Stefan Fröhlich Home
(since 18 years)
(since 18 years)
Arabic character for "N" like Nazarene, or Christian.
Lent
Lent
At Easter, the greatest drama in human history took place, which has ever taken place in this world. You have to imagine that God sent his son to earth in a large-scale rescue operation to save people from their sinfulness. But they did not recognize him and nailed him to a cross. He was laid in a grave, but then after three days he was alive again. That was the turning point, because death was a significant part of the rescue operation.
Today, many people deny the resurrection "because nothing like it has ever been observed." Does an event have to be observed to be true? No one has seen the earth being created, but no scientist doubts this fact. Interestingly, all theories that claimed Jesus was still in the grave or that there were evil conspiracies have failed so far. How could they be right when Jesus actually rose from the dead?
He is truly risen!
At Easter, the greatest drama in human history took place, which has ever taken place in this world. You have to imagine that God sent his son to earth in a large-scale rescue operation to save people from their sinfulness. But they did not recognize him and nailed him to a cross. He was laid in a grave, but then after three days he was alive again. That was the turning point, because death was a significant part of the rescue operation.
Today, many people deny the resurrection "because nothing like it has ever been observed." Does an event have to be observed to be true? No one has seen the earth being created, but no scientist doubts this fact. Interestingly, all theories that claimed Jesus was still in the grave or that there were evil conspiracies have failed so far. How could they be right when Jesus actually rose from the dead?
He is truly risen!
The king moves in
The king enters on a donkey,
Yes, he rides to Jerusalem.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed be the Son of David,
for he is coming, as the prophet has promised,
a crowd of people cheers him.
Daughter of Zion, you may rejoice,
for today your king comes to you.
Spread the palm leaves before him,
clears his way through the crowd.
He comes in humility, not as a conqueror.
He neither rides a horse,
nor does he come in a chariot.
His disciples accompany him,
but there are no soldiers at his side.
The people rejoice and are happy,
that what they were waiting for finally happens,
but the scribes rebel against
and want to stop this joy.
And Jesus looks sadly at this city,
who celebrates him today and will soon crucify him.
He cries because she missed the chance to turn back.
For he did not come to us in power and majesty,
but as a meek lamb,
that bears the sins of the world.
He disappoints expectations,
for he creates no earthly kingdom
and does not drive the Romans out of the country.
And yet there is no one greater than him.
Celebrate our King who enters Jerusalem on a donkey, on the colt of a donkey.
To him be praise forever and ever.
On your cross
When I stand at your cross
and there, Jesus, I see your suffering,
then everything around me becomes irrelevant.
I know I can't bring anything,
which brings about reconciliation with you.
Knowledge, power, recognition and wealth
melt like wax,
for they have no value in the face of death.
I can only come as I am,
miserable, poor, weak, as a sinner,
without any chance on my part to make a difference.
But I know that you died there for me.
You have accomplished the atonement,
by sacrificing yourself,
for me, who did not seek you.
You found me
and my debt is paid forever,
by grace you have received me.
I bow before you,
because you have humiliated yourself
and emptied yourself.
No one took your life,
even though it seemed so to many,
you gave your life voluntarily.
By this you have brought me from death to life.
When I stand at your cross now,
never let me forget
what you did for me there,
so that I do not become proud of that,
what I couldn't earn.
On your cross I was given life.
© by Stefan Fröhlich Easter poem, 06 April 2014
From doubt to faith
The king enters on a donkey,
Yes, he rides to Jerusalem.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed be the Son of David,
for he is coming, as the prophet has promised,
a crowd of people cheers him.
Daughter of Zion, you may rejoice,
for today your king comes to you.
Spread the palm leaves before him,
clears his way through the crowd.
He comes in humility, not as a conqueror.
He neither rides a horse,
nor does he come in a chariot.
His disciples accompany him,
but there are no soldiers at his side.
The people rejoice and are happy,
that what they were waiting for finally happens,
but the scribes rebel against
and want to stop this joy.
And Jesus looks sadly at this city,
who celebrates him today and will soon crucify him.
He cries because she missed the chance to turn back.
For he did not come to us in power and majesty,
but as a meek lamb,
that bears the sins of the world.
He disappoints expectations,
for he creates no earthly kingdom
and does not drive the Romans out of the country.
And yet there is no one greater than him.
Celebrate our King who enters Jerusalem on a donkey, on the colt of a donkey.
