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Dear loved ones and treasured friends, blessings and greeting to you in the sweet name of Jesus our best friend.
In the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar there is the line “beware the ides of March!” It refers to a prophesy that predicts the death of Caesar on March 15th. The common perception which most people have is that prophesy is always a foreboding of some disaster to come. Prophets are most times referred to as predictors of dome and gloom. Prophets, preachers and the church in general are oft times looked at by the world as the instruments which communicate sadness and joylessness. This year, for those of us who love and follow Jesus Christ the Saviour of all, the coming of the ides of March predicts something totally opposite to what the world around us thinks. This year the ides of March prepares us for Holy Week and then the blessed celebration of THE Resurrection. The word “prophesy” for us means teaching and preparation. Jesus is our prophet and this office that He holds is the office of our Rabbi or teacher. He is the great teacher and what He has to teach us always predicts joy and happiness for the believer. On the other hand it can be a grave forth telling for those who do not believe or will not believe. Julius Caesar was brutally murdered by supporters and looked into the eyes of his best friend as he died. In the whole of history his predicted death amounted to nothing but good material for a play write. The predicted death of Jesus Christ which was foretold for centuries amounts to a whole lot for you and me. Christ was brutally murdered while being deserted by his best friends and there was no one found to prevent it. His own Father did not come to the rescue. The death He suffered was atrocious and seemed to be final. There never was a death like His and there never will be another. His death was done once for all and it was done for the love of us. Only the dear and only Saviour could take such an ugly and awful thing and turn it upside down to be the joy that it has become for us all. On the other side of the world “down under” your pastor was privileged to bring the Word to a congregation full of Lutheran Christians who looked (from the vantage point of the pulpit) just like all of you. And just like all of you they were at worship on the Lord’s Day expecting to hear the good news of their salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ. I pray that I did not disappoint. Being with all of them and remembering in prayer all of you I had great joy in the realization that the Lord Jesus is loved the world over and that the accomplishment of His predicted death and resurrection still teaches wonderfulness to people everywhere. On the way back home we stopped to greet and receive a blessing and greeting to you all from the President of the Lutheran Church of Hong Kong. He also said “Happy Chinese New Year!” The Saviour he loves and the blessings he understands are the same as the ones communicated to you and me by the same wonderful Saviour of us all. It has served to further show me and, I pray, you also that the good news of the Easter Gift of Jesus is real and alive as predicted. We are His and He has accomplished it all for us in His Holy sacrifice! As I have seen the church right side up and upside down has one message and one message only. It is the message that the One Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour of us all and that His death is for us! The prophesy of preachers all over the world that His death and resurrection amounts to our being granted the gift of life eternal is daily coming true. It is not foreboding sadness but is forecasting our joy and completeness in Him. May He hearten you with these Words as He has lifted me with his presence everywhere. Rejoicing in His days
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