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If I

1:01

could... The

1:52

Lutheran public radio choir with the Easter hymn

1:54

with high delight will be singing that

1:56

hymn this coming Sunday as we hear the

1:58

story of Jesus appearing to his

2:01

disciples and while Peter

2:03

is at first Well,

2:05

wary of Christ, it is

2:07

Christ who approaches Peter to

2:09

restore him after he had

2:11

denied him three times. A

2:13

nice bookend to what Jesus

2:15

had predicted Peter would do.

2:18

And then he says to Peter, Feed my

2:20

lambs, tend my sheep. Welcome

2:23

back to Issues, et cetera, coming to

2:25

you live from the studios of Lutheran Public

2:27

Radio in Collinsville, Illinois. I'm Todd

2:29

Wilkin. Thanks for tuning us in. It's

2:31

time to look forward to Sunday morning, the

2:33

third Sunday after Easter, according to the

2:35

three -year lectionary. Pastor Sean Denzer joins us.

2:37

He's director of worship for the Lutheran Church,

2:39

Missouri Senate. Sean, welcome back. Great

2:41

to be back. What is this Sunday's

2:43

name and where does it come from? Well,

2:46

you know, it's interesting you mentioned

2:48

it. It's the third Sunday of Easter.

2:50

We count the Sundays currently and

2:52

especially in the three -year electionary inclusive.

2:54

So Easter is the first Sunday of

2:57

Easter and then on from there. But

2:59

I mentioned in the past that

3:02

this year's sea in particular follows much

3:04

more closely the pattern of the

3:06

old lectionary that was only a one

3:08

-year lectionary. And this would be

3:10

a place where it's slightly different. In

3:13

the three -year lectionary, they've

3:15

expanded those appearances of Jesus

3:17

just one more Sunday. So

3:19

in the one -year lectionary today

3:21

would be Misericordias Domini, Good

3:23

Shepherd Sunday, commonly called. and

3:25

our listeners might be worried that they miss

3:27

Good Shepherd Sunday. Don't worry, you haven't. In

3:30

the three year, it's next week. So we

3:32

have one more extra, if you can say

3:34

it, appearance of Jesus. on this

3:36

Sunday and the next Sunday we will hear

3:38

Jesus speaking about how he is the Good Shepherd.

3:41

But today is quite obviously similar to

3:43

Yubalate Sunday from the traditional lectionary.

3:45

It's kind of swapped places with it.

3:47

So we're going to hear in

3:49

our hymn of the day, in many

3:52

of our Psalm Properts, especially this

3:54

gladness, this great joy, I

3:56

think there's a way in which we

3:58

also see the joy in the apostles

4:00

in today's kind of epilogue to John's

4:02

Gospel, the appearance of Jesus on the

4:04

beach in John chapter 21. What

4:07

connecting themes would you point us

4:09

to before we get into the

4:11

properties themselves? Yeah, we're

4:13

back into the Christ part of the

4:16

church here again, so we would expect

4:18

it to be a little more organized

4:20

around a central theme, kind of building

4:22

all of the readings together into one

4:24

main point. What's interesting is we

4:26

really don't see that all that well. We

4:29

have kind of three tracks going again

4:31

here in the Easter season, which will certainly

4:33

be the way we'll find it to

4:35

be throughout Trinity season and Pentecost season. We'll

4:37

see that the Old Testament may match

4:39

with the Gospel, but the epistle is going

4:41

to be on a different course entirely. Throughout

4:44

Easter, the Gospels are

4:46

going to focus on post resurrection

4:48

events of Jesus. That's what we're going

4:51

to have today, and we're going

4:53

to see even more comments from Jesus

4:55

that will very much pattern after

4:57

the historic collection areas. We look at

4:59

that. The epistle, however, we're working

5:01

through the book of Revelation very quickly,

5:03

jumping throughout it. And our first

5:05

reading, instead of an Old Testament reading

5:07

here in Easter, is going to

5:09

be from Acts. But unlike maybe

5:11

other years, we're not going to talk so

5:13

much about the preaching of the resurrection.

5:15

Instead, we're going to look at a very

5:17

important story in the book of Acts. Saul,

5:20

or St. Paul's, conversion to

5:22

the faith on the Damascus Road.

5:25

It leads me to suggest that Easter

5:27

in year C really gets to work, gets

5:29

right down into it. Our Acts

5:31

readings are not about the resurrection, but

5:33

they are going to be about kind of

5:35

the boldness of the witness that we

5:37

see in the apostles, both Peter and Paul,

5:40

and especially their witness focused on the

5:42

Gentiles, so going out to all

5:44

nations. Likewise, Revelation is going to

5:46

move so quickly. past kind

5:48

of Jesus as the risen one,

5:50

which is present in Revelation, but

5:53

more importantly focus on the long -term

5:55

benefits, you could say, of his

5:57

resurrection. That is the new creation.

5:59

We're going to talk about the general resurrection, and

6:01

of course that's by virtue of Christ's

6:04

resurrection, but we're not going to focus

6:06

so much maybe on how he is

6:08

risen and is the living one, although

6:10

we certainly got that just at the

6:12

beginning. And our Gospels, like I said,

6:14

follow on that traditional lectionary with the

6:16

exception of swapping out Good Shepherd Sunday

6:18

with Yubalate. Then we're going to

6:20

move on to teaching about the Holy Spirit,

6:22

which makes up most of the historic season

6:24

of Easter. And then we're going to

6:26

go on to prayer. And this is

6:28

the feature of the three -year lectionary. That

6:30

last Sunday in between

6:33

Ascension and Pentecost is going

6:35

to be devoted to

6:37

the third and final part

6:39

of Jesus' high priestly

6:41

prayer in John 7. What

6:43

are we actually looking

6:45

forward to? This

6:47

Sunday honestly has really powerful

6:50

and memorable stories.

6:52

And so I think that probably makes it challenging

6:54

to try and tell you beforehand what the

6:57

sermon is going to be about. But I would

6:59

expect that one of those two main stories

7:01

really will grab the attention of your pastor and

7:03

therefore probably what you're going to hear on

7:05

Sunday. It would be wonderful if they want to

7:07

surprise us with something from the epistle. But

7:09

we're going to hear about that conversion of

7:11

St. Paul. And we're going to hear about

7:13

the restoration, so to speak, of St. Peter

7:16

in the Gospel reading. And there are such

7:18

beloved stories that I really do think it's

7:20

likely that you'll hear a sermon on one

7:22

of them. It could be a

7:24

sermon maybe on this breakfast epilogue that

7:26

we have where Jesus has the great catch

7:28

of fish. He calls in the disciples.

7:30

He's already been cooking and asked them to

7:32

add fish to it. There's so

7:34

many details about this story that

7:37

are left unexplained by the gospel, and

7:39

it's just tantalizing for us to

7:41

think about. So I think a

7:43

sermon on the gospel might dare to

7:45

dive into all of those details. There

7:47

are many popular explanations that the church

7:49

fathers throughout time, as well as maybe

7:51

our modern eyes would look on it.

7:54

They have long history, but I got

7:56

to be honest, they're not terribly conclusive.

7:58

And that makes it an interesting passage,

8:01

right? simply seems that

8:03

everyone does understand the Lord is here.

8:05

This is a reminder that Christ continues

8:07

to be with us. It's not a

8:09

one -time appearance on Easter Sunday and

8:11

then nobody has to see each other

8:13

again till the end of time. And

8:15

I think it's very helpful for us

8:17

here as we continue in the Easter

8:19

season then to recognize that together with

8:22

the apostles. I do think

8:24

we're going to be left with the

8:26

question, where's Easter in all of this?

8:28

If we're asserting that this is the

8:30

third Sunday of Easter, where is Easter

8:32

and the resurrection showing. It's not the most

8:34

obvious focus of these texts today. But

8:36

it is the necessary background for all of

8:39

these texts. If Christ were not raised from

8:41

the dead, as we heard a few Sundays

8:43

ago, then none of these

8:45

passages and these stories would make sense

8:47

either. So we have Saul, who's been

8:49

persecuting, as it turns out, the living

8:51

and risen Lord Jesus Christ. We have

8:53

the Lamb in Revelation who was slain

8:55

and yet who lives, who's receiving all

8:58

authority and honor at the Father's throne. And

9:00

finally, the risen Lord is the one who's here. providing

9:03

for his disciples on the beach, urging

9:05

them to carry on with their calling

9:07

of doing, doing and sharing

9:09

this ministry just as he has done.

9:11

We heard this last week as

9:13

the Father sent me, so I send

9:15

you. So very much

9:17

the resurrection is the virtue, the

9:19

power by which all of today's

9:22

stories and readings come to pass

9:24

and the reason by which we

9:26

are encouraged to continue as well. Our

9:28

intro it is Psalm 145. All

9:30

of your works shall give thanks

9:33

to you, O Lord, and all

9:35

your saints shall bless you. One

9:37

generation shall commend your works to

9:39

another and shall declare your mighty

9:41

acts. On the glorious splendor

9:43

of your majesty and on your

9:45

wondrous works I will meditate. They

9:47

shall speak of the might of your

9:49

awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.

9:51

They shall pour forth the fame of

9:53

your abundant goodness, and shall sing

9:56

aloud of your righteousness. The

9:58

Lord is good to all, and

10:00

His mercy is over all that

10:02

He has made." Well, we have

10:04

a reflection of that Yubalate theme

10:06

from the old lectionary that shows

10:08

up in the traditional intro for

10:10

that day, moved a week ahead

10:12

for us. And all of his

10:14

works shall praise him. This is

10:16

a great foretaste of our epistle

10:18

reading, where we see all the

10:21

company of heaven and earth praising

10:23

and acknowledging the Lamb in something

10:25

that frankly comes into our use

10:27

in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod,

10:29

as this is the feast. So

10:31

some of the songs that we'll

10:33

hear are well known to us,

10:35

at least the phrases. It

10:37

also, though, I think draws our attention

10:39

to the mission to the Gentiles, which

10:41

is of great significance. against as we're

10:44

hearing about St. Paul's conversion, and

10:46

his ministry is by and

10:48

large to the Gentiles. Then

10:50

we go on in the psalm and

10:52

we hear about this telling of the

10:54

mighty acts. Psalm 145 verse four is

10:56

particularly a fine thing to think about

10:58

passing on the faith from one generation

11:00

to the next, the purpose of our

11:02

Lutheran schools, for example, and

11:05

telling God's mighty acts is what

11:07

makes up the content of Christian praise.

11:10

It's not a huge focus of our

11:12

texts for today, but it should

11:14

always be in our mind that the

11:16

way we praise God is by

11:18

telling of what he has done. And

11:21

that's the reason why praise finds

11:23

its way into the Easter

11:25

season and is logical because our

11:27

Lord has accomplished our salvation

11:29

through his ransoming death and through

11:31

his life -giving resurrection. Therefore, we

11:33

ought to proclaim these twin

11:35

works of God, the work of

11:38

God in Christ Jesus to

11:40

all. We want our praise not

11:42

to be an empty praise that just says,

11:44

oh, God's pretty amazing. He's great. We want

11:46

to actually say why he's so amazing. And

11:48

we really do see that brought out in

11:50

our epistle today as well. were

11:52

the Lamb, and His ransoming death are

11:54

the content, and to which

11:57

fame and greatness are also declared. There's

11:59

a reason why our God ought

12:01

to be famous, ought to be well

12:03

-known, ought to be renowned, ought to

12:05

be trusted by people. That's that

12:07

He has shed His blood and is

12:09

risen for all eternity for us. How

12:12

does our colic read? O

12:14

God, through the humiliation of

12:16

your Son, you raised up

12:18

the fallen world. Grant to

12:20

your faithful people rescued from the

12:23

peril of everlasting death, perpetual

12:25

gladness, and eternal joys through

12:27

Jesus Christ our Lord. Jubilate,

12:31

jubilation, this is

12:33

all connected to joy that leads

12:36

you to burst out with praise

12:38

and alleluia that we had put

12:40

away for a time. And you

12:42

see that expressed here that the

12:44

perpetual gladness and eternal joys come

12:46

to us and are enlivened in

12:48

us because of Jesus Christ himself.

12:51

But boy, the show stealer is at

12:53

the beginning of this colic, this

12:55

beautiful phrase for us to remember that

12:57

through the humiliation, that means the

12:59

humbling of Christ Jesus, that he would

13:01

come and take up the form

13:03

of a servant, that he would even

13:05

submit himself to suffering and to

13:07

death on the shameful cross for us.

13:10

Through that humiliation, he

13:13

has exalted, lifted

13:15

up, raised up fortuitously.

13:18

The world itself that was fallen

13:20

this is the great exchange expressed

13:22

very briefly and beautifully It's what's

13:24

taught in Philippians how Christ took

13:26

on that form and humbled himself

13:28

for a time Our epistle

13:30

actually is going to confess this

13:32

also in its songs, that by

13:34

his blood he has ransomed the

13:36

people of God from every tribe

13:38

and nation. This is a pre

13:41

-existing condition that we are in

13:43

peril of everlasting death, that we

13:45

are fallen ever since Adam and

13:47

Eve had fallen into sin and

13:49

plunged our whole race into destruction. And

13:52

yet Christ, by his humbling, his

13:54

condescending into our flesh and to

13:56

bear our sins, that great action

13:58

of his is what in fact

14:00

has raised up the fallen world.

14:02

So we'll hear the assertion that

14:04

Peter ought to follow Jesus at

14:06

the very end of today's gospel.

14:09

Well, we all follow Jesus Christ just

14:11

as he has rescued us by

14:13

his death. So in his resurrection, he

14:15

leads us to follow him finally

14:17

at the last day to rise with

14:19

him as well to eternal life. His

14:22

resurrection rescues us from eternal

14:24

death. That means hell. And

14:27

it promises to raise us from the dead

14:29

at the last day, as I just mentioned.