To him be praise forever and ever.
Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017 © by Stefan Fröhlich
For love alone
He looks at me with eyes of love
and does not see me as I am,
but how I will one day be.
Out of love alone he bore the cross for me,
Out of love alone he gave himself into the hands of his enemies,
Out of love alone he took the crown of thorns,
Out of love alone he had his hands and feet pierced with nails,
Out of love alone he forgave his tormentors,
Out of love alone he allowed himself to be mocked,
Out of love alone he forgave the robber on the cross,
He died for me out of love alone,
Out of love alone he reconciled me with God,
Out of love alone he stepped into the gap for me,
Out of love alone he cleared the way to God,
Out of love alone he paid for my sin,
Out of love alone, he rose from the dead after three days.
I worship him with gratitude.
He is the Lamb who was slain for us
and yet he is exalted as King over all.
He freed me from hell, death and the devil.
Out of grace he calls to you:
“Turn to me in this time of grace,
for out of love alone I accept you.
I let my blood flow for you out of love
and break my body.
With me you will find what the world cannot give.
Let yourself be saved from this judgment-ready world,
for the time of grace is drawing to a close.
Out of love alone I walked the Way of the Cross.
Come to me!"
What love Jesus showed on the cross,
when he took upon himself all our suffering and pain.
The wounded are healed on the cross.
He did it for you out of love alone.
© by Stefan Fröhlich Good Friday, April 15, 2022
He looks at me with eyes of love
and does not see me as I am,
but how I will one day be.
Out of love alone he bore the cross for me,
Out of love alone he gave himself into the hands of his enemies,
Out of love alone he took the crown of thorns,
Out of love alone he had his hands and feet pierced with nails,
Out of love alone he forgave his tormentors,
Out of love alone he allowed himself to be mocked,
Out of love alone he forgave the robber on the cross,
He died for me out of love alone,
Out of love alone he reconciled me with God,
Out of love alone he stepped into the gap for me,
Out of love alone he cleared the way to God,
Out of love alone he paid for my sin,
Out of love alone, he rose from the dead after three days.
I worship him with gratitude.
He is the Lamb who was slain for us
and yet he is exalted as King over all.
He freed me from hell, death and the devil.
Out of grace he calls to you:
“Turn to me in this time of grace,
for out of love alone I accept you.
I let my blood flow for you out of love
and break my body.
With me you will find what the world cannot give.
Let yourself be saved from this judgment-ready world,
for the time of grace is drawing to a close.
Out of love alone I walked the Way of the Cross.
Come to me!"
What love Jesus showed on the cross,
when he took upon himself all our suffering and pain.
The wounded are healed on the cross.
He did it for you out of love alone.
© by Stefan Fröhlich Good Friday, April 15, 2022
King of the Jews
Who is this king who will pay for the sins of his Jewish people
and the whole world went to the cross?
It is Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the King of the Jews.
He was born into a Jewish family,
circumcised on the eighth day, consecrated to God in the temple as the firstborn.
At the age of twelve, he discussed things with scribes.
At the age of 30 he began his ministry as Messiah,
he called 12 disciples who accompanied him daily
and taught people as a Jewish Rabbi about it,
what God is like and what his will is.
He turned to the weak, outcasts and sinners of Israel,
in which he proclaimed a year of grace.
He wanted to bring them back into the covenant, into the relationship with God.
Love and mercy characterized his nature and actions.
He healed many sick people and performed miracles
and freed people from the power of evil.
With the religious leaders who rejected him,
he had many arguments.
He called himself the Son of Man, who receives authority from God,
and will reign over all nations forever.
Many Jews revered him, but he never allowed himself to be crowned king,
to take up the fight with the Romans.
Because he wanted to reconcile the Jewish people and all people with God and forgive them their sins.
On Palm Sunday he humbly entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey,
to shouts of hallelujah from many people in the crowd.
He threw the merchants out of the temple because they desecrated God’s house,
the religious leaders wanted to kill him.
They arrested him in the Garden of Gethsemane,
They interrogated him before the high priest Caiaphas
and handed him over to the Roman governor Pilate.
In their name the Romans crucified him.
But he forgave his enemies and cried out: “It is finished!”
He died, the curtain in the temple was torn, he was laid in a tomb, but on the third day he rose from the dead.
He met his disciples and many in Israel.
Many Jews believed in their Jewish Messiah
and spread the message of his resurrection.
