Events

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Job 19:23–27\rPsalm: Psalm 118:15–29; antiphon: v. 1\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 15:51–57\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 5:6–8\rGospel: Mark 16:1–8\rIntroit: Psalm 8:1, 5–6, 9; antiphon: Luke 24:5b–6b\rGradual: Psalm 118:24, 1\rVerse: 1 Corinthians 5:7b–8a, c\r\rChrist’s Resurrection Means That We Will One Day Be Raised\r \r“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). By the shed blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, eternal death has passed over us. Now we pass with Christ through death into life everlasting. For Christ the crucified One is risen! The stone has been rolled away from the tomb, revealing that the tomb could not hold Him (Mark 16:1–8). Now our Redeemer lives eternally to save us from sin and Satan and the grave, and we can live in the sure hope of our own bodily resurrection with Christ. “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). Feasting on the living Christ, who is our meat and drink indeed, we boldly say: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? . . . But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:54–55, 57).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Exodus 15:1–18\rPsalm: Psalm 100; antiphon: v. 5\rSecond Reading: Acts 10:34–43\rGospel: Luke 24:13–35\rIntroit: Psalm 105:1–2, 7a, 8a, 42a, 43a; antiphon: Exodus 13:5b, 9b\rGradual: Psalm 118:24, 2\rVerse: Luke 24:32\r\rThe Passover Lamb Is Known in the Breaking of the Bread\r \rThe celebration of Easter is a never-ending feast. Therefore, let us “sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously” (Ex. 15:1). He is our strength and our song because He has become our salvation. “They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the third day” (Acts 10:39). His chosen witnesses, “who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead” (Acts 10:41), now preach “forgiveness of sins through His name” (Acts 10:43). By this preaching, Jesus draws near and leads us home. He opens the Scriptures to us, and He opens our minds to understand “the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). He opens our eyes to recognize His wounds and to know Him “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Exodus 14:10—15:1\rOld Testament: Isaiah 25:6–9\rPsalm: Psalm 16; antiphon: v. 11\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 15:12–25\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1–11\rGospel: John 20:1–18\rIntroit: Psalm 139:1–2a, 8, 10; antiphon: vv. 18b, 5b, 6\rGradual: Psalm 118:24, 1\rVerse: 1 Corinthians 5:7b–8a, c\r\rChrist’s Resurrection Brings Us Life\r \r“In Adam all die.” For we are all participants in the sin of Adam, who rebelled against God in the garden and brought the curse of death into the world. But “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22)). For He was faithful to His Father and destroyed death on the holy tree. Jesus, the Second Adam, now walks in the garden in the cool of the day and reveals Himself to the daughter of Eve (John 20:1–18). The risen Christ brings not the curse of death but the blessing of life, the resurrection of the body. He leads us through the baptismal sea to new life on the other side, conquering our mortal enemies in its depths (Ex. 14:10—15:1). In this way our Lord Jesus wipes away the tears from all faces. For He has swallowed up death forever. Let us therefore be glad and rejoice in His salvation (Is. 25:6–9)!\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Daniel 3:8–28\rPsalm: Psalm 2; antiphon: v. 7\rSecond Reading: Acts 13:26–33\rGospel: Luke 24:36–48\rGospel: Luke 24:36–49\rIntroit: Psalm 105:1–2, 7a, 8a, 42a, 43a; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Psalm 118:24, 2\rVerse: Matthew 28:2b

Color: White\r\rFirst Reading: Acts 3:13–15, 17–19\rPsalm: Psalm 61; antiphon: vv. 6–7\rEpistle: Colossians 3:1–7\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26\rGospel: John 21:1–14\rIntroit: Psalm 118:13–14, 17–18, 29; antiphon: v. 17\rGradual: Psalm 118:24, 2\rVerse: John 21:14

