Another highlight of the 2026 LCMS Convention, for me, was not actually part of the Convention itself, per se, although it took place concurrently and in close connection with the Convention. As was the case three years ago in Milwaukee, the International Church Relations Conference (ICRC) was held in Phoenix this past week, gathering together bishops, presidents, and other representatives from our sister and partner churches around the world for conversation, fellowship, and theological study.
In connection with the previous Convention in 2023, I was invited to present on the “Unity of Fellowship in the Way of Worship” at the ICRC. That was such a wonderful experience, not least of all because my wife and I were also able to share time and meals together with our international guests throughout that week. So I was delighted and honored to be invited to present again at this summer’s ICRC, this time on the Resurrection appearances of our Lord in St. John 20:19-31, focusing on the ways and means in which Christ Jesus is our Savior and our Salvation.
This summer’s International Church Relations Conference met under the theme, “Christ Is Risen Indeed! I Am Content!” – echoing the theme of our Synod Convention on the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. It did not occur to me until after the fact, but what an appropriate emphasis this was for gatherings held in Phoenix, a city named for the mythical “resurrection bird.” Our Lord Jesus Christ is no myth, His Cross and Resurrection are historical fact, and He is our confidence, contentment, and courage in the face of sin, death, the devil, and hell. Along those very lines, the ICRC took up the four stanzas of “I Am Content! My Jesus Ever Lives” (LSB 468) – along with four of the Resurrection accounts in the Holy Gospels – to serve as the substance of study and consideration.
Over the course of the first three days of the ICRC, I was privileged to hear excellent papers by Rev. Dr. Jonathan Shaw of the LCMS on St. Matthew 28:18-20, President Omar Garza of the Sinodo Luterano de Mexico on St. Mark 16:5-7, and Rev. Tapani Simojoki of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England on St. Luke 24:13-35. I was impressed and edified by each of these papers, and I enjoyed and appreciated the robust fraternal discussion that followed these presentations among the gathered brethren. This sort of theological engagement of the Word of God with one another is fundamental to our fellowship.
It was on the fourth day that I was then privileged to present on St. John 20:19-31, also taking into account the fourth stanza of the conference hymn: “I am content! At length I shall be free, awakened from the dead, arising glorious evermore to be with You, my living Head. The chains that hold my body, sever; then shall my soul rejoice forever. I am content! I am content!” It is a humbling thing to present on such weighty matters to esteemed colleagues from churches all over the world, especially knowing that some of them are bearing the cross under persistent persecution and hardship. What joy, though, to have the comfort and encouragement of the Resurrection to strengthen and sustain us in this life.
To revel and rejoice in that sure and certain hope and confidence of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus – in whom we also are raised from death to life – here are a few excerpts from my ICRC paper:
“If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. But now Christ Jesus — who was crucified for our sins — has in fact been raised from the dead for our justification. So has God the Father reconciled us and all the world to Himself by His Son; and so has He entrusted to His Church on earth the ministry of reconciliation. By and from the Cross — in the crucified and risen Body of Christ Jesus — by and with His Word and Holy Spirit, He bestows His sweet Peace upon us through the free and full forgiveness of all our sins. He raises us up from death to life, out of darkness into light, from doubt and fear and unbelief to faith and trust in Christ. Thus do we now live and love in the confidence and contentment of that sure and certain hope of the Resurrection of the body to the Life everlasting of body and soul with Him, our living Head — signed, sealed, and secured in His own Resurrection from the dead on the Third Day. . . .
“While the Crucifixion of our Lord is the Hour of His Glory, and as such the crescendo of St. John’s Holy Gospel, the Resurrection appearances of Christ to His disciples in the twentieth chapter are the culmination of all that has transpired from the beginning. The concluding chapter that follows is brilliant in its own way, comprehending as it does the restoration of St. Peter (against the backdrop of his denials). But our Lord’s bestowal of Peace, the Holy Spirit, and the Office of the Keys — and the opening of His wounds to St. Thomas and the rest of the disciples — gathers up all that He has accomplished by His Cross and thereby establishes the Church and Ministry of His Gospel for all the ensuing generations.
“In this Easter account we find the Incarnation confirmed, the Holy Trinity revealed and at work, the means of grace bestowed, and the divine gifts of repentance and faith, forgiveness, life, and salvation made available. We hear the confession of Christ Jesus and receive the peace, hope, and joy that belong even to us, who are blessed to believe in Him by the testimony of the Apostles, even though we do not yet see Him. Thus do the redemption, reconciliation, and righteousness of the Cross and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ become ours by grace through faith in Him. . . .
“It is fundamental to this Gospel that the risen Lord is the crucified Christ. His Cross is not to be repeated, His once-for-all Sacrifice is finished, perfected, and complete. But neither are His Cross and Passion left behind, forgotten in the past. It is by His being ‘lifted up’ in death upon the Cross that He has glorified the Father and accomplished our salvation as the Propitiation for our sins — and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world (St. John 3:14-15, 12:27-32; 1 John 2:1-2). Despite appearances, this ‘lifting up’ is also the beginning of His return to the Father, as well as the means whereby He calls and gathers disciples to Himself from all the nations, to be lifted up in and with Him. His atoning Sacrifice and the shedding of His holy, precious Blood cleanse us from all unrighteousness and open the Kingdom of heaven to all who believe and are baptized in His Name. So do His innocent suffering and death make possible the gift of His Holy Spirit, that we should be sanctified in the presence of God and not consumed and destroyed by His divine glory and absolute holiness. What He thus accomplished by His Cross, He delivers to His disciples in His Resurrection from the dead; the Spirit He gave out from the Cross (St. John 19:30) He breathes upon His Apostles in the Upper Room (St. John 20:22), that they in turn should breathe the same Spirit into others through the forgiveness of sins in His Name and stead. . . .
“This is our Life and our Salvation, that is, to receive the Spirit of the Father in the Son, and to be united with Christ Jesus and anointed by His Spirit as beloved and well-pleasing children of His God and Father. It is for this Life with God in Christ that we have been created in His Image and Likeness — redeemed from sin and death, rescued from the devil and hell, reconciled to God by the Cross of Christ, and righteous in His sight by faith in His Word. . . .
“It is enough, and we are content — confident and courageous in all affliction and in the face of death itself — because Christ Jesus, our ‘living Head,’ has risen from the dead. As He comes to us in mercy and abides with us by grace with His own Word and Spirit, Flesh and Blood, so do we live and abide in and with Him in body and soul, in heart, mind, and spirit — here in time, and hereafter in eternity. As we are set free from the chains that bind us by the liberating Key of Holy Absolution, so shall we awake and arise from death and the grave to live forever with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Arising glorious in body and soul, like unto the glory of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, we shall rejoice before Him forever and forevermore.
“Indeed, Christ Jesus ‘rose for this purpose: so that we should be righteous and live through His Resurrection, and this is what He has commanded His Apostles and everyone to preach unto the end of the world, namely, that a Kingdom has been established on earth, which is a Kingdom over against sin, death, and the power of the devil, and it brings heavenly and eternal blessings. Christ help us thereunto, who has risen’ from the dead and lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever (Luther’s Works AE 69, CPH 2009, 436). To Him be all the glory, honor, and praise!”
(If you are interested in reading the entire paper, the full text can be found here: https://sword-in-hat.blogspot.com/2026/07/jesus-is-my-salvation-st-john-2019-31.html )