14:31

And where does this joy

14:33

and jubilation come in? Well,

14:36

notice, it's not just any

14:38

kind. It's perpetual joy and

14:40

gladness, eternal joys. And we've

14:42

said it before, but we should just reiterate it

14:44

again. It's the reason why Easter lasts more

14:46

than one day. This joy and gladness

14:48

doesn't have to wait until the last

14:50

day. It doesn't last for just a few

14:52

weeks after Easter. The eternal

14:54

joy that comes from having eternal

14:56

life in Jesus Christ, who

14:59

is yesterday, today, and always the

15:01

same. That eternal life

15:03

should begin now, even before the

15:05

last day, right? That our

15:07

lives should be characterized by joy,

15:09

the joy of those who

15:11

were fallen and destined for everlasting

15:13

death and yet have been

15:15

rescued. This is not a one

15:17

-time fact that you kind of tuck

15:19

away and forget about or pull out

15:21

if things get really bad. This is

15:23

the kind of thing that inspires joy

15:26

and delight in our Christians all the

15:28

time. We will turn to the first

15:30

reading in Acts chapter 9 for the

15:32

third Sunday of Easter with Pastor Sean

15:34

Dancer, director of worship for the Lutheran

15:36

Church of Missouri Synod, next. This

15:48

week on The Word of the

15:50

Lord Endors Forever, we wrap up our

15:52

study of Ecclesiastes with a making

15:54

of many books. Then on

15:56

to Philemon with intro, Paul's plea

15:58

for Philemon and closing greetings,

16:00

and finally back to Genesis with

16:02

a bride for Isaac. Join

16:05

me, Pastor Will Whedon, for

16:07

The Word of the Lord Endors

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Forever, your daily 15 -minute verse

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Magdeburg, seeking to re -establish

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response, Magdeburg's Lutheran pastors and

16:28

theologians wrote a treatise on

16:30

justifying resistance to tyrannical power

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called the Magdeburg Confession. The

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issues it set are a book of the

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18:09

Welcome back. I'm Todd Wilkin. This issue uses

18:11

et cetera. Pastor Sean Denzer is our

18:13

guest. He's walking us through the Prophets for

18:16

the third Sunday of Easter. We

18:19

come to our first reading, which

18:21

in Easter is from the Book of

18:23

Acts chapter 9 verse 1 through

18:25

22. It's a great story.

18:27

We want to hear it all

18:29

but Saul still breathing threats and murder

18:31

against the disciples of the Lord

18:33

went to the high priest and asked

18:35

him for letters to the synagogue

18:37

at Damascus so that if he found

18:39

any belonging to the way men

18:41

or women He might bring them bound

18:44

to Jerusalem now as he went

18:46

on his way He approached Damascus and

18:48

suddenly a light from heaven flashed

18:50

around him and Falling to the ground

18:52

he heard a voice saying to

18:54

him Saul Saul Why are

18:56

you persecuting me?" And he

18:58

said, Who are you, Lord? And

19:02

he said, I am Jesus,

19:04

whom you are persecuting. But

19:06

rise and enter the city, and you will

19:08

be told what you are going to do. The

19:11

men who were traveling with Saul stood

19:13

speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no

19:15

one. Saul rose from the ground, and

19:17

although his eyes were opened, he saw

19:19

nothing. so they led him

19:21

by the hand and brought him into Damascus,

19:24

and for three days he was without sight,

19:26

and neither ate nor drank. Now

19:28

there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias,

19:30

and the Lord said to him in a

19:32

vision, Ananias, he said, Here I am, Lord.

19:35

And the Lord said to him, Rise and go

19:37

to the street called Straight. the

19:39

house of Judas look for a man

19:41

of Tarsus named Saul for behold he

19:44

is praying and he has seen in

19:46

a vision a man named Ananias come

19:48

in and lay his hands on him

19:50

so that he might regain his sight.

19:53

But Ananias answered Lord I've heard from

19:55

many about this man how much evil

19:57

he's done to your saints at Jerusalem

19:59

and here he has authority from the

20:01

chief priest to bind all who call

20:03

on your name. But the

20:05

Lord said to him go. for

20:07

he is a chosen instrument of

20:09

mine to carry my name before

20:11

the Gentiles and kings and the

20:13

children of Israel. For I will

20:15

show him how much he must

20:17

suffer for the sake of my

20:19

name." So Ananias departed and entered

20:21

the house and laying his hands

20:24

on Saul, he said, Brother Saul, the

20:26

Lord Jesus who appeared to you on

20:28

the road by which you came, has

20:30

sent me so that you may regain

20:33

your sight and be filled with the

20:35

Holy Spirit. and immediately

20:37

something like scales fell from his

20:39

eyes and he regained his

20:41

sight. Then he rose and

20:43

was baptized and, taking food, he was

20:45

strengthened. For some days he was

20:47

with the disciples at Damascus and immediately

20:49

he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues,

20:51

saying he is the Son of God.

20:54

And all who heard him were amazed and said,

20:56

is this not the man who made havoc in

20:58

Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And

21:00

has he not come here for this purpose

21:03

to bring them bound before the chief priests?

21:05

But Saul increased all the

21:07

more in strength and confounded

21:09

the Jews who lived at

21:12

Damascus by proving that Jesus

21:14

was the Christ. Well,

21:17

okay, we're shifting slightly away

21:19

from Easter toward the apostles and

21:21

their ministry, especially the ministry

21:23

to the Gentiles. Notice,

21:26

repentance last week we heard

21:28

is to come to Israel, and

21:30

we want the way of the

21:32

life of those Christians gathered around

21:34

the temple to be proclaimed. Well,

21:37

all of this then comes pointedly

21:39

to Saint Paul of Tarsus, or as

21:41

we hear his name is here,

21:43

Saul, a good Jew

21:45

who is in dire need of

21:47

repentance because he's found. persecuting

21:49

the church. And we

21:51

have to remember the context of

21:54

this, right? Previous chapters in Acts,

21:56

we heard about the story of

21:58

St. Stephen, who is the first

22:00

martyr of New Testament era post -Pentecost.

22:02

He is stoned to death and

22:04

there's Saul nodding on approvingly, holding

22:06

the coats while it's happening. Saul

22:10

then continues in zeal. He has

22:12

that phrase in Romans where he

22:14

says that his people have zeal

22:16

but without knowledge. Well, Paul would

22:18

know he's the one who had

22:20

it first, right? He believes

22:22

he's doing the Lord's work to go

22:25

and harm all these Christians, all these people

22:27

who belong to the way. It's kind

22:29

of murderous, right? You can hear men or

22:31

women, he doesn't care. He's going to

22:33

punish them all. That should have been a

22:35

wake up to him. But that shows,

22:37

I mean, obviously, the zeal that he has.

22:39

And Paul references this himself, right? He

22:42

is so zealous that he persecuted the church.

22:44

And in fact, instead of doing

22:46

the Lord's good work, he's

22:49

found doing the very opposite. He's

22:51

persecuting the Lord himself by

22:53

that action. And when the Lord

22:55

comes to him on the

22:57

Damascus road, Saul is totally surprised

22:59

because the message is, you're

23:01

persecuting me. He recognizes that

23:03

it's the Lord, but he

23:05

doesn't understand how he's been persecuting

23:07

him. I am Jesus,

23:10

and you are persecuting me. A

23:12

beloved reaffirmation of what Jesus says,

23:14

whatever you do, here in the negative

23:16

sense, to one of the least

23:19

of these, it's as if you're doing

23:21

it to me. The Lord takes

23:23

our sufferings into His sufferings, but that's

23:25

quite a shock to St. Paul

23:27

as he's coming through this conversion, I

23:29

should say. Now, when the angel

23:31

comes to Ananias and has to speak

23:34

to him, it's very much like

23:36

the visitation of Gabriel to Joseph or

23:38

to Zechariah, or maybe less so

23:40

to Mary, right? It's a

23:42

surprising reason, and then there's an obvious

23:44

question, how in the world can

23:46

this be? The question here is, how

23:48

in the world can I be

23:50

going to this guy who's a murderer,

23:52

who's probably here to wipe me

23:55

out, to take me in chains back

23:57

to Jerusalem? Well, and that's

23:59

the occasion for the Lord to

24:01

give his real message through his angel.

24:03

And what is it? It's the

24:05

reason we want to know about this

24:07

story and why it happened and

24:09

how it happened. The answer is Paul

24:12

is going to be a chosen

24:14

instrument of God. We see

24:16

how important that is, right?

24:18

The Lord himself wants to attest

24:20

quite dramatically to his apostleship. and

24:22

for a good reason because he

24:24

wants to take this one who

24:27

is totally contrary to him and

24:29

bring him on to his team

24:31

as it were. He wants to

24:33

show the dramatic nature and the

24:35

life -changing world -altering nature of Christ's

24:37

resurrection that not only has obviously

24:39

marked our entire calendar by the

24:41

life of Christ Jesus, we want

24:43

to see that his resurrection changes

24:45

everything and it's even going to

24:47

take somebody who's so opposed to

24:50

the gospel and make him the

24:52

prince of the apostles, the one

24:54

who is doing so much, right?

24:56

Paul, of course, has more epistles

24:58

than anyone else in the New

25:00

Testament. That's how significant he is.

25:03

But more than that, he's going to be

25:05

an apostle that goes to the Gentiles first

25:07

and to the biggest kings, right? He's going

25:09

to stand finally before Caesar in Rome. He's

25:11

going to have an audience with all of

25:13

the Jewish and the Roman leaders in the

25:15

area. And he's also going to

25:17

speak to the children of Israel or maybe

25:19

to say he's going to gather the

25:22

children of Israel out of all the nations,

25:24

not just out of Israel proper, according

25:26

to the flesh. And his

25:28

ministry last of all but certainly

25:30

not least is going to be

25:32

marked by bearing the Holy Cross

25:34

by suffering But of course Paul

25:36

speaks length about this in his

25:38

epistles He has learned that the

25:40

grace of God is sufficient for

25:42

all things and that in fact

25:44

in weakness in foolishness Even in

25:46

beatings and misery as his vessel

25:48

is being worn out It is

25:50

all for the sake of the

25:52

true glory that is contained within

25:54

them the gospel of Christ Jesus

25:56

in his free grace and his

25:58

free forgiveness, that this would shine

26:00

all the brighter. Speaking of

26:02

brightness, there is underscoring this

26:05

just some very beautiful imagery

26:07

the Lord has written into history

26:09

and time here, that

26:11

Paul is left blind for three

26:13

days, reminiscent of course of our

26:15

Lord's dwelling in the tomb for

26:17

three days. Or I suppose you

26:19

could say Jonah's kind of a

26:21

bowed face done for three days

26:23

there in the belly of the

26:25

fish. At last the

26:27

Holy Spirit comes and removes

26:30

his blindness. This happens physically, but

26:32

dramatically as well, right? Scales

26:34

fall from his eyes. It's impossible

26:36

for us not to see

26:38

the metaphorical behind the miraculous physical

26:40

here, that Saul's eyes are

26:42

opened in faith. His eyes were

26:44

wide open. He, of all people, knew the

26:46

scriptures. He had the oracles of God, and

26:49

yet he did not comprehend their true

26:51

point. That is what is revealed to

26:53

him by the Holy Spirit and the Word

26:55

of God. That is what is disclosed to him

26:57

when he is baptized. And he takes food. I

27:00

don't know if this means just to strengthen

27:02

him in his body, but perhaps it even means

27:04

receiving the Lord's Supper and strengthening him in

27:06

body and soul for what is going to come.

27:09

Notice his strength is no longer coming

27:11

from his smarts or his zeal.

27:13

He's already beginning to consider all of

27:15

that rubbish and instead to take

27:18

strength from righteousness alone,

27:20

whom he no longer wishes to

27:22

persecute at all. And then I

27:24

like that we get just a little

27:26

bit of the story, just the beginning

27:28

of Paul's ministry to see how much

27:30

he has been turned around, right? His

27:32

wisdom, his zeal and his knowledge are

27:34

nevertheless useful to the Lord. That's why

27:36

he's a chosen instrument. They're going to

27:38

be turned now toward defending Christ and

27:40

defending sound theology. We might

27:42

just take a moment to pause and

27:44

say, you know, Acts is a book full

27:46

of miracles and kind of exciting moments. Sometimes

27:49

I think it is such

27:51

a high contrast to say the

27:53

book of Romans where Paul

27:55

lays out chapter upon chapter, making

27:57

careful arguments, talking about difficult

27:59

questions. And it's easy for us

28:01

to kind of think true doctrine is

28:03

not all that important to the mission of

28:05

the church. Obviously it

28:07

is. The chosen instrument of the

28:09

Lord is not somebody who just

28:12

has all the zeal or good

28:14

planning or any of this. He

28:16

looks for somebody who also has

28:18

the sharpness, the aptitude for teaching.

28:20

Somebody who's going to write the

28:22

majority of the New Testament, who's

28:24

going to be a teacher of the

28:26

Word of God and a corrector of

28:28

false teachings, who goes to work right

28:30

away doing that very thing in the

28:32

synagogues against the very people that he

28:34

had been trained under. right? That the

28:36

Lord wants Paul to be somebody who

28:38

knows the Scriptures, the Old Testament, that

28:40

is, so that he can point it

28:42

and orient it towards Christ Jesus and

28:44

the preaching of the gospel, which is

28:46

the content of the New Testament. So,

28:49

all to say, Paul is obviously one

28:51

of the great teachers of the church,

28:53

and the Lord gets his man, doesn't

28:55

he? This is Issues, et

28:57

cetera. I'm Todd Wilkin. We're looking forward

28:59

to the third Sunday of Easter, according

29:01

to the three -year lectionary. Our guest

29:03

is Pastor Sean Denzer. All

29:05

knowledge of God is either knowledge

29:07

of his nature or of

29:09

his will, which is made known

29:11

either in creation or in the

29:13

revealed Word. And this, especially

29:15

so, that by this revelation the

29:17

church may come into being by

29:19

the ministry of the law and gospel

29:21

and sacraments through men called into

29:23

the ministry. That's from the

29:26

beginning of the doctrinal section

29:28

of the Magdeburg Confession, our issues,

29:30

etc., book of the month

29:32

for April. Find out more about

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this Reformation resource. at our

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website issuesetc .org or call Concordia

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Publishing House and ask for the

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Magdeburg Confession 1 -800 -325 -3040. We'll

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the word of Christ dwell in

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you richly. Don't take our Lutheran

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divine service for granted. From start

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to finish, it's almost nothing but

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30:54

joy and thanksgiving. For more about

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the richness of God's word, Lutherans

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might just take for granted. Visit

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us at LCMS .org. Your

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adcrucim.com that's A -D

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dot com. Welcome

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back to Issues, etc. I'm Todd Wilken,

32:27

Pastor Sean Denzer is our guest director of

32:29

worship for the Lutheran Church, Missouri Senate.

32:31

He's walking us through the Prophets for the

32:33

third Sunday of Easter, according to the

32:35

three -year lectionary. Our Psalm

32:37

is Psalm 30, Sean. I

32:40

will extol you, O Lord, for you've drawn

32:42

me up and have not let my foes

32:44

rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I

32:46

cried to you for help and you've healed

32:48

me. O Lord, you've brought up my soul

32:50

from Sheol. You restored me to life. from

32:52

among those who go down to the pit.

32:55

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his

32:57

saints, and give thanks to his holy name,

32:59

for his anger is but for a moment, but

33:02

his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may

33:04

tarry for the night, but joy comes in

33:06

the morning. As for me,

33:08

I said of my prosperity, I shall never be

33:10

moved. By your favor, O

33:12

Lord, you made my mountain stand

33:14

strong. You hid your face, I

33:16

was dismayed. To you, O

33:18

Lord, I cry unto the Lord, I

33:20

plead for mercy. What profit is

33:22

there in my death if I go down to

33:24

the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will

33:26

it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O

33:28

Lord, and be merciful to me. O

33:30

Lord, be my helper. You've turned

33:33

for me my mourning into dancing. You've

33:35

loosed my sackcloth and clothed

33:37

me with gladness. My glory

33:39

may sing your praise and not be

33:41

silent. O Lord, my God, I

33:43

will give you thanks forever. This

33:46

is most likely chosen for all of

33:48

its joy and gladness, this kind of

33:50

argument that rather than let us go

33:52

down into the dust and die, why

33:55

wouldn't the Lord rather raise us up

33:57

out of the heap, perhaps raise us

33:59

up from the dead, so that our

34:01

voices can be used to praise His

34:03

faithfulness and His mercy. First

34:05

of all, I think we need to

34:07

hear this Psalm in the voice of

34:09

Christ Jesus, talking about the resurrection, talking

34:11

about the fact that his father has

34:13

raised him up, not just brought him

34:15

down to Sheol, but restored him and

34:17

his life from the pit. There is

34:19

even more faithfulness from the Father to

34:21

come and answer him. That favor, by

34:24

the way, was hidden from the Son.

34:26

As it mentioned, you hid your face

34:28

and I was dismayed on the cross,

34:30

right? My God, my God, why have you forsaken

34:32

me from another Psalm which Jesus prayed on

34:35

the cross? But the confidence

34:37

was there in Christ Jesus.

34:39

We see it demonstrated in

34:41

him and more. Now

34:43

this confidence is ours as well. Since

34:45

Christ has prayed the Psalm and

34:47

in fact accomplished it in His death

34:50

and resurrection, so now we also

34:52

take up the Psalm also. Death

34:54

turns to life for those who

34:56

are in Christ Jesus as well. We

34:58

could see it applied to St.

35:00

Paul as well, right? He's been raised

35:02

up from a three days of

35:04

blindness, and perhaps we could say true

35:06

death, away from that falsehood and

35:08

into the truth as well. He learns

35:10

about the forgiveness of sins. He

35:12

learns about the grace and the favor

35:14

of God. He turns from kind

35:17

of arrogant security, which would have led

35:19

him to destruction. instead

35:21

to repentance and mercy. Exactly

35:23

that repentance for Israel that we

35:25

heard spoken about in last

35:27

week's first reading as well. Our

35:30

epistle reading, as you mentioned

35:32

earlier, is Revelation, some

35:35

selected verses of chapter 5. We're

35:38

given an option today, whether you want to

35:40

have all of chapter 5, 1 to 14, or

35:43

whether you just want to begin at verse

35:45

8. I'll begin at verse 1 today. Then

35:47

I saw in the right hand of him who

35:49

was seated on the throne, a

35:51

scroll written within and on the back

35:53

sealed with seven seals. And I saw

35:55

a strong angel proclaiming with a loud

35:58

voice, who is worthy to open

36:00

the scroll and break its seals. And

36:02

no one in heaven or on earth or under

36:04

the earth was able to open the scroll or

36:06

to look into it. And I began to weep

36:08

loudly because no one was found worthy to open

36:11

the scroll or to look into it. Then

36:13

one of the elders said to me,

36:15

weep no more. Behold, the lion of the

36:17

tribe of Judah, the root of David,

36:19

has conquered, so that he

36:21

can open the scroll and its seven

36:23

seals. And between the throne

36:26

and the four living creatures, and among the

36:28

elders, I saw a lamb standing, as though

36:30

it had been slain, with seven horns and

36:32

seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of

36:34

God sent out into all the earth. And

36:37

he went and took the scroll from the right

36:39

hand of him who was seated on the throne. And

36:41

when he had taken the scroll, the

36:43

four living creatures and the 24 elders

36:45

fell down before the Lamb, each holding

36:48

harp and golden bowls full of incense,

36:50

which are the prayers of the saints.

36:53

And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy

36:56

are you to take the scroll

36:58

and to open its seals, for you

37:00

were slain, and by your

37:02

blood you ransomed people for God,

37:04

from every tribe and language and

37:06

people and nation, and you

37:08

have made them a kingdom and priest to

37:10

our God, and they shall

37:12

reign on the earth." Then I looked

37:14

and I heard around the throne and

37:16

the living creatures and the elders the

37:19

voice of many angels, numbering myriads of

37:21

myriads and thousands of thousands, saying

37:23

with a loud voice, Worthy is

37:25

the Lamb who was slain to

37:27

receive power and wealth and wisdom

37:29

and might and honor and glory

37:31

and blessing. And I heard every

37:33

creature in heaven and on earth and under

37:35

the earth and the sea and all that

37:37

is in them saying, To him

37:39

who sits on the throne and to the

37:41

Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory

37:43

and might forever and ever. And

37:45

the four living creatures said, Amen.

37:48

And the elders fell down

37:50

and worshiped. Well, this

37:52

scroll, right, that the Father has

37:55

held in His secret counsel, who

37:57

is it who gets to enact the

37:59

world's events, including its end, as Revelation

38:01

famously is pointing us toward? Who is

38:03

it that holds all the future? Who knows

38:06

all the truth? Who sets this world

38:08

in order? Obviously, it's not

38:10

us. There's only one

38:12

who holds the keys. We

38:14

get to learn here why Christ

38:16

is the one to whom all

38:18

authority is given by the Father,

38:20

why Christ is the center of

38:22

our attention in the church and

38:24

in the whole world, and why

38:26

God the Father Himself is putting

38:28

everything on Christ, His Son, making

38:30

His Spirit testify to Him. Why

38:32

is this, right? Well,

38:34

It's because he is the one who

38:36

holds the keys. He is the

38:38

one who is worthy because he is

38:40

the satisfying sacrifice of God who

38:42

is now vindicated by his resurrection as

38:44

we heard over the Holy Week

38:46

and Easter transition. We have

38:49

a couple names here. He's the

38:51

lion of Judah. This comes from

38:53

the prophecy that the scepter will

38:55

not depart from Judah until the

38:57

Christ comes. And also

38:59

he's the root of David. This is mentioned

39:01

in Isaiah 11 and 13, where he

39:04

is the root of Jesse, right? He's both

39:06

the branch that buds, but also the

39:08

one who was lying in that stump all

39:10

along, right? He is the Son of

39:12

God and Son of Man. And

39:14

both of these passages talk about how

39:16

he's going to be a ruler of

39:18

a particular kind. a ruler

39:20

of the Gentiles. So we learn

39:22

something about this conquering that he's done

39:24

by his death and his resurrection,

39:26

that it is for ransoming people and

39:29

bringing them out of all nations,

39:31

in fact, not just out of the

39:33

people of Israel alone. So

39:35

we get to see him come and

39:38

he is looking like a lamb who was

39:40

slain. and yet who is alive, right?

39:42

This is the one who's worthy of the

39:44

very same honor as God. Do you

39:46

see that? All of the characters in here

39:48

are bowing down before the slam in

39:50

the exact same way that they bow down

39:52

before the father, the one who is

39:55

sitting on the throne, the ancient of days.

39:57

So we learn that Christ Jesus, of

39:59

course, is equal to the father with

40:01

respect to his divinity. And so

40:04

prayers and kneeling and worship addressed

40:06

to him are accurately and rightly

40:08

addressed. He is the Lord. And

40:11

the church is described as well. We

40:13

are called his kingdom. If he's the king,

40:15

we are his subjects. And we're called

40:17

his priests, a priesthood, to

40:19

serve him and to co -rain with

40:21

God and with the Lamb. And

40:23

this is a great comfort to us. Together

40:26

with them then are the myriad

40:28

of myriad, inexpressible number, right? All the

40:30

company of heaven like we sing about

40:32

every week in the preface in the

40:34

sanctuaries. They're echoing this praise of the

40:36

Lamb who was slain, who is the

40:38

holder of all things, right? All

40:40

wealth, all wisdom, all might, all honor,

40:43

all glory and blessing. They belong to

40:45

Him as we sing in. This is

40:47

the feast. Always have to

40:49

just stop and notice all the antiphonal singing

40:51

going on here. We have a building of

40:53

forces throughout this, right? The evangelists, those four

40:55

living creatures, and the prophets

40:57

and the apostles, those 24 for

40:59

both testaments, they're intoning it,

41:02

but the angels then join in

41:04

and pretty soon by the

41:06

end the response comes from all

41:08

creation, right? All heaven and

41:10

earth, everybody, every single creature. are

41:12

all answering with this praise and

41:14

saying, this is true, he is worthy.

41:17

And lastly, the evangelists get to confirm it

41:19

with an amen, kind of unique

41:21

here. The emphasis, though, is right

41:23

in the beginning, isn't it? Right? It's right in the

41:25

middle there in that song that's laid out. that

41:28

this is the Lamb who was

41:30

slain. This is the defining act

41:32

and characteristic of what makes this

41:34

Lamb, of what makes Christ Jesus

41:36

our Lord and Savior. It's not

41:38

in distinction from the resurrection, of

41:40

course, since the Lamb lives, but

41:43

it is His blood that has

41:45

forgiven us, saved us, Cleansed

41:47

us and this is why

41:49

we cling to him. This is

41:51

why the Lord has vindicated

41:53

him through the resurrection This is

41:55

why we proclaim him and

41:57

why we speak about Christianity as

41:59

the following of Christ Jesus

42:01

What are our gradual inverse Seasonally

42:05

we have a lot of it. Christ

42:07

has risen from the dead. God the

42:09

Father has crowned him with honor and

42:11

glory. He's given him dominion over the

42:13

works of his hands. He's put all

42:15

things under his feet. We know that

42:17

Christ being raised from the dead will

42:19

never die again. Death no longer has

42:21

dominion over him. We see that reflected

42:23

surely in all of this glory and

42:25

honor in today's epistle. Then

42:27

we add to it a phrase

42:29

from Luke's Gospel. from the guys on

42:31

the way to Emmaus after Jesus disappeared

42:33

to them and they say, did not

42:35

our hearts burn within us when he

42:38

talked to us on the road

42:40

while he opened up to us the

42:42

scriptures? Well, we're hearing

42:44

in our readings say that St.

42:46

Paul and St. Peter are also brought

42:48

to acknowledge Christ with faith and

42:50

with confession of him, right, with love

42:52

as well that is now redirected

42:54

to serve his church. It's

42:56

interesting that year B, Luke, which talks

42:59

about Emmaus on this Sunday, it governs

43:01

all three years. Honestly, I would have

43:03

expected that year C would have been

43:05

the year that features that Emmaus text,

43:07

since this is the year that focuses

43:09

on Luke. But instead, we

43:11

have kind of a mismatch, I guess, that

43:13

we have a Luke and verse together with

43:15

the Johannine Gospel. I think

43:17

we can see, however, that we're looking for

43:19

Christ to open the scroll. We're looking for

43:21

him to show us what the Lord's truth

43:23

is. And of course, this is

43:25

done when he opens up the scriptures, when

43:27

he points all of these things that testify

43:30

to him as the Christ, and

43:32

that even that then makes up

43:34

the bulk and the content of

43:36

the songs of that eternal heavenly

43:38

chorus there that we see in

43:40

Revelation. We will come

43:42

to our Gospel reading in

43:44

John 21, well, almost

43:47

20 verses of it, with

43:49

Pastor Sean Denzer next. In

44:00

our day, many voices are

44:02

questioning whether we can take seriously

44:04

the opening chapters of the

44:06

book of Genesis in what they

44:08

relate about God's creation of

44:11

the world. Dr. Tom Eger,

44:13

president of Concordia Seminary St.

44:15

Louis, talking about his presentation this

44:17

year's issues, etc., making the

44:19

case conference. And what

44:21

difference does it make whether we

44:23

regard the opening chapters of

44:25

Genesis as a true record of

44:27

what God did and how

44:30

He did it. And there are

44:32

a number of implications for

44:34

our Christian life and faith and

44:36

for our proclamation of the

44:38

saving work of Christ involved in

44:40

how we read the opening

44:42

chapters of Genesis. You can

44:44

meet and hear Dr. Tom Egger

44:46

making the case for the biblical

44:48

account of creation at the 2025

44:51

Making the Case Conference Friday, July

44:53

18 and Saturday, July 19 at

44:55

Concordia University, Chicago. For

44:57

more information, visit issuesetc

44:59

.org. At

45:04

the heart of Lutherans for

45:06

Life is good news. Good news

45:08

that brings hope to a

45:10

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45:16

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45:18

believes that God gives the

45:20

gift of life to all people,

45:22

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45:24

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45:26

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45:28

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45:32

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45:36

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more on how to subscribe, witness

46:02

.lcms .org, the Lutheran Witness helping

46:04

you interpret the world from

46:06

a Lutheran perspective. Welcome

46:16

back to Issues, et cetera. I'm

46:18

Todd Wilkin. Pastor Sean Dancer is our

46:20

guest director of worship for the

46:22

Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Shall

46:24

we come to our gospel reading, John 21, beginning

46:26

the first verse? We could go either to

46:28

14 or to 19. And

46:30

we'll hear all of it. Why not? You

46:32

have the option if you want to skip

46:34

Peter's exchange, but I don't know of many

46:36

pastors and probably many Christians that really want

46:39

to skip that anyway. After

46:41

this, Jesus revealed himself again to the

46:43

disciples. After this, by the way, is after

46:45

John 20 that really ends quite neatly

46:47

with, these things are written that you may

46:49

believe that he's the Christ, the Son

46:51

of God, and have life in his name.

46:54

But after Jesus revealed himself again to

46:56

the disciples by the sea of

46:58

Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this

47:00

way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the

47:02

twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee

47:04

and the sons of Zebedee and two others

47:06

of his disciples were together. Simon

47:09

Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. And

47:11

they said to him, we'll go with you. They

47:13

went out and got into the boat. But that

47:15

night they caught nothing. Just

47:18

as day was breaking, Jesus stood

47:20

on the shore. The disciples did

47:22

not know that it was Jesus. Jesus

47:24

said to them, children, do you have

47:26

any fish? He answered him, no. He

47:28

said to them, cast the net on the right side

47:30

of the boat and you'll find some. So

47:32

they cast it. Now they were not able to

47:34

haul it in because of the quantity of fish. The

47:38

disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to

47:40

Peter, it is the Lord. When

47:42

Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,

47:44

he put on his outer garment for he

47:46

was stripped for work and threw himself into

47:48

the sea. The other disciples

47:50

came in the boat, dragging the net full of

47:53

fish, for they were not far from land,

47:55

but about a hundred yards off. When

47:57

they got out on land, they saw

47:59

a charcoal fire in place with fish

48:01

laid out on it in bread. Jesus

48:04

said to him, bring some of the fish that

48:06

you just caught. So Simon Peter

48:08

went aboard and hauled the

48:10

net ashore, full of large fish,

48:12

153 of them. And although

48:14

there were so many, the net was not torn.

48:17

Jesus said to them, Come, have breakfast.

48:20

Now, none of the disciples dared ask him, Who

48:22

are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus

48:25

came and took the bread and gave it

48:27

to them and sowed the fish. This

48:29

was now the third time that Jesus

48:31

was revealed to the disciples after he was

48:33

raised from the dead. When

48:35

they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to

48:37

Simon, Peter, Simon, son of John, do you

48:40

love me more than these? He

48:42

said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I

48:44

love you. He said to him,

48:46

feed my lambs. Jesus said to him a

48:48

second time, Simon, son of John, do

48:50

you love me? Peter said to

48:52

him, yes, Lord, you know that I love

48:54

you. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. Jesus

48:57

said to him a third time, Simon, son

48:59

of John, do you love me? Peter

49:01

was grieved because he said to him the

49:03

third time, do you love me? He

49:06

said to him, Lord, you know everything. You

49:08

know that I love you. Jesus said

49:10

to him, feed my sheep. Truly truly I

49:12

say to you when you were young

49:14

you used to dress yourself and walk wherever

49:17

you wanted But when you are old

49:19

you will stretch out your hands and another

49:21

will dress you and carry you to

49:23

where you do not want to go This

49:25

he said to show by what kind

49:27

of death you is to glorify God and

49:29

after saying this he said to him

49:31

follow me This epilogue

49:33

argues against dividing up the

49:35

four gospels, in my opinion, because,

49:38

I mean, it's a fine story in

49:40

its own right. It makes great sense,

49:43

although interesting that it comes after that

49:45

kind of nicer end to a gospel,

49:47

in my opinion. But

49:49

it draws on so many facts

49:51

and stories that are not really

49:53

revealed in John's gospel alone. The

49:55

charcoal fire is reminiscent of the

49:57

charcoal fire that Peter was warming

49:59

himself around when he was denying

50:01

the Lord. And that certainly is

50:03

part of John's gospel. But

50:05

he had a calling to be a

50:07

fisher of men. And now

50:09

similarly here, he's stated that he's going

50:11

to feed Christ's lambs and tend to

50:13

sheep. Again, kind of a metaphorical

50:15

sense of the word that really means he's going

50:18

to be an apostle to the church. There's

50:20

a great catch, not in John's gospel, but

50:22

there is one in Luke. And

50:24

of course, that is very reminiscent of this catch

50:27

of fish. And likewise, the jumping

50:29

into the water at Jesus' word is

50:31

like when Peter wants to go out and

50:33

walk on the water out to Jesus,

50:35

we find that in Matthew's gospel. So

50:37

it's a very strong tying together of all

50:39

these many threads of the four gospels. when

50:42

we consider all these together. Without

50:44

them, it's an appearance, it's a

50:46

miracle, it's a commissioning exchange, that's

50:48

true. But it's really hard for

50:50

me, and I think for all Christians, not to

50:52

recognize that the scripture can't be broken, that

50:54

God is finally, the Holy Spirit is

50:56

author of this and bringing all of

50:58

these to mind as a unified, four

51:01

-directional, you might say, testimony

51:03

to the very same truth. It's

51:06

striking that they're going back fishing, right?

51:08

Is this some side gig that they kept

51:10

on doing like the women who support

51:12

the ministry? Or is this a sign

51:14

of unbelief that they're returning to the old ways? It

51:17

seems to me they have sort of

51:19

a stunned resignation hanging over them. Well, fine.

51:21

I guess we'll go. Hey, it's time

51:23

to go fishing. This is not the joy

51:25

that you would expect after the resurrection

51:27

exchange that we heard in the upper room

51:30

in John 20. But, of

51:32

course, when Jesus comes, there's all

51:34

these clues, right? Children, well,

51:36

that's the way Jesus is always addressing people in

51:38

John's Gospel. Why don't you cast on the

51:40

other side of the net, and you'll be able

51:42

to do it. This fish that's so great,

51:44

they can hardly haul it in. Peter

51:46

then, of course, jumps in.

