While the crowds, with palm branches in their hands, praised Jesus, the chief priests planned to deliver Jesus into the hands of sinful men. Christ would soon have nails in His hands upon the cross. However, in all of this, the hand of the Lord was at work to bring redemption to His people. Christ, with His nail-pierced hands, has brought us salvation through the forgiveness of our sins.

Our sin merits the anger and wrath of God. But His strict warning of judgment against sin is meant to lead us to repentance. God wants to show grace and mercy to sinners so that we may believe and receive forgiveness. Christ willingly received the wrath of God for all sin in our place when He died on the cross. He did this so that, like the prodigal son, we may know our heavenly Father's eternal embrace of comfort (see Luke 15:11-32).

Ancient Israel repeatedly grumbled in the wilderness. Nevertheless, the Lord rescued the Israelites through the Red Sea and continued to provide for them as He led them to the Promised Land. In our epistle, Paul tells us that these events serve as examples for us to hold fast to our merciful Lord, who does not abandon us. There is no temptation so great that our Lord cannot overcome it. He provides the way out because He has already won the victory by His cross.

When it feels as though everything around us is crumbling, jesus offers us the foundation we can stand firm on: Him! He has accomplished what we could not. His cross stands as a testament to His determination and love for us. By dying on the cross and rising again, Christ won for us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Therefore, in all trials and temptations, we can stand firm in Christ alone.

As we begin the season of Lent, there is great joy in knowing that God has not withdrawn His Word from us. It is near—in our mouths and hearts. Even if everything around us gets stripped away, the Word will remain. It remains because it has come from God Himself through the preaching of the Word. The Word of God says Jesus, our Savior, has overcome all trials and temptations, going all the way to the cross, dying, and rising to redeem us to everlasting life.

Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah about His departure; that is, His "exodus" from this world. The original exodus occurred when God freed ancient Israel from bondage in Egypt. It was a foreshadowing of the salvation Christ would bring by rescuing us from captivity to sin, death, and the devil. As the Lord's transfiguration is the high point of the Epiphany season, our reading today prepares our hearts for the season of Lent, leading us to Christ's cross and resurrection, where He has set us free forever in Him.

Tombstones bear testimony to the sting that death still inflicts on this world. However, it could not hold Christ in the tomb. His tomb remains empty to this day. He has conquered sin, death, and the devil. At the day of His return and judgment, all shall be bodily raised to stand before the Lord. But we, the church, will be rejoicing over death's defeat and loss of its sting because Christ's forgiveness, life, and salvation is already ours today by faith.

Paul boldly states that without Christ's resurrection, "your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). There would be no point to a life lived in faith. "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:20). This changes everything! Christ's bodily resurrection means that His cross atoned for our sins and that we, too, will be raised. It means that our lives lived in faith in Christ are never in vain because our Redeemer lives.

The fishermen had given up after a frustrating night's worth of casting and pulling in empty nets. But then Jesus stepped into the boat, had them push off from land, and taught them. At His word, casting those empty nets brought in an amazing haul of fish so great that the nets were breaking and boats were sinking. Indeed, the Lord brings in an astonishing catch of believers, not by our power, but by the power of His Gospel of forgiveness.

Mary and Joseph did as the Lord's Law instructed and brought the Christ Child to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice. Jesus' whole life was one of fulfilling the Law of the Lord. When He grew, He again went up to Jerusalem to make a sacrifice. But this sacrifice was the once-for-all-time sacrifice of His own body on the cross to atone for the sins of the whole world. So by the gift of faith, we are counted as righteous because of His perfect fulfillment of the Law.

The Lord has fashioned a variety of individual members; each one is loved, cherished, and indispensable to His one Body. This Body is not merely constituted by shared interests but by Christ, the Head. Every Lord's Day, He brings together the congregation of believers into a blessed harmony around His Word and Sacrament. For the church is Christ's Body, which He has redeemed and made alive by His cross and resurrection.

In instituting marriage, the Lord created a picture of the kind of love that He has for His people. Christ's love and commitment to His Bride, the Church, led all the way to Him giving Himself for her upon the cross to make her pure, blameless, and holy. He rejoices over us, His Bride, and continues to share His eternal life with us.

The Lord looks upon His chosen people as precious because of His love. Christ, who has always been the eternal and beloved Son of the Father, willingly passed through the waters of a Baptism of repentance that He did not need. He brings blessing through the sacred waters of our Baptism as we are joined to Him, the only Son of the Father. When the Father looks upon us, He sees Christ. Because of this, we are precious and loved in His eyes as His dear children.