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Ezekiel 37:1–14\rPsalm: Psalm 33; antiphon: v. 6\rEpistle: 1 John 5:4–10\rGospel: John 20:19–31\rIntroit: Psalm 81:1, 7a, 10, 16b; antiphon: 1 Peter 2:2a\rVerse: Matthew 28:7b; John 20:26a, c\r\rThe Wounds of Christ Give Us Life\r \r“For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood” (1 John 5:7). These three point to Christ and flow from Christ. Jesus shows His disciples His hands side, from which blood and water flowed, saying “Peace be with you.” He presents the wounds which turn our fear to gladness and which restore us to the Father. Jesus breathes on His disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:23). His breath, His words are Spirit and life. They raise up our dry, dead bones and give us new and everlasting life (Ezek. 37:1–14). Christ now gives His ministers to speak His forgiving, Spirit-filled words to the penitent in His stead. Our Lord continues to come to His people, presenting His wounds to us in the Sacraments of water and blood. He bids us to touch His side at His table, to receive His risen body and blood in true faith, that believing we may have life in His name.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Ezekiel 34:11–16\rPsalm: Psalm 23; antiphon: v. 6\rEpistle: 1 Peter 2:21–25\rGospel: John 10:11–16\rIntroit: Psalm 33:1, 18–20; antiphon: vv. 5b, 6a\rVerse: Luke 24:35b; John 10:14\r\rThe Good Shepherd Cares for His Sheep\r \rOur Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11–16). He is not like the hireling, who cares nothing for the sheep and only for himself, who flees when he sees the wolf coming. Rather, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who seeks out His scattered sheep to deliver them (Ezek. 34:11–16). He gathers them and feeds them in rich pasture. He binds up the broken and strengthens the sick. He lays down His life for wandering and wayward sheep. On the cross, Christ bore in His body the attacks of the predators of sin and death and the devil for you that you might be saved. He now lives to restore your soul in the still waters of baptism, to lead you in the paths of righteousness by the voice of His Gospel, to prepare the table of His holy supper before you, that you may dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23). “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 52:7–10\rPsalm: Psalm 146; antiphon: v. 5\rEpistle: 2 Timothy 4:5–18\rGospel: Mark 16:14–20\rIntroit: Psalm 92:1–5; antiphon: Mark 16:15\rGradual: Psalm 119:105, 103; 45:1a, c\rVerse: Mark 1:15\r\rSt. Mark, Evangelist\r \rThe Lord sends His messengers out “as lambs in the midst of wolves” bearing the message, “Peace be to this house” (Luke 10:3–5). St. Mark does “the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5) and “publishes peace” (Is. 52:7). He is remembered as the lion-hearted evangelist, depicted with his fellow evangelists as the four living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4. The evangelist is often identified with John Mark of Acts and the cousin of Barnabas, with whom he worked in Cyprus to “proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). Despite their earlier differences, Mark was reconciled with St. Paul, who considered him “very useful … for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11). Later he worked in Rome (1 Peter 5:13), where tradition has it that he wrote his Gospel from St. Peter’s sermons before founding the church in Alexandria and facing a martyr’s death.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 40:25–31\rOld Testament: Lamentations 3:22–33\rPsalm: Psalm 147:1–11; antiphon: v. 5\rEpistle: 1 John 3:1–3\rEpistle: 1 Peter 2:11–20\rGospel: John 16:16–22\rIntroit: Psalm 66:3, 5, 8–9; antiphon: vv. 1–2\rVerse: Psalm 111:9a; Luke 24:26\r\rThose Who Wait on the Lord Shall Rejoice\r \rThe people of God are pilgrims and sojourners in this world, looking ahead to a destination yet to come (1 Peter 2:11–20). Though we are now children of God, the fullness of what we shall be has not yet been revealed (1 John 3:1–3). We are those who wait on the Lord. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lam. 3:25). Jesus tells us that the wait is just a little while. “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (John 16:16). Though you must experience sorrow for a time, though you must live as strangers in a world that is at enmity with Christ, yet your sorrow will be turned to joy when He returns. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Is. 40:31). The little while of weeping shall be replaced with an eternity of rejoicing in the presence of Christ the crucified and risen Savior. “And no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 30:18–21\rPsalm: Psalm 36:5–12; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: Ephesians 2:19–22\rGospel: John 14:1–14\rIntroit: Psalm 89:1, 5, 15–16; antiphon: Psalm 119:46\rGradual: Romans 10:15b, 18b; Isaiah 52:7b, alt.\rVerse: John 14:6\r\rSt. Philip and St. James, Apostles\r \r“Lord, show us the Father.” Philip did not yet recognize that the Father is glorified in the Son. In His name we have access to the Father, for they are one. Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him],” and whoever believes in Him will do the works He does and greater (John 14:6–13). And so Philip and James did; the “household of God” is built on the apostles, with Christ as her chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:19–22). The beloved words of Jesus from today’s Gospel were the words of their “Teacher,” echoing in their ears as they walked in His way (Is. 30:20–21). And so their hearts were not troubled (John 14:1) as they ate “the bread of adversity and the water of affliction” (Is. 30:20). Philip, who in John’s Gospel brings Jews and Greeks to Jesus, is said to have journeyed to Phrygia where he was martyred. James “the Younger” (son of Alphaeus, whose mother Mary was at the crucifixion) is said to have died by being sawn in half. Where Christ is, they also are, and so shall we be (John 14:3).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 12:1–6\rPsalm: Psalm 66:1–8; antiphon: v. 5\rEpistle: James 1:16–21\rGospel: John 16:5–15\rIntroit: Psalm 98:1b, 3–4; antiphon: vv. 1a, 2b\rVerse: Psalm 118:16; Romans 6:9\r\rJesus Promises to Send His Holy Spirit, the Helper\r \rThough Jesus has departed from us visibly to the right hand of the Father who sent Him, yet this is to our advantage. For Jesus—who is Lord over all creation, who intercedes for us before the Father, who is preparing a place for us in heaven—has sent the Helper, the Spirit of Truth (John 16:5–15). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” through Jesus Christ (James 1:17). The Holy Spirit helps us by taking what is Christ’s and declaring it to us. In the Word of truth, the Spirit works repentance and delivers to us the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of Christ, and victory over the devil. For the ruler of this world is judged and defeated by the cross. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we have been brought forth to new life in Him who is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Confident of our resurrection with Christ we confess, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid” (Is. 12:2).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship