By Pastor Mark Lieschke
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He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24:5b)
Read Luke 23:56b–24:12
I love my wife. I told her this when I proposed to her, and then again at our wedding, and most likely on every anniversary we’ve celebrated since (the ones I’ve remembered, anyhow). And I’d tell her if I changed my mind. Why would she – or any wife and husband or any person, for that matter – need to be told repeatedly that they’re loved?
We know God loves us. He told us this. It’s in the Bible. We hear about that love every Easter as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. So, why repeat it? It can become a bit monotonous when you hear the same thing over and over.
I don’t know about you, but I need to hear that I’m loved and special – especially when I have some real struggles in my life, am grieving, have concerns about my family, am tempted and find it hard to get along with others.
I need to hear I’m not alone in my struggles and that, each day, I’m offered help and strength. I need to be reminded that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and because of his love and commitment, my mourning and sadness can be comforted, and I have all I need to face the future with confidence.
That’s what the Easter gospel is all about. It’s God saying, ‘I’ve raised my Son to life so that you can have a living Saviour to be with you and for you and in you and give you all you need to face whatever it is that’s difficult and challenging in your life’.
We have a God who loves and doesn’t stop loving – a God who has loved us so much that he was prepared to send his one and only Son to die so that we could have life.
And not just to have eternal life but a full and rich life here and now with purpose and a sure and solid foundation. When things go wrong (and they do), life gets tough (and it does), and we fail and experience disappointments and get knocked down, we have someone to pick us up, comfort and strengthen us, and set us on the right path again.
Lord Jesus, thank you for reminding me that I am loved. Thank you for being prepared to go to the cross to show that love. Thank you that you rose from the grave to assure me that, in all my struggles, I have your living presence to give me confidence and strength to face the future. Amen.
Mark Lieschke is a retired pastor living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He served in parishes in South Australia, New Zealand and New South Wales before being elected as bishop of the LCANZ’s New South Wales District. Mark enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, walking on the beach and relaxing.
by Pastor Mark Lieschke
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46a).
Read Luke 23:44–56
‘Why, God? Why must we die? Why do some children die? Why are there some painful deaths? Why do innocent people die because of the selfishness and stupidity of others? Couldn’t you plan things some other way?’
And we could go on. As hard as life may be, we usually don’t want it to end. We want it to continue. Death is too final, too total. And it’s too much of an unknown for us.
So, we can cling to life as we know it here and now. We can try to resist death from coming by fighting against it with all our might. Death can bring feelings of helplessness, despair and defeat – and there’s no way we want to experience those things. We want to live and continue living so we can resist death as much as we possibly can.
Jesus accepted the reality of death. And he did this because it was the only way for us to face death with peace and confidence. He died for us for us so that we can live and die and live again.
He willingly gave up his life for us. His life wasn’t taken from him, but he gave it up of his own accord. ‘Into your hands, I commit my spirit’, he said.
Perhaps we can’t speak these words in the same way he did. But God continually reminds us through his word and wants us to believe without any doubt that when our life fails – and, in fact, every day – we can commit ourselves to his fatherly hands.
As sure as God raised Jesus from the dead, so will we be raised too. We won’t be lost or destroyed because Jesus has guaranteed our salvation. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us, we can face death with peace and hope.
Lord God, thank you that because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we can grow to face our own death with confidence in your saving grace. Give us peace and hope when we are discouraged, fearful and doubting. And enable us to say also: ‘Into your hands I commit my spirit.’ Amen.
Mark Lieschke is a retired pastor living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He served in parishes in South Australia, New Zealand and New South Wales before being elected as bishop of the LCANZ’s New South Wales District. Mark enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, walking on the beach and relaxing.
by Pastor Mark Lieschke
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42).
Read Luke 23:32–43
There was no earthly reason for Jesus to remember the thief on the cross next to him. And there’s no earthly reason why Jesus ought to remember us. But he does – not because of what we do or say and avoid doing or saying. He remembers us because of his grace and mercy.
One thief recognised that grace. A spark of faith led him to cry out with his request. But that confession of faith was all he needed to make. He had nothing to present to God as an offering to impress or influence him. He couldn’t make an appeal to Jesus based on his track record. His life was riddled with violations of the law of the land, and he was an offence to God’s moral law. There was nothing within him that would have made a scrap of difference to the fact that he deserved all that was coming his way.
All he could do was cry out for help. ‘Lord, have mercy. Lord, help me. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He acknowledged Jesus as the one who could rescue him – and this confession of faith was all that was needed.
We’re no different. We may pride ourselves on our good behaviour; we may be law-abiding citizens; we may be generous in our support of charitable organisations; we may be actively involved in our congregation’s ministry. But those things have never been – and will never be – our ticket to heaven. There’s only one way to heaven: acknowledge our sinfulness and confess Jesus as our Saviour from sin.
There’s no rational explanation for why God deals with latecomers and desperate seekers of his mercy with such kindness. There’s no human justification for Jesus to share his kingdom with criminals. There’s no reason why even those who despise God and reject him are still loved by him.
The only answer – and it’s beyond our comprehension – is that God’s grace and Christ’s love are so great that they defy our efforts to understand them.
Lord Jesus, we stand in awe of your grace. We can’t always understand it. We don’t always appreciate it. We take it for granted. Thank you, Lord, that your grace still surrounds us. ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Amen.
Mark Lieschke is a retired pastor living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He served in parishes in South Australia, New Zealand and New South Wales before being elected as bishop of the LCANZ’s New South Wales District. Mark enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, walking on the beach and relaxing.
by Pastor Mark Lieschke
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother’ (Mark 3:34,35).
Read Mark 3:20–35
We can identify three different groups of people in today’s reading.
There was, first of all, Jesus’ family. We would like to think that members of families are always supportive, encouraging and committed to each other. But that’s not always the case. And it wasn’t with Jesus’ family either. They had said he was ‘out of his mind’. It seemed like they didn’t want him to carry out his mission. They thought he was in danger and were looking to rescue him. They didn’t understand yet who he really was.
Then there were the teachers of the law. They accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul. They were experts in the Scriptures, from headquarters in Jerusalem, looking for ways to put Jesus down and discredit him. They’d hoped to maintain their influence over the people rather than them following Jesus.
Two groups of people, whom we might think should have known better, hinder Jesus’ ministry. Those who could easily have been seen as being on the ‘inside’ are called out by Jesus and identified as being on the ‘outside’.
The third group of people is ‘inside’, sitting around Jesus, listening to him, so intent that it seems they didn’t even realise they missed lunch! But they were still fed – with much more than physical food.
These people were closer to Jesus than his own family and the teachers of the law. They were his family because they did the will of God.
What a privilege it is to sit at Jesus’ feet – to listen, learn and be encouraged, blessed, forgiven and strengthened by his presence, power and promises. We have been called to be his disciples, believe in him as our Lord and Saviour, walk in his ways, and follow him within his new community.
We are ‘on the inside’. There is always the temptation to claim our position because of our wisdom, experience, heritage or family connections. But each time we turn to our Saviour, acknowledging our sin and receiving his forgiveness, we can be sure of his word: you are my mother, sister, and brother.
Lord Jesus, thank you for the privilege of being able to sit at your feet, learn from you, be encouraged by you, and be forgiven and strengthened by your presence, power and promises. Bless me with your grace today so I can live as your mother, sister, brother. Amen.
Mark Lieschke is a retired pastor living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He served in parishes in South Australia, New Zealand and New South Wales before being elected as bishop of the LCANZ’s New South Wales District. Mark enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, walking on the beach and relaxing.
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42).
Read Luke 23:36–53
Talk about a deathbed conversion! Here, we have a criminal condemned to death, hanging on a cross, recognising Jesus’ sinless life. Not only that, but he asks to be remembered when Jesus comes to his heavenly kingdom. His prayer is answered when Jesus provides reassurance.
This precedes the final stages of Jesus’ suffering and death. Right at the end, Jesus hears this man’s prayer and offers eternal life – that is, life in paradise. What an amazing example of grace!
This incident reminds me of the parable of the workers in the vineyard told in Matthew 20. Workers were hired at varying times during the day, and at the end of the day, each received a full day’s wages – no matter how long or how well they worked. And that is how Jesus does business! Jesus accepts us just how we are. We can be sure of entry to paradise – all we have to do is believe in Jesus and his saving grace. No matter how weak our faith or little we have done, Jesus will welcome us.
Just a gentle reminder: You and I don’t get a vote on who is in or who is out of paradise. God is the divine adjudicator. So, let’s do the best we can and, with God’s help, live a life of loving service, secure in the knowledge that we, too, have the right of entry into God’s kingdom.
