Quinquagesima

February 15, 2026

Luke 18:31-43

Many of you have sat in the doctor’s office as the death notice was handed out, as the words were spoken to your husband or wife, a father or mother.

“There’s nothing more we can do.”

The cancer has advanced past the point of reversal. The body is too weak to undergo treatments. The accident caused extensive damage to the body and its vital organs. 

These instances are often met with a lack of understanding. How did the shadow of death appear so quickly? Why can’t the doctor do anything more?

Isn’t this their job? To heal and restore people to health?

In these moments, you are like the disciples of Christ as He prepares them for His passion and death. It’s truly remarkable how Jesus explains everything to His disciples as He says, 

“For [the Son of Man] will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

But they did not understand His words; they did not understand that death was approaching for their Lord and Savior. That His death was necessary to give them life.

The Gospel said,

“They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” Or “They did not know the things that were spoken [to them].”

To grasp or to know are synonyms for the action of Christian faith.

In other words, the disciples lacked faith in Jesus’ words.

Like the disciples, when the storm clouds of death approach, you also tend to lack understanding; you lack faith.

Why does this happen to you, O Christian?

Because in the clouds and storms of life, you do not always hear rightly, you don’t hear the words of Jesus, you don’t remember your Savior.

The disciples did not fully understand Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel, and because of this, when His passion did arrive, they also failed to remember His words. They lacked faith and scattered from His cross. 

We’ll come back to this thought in a moment…

But for you, in the midst of turmoil, you must “remember” the words of your Savior, “They will kill him, and the third day he will rise.”

If you listen closely, these are words of death and resurrection.

Again, “They will kill him, and the third day he will rise.”

Seldom do you remember these words in tribulation any more than you place them before your eyes each day of this life.

Some men in the congregation are participating in a program this Lent called “Memento.” The Latin word “Memento” means “remember.”

The purpose of this program is to remember how fleeting this life is, that without Christ we are powerless, to reflect on our Savior’s suffering on the cross, and to honor the faithful men who came before us—fathers, grandfathers, saints, and martyrs—those who struggled and endured in faith, stood firm in the face of death, and remembered their Savior’s death.

Because when one remembers the death of Christ, they must also remember His resurrection.

But because we do not remember the death of Christ, we cannot properly understand His resurrection.

In reality, we don’t think much about death unless it’s on our doorstep. This is very different from the ancient world and the early church, where not only was death all around them through plague, disease, and war, but they also used language and symbols to remind themselves of where this life would lead. 

If you look back at art throughout history, you might come across paintings of skulls with the words “Memento Mori,” meaning “remember you must die” or “remember your death.”

Comforting, huh?

It was also common for monks, pastors, or priests to have human skulls or bones on their desks or near where they prayed, to remind them of their mortality.

But more than that, this practice served as a reminder of mortality, humbling one by showing that all earthly life moves toward the grave. It fosters a sense of turning away from earthly pleasures, of concentrating on eternal life with God, of living in repentance, and of cultivating a virtuous life. Additionally, it symbolizes that death is not the end, but the gateway to resurrection and eternal life. 

Now, no one is suggesting you should run home and place a skull on your desk or table. However, how can you remember the death and resurrection of Jesus? How can you keep these words of your Savior from the Gospel before you today?

Sure, you could buy one of the paintings I mentioned earlier, like a skull with the words “Memento Mori” inscribed. Or you could hang a portrait of the Lord’s crucifixion in your home. Or even simpler, you could hang a cross or crucifix near a door to remind yourself, as you venture into daily life and return at night, that not only is death always close by, but through the death of your Savior, you receive life. 

As St. Paul reminds us, “The last enemy to be overcome is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:16)

And that’s what the season of Lent leads you to understand, to know, to have faith in – not only the death of Jesus, but also His resurrection.

For this reason, on Ash Wednesday, those of you who desire to receive ashes upon your forehead will hear the words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

“Memento Mori” remember your death, remember that you will die.

But then, as you enter the sanctuary, remember that you have already died in Christ Jesus through the waters of Holy Baptism.

As St. Paul writes to the Romans,

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

With these words of St. Paul: your eyes should be opened to what happens in Baptism — the conflict between death and life, and the truth that victory is with life; it remains with Jesus. 

Now, going back to the disciples, it wasn’t just a lack of understanding and faith for them, but the Gospel says, “This saying was hidden from them.”

Simply put, the disciples couldn’t understand how Christ was supposed to suffer, see how His death would fulfill Old Testament prophecies, or realize that God had chosen to veil or hide this truth from them. 

This remains our challenge today: when difficulties come, whether illness, tribulation, or death, and the ways of God are unclear to us, we turn away, scatter from the crosses before us, and become blind to God’s word and mercy. 

In this way, you are like the disciples—you see this as they heard the words of Jesus but did not have faith in them. They deserted Jesus as He hung on the cross; they gave up hope. It wasn’t until Jesus appeared to them again after His resurrection, on the Emmaus road, that He once again declared to them. 

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26)

In bringing these disciples to remember His words, they not only remembered how He would die, but how He would live again.

As you approach this season of Lent, it will begin with the sign of ash and dust, a reminder that all mortals will return to the earth: “Memento Mori!”

Remember your death.

But the sign of the cross upon your forehead marks you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified and reminds you that you will live.

Whether you are experiencing difficulties in life right now, if the grief and sorrow of death plagues you, or this upcoming season of Lent rightly causes you to flee from the earthly pleasures of life, do not forget your Savior Jesus Christ, whose death has won for you salvation, forgiveness, and eternal peace. 

Memento, remember. +INJ+

Rev. Noah J. Rogness

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Tomah, WI