The Semblance of Legality Preview
This Weeks Announcements and Events
Continue to collect Best Choice labels for our church. You can bring them in at any time and place them in the kitchen downstairs.
Continue to pray for Ukraine. If you would like updates on our sister synod in Ukraine, you may sign up at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/europe/ukraine
Prayer Requests for this Week:
Ted Johnson – health issues
Sarah Sauer – health issues
Mike Knicker – health issues
Evie Schroeder’s family
Amy Pauers
Mel Murray – Nearing eternal life (Pray for Dorothy and their family as well)
Walt Zimmerman – Health Issues
Brianna (Mike and Alexis Wolosz’ granddaughter) – recovering from surgery
Bill ( a friend of Chris Taylor) – On a ventilator
Linda Fry – Pancreatic Cancer
Shawn Taylor – Recovering from surgery
Ginger Bigalke – Recovering from heart surgery
Margaret Finney – health Issues
Dan Kelley – Having surgery on Thursday
On Our Calendar this week
Wednesday March 23
2:30 pm – Lenten Service
4:15 pm - Confirmation
5:30 pm – Meal
6:30 pm – Lenten Service
Sunday March 27
9:30 am – Worship with Communion
11 am –Sunday School
As soon as it was day, the council of the elders of the people met together, both the chief priests and experts in the law. They brought him into their Sanhedrin and said, (Luke 22:66)
After the Sanhedrin conducted their illegal nighttime trial of Jesus, they met at daybreak to bring some semblance of legality to their trial. It was illegal for the Sanhedrin to meet at night, yet they did it and they came up with their verdict. Now they had to make it legal so that Pilate wouldn’t throw it out on the technicality of it not being legal. But Pilate showed that he was not concerned about that. He sentenced Jesus to death even though he found Jesus guilty of nothing.
That Sanhedrin also wanted to have others on their side. They wanted to show their piety and have the people approve of their actions. So they held this second trial.
How often don’t we do something similar to the Sanhedrin? When we know something that we plan to do is against God’s will and his Word, we come up with excuses or use technicalities to justify our actions. We appeal to the moral grey areas to justify our lying or our cheating. We attempt to make our actions look kosher (or legal), all while we sin in our hearts.
But it was for those sins that Jesus went through with this second trial, and the trial before Pilate, and was convicted to death on the cross. It was for our semblance of legality that Jesus obeyed the law perfectly, and by doing so fulfilled the law in our place. Jesus did everything “by the Book” for us. When God looks at our attempts at any semblance of legality, he sees Jesus’ perfect obedience to the law in our place. Because of that, we strive to live our lives “by the book,” doing what is according to God’s will. Amen.
The song for today is “He Stood Before the Courts” by Koine