Merciful God, thank you for being so gracious. Thank you for the gift of forgiveness that can wipe away my sins and remove barriers to my salvation. Thank you for the gift of baptism, which has opened the way for me to be your child. Amen.
Colleen has a husband, two daughters, three granddaughters and a wide range of extended family and friends. She lives in Adelaide and loves how the various parts of her life intersect. Colleen is involved in numerous committees within the church and community. She loves to read. Colleen coordinates her congregation’s prayer group and is delighted to respond to requests for prayer from friends and family.
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children’ (Luke 23:28).
Read Luke 23:13–35
The story of Jesus’ death is not just the story of men. There were women there also. The women remained with him even after the men ran away. The women saw him first after the resurrection.
When we think of some of the women mentioned during Jesus’ life, we see Jesus’ acceptance and response to women as equal citizens, which would have been countercultural then. Think about the Samaritan woman, the woman healed from years of bleeding by touching the hem of Jesus’ gown, his close friends Mary and Martha, the woman who washed his feet with perfume, the widow with two coins to give at the temple, the woman caught in adultery, Peter’s mother-in-law. All these and others were recognised and treated with respect.
As Jesus was being led to his death, there were women in the crowd who were mourning and wailing. Unsurprisingly, Jesus acknowledges them. His advice is chilling and prophetic: ‘Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and your children.’
Losing a lifelong partner, family member or friend can be tough. The thought of living without them is not easy, and it is because of this that our feelings of sadness well up inside us and can overflow into tears. The grief of a mother who loses a child is insurmountable. The pain is visceral – felt deep in one’s guts. I have heard it said that the hole (left by the death of a child) never heals. Where there is deep love, there is deep grief. You have to learn to live with it.
In these uncertain times, how many of us are weeping for ourselves and our children? What must it be like for those mothers in famine-stricken countries who see their children dying of starvation in war-torn areas that are inaccessible to aid agencies? Brian Neldner, one-time director of Lutheran World Service, says:
During a drought, there is a food shortage when crops fail. A famine occurs when the fabric of society collapses. People don’t move. They don’t respond. They are listless and they just sit there and they die. You smell death.
God of comfort and strength, be with all who weep for themselves and their children. Bring an end to the suffering of innocent women and children wherever they may be. Help them to find comfort and strength in your loving care. Amen.
Colleen has a husband, two daughters, three granddaughters and a wide range of extended family and friends. She lives in Adelaide and loves the way the various parts of her life intersect. Colleen is involved in numerous committees within the church and community. She loves to read. Colleen coordinates her congregation’s prayer group and is delighted to respond to requests for prayer from friends and family.
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
He hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort (Luke 23:8b).
Read Luke 23:1–12
I remember seeing a movie, The Man with Two Brains, which starred Steve Martin. My (sometimes fallible) memory is that his wife had died, and he had fallen in love again. He was standing in front of a portrait of his deceased wife and saying, ‘Send me a sign. Just send me a sign’. The portrait started spinning around furiously. He said once more, ‘Send me a sign’, as he watched the painting spinning around, and then took it off the wall and put it where he couldn’t see it.
Wouldn’t it be great if God was better at providing signs to help guide us in our decision-making, to see what will happen in the future or even more importantly, to show God’s amazing powers that would cause people to become Christians?
Herod wanted to see Jesus perform a sign – maybe a miraculous healing, a repeat of turning water into wine, or perhaps even some stunning revelation about what glorious things awaited Herod in the future. Any one of these probably would have satisfied Herod and proved that Jesus was a subversive and justifiably worthy of elimination.
It was not to be. Jesus was not going to play the game. He just stood there, not responding to the taunts, insults or accusations. Maybe if Jesus had performed just one sign, things would have turned out very differently.
Jesus’ humility meant that he had nothing to gain but the cross. As Christians, we are very much in the minority in our current times. We have no earthly power, but we are still called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified so we can serve not only God but also our fellow humans.
As we gather for worship, we confess our faith, hear God’s promises of forgiveness once again and receive the gift of Jesus’ body and blood. If that’s not a sign of God’s love, I don’t know what is!
One of my favourite prayers is the old version of the post-communion prayer. Let’s pray it together.
