Who handed-over Jesus for you? The answer to that question seems almost too obvious, and in some ways the answer to that question is too obvious. The Bible repeatedly refers to Jesus’s disciple Judas Iscariot as the one who betrayed Jesus (for example, Matthew 10:4), so much so does the Bible repeatedly refer to Judas as the betrayer that even in popular speech the term “Judas” can refer to anyone who deceitfully and treacherously betrays a friend. Yet, using the same Greek verb, which is translated “betray” only about one-third of the time in the New Testament, Holy Scripture also refers to others than Judas as “handing-over” Jesus. Though contemporary preachers of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus often liken Judas’s betraying Jesus to ways that we might betray Jesus, the Bible notably does not seem to refer explicitly to ordinary people’s handing-over Jesus. Rather, the Bible does seem to refer explicitly to ordinary people’s being the beneficiaries of Jesus’s having been handed-over; for example, in Romans 4:25, the Divinely-inspired St. Paul says that Jesus was “delivered-up” for our trespasses. Like Jesus’s own prophecies of His passion (for example, Matthew 17:22-23), Paul’s use of the passive voice in Romans 4:25 allows him not to specify the identity of the one or ones who “delivered-up” Jesus and arguably allows multiple answers to the question of “Who handed-over Jesus for you?” The multiple answers to that question will be one of our focuses as we at Pilgrim Lutheran Church journey through this church year’s penitential season of Lent.

The season of Lent goes from Ash Wednesday to Easter and includes five Sundays and other opportunities for such worship. The Sundays and their Gospel Readings (appointed by Lutheran Service Book’s three-year lectionary series A) are as follows:

  • First Sunday (02/26): Jesus resists the devil’s three-fold temptation (Matthew 4:1-11)
  • Second Sunday (03/05): Jesus tells Nicodemus about the need for Baptism (John 3:1-17)
  • Third Sunday (03/12): Jesus gives a Samaritan woman living water (John 4:5-30, 39-42)
  • Fourth Sunday (03/19): Jesus is the Light of the World (John 9:1-41)
  • Fifth Sunday (03/26): Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-53)
  • Palm Sunday (04/02): Jesus enters Jerusalem and speaks about His crucifixion (John 12:12-19, 20-43)

At 7:00 p.m., Pilgrim also is offering special Divine Services on Ash Wednesday (02/22, with the optional imposition of ashes and the Gospel Reading of Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21), Holy (Maundy) Thursday (04/06, with the Gospel Reading of Matthew 26:17-30), and Good Friday (04/07, with the Gospel Reading of Jesus’s seven “words” from the cross), as well as midweek Lenten Vespers services (including the singing of a penitential Psalm and the Great Litany) on the other Wednesdays of Lent before Holy Week. This year in those midweek Lenten Vespers services, we are hearing portions of St. Matthew’s account of the Passion of our Lord, and the special sermon series is focusing on five answers to the question “Who handed-over Jesus for you?”

  • Midweek I (03/01): God the Father (Romans 8:32)
  • Midweek II (03/08): Judas (Matthew 26:47-50)
  • Midweek III: (03/15): Jewish leaders (Matthew 27:2)
  • Midweek IV (03/18): Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:26)
  • Midweek V (03/25): God the Son (Galatians 2:20)

(Pilgrim’s Council decided not to have congregational meals before the Midweek Lenten Vespers Services this year.)

During Lent, as always, Pastor Galler is regularly available for private confession and individual absolution (see Lutheran Service Book 292-293 and use the Study Hours at right or contact him for a special appointment). People come to confess privately not because they have to come in order to confess each and every sin (which is impossible, as Psalm 19:12 makes clear), but people come because they want to come to confess the sins that trouble them most in order to receive the comfort and peace that individual absolution gives (John 20:19-23).

All are invited and welcome to attend Pilgrim’s services in person or to use the posted PDFs of the services and follow-along either live via Skype or with the recorded video/audio later on-line. (See the upper right corner of this page for all the relevant links.) Usually audio of only the sermon is posted along with its manuscript here.

Finally, you may want to mark Sunday, April 9, on your calendar now for our Easter Breakfast at 8:00 a.m., Sunday School and Adult Bible Class at 9:30 a.m., and Divine Service at 10:45 a.m. (There should also be an Egg Hunt for young children, likely after the Divine Service.)

The banner graphic at the top of this page and the corresponding slider graphic on the front page were created using an image by Lutheran German painter Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872) from his Bibel in Bildern, published in 30 parts from 1852-1860 (the image is in the public domain).