Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Corinthians 15:54-57.

"As the Lord Christ has conquered death, He has also conquered sin. For in His own person He is pure and just; but because He takes on Himself the sins of others He becomes a sinner. That is why sin and death can assault Him. And He, the Lord Christ, is very ready to be thus assaulted and nailed to the cross in order that He may die, as if He had Himself sinned and brought His death upon Himself. But there, hiden under the sin of others, His holiness is so great that death cannot overcome Him. Thus sin, like death, attacked the wrong man, and so grew weak and died in His body. And likewise the devil wanted to provie him power over Christ, and uses all His might against Him, trying to bring Him down. But He meets with a higher power which he cannot overcome. And all this has been wrought in order that our Lord Christ might glory becaus by being cast down He was lifted up on high, and these three might foes: sin, the devil, and death, must lie low under His feet. This great victory we celebrate today. Now all power consists in this, that we take it well to heart and firmly believe it."

— Martin Luther, Sermon for Easter Day, 1544; translated in Day by Day We Magnify Thee (Fortress Press, 1982), p. 168)

In observance of the most holy and sacred mysteries of the faith this holy week there will be no posts until after Easter Monday. May you be strengthened and blessed richly as you come now to those events in our Lord’s life which for us are the "holy of holies" of all that we are and all that we shall be, by His grace and mercy. God bless!

A week or so ago there arrived in the mail at my office a wonderful little gift. "Little" referring only to its physical size, but a very "large" gift in respect to its thoughtfulness. Mrs. Kelly Klages made me a tiny replica of the Concordia edition of the book of concord, a very small little box version. The realism is striking even down to the ultra-tiny subtitle at the bottom of the cover. This little box is only 2.25 by 3.75 in inches! Thanks Kelly!