose of our coming to the Lord’s Supper. Those who don’t share our faith may look at our practice of Holy Communion and imagine that this peculiar ritual is our secret initiation rite, or perhaps our way of showing each other and showing God that we are good people, holy people, better than other people.

But when we speak about this as the Catechism speaks, we can tell each other and others what this ritual is all about, what good it does, what benefit the Lord promises those who take it. With the Catechism we say, “in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us.”

We want this. We long to come to the supper Jesus provides, not as a way of showing our goodness, but because we recognize our own problems, weaknesses and sins and we seek help for them. So we go to Jesus who died for us -- who gave us forgiveness, life and salvation. We want this. And Jesus wants this for us. You can hear the somber urgency he had this night, to have this last supper with his disciples, to give them this last word.

You can tell that the Apostle’s caught on that the Lord wanted them to do this, and pass it on to others so they would do it, too. In four places in the Apostles’ scriptures they record this supper, this evening meal. Here in Luke’s Gospel, also in Matthew and Luke and St. Paul records it in 1 Corinthians 11.

When we meditate on this holy Supper of the Lord, we consider it as past, present and future. In the past, on that night when He was betrayed, our Lord made the arrangements to be with His dear disciples. He said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Every time you eat and drink of the Holy Supper you proclaim the Lord’s suffering and death. Communion simply means a time and place for sharing. The Lord invites His disciples to share in this communion, to share in his suffering and cross and to share in the fruits of the cross, that is, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. That was then, this is now and for every generation of Christian in between Christ gives his body and blood in this supper. He is so good for us, our cup overflows with his goodness and mercy. And the greatest goodness of all is that he gives Himself, body and blood. That’s for you now and in the Coming Sundays when He does it again for us. But the supper is about the future, too. There will be a final supper, the last evening meal, when the sun goes away for the last time, it will not need to come up again because the Lord will be the light for all the universe. There will be a feast in that Kingdom forever and ever. Jesus was looking forward to that on that night He was betrayed. He longed to have the supper and to drink the wine in the Kingdom of eternity. He longed to pull all His faithful into that eternity with Him.

Last Wednesday we heard our Lord Jesus say, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” A treasure awaits you children of God in the Kingdom to come. Treasure what you have now, especially, your Lord who so graciously gives you his body and blood, forgiveness, life and salvation. Amen.

 

COLLECT FOR PEACE

L O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

 

LORD’S PRAYER LSB 251

L Taught by our Lord and trusting His promises, we are bold to pray:

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.

 

BENEDICAMUS LSB 252

L Let us bless the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

 

BENEDICTION LSB 252

P The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the T Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.

C Amen.