Entrance Hymn:  LBW #26 “Prepare the Royal Highway”

Prayer of the day: 

Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading:

Zechariah 9:9–12

⁹Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
           Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
behold, your king is coming to you;
           righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
           on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
           and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
           and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
           and from the River to the ends of the earth.
¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
           I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
           today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Psalm 24:7–10; antiphon: Psalm 118:26

L: Blessèd is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
C: We bless you from the house of the Lord.
L: Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
C: that the King of glory may come in.
L: Who is this King of glory?
C: The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!
L: Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors,
C: that the King of glory may come in.
L: Who is this King of glory?
C: The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!
L: Blessèd is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
C: We bless you from the house of the Lord.

Epistle:

Philippians 2:5–11

⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel:

John 12:20–43

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. ²⁷“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes
           and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
           and understand with their heart, and turn,
           and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. ⁴²Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Message Hymn:  LBW #108 “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”

Closing Hymn:  LBW #121 “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty”