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Readings: Old Testament: Ezekiel 34:11-16 Epistle: 1 Peter 2:21-25 Holy Gospel: John 10:11-16 Sermon:

Jesus lives! And because He lives, the hope and trust that died now live again within me. And yet I know how I spoke and how I withdrew and what it was to be apart from my dear friends and companions, my family in the faith. I know now I was wrong not to be with them, not to be there when Jesus came and stood in their midst that glorious Easter day. But thanks be to God, He has shown me mercy: He gathered me back to Himself so that I could receive what He gives. And so, God

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day: the Day of days, long awaited, our triumphant holy day. This is the day when Abraham receives back his son, as from the dead. This is the day when Israel stands on the far shore of the sea, safe, the waters having drowned their enemies. This is the day when Joshua and the people shout with a great shout, and the walls of Jericho come tumblin’ down. This is the day when David stand

This is the hour. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. And this is the work, this is the doing, and this is what is accomplished. For what is laid upon Him is not only what they do; it is what you—your sin and your guilt and your death, all of it—lay upon Him. He does not set it aside or hold it away or leave it unnamed and untouched; He takes it up and carries

One by one, He washes their feet; each moment more humiliating than the last. Until, finally, Jesus, with water in hand and a towel wrapped around Him, is right there. “No!” cries Peter. “This is not proper, this is not right; this is not what You, Lord, should do. You shall never wash my feet! ” Jesus, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are God of God, the eternal Word, begotten of the Father before all worlds. You are holy and righteous. To You belongs all

“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