If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is pointless and your faith is pointless, too. If Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, then you may as well order your life around how much money, success, and pleasure you can squeeze out of this life. But, Alleluia! Christ has risen!

Your Lord has conquered death for you by dying. He has opened the gates of heaven to you and shut up the gates of hell forever for you by dying, by having His own funeral pall laid on Him. Your agony will last but a little while compared to eternity—three days in the tomb—and then comes joy and rest forever.

Knowing all that He would suffer, He stopped and fed His people.
He stoops in love to feed them Himself, to wash the filth of their feet away as a slave, to nourish and cherish them in every spiritual and physical need, to love them to the very end.
The condescension of your God.

Take up your cross, whatever that cross may be, knowing that you who suffer as a Christian with the Lord Jesus, who suffers with you in it—know that you who suffer with Jesus here and now will certainly be glorified with Him hereafter, without a doubt. He who has washed you in His blood and given you a death like His in Holy Baptism will certainly give you a resurrection, a glory, and an everlasting kingdom with Him. He will do it.

Rest well, you saintly bones,
Which I will no longer bewail;
Rest well and bring also me unto rest.
The grave—which is appointed to you
And from now on will enclose no distress—
Opens heaven unto me and closes hell.

Know, but do not hate, the manners of a friend. Nor did the apostle thoughtlessly teach so often about this office what the philosophers call leniency (epieikeia). For this virtue is necessary for keeping public harmony ‹in the Church and the civil government›. Harmony in the Church cannot last unless pastors and churches mutually overlook and pardon many things.

So the warning, if today you hear the voice of God in the Scriptures, do not harden your hearts. Do not seek to stone the Lord Jesus with your words and works when the Word of God comes to you in a word that is difficult for your sinful flesh to bear. Every word of Scripture is the Word of the living God and must be accepted with the obedience of simple faith. Do not harden your heart when you hear it.

My precious Savior, let [me] ask you:
Now that you [were] nailed to the cross
And [have] said yourself, “It is accomplished,”
Have I been made free from death?
Can I, through your pain and death,
Inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Is redemption of all the world [to be found] here?
You can, in agonies [of pain and death], it is true, say nothing;
But you bow your head
And declare silently, “Yes.”

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

The kingdom of God is Christ’s rule over the Church through the Means of Grace. All who, through the Word, Baptism, the Holy Supper, and Absolution, are given faith in Jesus as their God, as their Messiah, as their Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil—and strengthened in that faith—constitute the kingdom of God where Christ rules. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life. This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. Do not strive for earthly kingdoms and earthly goals.

Pilate then went back into the hall of judgment and summoned Jesus and declared to him: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered: “Are you speaking for yourself [when you declare] this, or have others said it to you of me?” Pilate answered: “Am I a Jew? Your people and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not from this world; were my kingdom from this world, my attendants would fight on that account, [so] that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but now, my kingdom is not from here.”

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2

“But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God” (James 3:8–9).

Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” Romans 10:9-11

Now it is true in 1 Corinthians 11 that it says, ‘Let a man examine himself.’ But that is a warning to Christians—to all of you. But does it also mean at the same time that the pastor doesn’t need to check up on those members and make sure that they understand what it means to examine themselves? If I am going to have to give an account, don’t you think I should know that?

John’s Gospel presents the Passion with a distinctive emphasis on Christ’s divine authority: Jesus knows what will happen and moves toward the cross willingly, confident that death will not be the end. Bach highlights the drama and meaning of the story through vivid musical expression—from the turbulent arias and forceful crowd choruses to the reflective chorales that interpret the events. The work exists in several versions, as Bach revised it for later performances, but most modern performances draw primarily on his later revisions.

Think about something as simple as going without food for a day—not fasting intentionally, but simply not getting a chance to eat. Time got away from you. How quickly irritability rises; how easily patience disappears; how strong the craving becomes. And you’re not in danger of dying—it was only a day—but your flesh acts as if it’s some sort of emergency.

Do we just want to look like we have self-control? Or do we actually want to have self-control? And do we want to have self-control just for the sake of having it, so other people see us and we can pat ourselves on the back? Or are we pressing on to a high goal and ideal—to the New Jerusalem?

All that we can boast of of ourselves is blindness, self-love, self-pity, pomposity, hatred, and indifference toward our neighbor, especially when we are so deluded to think that they have wronged us and we cannot even entertain the part we play in it, or maybe that we've misunderstood why they did what they did. A fake version of love that makes such grand promises but can't even manage to guard its tongue from speaking evil or from judging or prejudging another person. That's all we can boast of in ourselves, you and me. That's it. But you Christians, you do not boast of yourselves.