Psalm 139

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 2

Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 139

Reading: St. Mark 16:1-8

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”

So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Meditation: Who will roll away the stone? the women wondered. The stone was to them an obstacle imprisoning the dead body of Christ, and as it imprisoned the Redeemer of us all, therefore it really imprisoned us all; for if Christ is dead, and cannot escape from the prison house of death, then we are all dead in trespasses and sins. If no one can roll the stone of death away, then we must be eternally imprisoned in death and hell. But the stone was rolled away; it could not contain Him. It could not contain His death, and so could not contain our death either. And we who are in Christ by Baptism are freed from the prison house of death and hell. For behind that stone was the Rock of our salvation; Christ our Rock is greater than the stone of death, and has crushed it. Hear the angel: Do not be alarmed. Christ is risen! He is not here. Where is He not? He is not behind that stone; the grave is empty. So shall the graves of all the saints of Christ become empty, on the great eternal Easter of His return.

Psalm 2

Reading: St. Luke 24:13-35 or 25-35

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.

And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”

Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”

And He said to them, “What things?”

So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.

Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.

And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Meditation: Here Christ shows how all the Scriptures testify of Him. Beginning at Moses (the first five books of the Bible) and all the prophets (the rest of the Old Testament), He expounded unto them—what?—in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. See, it says, in all, all. Therefore Christ is the Key who unlocks the Scriptures. The Emmaus disciples were sad, even though it was Easter Sunday. Why were they sad? Because the Scriptures were closed to them, who believed Christ was dead. But now their eyes are opened, because Christ walks with them and makes Himself known to them. But how, especially, does Christ make Himself known to them? According to this Scripture, In the breaking of the bread. So also is He made known to us in the breaking of the bread, that is, in the Holy Sacrament, the High Feast of Easter. Let us become as the Emmaus disciples, with hearts burning as He unlocks the Scriptures and teaches us of Himself; and let us especially rejoice when He makes Himself known to us in the breaking of the bread.

Psalm 2

Reading: St. Luke 24:36-48

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Meditation: Jesus is not a ghost; He is man. If Jesus were a ghost, we would have as much reason as the disciples to be terrified of Him. But when He proved Himself to be man, they were joyful. Let us learn from this the joy in beholding this Man, who can be handled and seen, bears flesh and bones, has hands and feet, and eats broiled fish and honey. Therefore He is like us. But He is also the Lord’s Anointed, the Christ, our Salvation. So He eats, to demonstrate that He who was dead now lives and has brought salvation. Was it not through eating that Adam fell into sin and death? So now, through eating, Christ the Second Adam reveals that He has raised our human nature from death to life. His body is alive. Therefore our bodies shall live, as we say, I believe in the resurrection of the body. Christ’s body now, and our bodies, at the Last Day. How fitting also that what He eats here is broiled fish, for as a worm catches a fish, so He, who had said, I am a worm, has now in His resurrection snared the devil, who thus becomes as broiled fish.

Psalm 2

Reading: St. John 20:1-18 or 20:11-18

Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

Meditation: Mary stands in the garden and weeps. We know it is a garden because she supposed Christ to be the gardener. Why does she weep? Because Christ died. But she has yet to learn that Christ who died is not dead. How is it that He who died is not dead? Because He is the Seed. In the first Garden, God said that the Seed of the first woman would gain victory over the Evil One. Now here stands another woman, in another garden, weeping because that Seed has died. But the Seed must die, and be buried, if it is to sprout and bear fruit. So Christ died, but is not dead, as we say in the Creed, He was dead, not is dead. He was dead; but He sprouted forth in that garden on Easter, for He is not merely the gardener, but the New Vine of the garden, which has arisen out of the earth. And by the watering of this garden, which is Baptism, He bears fruit, that is, Christians who spring up in Him who shall live with Him forever in His eternal Garden and Paradise.

Psalm 2

Reading: St. Luke 24:1-12

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”

And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Meditation: Who were the first to bring tidings of the resurrection of Christ from the dead? Three women are named, together with other women. How fitting this was, for it was a woman who had first brought the tidings of death, when she gave the forbidden fruit to her husband in the Garden of Eden, and he ate, and died the spiritual death of the whole human race. Now the tables are turned, and three women bring instead the tidings of life and salvation. Here God whose name is three—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—sends the Gospel of the resurrection with three named women to the men who will be charged with preaching it to the world. Thus He restores honor to womanhood, which had once lost its dignity through the error of Eve. Thus Eve is vindicated and restored, her sin is forgiven, she is cleansed; for all that was lost because of her error has been recovered and renewed in the resurrected one, the Second Adam.

Psalm 2

Reading: St. Luke 24:36-49 or 24:44-49

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Meditation: Here again, Jesus explains that all things written in Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concern Himself. Thus, He says, it is written. Christ is therefore not only the Door; He is also the Key, the Key of David. He unlocks the Scriptures. To understand the Scriptures one must know Christ. For Christ, it says, opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. So also does He open our understanding. Do you wish to understand the Scriptures? Christ, the Key, must teach you. How does He do this? In this Gospel He commands that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations. So this preaching is meant particularly for all who are baptized in His name. For when this Gospel is preached in His name, Christ who washed us in Baptism is present; and He who is the Key opens again the Door of salvation. But He is both the Key and the Door; He is both the Bringer of salvation, and Salvation itself. The preaching of this Gospel is for the baptized to hear.

Psalm 2

Reading: St. Mark 16:9-14

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Meditation: Here is Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven devils had been cast by Christ; see now how the devils return, as Christ had elsewhere warned that demons once cast out return with others worse than they. Mary has seen the risen Lord, but no one will believe her! She could not stem the tide of their weeping, even with this marvelous news. She knows the truth, but she is alone in knowing it. Yet she will not be left without her Help, for Christ now appears to some of them Himself, and will appear, at length, to all of them. She will be vindicated, then, for they will see for themselves that she was right in announcing this seemingly incredible news. Indeed Christ Himself will upbraid them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. Exonerated she now stands, who was once scorned. So shall the whole Church be: though for a time disbelieved, yet at last likewise vindicated. Well has the Church from that time therefore honored this Mary, in token of all the faithful who shall be vindicated.

Praise the LORD!

I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,
In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

The works of the LORD are great,
Studied by all who have pleasure in them.
His work is honorable and glorious,
And His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
The LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will ever be mindful of His covenant.
He has declared to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are verity and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
They stand fast forever and ever,
And are done in truth and uprightness.
He has sent redemption to His people;
He has commanded His covenant forever:
Holy and awesome is His name.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever.

