Sharper Iron from KFUO Radio

Rev. Zelwyn Heide, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Hannover, ND and Zion Lutheran Church in New Salem, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 24:13-35. On Easter afternoon, Cleopas and another of Jesus’ disciples were walking to Emmaus, when the Lord Himself came and joined their journey. They were kept from recognizing Him, and He struck up a conversation about the events of the p...

Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 24:1-12. St. Luke’s carefully arranged timeline establishes Jesus’ resurrection as the beginning of a new creation, the eighth day on which Jesus makes all things new. The women were faithful followers of Jesus as they went to the tomb to anoint His body, but like everyone else, they did...

Rev. Clint Poppe, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 23:50-56. As a member of the Sanhedrin and a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea seems an unlikely disciple. Yet the Lord’s Word had brought Joseph to faith. Looking for the kingdom of God, Joseph actually got to see the King bringing His kingdom, though Joseph probably didn’t expect to...

Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 23:26-49. With Jesus weak from all the beatings He received, the Roman soldiers force Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross to Golgotha. In this way, Simon provides a concrete picture of discipleship. As the crowd around Jesus grows, the faithful women begin to mourn...

Rev. Andrew Jagow, pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Alexandria, VA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 23:1-25. Jesus is brought to trial before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. The Sanhedrin lobs false accusations against Jesus, but Pilate is primarily concerned with whether or not Jesus claims to be a king who will lead a rebellion against Rome. Though Pilate finds Jesus...

Rev. Rick Jones, chaplain and director of spiritual life at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 22:54-71. As Jesus is led away to His trial, Peter undergoes the trial that Jesus had predicted. With escalating intensity, Peter denies knowing Jesus, being among His disciples, and even being from the same geographic region. When Jesus looks at Pet...

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor at Bethesda and Faith Lutheran Churches in north St. Louis County, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 22:39-53. Jesus takes His disciples from the upper room to the Mount of Olives. There He prays in great agony, knowing the suffering He is about to endure. Even as He asks if salvation for sinners can be accomplished in another way, Jesus prays that His Fa...

Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 22:24-38. The disciples’ questions concerning who would betray Jesus turn into a dispute concerning who is the greatest. As they have throughout Jesus’ ministry, the disciples continue to misunderstand the way Jesus will bring the kingdom of God through His suffering and death...

Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 22:1-23. As Jesus enters into His Passion, the Old Testament context of the Passover provides the background. Jesus is the Lamb of God who gives Himself as the sacrifice in order to rescue us from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. The devil takes an active role by leading Judas to bet...

Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 21:5-38. When people begin to speak of the temple’s noble stones, Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. In response to their question concerning the timing and the signs, Jesus teaches an extended discourse that not only accurately speaks of the siege and fall of...

Rev. Joel Heckmann, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Okarche, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 20:41-21:4. After some of the scribes recognize that Jesus had spoken well, the Lord puts the question to them. He asks them how to interpret Psalm 110. They rightly recognize that the Christ is David’s son; how can Psalm 110 also call the Christ David’s Lord? Through His insightful...

Rev. Nate Hill, pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 20:27-40. The Sadducees, known for their rejection of the resurrection, spirits, and angels, take their turn at trying to trap Jesus. They pose a ridiculous example to Jesus based on the practice of levirate marriage, a practice given by Moses in the Law. They believe they have Je...

Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 20:19-26. The scribes and chief priests realize that Jesus has spoken a parable against them. They send spies in an attempt to trap Jesus. In their hypocrisy, these men end up speaking true words concerning Jesus, even though they do not believe what they say. They attempt to...

Rev. Jeremiah Johnson, pastor at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 20:9-18. In response to the challenge against His authority, Jesus tells the people a parable about a man who owned a vineyard and leased it to tenants. His tenants owed all the fruit to him, but they refused to deliver it to any of the owner’s servants. When the owner fina...

Rev. Sean Kilgo, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lawrence, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 20:1-8. On Holy Tuesday, Jesus continues His teaching in the temple, filling it with His true doctrine and the good news of the salvation He is about to accomplish in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin was rightly concerned with discerning true teaching from false doctrine, but they were derelict...

Rev. Richard Mittwede, pastor at University Lutheran Church in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 19:41-48. The joy surrounding Jesus’ ride toward Jerusalem contrasts with His weeping and lament upon seeing the city. Though Jesus enters the city to make peace between God and sinners, Jerusalem refuses to receive Him in faith. As they had rejected the proclamation of repentance...

Rev. Tim Eden, pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church in Bryan, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 19:28-40. The time has arrived. Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem, and now He prepares to enter into His city as the true King. His entrance on a colt clearly identifies Him as the King, yet the King who comes in humility for the purpose He has revealed to His disciples many times: He co...

Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 19:11-27. Jesus’ impending entrance into Jerusalem and His recent encounters with a blind man and Zacchaeus have left the crowds with incorrect expectations about the coming of God’s kingdom. Jesus tells a parable in order to instruct them in the truth. Jesus is the nobleman who goes of...

Rev. Carl Roth, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 19:1-10. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem takes Him through Jericho, the home of Zacchaeus. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus is among those who have been welcomed by Jesus, yet as a rich man, Zacchaeus has been living a life of woe. His desire to see Jesus is well-placed, but he is too short to see ov...

Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, assistant professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 18:31-43. Jesus continues with unbroken focus on His journey toward Jerusalem. He reiterates to His disciples the necessity that He go there in order to fulfill the Scriptures. There He will be handed over to the Gentiles to suffer the dee...

Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor at Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches in Lidgerwood, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 18:15-30. The humility of the tax collector in Jesus’ previous parable is comparable to the helplessness of the infants being brought to Him. He rebukes His disciples when they attempt to stop these children from coming to Him, for only in such dependence upon t...

Rev. Ned Moerbe, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blackwell, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 18:1-14. In order to encourage His disciples to pray always without losing heart, Jesus tells a parable about an unjust judge and a persistent widow. Though the judge cares neither about God’s law nor man’s opinion, he gives the widow the justice she desires due to her constant petition...

Rev. David Vandercook, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in North Little Rock, AR and Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church in Maumelle, AR, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 17:20-37. When some Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus redirects their question toward Himself. The kingdom of God is not to be sought in signs, but in the King who is among them, Jesus Himself. The...

Rev. Chris Hull, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 17:11-19. Jesus’ journey toward the cross puts the healing of the ten leprous men into its full context. As Jesus cleanses these men from the sickness that corrupts their skin, so He goes to cleanse all sinners from the sin that corrupts their nature by His death and resurrection. They pray...

Rev. Andrew Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 17:1-10. Jesus continues His teaching against greed and pride as He turns to His disciples. Obstacles to saving faith will be present in this world, and the consequences to those who set them up by false doctrine or false living are severe. Yet, at the same time, the Lord shows how mu...