A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them (John 10:1–6). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus speaks to His Jewish opponents. Having just healed the man born blind, the Pharisees are seething at Jesus’ implication that they are spiritually blind; so blind, in fact, they are completely oblivious to their...

  Click here to listen to this sermon. “ When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized [Jesus]. And He vanished from their sight ” (Luke 24:30–31). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Have you ever frantically looked for something and were not able to find it? Maybe your car keys, the TV remote, or the book you were just reading. You search and search again. Then, after you’ve given up all hope of ever seeing it again, you come across it in the exact place where you’ve been looking. It was there all the time, but for one reason or another, you just didn’t notice it. Somehow, it was just hidden in plain sight. Our text for today teaches us where the risen Christ chooses to be found today: hidden in plain sight, in His Word and Sacraments. Like the disciples back in the city, the two on the road to Emmaus on the first Easter were struggling to ma...