Palm Sunday
Here is the handout from Bob and Cathy Mattson for Palm Sunday.
SUNDAY OF THE PASSION
Almighty God, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take our flesh upon him and to suffer death on the cross. Grant that we may share in his obedience to your will and in the glorious victory of his resurrection; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Pietro Lorenzetti, "Entry Into Jerusalem" (1320)
GOSPEL: Luke 22:14 – 23:56 or
Luke 23: 1-49
SECOND READING: Philippians 2:5-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. John iv. 34.
The will of God which Christ came to do can be nothing else but Christ own obedience, as Paul says, ‘He was obedient for us’. By that will we are all sanctified: ‘Through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous’ (Romans v.).
‘He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death.’
But all this He did, not because we have merited it or are worthy of it (for who is the man to be worthy of such a service from such a person?), but because He obeyed His Father. By this saying St. Paul with one word flings open the gates of heaven, thus letting us behold the unspeakable, gracious will and love of the Father’s heart towards us, so that we feel how from the beginning of time Christ’s sacrifice for us has been well-pleading unto God.
What heart should not melt with joy at this? Who should not love, and laud, and thank? Who should not joyfully become the servant of all the world, and even less than nothing, when he perceives that God holds him to be so dear and precious to Him, and that He proves and pours out His Fatherly will so abundantly in His own Son’s obedience?
Sermon from the year 1525. [W.A. 17. II. 244] Via Day by Day We Magnify Thee, by Martin Luther (Page 130)
From Luther’s Small Catechism
Luther’s Morning Prayer
We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have protected us through the night from all danger and harm. We ask you to preserve and keep us, this day also, from all sin and evil, that in all our thoughts, words, and deeds we may serve and please you. Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls and all that is ours. Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us. Amen
Luther’s Evening Prayer
We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have this day so graciously protected us. We beg you to forgive us all our sins and the wrong which we have done. By your great mercy defend us from all the perils and dangers of this night. Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls and all that is ours. Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us. Amen