Psalm 111

Reading: St. John 20:19-31

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Meditation: The works of his hands are verity and judgment, says the Psalmist. Today, Thomas sees quite literally the works of Christ’s hands, as He bids Thomas to touch His hands: they are living hands which were dead, hands of the Crucified, which now accompany His words of peace and blessing to His disciples. For both on Easter and on this eighth day of Easter, when He said Peace be with you, He also showed them His hands. His hands accompany His blessing. There is therefore a good and longstanding tradition in the Church, according to which a Christian pastor, when speaking in Christ’s stead the words of Christ’s peace to the penitent sinner, also employs his hands in the blessing, laying them upon the head of the penitent. For in Absolution, the hands and blessing given are really those of Christ Himself, as Christ gave this authority to His Apostles and their successors, in this Gospel: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Psalm 111

Reading: St. John 21:1-25 or 21:3-11

After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”

They answered Him, “No.”

And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.

This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Meditation: Here the resurrected Jesus asks His children, who are fishing, whether they have caught anything, and as it was on the similar occasion before His resurrection, they have caught nothing. And also as on that occasion, when Jesus instructs them to cast their net, they catch a great multitude of fish; just as it is in the Church: when in churchly matters His instructions are followed, Christians are gathered in. But there is a difference. On this occasion, the net did not break, although on the former occasion, it did break. Even so, while “fish” are gathered into the Church before the Great Day of the Lord, there is much trouble and schism within the Church, whose nets break, so to speak. But on the Last Day, when we shall all appear before the resurrected Lord, all the elect shall be gathered, and shall be safely held in the eternal dwelling place, when there shall be only unity and harmony, and no nets will break. See how these two fishing events illustrate the difference between the Church militant and the Church triumphant.

Psalm 111

Reading: John 2:12-25

After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

Meditation: David in the Psalm declared, The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up, but now One greater than David demonstrates His holy zeal for the temple, driving out the money changers. The temple is the place of atonement for sin, but the buying and selling of oxen, sheep, and doves will provide no offering sufficient to atone for sin; therefore these things must all be driven out of the temple, as well as all other insufficient payments, such as works of the law or self-sacrifices of love. These must all be driven out, in order that the one true Sacrifice, which is Christ, alone remains. So also must we recognize that He Himself is not only the greater sacrifice, but also that He is One greater than the temple; for although His body, which is the true temple, was ruined on the cross, yet He raised it up on the third day, Easter. Christ alone is our Redeemer and Temple; therefore true worship must be in His name, that is, with the knowledge that we enter the true temple by Baptism in His name and by the faith which Baptism gives.

Psalm 111

Reading: St. John 3:22-36

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ,’ but, I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Meditation: Now Jesus and His disciples begin to baptize, just as John the Baptist had been baptizing. So John’s disciples are confused: why, they ask, is Jesus intruding on John’s calling? So John explains that Jesus is greater than he, and is the fulfillment of all that he does. John is merely the friend of the Bridegroom, but Jesus is the Bridegroom Himself, so the friend rejoices in seeing the Bridegroom baptize. If Jesus then is the Bridegroom, who can the Bride be but the Church of those whom He baptizes? And what can Baptism be but a participation in the heavenly marriage of the Lamb? Though this Gospel says that Jesus was baptizing, in fact the Evangelist tells us further on that it was not Jesus Himself baptizing, but His disciples. Therefore this Gospel declares that when Jesus’ disciples baptize, it is really Jesus Himself who is baptizing. The same is true today: when Jesus’ servants, the pastors in His Church, baptize, it is really Jesus who baptizes, still today, and this participation in the Bridegroom’s heavenly marriage thus continues.

Psalm 111

Reading: St. John 4:1-27 or 4:7-14

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

Meditation: When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, He was not thirsting merely for the water in the well from which she drew water, but for the faith of the woman herself. For she was drawing water from the wrong well. Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. The water of this world only satisfies temporarily; so also do all of earth’s pleasures and lusts eventually leave a person thirsty and unsatisfied. But whoever drinks of the water that Jesus shall give him shall never thirst. Jesus gives eternal water, when He gives His word. Moreover, He gives Holy Baptism, the washing of regeneration, wherein His word transforms some of the world’s water into Holy Waters of Life. The faith which springs from the well and font of Holy Baptism is an eternal faith. True worship of God is, as Jesus says, to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth; to know Jesus as the Christ, as He said to this woman, and to believe also that God is a Spirit. This Holy Trinity fills the water of Baptism, from which true faith thus arises.

Psalm 111

Reading: St. John 4:28-38

The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

Meditation: Christ’s food is His work, as He says: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” This work is the work of salvation, which was begun long before, prophesied and awaited for ages, as a sower first sows seed and awaits its growth. Now at last it is to be accomplished and harvested. Who reaps? The Apostles, as He says to them here: I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored. They are the last, then. They do not await; they gather, they reap. They are not to say, There are still four months, but rather, to go to the four corners of the earth preaching the fourfold Gospel. The time of harvest has come for them and for their successors. The labor is accomplished, the redemption won, the victory acquired. Now the proclamation of it goes forth to all the world, which is the gathering of the harvest. The preaching of the Gospel, which begins at Jerusalem, begins to spread abroad here in Samaria, the first outpost beyond Jerusalem, where Christ Himself preaches to a woman who then brings her kinsmen to Him.

Psalm 111

Reading: St. John 4:39-45

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.

Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

Meditation: Why did the Samaritans believe? Because they heard Jesus with their own ears. It was not merely because of the woman’s testimony, therefore, for when she said that He told her all that she ever did, they went out to see Jesus for themselves. Thus they heard Him, not being content merely to have heard the woman testify. So must we also go out to hear Him, unlike those who suppose that right or sufficient faith comes from hearing of the faith of others. Let us be as the Samaritans here, who upon hearing of Him went out to hear Him, and who then believed because they heard Him, saying, Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him. Simply, this means, Go to church and hear Jesus for yourself, that you may with confidence know—what?—what they knew. What did they know, when they heard Jesus? They knew that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
He fashions their hearts individually;
He considers all their works.

No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.

