Luke 24:36-52 45  Then  he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,   46  and said to them,  “Thus  it is written,  that the Christ should suffer and on the third day  rise from the dead,   47  and that  repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed  in his name  to all nations,  beginning from Jerusalem.   48  You are witnesses of these things.   49  And behold, I am sending  the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you  are clothed with  power  from on high.” The work of Jesus was complete...kind of. The work necessary for the redemption of mankind was complete. The work necessary for the forgiveness of sins was complete. But making the good news known to the world was not yet done. Jesus was now sending His disciples into the world to spread the good news. He was sending them to make know that there is salvation from sin, ...

Luke 24:12-35 25  And he said to them,  “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!   26  Was it not necessary that  the Christ should suffer these things and enter into  his glory?”   27  And  beginning with  Moses and  all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Who is the Bible about? It's about Jesus. The whole Bible, Old Testament and New, is about Jesus. It's about Him coming to save sinners like you and me. The disciples on the road to Emmaus needed to learn this truth and they did learn it, from the greatest of all teachers.  When we read the Bible we tend to first ask, "where do I fit in?" But the more important questions is to ask, "What does this text say about Jesus?"

Luke 24:1-12 "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." But Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! And because He is risen we can be confident that those who trust in Him for salvation will also be raised from death to life when He returns on the last day. The resurrection of Jesus is the victory over death that the world had been waiting for ever since the fall into sin. Now, even though we die, we will live! Not even death could hold our Jesus and because of that, not even death can hold those who are in Christ.

Luke 23:44-56 Crucified, died, and was buried. God died. For you. He died. The very creator of the universe, through whom all things came into existence became part of the creation and died as part of the creation. He experienced death, that curse brought about by man's sinful rebellion. That darkness known as death is known by our Creator. It's all too much for us to fully grasp. Yet, it's vital that we do think on this and some of the great hymns help us to do so. Below is a hymn by the great hymn writer Paul Gerhardt, called "Upon the Cross Extended." May the words of this hymn help you to meditate on the death of Jesus and what it means for you. 1 Upon the cross extended See, world, your Lord suspended.      Your Savior yields His breath. The Prince of Life from heaven Himself has freely given      To shame and blows and bitter death. 2 Come, see these things and ponder, Your soul will fill with wonder      As ...

Luke 23:18-43 As Jesus was hanging on the cross, two criminals were hanged on crosses next to Him. They were guilty of their crimes. Yet Jesus was on the cross for the sake of criminals.  He was nailed to those beams of wood to suffer the righteous punishment for all crimes against God's law, so that those who trust in Him can receive full and free forgiveness. He was the Vicarious Atonement for sin, which is to say that by His substituting His own death four ours, He made it possible for there to be true reconciliation between God and man. While on the cross, one of the criminals asked of Jesus, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." The criminal was, as Jesus had taught, seeking first the kingdom of God and whenever we do so by looking to Jesus, the answer is always yes.  And so it was. "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."

Luke 22:39-53 Jesus, being fully human, did not want to endure what was about to come. He knew He would be beaten, flogged, mocked, and crucified. He knew His friends would abandon Him. He knew. And so He prayed, asking God the Father to remove this "cup" from Him. Yet each time He prayed, "Thy will be done." "Your will be done." Thank you Jesus, for being willing to drink that cup! Help us to be willing to pray, "Thy will be done" and then to do the will of God in our own lives too.

 Luke 22:13-23 There are many wonderful Hymns about the Lord's Supper, but I don't think any explain what the Lord's Supper is quite as well as "What Is This Bread?"

Luke 22:1-12 It was time to prepare. The disciples thought it was merely time to prepare for the Passover, during which they would remember how God delivered His people Israel from slavery to the Promised Land. But Jesus knew that He was preparing His disciples for life without being able to see Him with them. It can be hard to remember that Jesus, though unseen, is with us every moment of every day. That's part of why He gave us the fullness of what the Passover was anticipating and He instituted the Lord's Supper. In the Lord's Supper we can know, through tangible means, that Jesus is with us.

Luke 19:28-40 Palm Sunday has some fantastic hymns, unfortunately because it only comes around once each year, we seldom get to sing them. So today take a moment to listen to this wonderful Palm Sunday hymn!

Luke 18:11-27 How are you using the gifts God has entrusted to you? God would have you use it boldly in seeking to serve Him rather than, because of fear, fail to do anything. Scott Frost, the coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, wants his players to play fearlessly. He doesn't want them to be afraid to make a mistake, because then they will play hesitantly and therefore, more slowly.  He'd rather have them make a mistake while going all out, than be hesitant because of fear that they might mess up. That's much the same message as we find here. God has entrusted gifts to us. We should seek to use them according to God's will, but we should not be so afraid of misusing them that we are paralyzed by fear. Instead, knowing that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love should lead us to to boldness as we seek to live for Him.

