Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Jesus tells His disciples that He goes away to God the Father. He speaks this on Maundy Thursday, the night in which He was betrayed. Sorrow fills the disciple’s hearts, and understandably so. But Jesus consoles their troubled hearts, “ 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. ” Jesus promises the Helper, who is God the Holy Spirit, whose coming we will celebrate in three weeks on Pentecost. In some translations the word is translated “Comforter,” while others transliterate it: “Paraclete.” As Christ says this to His disciples, He approaches His suffering and death for the sins of the world. He will accomplish the atonement and declare from the cross “ It is finished ” (John 19:30). Christ runs His course. He atones for the sins of the entire world. But then He must go ...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.  Jesus tells the disciples that they will have sorrow because He goes away for what He calls “a little while.” By “a little while” Jesus means His suffering, death, and time in the tomb. His disciples will weep and lament at this. Their Lord is taken away from them. The One of whom they confessed, “ You have the words of eternal life ” (John 6:68), will be separated from them in death. Of course they would sorrow, weep, and lament. The world, on the other hand, will rejoice at this “little while” that Christ is gone. By “the world” we mean everything in this life that is set against Christ and the righteousness that comes by faith in Him. When Christ is crucified, all His enemies make a joyful shout and rejoice in their victory over God’s Son in human flesh. The world’s rejoicing will make the disciples’ sorrow that much worse. It’s terrible to lose your teacher and Lord. That loss stings worse when ever...

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The first part of today’s gospel lesson occurred on the evening of the day Christ was raised from the dead. The disciples had heard the report of Mary and the other women who had found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. The doors are locked because they feared the same Jews who had arrested and crucified their Lord. Perhaps they reasoned that as word of Jesus’ resurrection got out, the Jews would come for them next. They also had fears within themselves. Each of them had, after all, fled from Jesus in the Gethsemane garden. Peter had even drew his sword and cut off a man’s ear. He later followed Jesus to the High Priest’s home where he publicly  denied Christ three times. It was in the midst of their fear and guilt that the resurrected Christ suddenly appeared in their midst and said, “ Peace be with you. ” He goes on to show them His hands and His feet, where the nails had fastened Him to ...

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead. It was impossible for death to hold him because death had no real claim on Him. We die because we sin. This is the order established in Paradise when the Lord told Adam concerning the tree, “ in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die ” ( Genesis 2:16-17). By his disobedience Adam brought death upon himself and his entire race. “ T hrough one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men ” ( Romans 5:12). The Lord says in Ezekiel 18:20, “ the soul who sins shall die. ” St. Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that “ the wages of sin is death. ” It is only because we are sinners that death has become part of this life. Death has a claim on us because we are born of sinful stock and our sinful nature spends a lifetime bringing forth its wicked fruit of actual sins in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. But death has no claim on Christ for two reasons. First, as ...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. We are always tempted on Good Friday to think that it’s not actually all that good. We hear the account of Christ’s betrayal, His trials, His scourging, the crown of thorns, and His rejection by man and God the Father, and we think that evil has one the day, that the sufferings and death of Christ are the triumph of darkness over light. If viewed this way, Good Friday becomes a day of mourning and sorrow over Christ’s death, almost like a yearly funeral for Jesus. But this is not how the Scriptures teach us view Christ’s passion. It is not the triumph of darkness over light. It is not Cain murdering Abel for no reason than to satisfy his own rage. We mustn’t imagine that that on this day that the devil, the world, and the wickedness of men prevail over the goodness of God. Jesus was not at the mercy of bloodthirsty Jews, just as His life was not in Pilate’s hands. When Pilate reminds Jesus that he has the...

In the Name of the Father and the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. On the night in which our Lord was betrayed, before His suffering began, He gave two things to His church. The first is that which we heard about in tonight’s Gospel lesson. After finishing the Passover meal with His disciples, washes His disciple’s feet. This was not an ordinary foot washing. Ordinarily this was one of the first things that would happen before a meal. It was also typically done by a servant. It’s a humble task to wash the desert dust and grime from another’s feet. Yet Jesus takes this humble task upon Himself in order to teach His disciples two things. First, Christ wants to teach them what king of king and master He is. That Jesus would wash the feet of His disciples shows them that Jesus’ ministry is one of humble service to mankind. It is as He told them in Matthew 20:28, “ the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. ” He shows them the nature of this service by taking upon Hi...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Jesus enters Jerusalem the way does today to teach us what kind of King He is. On Friday morning He would tell Pilate, “ My kingdom is not of this world ” (John 18:36). On Sunday He demonstrated that difference. He begins His journey by sending two of His disciples, which two we’re not told, into the city of Bethphage. Jesus tells them that immediately upon entering the village they will find a donkey and her colt tethered. They are to bring the colt and her mother to Jesus. If anyone says anything about it, they are to answer simply, “ The Lord has need of them. ” This is a strange errand. Jesus had entered Jerusalem many times during His earthly ministry and never asked for two beasts of burden before. But this day is different. This is the day the prophet Zechariah foretold. “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salv...