Psalm 33

Reading: St. John 10:11-16

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Meditation: Who is your pastor? Is it not Christ Himself? For He says I, I AM the Good Shepherd, that is, the Good Pastor. I know My Sheep, and am known by My own. But the Psalmist says, He hath shewed his people the power of his works, and he sent redemption unto his people. How does He shepherd all his people? He sends forth His Spirit into all the world, His Spirit which comes down like a dove wherever Christ’s own called and ordained servants preach His word in His stead. The lips, the mouths, and the words are His. The preaching is His own, the feeding is from His hand, for He says I AM the Good Shepherd. Thus when He gave some as pastors, He armed them with His words and authority, as His ambassadors. But no pastor may speak on his own behalf; he speaks Christ’s and not his own word. For this is how the Good Shepherd feeds His sheep: He tells Peter to feed them, and with Peter, all those He calls and ordains, so that all around the world, the sheep may hear His voice, and believe, and be saved.

Psalm 33

Reading: John 5:1-17 or 5:1-9

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

Meditation: This miraculous pool at Bethesda had five porches, but was of no help to anyone who was too weak, like this certain man with his infirmity, to whom Jesus came. Yet now, in spite of all those who were there to be healed at Bethesda, Jesus heals only him, who kept getting shoved aside from the pool by those who were stronger. How very like the Law is this pool. For the Law, which comes in the five books of Moses, is good enough for those who consider themselves strong, but not for the weak. But whom does Jesus help? Not the strong, but the weak; not the well, but the sick, who most need the Physician. Let us consider ourselves feeble and weak in ourselves, like this poor man who was too slow to make it to that pool in time; and let us then turn to a different, better Pool, namely the washing of Holy Baptism, which, being full of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, shall therefore heal all our infirmities at the Last Day. On that Day we who believe shall surely rise from our beds and graves, and walk, with Him who is the Way.

Psalm 33

Reading: St. John 5:18-30 or 5:24-30

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Meditation: Jesus said, He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life. Therefore let us with diligence hear His word; let us have ears to hear. For from hearing and keeping His word comes everlasting life. If we keep His word now, then we shall surely hear it again, at the Last Day, as He says here, The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. Hear it now, and you shall hear it then as well. Christ today is Redeemer and Friend of sinners. At that Day He will execute judgment, as He also says here. But if you hear Him now, and become His friend today, then at that Day, your Judge shall be your Friend. Those who are Jesus’ friends today, who believe His word, now have life in them, and therefore do good, since faith works by love. Then, at the Last Day, the works will serve as evidence for the Judge that these were His friends, and those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, while the rest, who have done evil, will be damned, for He will not know them.

Psalm 33

Reading: John 5:31-47 or 5:39-47

“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

“I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Meditation: The Jews not only rejected Jesus, but also Moses, as He says here. This is why Jesus tells them to search the Scriptures. The reason is that they testify of Him. But these evil men do not have the love of God in them, and therefore do not search nor believe the Scriptures, and therefore do not believe Jesus. If they had believed Moses, they would have believed Jesus, For, Jesus declares, he wrote about Me. Moses wrote of Jesus; what are we then to do? Read Moses; look into Moses as the Bethlehem shepherds looked into the manger in search of the Child. So must we search, and seek, and we shall find. For Christ is the testimony of Scripture, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. If therefore you read Scripture but do not see Christ there, then your hearing is impaired and needs help. Whence comes your help? From Christ and His preaching in the Church. For Christ makes all things clear; He is the Key who unlocks the Scriptures. Moses wrote about me, says Jesus. Therefore let us believe.

Psalm 33

Reading: St. John 6:16-29 or 6:16-21

Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Meditation: See what happens to the disciples in their little boat in the midst of the sea: there comes darkness and great peril. But this is by design, for the peril was the result of a great wind. This is so like us: in our little boat, which is the Church, we likewise come upon great darkness at times. But let us stay with the boat! For now we see that Jesus came to them, walking on the sea, while they were in their boat. But the mere presence of Jesus by itself is terrifying, until He speaks His faithful word of peace. For to be in the presence of the Almighty gives great fear to those who know they are deserving of His wrath, until His word of grace sounds forth: It is I; do not be afraid. This Christ must be willingly received also into our little boat, which is the Church, when we hear Him preach on Sunday morning. For when we worship in Spirit and Truth, hearing His word, we stand at the very gates of Paradise, just like the disciples here: when they received Him into the boat, immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

Psalm 33

Reading: John 6:30-40

Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Meditation: Jesus is the Bread of Life; why does He thus name Himself? Bread is daily sustenance for life; therefore Jesus is also our Daily Bread for which we pray in the Our Father. But the life which He gives is eternal: he who comes to Me shall never hunger; and he who believes in Me shall never thirst; I will raise him up at the last day. Since Jesus is Bread, He therefore took bread and blessed and broke it and gives it to us. In the Blessed Sacrament therefore, the Bread of Life gives us the Bread of Life. Christ gives us Christ, and we feed on Him. This is the nature of God, that He gives Himself completely for us, and holds nothing back: The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Let us yearn for this Bread and this Life; for earthly bread gives earthly life, which flies away: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength, and a horse is a vain thing for safety. But our soul waiteth for the Lord. For He, Christ, is our Bread, our Life, and our Salvation.

Psalm 33

Reading: John 6:41-59

The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Meditation: How earnestly we ought to desire the Living Bread from heaven, to whom we pray in a favorite communion hymn. It is a mysterious thing that St. John’s Gospel, which is most sacramental of all in its use of language and imagery, is the only Gospel with no record of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Yet here John gives us this sermon of our Lord’s whose application to the Blessed Sacrament cannot be missed: My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks my blood, abides in Me, and I in him. What precious words, telling us that when we partake in Him, especially when we eat and drink the Sacred Mystery of the Altar, we thereby dwell in Him, and He in us, and therefore we have eternal life, believing. For our heart shall rejoice in Him who is that Bread of Life, our Bread from heaven, who sustains us eternally, because we have trusted in His holy name.

Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.”

Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
He turned the sea into dry land;
They went through the river on foot.
There we will rejoice in Him.
He rules by His power forever;
His eyes observe the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.

Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to be moved.
For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay You my vows,
Which my lips have uttered
And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
With the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats.

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled with my tongue.
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
But certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!

Psalm 66

Reading: St. John 16:16-23

“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”

Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”

Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

Meditation: St. John makes much over the fact that the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by a little while. Yet by the time this was written down, they understood, for they had already experienced a little while of sorrow, the sorrow of losing their dear Christ in death, when Easter came on the third day. Yet this phrase a little while is repeated seven times in these few verses. What is the meaning of this seven times a little while? We find repetitions of this little while, first, when after Jesus’ first resurrection appearance He appears again in a little while (the following Sunday), and over again, after little whiles throughout the forty days between Easter and the ascension. Then there is another little while, ten more days, until Pentecost, when Jesus is “seen” again, through the acts of the Apostles. So now, throughout life’s little whiles, Jesus continues to “reappear,” preaching to and feeding His people, until the grand reappearance after the last little while, on the Last Day.

