Many of the Passion Prophecies we are reflecting on in Lent 2014 come from Isaiah. The German artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872) used this woodcut to depict Isaiah being shown all the wonderful things the Messiah would do (to see a larger version of the image, either click it or here, from where we got the image).
The God-man Jesus fulfilled all that was prophesied about the Christ, both in the Old Testament Scriptures and the New Testament Scriptures, including the prophecies of His passion, death on the cross, and resurrection from the grave in order to save you from your sins. At Pilgrim Lutheran Church, we are giving special attention to some of those prophecies and their fulfillment, as we observe the 40-day season of Lent. The Lenten season of special devotion, self-denial, and humble repentance begins with Ash Wednesday, March 5, and continues through Holy Saturday, April 19.
We observe Ash Wednesday, with its emphasis on repentance, in a special Divine Service at 7:00 p.m. The imposition of ashes is offered for all those who wish to receive them. Ashes are a rich Biblical symbol of judgment and condemnation of sin, frailty, our total dependence upon God for life, humiliation, repentance, cleansing, and renewal. We were created from dust and, on account of sin, return to dust, and so we repent in dust and ashes. The ashes also remind us of our need for cleansing, scrubbing, and purifying, and the season of Lent provides such a time for renewal.
The 40-day season of Lent is based in part on special 40-day periods known from the Bible, such as Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness after His baptism resisting the devil’s temptation (for example, Matthew 4:2, part of the Gospel Reading for The First Sunday in Lent). Lent is often said to be a time to reflect on baptism, a time for rebirth and renewal, for the discipline of learning and growing in faith, and for repentance and prayer. (The purple paraments in part symbolize penitence and self-discipline.) More than anything, however, Lent prepares us for the Holy Week and Easter celebrations of the mystery of our redemption by the death and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ.
Although not strictly-speaking a part of Lent, the following are the Sundays in Lent 2014 and their Gospel Readings (appointed by Lutheran Service Book’s three-year lectionary series A, which largely uses the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, though less evidently this season).
• First Sunday (3/9): Jesus resists the devil’s three-fold temptation (Matthew 4:1-11)
• Second Sunday (3/16): Jesus tells Nicodemus about the need for Baptism (John 3:1-17)
• Third Sunday (3/23): Jesus gives a Samaritan woman living water (John 4:5-26)
• Fourth Sunday (3/30): Jesus is the Light of the World (John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39)
• Fifth Sunday (4/6): Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:17-27, 38-53)
• Sixth Sunday (4/13): Jesus enters Jerusalem and is crucified for you (Matthew 21:1-11; 26:1-27:66)
Many grew up with midweek Lenten services that focused on our Lord’s Passion and so prefer that the Passion narrative be read and meditated on during such midweek services, despite other more-recent emphases. This year Pilgrim’s Midweek Lenten Vespers services will include the reading of the Passion narrative and sermons on Passion prophecies and their fulfillment for you, a sermon theme that “spills over” to the Holy Week services and the Easter “Sonrise” Matins service. (Given the lectionary series’ focus on St. Matthew’s divinely inspired account, we are concentrating on prophecies the fulfillment of which is reported in that account.)
• Midweek I (3/12): Rejected by the rulers (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:33-46)
• Midweek II (3/19): Sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 26:14-16)
• Midweek III (3/26): Forsaken by the disciples (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31-56)
• Midweek IV (4/2): Patient and silent in suffering (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 26:63; 27:12-14)
• Midweek V (4/9): Struck on the cheek (Micah 5:1; Matthew 27:27-31)
• Maundy Thursday (4/17): Suffered to bear our sins (Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 20:28; 26:38)
• Good Friday (4/18): Suffered alone (Isaiah 53:1-3; Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46)
• Easter “Sunrise” (4/20): Rose from death the third day (Psalm 16:8-11; 30:3; Isaiah 53:10-11; Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40; Luke 24:6, 31, 34, 46)
The Lenten Vespers services are at 7:00 p.m. on the days indicated. A dinner precedes them at 6:00 p.m., followed by Festival Choir practice at 6:30 p.m. All are invited and welcome to all the activities each night.
As indicated, we are offering a Maundy Thursday Divine Service on April 17 at 7:00 p.m. and a Good Friday Divine Service on April 18 at 7:00 p.m. In addition, you may want to mark your calendars for our Easter “Sonrise” Matins service April 20 at 7:30 a.m. (note the new time for 2014) and our Easter Divine Service April 20 at 10:45 a.m. In between the two services will be an Easter Breakfast at 8:30 a.m., Egg Hunt at 9:15 a.m., and Sunday School and Adult Bible Class at 9:30 a.m. All are invited and welcome to any of our activities!
You can read and hear the sermons at Pilgrim from any and every season of the Church Year at https://www.pilgrimlc.org/sermons.
