Higher Things Daily Reflections

May 22, 2012 - Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: 1 Peter 4:7-14

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 16:1-22; Luke 19:11-28

"If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." (1 Peter 4:14)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Blessed are the beautiful. Blessed are the intelligent. Blessed are the rich and famous. But that' s not what St. Peter says, is it? Far from it.

Blessed are those who are insulted for the Name of Christ. Jesus said the same: "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Christianity seems so upside down and backwards from the ways of the world. God' s blessings are found, not in power, wealth and glory, but in the midst of weakness, suffering and humility.

So, when my teachers mock me for believing that Jesus really died on the cross and rose again, I am blessed? Yes. When my friends ridicule me for going to bed a little early on Saturday to get ready for church on Sunday, I am blessed? Yes, now you' re catching on. And I' m blessed even in the midst of my suffering? Precisely. Now you' ve got it.

"Do not be surprised at the fiery trial." But be thankful that the fiery trial burned the hottest for Jesus. On Calvary, Jesus was baptized with fire and blood so that you would not have to endure the scorching heat of God' s wrath over sin.

Every drop of spit, every ounce of blood, every insult, blasphemy and mockery, He endured for you. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, He opens not His mouth. Christ' s cross is your greatest glory. Rejoice, for in the backwards, upside down ways of God, you are saved.

Christ counts you worthy to suffer for His Name. You are found faithful when you are insulted for confessing that Name. It doesn' t mean you go looking for a fight; but when a war of words comes your way, know that the battle has already been won on the cross. In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, The guilt of sinners bearing And, laden with the sins of earth, None else the burden sharing; Goes patient on, grows weak and faint, To slaughter led with out complaint, That spotless life to offer, He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies, The mockery, and yet replies, "All this I gladly suffer." (LSB 438:1)

May 21, 2012 - Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: Ezekiel 36:22-28

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 14:26-45; Luke 18:35 - 19:10

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. The Tin Man needed a new heart. It wasn' t that his had stopped working; he simply didn' t have one. "An empty kettle," was all he was.

According to the prophet Ezekiel, the problem isn' t that you don' t have a heart, but that yours is no good. You' re worse than the Tin Man. You have a heart of stone — a heart out of which, Jesus says, "Come[s] evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander."

There' s no defibrillator in the world that' s going to bring you back from that kind of cardiac arrest. You need a radical operation: a divine heart transplant. "I will give you a new heart," says the Lord. "I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

That' s what Jesus, your Great Physician, specializes in: heart transplants. Jesus' heart was moved by compassion for you, and all sinners. His blood, shed for you on the cross, courses into the font for you. Baptism is your divine heart surgery. Out with the old heart of stone, in with a new heart and a new nature.

The same blood that Jesus pours into the font is also poured into the chalice for you. The church pulsates with the life-blood of Christ for you. This is why St. Augustine once said, "Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until we find our rest in Thee."

Jesus is better than a wizard; He is your Savior. His cross is your rest. He pours out His Spirit upon you. His Baptism gives you a new heart. His Absolution speaks forgiveness to hearts burdened by sin. His Supper strengthens your heart with His own body and blood.

Think about that the next time you sing, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, And make our hearts Your place of rest; Come with Your grace and heav' nly aid, And fill the hearts which You have made. (LSB 498:1)

May 20, 2012 - The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: John 15:26-16:4

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 14:1-25; Luke 18:18-34

"I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away." (John 16:1)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Jesus speaks two words to prepare His disciples: a promise and a warning. He promises, "I will send you the Helper, the Spirit of truth. You will be my witnesses just as the Spirit witness of me." And He also warns the disciples: "Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think He is offering service to God."

Consolation and Suffering. That' s what Jesus promises His disciples. What? Where' s the tricked out car, the MTV crib, the success and fame? That' s the way the world sees religion: power, prestige and popularity. Suffering? Forget about it. Sorrow? I' d rather not. All that talk about sin and death? Jesus, you' re not going to make any friends that way!

Jesus didn' t come to earth to be your buddy or your homeboy. He came to make you His saint. And He doesn' t want you, His saints, to fall away when life gets rough and tough.

The world hated Jesus. You can expect the same. Just look at His disciples. Jesus' prediction comes true. They get tossed out of the synagogues. Persecuted. Killed. Fed to lions in the Coliseum and worse.

