Jubilate Sunday, 2024

 

Bethany Lutheran Church

Holy Communion 10 AM

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Note - the hymn lyrics are linked to the Bethany Lutheran Hymn Blog for the hymn number; the tune is linked on the hymn's name. 

The Hymn #345     Jesus Lover of My Soul

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Make a joyful noise (Jubilate) unto God, all ye lands: sing forth the honor of His name; make His praise glorious.

Psalm. Say unto God, How terrible art Thou in Thy works: through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Collect

Almighty God, who showest to them that be in error the light of Thy truth to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness, grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual  

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. The Lord hath sent redemption unto His people. Hallelujah!

V. It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead: and thus to enter into His glory. Hallelujah!

     

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Sermon Hymn #651      Be Still My Soul

A Little While - Micron

Communion Hymn #250      Holy God We Praise Thy Name

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #514        God Moves in a Mysterious Way

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

Lord God, heavenly Father, who of Thy fatherly goodness dost suffer Thy children to come under Thy chastening rod here on earth, that we may be like unto Thine only-begotten Son in suffering and hereafter in glory: We beseech Thee, comfort us in temptations and afflictions by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not fall into despair, but that we may continually trust in Thy Son's promise, that our trials will endure but a little while, and will then be followed by eternal joy; that we thus, in patient hope, may overcome all evil, and at last obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

 

KJV 1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

 

KJV John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

  

Prayers and Announcements

• Medical treatment - Randy Anderson, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris, Lori Howell, Sarah Buck, Kermit Way.
• Tuesday 11 AM - Reformation Seminary, Faith Forgiveness, Grace
• Wednesday 11 AM - Greek New Testament, Just Starting Greek
• Thursday 11 AM - Reformation Seminary, Parable Matthew 13, Mark 4
• New posts will be Zoom linked, then turned in YouTube on the masthead, and also posted on the worship and Reformation Seminary pages. Every new YouTube will be linked on the masthead of Ichabod.

A Little While - Micron

KJV John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?

    This passage can be perplexing. First of all, it is  from the Fourth Gospel, which has many passages not found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Unique passages are very important, adding to previous Gospels. Otherwise, the seven examples of "a little while" seem odd. There is no other reason for the little word - micron - to be repeated so often, seven times, between Jesus and the disciples.

    When something is repeated for emphasis so often, that must be especially important. The context must be one of great importance. It is also easily remembered because of the repetition, so this is a very important passage to digest.

    This back-and-forth must be important for the disciples and also for us. We can see that in the calendar of events offered by the Savior and the confusion of the Twelve. Jesus is stating clearly, for our benefit - "Very soon I will be taken away by the soldiers, insulted, slapped in the face, whipped, and forced to carry the cross." 

    "Very soon you will see me again, risen from the grave, ascending to the Father." Ascension Day is not far away for us, May 9th.

    So Jesus is warning the Twelve about the terrible events coming and also indicating His rise from the dead. The disciples were bewildered about Jesus' saying and kept responding to it. A mother's frequent statement/question is "How many times have I told you?..." Fill in the  statement - to clean up the dishes, to mow the yard, to clean the room, to do what I said so many times I can't count it."

    "Because I go to the Father" - that seems very clear. But even now, we look at the immediate future and do not think about what is ahead. 

19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 

    This fills in the little while announcement for the disciples, because they wanted answers and Jesus could not make it plain enough. Luther demonstrates this by pointing out how they had great experiences with Jesus, so much that they could hardly believe what would happen, although He predicted it. 

    Events like this hit people so hard that they cannot imagine that the obvious is becoming true. A recent example is the growth of online universities. At first, no one could believe it. A national university built up their numbers from zero to 500,000 students. The university managers said, "We can do the same thing!" so they all had some version of online as an instrument of the devil that must be stopped. "No choice, we had to implement online!" So they created the same thing, and the wild boar (Luther image, the pope called him a wild boar) was cut up into little pieces, leaving most of the universities in deep trouble. 

    So Jesus was warning them ahead of time - you will not see Me. And He was comforting them - you will see Me again. The disciples could not comprehend this because they had such a beautiful time with their Lord and could not see anything ahead. Although the confusion was true, Jesus also reminded them of His predictions by saying they would get over the loss and see Him again.

21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

    This has not changed in 2,000 years. Child birth calls up all kinds of images and there are many stories today, even with all the medicines and electronic devices. Just as the anxieties are built up, so is the joy that comes with childbirth. That is a very clear comparison for that age and for ours, because the anxieties are great and so is the joy, which everyone shares. Jesus used this plain image to remind the disciples that this would be true for them, too. 

    People are likely to respond to the disciples being anxious, fearful, and locked up in a room. But that is only part of the picture. They were surrounded by enemies and locked in a room for safety. There were early appearances of the empty grave and the Emmaus walk. In the midst of this turmoil, they were still together. They did not scatter and run away. They were together (minus Thomas the first time) and they got to hear the Good News together. Thomas made his great confession upon being shown the Master's wounds. He became the Apostle to Kerala, India.

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

KJV Psalm 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

This statement is important and uplifting. Jesus warned them of their sorrow, already with this prediction. They were anxious and fearful, but the Good Shepherd told them their hearts would rejoice - a joy no one could ever take from them. They had to go through the anguish to reach the joy that would follow, just as Christian in the Pilgrim's Progress rested from place to place and put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6) to face the rest of his journey. He had to endure many terrors on the way, but he was helped by Interpreter (representing the Scriptures) and by resting places where he could relax with others along the way.

    I was blessed with an adventurous wife, who found a lot of happiness in moving around. That was our slow motion exploration of the US and Canada, adorned with many exotic doctor visits and hospitals, various localities and challenges. I woke up a few physicians with "iatrogenic" - a method or medicine making the patient worse, from the Greek word for physician. That is similar to an alarm going off unexpectedly.

23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

     The disciples were not being shut off from their Lord. Jesus tutored them and displayed His miracles before them. He was central figure, but He promised them that the Holy Spirit would serve as the Advocate and teach them more about the Father and the Son, and protect the Word so that it would always be available.

    One of the great shames of modern Christianity is the bogus claim -> "The original manuscripts of the Bible were inerrant but they are all lost." The two big book-sized codices praised the most are obvious forgeries: Sinaiticus (hahaha) and Vaticanus (not the best place to store the true Gospel but handy in making changes and deletions in the New Testament).  LCMS Concordia Publishing House brags about using Vaticanus for the Gospel of Mark.

    Whether they were made of leather or paper, Bibles cannot last, but they were copied with extreme care far more perfect that what we have with scanners, AI, copy and paste. Judaism has always kept the Old Testament perfect, counting every word and letter perfectly - or - that copy is burned. In the Christian Era, the faithful Christians burned copies after the copes were worn out, making fresh new ones in many forms and styles (lectionaries, translations, brief copies, etc). Some heretics tried to make their own fake copies, in the early centuries, but that effort was overwhelmed with the true copies in many languages and forms. There is no other book that is so carefully copied and translated, so ancient and widespread, as the Bible. 

    We have joy in knowing the source of the Promises of God. As Lenski wrote for this Jubilate lesson, there is nothing stopping us from praying for help from Jesus Christ. Nothing is too small or too great. The Holy Spirit helps us through the Scriptures themselves and worship, teaching us from the Father and Son.

    The end.