This is how the gospel came to the Gentiles.
But many of his people did not believe him either.
All too soon, Christians forgot the origins of their Jewish Messiah
and persecuted his people, the Jews.
But Jesus never forgot his love for the Jewish people.
One day he will come again and they will accept him as Messiah,
the King of the Jews.
Let him save you too and reconcile you with God!
© by Stefan Fröhlich Easter poem, March 23, 2024
Who is this king who will pay for the sins of his Jewish people
and the whole world went to the cross?
It is Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the King of the Jews.
He was born into a Jewish family,
circumcised on the eighth day, consecrated to God in the temple as the firstborn.
At the age of twelve, he discussed things with scribes.
At the age of 30 he began his ministry as Messiah,
he called 12 disciples who accompanied him daily
and taught people as a Jewish Rabbi about it,
what God is like and what his will is.
He turned to the weak, outcasts and sinners of Israel,
in which he proclaimed a year of grace.
He wanted to bring them back into the covenant, into the relationship with God.
Love and mercy characterized his nature and actions.
He healed many sick people and performed miracles
and freed people from the power of evil.
With the religious leaders who rejected him,
he had many arguments.
He called himself the Son of Man, who receives authority from God,
and will reign over all nations forever.
Many Jews revered him, but he never allowed himself to be crowned king,
to take up the fight with the Romans.
Because he wanted to reconcile the Jewish people and all people with God and forgive them their sins.
On Palm Sunday he humbly entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey,
to shouts of hallelujah from many people in the crowd.
He threw the merchants out of the temple because they desecrated God’s house,
the religious leaders wanted to kill him.
They arrested him in the Garden of Gethsemane,
They interrogated him before the high priest Caiaphas
and handed him over to the Roman governor Pilate.
In their name the Romans crucified him.
But he forgave his enemies and cried out: “It is finished!”
He died, the curtain in the temple was torn, he was laid in a tomb, but on the third day he rose from the dead.
He met his disciples and many in Israel.
Many Jews believed in their Jewish Messiah
and spread the message of his resurrection.
This is how the gospel came to the Gentiles.
But many of his people did not believe him either.
All too soon, Christians forgot the origins of their Jewish Messiah
and persecuted his people, the Jews.
But Jesus never forgot his love for the Jewish people.
One day he will come again and they will accept him as Messiah,
the King of the Jews.
Let him save you too and reconcile you with God!
© by Stefan Fröhlich Easter poem, March 23, 2024
On your cross
When I stand at your cross
and there, Jesus, I see your suffering,
then everything around me becomes irrelevant.
I know I can't bring anything,
which brings about reconciliation with you.
Knowledge, power, recognition and wealth
melt like wax,
for they have no value in the face of death.
I can only come as I am,
miserable, poor, weak, as a sinner,
without any chance on my part to make a difference.
But I know that you died there for me.
You have accomplished the atonement,
by sacrificing yourself,
for me, who did not seek you.
You found me
and my debt is paid forever,
by grace you have received me.
I bow before you,
because you have humiliated yourself
and emptied yourself.
No one took your life,
even though it seemed so to many,
you gave your life voluntarily.
By this you have brought me from death to life.
When I stand at your cross now,
never let me forget
what you did for me there,
so that I do not become proud of that,
what I couldn't earn.
On your cross I was given life.
© by Stefan Fröhlich Easter poem, 06 April 2014
From doubt to faith
If you also wonder how a dead person can rise again, then come and see! Be horrified like the women when they find the grave empty. But listen with them when the angel appears and says that the crucified man is no longer here. If you have doubts, then doubt with Thomas, but take Jesus' hand with him and feel the wounds of his crucifixion. Taste with the disciples from Emmaus the bread that the stranger breaks, full of fascination, because the stranger now explains why the Messiah really had to die. And then be amazed, because you now realize that the stranger is not a stranger, but Jesus himself, who was among us unrecognized. He has risen from the dead. You may doubt, but see with the eyes of the witnesses who were there at the time. Hear with their ears, taste and smell with all your senses. For Jesus has truly risen and we can trust the testimony of the disciples. Jesus can still be experienced today with all of the senses. There are good reasons to believe in him. No one will judge you for having doubts about the truth. That is normal. But you don't have to keep doubting. From doubt we come to wonder through seeing. From wonder we come to believe through recognizing. In this way our faith is strengthened because Jesus has truly risen.