Dietrich Bonheoffer, a German Lutheran pastor all too familiar with suffering, once said, "When our Lord calls a man, he bids him come and die." That' s the comfort. You have already died in Christ. Died in Baptism. Daily you die to sin and arise in Christ' s forgiveness.

Let this world' s tyrant rage; Satan is defeated. Christ holds the field and you, in victory. Though life be wrenched away, this sinful world cannot wrestle you out of Jesus' pierced hands. His suffering is your consolation. His death is your life.

When your hour of pain and sorrow comes, know that Jesus suffers with you. He has endured all pain, sorrow, sin and death for you. His suffering is your consolation. That' s why He sends the Spirit to you in your Baptism — to give you an everlasting Helper, comforter and witness to Jesus. In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Almighty, everlasting God, cause us always to have a devout will toward You and to serve Your majesty with a pure heart; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Seventh Sunday of Easter)

May 19, 2012 - Saturday after Ascension

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 13:1-3, 17-33; Luke 18:1-17

"Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Alleluia. Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide Your face from me. Alleluia." (Psalm 27:7 – 9, Antiphon from the Introit for Easter 7)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Adam and Eve tried to hide their face and nakedness from the Lord. But fig leaves could not cover their guilt shame and sin before God.

You just can' t teach an old sinner new tricks. We sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are no different. Ever notice how criminals cover their face as they leave the courthouse? Ever buried your face in your hands in shame or embarrassment?

These are all symptoms of our old sinful nature' s attempt to cover up our guilt and sin before others. And worse still before God, from whom no secret or face is hid. You might be able to avoid that person in the hallway today that you argued with yesterday. You may be able to delete the internet history or try any other variety of fig-leaves. But you can' t hide your face — or your sin and guilt — from God.

The good news is He doesn' t hide His face in shame from you, even though He sees you for who you are. He hears your prayer: "Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!" And He answers with mercy.

In sending Jesus, the words of the Psalmist are fulfilled: "Your face, Lord, do I seek." In Jesus, God has a face. He has a nose. Eyes. Ears. Mouth. He comes in your flesh to save you by His flesh.

Jesus wraps Himself in your shame, bears your guilt and dies in your naked humiliation on the cross. He doesn' t hide his face from your guilt and shame. He buries His face, His hands, His feet and His whole body in your sin. You are covered by Jesus' holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

Now you get to see what Moses couldn' t dare gaze upon. In Jesus you see God face-to-face. In Jesus you stand before God ( coram deo ) in the perfect righteousness of a son and daughter of the Second Adam, Jesus.

Now He makes His face shine upon you. Blesses you. Lifts up His countenance upon you. God doesn' t hide from you. In Jesus, He comes face-to-face with you as you kneel before Him at the Altar and forever in heaven. In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

But death would not the victor be Of Him who hung upon the tree. He leads us to the Holy Place Within the veil, before God' s face. (LSB 624:4)

May 18, 2012 - Friday after the Ascension

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: Acts 1:1-11

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 11:24-29; 12:1-16; Luke 17:20-37

"This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Where the Gospel of Luke ends, Acts begins: Jesus ascends into heaven. The book of Acts, after all, is episode two of Luke's Gospel. In Luke we hear how Jesus is born, lives, suffers, dies and rises. Now in Acts we hear how Jesus ascends, sends the Holy Spirit and fills His church with His presence.

That' s what the cloud points to: God' s presence. In the Scriptures where there' s a cloud, there' s the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The shekinah, in Hebrew. The cloud led the people of Israel by day with smoke and fire by night. The cloud sat between the cherubim in the Holy of holies. The cloud enveloped Jesus and His disciples at His transfiguration. Now the cloud takes Jesus out of sight.

But Jesus is not gone. Remember. Where there' s the cloud, there' s the Lord. So there' s Jesus in the cloud. St. Luke wants you to know that Jesus is the presence of God. The Glory of the Lord takes on human skin and bones. You don' t have to go to the temple, or look up into the sky. You look to Jesus.

Jesus is not gone. The angel speaks comforting words: "He will come again in the same way you saw him go into heaven." He who ascended will also descend to you again. He came in the flesh. He comes in Word and Sacrament. He will come again in glory.

We may not know the times or seasons fixed by the Father' s authority for the return of the King. But we do know where to find Him. Jesus ascends in order to send the Spirit to his disciples, his church and to you.

