For Sunday the 6th of April, 2025 (Fifth Sunday in Lent)
As we gather for worship this Sunday all three readings point us to the Passion of our Lord. Through Isaiah the LORD predicts a deliverance to come that will completely dwarf and overshadow the great rescue of his people from Egypt. This deliverance can truly be called “a new thing!” In the Epistle St. Paul identifies the results of this deliverance as having supreme value—far beyond anything in this life or world. In the Gospel Jesus pictures how this deliverance will come—through the Father’s Son, whom he loves. But Jesus also pointedly warns those who reject him that because they do so they will be “crushed.” May we, by God’s searching grace, through faith be spared such a fate.