God Rested Holy Saturday

"On the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. (Genesis 2:2 ESV)"


Ask the Pastor posted in 2006 on Christ's Sabbath in the tomb as He moved from His state of humiliation into His eternal exaltation at the right hand of the Father. We anticipate with quiet joy the first celebration of His resurrection during tonight's Vigil and, should God allow us the morrow, the fullness of the Feast of the Resurrection in Scripture, sermon, psalms, prayers, and hymns of gladness.

Lection

Psalm 16
Daniel 6:1-24
1 Peter 4:1-8 (Three Year Lectionary Cycle) or 1 Peter 3:17-22 (One Year Lectionary Cycle)

The Holy Gospel

"When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

"Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, 'Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, "After three days I will rise." Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, "He has risen from the dead," and the last fraud will be worse than the first.' Pilate said to them, 'You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.' So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27:57-66 ESV)"

Collect

Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us in the end of the day, in the end of our life, in the end of the world. Abide with us with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair when death shall come. Abide with us and with all the faithful through time and eternity.

Painting of The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb by Hans Holbein the Younger at the Web Gallery of Art.

Labels: burial, christology, crucifixion, death, easter, feasts, festivals, gospels, holy saturday, holy week, new testament, resurrection, sabbath, vigil

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |

  Good Friday Friday in Holy Week, New Testament

The Father chose to sacrifice His Son rather than banish sinful mankind to an eternity of suffering. Also, Christ died because the Scriptures which point to the coming Savior "require" his suffering and death.

The most noted of these prophecies is probably Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Through the prophet, the Lord predicts what would happen to His faithful Servant: "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. (53:5)" He was "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter (53:7)" and "was cut off out of the land of the living. (53:8)" Finally, "They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (53:9)"

God cannot go back on His Word. From Creation's dawn, He warned that sin always results in death. Someone had to die, either one innocent Man or millions and billions of guilty people. Through Paul, God said, "The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a)"

However, God applied the life-giving "wages" earned by His sinless Son as payment in full on our accounts and credited us with Jesus' perfection. Likewise, the deadly wages that were our due were paid in full to Jesus in His suffering and death. Because of this, "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (23b)" (Adapted from Jesus' Death at Ask the Pastor; used by permission.)

Lection — Three Year Cycle

Psalm 22 or Psalm 31
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42 or John 19:17-30

Lection — One Year Cycle

Psalm 22 or Psalm 31
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
John 18:1-19:42

Collects

Almighty God, Your Son Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross so that He might draw the whole world to Himself. Grant that we who glory in His death for our salvation may also glory in His call to take up our cross and follow Him; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Labels: christ, christology, crucifixion, death, feasts, festivals, good friday, holy week, jesus, series a, series b, series c, suffering

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |

  Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday, New Testament

The Church uses this fifth day of Holy Week to remember the institution of the Lord's Supper. From the account of the Upper Room in John 13:1-15, some have called it the Day of Foot Washing.

"Maundy" may come from the Latin Bible's rendering of John 13:34, where Jesus gave the disciples a new mandatum (commandment) in the upper room: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."

Another idea is that it grew out from an ancient custom of carrying gifts to the poor in hand baskets (known as "maunds" or "maund baskets") on that day.

Of much more importance than the name of the day is the gift Jesus gave. For on this night on which He was betrayed, our Savior gave first to His disciples His very body and blood for them to eat and to drink. Under bread and wine, He continues to give this gift, that we also might eat His flesh, drink His blood, and receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Lection — Three Year Cycle

Option I

Psalm 116:12-19
Exodus 24:3-11
Hebrews 9:11-22
Matthew 26:17-30

Option II

Psalm 116:12-19
Exodus 12:1-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Lection — One Year Cycle

Psalm 116:12-19
Exodus 12:1-14 or Exodus 24:3-11
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
John 13:1-15 (34-35)

Collect

O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Labels: christ, communion, feasts, festivals, holy thursday, holy week, jesus, judas, last supper, lord's supper, maundy thursday, series a

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |

  Palm Sunday also Sunday of the Passion
9 April AD 2017

The Sunday before His crucifixion, our Lord Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Accompanied by His disciples, He heard the people crying, "Hosanna!" This ancient petition translates, "Save now!" It stems from the same root as does the name "Jesus."

Palm Sunday thereby reminds us of the Annunciation, when Gabriel told Mary what to name the Child. Even more so, it recalls the angel's visit to Joseph, who heard the angel tell him of Mary's Son, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)" and also The Circumcision and Name of Jesus.

Jesus heard this prayer and answered according to His Father's will. Their salvation — and our salvation — was nigh, for in a few short days, He would gift His Church with a new meal of His own body and blood and would then be betrayed and would suffer and die to forgive us all our sins. All four evangelists record the events of this day. However, only Saint John included mention of palm branches being cut as part of the apparent victory parade, yet this one mention gave this day its classic title.

More recently, many liturgical churches have begun using "Passion Sunday" or "Sunday of the Passion" instead. This name emphasizes less the triumphal entry at the week's beginning but points more to the blood-stained exit on Friday as Jesus went to Golgotha.

Actually, as some of the Church's hymnody points out, both titles have their place and both exist well in relationship to each other. For expanded commentary on palms, Passion, and hymns, see Hosannas and Palm Branches at Ask the Pastor.

The traditional color for this day is purple, as it has been throughout Lent. However, many church bodies have gone to using scarlet as the preferred color for Holy Week, either until Holy Thursday or Good Friday. White is the other appropriate color for Maundy Thursday while Good Friday's paraments and vestments should be black — or they should not be used at all.

Lection — Three Year Cycle: Series A

John 12:12-19 (Palm Sunday Procession)

Psalm 118:19-29 or 31:9-16
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew (26:1-27:10) 27:11-66 or John 12:20-43

Lection — One Year Cycle

Matthew 21:1-9 or John 12:12-19 (Palm Sunday Procession)

Psalm 118:19-29 or 31:9-16
Zechariah 9:9-12
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:1-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54

Collects

Most merciful God, as the people of Jerusalem, with palms in their hands, gathered to greet Your dearly beloved Son when He came into His Holy City, grant that we may ever hail Him as our King and, when He comes again, may go forth to meet Him with trusting and steadfast hearts and follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Palm Sunday Procession)

Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect of the Day for the Sunday of the Passion)

Paintings by Pietro Lorenzetti from the Web Gallery of Art.

Tags: Palm Sunday | Passion Sunday | Sunday of the Passion | Lent | Holy Week | Good Friday | Easter | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Jerusalem | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts| historical theology | Church history | Bible history | New Testament | Gospel | palms | donkey

Labels: christ, christology, feasts, festivals, gospels, holy week, jerusalem, jesus, new testament, palm sunday, sunday of the passion

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |

  Good Friday Friday in Holy Week, New Testament

The Father chose to sacrifice His Son rather than banish sinful mankind to an eternity of suffering. Also, Christ died because the Scriptures which point to the coming Savior "require" his suffering and death.

The most noted of these prophecies is probably Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Through the prophet, the Lord predicts what would happen to His faithful Servant: "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. (53:5)" He was "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter (53:7)" and "was cut off out of the land of the living. (53:8)" Finally, "They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (53:9)"

God cannot go back on His Word. From Creation's dawn, He warned that sin always results in death. Someone had to die, either one innocent Man or millions and billions of guilty people. Through Paul, God said, "The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a)"

However, God applied the life-giving "wages" earned by His sinless Son as payment in full on our accounts and credited us with Jesus' perfection. Likewise, the deadly wages that were our due were paid in full to Jesus in His suffering and death. Because of this, "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (23b)" (Adapted from Jesus' Death at Ask the Pastor; used by permission.)

Lection — Three Year Cycle

Psalm 22 or Psalm 31
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42 or John 19:17-30

Lection — One Year Cycle

Psalm 22 or Psalm 31
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
John 18:1-19:42

Collects

Almighty God, Your Son Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross so that He might draw the whole world to Himself. Grant that we who glory in His death for our salvation may also glory in His call to take up our cross and follow Him; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Labels: christ, christology, crucifixion, death, feasts, festivals, good friday, holy week, jesus, series a, series b, series c, suffering

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |

  Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday, New Testament

The Church uses this fifth day of Holy Week to remember the institution of the Lord's Supper. From the account of the Upper Room in John 13:1-15, some have called it the Day of Foot Washing.

"Maundy" may come from the Latin Bible's rendering of John 13:34, where Jesus gave the disciples a new mandatum (commandment) in the upper room: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."

Another idea is that it grew out from an ancient custom of carrying gifts to the poor in hand baskets (known as "maunds" or "maund baskets") on that day.

Of much more importance than the name of the day is the gift Jesus gave. For on this night on which He was betrayed, our Savior gave first to His disciples His very body and blood for them to eat and to drink. Under bread and wine, He continues to give this gift, that we also might eat His flesh, drink His blood, and receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Lection — Three Year Cycle

Option I

Psalm 116:12-19
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hebrews 10:15-25
Luke 22:7-20

Option II

Psalm 116:12-19
Exodus 12:1-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Lection — One Year Cycle

Psalm 116:12-19
Exodus 12:1-14 or Exodus 24:3-11
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
John 13:1-15 (34-35)

Collect

O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Labels: christ, feasts, festivals, holy thursday, holy week, jesus, judas, last supper, lord's supper, maundy thursday, series c

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |

  Palm Sunday also Sunday of the Passion
20 March AD 2016

The Sunday before His crucifixion, our Lord Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Accompanied by His disciples, He heard the people crying, "Hosanna!" This ancient petition translates, "Save now!" It stems from the same root as does the name "Jesus."

Palm Sunday thereby reminds us of the Annunciation, when Gabriel told Mary what to name the Child. Even more so, it recalls the angel's visit to Joseph, who heard the angel tell him of Mary's Son, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)" and also The Circumcision and Name of Jesus.

Jesus heard this prayer and answered according to His Father's will. Their salvation — and our salvation — was nigh, for in a few short days, He would gift His Church with a new meal of His own body and blood and would then be betrayed and would suffer and die to forgive us all our sins. All four evangelists record the events of this day. However, only Saint John included mention of palm branches being cut as part of the apparent victory parade, yet this one mention gave this day its classic title.

More recently, many liturgical churches have begun using "Passion Sunday" or "Sunday of the Passion" instead. This name emphasizes less the triumphal entry at the week's beginning but points more to the blood-stained exit on Friday as Jesus went to Golgotha.

Actually, as some of the Church's hymnody points out, both titles have their place and both exist well in relationship to each other. For expanded commentary on palms, Passion, and hymns, see Hosannas and Palm Branches at Ask the Pastor.

The traditional color for this day is purple, as it has been throughout Lent. However, many church bodies have gone to using scarlet as the preferred color for Holy Week, either until Holy Thursday or Good Friday. White is the other appropriate color for Maundy Thursday while Good Friday's paraments and vestments should be black — or they should not be used at all.

Lection — Three Year Cycle: Series C

John 12:12-19 (Palm Sunday Procession)

Psalm 118:19-29 or 31:9-16
Deuteronomy 32:36-39
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 22:1-23:56 or Luke 23:1-56 or John 12:20-43

Lection — One Year Cycle

Matthew 21:1-9 or John 12:12-19 (Palm Sunday Procession)

Psalm 118:19-29 or 31:9-16
Zechariah 9:9-12
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:1-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54

Collects

Most merciful God, as the people of Jerusalem, with palms in their hands, gathered to greet Your dearly beloved Son when He came into His Holy City, grant that we may ever hail Him as our King and, when He comes again, may go forth to meet Him with trusting and steadfast hearts and follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Palm Sunday Procession)

Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect of the Day for the Sunday of the Passion)

Paintings by Pietro Lorenzetti from the Web Gallery of Art.

Labels: christ, christology, feasts, festivals, gospels, holy week, jerusalem, jesus, new testament, palm sunday, sunday of the passion

  ¶ 00:00 | 0 comments |