Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke, Senior Pastor
Pastor’s Corner for June 1-7, 2025
What the Father Has Done
(Ephesians 1:15-23)
This weekend we celebrate the ascension of our loving Savior Jesus. The same Jesus who was put to death on a cross and risen from the dead — appearing to His disciples bearing the wounds of His cross — is now ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father. He has experienced suffering and death, suffered hell in our place, but now sits at the right hand of the Father, with all power and with all authority. As a recent “Lutheran Hour” devotion I saw earlier this week puts it, Jesus is our “friend in high places”!
But what I love about our Epistle text on this Ascension weekend is that St. Paul gives us another way to marvel at the mystery of Jesus crucified, risen, and ascended. Paul underlines the power of the FATHER in seating the Son at His right hand.
Read Ephesians 1:18-23 ahead of worship this weekend and take a little time considering what Jesus’ ascension reveals about our Heavenly Father’s authority and power. Then consider also these words from Ephesians 2: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” What the Scriptures have to say about God the Father’s power and authority in raising Jesus from death and seating Jesus at His right hand says a lot about His power and authority in our lives, too.
Did you know you were risen with Christ and seated with Him, by the Father? Did you know that by the love of God you belong to His church and are therefore a part of Jesus’ body… living and risen with Him (1:23)? If you’re like me, you knew that already… you just tend to forget it. Let’s hang on tight to that truth together and celebrate it once again this year!
In God’s love,
Pastor Jonathan
Pastor Jonathan Blanke grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He received his Bachelor's degree from College of William and Mary in Virginia and attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned a Masters of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biblical Studies, Book of John. He served as a Vicar at Messiah Lutheran Church in Richardson, Texas.
The Blanke family lived in Japan while he served as pastor and missionary to Okinawa Lutheran Church and taught Biblical Studies at Japan Lutheran College in Tokyo.
Pastor Jonathan lived in southern Maryland from January 2014 to November 2019 and was thankful to have served as the Sole Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lexington Park, Maryland.
He and his wife, Juli, have two grown children. In his free time, Jonathan likes to travel, "play around" on the piano, and enjoy the outdoors.
Click HERE to view a brief video from Pastor Jonathan.