Luke 18:18-30 Being rich wasn't really the problem for the Rich Young Ruler. Being attached to his riches...trusting in his riches...that was the problem. Jesus calls us to get rid of all of our idols. An idol is anything you fear, love, or trust in more than God. Your idol could be anything. Family Friends Career Fame Success Control Sexuality Politicicians Politics Patriotism Being liked On and on and on the list could go. Yet Jesus calls us to be willing to give up all of these things to follow Him.  And when we do so, all of these things will find their proper place as Jesus gives order to our lives.

Luke 16:19-31 There's so much in this reading! But we'll focus on just a small part of it. The rich man wanted Lazarus to rise from the dead and come back and warn his brothers so that they wouldn't end up in hell with him.  However, he was told, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Of course a man named Lazarus did rise from the dead and he did testify to the reality that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the World. Yet after his resurrection, many of the Pharisees didn't change their minds about Jesus, but instead wanted to see Lazarus and Jesus dead. We can't convince those who will not believe, but we can make known the truth that Jesus is alive, that He is the Messiah, and that by faith in Him there is forgiveness and salvation for all! Will all believe? No. Will some become angry with us? Yes. But will some believe?  Absolutely. So let's be bold in making Jesu...

Luke 15:11-32 The parable of the Prodigal Son is a familiar one. Most of the time when we hear it taught or preached on the focus is on the loving Father welcoming back the Prodigal Son because in that we see the grace of God. However, Luke 15 started with Jesus addressing those who were upset that He was welcoming sinners and the parable of the Prodigal Son is the point towards which Jesus has been working through His telling of three parables in this chapter. Specifically He has been working up to the point of addressing the older son in the parable, who is upset that the Father has welcomed back the Prodigal Son. The older son was upset. He felt overlooked. The point Jesus was making is that those who are already part of the Church should rejoice when sinners return to the Lord in repentance; they should not become upset when this happens. "It was fitting  to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother  was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

Luke 15:1-10 The parable of the lost sheep is a familiar one to many of us and sadly because of that familiarity we sometimes miss the sense of joy that should be communicated through it. But I think Andrew Peterson does a great job in this song of communicating the message of the parable and the joy of the lost sheep being brought back safely.

Luke 13:22-30 The road is narrow. The Reformers understood this and knew they needed God's help to stay on the path of salvation, therefore they prayed earnestly for God to keep them firm in His Word. One of the prayers was turned into a hymn. 1 Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word; Curb those who by deceit or sword Would wrest the kingdom from Your Son And bring to naught all He has done. 2 Lord Jesus Christ, Your pow’r make known, For You are Lord of lords alone; Defend Your holy Church that we May sing Your praise eternally. 3 O Comforter of priceless worth, Send peace and unity on earth; Support us in our final strife And lead us out of death to life.

Luke 12:22-34 "Fear not!" So often those words are heard as a command, yet I think they are better heard as an invitation.  You don't need to be afraid of anything in this world. God has you in His hands. He provides for the birds and the flowers, He will provide for you too. Sometimes people hear these words, "Fear not!" as if they were worked up and someone said, "calm down!"  But instead, hear them as Christ's words of comfort. You need not fear. God has you. "Fear not" was the message of the angels on Christmas as they told the shepherds to good news that Jesus was born.  "Fear not" is a message to which we can still hold fast in the midst of troubled times, because Jesus is still with us.

Luke 12:1-12 "We should fear and love God..." So begins Luther in explaining each of the Ten Commandments. However, fear is not something we often hear of in relation to God these days. Yet as we read today's reading, Jesus teaches us that we should have a proper fear of God. I think CS Lewis captures this idea well in his Narnia series. Aslan, a lion, is the Christ figure in the books and there is recurring theme throughout the series of books: He's not a tame lion. God is to be feared. He must be respected. We must not become careless about God. And yet, He is good. In "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," Susan says,  "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion" To which the answer is given, " Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” God is not safe, like a house cat. But He is good.

Luke 11:1-13 Our Father We get to call God, our Father. This is amazing when you think about it. We, created being who sin regularly, can approach the most Holy God and even dare to call Him Father. It's amazing, but it is true. I love how Luther explains this in the catechism. Our Father who art in heaven. What does this mean?  With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father. You get to approach God as your Father, so why don't you make sure you take the time to do so today?