THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
4 May 2025
First Reading Acts 9:1-22
Second Reading Revelation 5:1–14
Gospel John 21:1–19
The Good Shepherd Feeds his Lambs
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 5:12), who by His cross has conquered sin and death. With His blood, He has “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). This same Lord Jesus visits people of all nations and calls them to Himself by the Gospel, even as He “was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (John 21:14). He restored Simon Peter to faith and life, and He commissioned him to feed His lambs and tend His sheep (John 21:15–17). Likewise, He revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus and brought him to repentance, so that the persecutor of Jesus might carry and confess His name “before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9)
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
27 April 2025
First Reading Acts 5:12–32
Second Reading Revelation 1:4–18
Gospel John 20:19–31
That You May Believe and Have Life in His Name
On the Lord ’s Day, St. John the apostle was given a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. He is the Living One, “the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). He died for all people, and behold, He is alive forevermore! Therefore, He has “the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev. 1:18). For His death atoned for sin and conquered death, and in His resurrection He opened the kingdom of heaven to us. The “sharp two-edged sword” of His mouth (Rev. 1:16) calls you to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” that by such faith “you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). To that end, He sends His ministers of the Word, as the Father sent Him, “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).
Easter Day
20 April 2025
Isaiah 65:17–25
1 Corinthians 15:19–26
Luke 24:1–12
Christ’s Resurrection Is the Firstfruits of the New Creation
The Lord has promised to “create new heavens and a new earth” (Is. 65:17), in which His people shall abide in peace and joy. That new creation has begun in the bodily resurrection of Christ Jesus. All the baptized belong to that new creation. Reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, they are “the offspring of the blessed of the LORD” (Is. 65:23). The Lord rejoices and is glad in them; He hears and answers their prayers. For “if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). But Christ Jesus has been raised, “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). We may be “perplexed about this” (Luke 24:4), perhaps even frightened and brought to our knees, because it seems like an “idle tale” (Luke 24:11). But faith clings to the Word of Christ and finds His resurrected body — not in the tomb, but in His Holy Supper
Good Friday
18 April 2025
Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9
John 18:1–19:42 or John 19:17–30
Behold the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
Jesus, the Lamb of God, is led to the slaughter of His cross as the sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the world. “Despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3), He is the righteous Servant who justifies many by His innocent suffering and death. He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows; He is wounded for our transgressions; He is crushed for our iniquities; He suffers our chastisement, so that “with his wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:4–5). As the Son of God, He fulfills the Law for us in human flesh, and so fulfills the Scriptures (John 19:7, 24). In perfect faith and faithfulness, He shares all our weaknesses and temptations, “yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15), and as our merciful High Priest, He brings us to the Father in peace.
Holy (Maundy) Thursday
17 April 2025
Exodus 12:1–14
Corinthians 11:23–32
John 13:1–17, 31b–35
Let Us Love One Another, as Christ Jesus Has Loved Us
By Holy Baptism, “with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22), we enter the holy place with Jesus. For Jesus is our Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us. He reclines at table with us and feeds us with His own flesh and blood: “the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain” (Heb. 10:20). In Christ, the Lord remembers us in mercy and remembers our sin no more; He forgives us all our iniquity (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 10:17). With such love, He “loved his own who were in the world,” and He even loves us “to the end” (John 13:1). As He washes us and feeds us in love, let us love one another, just as He has loved us (John 13:34).
Sermon “The Hand of Our Lord Graciously and Generously Feeds Us”
Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion
13 April 2025
Deuteronomy 32:36-39
Philippians 2:5-11
John 12:20-43
The Cross and Passion of Our LORD
Are the Hour of His Glory
The King of Israel comes into His royal glory by the path of humble obedience “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). He “goes as it has been determined” (Luke 22:22), according to the Scriptures, willingly submitting to His Father’s plan for the salvation of sinners. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). His suffering and death open the way of repentance for the forgiveness of sins because He goes to the cross bearing the sins of the world. In His resurrection, God the Father vindicates His people and has compassion on His servants (Deut. 32:36). He kills to make alive; He wounds in order to heal. In remembrance of Him, we praise God, confessing “that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11).