After His ascension, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit upon His church. The same Spirit poured out upon you in Baptism. The same Spirit that works faith and trust in Jesus' Word in you. The same Spirit that points you to Jesus' presence now located — not in a cloud — but in bread and wine. That' s what the Ascension means, Jesus is with you forever. In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Be now our joy on earth, O Lord, And be our future great reward. Alleluia, alleluia! Then, throned with Your forever, we Shall praise Your name eternally. Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! (LSB 493:5)

May 17, 2012 - The Ascension of Our Lord

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: Luke 24:44-53

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 11:1-23,31-35; Luke 17:1-19

"The he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven." (Luke 24:50-51)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! Jesus ascends into heaven. How? Did He blast off into the atmosphere like a missile? Did He leap tall cumulo-nimbus clouds in a single bound? No, St. Luke says He simply, "parted from them."

So where did He go? Can you find heaven by looking through a telescope or using your smart phone' s GPS? No. Jesus ascends to the right hand of God. Jesus isn' t locked far, far away in heaven. He is at God' s right hand, which is a position of power. He fills all things with His death-defeating, sin-crushing, serpent-stomping, glorious and resurrected power. All things are now under His crucified, risen and ascended feet.

That' s good news for the disciples and all Christians. Because Jesus ascended to the right hand of God He fills his church with His crucified, risen and ascended presence. That' s right; Jesus didn' t leave His body behind to float around as Casper the friendly Jesus. He is true God. True man. Real flesh and blood like you. But glorified in His resurrection.

As the disciples found out at Pentecost, Jesus had not disappeared. He was not absent. In His Ascension He is with His church even greater than before. "Lo, I am with you always, even to very close of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Where Jesus goes you go. The cross? It' s yours through Baptism into Jesus' death and resurrection. Glorification? It' s yours through Jesus' ascension and glory at God' s right hand. The life everlasting? It' s yours because Jesus ascended in order to bless you. One day you, too, will bow down before the throne of the Lamb — not as a ghost but with a resurrected, glorified body. All thanks to Jesus.

Jesus' ascension is for you. By His ascension, Jesus is near to you, not distant. You don' t have to stare at the clouds wondering where He is. Jesus is right where He promises to be for you: in the Scriptures, the Prayers, the Breaking of the Bread. He is not gone. He is risen. He is ascended. He is with you always. In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Death destroying, life-restoring, Proven equal to our need, Now for us before the Father As our brother intercede; Flesh that for our world was wounded, Living for the wounded plead! (LSB 491:2)

May 16, 2012 - Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 10:11-36; Luke 16:19-31

"And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. What does this mean? We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us." (Fifth Petition and Explanation of the Lord' s Prayer)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! Trespassing is a serious offense. In its most severe punishment, trespassing warrants death: "No trespassing … violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."

This is the severity of God' s Law: death. Mt. Sinai might as well have had big red "No Trespassing" signs posted all around her foothills. For when we attempt to scale the mountain on our own strength or merit we slip and fall time and time again. We have not loved the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind; we haven' t even loved our neighbors as ourselves.

There is only One who can scale Sinai' s slopes without fear of the death sentence: "No Trespassing." There' s only One who has gone without violation of the Law. Only One has no need to ask the Father for forgiveness.

And yet for us men and our salvation this One, Jesus, does plead before the Father for you. Having no sin of his own, He prays for yours. Having trespassed no Law — indeed, having kept it perfectly — He bears your trespasses that you might forgive those who trespass against you. Jesus loves the Father with all His heart and soul and mind; and He loves His neighbor as Himself. Actually, better than Himself, for He loves you to death, literally.

So great is Jesus' love for you that He daily drowns your trespasses in Baptism. He feeds you with His trespass-forgiving body and blood. He forgives your trespasses so that you are free to forgive those who trespass against you. Christ is Risen! In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore, That they may trouble us no more; We, too, will gladly those forgive Who hurt us by the way they live. Help us in our community To serve each other willingly. (LSB 766:6)

May 15, 2012 - Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: James 1:22-27

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 9:1-23; Luke 16:1-18

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only." (James 1:22)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! Do. It' s one little word. Two letters. And yet it is so difficult to do. Do your homework. Do your chores. Do what your parents tell you. How does our to-do list get done when even our daily tasks are difficult to do?

"Be doers of the Word," James tells us. What happens when we look to God' s Word? What about the 10 commandments? Do this. Don' t do that. It all seems so overwhelming. Impossible. That' s the Law: do-do. The Law says to you, "Do this," and it is never done.

Thankfully, God' s Word doesn' t stop with a to-do list. He has another word for you: done. That' s the Gospel: done. Jesus has done all things well for you. That' s what he came to do with his perfect life. For all that we have done and all that we have left undone, Jesus does. It is finished. Done. Christ does the "do" you couldn' t "do." On the cross your to-do list is Jesus' done list.

What does it mean, then, to be doers of the Word? It all begins with Jesus. Not Jesus the wise guru who shows you how to be a super-Christian. The Bible is not a how-to book; it' s the saving proclamation of Christ Crucified. Christianity is not about "What would Jesus do?" But, "What has Jesus done for you?" Everything. He lived, suffered, died and rose for you. That' s Jesus' Word for you. Unlike our words, Jesus' Word is action. His Word does what He promises.

So it' s not that hearers become righteous by being doers — that' s Law. Rather, hearing leads to doing, just like a good tree bears good fruit. Hearing Jesus' forgiveness spoken in your ears gives you forgiveness to speak to your neighbor who has sinned against you. By Jesus' love poured into the chalice, you are able to pour out your love to those in need: the widow, the orphan and those in affliction.

Christ has set us free to hear his Word. And hearing leads to doing. For everything is done. In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen!

So use it well! You are made new — In Christ a new creation! As faithful Christians, live and do Within your own vocation, Until that day when you possess His glorious robe of righteousness Bestowed on you forever! (LSB 596:6)

May 14, 2012 - Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 8:5-26; Luke 15:11-32

"And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." (Numbers 21:8)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! This was the original snakes on the plain. Snakes here. Snakes there. Snakes everywhere! Under the rocks. In their tents. Creeping. Crawling. Biting. Dying.

These wilderness snakes were the consequence of Israel' s rebellion. Impatience led to grumbling. Grumbling led to sin. Sin led to death. Israel did not fear, love and trust in God above all things. Their stomachs were their gods. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?"

The exodus was Israel' s deliverance from bondage to death and slavery in Egypt. The same Lord who rescued Israel also promised to be with them in the wilderness. The truth is, the Lord didn' t bring His people out in the wilderness to die, but to rescue them.

Still they grumbled. Many died. Yet many also repented of their sin as the Law slithered before them. But God provided an intercessor: Moses prayed to the Lord on behalf of the people. God was merciful.

Israel deserved death. Instead, they received life on a pole. A great bronze serpentine signal pointing forward to a greater intercessor than Moses: Christ Crucified. "For just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

We, too, deserved death. We, too, grumble against God. We, too, fear, love and trust in anything and anyone but the Lord. But instead of punishment, God sends his Son. He raises Him up on the cross for you and the sins of the whole world. Look to Christ in Baptism and live. Look to Christ in absolution and live. Look to Christ in the Supper and live.

For when Death came creeping, crawling, biting at Jesus' heals, He crushed it, along with your sin, once and for all. The ancient serpent is dead. Your sin is forgiven. You are free. You are alive. Christ is Risen! In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

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 (LSB 453:1)

May 13, 2012 - The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: John 16:23-33

Daily Lectionary: Numbers 3:1-16,39-48; Luke 14:25 - 15:10

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! Jesus' disciples knew tribulation. Persecution. Stoning. St. Peter was crucified upside down humbly confessing he had no right to die the way Jesus did.

When it comes down to it, the theology of the cross isn' t some pretty slogan on a coffee cup. It' s painful, bloody, suffering reality. The disciples knew it. Jesus knew it. And we know it. Jesus promises His followers will suffer for His name. But that' s not the only thing He promises. He promises peace.

Where is that peace found? Not it in the halls of the United Nations, in presidential candidates' campaign promises or even on a faded bumper sticker.

What does Jesus promise? "In Me you have peace." It was true for the disciples and it' s true for you today and every day. Jesus is your Prince of Peace. By His death He has made peace between God and men. Not appeasement. Not a temporary cease fire. A promise that is never broken.

"Fear not. Take heart. I have overcome the world." There are many great and terrible tribulations that have plagued this world and overshadowed your own lives; some, perhaps, are yet to come.

For this reason, Jesus throws himself under the Law and lets the weight of the wicked world overcome Him instead of you. Jesus is overcome by sin and death in order to overcome sin and death for you. There is no greater tribulation than the cross. Jesus' pain, suffering, blood and death are greater than your pain, sin, suffering and death. Jesus dies and rises to give you His everlasting peace.

"In me you have peace." The peace of God washed over you in Baptism. The peace of God planted into your ears. The peace of God that comes to us in pieces of bread. O Lord, let your servants depart in peace. Christ is Risen! In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

O God our Father, from whom all good things do come, grant to us, Your humble servants, that by Your holy inspiration we may think those things that be right and by Your merciful guiding may perform them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Easter)

May 12, 2012 - Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Today's Reading: Introit for Easter 6

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 26:21-33,39-44; Luke 14:1-24

"With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim this, utter it to the end of the earth. Alleluia. The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob! Alleluia." (Antiphon from the Introit for the Sixth Sunday of Easter)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! We all fight with our siblings. The back-seat-of-the-car slug fest. There are buttons we love to push in order to get our brother or sister to react in just the right, steaming-mad way. We sin against our siblings and they sin against us.

Jacob and Esau were no different. Their sibling rivalry started already in the womb where Jacob came out grabbing Esau' s ankle. That' s why Jacob' s name means, "grabber."

But Esau' s ankle wasn' t the only thing Jacob tried grabbing. First he haggled Esau out of his lawful birthright for a bowl soup and some bread. Then he dressed up Bear-Grylls-style, like his outdoorsman brother, impersonating his brother in order to hoodwink his father. Grabber indeed.

Eventually, God gave Jacob a new name: Israel. And yet for all of Jacob' s sin, the Lord redeems him. And through Jacob the Lord redeems all people. God repeats the promise He swore to Abraham and Isaac for all of Jacob' s descendants, one descendant in particular. Jesus.

He' s the son of Jacob. Thankfully He' s also your brother in human flesh. He comes to let the devil grab a hold of Him and pierce His ankle on the cross. And in doing so, He crushes sin, death and the devil for you. He grabs you out of Satan' s clutches and gives you a new name: saint. Baptized. Holy. Sons. And if a son, then an heir through Christ.

Christ has redeemed His servant Jacob and through Christ you are counted as Jacob' s redeemed descendants. You are children of Christ' s promise. All of the sins you and your siblings commit against each other are paid for in Jesus' blood.

There' s no longer any sibling rivalry between you and Jesus. All that Jesus has now belongs to you. He is your brother, your greater Jacob and your Savior. Christ is Risen! In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Come, you faithful raise the strain Of triumphant gladness! God has brought His Israel Into joy from sadness, Loosed from Pharaoh' s bitter yoke Jacob' s sons and daughters, Led them through unmoistened foot Through the Red Sea waters. (LSB 487:1)

May 11, 2012 - Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 26:1-20; Luke 13:18-35

"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." (Luke 13:24)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. Christ is Risen! Think of all the doors you go through in a day, probably more than you can count. There are sliding doors, round doors to holes in the ground, heavy wooden doors, all kinds of doors. Most of them are easy to open with the proper key or code.

Why then does Jesus tell us, "Strive to enter through the narrow door?" He makes it sound rather difficult — even impossible — to enter, as if the door He' s talking about is shut without Him.

That' s precisely the problem. When it comes to our sin our access to God is denied. Dead sinners can' t walk anywhere, let alone through the door into heaven. There' s no knockin' on heaven' s door or party crashing the pearly gates. Ever since Genesis 3, heaven' s gates are closed to the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. Eden was guarded by cherubim with flaming swords.

You don' t have the right key. But Jesus does. In fact, Jesus is the key and the door. In your Baptism, Jesus declares the same thing to you as He did to that thief next to Him on the cross: "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

Just as the heavens were torn open at Jesus' Baptism, so, too, in Jesus' death, He opens heaven for you through the water and blood flowing from His pierced side into the chalice and the font for you — all so that you who were last are now declared first. For the Lord has opened heaven to you.

Jesus is the Key of David. And He holds the keys to Death and Hades (Rev. 1:18). Jesus is the door (John 10:9). You go through Jesus' death and resurrection into the paradise prepared for us before the foundation of the world. Jesus is your everlasting door. And the cross of Christ is the key to paradise. Christ is Risen! In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Come, Jesus, come, Messiah Lord, Lost paradise restore; Lead past the angel' s flaming sword — Come open heaven' s door. (LSB 342:4)