[Jesus] is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6
Just As He Said
The tomb was not supposed to be empty.
On Friday, everything seemed so certain. Jesus Christ had died. His lifeless body was laid in the tomb. A heavy stone was rolled into place. Roman guards stood watch. Death had done its work, just as it always had.
Early Sunday morning, the women came expecting the same reality we all know too well. They came expecting death. They came bringing spices, ready to care for the body. They came grieving, hearts heavy with loss and disappointment.
But instead of death, they heard life. The angel announced, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” Those words change everything.
Jesus had promised this. He told his disciples he would suffer, die, and rise again. At the time, they didn’t understand. It seemed impossible. Death doesn’t reverse itself. Graves don’t open. The dead don’t walk out alive. But Jesus is not like anyone else.
His resurrection proves that his promises are true. When he said he would pay for sin, he did. When he said he would defeat death, he did. When he said he would rise, he did. And that means his promises to you are also true.
When guilt weighs on your conscience, the empty tomb assures you that your sins are forgiven. Jesus’ resurrection is God’s declaration that the payment was complete. Nothing remains to be paid.
When grief fills your heart, the empty tomb assures you that death is not the end. Because Jesus lives, those who trust in him will live also.
When fear whispers that God has forgotten you, the empty tomb reminds you that Jesus keeps every word he speaks.
The stone was rolled away not so Jesus could get out, but so the world could see in. The tomb is empty. Death is defeated. Your Savior lives. And because he lives, you have peace, forgiveness, and eternal life.
Just as he said.
Prayer:
Risen Savior, thank you for keeping your promise and rising from the dead. Strengthen my faith in your victory over sin and death. Help me live each day in the peace and confidence that you are alive and that your promises are true. Amen.
In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say, “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.” Isaiah 12:1-5
Praise the God of Our Salvation
What the prophet Isaiah is trying to explain in our Bible reading today is difficult to put into words. He is a sinner standing in the presence of a righteous God. He knows that he deserves God’s anger and punishment. But something startling happens. God turns away his anger. Instead of punishing him, God rescues him.
Of course, Isaiah is talking about what God does for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus bore the punishment for our sin, and now, instead of facing God’s anger, we have full forgiveness and life everlasting. How does one express the amazing relief of that enormous load being lifted off and the sheer joy of that forgiveness?
Expressing heartfelt thanks to God for his salvation is what Isaiah is doing. You can almost see him running up and down the streets, leaping for joy, trying to tell people how it feels to be saved. Fear is gone, only trust remains. The Lord is the true strength of his life and the song in his heart. So, he gives thanks to the Lord by singing his praises and proclaiming the good news of salvation to everyone.
Listen to Isaiah shouting and singing for joy and join him in praising the God of your salvation.
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for saving me from my sins. It proves that I can trust in you and not be afraid. Amen.
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of [Jesus] and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:8-9
A Hero’s Welcome
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, a large crowd was waiting to welcome him. They spread their cloaks and branches on the road. They shouted joyful praise. They gave him a hero’s welcome. Yet, the question needs to be asked: Did they really understand why Jesus came?
It is a question worth asking ourselves. Do I see Jesus as a conquering hero? Do I see him as a long-desired king? Or do I see him as something more?
Yes, Jesus did come as a conquering hero. The victory he came to secure was not over an earthly enemy, however. His battle was against the devil, who sought complete dominion over us. His battle was against death and the grave, which desired to hold us in its gloomy darkness.
Jesus came as a hero to rescue us. He fought all the enemies that wanted to bring eternal destruction. And even though it meant giving up his own life, he secured the victory. Through Jesus’ precious work, we are free from the devil’s control and the fear of death. We are free from the power of the grave.
Jesus deserves a hero’s welcome for what he accomplished. He deserves even more for what he continues to do richly and daily. He also deserves honor, love, and praise as our Lord and King.
By faith, we acknowledge and live under his loving reign and honor and praise him for his victory. By faith, we can give him the hero’s welcome he deserves.
Prayer:
O blessed Jesus, I thank you for coming to rescue me. Fill me with love to trust you. Fill me with strength to follow you. Fill me with joy to praise you. Amen.
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11 As they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 So he said, “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then to return. 13 He called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. [1] ‘Conduct business until I return,’ he said to them.
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us.’
15 “When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had gained by conducting business.
16 “The first one came to him and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’
17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you were faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’
18 “The second one came and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced five more minas.’
19 “So he said to him, ‘You will be over five cities.’
20 “And another one came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina that I laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 For I was afraid of you, since you are a demanding man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’
22 “He said to him, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you with your own words! You knew that I am a demanding man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 Then why did you not put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I could have collected it with interest!’
24 “He said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’
25 “But they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas!’
26 “‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 27 Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem
28 After Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
Luke 19:13 A mina was worth one hundred drachmas, or about one hundred days’ wages.
35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man sat by the road, begging. 36 When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who were at the front of the crowd rebuked him, telling him to be quiet. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, I want to see again.”
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.”
43 Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw this, gave praise to God.
Zacchaeus
Luke 19
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man named Zacchaeus was there. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but since he was short, he could not see because of the crowd. 4 He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was about to pass by that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 He came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. 7 When the people saw it, they were all grumbling because he went to be a guest of a sinful man.
8 Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I am going to give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
18 A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.’” [1]
21 “I have kept all these since I was a child,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 But when the ruler heard these words, he became very sad, because he was very rich.
24 When Jesus saw that the man became very sad, he said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”
27 He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible for God.”
28 And Peter said, “Look, we have left our possessions [2] and followed you.”
29 He said to them, “Amen I tell you: Anyone who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will most certainly receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection Again
31 He took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 Indeed, he will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, mistreat him, spit on him, 33 flog him, and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again.”
34 They did not understand any of these things. What he said was hidden from them, and they did not understand what was said.
Footnotes
Luke 18:20 Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20
Luke 18:28 Some witnesses to the text read left everything.
1 Jesus told them a parable about the need to always pray and not lose heart: 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not care about people. 3 There was a widow in that town, and she kept going to him, saying, ‘Give me justice from my adversary!’ 4 For some time he refused, but after a while he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God or care about people, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not wear me out with her endless pleading.’”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God give justice to his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night? Will he put off helping them? 8 I tell you that he will give them justice quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income.’
13 “However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 “I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus Loves Little Children
15 People were bringing even their babies to Jesus, so that he would touch them. When the disciples saw this, they began to rebuke them. 16 But Jesus invited them, saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Amen I tell you: Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
20 The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in a way you can observe, 21 nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘Look, there it is!’ because the kingdom of God is within [1] you.”
Jesus Will Return
22 He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will tell you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or ‘Look, here he is!’ Do not go out or chase after them, 24 for the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning that flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other side. 25 But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, the person who is on the roof and has belongings in the house should not go down to get them. Likewise, the person in the field should not turn back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed. One will be taken, and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain at the same place. One will be taken, and the other will be left.” [2]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked him.
He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered.”
Footnotes
Luke 17:21 Or among
Luke 17:35 Some witnesses to the text include verse 36: Two will be in the field: One will be taken, and the other will be left. (See Matthew 24:40.)
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Our sister church the Ukrainian Lutheran Church (ULC), along with all the citizens of Ukraine, has been experiencing the hardship and suffering caused by four years of a terrible and […]
At its spring meeting, the WELS Board for Home Missions approved three new mission starts, continuing its work of bringing the gospel to growing communities across the United States while […]
In late January and early February 2026, Daniel Sims, director of WELS Christian Aid and Relief, and Paul Biedenbender, pastor at Christ, Denver, Colo., and a member of the WELS […]
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