Pastor’s Monthly Article

Pastor Bill Mugnolo                                                                                                                                                     Zion Lutheran Church

                                                                    October 2026 Calendar Article: “Roadside Skeletons”

 

   As time has gone by, I’ve noticed more and more, especially in the weeks leading up to Halloween, the presence of many “roadside skeletons”. These are life size plastic boney figures that are found in many people’s front yards. Some are even ten to fifteen feet tall! I don’t ever remember seeing such haunting, oversize forms back in my childhood days of trick or treating (Had I seen such skeletons back then, I probably would have been too scared to stop at that house for candy).

But two-thousand years ago, there were many roadside skeletons that were far scarier. These were the skeletal remains of people that the Romans had crucified. They first spent days in agony dying there upon wooden crosses. Then, once dead, the birds came and  feasted on their leftover corpses. The skeleton remaining was often left on the cross for a number of days to follow. It was as if to say, “Mess around with the Romans and this is what will happen to you.”

By far, the best known of all whom the Romans crucified was Jesus of Nazareth, the one known as the Christ. He died only six hours into His crucifixion, very likely from a broken heart having borne upon His cross all the sins of the world. In keeping with Jewish practices, His body was quickly taken down, as it was the eve of the Sabbath. Two Jewish leaders, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, gave Jesus an honorable burial. But He wouldn’t stay in the grave for long as He would rise “on the third day” with His body having not even decayed—as foretold in Psalm 16:10.

There is another common roadside sight—that of three life size wooden crosses which remind us of Jesus being crucified alongside two others. That center cross is often painted in gold which speaks of how precious was the work that Our Lord truly accomplished there for us. Many this “other roadside scene” never be haunting, but always be a blessing to You!

Your Brother in Christ,

                                                                                                                                                                       Pastor Bill                                                                                               

September 2026 Calendar Article: “Cosmic Collision”

Now that we have entered into the Autumn months, we have also come upon that annual extravaganza known as Football Season. Whether on a High School, College, or Professional level, we are, by and large, captivated by this sport. But even as we are so enamored by football, it doesn’t take long before we see, as the injuries pile up, just how rough it really is. While it is certainly a contact sport, football goes beyond that as it has been described as being a “collision sport”. Even with all the impacts that take place in a typical football game, there are certainly more serious collisions out there. Think of what happens in a car accident or in a train wreck. Or how about the atomic collision that takes place in a nuclear weapon such as the ones that exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. But even these cannot compare to what I’ll call the “cosmic collision” that once took place almost two-thousand years ago on a hillside just outside of Israel’s Holy City of Jerusalem.

There, at the site of a Roman execution by crucifixion, the profound evil of all the sins of the world collided with the perfect righteousness of God in His Son, Jesus Christ. The latter alone could prevail, as surely, He did. But for six excruciating hours at the cross on that Good Friday, those two forces hit head on within the Christ, who, thankfully for us, happened to be the God-man as well. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, St. Paul describes this cosmic collision and it blessed result as he tells us, “For our sake He (God) made Him (His Son, Jesus Christ) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” In Christ, that very righteousness collides with our own sinfulness. This continual “cosmic collision” is very much a part of the Christian life for all who have been born of God and been given the right to be called His children (John 1:12-13). But, in the end, we too are meant to prevail, “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord” (Romans 7:25).

Your Brother in Christ, 

Pastor Bill