Psalm 66

Reading: John 6:60-71

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Meditation: The words of Jesus are hard sayings, for the natural mind cannot accept them. The flesh profits nothing, which is to say, no help comes from this earth or anything made from its dust. Yet the spirit gives life, that is, makes the flesh alive. For as the Word became flesh, and in this incarnation brought new life to fallen flesh in Himself, so also, the words of the Word make our flesh alive. For His words are Spirit and Truth; therefore they give life. Yet those who insist on holding fast to this life, this flesh, will eventually all go back and walk no more with Him. Yet, in the mystery of the Word’s quickening power, we find that when Jesus asks the twelve if their will also is to go away, Peter replies in knowledge of the source of his will to stay with Jesus: You have the words of eternal life. So it is that the word of Christ offends the will of natural flesh, whose desire is to depart from Christ, but the same word also quickens—makes alive—the dead, giving them a will to stay with Him. For the Word became flesh to renew flesh.

Psalm 66

Reading: John 7:1-13

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him.

Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.” When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

Meditation: In this Gospel, Jesus’ time was not yet come, so He does not go openly into Jerusalem to the Feast of Tabernacles. He will not go openly until it is His time, when all things are fulfilled. But what did He do? He went to the feast, but secretly. For this was not yet the time when all these things will be proclaimed from the housetops, and into all the world. The day of fulfillment, of Jesus’ Passion, of the coming of the New Testament—which according to Jesus is the Blessed Sacrament—that Day had not quite arrived. Thus the Old Testament was still in effect, and with it, the festivals and seasons, and offerings of burnt sacrifices and fatlings. But what was the meaning of all those offerings and rituals of Moses? In them Jesus was secretly present. He was hidden, in the figures and priestly actions, just as in this feast. But today His time is fully come. For He, our Passover, was sacrificed, and gives us of His Passover blood in the Sacrament. Therefore now He is openly preached in all the world, for now is the Day of salvation.

Psalm 66

Reading: John 7:14-24

Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”

The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Meditation: Jesus warns His enemies to judge not according to appearance, but to judge with righteous judgment. This is because the appearance of Moses and of all Old Testament ritual cannot reveal their meaning, which is Christ. Jesus takes the practice of circumcising on the Sabbath as an example: the cutting off of the foreskin was not an end in itself, but meant to signify the complete purifying and cutting off of the old man, seen in Jesus’ healing of a man on the Sabbath day (and given also to us in Baptism). The word of Christ tells us this; but the Jews looked only at appearance, and thus not only missed the point of circumcision, but of Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath. Since He is the fulfillment of all ritual cleansing, thus the Sabbath is the most appropriate day for Him to heal. But they reject His word, and only have appearance by which to judge; so they condemn rather than praise Him, and in so doing seal their own condemnation. For through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.

Psalm 66

Reading: John 7:25-36 or 7:25-29

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

Meditation: There was among the Jews an opinion that when the Christ comes, no one will know where He comes from. And since they knew where Jesus came from, therefore He could not be the Christ. To this Jesus now replies, You both know and do not know where I came from. For they knew His hometown and His family, therefore they knew Him as man, and that He came forth from the family of Joseph (though they did not know of the virgin birth). But they did not know Him as God, the only begotten of the Father. Jesus is God of God, Light of Light, the Son of the Father. To know Him as man alone requires no faith, although if one does not know this, he is really worse off than the Jews who at least knew that much. But to know this Man as God is the essence of the Christian faith. This incarnation of God is a wondrous mystery, which without faith no one can grasp. If we are truly to make a joyful noise unto God, we must recognize our Christ as both our God and our Brother, for it is by this faith that His name is made glorious among us.

Psalm 66

Reading: John 7:37-53 or 7:40-58

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.”

But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

And everyone went to his own house.

Meditation: These Jews were unaware that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, for it was kept from them. He was spirited away into Egypt as an infant, and upon returning, was taken at once to Nazareth of Galilee. In this we see how the rich are sent empty away. The Pharisees were looking only for occasion to condemn Him, and therefore never even came to the point of knowing the truth: Jesus was from Bethlehem, the birthplace of David. In this is a warning to all the proud and self-assured. God gives grace to the humble; therefore humble yourself under His mighty hand, lest the mysteries of the faith be kept hidden also from you. One must approach Christ with a humble and contrite heart, eager to learn and unwilling to criticize either Christ or His words. If you do not understand, seek to understand; but do not scoff, for the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. The Jews thought they had solid reason to reject Jesus; but the record shows that they did not know the truth.

Psalm 66

Reading: John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Meditation: What did Jesus write with His finger? St. John does not tell us this, but we know this finger. This is the finger of God, with which the Ten Commandments were etched into the tablets of stone on Mount Sinai. But the finger of God is also understood to be the Spirit of God, since Jesus says in Luke 11 that He casts out demons by the finger of God, but in Matthew 12, by the Spirit of God. So the Spirit of God gave the Law on Sinai, even as the Spirit gives all of the words of God. Jesus calls it the Spirit of Truth. So Jesus, writing with His finger, is calling attention to the Law of God, given by the Spirit and finger of God. Who, then, can cast a stone at this sinful woman? For the Law, given in stone, condemns all men. Thus Jesus will not hear our condemnations of others, but only desires our confession of our sins. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. Look now at this broken woman. Though no man has condemned her, yet she does not now hide herself from Him, as Eve once had, but calls Him Lord. Thus He forgives her, and all the penitent.