We give you thanks, almighty God, for refreshing us through your healing gift of holy communion. We pray that through it, you would graciously strengthen us in faith toward you and in love toward one another: through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Colleen has a husband, two daughters, three granddaughters and a wide range of extended family and friends. She lives in Adelaide and loves the way the various parts of her life intersect. Colleen is involved in numerous committees within the church and community. She loves to read. Colleen coordinates her congregation’s prayer group and is delighted to respond to requests for prayer from friends and family.
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
They all asked, ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ He replied, ‘You say that I am’ (Luke 22:70).
Read Luke 22:63–71
Fake news wasn’t a thing back in Jesus’ day. But when Jesus responded to a question about whether he was the Messiah, Jesus claimed he would not be believed if he answered correctly. He then went on to give the correct answer. Those questioning him didn’t care whether Jesus was the Messiah or not – they just wanted to hear him say the words so that they could go ahead with the plan to kill him.
When they asked whether he was the Son of God, Jesus again answered in the affirmative. Both of these responses amounted to blasphemy at that time and were punishable by death. This was the journey that Jesus came for.
Where does that leave me? As I pondered this question, the words of a well-known hymn came to my mind: ‘And can it be that I should gain.’ The hymn verses chart Jesus’ journey from when he left God’s throne in heaven to come to die for us. As you sing the hymn, the triumph of Jesus’ grace, mercy and amazing love rings out. The final verse references Romans 8: ‘There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus … for what the law was powerless to do … God did by sending his own Son.’
The affirmation in the hymn verse goes like this:
No condemnation now I dread
Jesus, and all in him, is mine.
Alive in him, my living Head
And clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach the eternal throne
And claim the crown, through Christ my own
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou my God, should die for me?
That is not fake news! That’s the Easter truth of God’s amazing love for me and you.
Saving God, thank you for your amazing love. Thank you for sending Jesus to be our Saviour, and that because of Jesus’ death, all we have to do is believe, and we will be clothed in righteousness. Amen.
Colleen has a husband, two daughters, three granddaughters and a wide range of extended family and friends. She lives in Adelaide and loves how the various parts of her life intersect. Colleen is involved in numerous committees within the church and community. She loves to read. Colleen coordinates her congregation’s prayer group and is delighted to respond to requests for prayer from friends and family.
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
A servant girl … looked at him closely and said ‘This man was with him’ (Luke 22:56).
Read Luke 22:52–62
When she was still a preschooler, my granddaughter spotted a teddy bear being thrown out of a window in an episode of Peppa Pig. ‘Grandma,’ she said, ‘that was defenestration’. Which, of course, it was.* This young woman has always been sharp-eyed and the go-to person if anything is mislaid at home or if grandparents need information about what’s what and there is no parent around to answer the question.
No, today’s devotion is not about recommending the practice of defenestration. Rather, when I pondered my granddaughter’s comment, I came to the question, "What do people see when they see me? And what do they see when they see the church? Would the sharp-eyed girl in today’s Bible reading recognise us as being with him"?
Here, we have Peter sitting around the fire with a group of people. A young woman peers closely at Peter and recognises him as a follower of Jesus. We don’t know how or why she comes to recognise Peter. Maybe she had seen him with Jesus, or perhaps it was how he dressed or spoke.
How would people know that we are with Jesus? When we speak about others, do we do so with respect and put on the best interpretation of their behaviour? Does the light of Jesus’ love shine through our actions when we’re at home? Or with our friends?
And what do people think when they see our church? As the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), we say we’re a church ‘where love comes to life’. Is that the way others see us? What does the sharp-eyed girl see when she looks at the LCANZ?
Galatians 5 has some great encouragement for us. In verse 13, we’re told to ‘Serve one another in love’. In verses 22 and 23, we read that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’. That’s something to live up to!
Inspirational God, nurture us so that we may bear your Spirit’s fruit and help us to provide loving service to those we come in contact with today, so that they may know that we are indeed with you. Amen.
*Defenestration means throwing a person or thing out of the window. It was used most famously in Prague to rid of one of their rulers.
Colleen has a husband, two daughters, three granddaughters, and a wide range of extended family and friends. She lives in Adelaide and loves how the various parts of her life intersect. Colleen is involved in numerous committees within the church and community. She loves to read. Colleen coordinates her congregation’s prayer group and is delighted to respond to requests for prayer from friends and family.