Worship Service at 10:30am

PROPER 29C / LAST SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR

(20 November 2022)

Malachi 3:13–18

Colossians 1:13–20

Luke 23:27–43

Jesus Christ Reigns, Enduring the Cross — Its Scorn and Shame

The Lord Jesus reigns in love among those who are baptized in His name. “They shall be mine,” He says, “and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him” (Mal. 3:17). Jesus’ service through crucifixion for sinful men anchors us in new life. In the proclamation of His Son, God makes His justice clear, defining “the distinction between the righteous and the wicked” (Mal. 3:18). He truly is “the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38), who governs His Church with all authority in heaven and on earth. He has come into His kingdom by His cross, and He graciously remembers us in paradise. Therefore, do not weep for Him, but with repentant faith “weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28). Then the mountains and hills of Jerusalem, His holy Church, shall cover you with His righteousness and peace. For He “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15). “All things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16), and “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” bodily in Him, reconciling all things to Himself “by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19–20).