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The LORD has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 16:5-15

“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Meditation: If Jesus had not gone away, the Comforter would not have come. What does this mean? Jesus is the Way, so goes on His way; He must go to the cross and grave first, for sins, and then, into resurrection and rebirth. But Jesus then continues on His way, for He ascends into heaven, and is no more seen as He was before. Now the Comforter, that is, the Holy Ghost, comes to His Church. This happens on Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus’ disciples, and they spoke. Now there are twelve who speak the truth; now Jesus has not one, but twelve voices. And soon the twelve voices multiply and fill the whole earth. The result is that Christ now preaches in many places around the world, by the mouths of His faithful preachers, servants of the Word whom He has called and ordained to preach in His stead. How expedient it was that Jesus went away! For He, the Way, went to death, resurrection, ascension, and now, into churches of the faithful all over the earth, so that all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 8:12-20

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

Meditation: The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend. I am the Light, says Jesus, and the Pharisees, who are darkness, call Him a liar, because He testifies on His own behalf. Where are His two or three witnesses, to establish what He says? Now let us learn the power of the word: it bears its own testimony, for it is the word of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Jesus knows that it will not do to argue over these things with His enemies; therefore the Light shines in the darkness, notwithstanding its rejection by the darkness. His word is true, by itself. For it is not His word alone, but the word of the Father, since Christ is Himself the expression of the Father on earth; so also, His words are Spirit, the third heavenly witness. God’s triune nature bears its own witness, which is why His word must be believed for its own sake, and not because of the cleverness of its packaging, or any other earthly gimmicks, arguments, or allurements. For it is the Lord—and ultimately no one else—who hath made known His salvation.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 8:21-29

Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”

And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”

They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

Meditation: Though the Jews asked Jesus the right question, they would not have His answer. For they asked, Who are you? Jesus Himself once asked His disciples to answer the same question. Here, Jesus gives the answer, which they would not accept: When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He. For the Scriptures spoke of the Son of Man which was to come to redeem the world; and likewise of His bearing of the curse of sin. Jesus’ reference to lifting up also calls to mind the lifting up of Moses’ bronze serpent in the wilderness, which had power over the death caused by the fiery serpents among the people. If anyone looked upon the bronze serpent lifted up, he was spared. So now Jesus gives these Jews the sign by which they may know Him: watch for My lifting up in your wilderness, that you may look on Me and be saved from the Serpent of old and all his devils. For Christ was not only lifted up on the cross, but out of death and the grave. Therefore let us know that what He says here is true: I am He; or, simply I AM. This is the testimony of God Himself.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 8:30-45

As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”

They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

Meditation: Jesus’ speaking of His words worked mightily on those who sought to kill Him. Here we see that some of them were converted to Him, for although the ones to whom He spoke here were some who, according to His words, sought to kill Him, yet it says, many believed in Him, and that there were some Jews who believed Him. So Jesus invites them to be His disciples, instead of the disciples of the wicked Pharisees, and, being His disciples, to be free, knowing the truth. For the Pharisees were like Pilate who handed Jesus over to their will, asking, What is truth? But these Jews, if they will now follow Jesus instead, will know the truth, because Jesus is the Truth, as He says. The Truth speaks the truth. Those who believe the truth, believe in the Truth, and are the true children of the faithful Abraham. Those who seek to kill Christ have another father, namely the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning, as Jesus also says. There is no middle ground: either we keep the Truth in an honest heart, or we will become allied to the father of lies.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 9:1-13

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”

Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”

He said, “I am he.”

Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”

Then they said to him, “Where is He?”

He said, “I do not know.”

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.

Meditation: See how the anointing of Jesus makes water able to do marvelous things. For first He anointed this blind man’s eyes with clay moistened by His spittle, and then sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam. So he washed, and came away seeing. Now that pool was by itself simple water only; but see what happens in the mixture of that water with Jesus’ spittle, which is from His mouth. The washing of the pool then gives sight to the blind. How very like our Baptism is this pool. For without the words from Jesus’ mouth, that too is simple water and no Baptism. But with His words, it becomes a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost. And by this rebirth we see, namely, believe in the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Now see those who did not wash: they appear as if blind, for they cannot even recognize this man who now sees. So it is with every one not reborn through Baptism and faith. Such a one is truly blind, no matter what his eyes may see; yet one who believes, who has washed in Jesus’ Baptism, has true sight, even though his eyes do not see Jesus, but say, I do not know where He is.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 9:14-34 or 9:24-34

Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”

Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”

He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”

The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.

Meditation: We must say with this man being questioned by the Pharisees, Why, this is a marvelous thing, that they have a seeing blind man before them, yet refuse to believe that Jesus is of God. The marvel of it is that they quite evidently are truly blind, even though they have eyes. So also, they must be deaf, for they kept asking him the same questions, leading him to reply, I told you already, and you did not listen. So they are both blind and deaf. But only Jesus gives sight and hearing; therefore must we believe Him and praise Him. For by our washing of regeneration, we have been given true sight, that is, faith in Him, and true hearing, that is, ears and hearts to hear and keep His word. And thus also we have lips to praise Him, unlike these Pharisees, who think they can praise God while rejecting Christ. Thus they are not only blind and deaf, but dumb as well. True worship follows faith, both in the weekly assembly of the faithful, and in their daily prayers. So do not be silent, but speak out loud, and sing unto the Lord a new song, for He hath done marvelous things.

Psalm 98

Reading: John 9:35-41

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Meditation: The Pharisees cast out the blind man to whom Jesus had given sight, for now they themselves were truly hardened in blindness against Him. But how good for this man that they cast him out, for then came Jesus and received him. Now Jesus speaks and presents Himself to the man, and the man at once replies, Lord, I believe! And he worshiped Him. So also do we at once confess our faith, immediately upon hearing the word of God in worship. But let it be from the heart, with the faith of the blind made to see. Who is the Son of God? He is our Blessed Jesus, only known with the seeing of faith. Without faith, there is only blindness, as Jesus called these Pharisees blind. Who is blind, but one who sees neither sin in himself, nor Jesus as the Son of God? And who sees? One who both knows his sin and his Savior. For the Lord hath made known His salvation, openly. But only our baptismal faith in His name can see it.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 110

The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemie

Your people shall be volunteers
In the day of Your power;
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.
The LORD has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord is at Your right hand;
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.
He shall judge among the nations,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
He shall execute the heads of many countries.
He shall drink of the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He shall lift up the head.

Psalm 100

Reading: John 16:23-30

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

Meditation: Until now, says Jesus, you have asked nothing in My name; but now that His ministry is completed, He says, Ask. For now the revelation of His name is complete; therefore now His disciples may ask in His name; now also Baptism in His name takes on its full significance, as the meaning of His name comes into full view. This is the week of Rogate, that is, of calling upon God, for the Latin rogo means “call.” Therefore this is a week for pondering the baptismal origin of prayer, for to call upon God’s name is to claim the privileges which Baptism in God’s name has granted. When you pray, therefore, pray in Jesus’ name, that is, with the claim of being His own possession, having been baptized in that name, that excellent name whose full expression is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And know that this triune God must hear you, for His name’s sake. Ask, He says, and you will receive, because faith not only knows what to ask, but how, since faith itself comes from this triune God and His name which is given in Baptism.

