Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to join us Sunday morning as we continue to celebrate the good news that Jesus is alive, being bodily raised from the dead. Because He lives, we who belong to Him, will also be made alive when He comes again.
May 4th is the Third Sunday of Easter. We will follow the liturgy of Divine Service One beginning on page 151 of the LSB hymnal. Hymns chosen for the day are #487 Come You Faithful Raise the Strain; #485 Long Before the World is Waking; #473 Our Pascal Lamb, That Sets Us Free; #488 He is Arisen! Glorious Word; and #479 Christ is Risen, Christ is Living.
Scriptures assigned to the day are Psalm 30:1-12; Acts 9:1-22; Revelation 5:8-14; and John 21:1-14.
The attribution for Psalm 30 says it is a psalm of David, later sung at the Dedication of the first Jerusalem Temple. 2Samuel Chapters 23 and 24 report some of the things King David did in the days before he died. He compiled a list of the names of the elite warriors who had fought for him. Without God’s direction, he also conducted a census of the country and a census of the army. It is not clear why he took a census. It is written that God was angry with David, and incited him to count. David’s motivation may have been arrogance, measuring what he thought he had accomplished. We often err by placing our confidence in numbers. Or maybe David was afraid for his country, worrying as to whether the county had enough men to protect the land. In any case, David recognized his action as sinful. Obsession with numbers is failing to trust God above all things. As punishment, God sent a plague on the land and thousands of men died. But God relented, and His angel of death was stopped from doing further damage. David responded with thanksgiving, buying a piece of ground and erecting an altar to worship God. Several years later, David’s son Solomon would build the temple on this same location.
At the Dedication, they sang David’s psalm. He praises God for hearing his cries and restoring him. God turned David’s grief over sin into the joy that comes with assurance of forgiveness. Because Jesus has died to pay for our sin, we too can be confident that we have been restored to God. And on the last day, He will bring us up from the dead.
Acts 9 reports on the conversion of St. Paul. Originally named Saul, he was trained as a Pharisee, and became an ardent opponent to Christianity. But as the narrative reports, God used the witness of a man names Ananias to change Saul’s views of Jesus and of Christians. God made Paul the chief Christian missionary to the Gentiles and defender of the faith. Continue to pray for our enemies. God can turn the hearts of His most stubborn opponents.
The reading from Revelation gives a description of worship in heaven, with heavenly creatures praising Jesus for shedding His blood as the ransom payment that set people free from condemnation and death. Jesus deserves all our praise and honor.
The verses from John Chapter 21 describe yet another appearance of Jesus after His resurrection. Though His appearance was somehow changed, His disciples knew it was Him. He instructed the disciples where to fish and then ate with them. This is evidence that Jesus is not a mere spirit, but has a resurrected body. In a similar way, Jesus will make alive the earthly bodies of each one of us, and raise us in glory.
COLLECT: O gracious Father God, through the humiliation of Your Son, You raised up the fallen world. As You have rescued us from the peril of everlasting death, grant to your faithful people perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Please let me know if you have any prayer requests of questions about Sunday’s Scripture readings. Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! God bless you. Pastor Boster
