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“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.”  So they spoke, rightly and better than they knew, for He does come. He comes in the name of the LORD , and He comes to save. Yet the salvation He brings is not the salvation they expect. For this is the day that the LORD has made.  And so, this is the day when the King enters His city, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”   This is the day the One stronger than the strong man comes to bind him

Six hours upon the Cross: from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon, Jesus does the full work of our redemption.  God did this work; God alone, in the flesh. And these numbers leave no room to say otherwise. They practically shout it from the crucifixion scene: “Behold,” they say, “ the Author and Finisher of your faith, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,  Christ Jesus—alone—has done this.”  Not you. Even while your fallen nature takes up stones,

They took up stones to throw at Him  because they judged Him to be a blasphemer, because they would not receive His word, because they would not have Him as He is. They take up stones against the One who does not give stones, who instead opens His hand, giving and sustaining all things. They took up stones : to kill the One who is the Life of the world, to bury the One who lays down His life freely for the sins of the world.  He is not overcome by their rejection, nor undone

Do you know Jesus? When He speaks? As He acts? Do you know Him when He does not act in the way you would expect, when He does not take up power as you would have Him take it up, when He does not prevent what you would have Him prevent? Do you know Him when He rebukes? Do you know Him when what you seek is not what He is giving, and when what He gives is not what you would seek?  Therein lies the difficulty, for it is there that the hand begins to reach, and it is there that s

Here we are, Beloved, with the multitude; here we are, sitting among them in the wilderness. We are that multitude who have gone farther than we intended and remained longer than we expected. We are that multitude whose eyes and ears have been fixed upon Him, that multitude who has followed Him with empty hands. We are the multitude in the wilderness. Want and scarcity surround us, and we wonder about provision, for there are hungers that cannot be quieted by our own strength

If John’s baptism was from heaven, then John’s witness must be true, and if John’s witness is true, then the authority of Jesus cannot be denied. And their own reasoning reveals as much: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ”  “But,”  and here their hearts are laid bare, “if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”  They do not ask what is true or what God has spoken; they ask onl

The strong man guards his palace ; his goods are secure.  Yet there comes One stronger than he : Christ comes upon him and overcomes him, and takes from him all the armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.   And this is good news for us. For the enemy Christ comes to defeat is not flesh and blood; it is the devil himself: the ancient enemy who seeks to darken the eyes and choke off the cry of faith, who would leave men silent before God. Christ comes to conquer him.

Beloved, Jesus does not wait for you to have sufficient faith either before He helps; in fact, He helps despite your weakness of faith. Although, at times, too numerous to count, we are seemingly faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. The faith He engendered within us, He continues to strengthen with His Word and blessed Sacraments. He will never leave nor forsake you, whom He purchased with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and dea

Who are we? Poor, miserable sinners, who go our ways in this world so easily forgetful of who we are and where we belong. We belong with the Canaanite woman: below the bottom rung, in the lowest place. That is where we belong.  And then, from the depths of that place, to share company with the Canaanite woman and cry nevertheless, “Lord, help me!”  And to cry, “ Truth, Lord.  What You say about me, what I deserve and do not merit and have not earned and am not worthy to have

Jesus does not merely tell you to pray; He forms your praying. “Hallowed be Thy name.” That prayer is already being answered as His Word sanctifies you. “Thy kingdom come.” That prayer is answered as His Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps you in the true faith. “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” That prayer is answered as your own will is broken and remade beneath the Cross. “Give us this day our daily bread.” That prayer is answered in pro