Psalm 100

Reading: Luke 11:1-13

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Meditation: Whom are we calling our Father, when we say the Lord’s Prayer? We are addressing God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. Him we call Father here. But He is Father first because He has a Son, the Only-begotten, from eternity. God is eternally Father and Son, as well as Holy Ghost. So it is well that Jesus in prayer should address God as Father. Jesus does not pray to Himself, though He is eternal God of God; rather, He prays to His Father from eternity. But now see what He says: When you pray, say, Our Father. See what high privilege is granted in this instruction. He bids us to pray as He does, and to call His Father our Father. But if this is so, is He not likewise bidding us to call Him our Brother? Therefore He is giving in this most excellent prayer a means of expression for our most holy baptismal, trinitarian faith. For it is due to and springing from Baptism in His trinitarian name that we call upon Him; thus we call upon our Father as siblings of the Son, in the faith supplied by the Holy Ghost.

Psalm 100

Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Meditation: When we say, Hallowed be Thy name, it is good that we remember well this word of our Lord: Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him? Day and night, then, let us pray, Hallowed be Thy name; for the Our Father, being the prayer Christ taught us, is certainly most worthy of being prayed at least that often. Specifically when we pray daily for the hallowing of God’s holy name, we are daily remembering our Baptism in this excellent name, as we have been taught to do. For God’s name is indeed holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be holy among us who are baptized in it. God’s name, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was given to us in Baptism; therefore it has become ours. Now if we, knowing this, call upon God to hallow His name, we are in truth calling upon Him to defend us, since He can hardly hallow His name without also defending those who have been baptized into it. Thus let us ever be thankful unto Him and bless His name, lest we be found taking it in vain. For in His name is salvation, and so in Baptism also, salvation.

Psalm 100

Reading: John 17:1-6

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

Meditation: The glorification of Jesus comes from the hallowing of God’s name, which comes from the keeping of His word. Jesus says here that He has manifested the Father’s name to His disciples, and they have kept His word. Jesus is glorified when His own are kept in the true faith of Baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. For the One He calls Father here is also the One He bids us to call Father; likewise, the One praying here is the One we ought to call the Son, who is the Image of the Father. And the One whose power and word keeps us in this holy faith is the One Spirit we call Holy. When Jesus therefore says, Glorify Your Son, He is praying for His own, since the Son cannot be glorified apart from those who have been baptized into Him. When He says, That Thy Son also may glorify Thee, He shows that the glorification of His own also brings glory to the One they call Father. For this is life eternal, that by the Spirit they may know the Father, and Jesus Christ the Son, whom He has sent.

Psalm 110

Reading: Mark 16:14-20

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Meditation: Here we see two grand events at once: the sending forth of Jesus’ disciples, and His ascension to the right hand of God. At the very point at which Jesus sends His first ministers to preach the Gospel, He also ascends to the right hand of Power. What else can this mean than that the power and kingdom of God are present and active in their preaching of the Gospel? So learn to see the ascended Christ standing together with the faithful Christian pastor preaching the Holy Gospel, for the two are meant to be seen as one. And when you pray Thy kingdom come, remember that the glorious coming of the kingdom must follow upon the preaching of the Gospel. For as we say in our baptismal Creed, it is from the right hand of the Father that Christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead. But the right hand of the Father is where He now sits, and where He must be remembered as sitting, when and where the Gospel is preached. Let His ascension thus become visible to faith whenever His faithful pastors preach His word.

Psalm 110

Reading: Luke 24:48-53

And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Meditation: The blessed Apostles were privileged to see the ascension of Christ with their own eyes, but upon having seen this, what did they do? They worshiped Him, it says. And upon returning to Jerusalem with great joy, they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Now if they needed continually to be worshiping, who are we to suppose we need it any less? For we have not seen the ascension with our eyes, and even if we had, would not on that account find reason to worship less often than they. So must we learn to be continual in worship, becoming followers and imitators of these saints. Then, with the faith that worship gives, we shall also be inheritors of the kingdom with them. What is continual worship? It is first the weekly assembly of the faithful, particularly on every Sunday, the day of our Lord’s resurrection; and it is also a daily praying for the coming of the kingdom, as we do in the Our Father. For the faithful have prayed for Christ’s return since He ascended, and will continue so to pray until their prayers bring on His return.

Psalm 100

Reading: John 13:31-35

So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Meditation: Here is a mystery: Christ is to be glorified immediately, that is, not after His passion, but in His passion, which began when Judas had gone out. Reason cannot penetrate the truth that Jesus is here calling His suffering glorification. Behold, the resurrection and ascension of our Lord are not the negation but the vindication of His cross. For does not the saying that God is glorified in Him mean that Christ’s faithfulness unto death honors the Father? Or again, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately, does this not show that the Father’s bestowal of this suffering upon Christ glorifies and honors Him as Son (for a proper father must chasten his son)? In the same way, Christians who in imitation to Christ are faithful unto death both honor their heavenly Father and are honored by Him, whenever they endure persecution for Christ’s sake, even as the Apostles in prison rejoiced that they were counted worthy so to suffer. For when suffering Christians pray, Thy will be done on earth, they magnify the Lord in the face of evil; and when they pray, as it is in heaven, they recall their allegiance to the heavenly Son who suffered, and that it is also the Father’s good pleasure to give them the kingdom. Well ought Christians love one another, for these things show Christ to be their Brother and themselves to be His holy family.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the LORD will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.

Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 15:26–16.4

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Meditation: Who is the Helper, the Comforter? He is the One who answers me when I cry with my voice. He is the One who says to me, Seek my face; and to whom my heart then replies, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. The Comforter is the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost. But His face is Christ; that is, the revelation of His countenance is Christ. For the Comforter, says Christ here, shall testify of Me. Seek my face, He says; which is to say, Seek Christ. But Christ also reveals the Father. Therefore to ponder the Sacred Scriptures is to seek the face of the Spirit of Truth, to see His face is to see Christ, and to find Christ is to find the image of the Father, as Christ says, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. This is why no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Spirit. For Jesus is the Spirit’s face, and the image of the Father. The three Persons are one indivisible God. And though this incomprehensible God is surrounded by mystery as incense surrounding an altar, yet He has made His excellent triune name known, and has baptized us into it.

