Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Promise Fulfilled in Triumphal Victory — This week’s Bible narratives bring us to the fulfillment of God’s promise to deliver His people from slavery in the Exodus. Exodus means, “the way out”—the “way out of slavery” was by the blood of the Passover Lamb. That Old Testament feast, involving the shedding of the Lamb’s blood and the eating of the Passover is fulfilled in the death of Christ and the Lord’s Supper. Israel Journeys to the Red Sea in their exodus from Egypt where the Lord Fights for Israel, delivering them through water from the pursuing Egyptians. The Red Sea crossing is a wonderful picture of Holy Baptism. We hear the sweet words of Gospel in what Moses tells the fearful children of Israel, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you this day!” From beginning to end, salvation is entirely the Lord’s doing. These Old Testament narratives further illuminate how the promises of the Gospel find their fulfillment in Christ’s work for us in His death and resurrection. The Song of Moses celebrates this great victory over the Egyptians, even as we sing the songs of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the power of the Evil One. Finally, our Wednesday Lenten midweek meditations begin this week with the first reading from the St. Matthew Passion, Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany. In this reading we will meditate upon the gift of Holy Baptism and how we are united to Christ and He with us in Baptism. Jesus was anointed to die. In our Baptism, we are united to His death and resurrection through water and the Word.CP230226

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 31: A Prayer of Thanksgiving and Comfort for the Lord’s Deliverance—Jesus was hated, so will His Christians be. Jesus was assaulted by the Evil One, so will His Christians be. Jesus suffered much at the hands of those spiritual and earthly forces that tried to destroy Him, and so will His Christians be. Yet through all of this the Lord God sustained Him, and He will sustain His Christians too. Psalm 31 is a great example of how we pray THROUGH CHRIST for all the comfort, help, and strength that God promises to give us. We are actually praying for the things that God promises. This is what gives Christian prayer its certainty. This understanding appears at the beginning of the psalm: “Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress to save me” (the petition); “For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me” (the confident assertion of faith). The certainty that God hears our prayers is anchored in the great truths of the Gospel that He promises and declares to us. “Since He is our God and Savior, since He has redeemed me from all sin, death and the power of the devil, THEN I can be confident that He hears my prayers for His deliverance, and I will give thanks to Him for the assurance of His answer to my prayers!” Confidence in God’s promises of deliverance rests in what Jesus has done for us in His death and resurrection. Christ is, therefore, the One who gives certainty and confidence to our prayers! In Psalm 31 we can hear Jesus’ own prayers. He faced every challenge for us! He endured in the confidence that His Father in heaven was His refuge and strength! And the Lord heard His prayers. In His suffering, persecution, and death, Jesus confidently commended Himself to His Father in heaven: “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand; Deliver Me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute Me.” We pray these same prayers through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and in the full assurance of faith, because we are joined to Him. It is for Jesus’ sake that we commend ourselves to God: “For You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” As Jesus prayed these words with confidence from the cross, we are enabled to pray them with confidence in Him and in His redemption.CP230219

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Lord Remembers His Promise to Save His People—When the Lord “remembers” it does not mean that He had forgotten, but rather that He is acting according to His promise of salvation to us. When we “remember” the Lord, we are recalling His promises to us and calling out to Him on the basis of those promises. This week’s readings continue the narrative of God’s call to Moses to redeem the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. In the Lord Goes with Moses to Egypt, we learn of Moses’ doubts and apprehension. The Lord promises to go with him and gives him signs to show before Pharaoh and his brother Aaron to speak on his behalf. When Moses Goes to Pharaoh the Lord’s prediction comes true. Pharaoh hardens his heart and life for the children of Israel becomes even more difficult as they have to gather their own straw to make bricks. The children of Israel are distraught and speak against Moses. In a powerful proclamation of God’s saving acts that He performed on the basis of His promises, the Lord Promises Deliverance. The Lord foretold to Moses everything that would unfold for him before Pharaoh and what he was to do. In the Lord Gives Signs, the Lord demonstrates His superiority over the gods of Egypt and how He will harden Pharaoh’s heart that He might gain honor over Pharaoh. The Plagues are a set of nine plagues in three groups of three which demonstrate that the Lord God of Israel is the only true and living God over the false gods of Egypt. The water turned into blood, the frogs, and the lice demonstrate the Lord’s judgment against the Egyptian gods of the underworld. The flies, the diseased livestock, and the boils demonstrate the Lord’s judgment against the Egyptian gods of the earthly plane. And the plagues of hail, locusts, and darkness demonstrate the Lord’s judgment against the Egyptian gods of the overworld. Through this public display before Egypt and Israel, the Lord demonstrates that He is the only true and living God.

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — God’s Blessing Is Always Anchored in His Grace — The narrative of Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt concludes this week with a clear and unmistakable proclamation of God’s grace. Jacob’s Blessings Before He Dies show how each of the twelve sons of Jacob are part of God’s gracious providence to the house of Israel. Each of them had his place. Each was called by God’s name. Each of them had their share in the blessing of God’s grace through the promise made to the fathers. Joseph Continues to Show Mercy to His Brothers by one final act of absolution. After the death of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers feared that he would take revenge upon them. He did not! But in the stead of the Lord of all grace, Joseph proclaimed the Lord’s absolution to them yet again, “Do not be afraid…you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive…do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” After centuries in Egypt, the children of Israel grew to the tens of thousands. A wicked Pharaoh began to oppress them and subject them to bitter bondage. They would learn through their suffering to cry out to the Lord for deliverance according to the promise made to the patriarchs. The Birth of Moses marks a new chapter in the history of God’s people. Moses would be trained in the household of Pharaoh, but he did not forget his people. At the age of 40, Moses Flees to Midian where he becomes a shepherd and marries Jethro’s daughter Zipporah. For the next 40 years, the Lord would prepare him to be the most important prophet in the Old Testament, the one who would lead the children of Israel out of bondage. Upon Mount Sinai, I AM Appears to Moses in the Burning Bush and calls him to be His spokesman before Pharaoh and the children of Israel. The time of their bondage was drawing to a close. The eternal God of the promise of salvation would make good on His promise and rescue His people.CP230205