It is the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Today’s Bach cantata is “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen: (King of Heaven, welcome):

Today’s Gospel reading is Luke 23:33-43:

When they came to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there, along with the criminals — one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

(This translation is a bit of a mishmash. I stole a couple of lines from the King James Version and incorporated them into the New International Version, which I generally prefer.)

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words:

Jesus, Your passion
is pure joy to me,
Your wounds, thorns and shame
my heart’s pasture;
my soul walks on roses
when I think upon it;
grant a place in heaven
for me for its sake.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]