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 10:17-21

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Meditation: Here Jesus declares that His Father loves Him. The Father loves the Son, because the Son lays down His life, that He might take it again. Now muse on this divine Love: the Father loves the Son in that the Son lays down His life. But does this not at first seem more clearly to be an expression of the Son’s love for the Father? Does not Jesus show His love for the Father chiefly in laying down His life freely, of His own accord? But Jesus tells us that this also demonstrates the Father’s love for Him. This is because Jesus willingly lays it down. His willingness not only demonstrates His love, but that He is aware of His Father’s love for Him. So the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father. What is this Love? The ancients called it the Holy Ghost who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Since God is indivisible, therefore this expression of Love between Father and Son is none other than God, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, who is divinely personified Love. Thus God’s excellent name is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 10:22-31

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

Meditation: When we pray, Thy will be done on earth, we are praying for that good and gracious will of God, which is to speak His word to His sheep, that they will hear His voice, and that by this hearing they will be given eternal life and never perish, as Jesus says here. But Jesus’ enemies did not believe Him; therefore they had rejected the Spirit, which is in the word He speaks; and as they rejected Him, so they also rejected the Father, in whose name Jesus did His works. One cannot have only part of the Holy Trinity, for God is indivisible and cannot be divided into parts. God’s will comes to pass not only in that the Father reveals the Son, but that the Holy Spirit is in the revelation of the Son, working faith in the hearers. Reject the word and you reject God. Cleave to the word and you cleave to God; which is His good and gracious will. Jesus’ sheep hear His voice; they heed the Spirit proceeding out of His mouth; and heeding and receiving His voice, they receive His Father as well. Jesus’ sheep recognize Father, Son, and Spirit as their God, in whose name they were baptized.

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 10:32-42

Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, I said, “You are gods” ’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” And many believed in Him there.

Meditation: Here Jesus shows the Jews why they should believe that He, being a man, is God. Even the Psalms say of men that they are gods. What do these Scriptures mean in calling men gods? Man was made in the image of God. What does image mean? Literally, it means icon, a sacred picture of the holy. Man was made in the image of God. Yet what do the Scriptures say of our Christ? He, it says, is the image of God. So what shall we say? That all men are gods, that is, that they look like Christ, who is the image of God. Do you wish to see the Father? Look into the face of Christ. Do you wish to see His face? Look at your neighbor’s face and you will see there His likeness and image. Since man was made in the image of God, man ought to have known that God was Himself planning to become flesh. The Jews could not accept this, for they misunderstood not only God, but His creation. But we who have been baptized have been given the excellent name of God, and now bear His image both in our human appearance and in our faith that this is His image as our Brother.

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 11:1-27 or 17-27

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Meditation: Jesus says to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He does not say, I am giver of resurrection and life, but I am. I AM, the name of God, first given to Moses from the burning bush, I AM. Jesus’ words tell us not only what He gives, but who He is. Therefore, whoever believes, not merely in “God,” but specifically in Him, that is, in Christ, shall never die. For He says I, I AM the resurrection and the life. Just as He also said, I AM the Good Shepherd, I AM the Door, I AM the Way, I AM the Truth, I AM the Life, I AM the Living Bread from heaven, I AM the Bread of Life. What do we really mean to say when we pray for our daily bread, then? Surely, for all that we need; but is not Christ, the Bread of Life, all that we need? He is our Daily Bread, then, for He is the great I AM, the Almighty in the flesh; He is the resurrection and the life. Martha believed this, even before Jesus raised Lazarus, because of these His words. Let us imitate the faith of Martha and, in praying for daily bread, know that truly Christ is our Bread, Shepherd, Door, Way, Truth, Resurrection, and Life.

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 11:28-44 or 33-44

And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Meditation: Now Jesus weeps, upon seeing Mary weeping, and the Jews weeping, over death. Why does Jesus weep? His tears, the tears of God, are they not lamentations over all the grief and trouble of all the world, and especially over the cause of all this, namely, sin? The sins of Adam and of all his offspring have been the cause of the fallenness of the world, and especially of death. So here Lazarus has died, causing Mary, and the Jews here, to weep; and Jesus weeps too, and groans in Himself, for He is able to see all these things in one moment; both the cause and the effect, both sin and death—not only of Lazarus, but of all Adam’s children. Well do we pray, forgive us our trespasses, for trespasses are indeed the ultimate cause of all the world’s troubles and griefs. But see what Jesus does next: He raises Lazarus. For He is the Redeemer whose blood avails for all sin; therefore the result of sin, namely, death, is also done away. He is the Redeemer and the Resurrection, both of Lazarus and of all who believe, because forgiveness brings eternal life.

Psalm 27

Reading: St. John 11:45-57

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

Meditation: Wherever Jesus is, in this life, there is evil at hand as well. The Lord is my light and my salvation, says David, but then, knowing of the evil at hand, adds immediately, Whom shall I fear? for he knows that without confidence in Him there might well be something to fear. So also in this Gospel, where Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, and where many of the Jews believed on Him, there are at the same time those who were plotting against Him. For some went to the Pharisees and chief priests, taking counsel to put Him to death. Therefore there is good reason to pray daily, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for if evil is near at hand even when Jesus is walking on earth and doing marvelous things, surely we would be foolhardy not to expect evil, devils, and temptations to be near at hand wherever the faithful are found. But Christ is the Resurrection and our eternal Victory, signified by the seven weeks of Easter, seven times seven, like the forty-nine Alleluias of our Ascension hymn; before moving on to Pentecost, the fiftieth day.

Psalm 68

Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness,

The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.
Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.

The Lord gave the word;
Great was the company of those who proclaimed it:
“Kings of armies flee, they flee,
And she who remains at home divides the spoil.
Though you lie down among the sheepfolds,
You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And her feathers with yellow gold.”
When the Almighty scattered kings in it,
It was white as snow in Zalmon.

A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks?
This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in;
Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever.

The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
Even thousands of thousands;
The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
You have ascended on high,
You have led captivity captive;
You have received gifts among men,
Even from the rebellious,
That the LORD God might dwell there.

Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation!

Our God is the God of salvation;
And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.

But God will wound the head of His enemies,
The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.
The Lord said, “I will bring back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
That your foot may crush them in blood,
And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”

They have seen Your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
Bless God in the congregations,
The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
There is little Benjamin, their leader,
The princes of Judah and their company,
The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

Your God has commanded your strength;
Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,
Kings will bring presents to You.
Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,
The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
Envoys will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises to the Lord,

To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
Ascribe strength to God;
His excellence is over Israel,
And His strength is in the clouds.
O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.

Blessed be God!

Psalm 81

Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.

Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
For this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
Where I heard a language I did not understand.

