Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Monday after the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: Exodus 15:1-18 (NKJV)

1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! 2 The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. 3 The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. 7 And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble. 8 And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ 10 You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12 You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them. 13 You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. 14 The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. 16 Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm they will be as still as a stone, till Your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over whom You have purchased. 17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. 18 The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”

Devotion

The Lord “has triumphed gloriously.” “The horse and the rider He has thrown into the sea!” “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea.” His “captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.” These are the images of the devil’s power being destroyed in the waters of Holy Baptism. Pharaoh (the devil) is drowned in the Red Sea (the waters of Holy Baptism). His captains (the world and our sinful flesh) are drowned in the Red Sea (in Holy Baptism). The Lord, through the waters of Holy Baptism, has triumphed gloriously over sin, death and the devil, and has made us His children through the Holy Ghost creating faith and life in us.

Therefore, on this Easter Monday we can join our song to the song of the Israelites, for through the waters of Holy Baptism the Lord has safely carried us on to dry ground to His holy habitation. He has raised us up from the death of sin and made us alive in Christ Jesus our Lord. Just as He has raised His Son, we too walk in newness of life. We are a new creation, redeemed from the power of the devil, and from sin and death.

The Lord has brought us in and planted us in the mountain of His inheritance, in the place which He has made for His own dwelling, the sanctuary that His hands have established by His death on the holy Cross. In this sanctuary we rejoice daily that the Lord has washed away our sins in the waters of Holy Baptism.

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