51:48

They recognize, this is the Lord,

51:50

right? John, or beloved disciples,

51:52

phrase is not, I wonder

51:54

if that's the Christ, it's very clear. This is

51:56

the Lord Himself. Peter

51:58

shows his zeal, but this time

52:01

not for some foolish action But in

52:03

fact to get close to Christ

52:05

not to deny him but to run

52:07

toward him even to put himself

52:09

into peril to do it And I

52:11

think this is a very reassuring

52:13

sign, right? We get there

52:15

and we have fish and bread This is

52:17

the very same thing we had at the

52:19

feedings in John 6 and John 13 already

52:21

and they're invited to come and add to

52:24

the meal Nevertheless, Christ is the one who's

52:26

providing for all of it. I think that's

52:28

very instructive for us. He even provides that

52:30

which comes through their work. This is the

52:32

Lord's provision. It shows us every single person

52:34

in the church that He is caring for

52:36

us. It also shows those who serve in

52:38

the church, the apostles, that it

52:41

is Him at work by their

52:43

words and actions, which is necessary

52:45

for all of us. What

52:47

follows then is often seen as

52:50

the restoration of Peter and I think

52:52

there are clues to that like

52:54

that charcoal fire Right that he's invited

52:56

to gather around not the enemy's

52:58

fire this time but back with his

53:00

Lord Jesus Christ It might be

53:02

better though first to see that in

53:04

John 20, right? The absolution is

53:07

spoken very clearly. The peace is given

53:09

to us already like we heard

53:11

last week Jesus is addressing Peter's outstanding

53:13

zeal. He almost draws attention to

53:15

it here. He asked Peter Do

53:17

you love me more than everybody

53:19

else even? Peter, on the

53:21

other hand, responds in a very un

53:23

-Peter -like characteristic. He just says

53:26

yes, right? He doesn't say not more than

53:28

them. He only says that

53:30

he loves Jesus. That's all that matters

53:32

now. He's fixed not on pleasing other

53:34

people or being the best, but fixed

53:36

on pleasing his Lord Jesus. And that

53:38

is exactly what we want to see

53:40

in a minister of the gospel and

53:42

in an apostle. The

53:44

instruction is then given three times, along with

53:46

this, to you, love me, right? Feed, give

53:49

pasture to my lambs, so much like

53:51

the fishers of men, but maybe a

53:53

clearer and a new direction. You are

53:55

going to be sent just as I

53:57

was. I'm the good shepherd, but

53:59

you are not going to be a hireling. You are

54:01

going to be one who serves that good shepherd's purpose.

54:04

Now, there's so many opinions on this

54:06

passage. It's belabored, right? T

54:08

'chan, just draw this out three

54:10

times. You almost feel how

54:12

belabored Peter must have been and

54:14

how grieved he is. There's

54:17

an emotional intensity here. But what

54:19

stands out most is this

54:21

order. Love for Christ first. That's

54:23

necessary so that Peter may serve

54:25

the sheep. Loyalty and

54:27

devotion, so much that asking

54:29

a third time almost is like a painful

54:32

grievance that Peter has to bear. That's

54:34

at the heart of this exchange. And

54:36

the loyalty, Christ says, is going to

54:38

extend beyond just dealing with what happened

54:41

on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. It's

54:43

going to extend all the way to

54:45

a martyr's death. That's what it means

54:47

to follow Christ. and I may

54:49

also follow him there. This is the promise

54:51

we make at our confirmations. And

54:54

again, I think this makes most sense

54:56

if we have all the Gospels firing

54:58

in view as a unified testimony of

55:00

the Holy Spirit. This is like a

55:02

second vocation of Peter as a apostle,

55:04

right? This is where the

55:06

notion then of a restoration comes in,

55:09

in kind of the popular treatment of

55:11

this, because he was called to be

55:13

a fisher of men, now he is

55:15

still being called again. to serve as

55:17

a caretaker of the Lord's sheep. Even

55:20

without this, though, we can see a

55:22

connection between the vocation to be Christ's disciple,

55:24

that is to learn and to love

55:26

him, as these men have done for three

55:28

years, and the sending to be his

55:30

apostle, to feed his lambs as Christ has

55:32

done and taught, not as a hiring. You

55:35

can't be teaching things that you

55:37

don't know. I suppose there's a point

55:39

to St. Paul's study of the

55:41

Holy Scriptures as well, that we want

55:43

to be apt to teach. And

55:45

lastly, what is this about

55:47

Peter's stretched out hands? Well, we

55:49

certainly have from the extra biblical

55:51

accounts, Peter's martyrdom was presumably on

55:53

a cross in Rome. So I

55:56

suppose he was stretching out his

55:58

hands in that sense, right? But

56:00

it's also a call to us

56:02

that we would follow Christ through death

56:04

into life. Notice, to follow me

56:07

means that you will also have a

56:09

life that is conformed to Christ.

56:11

Finally, we are all looking not just

56:13

to escape whatever particular difficulties we

56:15

have right now, but we are looking

56:17

for the resurrection of the dead,

56:20

which is what is certain for us

56:22

because our lamb is slain and

56:24

behold, he lives. Therefore, he brings life

56:26

also to us who believe in

56:28

him. With

56:30

only about a minute, with high

56:32

delight is our hymn of the day. It

56:34

doesn't have a strong pedigree as the hymn

56:37

of the day, but I think it was

56:39

picked because it was really well liked by,

56:41

frankly, our modern hymnologists in the Missouri Synod.

56:43

But it is a fine hymn as a

56:45

rousing tune. It fits with the Yubalate theme

56:47

well. It talks about singing Jesus

56:49

Christ, which means right not just to

56:51

talk about Him, but to acknowledge Him, confess

56:53

Him, praise Him, honor Him, just like

56:55

our epistle, especially that it would

56:58

be a thrust to preach him and

57:00

proclaim him also in a missionary sense

57:02

before the Gentiles, that his resurrection is

57:04

for the freedom of all the world. That's

57:06

what brings such joy. It's

57:08

a great partner to Good Friday. We said, Behold

57:10

the wood of the cross. Joy

57:12

has come into all the world through

57:14

it. Well, guess what? By the Lamb

57:17

who is slain, but now lives, joy

57:19

also comes into the world. And so

57:21

we get to hear about his victory

57:23

over death, a reiteration that the sting

57:25

of death is taken away by Christ.

57:27

He's been the death of death. And

57:29

finally in this hands that we speak

57:31

and show out his love and our

57:33

confidence in him now in this life

57:35

with joy until finally we have the

57:37

full joy and consolation that can never

57:39

be taken away in the resurrection at

57:41

the last day. Pastor Sean

57:43

Denzers, Director of Worship for the Lutheran

57:45

Church of Missouri Synod. Sean, thank you.

57:48

You're welcome. Christ is risen. Tuesday

57:50

on issues, et cetera, we'll discuss

57:52

the Council of Nicaea with Dr. Joel

57:54

Olowski, and we'll talk with Attorney

57:56

Tom Olp of the Thomas Moore Society

57:58

about a federal court judge striking

58:00

down an Illinois law, pro

58:02

-life organizations to promote

58:04

abortion. Jesus had predicted that

58:07

Peter would deny him. He even

58:09

said at one point in Matthew,

58:11

Mark, and the Gospel of John,

58:13

Simon Satan has to have you

58:15

that he sift you like wheat.

58:17

But I have prayed for you

58:19

that your faith would not fail.

58:21

And when you have turned, strengthen

58:23

your brethren. Well, Jesus has turned

58:25

to Peter back, and now he

58:27

feeds the sheep. I'm Todd

58:29

Wilkin. I'll talk with you tomorrow. Thanks

58:32

for listening to issues, etc Listen

58:41

afternoons to pastor Todd Wilkin

58:43

and guests on issues, etc.

58:46

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58:48

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58:59

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