Spy Wednesday asks us to look inward. It's the day the liturgical calendar acknowledges what we already know: we are not the best version of ourselves.
“Save us!” or “Deliver us!” That’s what “Hosanna” means. And that is exactly what Jesus did in the ER that dark Thanksgiving Day and every day for me.
Indeed, Jesus is our Father's answer to our Hosanna.

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What I desperately needed was not to preach to myself, but to listen to a preacher—not to take myself in hand, but to be taken in the hands of the Almighty.
Praying the Word of God back to God carries didactic import. It teaches us.
Just like for Mordecai and Esther, our lives are also sustained by the hand of God in the ordinary, in events begging to be seen as the work of Christ in our lives.
When we forget that we live by promise, that's when the danger tends to creep in. Because failing to embrace promise means we usually fall back into notions of luck, or even worse--into works.
God is the end of living, the destination, the point of it all.
God wants his word of promise to be the only thing we bank on, the only thing we have confidence in.
This hymn is not for people who feel strong, but those who are weak.
Christ's words of exclusive salvation are not just a warning but a sure promise for you.
The drama of Scripture is about God renaming us by bringing us into his image-bearing family once again. And it would take “a name above all names” to accomplish it.
This is an excerpt from part two of “On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service” by Mike Berg (1517 Publishing, 2023).
By mandating the promise, Christ states something stronger than just an invitation.
You are not alone if you find it difficult to wrap your mind around the auspices of the Old Testament sacrificial system.