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The photo at the right is one of the earliest artistic references we have to the Savior's Story. (circa the 1st century) It is graffiti taken from a wall in ancient Rome.
The photo, and the clarifying drawing, mockingly show the crucified Christ with the head of a donkey. The caption reads, "Alexamenos worships his God," Mockery, Derision and Denial. That has always been the world's response to the Savior's Story. But there are other responses. Better Responses |
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Hello, my name is Pastor Ken Klaus.
Some of you may know me from my writings, others recognize my voice from the Lutheran Hour or my Daily Devotions. My duties and love of travel have taken me all over the world in the proclamation of the Gospel message. Now it is my privilege to be host of this site, "The Savior's Story."
All of us can remember the opening months of Covid. We can recall the indecision, the fear, the questions which were asked but which had no answers. We watched as society started to unravel and people went into lock down mode because of fear .Today things are somewhat different. We know the illness is caused by a bacterium, and we have developed better ways to control, prevent and treat it.
But imagine you were living in Germany in the year 1633 and you were told "The Black Plague is coming." You knew nothing about how it was caught; about why it picked one person and spared another, about how to treat it or bring about a cure. All you knew is you could be feeling fine in the AM and be dead in the PM With death all around, every person, family and community did what they felt was right. The Alpine village of Oberammergau decided to do what most Covid countries did in our time: they forbade travel in or out. It worked for a while, but then someone broke the travel ban and the people of Oberammergau started to die. That was when the leaders of Oberammergau made a pledge: if God would spare them, they would, every ten years, put on a play telling the story of Jesus’ passion. Miraculously, the deaths stopped. And for hundreds of years they have kept their promise to tell the Savior's Story. One of the few exceptions took place in 2020 when another plague, Covid, forced them to postpone the Play until 2022. Which is how it happens I have a few tickets left for the 2022 performance. For one reason or another some folks can’t go in 2022 and their seats came back. (Why? Reasons like “Our children are in sports and it’s their Senior Year." or “I don’t want to get the shot.” Which is how I’m offering you the opportunity to be at the last performance of the Play until 2030. Join us, be among the few to stay in Oberammergau and see the fulfillment of their vow and the trust in the Savior’s Story |