Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
One can only wonder what kind of quiet talk and sober reflection went on inside Jerusalem homes on Saturday of Holy Week. For the Jewish people of that day it wasn’t, of course, “Holy Week”; it was the Sabbath day of Passover. Though the city had opened her arms to thousands of annual pilgrims, undoubtedly the streets and markets were quiet as people rested and again recounted for their families the events of the Exodus, the deliverance from bondage God had provided.
But how could there not also have been talk about the death of the preacher from Nazareth—the riotous crowds, the darkness and earthquake, the unusually quick death of Jesus, the hasty burial, etc. etc.? St. Luke tells us that eyewitnesses to the crucifixion “beat their breasts and went away” when they saw everything that had happened (Lk 23:38). The unnaturalness of the events at Golgotha even moved a shaken Roman soldier to stop and reflect upon the meaning of it all.
Our Lenten journey has again drawn to a close. Lent is a time for quiet and deep reflection upon the meaning of it all . . . and the marvel of it all. By God’s grace, the Holy Spirit has opened our minds to understand the Scriptures and what the death of Jesus truly means. The hymn writer says, “Jesus, grant that balm and healing in your sacred wounds I find.” Yes. God must grant such faith. God must grant insight and understanding. And, along with such things, our gracious God also grants healing to us through the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
But that blood of the Lamb does more than cause us to pause and reflect upon the death of Jesus. That blood washed us in baptism. That blood, together with his body, still is given to us for the assurance of our forgiveness, and to increase our faith, hope, and love. That blood gives us courage and strength to plod forward through our broken world to our eternal home. Again, our hymn writer: “When I’m weak, your cross revives me, granting new life to my soul.”
The call to faith in Jesus is also the call to a new life—the life of struggling against sin and walking in the freedom Jesus won for us by his sacrifice. The Spirit has “transformed our minds” so that now, “in view of God’s mercy,” we also offer ourselves as “living sacrifices” to God in all we do. “This is our true and proper worship.” And in such worship, our heavenly Father takes great delight.
Lord Jesus, I thank you again for your sacrifice on the cross. Lead me by your Holy Spirit to sacrifice myself for you—a thank-offering to the God of my salvation. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wessel serves Martin Luther College as a professor of Greek, Latin, and philosophy.
1. Jesus, grant that balm and healing
In your holy wounds I find,
Every hour that I am feeling
Pains of body and of mind.
Should some evil thought within
Tempt my treacherous heart to sin,
Show the peril, and from sinning
Keep me from its first beginning.
2. Should some lust or sharp temptation
Fascinate my sinful mind,
Let me think about your passion,
And new courage I shall find.
Or should Satan press me hard,
Let me then be on my guard,
Saying, “Christ for me was wounded,”
That the tempter flee confounded.
3. If the world my heart entices
With the broad and easy road,
With seductive, sinful vices,
Let me think about the load
You were willing to endure;
Then I’ll flee all thoughts impure,
Mastering each wild temptation,
Calm in prayer and meditation.
4. Every wound that pains or grieves me
By your wounds, Lord, is made whole;
When I’m weak, your cross revives me,
Granting new life to my soul.
Yes, your comfort renders sweet
Every bitter cup I meet;
For your all-atoning passion
Has procured my soul’s salvation.
5. O my God, my Rock and Tower,
Grant that in your death I trust,
Knowing death has lost his power
Since you crushed him in the dust.
Savior, let your agony
Ever help and comfort me;
When I die be my protection,
Light and life and resurrection.