“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of Me.
So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.

“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure forever.
He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

Psalm 68

Reading: St. John 14:23-31

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

“And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Meditation: According to Moses, Pentecost was observed by the bringing of new offerings, on the fiftieth (pentecoste) day after the day after the Sabbath following the Passover. So Jesus (our Passover) instituted the Holy Sacrament at twilight before His crucifixion, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath (Saturday), and rose from the grave on the day after. Fifty days later comes Pentecost on which a new offering is given, that is, a new age of the Spirit inaugurated. Today Christ’s promise to His disciples is fulfilled, as the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, is sent to them, and they begin to declare His peace to the nations assembled there, on the fiftieth day from Easter. Pentecost, for seven is creation’s number, and forty-nine is creation “squared,” creation fulfilled; fifty then begins the age of the new creation. Sunday, because this is the third and final great Sunday of history, Creation Sunday being the first and Easter Sunday the second. So on Pentecost Sunday all is fulfilled, when the Spirit begins to give life to the Church through apostolic preaching.

Psalm 81

Reading: St. John 3:16-21

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Meditation: Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. Light is good, for in the beginning when all was darkness, God said, Let there be light, and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good. He did not say the darkness was good; indeed He said nothing about the darkness, but called light into it, a token already that good shall finally prevail over evil. Moreover, since it was when God spoke that light came into the world, therefore the love of darkness, which is the love of evil, is also hatred for the Word of God. From God’s mouth came God’s Word, and light for the world. Now we see Jesus, who is the Word become flesh. But evil men of darkness hated Him and so crucified the Lord of glory. Yet He is the eternal Word who cannot perish, and so He rises, and continues to speak, from Pentecost—Hear O my people, and I will testify unto thee!—that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The darkness cannot overcome the light, rather the light enlightens those who sit in darkness; the faith of the Church is testimony to this truth.

Psalm 81

Reading: St. John 10:1-10

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Meditation: From Pentecost the word of salvation has sounded forth to the ends of the earth. Yet there are also false and evil words in the earth. How then shall we know which is the word of life, and which the word of death? Behold, Christ declares that the sheep know the voice of the doorkeeper, and do not know the voice of a stranger who enters some other way than through the door. The doorkeeper has come in to tend the sheep through the door, which is Christ. Thus there are two safeguards against strangers and their false words; two ways to recognize them: one is to take note of their credentials: did they come into the sheepfold through the door? That is, do they have Christ’s appointment and ordination to preach? The second way is more direct, namely, discernment of the voice and words of the preachers themselves. Those who have learned Christ have learned Him through the preaching of the forgiveness of sins through His name, that is, through His Gospel. Strangers will not preach this, but will bring a new gospel, which is no gospel at all. Such are not successors of the Apostles of Pentecost.

Psalm 81

Reading: St. John 14:1-13 or 14:8-13

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Meditation: Philip still does not see that Jesus is in the Father. His desire to see the Father belies a failure to see Jesus for who He truly is. So Jesus does not reply with “Have you not known the Father?” but, Have you not known me, me! To know Jesus is to know the Father; to see Jesus is to see the Father, for Jesus is the icon and image of the Father. Adam was created in God’s image; but Jesus the Second Adam is Himself the image of the Father. One who sees Jesus need look no further. But where does one see Jesus? See what He says to His disciples here: whatever you ask in my name, that I will do! Come now to Philip and all these disciples, therefore, and you have come to Jesus Himself, for here He gives them his own authority, the very authority of the One who is one with the Father. This apostolic authority is still conferred upon preachers whom Christ calls into the preaching office, in order that He may still be seen and heard today. Whom they wash He washes, whom they feed He feeds, whom they visit He visits, and what they are He is: the image of the Father.

Psalm 81

Reading: St. John 14:1-22 or 14:14-22

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Meditation: Jesus promises the Comforter (the Helper) to His disciples here, but in so doing He also declares, I will not leave you orphans: ¬I will come to you. See, He says I, I. I will come to you. The coming of the Helper is the coming of Christ; where His Spirit is, there is He Himself. To whom does Jesus say this? To His future preachers, to whom He also said, Keep my command-ments, and, I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you for ever. Now this is said not merely for their own benefit, but most especially for the benefit of their hearers. See, Jesus commands faithfulness of them, and strict adherence to all of His words, which here He calls His commandments. And the hearers of those faithful preachers may have this confidence, for as long as the word continues: that the Helper abides with them, and comes through them to the hearers. As the faithful once knew that God was with Moses, so now they may know that God is with His preachers. Where they proclaim the Gospel, there the Helper is; there, verily, is Christ Himself, still today, and even for ever.

Psalm 81

Reading: St. John 15:1-25 or 15:5-17

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.’“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.’

Meditation: Jesus is the true Vine, and His disciples are the branches. They cannot produce fruit if they be cut off from Him, meaning, no preacher can bring faithful hearers to Christ by proclaiming His own words or teachings; the preachers must preach Christ alone; thus will they abide in Him, and thus will He abide in them. That is to say, Christ is active in them to create faith in the hearers, if they who preach abide in His word, but not otherwise. Moreover this word is one, it is a unity, it is that by which the Love (that is, the Spirit) of the Father and the Son is known. They that believe and confess the one holy apostolic faith abide in the Love of God. God the Spirit unites them in love for one another as well: they who have learned His mercy are they that will show His mercy to one another. In this mercy is friendship with God, as Jesus declares here. It is the life that flows from Jesus the Vine through His preachers, the Branches, to the faithful, the Fruit, who will thus sing aloud—with a single voice—unto God their strength, and make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

Psalm 81

Reading: St. John 16:31–17:26 or 17:5-10, 20-21

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Meditation: Jesus has finished the work the Father gave Him to do; He has finished teaching His Apostles: He has manifested the Father’s name unto the men the Father gave Him. The Father gave them to Jesus, whereupon Jesus the only-begotten Son taught them to pray, saying, Our Father. For they had learned the name of God through His own preaching to them, and now He prays that they might be kept in His name as they go forth to preach to the world. Because of this prayer, we know that their words are His words. Jesus prays here for their sanctification, that is, that they might be holy. This is why we call them holy men of God, holy Apostles, and their words the holy Scriptures. Indeed, the proclamation of their words to the ends of the earth we call the preaching of the holy Gospel by the holy ministry, holy words preached in order to make us all holy in the one holy faith thus delivered. To this unity of faith Jesus refers when He prays not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Him through their word, that they all may be one, as the Father is in Him and He in the Father.