On this night on which the Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed, on which He instituted the Supper of His body and blood, it does us well to review what it is the believe, teach, and confess with regard to His Supper.

We can simply begin with what the Sacrament of the Altar is. As just said and heard, in fewer words, “it is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.” What Luther taught here, and which we have learned by heart, is confirmed in the words of Christ Himself. Again, these are words you have been taught, the primary text of the Sacrament, and which you hear every Sunday:

[Our] Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)

Yom Kippur had arrived—the Day of Atonement. The priest made the usual preparations. He washed and put on the holy garments. He sacrificed a bull as a sin offering for himself and his house so he could enter the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. He also takes two goats from the congregation of the children of Israel and presents them before YHWH at the door of the Tabernacle. The priest then casts lots over the goats; one lot falls for YHWH, the other for Azazel. (cf. Leviticus 16:1-8)

Erhalt' uns, Herr, bei deinem wort
Und steu'r das papst's und turken mord,
Die Jesum Christum, deinen Sohn,
Wollen stürzen von deinem thron.

So it has begun. Of course, the beginning of Christ’s Passion started the day before the events of tonight’s text, though it most certainly has roots in the fall of Adam, and it was known to happen before the foundation of the world. But on this night, Jesus stands before the council, and He is put on trial. To this point, however, your place in His Passion may have been difficult to see.

Laetare, rejoice!

Jehovah Jireh has provided. As it is written, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:14b) The hand was stayed, the sacrifice prevented, and caught in the thicket was a ram to take the place of the boy. Vicariously, the ram is sacrificed, and the boy lives. There was much rejoicing of the two that day as they made their way down the mountain.

Laetare, rejoice!

Jehovah Jireh has provided. The people had been freed from oppression and slavery. They were allowed to leave and go into the wilderness to sacrifice and freely worship YHWH, though they were pursued for a time. The LORD had provided freedom, but His provision didn’t end there as He provided bread from heaven, manna, and quail—flakes of sustenance and meat from the throne of the Almighty. Surely, there was much rejoicing as the people left the land, as Pharaoh and his host drowned in the sea, as they gathered the bread the first few times.

Laetare, rejoice!

Jehovah Jireh has provided. On a mountain across the Sea of Galilee Jesus had retreated to find some solitude, but a multitude followed Him. Jesus had taught them for a few days, and they followed Him because of the great miracles He had performed. They were hungry by this point, and it was too late to send them home, so Jesus asks, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Their coffers couldn’t supply what was needed, but there was a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish, “But what are they among so many?” The answer is a banquet at the hands of Jesus, with more leftovers than when they had started. There was much rejoicing that night as the people were fed with bread from One from heaven.

The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel had spoken against the shepherds of Israel and Judah. These men—prophets, priests, and kings—whom God had set up to lead His people, care for them, feed them with His Word were not seeing to the tasks to which He had sent them. So He declares woe upon them.

Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. (Ezekiel 34:2b-4)

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:1-2)

Because they have done this, God declares that He will be their shepherd. (cf. Ezekiel 34:23; Micah 5:2) In a stable outside the little town of Bethlehem, that Shepherd is born. Conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus is God-with-us, the Shepherd promised of old. He is the one who will fulfill the promise made through the prophet Ezekiel:

“Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down," says the Lord GOD. “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.” (Ezekiel 34:11-16)

It must have been an interesting day. Things happened that day that had never happened before. I know, that sounds a bit loaded; new things happen every day. But this day was...different.

The whole assembly of the Israelites had gathered lambs to slaughter them. The Israelites were great in number, and each family had a lamb to slaughter, or one to share with another small family. At the same time, in all of Goshen, the throats of the lambs were slit, and the blood was used to cover the lintel and doorposts of their houses.

And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. (Exodus 12:29-30)

As the travelers stooped into the house, they presented their gifts to the Child. Among the gifts were gold and frankincense. The gold the family likely used to flee into and survive in Egypt. Apart from knowing that these men were guided to the Child by God Himself, it would seem that the gift of gold was fortuitous. They received the money they would need to flee a tyrant’s blade and stay in that country long enough to outlive the tyrant. Frankincense is the perfume burned in deference to a god—here, the travelers give the gift to God-in-the-Flesh.

There was one last gift: myrrh. Myrrh is one of the perfumes used to prepare a body for burial. Wrapped in linen and spiced with myrrh and cassia and aloes (cf. Psalm 45:8), the body would be placed in the tomb perhaps more pleasantly fragrant than he had been in life. It was a ritual performed in mourning to honor the dead. After the wise men visit, God-in-the-flesh is about to flee into Egypt; the gold and frankincense make sense. (cf. Matthew 2:1-12)

The actions and condition of men does not hold sway to who God is or what He does. Whether men pray to God or not, whether they keep the commandments (if only in part) or not, whether they believe or not, it does not change who God is or what He does.

• God gives for all of your needs whether you are good or evil, without your prayer. Jesus said as much when He taught, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)
• God’s will is done whether you pray for it or not.
• God’s kingdom comes of itself, without your prayer.
• God’s name is holy regardless of how you treat or view it.

It is clear from this that you have no influence over who God is or what He does.

The question begs to be asked, “Who are the real blind people?”