Sermons – Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church: Recent Episodes
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Luke 5:1–11
1 One time, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. 2 He saw two boats there along the lakeshore. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Jesus got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered him, “Master, we worked hard all through the night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were about to tear apart. 7 They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.” 9 For Peter and all those with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.” 11 After they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Jesus’ preaching ministry was beginning to flourish. His reputation was spreading and the crowds coming to hear Him just kept growing—to the point that we see such a throng of people around Jesus that He’s backed up to the edge of the water. So that more than just those in front can hear Him, Jesus commandeers a boat on the shoreline and puts out a little bit into the water. That way everyone can see Him and the water can serve as something of an amplification system. It was no accident that the boat He was in happened to belong to Simon Peter. Back at the Jordan river down south where Peter and his brother Andrew had gone to hear John the Baptist, Jesus had already met them and called them to be His disciples. But Jesus had not yet called them into full-time training for the apostolic ministry that He would later confer on both Peter and Andrew. Peter had begun to believe in Jesus and begun to learn more about the Gospel, yet the brothers had returned home for the time being to their jobs as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee.
Today, all that was going to change.
Peter Recognizes His Unworthiness
The change began as Jesus preached. There was a reason crowds came to listen to Jesus. It was because he taught the truth in a way they had never heard it before. “He taught them as one who had authority, and not like their experts in the law,” Matthew would later report (7:29). The Word of God, preached with authority stirs the hearts of those who truly listen. And Peter was listening. You know from the other Bible stories about Peter that he never liked to do anything half-way. As he paid close attention, he could feel a change happening in his heart. His faith was growing, intensifying!
The same thing ought to happen to us each week when we come to hear God’s Word. We need to remember that when God’s Word is being proclaimed, it’s Jesus Himself who’s talking, and He’s talking to me!
Jesus preached not just to the crowd, but personally to every individual in that crowd. He was preaching to Peter from His floating pulpit. And then Jesus took it a step farther. After His sermon, He gave Peter and His partners a one-on-one object lesson that made the truth sink in, in a way that Peter just couldn’t miss. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”
Now, Peter had spent his whole adult life as a professional fisherman. Peter thought he knew his fishing business. And he did, of course. All his fishing instincts, and his experience from the previous twelve hours would have told him that this was probably not the smartest suggestion. Fish that don’t bite before dawn, are probably not going to bite in the daylight, he thought—not to mention the fact that he was tired. Yet despite any mental reservations he might have had, with his newly strengthened faith, Simon answered him, “Master, we worked hard all through the night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.” ‘No, maybe it’s not the wisest suggestion from my professional fisherman’s perspective, but I’ve just heard Jesus preach. He seems to have a level of understanding about everything that’s way beyond my abilities. Sure, He grew up a carpenter, and it’s true that His adult career is as a preacher, but if any non-fisherman is worth listening to, this One is.’
So off they went, back out onto the lake. How far out they went, whether they returned to their favorite spot, or exactly where they’d been trying all night, our text doesn’t say. But they went out and let down their nets again, just as Jesus had told them to. When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were about to tear apart. 7 They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
Imagine that! Just like at Cana, nobody saw a flash of light or heard any magic words or special sound. People just followed Jesus’ command to do an ordinary thing. When they filled the water jars in Cana, they simply found them miraculously filled with an ordinary, everyday, very much needed commodity—part of the daily bread Jesus asks us to pray for each day. Same thing here. These fishermen followed Jesus’ fairly ordinary command, did a very ordinary thing, dropped their ordinary nets into ordinary water, and lo and behold, they were miraculously filled to overflowing with lots of a very ordinary part of their daily bread: the fish they need to eat and to sell so they could buy the other things they needed.
The Lord’s actions made it clear that whether you’re a prize-winning winemaker or a famous fisherman, those skills and knowledge don’t come anywhere close to measuring up to the wisdom of the Creator and the power of His Providence. God made the fish and taught them to swim, and He knows at every moment where each of them is swimming, and which ones will serve that evening as someone’s dinner. That truly began to sink in for Peter when he was hauling in that amazing catch of fish.
As he began to think about it, it also started to truly sink in what a small, small person he was in comparison to the massive power and greatness of this holy Man he’d begun to follow and call Master. ‘How can I even dare to be in the presence of One who is so much greater than I am?’ Simon Peter … fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.”
Peter was right about one thing at that moment, something all of us would do well to thoroughly ponder: We are truly unworthy to be anywhere near this holy Man named Jesus. We have no right to stand in the presence of the Creator and Preserver of All. For all our boastful words and proud thoughts, we should know that truth and pray, “Help me recognize my unworthiness, like Peter!”
Peter Is Reminded of the Lord’s Mercy
Yes, Peter was right about that one thing. But he was very wrong about something else. Coming into Jesus’ presence has absolutely nothing at all to do with our own personal worthiness! Just ask the thief on the cross who humbly asked “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Being Jesus’ friend, or even His servant, is all about His mercy toward us. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17).
Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear.” What wonderful words! —the perfect answer to trembling, kneeling Peter. Can you relate to Peter’s awkward angst being there with Jesus at that moment in time? Because we’re sinners with a conscience, we often—rightly—feel dirty and unworthy. Aren’t there times when you shudder at the thought that Jesus is looking over your shoulder, listening to you shoot off your mouth, or listening to your thoughts when you manage to keep your mouth shut? Frankly, we should feel ashamed of how we cloud Jesus’ holy vision with our murky, dastardly, self-centered thoughts and ways!
But the fact is, Jesus knew all of Peter’s thoughts, all his deeds, all his shortcomings. He knew every detail of Peter’s past and present, and still, he said to him, “Have no fear.” There’s nothing you can do to hide your utter unworthiness from Jesus’ all-seeing eyes and all-hearing ears. But despite that, Jesus says to you too: “Have no fear.” He doesn’t say it to minimize our sinfulness. He doesn’t say it because He doesn’t really care about the sins we’ve committed and continue to do. Rather, He says, “Have no fear” because of what He’s done and continues to do for you. He paid a heavy price for those sins. He was already punished for them—each individual one of them. And through His Holy Absolution and His Holy Supper, He continues to “daily and fully forgive all sins to me and all believers” in Christ, as we recite in the explanation to the 3rd Article of the Creed in our catechism. “Have no fear.” Do not ever be afraid to be around Jesus, because He is merciful and forgives you!
The Lord Calls Peter to Share His Mercy
Jesus knew well all of Simon Peter’s weaknesses and his foibles. He knew in advance the dumb things he would say. He knew the time would come when He’d have to rebuke Peter (“Get behind me, Satan!”). He knew Peter would deny Him that night in the Temple courtyard, just as the rooster crowed, and how Peter would run away ashamed and bitterly weep over his failure.
And yet, despite all that foreknowledge, Jesus invites Peter to not run away, or to send his Savior away. Quite the opposite! He even invites this flawed man, this sinner, to join Him full time in the work of sharing the Gospel of forgiveness with others. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.” 11 After they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. Jesus’ word of forgiveness and courage, His personal one-on-one Gospel message for Peter, His words “Have no fear,” took Peter’s fear away, and started him on the road of his new lifetime calling. With each passing moment that he spent with Jesus from then on, each sermon he heard, each personal instruction he received, each time he sinned and heard Jesus forgive him, it would sink in deeper and deeper what the heart and center of our faith is, namely the forgiveness of sins, freely given to all who know their sins, yet trust in Jesus for salvation.
And that’s just the way it is in our lives, too, fellow Christians. Time and again, our sins come up in our memories and haunt us, and we add to the pile of trespasses and transgressions every day—both by what we do wrong, and the good we fail to do. And our consciences tell us we have no business being anywhere near the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ, so that we want to say with Peter, “Go away from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man.”
But then our dear Savior comes to us and says once again, “Have no fear.” “I forgive you, now join me in fishing for others. Join me in sharing my love and forgiveness with the countless souls who tell me to go away because they’re ashamed of themselves like Peter.” For ourselves, may we ever pray “Don’t go away from Me, Lord, precisely because I am a sinful man.” Rather, Abide, O Dearest Jesus. Keep forgiving and loving me! Help me off my knees and use me, Lord, in your kingdom! Amen.
John 2:1–11
1 Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not come yet.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Six stone water jars, which the Jews used for ceremonial cleansing, were standing there, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” And they did. 9 When the master of the banquet tasted the water that had now become wine, he did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew). The master of the banquet called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have had plenty to drink, then the cheaper wine. You saved the good wine until now!” 11 This, the beginning of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Who do you invite to your house for dinner? Chances are, you’re a little bit selective. Maybe you’ve had a bad experience with someone you’ve had over—they don’t like any of the food you’ve prepared, or they act rude in other ways. More than one missionary has given a newcomer to the mission field the advice to eat whatever is placed before you—even in a village in Africa or India. “But don’t ask what it is. What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”
If you’re the host, what makes someone the perfect guest? Whom do you invite if you’re having a dinner party or a wedding reception? As a believer, of course, the one guest you always want to invite is Jesus! And it just so happened that a young bridal couple and their family in the ancient village of Cana had the opportunity to invite Jesus in the flesh to their wedding and reception. They never, ever regretted inviting Him. Jesus was the Perfect Guest!
Jesus is no longer living on earth in the flesh. But because He is able to be everywhere, we still have the opportunity to invite Jesus to our weddings, into our own homes, to our dinner tables, to our family get-togethers and to all our gatherings here at Our Saviour—even the ladies’ lunch at Culvers. And when we do, just like the bridal couple and their parents in Cana, we won’t ever regret doing so! Jesus Is the Perfect Guest, 1. The Guest Who Always Does the Right Thing at the Right Time, 2. The Guest Who Truly Cares for Us and 3. The Guest Who Is Able to Help in Every Need. So we eagerly offer Jesus the same invitation as the bridal family in Cana: “Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest.”
The Guest Who Always Does the Right Thing at the Right Time
Jesus is The Guest Who Always Does the Right Thing at the Right Time. That’s because Jesus operates on His Father’s schedule. What may have seemed like a miserable, unnecessary delay after waiting thousands of years, the timing of God’s own Son coming into our world in the flesh was exactly right. Think of the circumstances of His birth—arriving in Bethlehem from Nazareth in Galilee, just as Mary was going into labor—arriving just there, as foretold, because God had timed the urge in Caesar’s heart to call for a census. The wise men arrived to worship Him, because God timed the appearance of His special star just right. He timed Mary and Joseph’s arrival at the temple with Jesus to fulfill His promise to aged Simeon and Anna. The flight into Egypt, Jesus’ first trip to the temple at 12 years old, and now His very first miracle—all were timed by God to perfectly fulfill His plans to save you and me and the whole world from sin and death.
During the reception at Cana, after several rounds of toasts, the wine for the banquet ran out just when God knew it would. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not come yet.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Mary had spent thirty amazing years as the mother of God’s own Son. She had been astounded more than once—at the gifts brought by the Magi, at the words spoken prophetically by Simeon and Anna, at Jesus’ wisdom in discussing the Scriptures with the teachers in the Temple at 12 years old. These, and surely many other words and events in Jesus’ earlier life she had “treasured up and pondered in her heart.” She knew well to expect the unexpected. But she still needed to learn a thing or two about God’s timing. He knows all things. He observes every detail. He’s more than well-in-control of every moment of every life.
Those are things we need to learn as well. We need to learn more and more perfectly to trust God’s judgment and timing. Jesus intervenes in our lives and in our congregation in just the right way, at exactly the right time.
It may not always seem that way. Abraham, David, and the other saints of old wondered often enough what was up with God’s timing. But God’s timing was part of the plan. He wanted Abraham to wait and wait and wait until it was physically impossible for him and Sarah to have a child naturally before He finally gave them Isaac. They needed to learn not to try to “help” God like they did with Sarah’s servant Hagar. Even they needed to grow in faith! David, too, needed to learn many things after Samuel had anointed him, before God finally gave him control of the throne of Israel.
God’s got our lives on a schedule, too. The date and place of our birth, the day He will call us home, and all the days in between. The complexities of what is good for us—and just when—is beyond our ability to understand. Like a parent with a child, God tells us “yes” and “no,” and often, “Wait! My time has not come yet,” as He told His mother. But His timing is always impeccable.
The Guest Who Truly Cares for Us
It’s not just His perfect timing, though, that should cause us to invite Him into our lives as a guest. Much more than that! He’s also The Guest Who Truly Cares for Us. So often we put off praying to Jesus and inviting His help until things reach crisis proportions. It’s almost as if we don’t think Jesus cares about the little things, only the big stuff—or that Jesus is far too heavenly and spiritual to be troubled with mundane, earthly matters.
What Jesus did as a wedding guest in Cana ought to forever put that notion to rest. Think about it. Jesus had not yet done one miracle in His earthly ministry. What should that first miracle be? If you were a Hollywood film producer, writing a story about some great Messiah, what would you put in the script as His first miracle? Maybe some great healing? Well, the miracle God chose for His own Son to inaugurate His public ministry ought to comfort us. Because it shows He cares about the small things, He cares about the details.
If Jesus hadn’t changed water into wine, absolutely nobody would have starved. Nobody would have died. No great plague would have broken out. No. All that would have happened is that some guests might have left early, some parents might have been embarrassed. The bridal couple’s memories of their wedding would have been less joyful. And Jesus would have had to find another occasion to draw attention to the fact that He was the Messiah. The first six of His twelve apostles—the ones He had called so far would have still followed Him. Mary would still have had more than enough to store up and ponder in her heart. Life would have gone on.
But Jesus cared about the little things! He cared enough to help! He cared enough about people’s day-to-day earthly lives that He even prioritized coming to a family wedding in the first place. He cared about that bridal couple—that they be happy. He cared about their parents—that they not be unnecessarily embarrassed. He cared about their relatives and friends, the residents of that small town in Galilee. He cared about His first disciples, and He cares about you too!
He certainly cares about the big things like your health. But He also cares about your car trouble or your cat’s UTI. Obviously, nothing is too big for Jesus to care about. But it’s also true that nothing is too small or ordinary for Jesus to care about—especially since you’re family! Don’t ever worry for a moment that Jesus doesn’t have the time or the interest or care enough to hear your prayers and help. Keep inviting Jesus to be the Perfect Guest in your home and in your life.
A Guest Who Is Able to Help in Every Need
And finally, remember one more thing about this Perfect Guest. Jesus is God Himself. He is almighty. He is able to help in every need.
6 Six stone water jars, which the Jews used for ceremonial cleansing, were standing there, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” And they did. 9 When the master of the banquet tasted the water that had now become wine, he did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew). The master of the banquet called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have had plenty to drink, then the cheaper wine. You saved the good wine until now!”
Jesus can do anything. And He will do anything, if it will be helpful. He’s almighty because He is God. This Guest who was willing to not only take time out of His saving the world, to go to a wedding, but who actually made coming to a wedding part of His plan, wants to use His same almighty power to help you. Whatever it takes to get the job done! And job number one for Jesus is getting you and yours safely to the promised land. If it takes a miracle to do that, He’ll make it happen! Jesus proved His power at Cana. He proved it in all His miracles. He proved it by accomplishing His death and resurrection. This, the beginning of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Jesus did this miracle, to accomplish that ultimate goal of helping people get to heaven. He saved that couple hundreds and hundreds of dollars. If He wanted to, Jesus could instantly take away all our financial worries—personally and for His church—if He felt that would draw us closer to Him and strengthen our faith. But if, on the other hand, He knows in His infinite wisdom that taking all our struggles away would lead us to be less focused on His Word and doing His work; if He knew that we’d miss out on learning some important lessons, or lose focus on the world to come, would He still take all our struggles away? Of course not! He wants us to mature in our faith and make it to heaven! We believe in a Savior Who is almighty, caring, and generous, but Who is also wise and judicious. He’s the one we want to keep forgiving our sins, listening to our prayers, and making wise judgment calls. He’s the one we want to keep inviting to be our Guest at home and at church. So let us continue to pray, “Come Lord, Jesus, Be Our Guest—Be our Guest in our homes, in our church, in every moment of our lives. Use Your perfect schedule and help us to trust your timing. Use Your power to help us in your caring and gracious and merciful way. Forgive us for not always appreciating how wonderful it is to have You with us. Keep us focused on the one thing needful. Come, Lord Jesus, and stay with us.**” Amen.
Titus 3:4–7
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, 5he saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
In our Old Testament reading we saw David designated and anointed for his role as the future king of Israel. Nobody there that day thought David would be the one. In their minds he was just the little boy, who should keep his mouth shut and tend the sheep. But through the prophet Samuel, the Lord declared his true identity—future king of Israel. In our Gospel today, we saw God the Father identify Jesus as His beloved Son as He began His public ministry. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove to make it clear just which of the two men, John or Jesus, was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.
What is your true identity? Who are you really, in the big scheme of things. Who has God declared you to be? We’ve all filled various roles in our lives—mother, daughter, grandfather, sister, boss, or employee—but if you had to narrow it down to the most important one of all, our text gives us some guidance. It reminds us that of all the things we are, the most important and lasting is this: Baptism Makes You God’s Child and Heir.
Jesus Saved Us from Our Former Identity
That is not what we once were. We started out as lonely orphans. Yes, God had created us. He’d given us our soul and our body. He had “fathered” us. But we were lost. We didn’t know who He was. We didn’t know where He lives. We didn’t know how to find Him. We were like these poor kids who get smuggled into our country across the southern border who don’t have any identity papers and don’t know where their parents are. They get shipped to big cities where they’re recruited into gangs and tasked with petty theft on the streets. They get exploited and abused. That’s what our spiritual lives would still be like if God hadn’t found us, rescued us and taken us off the street. He saved us!—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy.
“He saved us.” He already did it! Notice that verb is in the past tense. Paul doesn’t say “He will save us,” but “He saved us.” Blessed assurance! And what did He save us from and for? He rescued us from hell and has given us the gift of eternal life with Him. It’s not about this life, it’s about the next. Paul wrote these words to his student and fellow believer Titus. And we who read these words are fellow believers too. So it’s just as true for us. It’s a done deal.
He saved us, …Not by righteous works that we did ourselves…. That could never be, because of our sins. God expects 100% perfection from us, 100% of the time—start to finish. So, even if we could offer that to Him in the future—which we can’t—we’d still have all our sins of the past to make up for.
Or think of it this way: If you had to fill out an application for room and board in heaven, and there was a blank on the application for you to list good works you had done to get in, what would you fill in the box? ‘Went to church most Sundays. Gave offerings. Baked cookies for the lady across the street.’ Who knows—maybe you could come up with a list of 300 to 500 things! OK. Now review your application. Go back and reread it. Fix any spelling errors. Do you think your list meet God’s demand for perfection? How many pages long is your list? Is your list completely honest, or have you added some spin, the way you would on a résumé to impress a potential employer?
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, 5he saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy.* Thank God that He is merciful; that He does not treat us as our sins deserve! He doesn’t let us in according to the number and level of good works we’ve accomplished, all by ‘ourselves.’ Instead He gives us the gift of eternal salvation out of the goodness of His heart. Because of His mercy, He rescued you off the street and *Made You God’s Child and Heir.
He Gives Us Second Birth
How? What was the adoption process? He saved us through the washing of rebirth. Last week we watched the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. You might remember how he emphasized that he was “a born-again Christian.” Back in the 70s, it was very popular to ask someone “Are you ‘born again?” in a way that implied the second birth was different than baptism, and that Christians came in two classes—first-class Christians who were ‘born again’ and second-class Christians who weren’t. But in this passage Paul puts baptism and rebirth together. They’re not separate things! He calls baptism “the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit”—the washing of being born again and of being made new again by the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 3, Jesus famously told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” and then explained, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!” John 3:3, 5). Here, too, in our text, St. Paul tells us that if you’ve been baptized, you have been born again.
Being born, of course, isn’t something you do, it’s something that happens to you. When you were born the first time, your mother did all the work. Sometimes mothers brag about it, “I was in painful labor with you for 12 hours!” Kids can’t brag back, “Oh, I worked so hard to be born, for like 12 hours!”? In the same way, when you were reborn, you didn’t do the work. The Holy Spirit did! He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, and Made You God’s Child and Heir.
Jesus Gives Baptism its Power
So how is it that something so simple and humble as baptism can do such great things? It’s because Jesus gave us baptism, and baptism gives us Jesus. Jesus gave baptism it’s power to save. As our Substitute, Jesus earned for us the right to be called children and heirs of God. Everything we need to do to meet God’s requirements, Jesus did first, and He did it perfectly. He did it all as our Substitute, including being baptized. When Jesus came to be baptized by John, “John tried to stop him, because he knew Jesus didn’t need forgiveness as the sinless Lamb of God…. “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, because it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John let him” (Matthew, (3:14–15).
Jesus was describing His job as our Substitute when He said He had to “fulfill all righteousness.” The day after He was baptized, John pointed at Jesus and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Remember, Jesus came to earn our salvation by doing two things: 1. He fulfilled all righteousness for us, and 2. He took away the sins of the world on the cross. And Jesus put all that saving power into the spiritual bath called baptism. In baptism we get all Jesus’ fulfilled righteousness, and in baptism we get Jesus’ payment for our sins on the cross. John started baptism; Jesus gave it power, as He explained to the crowd in our Gospel “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus put the fire and the Spirit into baptism. He turned that simple water into the powerful stream that washes away our sins and gives us new birth and renewal.
I’m sure you know that so many of the big growing churches in America don’t believe any of that. They think baptism is just an outward act people do to say they love Jesus. What an insulting heresy! Baptism isn’t something we do for Jesus! It’s something He does for us! That’s why even the weakest little baby can be baptized.
Baptism Now Saves Us
So does baptism save us, or does Jesus? The answer is “Yes!” Jesus saves us through baptism! Jesus and baptism aren’t having a competition against each other. Baptism is one of God’s tools to give us all the good stuff Jesus earned for us—forgiveness, life, and salvation. Go back to the simple and clear way Paul phrased it for us in our text: He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.
What a powerful and thorough passage! Even if there were no other passages about Baptism in the whole Bible, this one would be more than sufficient to teach us what Baptism is and what it does for us! But of course there are other passages, such as 1 Peter 3:21, “…Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body but the guarantee of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
So in just two passages we’ve now seen that baptism gives us new birth, it renews us by the Holy Spirit, it gives us justification by grace, it makes us heirs with the hope of eternal life, it saves us, and it guarantees us a good conscience before God. Wow! What a precious gift Baptism is! No wonder Jesus’ marching orders to the church, just before He ascended, begin with baptism. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19).
Baptism Sets Us Apart
Jesus’ baptism designated Him and set Him apart as our Prophet, High Priest, and eternal King. He was publicly anointed into His public ministry and the voice of the Father boomed from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you” (Luke 3:22). At your baptism you were set apart too. At your baptism the Father lovingly named you His beloved Child and Heir. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit landed on Him in the form of a dove. When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit came to you and took up residence in your heart. Once Jesus’ public ministry began, He began to show by His miracles that He is in fact the powerful Son of God, incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Now that you are baptized, you can also live out your new, true, wonderful identity as God’s Child and Heir.
To the one who thinks they are garbage… that their sins place them outside the circle of God’s love. . . baptism says, “No, you are loved dearly by God. The proof is that in His grace He justified you. You have been baptized; you are now totally innocent!” To the one who thinks that their innate goodness and ethical integrity is why God loves them… baptism says, “Actually, no. Your righteous acts had nothing to do with that. You needed to be washed clean as much as the next person.” To the one who says they have no power to serve God and others, that they can’t overcome that temptation, baptism says, “No, actually, you have been spiritually renewed. The power of God’s Holy Spirit is yours.” That’s why we can sing with joy,
“God’s own child!” I gladly say it. I am baptized into Christ!…I’m a child of paradise!
Baptism Makes You God’s Child and Heir. All by God’s grace! Amen.
Psalm 72:1–15, 17, 19
God, give your authority to judge to the King. Give your righteousness to the Son of the King. 2 He will judge your people with righteousness. He will judge your afflicted ones with justice. 3 The mountains will deliver peace to the people. The hills will produce righteousness. 4 He will obtain justice for the afflicted among the people. He will save the children of the poor, but he will crush the oppressor. 5 They will fear you as long as the sun remains, and as long as the moon endures, through all generations. 6 He will come down like rain on a mown field, like showers, like a downpour on the earth. 7 In his days the righteous will flourish, and peace will be plentiful till the moon is no more. 8 He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 Those who dwell in the desert will bow before him, and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the sea coasts will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer him gifts. 11 All kings will bow down to him. All nations will serve him. 12 He will certainly deliver the poor person who cries out, as well as the afflicted, and the one who has no helper. 13 He will take pity on the weak and the poor. He will save the lives of the poor. 14 From oppression and violence he will redeem their lives, because their blood is precious in his sight. 15 May the King live! May gold from Sheba be offered to him. May people always pray for him. May they bless him all day long. … 17 May his name endure forever. May his name flourish as long as the sun. They will be blessed through him. All nations will call him blessed. … 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
We’ve moved on from a rancorous election year. It’s now 2025 and it will be at least a few months till the campaigning starts all over again. We’re always hoping for a better way and a better leader because we always live in a world of problems. It’s not wrong to hope for positive change. God has planted in every person’s heart the knowledge that there must be a better world, a perfect world with a perfect leader. He’s placed that hope in each heart because He wants us to long for the “promised land” and seek it by storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and by seeking and finding the King of Kings, through whom all nations are blessed.
It’s that hope that filled the hearts of the Magi from the East, as they journeyed westward, following the star. And they found what they were seeking, they found Him, at the end of their long journey—not an earthly king, but the everlasting King of Kings. They found the Son of God, the Messianic King foretold by Solomon in Psalm 72, and they bowed down and worshiped.
Unlike earthly leaders, Solomon tells us 1. The King of Kings’ rule is Just. 2. It is Universal and everlasting, and it is 3. Overflowing with Blessings.
The King of Kings’ Rule Is Just
We see so much injustice in our society, in our government, even in our courts. But the King of Kings does all things justly. God, give your authority to judge to the King. Give your righteousness to the Son of the King. 2 He will judge your people with righteousness. He will judge your afflicted ones with justice. 3 The mountains will deliver peace to the people. The hills will produce righteousness. 4 He will obtain justice for the afflicted among the people. He will save the children of the poor, but he will crush the oppressor.
Often, Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah describe His eternal Kingdom in earthly terms, such as the prophecy of the lion lying down with the lamb. Those prophecies combine the blessings of the Kingdom we are already experiencing, with those that we will only know fully after Jesus comes back to judge the nations. That’s Stage 3 of those kingdom prophecies. You could say we’re in “stage two.” Stage 1: Jesus came and established His Kingdom. Stage 2: Jesus’ kingdom has spread and we’re already part of it, yet its glory is still invisible to the world. Yes, we can see signs or “marks” of the Kingdom all around the world: confessing Christians and their churches and cathedrals. We see the fruits of the kingdom in Western Civilization. Yet we still see Christians oppressed and persecuted in many places. We still see a lack of justice all around the world.
When Jesus was born the angels proclaimed, “Peace on earth and goodwill to men.” Yet you’ve learned from Scripture that they weren’t foretelling the end of war in the near future. Rather God sent them to proclaim that Jesus came to make peace between God and man, individually as they come to know Him as their Savior. You and I have that “peace that surpasses all understanding” but it won’t be visible to the world until the King’s return.
The Kingdom of God begins invisibly in our hearts through faith. That’s why when Jesus preached, He said “the Kingdom of God is near” (Luke 10:11). He told the people “Yet if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in a way you can observe, 21 nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘Look, there it is!’ because the kingdom of God is within you”* (Luke 17:20-21). But then He turned to His disciples and reminded them that the day would surely come when the kingdom will be clearly visible: “*On the day the Son of Man is revealed, [He] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other” (Luke 17:30b, 24).
The Kingdom of Christ has begun as a spiritual kingdom, established by the preaching of God’s Gospel justice as foretold. God, give your authority to judge to the King. Give your righteousness to the Son of the King. 2 He will judge your people with righteousness. He will judge your afflicted ones with justice. How? What does this mean? The justice of the Gospel is this: God is just, and God is also love. God’s love and justice meet together in Christ, who kept the holy and immutable law of God, and then paid the just penalty for sin required by the law with His sacrifice of atonement. As St. Paul explained in Romans, Christ made it possible for God to be both just and the God who justifies, those who have faith in Jesus (3:26).
To those who reject Christ’s atonement for their sin God is also just. He gives them just what they ask for—straight up Law Justice. They will be judged by their own deeds, weighed in the balance and found wanting. In justice, they will get exactly what they justly deserve, without mercy.
The King of Kings’ RuleIs Universal and Everlasting
The King of Kings’ Rule is not only Just, it is Universal and Everlasting: It extends through all nations and all time. They will fear you as long as the sun remains, and as long as the moon endures, through all generations. 6 He will come down like rain on a mown field, like showers, like a downpour on the earth. 7 In his days the righteous will flourish, and peace will be plentiful till the moon is no more.
All the ancient kingdoms and empires have come crashing down. Nor will today’s nations last forever. Not even Old Testament Israel lasted once it abandoned God. When Solomon wrote this psalm, Israel enjoyed its greatest prosperity and widest borders ever. But it wouldn’t last, and Solomon knew it. Solomon and David both put their hope in the far greater King to come, whose Kingdom will last forever and ever. As the Book of Revelation says: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Solomon put it this way: He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 Those who dwell in the desert will bow before him, and his enemies will lick the dust.
When Jesus was born, Israel wasn’t even a kingdom anymore—only the Roman province of Judea. But the Kingdom of Christ has since spread into the whole world and continues to grow as more and more come to know Jesus, starting with the Magi on Epiphany: 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the sea coasts will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer him gifts. 11 All kings will bow down to him. All nations will serve him.
When King Charles was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 2023, he was grudgingly compelled to acknowledge by oath that he rules under the authority of Christ. In our country, too, presidents take their oaths of office with their hand on the Bible, in fulfillment of Psalm 72, as we will soon witness once again. Like the Magi in Bethlehem, many kings and presidents have and will bow down to Him during their lifetime, and then throughout eternity in heaven. Those who refuse will bow down to Him when He returns with all His angels to judge the earth, and then throughout eternity in hell.
The King of Kings’ Rule Is Overflowing with Blessings
By God’s immeasurable grace, even while we still live under earthly rulers, we disciples are citizens of Christ’s eternal and universal Kingdom of Grace, a Kingdom Overflowing with Blessings, as Solomon reminds us in Psalm 72.
12 He will certainly deliver the poor person who cries out, as well as the afflicted, and the one who has no helper. 13 He will take pity on the weak and the poor. He will save the lives of the poor. 14 From oppression and violence he will redeem their lives, because their blood is precious in his sight. During His earthly ministry, Jesus showed how much He cared for people in need. Through His people, the church, He continues to show compassionate care and love. It was the Christian church that established the first hospitals and orphanages and schools for the deaf and the blind that the world had ever seen. It’s because of the Christian church and the gospel that even the heathen today talk about such things as human rights. Care agencies, adoption agencies, international aid agencies—there was no such thing in any pre-Christian kingdom or empire. Jesus has brought so many blessings to the world through His Church. This King’s Rule Is Overflowing with Blessings.
And Jesus brings so many blessings to His people directly—to us! He intervenes in our lives to protect and care for His own. He will certainly deliver the … person who cries out, … the afflicted, … the one who has no helper. 13 He will take pity on the weak. No matter what He lets us go through, He makes it all work out for us in the end. That’s His promise.
In the meantime, He comforts us with His love. He gives us forgiveness and new life. He strengthens us when we are weak. He empowers us by His Holy Spirit. He gives us faith to revere Him like the Wise Men, bring Him offerings and serve Him by serving our neighbor. He moves us to share the gospel and pray for the spread of His kingdom for the prosperity of the church. That’s how Solomon concludes his Psalm—by praying for the king and encouraging us to pray that His Kingdom will grow and prosper. May the King live! May gold from Sheba be offered to him. May people always pray for him. May they bless him all day long. … 17 May his name endure forever. May his name flourish as long as the sun. They will be blessed through him. All nations will call him blessed. … 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.
As citizens of the United States, we have flawed leaders, whom we nevertheless honor and pray for. But Jesus is and always will be our eternal King. In faith, the Magi recognized who Jesus really is. May we also worship the King of Kings and enjoy His blessings by faith! May all earthly kings and rulers be led to bow the knee to Him! And may His Kingdom continue to conquer hearts with His love and forgiveness, as we pray “Thy Kingdom Come!”
Amen.
Luke 2:41-52
41Every year his parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Festival. 43When the days had ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. 44Since they thought he was in their group, they went a day’s journey. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” 49He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?” 50They did not understand what he was telling them. 51He went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was always obedient to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
I’m pretty proud of my kids. They all turned out pretty well, I can honestly say. They all graduated college. They’re all in church with their kids every Sunday. Two of them are even pastors. And since both of those two talked about one or the other of their parents in sermons last week, it’s only fair that I talk about them for a second, if only to say, good as they are, not one of them was the perfect child. That’s fair for any of us to say about our children, because there is only one child in history that was ever The Perfect Child, and that was Jesus. That was only possible because He is not only the son of Mary; He is also the Son of God. He was born without sin. He had to be in order to be our Savior. He is our Stand-in, our Substitute. Since we couldn’t keep God’s commandments perfectly, and God demands that they all be kept, we needed Jesus to do it for us. Looking at our text this morning, the first thing we notice about this Perfect Child, is that He was totally at Home with the Lord.
The Perfect Child Was at Home with the Lord
If your childhood memories are good, it’s because of where and with whom you spent it. Our son Titus and his wife Stephanie have been serving as foster parents. They have taken in children who were born with drugs in the bloodstream and whose home life was a mess. And over time, these children have benefitted immeasurably from a stable home life. The transformation has been amazing. Their lives have been forever changed. Your childhood formed you. If you grew up like I did in a stable Christian home, don’t ever take that privilege and blessing for granted!
Jesus’ parents didn’t have a lot of money. Joseph earned what food and possessions he had doing hard manual labor as a carpenter. What he lacked in means, he made up for in love. He loved and cared for his adopted son, just as Mary did. Even more important than that, as believing parents, they taught Him God’s love in their home. Now that may sound unusual, since Jesus is God’s Son, but during Jesus’ time on earth He put aside the full use of His divine powers. He allowed himself to be taught and to learn like other children. And according to His humanity, He learned from the pious example of His parents. They set an example that all Christian parents should follow. They made meditating on God’s Word a part of their daily lives. They lived pious lives. They went to synagogue every week. They made their way to Jerusalem on the annual Passover pilgrimage. That’s just the kind of people they were.
Perfect Child that He was, Jesus learned quickly and thoroughly. That is seen in what happened when they got to Jerusalem. You can well imagine what Passover in Jerusalem must have been like, as pilgrims came from every nation where Jews had been scattered. The city was overflowing with people, bustling with activity, some of it, no doubt, quite exotic and foreign. And yet when Jesus got to Jerusalem, He wasn’t distracted by all the interesting things there, or by running off with the other children who’d traveled there together with His family from up north. No, Jesus went straight to the temple and spent the whole time there—even three days after it was considered time to go home by His parents.
Mary and Joseph had a lot of trust in their son. They didn’t worry about Him. It wasn’t until they’d made a whole day’s journey back toward Nazareth that they thought they ought to check up on Him, and finally discovered He wasn’t with the other young people—which means they were used to Jesus getting along with the other boys His age. But now they finally got nervous and headed back to the city. After two days of travel, they spent a good deal of the third day looking around the city for Jesus. When they finally found Him, He was in the synagogue on the temple grounds, in a deep discussion with the teachers there. Of course, that’s where He would be!
Why did it take Mary and Joseph so long to figure that out? Jesus had absorbed what His parents had taught Him by their words and example. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” 49He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?” 50They did not understand what he was telling them.
God’s house is the place for every child to be totally at home. What about your children and grandchildren? What about you? There is no more important weekly appointment for families to keep, than the one in God’s house to hear and learn His Word! Not that the church building is the only place to be at home with the Word. We want our Christian homes to be what Jesus’ home was—a place to learn God’s truth by example, and by devotion to the Lord’s Word. Remember, Mary and Joseph weren’t perfect parents. Therefore, following their example is not beyond your reach. Like Jesus Himself, our children and grandchildren can and need to be brought up in a pious home, “in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
The Perfect Child Was Obedient
The second thing we notice about this Perfect Child, is that He was totally obedient. Mary and Joseph knew their child was special. They remembered what the angels had said at His birth, and pondered all that had happened, yet it was still difficult for them to fully grasp what this all meant.
Put yourself in Mary and Joseph’s sandals. On the one hand, having a perfect child has its advantages! But on the other hand, it must also have been somewhat disconcerting, especially in how inadequate they must have felt at times. They probably felt that inadequacy, embarrassed that they didn’t know where to look for Jesus—but should have! ‘Of course He was in His Father’s house!’
Despite their imperfection, Jesus was perfectly submissive and obedient to them, honoring them as His parents and guardians. 51He went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was always obedient to them. Jesus followed His parents home. He did not disrespect them, even when they were not perfect parents. They weren’t perfect in their faith and wisdom, or they would not have scolded Jesus. But Jesus didn’t roll His eyes at them. Like parents everywhere, they were sinful—they fell short of God’s standards, but Jesus didn’t mumble under His breath against them.
Mary and Joseph didn’t deserve to have the Perfect Child. That’s why it’s so important and comforting that God sent His Son Jesus to be the Perfect Child in our place. He kept all of God’s commands perfectly in Mary and Joseph’s place, in our place, in order to earn salvation for fumbling sinners like you and me. He’s the one who made it possible for sinful children to be saved. And He’s the one who made it possible for us inadequate parents to be forgiven. That’s what makes us want to strive to be better parents and better children, knowing God forgives us and eagerly sends us the Spirit and all His gifts so we can do better, just as Mary and Joseph sought to do.
The Perfect Child Grew Up in the Lord
We get a small glimpse in the final sentence of our text of what the rest of Jesus’ perfect childhood was like, of which we have not another word in the rest of Scripture. 52Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. What a mystery! —not that Jesus grew in stature, but that He grew in wisdom. While we believe from Scripture that Jesus is true God, we’re reminded here that Jesus was also true man. And we can take comfort in that. It’s another needed reminder that Jesus really is our human brother. He’s been here! He’s lived in our world! He had to put up with all the difficulties of living in this world. He grew just like any other boy. He went through puberty. Maybe He even got acne. He got hungry. He got bruises and cuts. His feet got dirty.
That Jesus was fully human means that He really was under the law, that He really was tempted by the devil, and that He really had to work to keep the commandments as our Substitute. He earned our salvation.
And it’s equally comforting for us to remember that Jesus is still our human Brother up in heaven. That’s what enables Him to really listen to our prayers, understand them and look down mercifully on our needs as He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father.
That Jesus grew in wisdom means Jesus had to study, read, learn, watch, and listen. He helped His Father in His woodshop. He learned how to use a plane and a chisel and a hammer. When Jesus was in the Temple talking with the teachers, He was asking questions as well as providing answers. He was seeking to deepen the knowledge He’d gotten from His Rabbi at Sabbath School in Nazareth.
That Jesus grew…in favor with God means He grew in His obedience, without ever being disobedient. By the day of His baptism which we’ll remember in two weeks, God could say “This is my Son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased.” With each passing day and month and year, Jesus fulfilled more of His role as our Substitute, refusing more temptations, getting closer to the goal of crossing the finish line with His holiness intact. Remember that Jesus earned our salvation by living for us, and then by dying for us.
Even though Jesus is our perfect Substitute, and our salvation is complete, we want nevertheless to keep on striving ourselves to grow in favor with God and with man. We can’t “grow more forgiven.” But we can grow in godliness and grow closer to God.
Far too many children grow up in sad circumstances because of drugs, war, famine, disease, and poverty. That’s truly sad and a call to help when and how we can. But—just as sad—there are a lot of wealthy, healthy children that get no spiritual upbringing at all! That’s truly a sad tragedy! That’s not the way God wants it!
Like Mary and Joseph, let us do everything we can to help the children in our lives learn about their Savior and grow up in faith. Jesus came because He wants all of them and us to live with Him in heaven. Amen.
10 The Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, 11 “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” 12 But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.” 13 So Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men? Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
You’re a wide-eyed child. It’s Christmas Eve. You’re all excited. You’re looking forward to going home from church and finally opening presents. What will you get? Will it be a video game? A new toy—the one you’ve been asking for three months in a row, every day?
Finally, it’s time to open the gifts. Everyone is gathered around the tree. It’s at last your turn and you open yours. But everyone can see on your face that you’re disappointed. What was it? Socks? Underwear? Plain white ones? Not even the superman kind!
No. It’s not even something you can wear, much less play with. It’s super boring—a bar of gold from grandpa, to be put in a safe and used for college one day. What are you going to do with that? You can’t play with it. You can’t wear it. You can’t eat it. You can’t even lift it! Grandpa thought you’d be thrilled but you start crying, in one of those really obnoxious, whiny kind of ways that everyone hates. No one says it, but they’re thinking, “Maybe we should have named this kid Ahaz.”
How Not to Receive God’s Gift
Over time we all have to learn not only about how to give gifts, but also how to receive gifts. Our text tonight talks about the greatest gift of all time. A truly miraculous gift. Yet part of the story is also about the spoiled brat of a king who couldn’t care less for the gift. He wasn’t just ungrateful. He was also a total hypocrite. He actually even made a fake, pious act out of refusing to ask for a gift when God gave him the chance to do so. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to be a bother to the gift giver….” 10 The Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, 11 “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” 12 But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.” God’s never fooled by fake piety. Do you think God doesn’t know every one of your thoughts, all the time? He does. He hears everything your inner voice says in your head. He knows every nuance of the attitude in your heart.
Ahaz had wavered from the faith he’d grown up in. His dad and grandpa were among the best, believing kings of Judah. They were faithful to the Lord. But not Ahaz. Ahaz almost brought the kingdom to ruin because he abandoned the true god and sacrificed to the Baals, even offering some of his sons as burn offerings to these fake gods! Because of his wickedness, the Lord allowed his enemies in Samaria and Damascus to muster up their forces against the Kingdom of Judah, planning to attack. Ahaz was so petrified he was planning to ask the even worse king of Assyria to team up—a really awful idea! The Lord sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to say, “Get control of yourself, and remain calm. Do not be afraid…. 7 This is what the Lord God says. Their plan shall not succeed. It shall not take place. [But] … If you do not stand firm in faith, you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:4a,7, 9b).
But Ahaz wouldn’t listen to the Lord or to His prophet Isaiah. So God—gracious gift-giver that He is—made him another offer. ‘I really will rescue you if you let me. Let me prove it!’ God was saying: “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” What a great offer that was, especially under those circumstances! Ahaz was shaking in his boots. His country was under imminent threat—real danger of total defeat and destruction by two very powerful armies, and here and now God was offering to protect him and Jerusalem and Judah. The Lord was even offering proof! And how does Ahaz respond? With his bratty, unbelieving attitude, trying to sound all pious, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”
That’s called “looking the gift-horse in the mouth.” But this was no horse. It was the living God Himself! What an insult Ahaz gave his Maker. Nobody was fooled by false politeness. Not Isaiah and certainly not God.
As a rule, receiving a gift someone sincerely wants to give you is the right thing to do, rather than making an excuse like, “Oh, I don’t want to put you out. That’s too fancy,” etc. Refusing a good gift is rude, not righteous.
When it’s the Lord Himself who wants to give you a gift, you should never say “no” like Ahaz did! God won’t force His gifts on you or anyone. He won’t force you to accept them. But that won’t stop Him from giving—especially when the gift is His own Son—The Gift of Christmas!
The Gift of God
So Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men? Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.
Even if Ahaz wouldn’t accept God’s gift of protection against the armies of Samaria and Damascus, that wouldn’t stop God from promising to send His own, only-begotten Son to save every believer in Judah—and the whole world too. God’s gifts don’t depend on good gift-getters. They depend only on God-the-Giver’s own grace, mercy, generosity and love—His desire to save us all.
The angels were the first to announce the gift of Jesus that first Christmas Eve to some shepherds out “in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night.” The people whose cattle-shed Mary and Joseph were staying in no doubt got to see the newborn Savior. After they hurried into town and saw the baby, the shepherds began spreading the news to the other folks who lived in Bethlehem and the other guests who were in town for the census. It took time for the people in the big city of Jerusalem to hear, when the Wise Men made a stop there on their way to find Jesus. All in all, the news about God’s Gift of Christmas started out small.
But that didn’t make the Gift any smaller! No matter how many or few know about Jesus or believe in Him, God would still have sent His Son for all of them. There was never any chance that God would back out of His plan to rescue the world from sin and death, just as Ahaz’s rude and bratty indifference to God’s miraculous promise didn’t stop God from making that astounding prophecy of the virgin birth. God knew there were billions of people who need His salvation, dying sinners in need of the Christmas miracle, including you and me! If Jesus hadn’t been born of the virgin Mary, there’d be no heaven to look forward to.
Can you imagine living in the hopelessness of having absolutely nothing to look forward to but sickness, pain, suffering, and ultimately death? (And of course from Scripture we know there’d be even worse awaiting us in eternity.) But because God gave The Gift of Christmas, we do have hope—real hope! Because God’s Son came to live and die for us, and to rise again from the grave triumphant over death, He has opened the door to eternal life to all who believe in Him, to all who joyfully and gratefully accept and open The Gift of Christmas in faith. The Gift of Christmas is the gift of sure and certain hope.
He offered that gift even to recalcitrant, obnoxious Ahaz and all his fellow unbelievers, but Ahaz wouldn’t have it—not even for free. He was a rude brat about the gift of God, and he got just what he asked for—nothing but a very sad ending. When all was said and done, the people of Jerusalem even refused Ahaz burial in the royal tomb with the other kings of Israel.
Miraculously, his young son who succeeded him when he was dead accepted the gift, became a believer, and is forever famous as one of the best kings Judah ever had—great King Hezekiah! Hezekiah knew how to receive a gift from the greatest Giver, the Lord, and he passed that gift on to the people he served and ruled. This Christmas Eve let us receive the gift God gives gratefully as we celebrate the birth of Judah’s greatest king—our King Jesus. He is not just King David’s and King Hezekiah’s descendant, but also the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary to be our Savior. Let’s unwrap the gift with faith, joy and thanks. Jesus was born to save us from our sins and give us eternal life— The Gift of Christmas. God has given us a miracle! Amen.
Mark 7:31–37
Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. 32They brought a man to him who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hand on him. 33Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) 35Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. 36Jesus gave the people strict orders to tell no one, but the more he did so, the more they kept proclaiming it. 37They were amazed beyond measure and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”(EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
There are times in our lives when we can be overwhelmed by the feeling that nobody really cares. There are even times when we may feel like God doesn’t care, and worry that everything is going to end badly, unlike the movies they used to make where all ends well. The devil loves to put those awful feelings of despair into our heads.
But then God reminds us of His promise to make all things work out for our good in the end. He gives us hope—and hope in Christ doesn’t disappoint! Today we get a glimpse at a real-life situation, where Jesus made everything work out for good for a man who seemed to have little going for Him. And the crowed exclaimed, “Jesus Does Everything Well!” What a perfect thing to say, not just on that day, but every day! It wasn’t just true that one time. It’s true about how Jesus personally takes care of you today.
He Cares for Each of Us Personally
Mark tells us Jesus was in the Decapolis region, beyond the Jordan River, outside the borders of Israel, on the far side of the Sea of Galilee. He had come there from another foreign territory where he had healed the daughter of a foreign woman in Lebanon showing His disciples that He came for all people, not just Jews, to be their Savior. Chances are pretty good that this deaf man was not a Jew either. Mark is the only evangelist to record this story and was writing for Roman gentiles, and therefore liked to emphasize the fact that Jesus came to be everybody’s Savior, not just for the Jews.
Jesus does want to save all people, but that doesn’t make His love and care for us any less personal. Jesus sought out this individual personally. Jesus once said “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).
This deaf man in Decapolis was worth more to Jesus than many sparrows. And so are you! Jesus knows you personally. He knows your exact needs. And Jesus went looking for you just as individually as He went to meet the deaf and dumb man that day. You and I were born deaf to His Word and unable to speak His Name. But He came to just where you were. He found you and opened your ears with His Word, so that now you can really hear what He says.
And now that He’s found you, He doesn’t just move on. He doesn’t just add you to His ‘client list.’ No, He made you a member of His family. He’s got your birthdate and baptism date memorized. He continues to count the very hairs of your head! There may be times in your life when it seems you can’t find God. But He always knows exactly where to find you! David wrote, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7–10).
Jesus knew this man brought to Him for healing before He even saw Him. Jesus had already cared about Him every day of His life—both before that day and every day thereafter. Jesus knows everything about you, too. He knows every single thing that happens to you—every thought, fear, concern, situation, and temptation you face. He cares personally about just you!
He Cares for Each of Us Compassionately
When Jesus found the man He went looking for, He treated him—a handicapped man others in those days may have ignored—with dignity and compassion. Jesus “took him aside in private, away from the crowd.” When charlatans and showmen say they’re going to heal, they pull a man to the front and center of their stage in front of everyone—because it’s all about them and “the show must go on!” But for Jesus, this was all about the man who needed Him. He wasn’t about to embarrass him or make a show out of him.
And the extra time Jesus took is amazing. He didn’t check his smartphone or pocket calendar. He didn’t glance at His watch, thinking ‘what’s the most efficient way to quickly be done with this and move on.’ When you consider how burdened and busy our Savior was, that’s truly remarkable, too. Despite the fact that He knew the needs of a whole world of people were on His shoulders, Jesus tuned out the world for the moment and entered this man’s world—one on one, with His undivided attention. He does that for you too!
The man’s friends asked Jesus to lay His hand on Him. He did them one better. He looked this man whom He loved in the eyes. Then Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears [and] he spit and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus did more than the man’s friends asked for—more than the deaf and dumb man himself would ever have dared to request had he been able to speak. You could even say Jesus was using ‘sign language’ with him!
And then Jesus did something else. He looked up to heaven … with a deep sigh….* He sighed over His created order, now fallen. He was moved to compassion as He saw—eye to eye—one more profound piece of evidence that His world that once* was “very good” was no longer very good. How sad for the Creator of a perfect world to see firsthand the destruction and havoc sin had wreaked on His creation. People don’t have disabilities or sickness because of some personal* sin they committed. Yet, all disease, every birth defect, the whole mess we live in, was brought about by Adam’s sin. And Jesus sighed.***
Jesus’ deep sigh wasn’t a sigh of hopelessness, though. Far from it! He’s the One whom God sent into the world to end hopelessness and begin the process of recreating all things “very good” once again. He sighed out of compassion, the same deep and indescribable compassion that moved Him to put His own health—even His own life—aside, and sigh far louder to His Father: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” as He hung dying for us on the cross.
Do you see how much Jesus loves individuals like you, whether they’re deaf and mute, blind or lame, or just you with your own ailments, pains and problems? Sometimes we think “how could anyone love me?” We put on masks and pretend to the world we’ve “got it all together” while inside we’re fretting over all our secret, unlovable faults. Jesus knows them all, but … He loves us anyway—unconditionally! He sighs over us! And His love is more than sighs. As loudly as He sighed in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying not to suffer, still He had too much love and compassion on you to turn back and leave you in your sins. When God’s silence told Him it was the only way, He stuck to the plan. He willingly marched to death because of His love and compassion for you!
Our sins still make Him sigh in sorrow. But our helplessness, sorrows and suffering make Him sigh even deeper—in compassion! He never shudders and turns away, even if we got ourselves into whatever mess we’re in. When we hurt Him by what we do, or what we don’t do that we should… He sighs. But He doesn’t run away. He does the opposite! He calls out to us. He runs to us and pardons us and heals us!
And when you are praying for others, He listens to those petitions just as intently as He listened to the men who brought their deaf friend to Him. Hasn’t He in fact told you Himself to come to Him and ask for anything in His name? He means it! In fact, He’s ready to go farther than you even ask, just as He went above and beyond the request of the deaf man’s friends.
“Jesus does everything well” the crowd exclaimed, and He continues to do all things well for you and for every believer. He first laid His hand on you at your baptism and He hasn’t left. He still touches your ears with His Word. He touches your tongue with His body and blood. He has taught you to speak His language—the language of prayer and praise, and He listens to every word you utter in prayer.
He Cares for Each of Us Powerfully
Jesus is compassionate, merciful, and loving, but don’t let that fool you about His strength and power. He is the all-powerful Son of God. His miracles proved that. Only Jesus could touch a man’s ears and tongue and make him speak, who could never speak before. He looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) 35Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly.
When Jesus speaks, heaven’s power comes down and touches the earth. When God first spoke, the world came into being out of nothing. When Jesus said, “Be still!” the storm was stilled! And when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven!” they are! When He says “Be opened” a whole new world of possibility opens to you! Jesus’ Words are filled with the power to bring about just what they say. And one of the things Jesus said is: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, … you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:21–22).
With words so powerful, Jesus needs to be careful what He says. He uses His power with discretion. Not everyone was healed by Him when He was on earth. He knows what’s best for each person in each moment of their life. His plan is not to prevent all suffering, but rather to direct every circumstance for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Nevertheless, His healing of the deaf man does give a foretaste of what is to come for all of us on the day He returns. On that Day He will restore all things. It’s no mere coincidence that they said of Jesus, “He has done everything well,” words which mirror the pronouncement of God Himself over His perfect creation in the beginning. At Jesus’ return, God will once again speak His creating Word, and all things will once more be “very good” as they were at the beginning of time, including you!
What a comfort to have a Savior who Does Everything Well. What blessed assurance that He knows you so personally that He sought you out in the crowd and made you His own. What a relief to know what compassion He has for you. What confidence is ours,remembering He has the power to take care of all your needs, at the proper time, according to His infinite wisdom.
Now that you have been healed of your natural deafness to His Word and can hear and understand it, listen to what He says and put your complete trust in Him! Believe whatever He tells you—especially when He tells you that your sins are forgiven, but also that He knows you, and that He cares about you personally and compassionately.Remember that He is at your side ready to help with all His almighty power.
It’s all true! Amen.
Mark 7:1–8, 14–15, 21–23
The Pharisees and some of the experts in the law came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus. 2They saw some of his disciples eating bread with unclean (that is, unwashed) hands. 3In fact, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they scrub their hands with a fist, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions they adhere to, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches. 5The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead they eat bread with unclean hands.” 6He answered them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7They worship me in vain, teaching human rules as if they were doctrines. 8“You abandon God’s commandment but hold to human tradition like the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”
14He called the crowd to him again and said, “Everyone, listen to me and understand. 15There is nothing outside of a man that can make him unclean by going into him. But the things that come out of a man are what make a man unclean. 16If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
21In fact, from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual sins, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. 23All these evil things proceed from within and make a person unclean.” (EHV)
The Pharisees and some of the experts in the law came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus…. Whenever that happens trouble is brewing. The Pharisees loved the outward trappings of religion—especially keeping their traditions and rules—Law. But Jesus came to preach the Gospel, the truth that we are saved by faith alone in Him. That’s because, as Scripture clearly teaches, we are corrupt by nature and can’t keep God’s commandments. For that reason, we need a Savior from our sins, not a lawgiver or motivational speaker.
Jesus’ argument with the Pharisees gets right to The Heart of the Matter, the central doctrine of Scripture, namely that Justification is by Faith alone. That’s The Heart of the Matter, 1. because that teaching starts with the true condition of our hearts. And it’s The Heart of the Matter, 2. because the Gospel is the only thing that can change the heart and make it new.
The Natural Sinful Heart—Helpless to Do Good and Be Saved
The doctrine of justification by faith always came to a head when Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees. The Pharisees wrongly believed they were basically “good” people. They considered their puny “religious” deeds as good works that earned “brownie points” with God. On this day, they were nitpicking Jesus’ disciples for not checking the boxes on their “brownie point” score card. They were like the people in California during Covid who outlawed walking on the beach or surfing or playing outdoors and then sent the police out into the water to capture the lonely surfer or who called the cops on someone using a playground alone with their children, or who walked up to strangers to harangue them for not wearing a mask while walking alone on a sidewalk.
That’s what the Pharisees were like. They were self-appointed “morality police.” In their ever-watchful gaze, they had seen Jesus’ disciples going to eat without stopping at one of the ceremonial hand lavatories. Only priests were required to do this in the Old Testament as part of religious ceremonies. But now it had become a tradition which the Pharisees expected everyone to follow.
There’s nothing wrong with washing your hands. Yet, in their minds, this man-made tradition actually made their hands holy. But no man-made ceremony can do that, not even one instituted with the best of intentions!
We, too, have some historical, man-made religious customs and ceremonies that we follow. Many of them are meaningful and good, and that’s why we preserve them. But our Lutheran Confessions rightly condemn teaching that they are absolutely necessary, or that doing them makes us right with God. The fact is, there’s nothing we could everdo that would make us right with God. Only God can do that! Jesus and all the prophets and apostles teach in Scripture that we are by nature so soaked and steeped in inherited sin; that we are incapable without faith of producing even so much as one good work. For that reason, our salvation depends entirely, 100% on Jesus alone.
Sin is not some airborne disease that we can hope to wash off our hands or kill with hand sanitizer. It’s not some foodborne disease that we can avoid by only eating kosher food. Sin is inborn. We get it from mommy and daddy, like fetal alcohol syndrome. Inherited sin is what makes us die just like our parents.
Paul Harvey, the radio broadcaster, once gave a famous monologue, titled “If I were the devil.” He said, “If I were the Devil … I would … take over the United States. … I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” … To the young, I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.” I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around…. If I were the devil, I’d fill T.V. with dirt[y] movies. … I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. And I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. In other words, if I were Satan, I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing. Paul Harvey, Good Day.”
I don’t think there’s anyone here today who disagrees with Paul Harvey, and I bet we all wish he’d still be the guy people around the country heard on their radios at noon. “It’s all happened, just as Paul Harvey predicted. That’s why our country’s such a mess.” But is that really the cause—or the effect?
About a decade before Paul Harvey spoke these words in 1964, a radio preacher, Donald Grey Barnhouse, of Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church, gave his national CBS radio audience a different take on what it would look like if Satan took control of a city. He said, ‘If I were the devil, I’d see to it that all of the bars and pool halls would be closed, pornography banished, pristine streets and sidewalks would be occupied by tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The kids would answer “Yes, sir,” “No, ma’am,” and the churches would be full on Sunday … where Christ is not preached.”
That is exactly what the devil was trying to do through the Pharisees—to fill the synagogues with people who carefully followed outward rules and ceremonies that would lull them into thinking they are good and don’t need a Savior. But outward righteousness is not what Jesus came to teach! His words that day went straight to the problem—The Heart of the Matter: “From within, out of people’s hearts”—our hearts included—“come evil thoughts, sexual sins, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. 23All these evil things proceed from within and make a person unclean.”
No matter how dirty, corrupt, and contemptible our world gets and people act, we don’t catch sin from others! Sin comes from our own hearts. We were born dirty, corrupt and contemptible ourselves. Want to find the source of our world’s problems? Look inside your very own heart. That’s what Jesus teaches.
Out of people’s heartscome evil thoughts, sexual sins, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. It’s because of this universal condition that we need police and armies and courts. Since the fall into sin, crime and war have become the normal state of affairs. It’s because of mankind’s inborn sin that we all—even we who are already Christians—need to keep hearing God’s Law—His honest judgment of our human condition. We need to hear that on our own we are helpless to change and do right.
Yet that’s precisely what all man-made religions deny. The Pharisees believed they were able to do outward deeds that could earn them a place in heaven. They were more religious than you could ever hope to be—but it didn’t get them any closer to God! Muslims are really religious too, rolling out their rugs and bowing toward Mecca three times a day. Japanese Buddhists are law-abiding. So are a lot of good old-fashioned Americans—upstanding and righteous in their own eyes. ‘I weed my yard, I don’t litter, I try to be a nice neighbor and I even sometimes go to church—at least a couple times a year.’ Whether a person is “all in” on trying to earn heaven, or only half-hearted about it, it doesn’t work either way! There is nothing good we can do that will bring us closer to God!
Forty years ago, when I was a teenager, a young, single pastor we knew was learning how to duck hunt. He gifted us some duck that my mom was going to cook for Thanksgiving dinner. But when mom thawed them out the day before the holiday, she realized that they were rotten—unusable. While this pastor had learned how to shoot duck, he hadn’t learned how to clean them by thoroughly removing all the innards. Mom had to scramble to come up with a new dinner plan. The whole duck was rotten because the insides hadn’t been cleaned. That’s what we are like without Jesus! Have you tried to live a day without sin? Have you struggled to put an end to your pet sin? You can’t, can you!? And Jesus says it comes from the inside, not the outside.
The Changed Heart—Cleaned and Empowered by Jesus
But God can turn us into tasty ducks! First, He has to thoroughly and properly clean us from the inside out. And that’s what Jesus does. That’s why Jesus came! Only Jesus could do it. God expects perfection, so Jesus gave it to Him. He kept all God’s commands in thought, word and deed—perfectly, just as God expects. He did it for you, in your place, because you couldn’t. Then He thoroughly washed and cleaned you up by baptism. Jesus hosed us down and washed us clean from the inside out. What gave baptism it’s miraculous cleaning power? His atoning blood, shed on the cross as the payment for our sins, and given to us through faith. The Apostle John summarized how it all fits together in his first epistle. “This is love for God: that we keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 because everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 6 This is the one who came by water and blood: Jesus Christ. He did not come by the water alone but by the water and by the blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 In fact, there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are one” (1 John 5:3–8).
Yes, we are by nature born rotten on the inside. But now, through faith in Jesus, God has made us pristine, clean, shiny, sparkling, baptized children of God! He changes our heart—gives us a new heart. Yes, we still sin. But God has declared us to be His holy saints. Only Jesus can cleanse us! And He has! Now, because of His cleansing, we actually want to strive and struggle to match our cleansed souls and changed hearts with new, clean, holy lives that bring glory to God—not by doing fake, outward, so called “good deeds” like the Pharisees, but real ones—living our lives for God and our neighbors! That will remain a struggle till the day we die—most assuredly. But that fight shows we’re alive in Christ; It’s proof we’ve been gutted and given a new heart. That’s The Heart of the Matter—saved by grace alone through faith alone—justified—we are free and eager to live a new life with God. May that beautiful Good News continue to empower our new hearts by the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Amen.
John 6:51–69
51I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day. 55For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. 56The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like your fathers ate and died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60When they heard it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith? 62What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would not believe and the one who would betray him. 65He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father.” 66After this, many of his disciples turned back and were not walking with him anymore. 67So Jesus asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (EHV)
“This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” Did you think those same thoughts as you heard Jesus’ words in our Gospel this morning? John 6 is an amazing chapter. Jesus’ sermon is amazing. You can spend a lifetime studying it. Because of His challenging wording, you could use it as a test of those who say they’re Christians. Try it sometime. Ask someone to tell you what they think of these words. Are they embarrassed by them? Do they want to walk away from them as did so many in Capernaum? That day so many turned away that Jesus felt compelled to ask even His Twelve Apostles, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” But Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
A Hard Teaching
“This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” Just what was so hard about what Jesus was teaching that day? Was it harder than what He taught on other days? Or did He just phrase it harder? If so, why did He do that? Did He want people to leave? Was this His way of “separating the men from the boys”—the believers from the “hangers-on”?
There are individual teachings in the Bible that we might classify as hard teachings—ones we’d leave out if we were designing our own religion to ‘Win Friends and Influence People’ like Dale Carnegie. For example, almost no one objects to the Bible saying, “Love God.” Most will go along with “Love your neighbor as yourself.” A few more will turn away, though, when Jesus adds “Love your enemies.” Some teachings are perhaps “harder” than others. They’re harder in the sense that fewer people believe them, even among those who call themselves Christians. ‘Close’ or ‘closed’ communion certainly comes to mind. So does six-day creation. And every year that list gets longer as generations come and go that have almost no familiarity with Christianity.
Truth is, without the Holy Spirit, it’s impossible for the world to accept any of Jesus Christ’s teachings. In our text Jesus speaks to just that point. He says, “The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.”
If you believe in Jesus, if you trust Him fully, it is only because the Spirit brought you to life spiritually, and if He did that, then He is also the One who gives you the spiritual life to believe all the things Jesus teaches. The big hump to get over is the Gospel itself. If you have faith in the Gospel, then you love Jesus enough to listen to everything He says and not just stick around for free food and medical care like the people of Capernaum. That’s why Jesus doubled down on the heart of the Gospel in such strong, thought-provoking words. If people don’t know and believe the central doctrine of the whole Bible, namely that Jesus is the Bread of Life—the One and Only Bread of Life—then there’s no point in discussing “side issues.” So, Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day. 55For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. 56The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like your fathers ate and died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” Jesus was saying you have to swallow Him whole—not just bits and pieces of Him. (He wasn’t talking about communion, here, because He hadn’t yet instituted it.)
Now, if the Holy Spirit leads you to believe in Him completely, then He is both your Savior and your Lord and Master Teacher. Then you will listen to everything Jesus and His Apostles say. The flipside is also true, of course. If someone rejects what Jesus says in His Word out of hand because it’s ‘hard’ or uncomfortable, then they’re actually rejecting Jesus and the Gospel. Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples” (John 8:31).
Hard times and hard teachings challenge our faith. The devil would like nothing more than to round us up and push us into the crowd at Capernaum, so we too walk away, shake our heads, and grumble, “This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” Pastors can tell so many sad stories of those who walked away, because some ‘hard’ Bible truth stepped on their toes and conflicted with their favorite pet sin or false notion. When people do that, they think they’re just leaving an individual congregation, but in reality, they’re leaving Jesus, who said, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.”
Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith? 62What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.”
When I disagree with God’s Word, I am placing my soul up for grabs and the devil is all too eager and able to snatch it away. It’s then that Jesus seriously asks us what He asked the twelve: “You do not want to leave too, do you?”
The Words of Eternal Life
Speaking for the 12, Peter gives the only right answer: “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Like Peter, we believe and know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. We know that He has the Words of eternal life. The Holy Spirit lit His Word on fire in our hearts. We know it. Like Peter, we can’t walk away because “Christ’s Words Are Spirit and They Are Life.” In “Amazing Grace,” John Newton wrote, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.” We cannot unsee what we’ve seen. We know life. God has given us the power to see and live forever, even to rise from the dead.
The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day. 55For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. 56The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
Jesus offered His critics proof that He will give us eternal life by promising to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven Himself. “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith?” He asked them. “What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” He hadn’t yet ascended when He spoke those words, but He promised He would: “Just you watch!” Only God could make and keep such a promise. And He did: Jesus is God and He ascended back into heaven before their eyes.
Jesus, God’s own Son, came down from heaven to be our brother, live in our sinful world as our sinless Substitute, and then offer His holy life as full payment for the sins of the world. His ascension proves He was welcomed back in heaven, that He was successful in His mission, and that even now He’s keeping His promise to prepare a place for all who believe in Him—all who “eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.”
Since all that is true, is it really such a ‘hard’ teaching? Only to those who refuse to believe, who say “No” to His offer of life eternal.
John Lennon once sang, “Imagine no religion, it’s easy if you try.” Okay, try that! Imagine there’s no heaven. Imagine Jesus didn’t die for your sins. Imagine we’re just the offspring of slime hit by lightning in a swamp billions of years ago. Imagine we have no purpose, no hope, and no future. Imagine life has no meaning. Is that an easier *teaching?!*
When Peter spoke up and answered for the 12, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life,” he was confessing from the heart the eternal life Jesus had already given Him through faith. Before Peter met Jesus, he was just another fisherman, hoping that there might be something more—’God may be merciful, it would be nice if there’s a heaven, hopefully I’ll make it.’ But then He ate the Bread of Life and his eyes were opened and his heart swelled with joy. ‘There is a heaven and now I know I will get there. Jesus is the way!’ Christ’s Words Are Spirit and They Are Life. I have heard them with my own ears and believed! Where else can I go? I can’t leave! None of us can!’
Isn’t it true for you too? There is nothing in this world like the Word of Jesus, because Jesus is not from this world! He is God, who came down from heaven and spoke. He, who calls out to you, is the One who created you. He formed your body and soul in your mother’s womb. Like a child given up for adoption at birth meeting her mother for the first time at age 50, you recognize where you came from! You see it in the eyes, notice it in the mannerisms, hear it in the voice. “This is the real thing. God is my Father! Jesus is my brother!”
God is our Father and Jesus is our brother. That’s who is talking to you in His Word, and you can tell! And as you hear and believe His Words, they actually start you on your flight to paradise! You begin to rise up. His Word is literally the wind beneath your wings. Christ’s Words Are Spirit and They Are Life. And so, we answer Jesus’ question, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Amen.
Proverbs 9:1–6
Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has already set her table. 3 She has sent out her servant girls. She calls from the highest point in the city, 4 “Whoever is naïve, let him turn in here.” To someone who lacks sense she says, 5 “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine that I have mixed. 6 Abandon your naïve ways and live. Travel the road to understanding.” (EHV)
If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the news and events of the past few years and thinking, “The whole world’s going mad.” And that is to be fully expected, since St. Paul wrote, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” That’s what happens when people refuse to listen to God. But as for us, Solomon’s advice is timeless: “Travel the Road to Understanding.” That road begins with God’s Word and ends in the great feast of salvation.
God’s Word Leads to the Great Feast of Salvation.
Chapter 9 of Proverbs could be titled “The Invitations of Wisdom and of Folly.” Our brief text includes only the invitation to wisdom, but Solomon contrasts it with the alternative—the invitation to folly:
13 The woman Folly is boisterous. She is deluded. She knows nothing. 14 She sits at the doorway of her house, on a throne on the heights of the city, 15 in order to call to those who pass by on the street, those who are simply going along on their way, 16 “Whoever is gullible, let him turn in here.” To someone who lacks sense she says, 17 “Stolen waters are sweet, and food eaten in secret is delicious.” 18 But he does not know that the souls of the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Our children and grandchildren are bombarded by Folly’s invitation every day of their lives. They are tempted to sin by friends. Those in public schools are tempted by their teachers. They are tempted to sin by TV and social media. In fact, their own hearts tempt them daily! We know, because ours do too! We were all born sinful. The old sinful flesh in us isn’t gone, just because we’re Christians, or because we’re older now. The world around us didn’t turn into a God-friendly place when the Holy Spirit brought us to faith.
We’re faced with choices every day, some simple, some complex. The majority of them are morally neutral—What to cook for dinner, or which pharmacy to use, how to invest. But not all choices are neutral. Solomon portrays Folly as a loud liar, trying to hook us with all kinds of false claims and promises. In the face of so many temptations, David asks in Psalm 119, “How can a young man keep his path pure?”—or a young woman, or an older person? His inspired answer? “By guarding it with [God’s] words. 10 With all my heart I seek you. Do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your sayings in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord! Teach me your statutes” (Psalm 119:9-12).
Wisdom and Understanding begin with God’s Word. Unlike Folly, Wisdom is not loud. She is not a liar. Like an understated advertisement, she offers the way of life: “Whoever is naïve, let him turn in here.” To someone who lacks sense she says, 5 “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine that I have mixed. 6 Abandon your naïve ways and live. Travel the road to understanding.”
It’s not a level playing field—Folly shouting lies and Wisdom softly speaking truth. The Father of Lies never stops bombarding us, our children, and our grandchildren with false advertising. We have to fight the devil by turning off the noise and running away from the lies. We have to toss the junk food and eat the steak and drink the wine of wisdom. In simple terms, we need to turn off the TV, put down the phone and open our Bibles. We need to encourage and help our children and grandchildren to do the same. To read to them if we have that opportunity! (Sara gets to do that this weekend!)
We need to begin each week in God’s House, where we totally tune out the messages of the world around us and just listen to God’s Word. How wonderful that we have Meditations to help us begin each weekday with God’s Word. I hope you’re using them! What a privilege that we have Bible Classes on Sundays and weekdays too, where we not only study God’s Word together, but share our joys and our trials with each other as we seek to apply God’s Word to our daily lives. Solomon wrote just a few verses after our text: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
While all God’s words in the Bible are important, the most important of all are those words that present God’s gift of salvation—the Gospel. There are many who are ready to acknowledge the Bible as a wise book, yet don’t really understand what it’s about. They think it’s mainly a book of laws and principles to follow. But looking at it as primarily Law and missing the Gospel at its heart leads to either self-righteousness or despair. The Scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day had a high view Scripture, but they missed the point. They missed Jesus and didn’t even see their need of a Savior. Jesus said to them: “You search the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them. They testify about me! And yet you do not want to come to me in order to have life” (John 5:39-40).
Jesus—true Wisdom Himself—makes us an incredible, free offer: “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine that I have mixed. 6 Abandon your naïve ways and live. Travel the road to understanding.” Jesus used the same food metaphor when He said to the crowd in today’s Gospel: “I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty (John 6:54). It’s not enough to acknowledge Jesus as a wise man or a great teacher or a wonderful prophet. Even Muslims and agnostics are willing to do that! Jesus asks us to trust in Him as our Savior and He promises us the gift of eternal life. True Wisdom means abandoning the folly of trusting ourselves and instead feasting on the food Jesus prepared for us—the banquet of salvation. Jesus is the Bread of Life. The Gospel is like fine wine in a world of artificially sweetened drinks that cause cancer.
According to the Washington Post, “Many junk foods today [are] made and marketed by Big Tobacco. For decades, tobacco companies hooked people on cigarettes by making their products more addictive. Now, a new study suggests that tobacco companies may have used a similar strategy to hook people on processed foods.”[i] The devil, whom Solomon calls “Folly” personified in Proverbs 9, does the same thing! Don’t listen! Don’t fall for it! Eat what is spiritually healthy and live. What makes God’s Word such a feast, is the peace and joy it brings by the Gospel reassurance that all our sins are truly and completely forgiven for the sake of Jesus; that He earned heaven for us by His perfect life and shed His blood as the sacrifice for all our sins. That’s what builds strong healthy spirits, so that we want to also follow the wise advice Scripture gives—such as the Proverbs—and grow wiser.
Solomon’s Experience
King Solomon, who wrote these Proverbs, was known far and wide for his wisdom. His reputation brought the Queen of Sheba for a prolonged visit to see if the rumors were really true. She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your accomplishments and your wisdom is true. 7 I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. The truth is, not even half of it was told to me! Your wisdom and wealth surpass the report which I heard” (1 Kings 10:6–7).
Do you remember how Solomon got so wise and rich? When he was about to succeed his father David to the throne of Israel, the Lord came to him and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon prayed to the Lord and asked that the God would give him wisdom to govern the Lord’s great people, and the Lord responded: “Because this was on your heart, and you did not ask for riches, possessions, and honor, or for the lives of those who hate you, or even for many days of life, and because you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you can judge my people, over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, the likes of which the kings before you never had, nor will those who come after you.” (2 Chronicles 1:11-12).
Sadly, though, Solomon became proud over time. Surrounded by the temptations of wealth and power, he began to trust in himself. The one who wrote “Pride goes … before the fall” got proud and fell. He ran after women who believed in other gods. In order to keep them happy, he imported false priests from their home countries and erected shrines to their false gods, instead of listening to and teaching them about the True God. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, he describes all the different pursuits he ran after as he neglected God’s Word and fell further and further away from God. But by God’s grace, he was brought back to his senses in his old age. God humbled him, and then lifted him up again until, as an old man, Solomon could write from the heart that all the devil’s lies, and all the wealth and fame in the world are “Nothing but vapor.” … “I have no delight in them,” … the dust goes back into the ground—just as it was before, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it,” said Ecclesiastes, the speaker. “It is all vapor.” — He had relearned that eternal life through the Savior is the only thing that lasts.(Ecclesiastes 12:1,8,7).
If only Solomon had continued throughout his life and reign to listen to the wise and eternal words of God, he would have been spared so much regret! Israel would have been spared division had he not neglected to raise his child Rehoboam in the fear and instruction of the Lord! Running after worldly learning and earthly pleasures, Solomon wasn’t a very good father, and his son succeeded in foolishly, permanently dividing the kingdom of Israel in two.
God’s wants us to learn from both Solomon’s good words and his bad mistakes!
“The Conclusion of the Matter”
Travel the road to understanding. Pursue wisdom and truth. Do it for God. Do it for others. Do it for the world. Do it because it’s right. But also, do it for yourself! “Abandon your naïve ways and live,” says Wisdom. Learn the Gospel well, and then moved by God’s love, learn His Law and His Proverbs. This is Solomon’s conclusion to Ecclesiastes—his final inspired words as an old man: “This is the conclusion of the matter. Everything has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments. For mankind, this is everything” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
How great is the temptation to believe that if we follow God’s ways, life will be less enjoyable! “Who has time for Bible reading, anyway?!” So we pursue temporary pleasure to our own detriment and miss out on the real and lasting joy and peace God pours out on those trust Him and strive to put Him first in their lives. We forget that far more than today or tomorrow is always hanging in the balance. Folly leads to death, Proverbs warns. It’s all about eternity. Yet it is also about today. There is nothing more satisfying, nothing more lasting, more wonderful in all this earth than being reassured daily that God is our dear Father and we are His dear children, who guides and gives us true understanding and wisdom on our way to heaven. Want to be wise? Put God’s Word first. Trust Him. Live for Him. Travel the Road to Understanding, and you will arrive at your heavenly home! Amen.
[i] September 19, 2023.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/09/19/addiction-foods-hyperpalatable-tobacco
John 6:24–35
24When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28So they said to him, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.” 30Then they asked him, “So what miraculous sign are you going to do, that we may see it and believe you? What miraculous sign are you going to perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34“Sir,” they said to him, “give us this bread all the time!” 35“I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus told them. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty. (EHV)
There’s a lot of talk about inflation lately—especially about grocery prices. Coupon clipping is back in style. Some have switched to store brands as a way to cut costs. Meanwhile credit card debt is rising. This week it hit a new record high of $1.14 trillion for Americans, surpassing the previous high set in 2011. At this point, I hope few people are starving in our country. Obesity is still a bigger problem for many. Whether we have little or plenty, still we human beings tend to always want more—if not food, the latest earthly things. So Jesus says something in our Gospel today that all of us need to hear. 27Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” and promised to provide for all our true earthly needs. But as for our far more important spiritual needs, Jesus offers us Himself. 35“I am the Bread of Life,” He says. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus Himself is more than we could ever want or need.
The Pursuit of the Earthly
Most in the crowd that Jesus was talking to in our text had been there in person the day before when Jesus provided the all-you-can-eat fish dinner for more than 5000. We heard Mark’s description of it a couple weeks ago in our Gospel Lesson—but it was only the day before. Remember how Jesus had taken five small barley loaves and two small fish and miraculously multiplied them into a huge feast? They saw it happen before their very eyes! They ate the food themselves. They saw the disciples gather 12 basketfulls of leftovers. They were ready to crown Jesus “Burger King” that day—or at least “Fish and Bread King.” They couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than having plenty of food for their bellies every day going forward. John adds this detail: “When Jesus realized that they intended to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15). It’s at this point then that last week’s Gospel fits in. The disciples got into a boat and headed across the Sea of Galilee at Jesus’ urging. Jesus Himself went off alone to pray. He talked to His Father in prayer well into the night. Finally, after 3 am, He got up, went down to the shore—and just kept walking! He walked toward where the disciples were battling against a headwind. He caught up to them, when suddenly they noticed Him walking out on the water and freaked out. Remember how they jumped to the goofy conclusion that Jesus was a creepy ghost? Jesus called to them, “Don’t be afraid! It is I!” Then He came to them and climbed into the boat. The sea calmed down, and immediately, miraculously, the boat arrived at the other side, at Capernaum (John 6:20–21).
Then, early that morning, the people back on the west side of the sea, realized their meal ticket was gone. They frantically set out to find Him and get to Him. Other boats from Tiberias came to shore near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus (John 6:23–24). You can picture them animatedly begging for a lift, “Let us into your boats. We’ve got to get across!” They were intensely focused and determined. What about? About learning more from Jesus? About hearing the Gospel? No. They were still obsessed about the free food! They wanted a lifetime supply! 25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Never again, the farmers thought, would they ever have to work out in the fields under the hot sun. Never again, the fishermen thought, would they ever have to spend hours in boats trying to catch those fickle fish that some days eluded their nets. Never again, the shepherds among them thought, would they have to spend cold nights outside in the meadows with their flocks. Never again, the women thought, would they have to bend over a hot hearth and bake their own bread. How easy life would be from now on! This Rabbi could just do His thing, and they’d have all the food they needed or wanted!
They thought Jesus would be happy to see His new fans crowd around Him again. Instead, they got a splash of cold water on their heated passions. You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Jesus doesn’t want a “fan base.” He doesn’t brag about how many Facebook or Twitter followers He has. He has no interest in being a “social influencer” on Instagram or TikTok. Nor did He want huge crowds following Him hoping He’d turn an ox cart into a Food Truck. No. He wants disciples. 27Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. Did you catch that wording? Listen again: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. He wasn’t upset that they focused on the miracle—but that they didn’t see it as a sign! It was a sign that said, “This is the Messiah, the Savior!”
Jesus intended those words for us too. What is it that gets us excited? What are the things that we are really passionate about? Is it politics? Is it sports? Is it the fact that God has given you a comfortable life here on earth? Is food for the body more important to you than the Bread of Life? Or is it rather what the miraculous signs Jesus did point to—that He is your Savior from sin! That He came to this earth to take you to heaven. In the end, all that counts is what lasts forever: that we believe in Him—repent of our sins, ask Him for forgiveness and focus on the life to come, that we seek out His Word and Sacrament to keep our faith alive and get us there. Work for the food that … endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
That’s as hard for us as it was for the crowd. Not one of us, no matter how much we might desire in our hearts to place Jesus and His Word first in our lives, does so. We all fail to keep the first and the second and the third commandments the way we should. God says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength.” And in response we boldly vow with Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” But then, just like the children of Israel, who said those bold words with Joshua, we forget it all the next day. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The Pursuit of Heavenly Food
Jesus’ timely rebuke and admonition succeeded, at least for the moment, in getting the crowd to lift their focus a little more towards heaven. They replied, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?” Only, now that they finally took a moment to think about heavenly things, and life with God, they unsurprisingly thought of it as something they had to arrange for themselves, by deeds. That’s the way every unbeliever thinks, of course. Natural man assumes that if there’s a God and a heaven, it’s our works that will get us there. It’s our “natural religion” as human beings. It’s so “normal,” that even we believers are tempted to fall back into that works-oriented religion. But that natural religion of man is false religion. So pay extra close attention to how Jesus answered their question, “What should we do?” He answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.” The only work of God is not our work at all! Or put another way, faith is not work that we do for God, but literally the “work of God,” that is, the work done by God, the work that only God can do. God works faith in our hearts through His Word and Sacrament and then we believe. The work of God is faith—faith in the One God sent, worked in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
There are “works of God” that earn eternal life, but Jesus is the One who completed them. He alone could—and did—keep every one of God’s laws, not just outwardly, but with perfect motives and intent from His holy heart. That’s what God requires, and Jesus met those requirements for you and for me. He did all the “works of God.” And He also met the demands of God’s holy justice. He has paid the fines and the penalties in full for every “work of the devil” that we have done, whether small or great. Your sinful works and mine were nailed to the cross at Calvary and haven’t been seen or heard from since. Because Jesus did the “work of God” and destroyed those sins forever, He “gives life to the world.”
“I am the Bread of Life.” 33For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34“Sir,” they said to him, “give us this bread all the time!”
35“I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus told them. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Do you want food that gives eternal life? You can’t get it at any store or restaurant on earth. But you can get it right here. That’s why Christ established His Church. Right here is where Jesus gives us Himself, the Bread of Life. He offers Himself to you and to me and to anyone and to everyone who will come and listen and believe. It was in church that Jesus, came into your heart through the miracle of Holy Baptism. It is here that Jesus feeds you with the Gospel of forgiveness. It is here that Jesus serves you the “bread from heaven” every time He offers you His true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.
If your stomach is growling, you eat. Listen to your spirit growling! That longing deep inside is telling you that you need the Bread of Life! Listen for it! You can’t ever get too much Jesus! Your soul desperately needs Him! He offers you the spiritual food that will keep your soul alive forever and ever on your way to heaven. And it’s totally free for the taking, just like Manna in the wilderness! “I am the Bread of Life…. The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Keep coming to Jesus for more!
May your souls be full today and forever! Amen.
John 20:24-31
24But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (EHV)
“Seeing is believing.” So the saying goes. But sometimes that is just not so. People may see a lot of things and still not believe. The people of Israel saw the finger of God shake the land of the ancient Pharaohs with ten devastating plagues. They saw the parting of the Red Sea with their own eyes, the pillar of cloud and fire, manna from heaven each morning, water gushing from a rock in the desert. They saw fire and smoke as God descended to the top of Mt. Sinai amid the earth quaking and the trumpets of angels. Seeing is believing? Not if you know the rest of the story! Moses went up the mountain to talk with God and came down less than six weeks later to the sight of the people cavorting around a golden calf. All that seeing did not mean believing. In the same way, many people saw Christ perform countless miracles and still whined, “Give us a sign!”
This is always the complaint of unbelief: “We need another sign, more evidence, more proof, more experts.” Shortly before his death, the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell was asked: “If, when you die, you discover there really is a God, what will you say to him?” Russell sarcastically replied: “I would say, ‘Sir, why did you not give me better evidence?’” Even more bluntly, the godless French philosopher Voltaire once said: “Even if a miracle should be wrought in the open marketplace before a thousand sober witnesses, I would rather mistrust my senses than admit a miracle.” Elton John has said that all religion should be banned, which was also the belief of the Beatles when they sang “Imagine no religion.” For such folks, all the seeing in the world will not result in their believing, even though the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ has passed every historical test applied to it. Yet in wonderful contrast, as the account of Christ’s appearance to Thomas shows us, Believing Is Seeing.
Jesus Appears
For the disciples, on the first Easter evening, things had not yet sunk in. They were still overcome with fear and shock, hiding behind locked doors when the risen God-Man suddenly appeared in the midst of them. “Peace be with you!” He says and extends to them His nail-pierced hands. He shows them His glorified wounds. Peace—eirene in the New Testament—as in the name “Irene”—Shalom in the Old Testament language. The word comes out meaning “the way things are supposed to be” —the way things were before we were driven out of paradise, East of Eden—the way God made things at the start—life, not death; laughter, not tears, singing, not mourning. Through faith we know that peace in part. Just imagine what it will be like forever hereafter!
But one of the apostles was not there to see it: Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Where was Thomas? We are not told. Was he off by himself brooding that his hopes had been dashed? Or was he absent for some other reason? One thing’s for sure. Thomas missed out on a blessing by not being there with the others. The worst thing you can do when unbelief, doubt or grief cast long shadows over your life, is to go off alone with your morbid thoughts, while cutting yourself off from the family of believers. The best thing you can do, even when you do not feel like it—especially when you do not feel like it!—is to go where the fellowship of believers gather around the Gospel, where Christ Himself meets us, and speaks His sweet “Peace be with you.” Otherwise, we miss out on the blessing we need the most, just like Thomas that first Easter night.
Thomas Doubts
Thomas has gotten a lot of bad press over the years. We remember him as “Doubting Thomas.” When Jesus once announced that He was going to Bethany to awaken Lazarus, it was Thomas who said: “Let us go also that we may die with Him.” We don’t know whether Thomas said that boldly or pessimistically: “Well, I suppose if it has to be that way….” Maybe labeling him as “Doubting Thomas” is a little unfair. We don’t know if this was just a moment of weakness or a regular personality trait.
Nor should we let him off too easily, either. It’s a sad fact that in his moment of great weakness, Thomas did more than doubt. He flatly refused to believe. He demanded more than to just to see Jesus. He demanded to touch the holes in Christ’s hands and to thrust his hand into the Savior’s pierced side. It was arrogant, really, to demand that Christ jump through hoops and perform like a trained seal before he would believe Jesus was alive. The sun doesn’t need to prove that it is bright!
But he wasn’t alone. Yes, Thomas doubted. But so did all of them until they’d seen Jesus at least once. You and I have had our doubts too—about the things we have been taught from Scripture since childhood. Ever since Eve strolled through the garden, Satan has been injecting doubt and unbelief into our shaky hearts: “Did God really say? Can you really be sure?” Rather than place ourselves self-righteously above these doubting apostles, we must stand alongside them.
And yet, this is what makes the apostles unimpeachable witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. They are not gullible men, easily fooled or easily convinced. They are not given to collective hallucinations and strange visions. When they testify that Jesus Christ has physically risen from the dead, they speak as men who themselves were led by the Holy Spirit out of their own dark doubts into the sunshine of certainty.
Jesus Appears Again
One week later, when they are all together again—Thomas too—Jesus compassionately condescends to appear again: 26After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Stretching forth His nail-pierced hands and exposing His pierced side, Jesus offers Thomas the very proof he had asked for. But the proof is no longer needed. In blushing reverence Thomas cries out: “My Lord and my God!”Jesus accepts this worship from Thomas—because Christ is exactly what Thomas calls Him—the Lord God Himself.
And for Thomas’s sake and ours, Jesus says: “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Here Jesus pronounces a lasting blessing, a benediction on you and me and countless souls who have never seen Him visibly, but who have staked our very souls on Him by faith.
This is why God has set it all down in writing, says the apostle John, in closing this chapter: 30Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
We Believe, and Therefore See
Then, as now, Believing Is Seeing. So the Bible teaches in the first chapter of Hebrews:“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”Or as Peter once put it: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” How did John put it later in one of his epistles? “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
Paul said: “We walk by faith, not by sight.” We need no more signs or proofs, for, as John says: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Faith is being certain of what we do not see. There are a lot of things we have not seen. We were not there to see the creation of the world. We didn’t see Christ feed the five thousand or walk on water in the storm. We didn’t see the Savior die or the risen Son of God hold out His glorified wounds to Thomas. But along with Thomas, we see blessed things with the eyes of faith!
God tells us that the blood of Jesus purifies us from every sin. Who can see sins forgiven? But faith is being “certain of what we cannot see.” The Bible tells us that baptism saves, and that Jesus gives us His body and blood for forgiveness. Who can see these things? But “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We plant the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of our children, our friends, and our city, never knowing what results if any we’ll see. “But we walk by faith, not by sight.” We maintain with Job and St. Paul—when adversity and heartache mark so many chapters of our lives—that God is just, even when He smites; that God is good even when we do not understand Him; that our Redeemer lives and so too shall we, even when death is all around us, because “faith is being certain of what we do not see.”
With Thomas, by faith, we do see. Are things that we don’t see with our eyes any less real? Air? Your mother’s love? The love of God and the throne of Christ in heaven?
Yes, there are things we want to see with our eyes. When we experience an unusually beautiful day—perfect temperature and humidity, blue sky and sunshine—or when we hear the clear, untarnished voice of a child singing. These moments of beauty are fleeting. But they give us a glimpse of what can be and will be. The hymns of Easter transport our tired hearts momentarily to the other side where countless hosts, arrayed in white, have gone before and wave their palm branches in triumph. We strain to hear the distant triumph song. We feel homesick for a homeland we have not yet entered. Where do such eternal longings come from? From One who has been there, who left there for us, who has returned there and who will one day take us there. You have not seen? Neither did Job, but he could still declare: “I know that my Redeemer lives…I myself will see Him with my own eyes.”You have not seen? Of course not. St. Paul wrote: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9,10). Yes, *Believing Is Seeing!*
Amen.
Romans 8:31-39
31 What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? 33 Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus, who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (EHV)
A new word has entered our vocabulary recently—the word “lawfare.” It’s a combination of law and warfare. It’s often successful because it’s waged by people who can afford to destroy you financially if you try to defend yourself. For example, the government has unlimited resources. How can you afford the lawyer you need to defend yourself if the government comes after you? Think of the family father who was unjustly tried simply for praying outside an abortion clinic with his son, and then protecting his son from a pro-abortion protester harassing him. He survived that case, but only because a Christian law firm defended him. Fortunately, there are some defense teams like that that will defend such victims pro bono. That means “for good” but in practical terms, it means for free, because they consider it a worthy cause.
We all have a wicked and powerful accuser. And plenty of his accusations stick—precisely because they’re true. We’re not innocent by any stretch of the imagination! There’s only one way for us to make it through trial, and that’s to have the best lawyer ever.Fortunately for us, Jesus Is Our Defender.
We’re Acquitted
There are a lot of different kinds of lawyers: tax lawyers, divorce lawyers, lawyers who sue for damages. And then there are criminal defense attorneys. Chances are, you’ve never had to call one of those.
But all of us are facing a trial where we will need one. It will be the biggest trial of your life, in a court far higher and more significant than even the U.S. Supreme Court. You’re facing trial for every misdeed you’ve ever committed in your entire life. There’s not a single one of your thoughtless words, your loveless deeds or even your wicked thoughts that’s gone unnoticed and unrecorded. You know about them, and you wish nobody else did. But God knows about them. Even scarier, your worst enemy knows about them. There’s no point denying them. They’ve all been exposed.
Your worst enemy, who wants you tried and convicted, who’d be happy to see you dead … that enemy has detailed knowledge of all your sins. That enemy, of course, is Satan, the devil. His names tell you all about him. “Satan” means adversary, and “devil” means accuser. And that’s what the devil does. He continually opposes and accuses. How could you expect to be spared when he even went after Jesus? Satan knew that if he could get Jesus to commit just one little sin—even the slightest doubt—then he could bring a case against him and destroy our one defense and Defender.
If he dared to take on Jesus, he’s certainly not going to leave you alone! His strategy is simple. He tempts you, and then if and when we sin, he accuses us. He not only plagues our consciences with guilt, but he also even accuses us before God. Satan is the meanest, dirtiest, most hateful prosecutor. He’s a corrupt District Attorney, and his district is the world. He wants you locked away in his prison, where he can abuse you for pleasure forever. And he’s “got the goods” on you. He knows you’re guilty and you know it too.
That’s precisely what makes our text such an incredible relief. Paul’s defiant words offer courage to Christians everywhere. As Luther translated it in his German Bible, Who will accuse God’s elect? God is here, who justifies. 34 Who is he that wants to condemn us? Christ is here! who died—yes, much more, who was raised to life and is at God’s right hand advocating for us!
Who dares to bring any charge against us? Well, the devil dares! He lives for it. If he can make just one of his charges stick—we’re goners. We’re toast. Our own consciences bring charges against us too, don’t they? They nag at us and eat away inside of us, until sometimes we’re sick to our stomachs with guilt, and can’t even sleep. We hate ourselves for not living up to what we know God expects of us. And Satan uses our own conscience against us! He wants us to give up in despair. He wants us to go out and hang ourselves like Judas, whether literally or figuratively.
‘Well how dare he!’ Paul is saying. What kind of overconfident prosecutor would be foolish enough to take on Jesus Christ, the best Defender ever! Who would dare bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? God is here, who declares us not guilty. *Who is the one foolish enough to try to condemn us? [Pity the fool!] Christ Jesus—heaven and earth’s greatest Defender is here! He is our defense attorney!*** He defeated you, devil, by dying and rising and He’s got the Judge’s ear. God has already declared us not guilty, acquitted, and justified for Jesus’ sake. He’s made the decision and slammed down the hammer. “Bailiff, release those folks,” He says.
And how did that strange verdict come about? After all, we have committed the crimes. Shouldn’t we do the time? Well first of all, we’ve been acquitted because Jesus went into the witness box in our place and confessed to all our crimes—every one of them, as though He Himself had done them! “I’m guilty, punish me!” He said. And punished He was. He received the harshest possible sentence from the Judge and it was promptly executed. He was executed for all our crimes—not only executed but tormented by hell. Paul describes how the verdict came about this way in 2 Corinthians: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (5:21). He was convicted and we’ve been acquitted. The verdict stands: Justified. Reconciled. Redeemed. Set free! We can’t be retried and convicted. The only thing that could keep us locked up is if we refuse to believe it and stay in our cell willingly and willfully.
The devil hates God’s verdict of not guilty. He will not drop his accusations. He keeps bringing motions for a retrial. He keeps jotting down every move we make and bringing new evidence to the Judge. But our Defender doesn’t just move on and leave us on our own to face the barbs. He also stays right there in the Judge’s chambers, bending His ear on our behalf. He shows Him the nail marks in His hands and feet and says again and again: “It is finished.” He points to our baptism that washed us clean and released us from prison. Hence Paul’s defiance: Who will accuse God’s elect? God is here, who justifies. 34 Who is he that wants to condemn us? Christ is here! who died—yes, much more, who was raised to life and is at God’s right hand advocating for us!
We’re Safe
And our Defender does even more! When God declared us free to go, He didn’t just turn us loose onto the streets alone, helpless, and penniless. He put us under His protection and promised to take care of us. What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
He will give us “ALL things.” How could He refuse us when He’s already given us the biggest gift of all? —sacrificing His own Son. He loves us that much! Food, clothing, shelter, guidance, protection…done! He even promised 3 verses before our text, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
We need to hear that reassuring promise again and again, don’t we? Hardly a day goes by, without something or someone tempting us to doubt God’s good and gracious care for us. It’s always been that way. And the temptation to doubt is even tougher when hardships come specifically because of our faithfulness to God. A thousand years before Christ, David experienced that. He was being hunted down by the king of Israel, Saul, because God had chosen and anointed him to replace Saul. So David wrote “For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered,” and Paul quotes him here to make the point that David was not the exception to the rule. Christians have been persecuted from the beginning. And the devil tries to use these and all our hardships to undermine our faith.
But God will not let him succeed, not as long as we are armed with the Word like Jesus.
Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us
We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us
The old evil foe, now means deadly woe But!
He can harm us none. He’s judged, the deed is done.
One little word can fell him!
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do you have any of those enemies threatening you? Powerful forces…evil angels? You do, even though you don’t see them. Famine, or lack of clothes—maybe not. But trouble or distress? Sometimes. “Things to come”? Have you ever feared the future? Probably. Death? All of us. But not one of these things nor anything else will ever be able to separate us from the Love of God. Why? Because Jesus Christ is our Lord and we are His. He died for us. We are guilt-free before the throne of God. He rose for us: Even death is only a minor inconvenience for us who will also rise and spend eternity in heavenly glory.
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors…. We’ve already won in court. We’re acquitted, and the devil is doomed. We’re winning on the battlefield every day, because we are armed with all the promises of God’s Word. And in the end, we’ll stand in the winners’ circle above!
The best court system in the world may get it wrong. But God can’t! He’s the ultimate Judge, and we have the best Defense Lawyer ever! We committed the crime and He did the time! Our Defender saved us pro bono—free of charge! Plus, He’s still on retainer! He continues to plead for His clients, interceding for us every day at the right hand of God. We’ve beat the rap, thanks to Christ. And through Him, we’ll beat the devil as well. Amen.
Transfiguration Sunday
2 Corinthians 4:3–6 —
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing. 4 In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image. 5 Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. (EHV)
These past weeks we’ve welcomed large number of snowbirds here at church. Why do you think that is? Could it have something to do with warmth and sunshine? I’m just guessing, but I think that may be the reason!
The warmth of the sun lifts the whole spirit and brightens the face, doesn’t it? It gives us a healthy glow. If the sun can do that, how much more the “Sun of Righteousness, that rises with healing in his wings”? Peter, James, and John saw Jesus glowing with the glory that was rightfully His on the Mount of Transfiguration. And in our Epistle Lesson, our sermon text, Paul tells us God has put that same glow into our hearts: “The Glowing Glory of God,” Revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai, Revealed in Christ Himself, and now, Revealed to Us in the Gospel.**
Revealed to Moses
A recurring theme in the Old Testament, is that anyone who saw God face to face could expect to die instantly. In fact, anyone who even touched God’s Ark of the Covenant without special permission would be struck dead. And yet there was one man, Moses, who saw God and lived. Throughout their time in the wilderness, God appeared to His people in the form of a billowing, smoking pillar of cloud and fire. The night Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to pursue the Israelites to the edge of the Red Sea … there was God! To the Egyptians He showed Himself dark and billowing, blocking their pursuit. But to His people, God blazed through the night to comfort and protect them. In that form, God led them wherever they went. When the tabernacle was built near the base of Mount Sinai, the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night hovered right over the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of God was placed.
But before that happened, the smoke and fire of God—the Glory of the Lord—enveloped the whole Mountain. Thunder and bolts of lightning came from that cloud. The people were frightened to even be there, as well they should have been, since God warned them that if anyone even touched the mountain, man or animal, he or it would be killed. God’s glory showed His perfect holiness—a holiness that nothing unholy could touch.
And yet God chose and invited one man, Moses, to climb His holy mountain and enter His presence and commune with Him in the midst of the cloud. There God spoke with him directly. He revealed to Moses Who He is and what He would have His people believe and do. God personally carved out the Ten Commandments and handed them to Moses. And when Moses asked to see the face of God, God told him to stand between two sides of a crevasse and passed before him, showing him only his back side. But that was enough. That was all even God’s most holy spokesman could see and not die.
How majestic the glory of God was! When Moses came down the Mountain to deliver God’s Law to His people, his face still reflected “The Glowing Glory of God.” The people were now frightened even to look at Moses. They pleaded with him to wear a veil just so they could listen to him. But the glow alone wasn’t enough to convey God’s glory to the people. That happened through God’s Word which Moses proclaimed to them.
In comparison to the dark and dull and foggy ideas that humans come up with, the blurry and even ugly standards of sinful humans, the truth of God gloriously and radiantly shines in His perfect, righteous law revealed through Moses—and still does! That’s why so many are opposed to the ten commandments being posted where people can see them! It’s too bright! It exposes their sinfulness.
Even brighter, though, shone the promises of redemption, atonement and salvation revealed through the sacrifices God prescribed for His people through Moses in the Old Testament, because they foretold of the perfect sacrifice of atonement that would come one day.
Revealed in Christ
But there was a still brighter and clearer vision of God’s glory He was yet to reveal in the New Testament. That Revelation came in the form of His own Son. Moses had revealed the glorious, sparkling Law of God. Jesus came as the embodiment and fulfillment of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul wrote, just before our text: If the ministry that brought death (which was engraved in letters on stone) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look directly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (though it was fading), 8 how will the ministry of the spirit not be much more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, the ministry that brought righteousness has even more glory (2 Corinthians 3:7–9).
Jesus showed that contrast in the most vivid fashion as He stood on the Mount of Transfiguration. What a marvelous event! The disciples had learned to know Jesus, the Son of Man. They had walked with Him, gotten dusty with Him. They had thirsted and hungered with Him, and they ate and drank with Him. He was their brother, and they loved Him that way. But they needed more than a brother; they needed a Savior. They needed one in Whom they could place all their hope. They needed God Himself.
Jesus had shown them He was God. He had changed water into wine. He had healed the sick. He had made the blind see and the deaf hear and He had fed thousands in their presence. He did things only God could do. But He still looked like a man. All that changed on Transfiguration Day. Not since the dedication of the temple had the Glory of the Lord visibly been seen on earth. Not since the days of Moses had a man reflected God’s glory so brightly that ordinary mortals had to look away. But as brightly as Moses had shimmered before the Israelites, so much brighter did Jesus shine when He appeared with Moses and Elijah, as the approval of the Father echoed from heaven “This is my beloved Son.” Jesus not only had been doing the works of God, now He even shone with the glory of God.
How important it would be for the disciples to remember this heavenly vision in the weeks and months ahead as the opposition to Jesus and His ministry grew. How important it would be for them to remember what they saw in His Transfiguration as He willingly and silently allowed Himself to be arrested, tried, and condemned by the powers of darkness.
How strong the temptation would be in those days to doubt Jesus, to wonder if He really was almighty God. How unfathomable the mystery of the Son of God Himself dying, seemingly helpless on the cross. But as they saw Him hanging there, they could think back to what they saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears on Transfiguration Day.
What a mystery indeed, because Jesus Himself referred to His suffering as the ultimate manifestation of the Glory of God. The night before Jesus was sentenced to death, He prayed “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” For Jesus, His greatest glory was—by human standards—His greatest defeat. Still, it was His glory—His highest glory—when He willingly sacrificed Himself for us! No mere mortal would have dreamed of doing what Jesus did. No mere mortal could do what Jesus did—give His life as the ransom, the atoning blood sacrifice, that paid for our release from death’s grip and Satan’s prison.
To this day, our faces glow as we behold the picture of Jesus dying on the cross. Who of us has not stared at a portrait of the Savior’s passion, and marveled at the wondrous love of God made manifest on Calvary’s hill? And we shout with the thousands of angels in heaven: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).
Revealed to Us
Where does that leave us, 3,500 years removed from the glory that shone and thundered from Mount Sinai and two thousand years after Jesus shimmered as the very face of God? Are we out in the dark? Not at all! God still makes His glory known to us today! The world may not see it. Unbelievers may not recognize it—but your eyes and my eyes have seen the glory of the Lord. Paul wrote in our text: But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing. 4 In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image. 5 Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
God has *Revealed to Us His glory by His Word. The Law first spoken to Moses has come down to us. To us as has come the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To us has come all the testimony of the apostles and prophets. Reflecting on his experience at the Transfiguration years later, St. Peter wrote: We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 We also have the completely reliable prophetic word. You do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts* (2 Peter 1:16b–19).
The Glowing Glory of the God was transmitted to man by Moses. It was shown to man in Jesus, and it is shining among us today, as we are bathed by the light in Baptism, as we behold God’s glory in His Word, and when we taste His glory in the Sacrament of the Altar. And that Glorious Gospel is transforming us into glowing children of God. It shines in our hearts, and it makes us shine. People need the glory of God. People are searching to see God’s face, but don’t know where to find it. It’s been given to us. Shine and share the Good News! As we gather here today and every Sunday, as we gather around God’s Word in our homes, we glimpse the glory of God. And when we see it, like Moses, it puts a reflected glow on our faces. “How Good, Lord, to Be Here!” Peter said. Like him, we want the experience to continue. And it does! Stay close to God. Let His Word shine on you. Let His Glory richly adorn your homes as you meditate on His Word. And may people look at you, filled with God’s glory and reflecting it to the world and say, “The glory of the Lord shone round about them.” Amen.
Isaiah 40:1–11
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her. Her warfare really is over. Her guilt is fully paid for. Yes, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3A voice is calling out: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord. In the wasteland make a level highway for our God. 4Every valley will be raised up, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The rugged ground will become level, and the rough places will become a plain. 5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh together will see it. Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 6A voice was saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry out?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like a wildflower in the countryside. 7Grass withers, flowers fade, when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Yes, the people are grass. 8Grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of our God endures forever.
9Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, you herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you herald of good news. Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10Look, God the Lord will come with strength, and his arm is ruling for him. Look, his reward is with him. The result of his work is in front of him. 11Like a shepherd he will care for his flock. With his arm he will gather the lambs. He will lift them up on his lap. He will gently lead the nursing mothers. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
“Look!” How many times I’ve yelled that and pointed while driving. When you’re behind the wheel, you have to look out the window. When you’re in the passenger seat, not so much. Some things are just too amazing to keep to yourself. They have to be pointed out and shared. And at the top of that list is the coming of the Savior. “Cry out!” God says to Isaiah. 9Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, you herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you herald of good news. Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
Listen to His Gracious Comfort
God gave Isaiah special vision as a prophet—the supernational ability to see things that no one else could. With his regular eyesight things looked bleak for Judah and Jerusalem. He saw people who didn’t care about God, who lived their lives like there is no god. But even when he looked with the supernatural prophetic vision God gave him, he still saw sad things! He could see ahead that things would go from bad to worse spiritually. But by God’s power, as Isaiah looked even further out, over the horizon, he began to see some beauty. He could see that more than 100 years in the future God would begin refining for Himself a righteous remnant. He could see ahead how God was going to preserve believers in captivity, men like Daniel and the three who would risk their lives in a fiery furnace, rather than deny their God. Still further ahead in the future, Isaiah could see the salvation God would finally bring about for all His people, by sending the Savior. That’s why Isaiah begins part two of his scroll with these words: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her. Her warfare really is over. Her guilt is fully paid for. Yes, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
In his first 39 chapters, Isaiah had foretold Judah’s downfall. Sadly, they had earned what was coming. Babylon would conquer them and take them into exile for 70 years. It was still 100 years off, but their fate had already been sealed. That’s why Isaiah prophetically speaks of that future warfare as though it has already taken place: Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her [that] Her warfare really is over. As surely as the captivity would happen, just as surely they would return to Jerusalem 70 years later. It was already a done deal. In his prophetic vision, Isaiah supernaturally saw the future joy on their faces as they were marching back from exile! By inspiration He could already see Jerusalem’s walls being rebuilt! He saw the temple rebuilt, even though in real time it hadn’t yet been knocked down by the invading Babylonians! He could see God’s face filled with joy again after all the anger! He saw the smiles on old men’s faces, and the glee on the faces of the youth. What a comfort to him! And now God tells him to share that comfort with everyone:
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her. Her warfare really is over. Her guilt is fully paid for. Yes, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
It wasn’t their hard service and warfare that paid for their guilt. The 70 years in exile wouldn’t pay off their sin-debt. That would never be enough. The price of sin is eternal death, not a few years living in a foreign country. No, these people had been convicted, but then they had been pardoned. They’d been given a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. How? By the coming Redeemer—the Son of God Himself, the One to be born of a virgin. Through Him, Israel would receive from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. That “double” is the overflowing mercy of God. As Paul wrote in Romans, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (5:20). Therefore, Her guilt is fully paid for.
Prepare His Desert Highway
By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah not only saw 100 and 200 years ahead. He was enabled to see the coming of the Savior 700 years down the road. And when he looked, he saw it in incredible detail. He could see the Son of God Himself, the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” who would “rule on David’s throne and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from now on, into eternity. And in front of Jesus, Isaiah saw John the Baptist, standing on the banks of the Jordan river, preaching repentance to the crowds coming out to him in the wilderness: 3A voice is calling out: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord. In the wasteland make a level highway for our God. 4Every valley will be raised up, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The rugged ground will become level, and the rough places will become a plain. 5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh together will see it. Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Jesus came to earn salvation for “all flesh,” the whole mass of humanity on earth, from Adam and Eve to the last child ever born the morning of Judgment Day. When Jesus died, God’s righteous wrath was appeased. All sins were paid for. Forgiveness was prepared for everyone—Double for all their sins.
But forgiveness, life and salvation come to people through faith. Forgiveness comes through hearing the law, recognizing and admitting our sins and turning to God in faith. John the Baptist wanted people to meet Jesus with faith when He came on the scene. ‘Repent!’ he preached, ‘so you can be forgiven and enter the kingdom of heaven.’John risked his neck in order to call people back to God, so they could listen and hear and believe. 3A voice is calling out: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord. In the wasteland make a level highway for our God.
Crowds went out from the cities of Judea and Galilee and made their way into the wilderness to hear John preach. They were desperate for spiritual answers. God uses desperation and hardship to get people’s attention, so we seek Him and His answers. Just as God had used the 70 years of exile to purify Israel and get their attention 600 years earlier, now God was using the harsh Roman occupation to do the same in John the Baptist’s Day. God uses crosses and trials to purify us, too, so we’re ready to seek out and listen to His Word, and then He uses His Word to create and strengthen our faith. Faith comes from hearing the … word of Christ, Scripture says(Romans 10:17).The 70 years in exile would have been meaningless, if God had not added His Word—the Word that endures forever. The Roman occupation at the time of John the Baptist would have driven no one closer to God if John hadn’t preached the Law, called them to repentance, pointed to the Savior and baptized them for the forgiveness of sins. And the same is true for us. Whether it’s government corruption, inflation, personal aches and pains, aging—God uses these hardships to send us back to His Word for answers and truth.
And what does God say? 6A voice was saying, “Cry out!” And [Isaiah] said, “What shall I cry out?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like a wildflower in the countryside. 7Grass withers, flowers fade, when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Yes, the people are grass. Life is short. We are small. All our proud accomplishments follow us to the grave. Where are the hanging gardens of Babylon today? What is left of Paul Getty’s gold? All flesh is grass … 8Grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of our God endures forever. Only God’s promises last forever. They endure because God Himself came down to earth. Just as the “Glory of the Lord”*—the pillar of cloud and fire—led the children of Israel through the wilderness to the promised land, so the Glorious Lord Himself, Immanuel, came to dwell with us, and lead His people to heaven. *5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh together will see it. Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. He did come. That’s why we celebrate Christmas.
Go Tell it on the Mountain
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Through Isaiah, God tells us it’s now our turn to point to Jesus and tell others, Look! Behold! “Here Is Your God!” 9Get up on a high mountain, O Zion—that’s us!—you herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem—that’s us!—you herald of good news. Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
Here—in Jesus, through Word and Sacrament—you see your God, the God of mercy and grace who came to give you forgiveness and eternal joy. In Jesus, God Himself came down to earth as a man so He could live a perfect life in your place. He became human so he could bleed His real blood and die your real and scary death. But He’s also still true God. Only God’s Son could fulfill the law. Only true God could shed holy, precious blood, that would actually pay for the sins of the world. This is Jesus! That’s who He is! This is what He’s done for you! Look! “Here Is Your God!”
Go tell it on the mountain! But tell it to the people at the café, too. Tell it to your friends, and the folks at work, tell it to your sons and daughters and parents! Tell them: “Here Is Your God!” … 11Like a shepherd he will care for his flock. With his arm he will gather the lambs. He will lift them up on his lap. He will gently lead the nursing mothers.
Zion is the church. You are Zion. God tells, us 9Get up on a high mountain, O Zion and proclaim Him joyfully to everyone. That’s our joyful privilege: To share the good news of Jesus, to tell people that you know where God is—that you find God in Jesus and you find Jesus in church; that Jesus is their Savior; that Jesus wants to gently shepherd them and feed them with His Word! If you’re ever driving others through a national park and you see something others have to see, shout “Look!” In the end they’ll thank you even if you woke them up. If you’re driving through life and you see Jesus in church, forgiving sins and offering life and peace and joy, shout it out even if those around you are half asleep! Tell them, “Here Is Your God!”—here in church; here in His Word. Go ahead! Wake them up and point! Maybe on the Last Day they’ll thank you. Amen.
Isaiah 63:16b, 17; 64:1–9
You, the Lord, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. 17 Why do you cause us to wander from your ways, Lord? Why do you harden our heart so that we do not fear you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your heritage.
1 Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down. Mountains then would quake because of your presence. 2 As fire ignites stubble and as fire makes water boil, make your name known to your adversaries. Then nations would quake in your presence. 3 You did amazing things that we did not expect. You came down. Mountains quaked because of your presence. 4 From ancient times no one has heard. No ear has understood. No eye has seen any god except you, who goes into action for the one who waits for him. 5 You meet anyone who joyfully practices righteousness, who remembers you by walking in your ways! But you were angry because we sinned. We have remained in our sins for a long time. Can we still be saved? 6 All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth. All of us have withered like a leaf, and our guilt carries us away like the wind. 7 There is no one who calls on your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you. So you hid your face from us. You made us melt by the power of our guilt. 8 But now, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of us are the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry, Lord, without limit. Do not remember our guilt forever. Please look closely. All of us are your people. (EHV)
Have you noticed the chaos more and more gripping parts of our country—stories of crime unheard of in most of our lifetimes? How quickly civility has declined, right along with spirituality in our country. Have you noticed how much less Christian America feels? The same happened in Judah 2700 years ago. Isaiah, the prophet, could only look on in sorrow, as he preached and prayed for his people. “Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down!” he desperately cried out to God. We can cry out to God with the same prayer as we await Christ’s second coming while preparing to celebrate His first Advent 2000 years ago. “O Lord, Rip Open the Heavens and Come Down!”
Why Isaiah Prayed His Desperate Prayer
Israel had become a sorry excuse for the kingdom of priests God had made them to be. They were the people of God! Of all the peoples of the earth they were the ones God had chosen to hold onto His Gospel promise! The Messiah was supposed to come from them. Their job was to preserve the Bible for all the nations and all the future generations yet to be born!
Instead, so many treated these priceless gifts like so much garbage. They hardened their hearts so many times that God finally said, ‘OK, if that’s the way you want it, then so be it! Be hardened in your unbelief!’
That’s what happens when people harden themselves again and again against God. “I’ll sin just this once,” people think to themselves, “Then, afterwards I’ll repent and when I really need it, God will accept me back.” … “Oh, it worked last time. I’ll do it again…and again…and again.” Only it doesn’t work that way. If we willfully, deliberately keep sinning against God, coldly calculating that we can repent at leisure, we are hardening ourselves against God. And that hardening leads to the unforgiveable sin—rejection of the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith. Willfully sinning is “playing with fire”—the fire of hell.
Seeing it happen all around him led Isaiah to cry out in desperation for his people. “Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down!” Lord, before it is too late! He prays, You meet anyone who joyfully practices righteousness, who remembers you by walking in your ways! But you were angry because we sinned. We have remained in our sins for a long time. Can we still be saved? 6 All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth. All of us have withered like a leaf, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
God had burdened Isaiah with foreknowledge of what the future held for Israel. He knew that Israel would refuse to repent, and that God’s patience would run out. Invading hordes of Babylonians would come as instruments of God’s wrath and take them all captive—men, women, and children. The nation that had once been God’s prized jewel would be swept away!
By God’s grace, things are not yet that bad in our day. Not yet anyway. But we must remember that there is nothing in us that makes us any better than God’s ancient people. It is by God’s grace alone that we still believe and follow our Savior. It’s a miracle of mercy that God has kept us all from becoming hardened, just as God had miraculously preserved a small remnant of believers in Isaiah’s day. May we never harden our hearts to God!
God has also put on our hearts the burden of Isaiah. We can see what’s happening and it saddens and frightens us, just like it did Isaiah. Like him, we’ve been given the lot in life of living in and praying for a nation and world increasingly bent on its own destruction. Sadly, so many have hardened their hearts to the real, true, and faithful answer to our problems God offers. Even so many churches have stopped preaching the truth of God’s Law and Gospel. By God’s grace, we still have the pure water of life in our churches, but how do we even show people their thirst so that they want to drink? we wonder. And so we join Isaiah in his prayer to the Lord, Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down. Mountains then would quake because of your presence!
Isaiah never saw the answer to his prayer during his own lifetime. But God did hear and answer. 2000 years ago, the Lord did rip open the heavens over Bethlehem and came down Himself and dwelt among us as “Immanuel — God with us.”
What Isaiah Prayed in His Desperate Prayer
Let’s learn from Isaiah’s prayer how we ourselves should pray in these latter days. He began with a humble confession of sins—not just for the “bad guys” around him. He includes himself in his prayer of repentance. All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth. All of us have withered like a leaf, and our guilt carries us away like the wind. We have remained in our sins for a long time. Can we still be saved?… There is no one who calls on your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you. So you hid your face from us. You made us melt by the power of our guilt.
‘How do we get out of this cycle of destruction? We made you angry by sinning against you again and again. Then you got angry and hid your face from us. But without seeing your face, we can’t repent. Ah! Help! Can we still be saved?Or is it just too late?!’
Isaiah knew that God normally works through preaching Law and Gospel. But he saw how deaf people had become and that so few hearts were actually being changed. So, he desperately asked God to do something extraordinary—to dramatically intervene on Earth to shake things up. Rip open the heavens and come down. Make the Mountains … quake at your presence. 2 …Make your name known to your adversaries. Make the nations quake in your presence! Are we also at that point? Actually, Christians have been praying since the Book of Revelation, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
Isaiah did not feel hopeless, though. Neither should we. You, O Lord, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. … Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your heritage, he prayed(16b, 17b), The Lord is our loving Father, and “As a father has pity on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” He is our Creator. He made us for the expressed purpose that He might shower His love on us. He still shows His merciful love by feeding and clothing us. He protects us and fills our lives with good things. Best of all, He even adopted us in baptism as His own dear children.
He cares about our country, too. He has guarded and protected us in time of war. God has a vested interest in keeping this country free, so people can freely proclaim and hear His word. When we pray on behalf of our nation and community God will hear and mercifully answer.
Isaiah remembered that his heavenly Father was also his Savior, that He made a promise to send His Son and redeem His people and repeated it to all the patriarchs, and to Moses, and to King David. In his prayer, Isaiah reminds his God, ‘Lord, you have shown us your will to save us by the marvelous wonders you have done for us in the past.’ You did amazing things that we did not expect. You came down. Mountains quaked because of your presence. 4 From ancient times no one has heard. No ear has understood. No eye has seen any god except you, who goes into action for the one who waits for him. (3,4)
‘You rescued us from Egypt with the awesome plagues. You divided the Red Sea and led us through on dry ground. You brought down the walls of Jericho and gave us victory over all our enemies as we took possession of the promised land. You did all that Lord. Now, Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down. Mountains then would quake because of your presence!’
The Lord heard Isaiah’s prayer—and answered. The answer didn’t come in Isaiah’s lifetime, but when it finally did come, it came with awesome, with worldwide significance. The answer to Isaiah’s prayer is still celebrated with the greatest fanfare and pomp, and it still offers us the greatest hope as we pray for deliverance. From the devastated people of Israel, from the land that was laid waste by the Babylonians when they refused to repent, came the answer. Christ was born in the city of David in the land of Judah to redeem the world. Christmas was God’s answer to Isaiah’s desperate prayer! God miraculously interfered in the events of human history—and in a few short weeks, the whole world, whether they realize it or not, will be acknowledging the 2023rd anniversary of God’s wonderful answer to Isaiah’s prayer, when God Himself “ripped open the heavens and came down”—humbly, born of a virgin.
He now sits forever on David’s royal throne, exalted as the “Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,” ready to hear our desperate prayer, and preparing once again to rip open the heavens and come down one final time to right all wrongs.
He has rescued us through faith in Him. Through the Gospel He has shaped a new people for Himself—the Holy Christian Church, far more glorious than the Old Kingdom of Israel. Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of us are the work of your hand. He has re-formed the shattered shards. He has softened our clay by the Gospel. He is molding us into His own image, and His new people will never pass out of existence, until He rips open the heavens and comes again to take us to be with Him forever.
May we pray Isaiah’s prayer this Advent season—not desperately, but with all the hope that is ours, knowing the answer has already been given once. He sent His Son for us at Christmas to save us from our sins, and He will rip open the heavens and come down once again, to take us to our heavenly home. We are the clay; He is the potter. May His Word shape us this Advent season and polish us as His vessels of salvation to the dying world around us. A blessed Advent to you all. Amen!
Matthew 25:31–46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40“The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’ 41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’ 44“Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’ 45“At that time he will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 46And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (EHV)
How would you like to be required to explain to a judge everything you ever did in life? Two weeks ago, Jesus told the story of the 10 virgins waiting for the Bridegroom to come. Last Sunday, He went on to tell the Parable of the talents. And now Jesus continues on by telling the true story of what will happen when He returns to Judge. In writing about the Day of Judgment back in the 1200s, Thomas Celano penned the poetic words of the famous hymn “Dies Irae, Dies Illa,” “Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning” which we’ll sing later during communion. He wrote,
“See, the book, exactly worded, Wherein all has been recorded –
Thus shall judgment be awarded.
What shall I in awe be pleading, Who for me be interceding
When your mercy I am needing?
Great questions! The most important questions! What Shall I in Awe Be Pleading? before the throne of God that day? Scripture gives the answer. In the last chapter of Mark Jesus tells us, “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Here Jesus gives that same answer, but from a different angle.
He Remembers the Faith of Those on His Right
To those He calls the sheep, those He invites to be at His right hand, those who followed Him in this life, “The King will say… ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
He calls His own “Blessed”—“blessed by my Father.” Here’s a key word in Jesus’ answer. Those who are invited to stand at Jesus’ right hand on the Last Day get to be there because God has blessed them. The next key word is “inherit.” “Inherit the kingdom!” An inheritance is a gift, given by a Father to his children. The Father does all the work. He earns and saves—and then the children freely receive what he earned. Jesus says we will receive eternal life in heaven as an inheritance from the Father, for free, as God’s adopted children. It’s unearned, an inheritance—a gift. “Come you who are blessed by my Father…” indeed! “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you …
… from the foundation of the world.” God in His great and immeasurable mercy first chose those who are His from eternity. Paul wrote to the Ephesians “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ…”* (1:3–6). Those at the right hand will be there because in His grace God sent His Son to pay for all our sins and then chose us to believe in Him. What a blessing to have a Substitute stand in for us and take the death penalty in our place so we can stand holy and blameless***—innocent—before our Divine Judge, and then be adopted as His brothers. That’s the Father’s blessing—His amazing grace.
You see, when the book, exactly worded, Wherein all has been recorded is opened, there will be things missing from it! When God forgives, He intentionally forgets—He erases—all the bad things His sheep have ever done. He forgets, for Jesus’ sake! The Lord says, “I, even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). Those who penitently pray like David, “Lord remember not the sins of my youth” can trust they all their sins are blotted out, forgiven and forgotten. “Come you who are blessed by my Father….” indeed!
God forgets our sins, but He never forgets us, His people. As the thief on the cross hung dying beside Jesus and put his trust in Him, he prayed, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus assured him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”* Not only does God remember us by name, He also remembers whatever good He enabled us to do as believers. One evening, when Jesus was visiting the home of a leper He’d healed, a woman came in with an expensive jar of perfume and poured it on Jesus. When everyone began grumbling about it, Jesus said, “Leave her alone, why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. …I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her*” (Mark 14:6,9). Faith produces memorable deeds—and those God remembers!
Good deeds, deeds which are God-pleasing, are works which are not done to try to earn favors from God, but rather out of a thankful heart, overwhelmed by God’s grace and mercy. They’re deeds we don’t count ourselves, or even remember doing! Whether it’s one deed—like the thief on the cross who only had time to rebuke his counterpart, or many through a lifetime of faith: “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40“The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’”
So what’s the answer to the question “What Shall I in Awe Be Pleading?” The answer is pleading, “Remember not the sins of my youth. Rather, Remember Me according to your mercy, for Jesus’ sake.”
He Remembers the Sins of Those on His Left
But then, sadly, the Judge will turn His attention to the goats—those who rejected His blessing. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels.”
In contrast to His sheep, who have been “blessed by [the] Father,”* the unbelievers, whom He called the goats, have been “cursed.” Carefully note the difference in wording. Jesus does not say cursed “by my Father.” The goats on the left will have brought the curse of eternal death on themselves. God sent His Son to die for the sins of the whole world, every single person who ever lived. God sent His disciples into the whole world to proclaim forgiveness in Christ to everyone. There’s not a country where it hasn’t been preached. There’s not a land without believers. God filled His Gospel with power. There’s no excuse. Those at God’s left hand on the Last Day will be there because they trusted themselves instead of God. They brought the curse on themselves*.
Some will be there because in their own words, they ‘didn’t have time’ for God’s Word of Life. Some will be on the left hand who even believed for a time, but they let the cares and pleasures of this world distract them and choke off their faith. There will be those on the left hand who considered the concept of grace and the cross pure foolishness. “Everything I got, I earned myself!” they insist to their own peril. One thing every single person on the left hand will have in common is that it will be their own fault they’re on the wrong side, not God’s! No excuses! God is not unfair! Theyare not cursed by God. They are cursed by themselves. They failed to seriously ask the all-important question “What Shall I in Awe Be Pleading?” God will answer that question for anyone who asks sincerely. He has promised, “Seek and you will find.” He keeps that promise to all who seek Him.
Our gracious God is merciful. But He is also a just God. He judges people the exact way they themselves ask to be judged. Those who want to be judged by their own works instead of pleading for His mercy—will be! Those who by unbelief are telling God, ‘I don’t need your blessing. I’m good enough. Judge me on my own merits’ will be judged by their own merits, just as they wished.
But they should know, God judges human works by His divine standard of pure holiness. Slip up once, and you fail: “I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’”
No matter how many good things a person thinks they’ve done, they haven’t done them all—and they didn’t do them with pure motives either. If you want to be judged on works, never forget what God’s Word says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). “Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’ 45“…He will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 46And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’”
Jesus has told us exactly how to survive Judgment Day and get into heaven. Salvation is not by works, but by faith! If it were based on our works—we would rightly be trembling and expecting to be sent away with the goats on that awe-filled Day. But, thanks be to Jesus! We plead His holiness, His sacrifice for sins, and His loving mercy.
What shall I in awe be pleading, Who for me be interceding
When your mercy I am needing?
King of majesty tremendous, Who does free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us.
Think, good Jesus—my salvation Caused your wondrous incarnation,
Made you suffer my damnation!
On the cross your dying spared me; Just and righteous you declared me;
I await the joy prepared me. Amen.
Matthew 20:1–16
“Indeed the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing to pay the workers a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3He also went out about the third hour and saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace. 4To these he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6When he went out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing unemployed. He said to them, ‘Why have you stood here all day unemployed?’ 7“They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “He told them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8When it was evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group and ending with the first.’ 9“When those who were hired around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10When those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But they each received a denarius too. 11After they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: 12‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ 13“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a denarius? 14Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last one hired the same as I also gave to you. 15Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16In the same way, the last will be first, and the first, last.”(EHV)
Does God owe you? Sometimes people think He does. Jonah did. And He felt God was unfair in treating the Ninevites well, since according to Jonah’s thinking they all deserved to die in a fireball, unlike himself. We heard that “God relented from the disaster which he said he would bring on them, and he did not carry it out. 1 But to Jonah all this seemed very bad, and he became very angry. 2He prayed to the Lord, “Lord, … I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. 3So now, Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ‘It’s not fair! The Ninevites had it coming!”
But what about Jonah who ran away from God and had to be cast into the sea, swallowed by a great fish, and vomited out on shore before finally consenting to do his job? Didn’t he realize he had it coming? But instead, he received God’s mercy.
That’s what Jesus’ parable is all about. God owes us nothing but punishment and destruction, but instead He pays us “The Wages of God.”
God Puts Us to Work
Jesus tells us a story today to teach the truth about work in the kingdom of God and God’s way of paying wages. It’s the story of a vineyard. It’s the story of workers, some of whom are hired early in the day, some later. Christ Himself is the owner of the vineyard. The vineyard is His kingdom, and those who aren’t in His kingdom are the ones who are idle. There’s a very interesting and important truth in that—a truth that God states plainly in the book of Hebrews, namely: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (11:6). In other words, if you are not a believer, you are contributing nothing to the one thing that lasts, the kingdom of God. The other fellows in the parable, even the ones who get sour at the end, are at least working. That’s where we fit in. At some point, God found you and me standing idle in the marketplace and called us into His kingdom through the Gospel. And now by faith, it is possible for you and me to please God and be productive. God has put us to work.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing to pay the workers a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3He also went out about the third hour and saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace. 4To these he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
When were you called? Many of you were already called early in the morning. You were carried by your parents to the baptismal font when you were too young to even remember that day. Your sins were washed away, and you were put on a path to productivity in the kingdom that has lasted your whole life. Others of you were called at the 3rd, 6th or 9th hour and became believers later in life.
6When he went out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing unemployed. He said to them, ‘Why have you stood here all day unemployed?’ 7“They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “He told them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’” Like other pastors, I’ve had the wonderful joy of seeing people come to faith in nursing homes very, very late in life as I’ve had the chance to share the word in simple services and sermons. They were “hired at the 11th hour” so to speak.
Those who labored in the vineyard all day in the parable spoke of their vineyard work as a “burden” in the “scorching heat.” Jesus is very honest in telling us that it’s not always easy being one of His disciples. Didn’t we just a couple weeks ago hear Jesus say, “If anyone would follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”? Being a faithful worker for the Lord means putting Him first in our lives—always, even when it hurts. It means working hard to make the Boss look good: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). It means standing up for principle, even against peer pressure. It means not making compromises that go against your faith. It means putting other’s needs ahead of your own. As Christ’s vineyard workers, we strive to make the most of every opportunity He gives us to witness to our faith. And when our Great Employer calls a meeting each week, we get there on time to hear what He has to say. Besides, there’s always good food there—food for the soul.
Plenty of times, though, we have fallen down on the job. Maybe we’ve even tried to run away from it the way Jonah did. But this Master, the vineyard owner, is also our merciful Savior-God. When we ask for forgiveness, He relents as He did with Nineveh. He forgives and forgets all our sins. And when then we ask for a do-over and strength to work harder, He mercifully powers us up again. That’s what Paul meant when he wrote, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
This is no time to walk off the job like Jonah. When the vineyard owner went out looking for workers, he hired them on the spot. They didn’t hem and haw. They went straight to the fields and got to work. How long will such a Great Employer be around? In the parable, he only came around four times hiring. The harvest is now. Once the grapes are picked, it’s too late. How long will the harvest last? Christ could return this afternoon. My life or yours might end tonight or tomorrow. “No one knows the day or the hour.” Whoever walks off the job early misses out when the paymaster comes. Even when the work gets hard—especially then—we need to encourage one another and remain faithful to the end. Soon enough the whistle will blow.
Dear friends, we’ve been employed—given something profitable to do with our lives, namely to live for God in everything we do! We’ve been called like Jonah to share the truth with others—even Ninevites—all because, as Paul quotes God in our epistle, “I will show mercy to whom I show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15).
God Graciously Gives Us Wages
But don’t make the greedy mistake some of the workers in the parable did when it came time to stop working and get paid.
8When it was evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group and ending with the first.’ 9“When those who were hired around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10When those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But they each received a denarius too. 11After they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: 12‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ 13“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a denarius? 14Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last one hired the same as I also gave to you. 15Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
For three chapters, Jesus has been answering a bigger question, occasioned by the disciples arguing over which of them was the greatest. In Matthew 18, Jesus placed a little child in front of them and said, “Amen I tell you: Unless you are turned and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3–4). The disciples’ whole argument about who is greatest was predicated on the idea that, somehow, at least a little bit, we earn grace from God. But if it’s earned, it’s not grace.
The men in the parable who were hired early in the morning agreed from the outset with the landowner on a denarius a day. That old Roman coin equaled a good day’s pay, a genuine “living wage”—more than enough for a person to have food, clothing, and housing to live comfortably. God has signed a contract with us, you could say, to give us a living wage. In this life, He gives us just what we need—our daily bread. But then He promises us retirement benefits that are out of this world—a perfect eternal life with Him in heaven. He generously gives the same pay package to those who have been believers their whole lives and those who become believers later in life.
It’s only possible to complain about “The Wages of God” if you think you actually earn all that. But when it comes to salvation, it’s all a gift. Even the ability to work is a gift. Whoever winds up being called greatest in heaven—that’s a gift, too. It’s a gift to be a martyr. It’s a gift to suffer poverty as a Christian. It’s a gift to be a church janitor or a pastor. Whatever our position in life, it’s a gift. Whatever you do for and in the Kingdom is a gift. And whatever you get from God on the Last Day is a gift. Everything is a gift of grace.
The men in the parable accused the master of being unjust. In God’s case, that’s a very good thing for us sinners, since “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”? (Romans 6:23). The pay we deserve is indescribably awful. But what we actually receive is the opposite of what we deserve. We deserve the “wages of sin”—“death.” Instead, we get “The Wages of God”—eternal life. “So the last will be first, and the first will be last” (20:16). Christ came to bring grace, not petty payments for services rendered. Thank God he didn’t come to give us a just wage! Instead of charging us God pays us! He gives us the totally undeserved gift of eternal life, all the while providing for us richly and daily on the road to heaven. And He’s even given us the dignity of a job, a job serving Him. Those are “The Wages of God.” Amen.
Genesis 50:15–21
15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and will pay us back in full for all of the evil that we did to him.”
16They sent the following message to Joseph: “Before he died your father commanded us, 17‘You are to tell Joseph, “Please forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.”
Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18His brothers also came and fell down in front of him, and they said, “See now, we are your servants.”
19Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring this to pass and to keep many people alive, as it is this day. 21Now therefore, do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them and spoke to them in a kind way. (EHV)
In the trailer for the Clint Eastwood western “Unforgiven,” a teenager, a bit shaken after a bunch of outlaws were killed in a gunfight, takes a swig of moonshine, and says, “Well, I guess they had it coming.” Eastwood’s character responds, “We all have it coming, kid.” Yes, indeed, we do all “have it coming.” And that’s why we count on the Lord’s forgiveness as our only hope to live.
We need others’ forgiveness too. There’s nothing more awful than having someone refuse to forgive you. The only thing worse is espousing hatred and refusing to forgive others ourselves. In fact, God tells us that those who don’t forgive can’t be forgiven—not as long as they harden their hearts. And that is what it is, when someone won’t forgive. Refusing to forgive others means not understanding how God saves us—namely by not giving us what our sins deserve. Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”* Someone who refuses to forgive can expect to be treated the same way by God—and that is frightening, because if we’re not forgiven by God, we have nothing to look forward to but everlasting punishment for our own unforgiven sins. For that reason, no matter how badly someone may have sinned against us, or how many times—we Christians still have to be prepared to forgive them when they repent. There’s no way around that. The very heart and core of Christianity centers around the concept of forgiveness. Christianity is all about the forgiveness that Christ has given us. And true faith in Christ’s forgiveness enables every true Christian to be forgiving*** toward others. Our Gospel lesson spelled that out so clearly today (Matthew 18:21–35) and Joseph exemplifies it.
Being Unforgiven Fills Our Hearts with Anxiety
I read an article recently posted by a fellow pastor that suggested at the very least 70% of people in church are bearing the pain of some past hurt. It said: “In a congregation of 100, 20 of your fellow church members are walking around with invisible wounds of sexual violence on their bodies and souls. And that number says nothing about those walking around with other invisible wounds, such as caused by domestic violence, racial prejudice, sexism, bullying and the like. Were we to include these forms of interpersonal violence the number would likely reach 70 [out of 100].” For people wounded like that I’m sure it’s not easy to forgive. No, not easy. The main character in our text, Joseph, definitely falls into the category of someone who’d been bullied and hurt. That’s an understatement! It’s not everyday someone is sold into slavery by his brothers!
On the other hand, one of the keys to understanding this story is realizing that the abusers had owned up to what they had done! They came to realize how terribly they’d hurt their brother, not to mention their own father, the patriarch Jacob, by leading him to believe his son Joseph had been killed by a wild animal! Their consciences plagued them for years! In fact, long after Joseph had forgiven them, they still felt guilty—so much so they doubted their brother’s forgiveness just because they knew how awful their deed was.
So while Joseph would be one of those 70 people out of 100 in our mythical congregation walking around with invisible wounds, so would also each of his 11 brothers! Yet, as we get to this story at the very end of the Book of Genesis, Joseph, the forgiver, is so much better adjusted and able to deal with what happened than are the 11, the ones who needed forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the greatest gift anybody can receive or give. Not being forgiven or feeling UNFORGIVEN is one of the most anxious and awful thoughts that can plague our hearts. After their dad died, Joseph’s brothers were filled with dread and fear. They were terrified because they thought he might make use of his almost unlimited power as the premier of Egypt to exact revenge on them, now that their father no longer stood in the way.
Do you remember the story of Joseph’s early life? His father Jacob sinned too. He did something fathers shouldn’t do. Since Joseph was the firstborn of his favorite wife, Rachel—another “no no”—Jacob spoiled Joseph. Remember the “coat of many colors”? That made the other brothers jealous. In addition, since God Himself had chosen Joseph for great things, He sent Joseph special dreams, which Joseph told his brothers. That made them even more jealous. In those dreams Joseph was always the main character and his brothers always wound up bowing down to him. They grew to hate him. Finally, their sinful jealousy and unchecked hatred drove them to sell their own brother as a slave into Egypt. They would have killed him, in fact, if the caravan of Ishmaelite traders hadn’t come along in the nick of time—God’s timing, of course.
That’s a lot to forgive, wouldn’t you say? Joseph had lost his home, his family and his freedom. He even spent a couple years in a foreign prison on a false accusation by his employer’s wife. Years later, when the brothers were forced to come to Egypt to buy grain during a seven-year famine God sent, they met Joseph but didn’t realize it was him. Joseph tested them on three different visits to see if they’d changed. Finally, during their third trip to Egypt, Joseph spoke Hebrew to them and told them he was their long-gone brother. He wept and hugged them and he told them that all was forgiven. But the brothers were in shock and had trouble believing it. Finally he convinced them to bring their father and settle in Egypt till the famine ended.
Seventeen years went by and then their father—the patriarch who kept the family together—passed away at 147 years old. A lot of time had passed, but the brothers were still haunted by what they had done and by fear that their brother hadn’t really forgiven them. 15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and will pay us back in full for all of the evil that we did to him.”
16They sent the following message to Joseph: “Before he died your father commanded us, 17‘You are to tell Joseph, “Please forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.”
Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Why did Joseph weep? Because he realized that his brothers were still living in pain and fear. He realized they still felt Unforgiven. He had told them 17 years ago from his heart that they were forgiven. For 17 years he’d taken care of them and protected them in Egypt. What troubled Joseph so much was that even after all these years, their family hadn’t been able to completely heal and be normal again. Sin causes so much hurt and guilt eats your heart out.
Forgiveness Fills Our Hearts with Peace
But forgiveness heals it all if it’s real! And if it’s real, believe it. Joseph really did forgive his brothers! He’d been able to put the whole mess behind him and clearly see it as a part of God’s eternal plan.
Why? How? What enabled him to be so generous with his forgiveness? It was the fact that he understood how God had treated him and forgiven him. As a mature believer, Joseph could look back on the years of his youth and understand how cocky he’d come across, tattling on his brothers regularly, bragging about his dreams and strutting around like a peacock in his coat of many colors. He was old enough now and himself a father and could now grasp the mistakes his own dad had made in treating him differently than the others. He could understand their jealousy, even if he didn’t condone it. He could see how God had orchestrated everything to make him ruler of Egypt. He had a mature, “God’s-eye” view of it all. There was no way he could hold a grudge. He knew that God had forgiven and forgotten all his own sins. What a wonderful sense of peace that gives—knowing that all the dumb things in our past are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. When you realize how generous God has been to you with His own forgiveness, it’s a whole lot easier to generously forgive those who have sinned against you.
When Joseph looked at how overwhelmingly generous God had been toward him, he couldn’t help but be a big-hearted man toward his brothers. 19Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring this to pass and to keep many people alive, as it is this day. 21Now therefore, do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them and spoke to them in a kind way.
You’re capable of forgiving too! Assuming you’re a believer! Hasn’t God forgiven you a mountain of sins? Hasn’t God taken care of you just as He took care of both Joseph and his dad and eleven brothers? Hasn’t He taken bad circumstances and used them to shape you into the person you are today? Hasn’t He made it possible for you to look to the future with hope instead of forever reliving and getting mired in the past?
Every single one of us has been hurt by others, some more, some less. And in all honesty, every single one of us has also hurt other people, whether we know it or not. The beauty of forgiveness is that it can erase the past and the hurt. As we heard last week, if it’s unresolved, “Go and show your brother his sin just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother” (Matthew 18:15). But we also heard, “Above all, love each other constantly, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
I’ve met people who can’t forgive, and don’t really want to either. Some of them even dared to call themselves Christians but refusing to forgive is incompatible with Christianity. You heard it from Jesus Himself in the Gospel—the man who’d been forgiven his massive, unpayable debts to the Master, but then refused to forgive his fellow servant. That’s us He’s talking to—we’re the ones forgiven an almost inconceivably huge debt, who then are to forgive others for their sins against us—an infinitely smaller amount, no matter how much we feel we’ve been wronged by someone.
Don’t misunderstand me. It’s not always easy for Christians to forgive. Sometimes in fact it’s extremely difficult and takes time. But we don’t have the right to destroy our own lives or the lives of others by refusing to forgive them. And that’s what unforgiveness does. It destroys your own life and other people’s lives. Jesus came to bring forgiveness to us and to all and restore lives. Let us be His followers, forgiven and forgiving! God Himself will give you the strength to forgive like Joseph, who forgave like Christ and He will restore your own joy and peace as you do. Amen.
Ezekiel 33:7–11 7 But I have appointed you, son of man, to be a watchman for the house of Israel. So whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you are to warn them from me. 8 When I say to a wicked man, “Wicked man, you shall surely die,” if you do not speak…
Matthew 16:21–26
From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again. 22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord! This will never happen to you.” 23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a snare to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.” 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26After all, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul? (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Which is easier? To live life as a believer or an unbeliever? It’s a question that requires more than a 5-second answer, isn’t it? There are obviously so many blessings we enjoy as Christians. We know that God is with us and for us, and “if God is for us, who can be against us?” On the other hand, there are difficulties we face as followers of Jesus. Jesus promised that we wouldn’t be treated better than He was.
In order to save us and give us eternal life, Jesus had to suffer all, even death on a cross. Through His cross we have life. And in His words to His disciples today, Jesus tells us to follow His path—Through the Cross to Life.
Life through Jesus’ Cross
Today’s text picks right up on the heels of Peter’s great confession of faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus commended Peter. In fact, He told him he could never have come up with such truth on His own but that it had been revealed to Him by the Father in heaven.
Now that the disciples had come to that point in their faith, it was time for them to learn more—especially the hard truth of what the Christ, the Messiah, had come into the world to do. “From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.”
Jesus knew this would be hard for His disciples to take but He had to tell the truth. He couldn’t put it off. The events of passion week were drawing nearer. By now, the disciples had already had two years of daily instruction from Jesus. This instruction had worked faith in their hearts, so that Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit had even been enabled to make his bold and accurate confession of faith.
The time had come to tell them the “bad” news, so to speak. Even then, Jesus spares them all the bloody and gory details. It was enough of a shock for His disciples to hear that Jesus was going to be killed. They weren’t yet ready to hear about a crucifixion. He simply says He will “suffer many things.”
Jesus had to suffer. That’s what He told them. It was necessary for Him to suffer. That’s because God is holy and righteous and demands blood payment for sin—and all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Our holy God demands sins be paid, and He sent “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” to make that payment and atone for the sins of all. In order to do that in our place, “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” had to humble Himself and be made man and become truly human like us. Jesus had to leave heaven and come live in our world of misery, in order to be under the law as our substitute. He had to subject Himself to His parents’ and teachers’ authority, even though He was wiser than them. He had to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies for us, even the ones in Isaiah which foretold that He would be mocked and scorned. He had to be betrayed as David foretold in the Psalms. He had to live our life and do it perfectly, in order to save us.
And He had to die as well. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed…. as all the bloody Old Testament sacrifices foretold. It wasn’t that He would be overpowered. He had slipped through the crowd and disappeared on other occasions when people tried to kill Him. He suffered death willingly, because divine justice demanded death. Humankind was subjected to death the day Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the garden, which, as God had warned, would make them “surely die.” “The wages of sin is death.” He had to die, so that we wouldn’t have to die eternally. Someone had to pay the just price that sin earned. And God in His great mercy, appointed His own Son to the task. Only Jesus could do it, because as the Son of God, only Jesus was born sinless, and as the Son of God, only His death would be valuable enough to pay for the sins of the world.
“…And on the third day be raised again,” Jesus continued. Jesus had to rise. His resurrection on the third day is what guarantees that our sins are actually, fully paid for, and that we also one day will rise again. Paul explained, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…. For since death came through a man, the resurrection comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
But Peter was horrified! He was so shocked when Jesus said He would die, that he didn’t even hear the part about rising. “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord! This will never happen to you.’” Peter had worldly thoughts about salvation. Despite the fact that he had learned his whole life as a Jew that sin requires blood sacrifice, he wanted a neat, clean, cheap, bloodless salvation. He wanted a Savior who would make life in this world easier, rather than a Redeemer who came to take us with Him to a different world. He had in mind the things of men rather than the things of God.
Peter is hardly alone. The other disciples were equally shocked. So are so many would-be disciples today. Perhaps that’s why so many don’t like the crucifix. The empty cross is so much more domesticated and palatable. Who wants a bloody, beaten, and crucified Jesus as their Savior, when you can have one with pressed robes and salon hair? Even “regular” crosses have been removed from many new churches. It’s “too offensive to visitors,” they say. The apostle Paul addressed that worldly attitude almost 2000 years ago: “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Part of the reason Peter and sometimes we abhor too much talk about the cross, is that we don’t like being reminded how awful and deadly our sins are, that they should require the bloody sacrifice of God’s only-begotten Son! The good news is that He died that death for us in our place.
Jesus was not thrilled with Peter’s objection to His suffering and dying! “Get behind me, Satan! You are a snare to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.” What a stunning rebuke! But it was the exact same temptation Satan used on Jesus one-on-one during the 40 days in the wilderness. All the glory—none of the pain! But that would have left us and Peter to fend for ourselves against Satan. A bloodless Savior is no Savior at all! Worldly, happy-talk religion leads directly to hell, and it comes straight from Satan. We need a crucified Lord, or we’re lost! “Deny yourself,” Jesus urges. Deny Worldly Religion and confess the real Jesus—the One who died on the cross for our sins. And then, Deny your own Worldly Self, too.
Life through Our Own Cross
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26After all, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?”
In a muddy village in Uganda a young African Lutheran man named Daniel runs an organization called HOPE for AIDS Orphans. Sometimes he posts pictures on Facebook of children suffering and asks for prayers. But more often his pictures are of them smiling in their helpless poverty. In many ways they seem much happier than rich, worldly people. In one post Daniel wrote: “Besides the difficulties we face, we remain focused on things above. We are pilgrims, we got no place here.” This man and these children bearing crosses as Christians every day may well understand faith in Jesus better than most, because of the blessed cross he and his extended family carry in this life. The cross is a blessing. It keeps us focused on the real life we live in Jesus, instead of the passing world which so easily crowds out faith.
What a paradox Jesus presents us with: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” You can’t have both. Either you live for God, or you live for yourself. “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Denying yourself means loving God more than family, more than friends—more than anything! It means setting your house in order. It means self-discipline—not treating ourselves as spoiled children. “This is love for God,” John wrote: “to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” Jesus says, “for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
Life without Christ leads to destruction. A life without the real Christ is not really worth living. The devil comes to us and tells us the opposite every day, just like he did to, and even through Peter to Jesus! He tells us that life will be happier with “things” than with God, happier with fake Hollywood Jesus than with real, crucified Jesus. But what does real Jesus say? He says, “What will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?”
There is no greater treasure on earth than the soul, filled with the “peace that surpasses all understanding,” knowing you are God’s own dearly loved child, forgiven and able to stand tall on the Day of Judgment! What a joy to know you are one of Jesus’ own sheep and that you will be placed at His right hand that day! That’s what inspired Paul to write in today’s epistle lesson, “For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Poor Peter embarrassed himself that day. I’m glad he wasn’t too embarrassed to talk about it later and share his experience. I’m glad he let Matthew write about it too. Peter wanted others to learn from his grave mistake! Jesus wants us all to have in mind the things of God, rather than the things of man. He wants us to deny worldly religion that promises only gains in this life and look to the Cross of Christ for life. He wants us to deny our selfish selves and take up our own cross on the way to “the life to come” in heaven through faith in Jesus. “Indeed,” Paul wrote, “it was for this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for something we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patient endurance.”—Through the Cross to Life. Amen.
Matthew 16:13–20 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?”…
Matthew 15:21–28 21Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22There a Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!” 23But he did not answer her a word. His disciples came and pleaded,…
Matthew 14:22-34 Immediately Jesus urged the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 By then the…
Matthew 13 24–30, 36–43 24He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26When the plants sprouted and produced heads of grain, the weeds also appeared.…
Isaiah 55:6-11 Seek the Lord while he may be found! Call on him while he is near! 7 Let the wicked man abandon his way. Let an evil man abandon his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will show him mercy. Let him turn to our God, because he will abundantly pardon.…
Matthew 11:25-30 25 At that time, Jesus continued, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, because this was pleasing to you. 27 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No…
1 Timothy 6:11–16 11But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13I charge you…
John 7:37–39a
37On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. For the Holy Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Moving here to Arizona a year ago, the four pieces of advice I heard most often were “Wear sunglasses,” wear sunscreen,” “wear a hat,” and “drink plenty of water!” You can last days without sleep or food, but not without water. Water is our greatest physical need. Living Water is our greatest spiritual need. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!” Jesus says.
Jesus spoke these words on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (or Tents or booths), a special festival in which people would camp out for a week every year in temporary shelters to remind them of how God had preserved their forefathers through forty years of tenting and wandering in the wilderness on the way to the promised land from Egypt. On each day of the annual feast, the priest would pour a pitcher of water at the base of a stone altar. This part of the ceremony was to remind Israel of the times in the desert when God made water come right out of a rock to quench their thirst. But like all the Old Testament ceremonies, it was to point ahead to the Messiah who would come to quench their spiritual thirst for forgiveness, peace with God and eternal life.
On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood up in the crowd, drew attention to Himself and preached: He pointed the people to Himself as the fulfillment of the festival, the Messiah who came to quench spiritual thirst—to bring Living Water to the world.
“If Anyone is Thirsty…”
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!” Jesus says. Sadly, so many don’t even know they’re thirsty—especially people who have all their physical needs met. The rich feel like their own god, like the rich man who said, “Soul…take it easy. Eat drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19).
The crowds who followed Jesus weren’t rich. Many if not most of them toiled hard to eke out a living, and that helped them feel their spiritual thirst.
Today in a well-to-do place like this, I’m sure there are a good number of people who don’t feel spiritual thirst. Maybe they did for a while during the worst of Covid but now things are back to normal for most. It’s expensive toy season once again. No time to thirst for righteousness.
We don’t want to give in to that temptation, and it’s very real! The world’s lures tempt us to forget what’s really needed—the “one thing needful,” namely, to listen to the Word of God, to be forgiven and be made right with God, to have our eternal affairs in order and hold on to our heavenly hope.
That’s the thirst Jesus was speaking about. If we recognize our real need for God’s help, our spiritual thirst, and confess our sins, Jesus has the perfect cure for us: the Living Water of forgiveness. By sending His Son to die for us, God not only paid for our sins, but He also showed how intensely He desires to give His Living Water to everyone. God wanted so dearly to save every single soul He was willing to send His son to a horrible death.
You and I have experienced the cool, refreshing joy of drinking from the well of salvation. We’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good. We are no longer dying of thirst, but we are still thirsty. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
We do thirst after righteousness. While the water of life quenches our thirst for forgiveness, we want to see justice. We want to see righteousness rewarded, not mocked. Isaiah spoke of the Lord’s kingdom, “See, a king will reign in righteousness, and officials will govern with justice. 2Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water for a dry place, like the shade of a massive cliff in a parched land. … 5The fool will no longer be called noble, nor will rogues be treated like respectable people” (Isaiah 32:1–2, 5). We “hunger and thirst after righteousness” and we “shall be filled.” He has promised the “new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.” Christ has earned us a place there and guaranteed it by His death and resurrection. But even before we live there, Jesus has promised that we “will be filled.” God promises justice to His saints on earth. No matter what we must endure, Jesus quenches our thirst with His promise to make everything — no matter what — become a blessing.
“…Let Him Come to Me and Drink.”
But Jesus says even more: As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” And John explains: By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive.
For eight hundred years, the people of Israel had been waiting for the fantastic words of Joel the prophet to be fulfilled: “After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. 29Even on the servants, both male and female, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. … 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:28–29, 32a). Jesus was promising this special day would finally soon take place as He preached on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. ‘It’s almost here!’
Then John further explains, “The Holy Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” Now, clearly, the Holy Spirit was already at work in the world. The Holy Spirit was present already on the very first day of creation, “hovering over the face of the deep,” Genesis tells us. Throughout all of history, the Holy Spirit had always been silently going about His task of creating faith and repentance in people’s hearts. Then, He appeared in the form of a dove and descended on Jesus at His baptism. He had already worked faith in the disciples’ hearts long before the day of Pentecost. But—then, just as Jesus promised, Pentecost day came when the ancient prophecy of Joel was fulfilled. On that day the Holy Spirit forwent His typical shyness and manifested Himself so vividly. He came that day to usher in a whole new era—the New Testament, made possible by Jesus completing His saving work.
After He atoned for the sins of the world on the cross, Jesus was glorified. He descended to hell to proclaim His victory over Satan. Then He rose victorious over the power of death. Then God exalted Jesus to His right hand at His Ascension and the fullness of time had come. All the mysteries of the Old Testament now made sense as they were seen in their fulfillment. God would no longer bind himself to a little nation on the east end of the Mediterranean called Israel in this new Pentecost era, but now, through His Church, the Gospel would spread throughout the world and gather in the saints from every nation.
Jesus’ promise and Joel’s prophecy were fulfilled together on this day. Pentecost changed everything. The Apostles, with the special promised gifts of the Spirit, wrote by inspiration the New Testament Scriptures. With the Spirit’s guiding, courage, and power, they set out on foot and sailed for points unknown to bring the Gospel to every creature. And under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the Church grew and spread into all the world.
The same Holy Spirit is still with us today! The Day of Pentecost was a one-time event in many ways. God ushered in the New Testament with great fanfare. But the work of the Spirit goes on in the usual way as it has since the beginning of the world. The Holy Spirit continues to miraculously bring people to faith, just as He had done for the disciples years before Pentecost Day. In the same way, He still comes to people. He comes through the means of grace. Paul wrote: “God chose you from the beginning for salvation by the sanctifying work of the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14For this reason he also called you through our gospel” (2 Thessalonians 2:13b-14a). He comes to us through the word of God, just as He first came to us in baptism. To the crowd on Pentecost Day, Peter preached: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38–39).
“Streams of Living Water Will Flow from Within Him.”
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!” Jesus said. “…Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive.
The Holy Spirit, whose great festival we celebrate today, dwells within us. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. He works in us to strengthen our faith, to comfort us, to pray for us, to guide us, to enliven and embolden us to carry out His work. He worked inus through the Gospel, and He works through us too. “Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” Isaiah the prophet had once said, *“TheLord* will… satisfy your desire in arid places…. Then you will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters will not fail” (Isaiah 58:11) and you will produce the “fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23**gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22).
Those streams of water are evident and noticeable when we look at the works accomplished in the name of the Christian Church around the world—hospitals, schools, universities, charities, nursing homes, not to mention Western Civilization itself. Zechariah had foretold: “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and half of it toward the western sea. It will continue to flow in summer and in winter” (Zechariah 14:8).
Just think how the original, little band of believers on Pentecost has now become the millions of martyrs and saints in heaven, and the believers in Jesus throughout the world today. Pentecost changed everything! The Holy Spirit has been busy, quietly working through the means of grace, bringing people to faith through baptism and preaching, and strengthening and keeping the whole of His flock in the one true faith through the Word of God. The Gospel that was poured into us is flowing out into the world as we carry out the most significant work entrusted to us: sharing the Gospel! The little water that has flowed into us has multiplied and flows out, joining the waters in others, and forming a mighty river and countless streams—leading more and more to the Living Water, giving them the Spirit, and starting more streams. “…Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.”
We see the results of the Spirit’s flow each time one more person is baptized or one more communicant member is added to the Church such as Chrysteen and George. It all started with the Spirit and it all comes to fulfillment by the Spirit through the Living Water of the Gospel. Keep drinking and keep sharing. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” Amen.
Ephesians 1:15-23
…Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I never stop giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowing Christ fully. 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, just how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is, 19and just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe. 20It is as great as the working of his mighty strength, which God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22God also placed all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the church. 23The church is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Paul prays for his readers “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.” What can you see with “the eyes of your heart”? If I asked you to close your eyes for one minute, what would you see? Engineers and architects are good at seeing things before they’re even constructed. If you watch some of the renovation shows on HGTV, you know how some can see instant potential for reconfiguring a house.
The Apostle Paul was praying that Christians would be able to picture things in their minds that regular eyes can’t see—not imaginary things—real things that were and are and will be. God Himself wants us to see, to behold, to visualize, and remember the awesome things which Christ our King has already done, the things He is doing now for His Church, and the awesome things that are yet to come. He wants us to see the glory “far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion” that Christ was crowned with at His Ascension. He wants us to see the very real things Christ has done for us to procure our salvation. He wants us to see the heavenly places that Jesus lives in and is preparing for us. He wants us to see ahead to the glorious day of Christ’s returning to judge the living and the dead and begin the age to come.
As we commemorate the Ascension—the glorious coronation day of our Lord—let’s follow the invitation of Paul in the words the hymn we will soon sing: “Look, You Saints, the Sight Is Glorious!”
See How Rich His Glorious Inheritance Among the Saints Is
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, just how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is….
The day Jesus ascended the disciples saw the first part of Jesus’ journey back to the Father. Then a cloud came and hid Him from their physical eyes. With those eyes, they kept staring, trying to see Him. Finally two angels appeared to them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Since that day, we believers see Jesus, but with the eyes of the heart. We see all that He has done. In fact we intentionally review Jesus’ life and ministry on earth, beginning with His birth as Son of God and Son of Man which we celebrated 5 months ago on Christmas. Through the festival half of the church year we have seen with the eyes of our hearts Jesus’ perfect, sinless life. We have observed through Holy Scripture how Jesus fulfilled every prophecy of His coming and His saving work, even offering Himself as the perfect Passover Lamb on Good Friday. With our physical eyes we have read the inspired accounts of the resurrection, so we can see our risen Lord with the eyes of our hearts. Through the eyes of faith we see how Christ has conquered death and Satan. Through the eyes of faith we can see how Jesus restored the Father’s warm and gentle smile toward us by earning us forgiveness, life, and salvation through the cross and the empty tomb. God now sees us as forgiven saints through faith as Paul prayed: that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know … how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is.And that is what we now are in God’s eyes.
Because Christ has done all these things for us, through faith in Him, we stand to inherit something else we have not yet seen with our physical eyes, namely just how rich his glorious inheritance… is. One man was permitted to see it and God told him to describe it for all of us in Revelation. Saint John wrote: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer existed. 2And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” 5The one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything new!” He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty, I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. 7The one who overcomes will inherit these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. (21:1–7).
Can you picture it? Can you see it with the eyes of your heart?!
See His Surpassingly Great Power for Us Who Believe
With the eyes of our heart, we see what Christ has done, and what awaits us in the age to come. In some ways, that’s a little easier than seeing with the eyes of faith what Christ is doing for us right now as we speak. What we see with our physical eyes is how many things threaten us and our faith. In these last days, scary prophecies are being fulfilled: “The love of most will grow cold” just as Jesus foretold. “Many will fall away from faith,” He said. “They will betray each other and hate each other. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Matthew 24:12, 10–11). We see it all happening, and the persecution, too, that Peter has been talking about in our epistle lessons these past couple of weeks.
It is at just such a time as this, that we need to remember one more great truth of the Ascension—that Christ is truly ruling in heaven over all the events of the earth, for the good of His Church. Paul continues:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know…just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe. 20It is as great as the working of his mighty strength, which God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.
Did you watch any of the royal coronation ceremony of King Charles? Did you see all the majesty and ritual? Did you hear the sackbuts, those old-fashioned valveless trumpets that announced from the balcony the King’s entry into Westminster Abbey? That should make it easier to picture with the eyes of your heart what the Sons of Korah described prophetically in our Psalm—the great coronation Day of our Lord, for that is what the Ascension is.
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2 How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! 3 He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. …5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. 7 For God is the King of all the earth; … 8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. 9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted (niv).
On His Ascension Day, Jesus was crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords as He was seated on His throne at the right hand of God the Father almighty. When the disciples stood on the ground, they saw with human eyes only the very beginning of the royal ceremony as Jesus left for the coronation.
What they didn’t see—what we see with the eyes of the heart is the rest of the glorious events of that day. With trumpets blaring and choirs of saints and angels singing, heaven celebrated the victory of Christ with all it’s perfect fanfare. On that day Jesus was enthroned far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. What a day that must have been for saints and angels above! “Look, you Saints! The sight is glorious! See the man of sorrows now*!” But that day was only the first day of Christ’s eternal rule. He is your King! He is your Sovereign! He governs and arranges all the events of the world for us, the members of His Kingdom. God also placed all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the church.*
No matter how frightening or dark or powerful the forces of evil may appear as they loom on the horizons of our lives and our world, with the eyes of the heart we see Who is really in control. Jesus takes the battlefield for us, and He cannot lose! For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). But for us fights the valiant One Whom God himself elected!
He goes on before us, banner unfurled as we march behind Him to carry out the mission He gave us just before He began His ascent: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:18–19).
Can you see it? Can you see your King and Hero with your heart’s eyes? Can you see the glory and majesty? We get anxious watching this passing world deteriorate with our human eyes. We begin to lose heart when we observe things going from bad to worse. But with the eyes of the heart we see our real homeland, our real kingdom and our true King. He is alive! He is seated at the right hand of the Father! He is more powerful than the devil and all His angels! And He is our best friend! What could be more glorious? And the better we see, the more determination and boldness we have to spread the Good News!
But there is still one more glorious thing to come. To the disciples who had watched him rise, two angels appeared and said: “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). May the eyes of your heart be enlightened! Use the eyes of faith and see what Christ has done! The Ascension shows that Jesus accomplished His mission! He defeated sin, death and the devil! See how He earned your salvation and has gone to prepare a place for you in the kingdom of Heaven. See Him at the right hand of God and know that He also fills the heavens and earth and is with you every day. With the eyes of your heart, picture the glorious, majestic day of His return. Let that vision strengthen you today and every day that you may “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Amen.
John 14:15–21
“If you love me, keep my commands. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
When you were little did you ever get lost in a department store? Suddenly you didn’t see your mother! Maybe she was on the other side of the dress rack. Panic filled your little eyes. Now that you’re an adult you may not panic quite so easily. Or do you? Does your calm and collected exterior hide some major fears? Who of us doesn’t long back, now and then, to those simple childhood days when someone else did all the worrying? Who of us wouldn’t like to say now and again—silently of course—“I want my mommy!” or “I want my daddy!”? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to once again feel someone a lot bigger put his arms around us at times and tell us confidently, “It’s all going to be alright!”
That’s normal. It’s just what the disciples were thinking when Jesus spoke to them His calming words, “I Will Not Leave You As Orphans.”
He spoke those words to us, too. We are God’s children, and Jesus has not left us as fatherless orphans. We are not alone. He Promised Us the Holy Spirit, and He Promised to Come Back for Us.
The Holy Spirit Will Come
Jesus spoke these words to His disciples on Maundy Thursday, and soon He would be taken from them. Soon they would feel abandoned. He had just told them “I am going [to my Father’s house] to prepare a place for you.” I’m sure their countenances visibly fell at those words, even though that was and should have been a good and comforting promise. But they weren’t ready to give Jesus up. The last three years had changed their lives and filled them with meaning. For the first time since their childhood, they didn’t really have to worry, because Jesus always knew the right thing to do or the right words to say. He could even do miracles if needed to make everything work out just right! They couldn’t imagine Him not being with them.
Thomas had interjected, as you recall from last week’s Gospel lesson: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Those were the stressed-out words of a distraught man. True, Thomas was not known for the depth and magnitude of his faith. But the other disciples would be just as distressed in the days ahead as Jesus was arrested, tried, crucified, and finally sealed in the tomb!
We feel just as distraught at the thought of losing loved ones. When those who are near to us fall ill; when we ourselves fall ill; when loved ones depart ahead of us for the mansions of heaven we can feel all alone and abandoned. Other things can make us feel alone and abandoned, too. When some problem looms large over us: fear of job loss, unsettling family situations, the rapid and scary changes happening in our country, can make us feel like crawling under the covers, closing our eyes, and hoping we’ll wake up to find that some dear parent took care of everything, and it was only a bad dream. But then reality sinks in. It’s not a dream. ‘I really am on my own now. My parents aren’t there to tuck me in and tell me everything will be all right.’
But am I really on my own? Is there really no one to watch over me and take care of everything? No, we are not alone, on our own, if we trust what Jesus says to us in such firm and reassuring words. “I will not leave you as orphans. … I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth.”
As Peter reminds us in our Epistle Lesson, the Holy Spirit came to us in our baptism and saved us, by washing away our sins in Jesus’ blood and giving us a clean conscience before God. Just as God saved Noah and his family from the perishing world through the water of the flood, so God saved us through the water of baptism from the destruction of the world.
Jesus called the promised Holy Spirit the Advocate. Other translations use the word “Helper” and “Comforter” and “Counselor.” The Greek word Jesus uses is “Parakleetos,” The word has been brought directly into our vocabulary as “Paraclete”—primarily through poetic Pentecost hymns. What does it mean? “Para” means “alongside” —arm over the shoulder. “Kleetos” means “he calls out.” The Counselor is the Holy Spirit who stands by our side and speaks out on our behalf as our Advocate and defense counsel. And while He has His arm around us He also talks to us and advises us. He offers us counsel and comfort. That’s why Jesus also calls Him “The Spirit of Truth.” The world cannot accept him, Jesus said, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Because Jesus sent Him we are never alone. We have not been orphaned. No matter what comes our way—difficult trials of any and every kind, the loss of a loved one, family problems, job-related worries, economic difficulties—none of these things can overwhelm us, not unless we are spiritually alone. But we are not alone! The Apostle Paul wrote: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. …The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express….Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:26, 27, 35, 37).
Jesus Will Come Back
Soon Jesus would be taken from the disciples—but not against His will. Jesus would let Himself be arrested that evening, because He needed to die for the sins of the world. That’s what He came for! Then He needed to reascend to take His place at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and govern all the affairs of the world so that His Gospel could spread out and people everywhere could be saved. If Jesus had stayed, He would have had twelve close friends. But because Jesus ascended, He now has hundreds of millions of friends.
What the disciples needed to know was that just because He was returning to the Father, He wasn’t abandoning them. Just because the church would spread and grow, He wouldn’t know them any less personally or love them any less intently as His friends. Just because they wouldn’t see Him, they wouldn’t be without Him. As He was about to ascend back to the Father, Jesus would say “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” But already, six weeks to the day earlier Jesus made them this solemn promise: 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
To make that promise all the more real for them, Jesus continued to appear to them during the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension. “You will see me,” He had said, and see Him they did. No, things weren’t the same. Jesus no longer walked dusty roads with them. Jesus no longer slept under the open sky with them. Jesus was glorified now. Things weren’t the same…. They were better! Now they understood Jesus had to die for their sins. Now they saw more fully how greatly He loves His friends. Now they saw even more clearly how He really is the almighty Son of God. Now they understood all the more what an awesome message Jesus was sending them into all the world to preach. Now they witnessed firsthand that the One who raised Himself from the dead had the power to come and raise them as promised on the Last Day.
Those promises were not just for the twelve. They were for us too! We’ve never gotten to see Jesus face to face—not yet anyway. But we know Him. We have seen Him by faith. He lives in our hearts. He still sits at the right hand of the Father for us. He governs the world for our benefit, so we—the Church—can carry out His commission to preach the Gospel to all nations. And He is still with us every day. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Jesus is with us to remove our loneliness. He will not leave us as orphans. Through the Word, Jesus comes to us and comforts us. Now, that last verse may trouble us a bit. That’s because every true Christian knows we break God’s commandments. Do we qualify as people who love Jesus? Are we qualified to be loved by Him and see Him? Of ourselves—no. But that isn’t the whole story, is it, because we know why Jesus came! He came “not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him should be saved.” He came to keep the commandments in our place and to pay for our many sins. In fact, the reason we love Jesus is because He first loved us and shed His blood for us on the cross. He lives to hear our confession and forgive us. He lives to fill us with love for Him and His commandments. True believers love His commandments so much that when we break them it makes us sad so that we flee to Him for refuge and relief. And He forgives us. When we have sinned, He reminds us that He wiped out each of our sins with His blood. When we go astray, He sends the Holy Spirit to us in His Word to lead us back to the right path. When we have doubts, the Holy Spirit reassures us of eternal truth. When we seem to have lost direction in our lives, He comes and reminds us just why we are here, namely to live to His glory, “always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks [us] to give the reason for the hope that [we] have” (1 Peter 3:15). When we fear death He reminds us, “Because I live, you also will live.”
It was Maundy Thursday, the night before the most significant three days in the history of the world, when Jesus spoke His promise, “I Will Not Leave You As Orphans.” The disciples would wonder if Jesus had in fact abandoned them as orphans. But on Easter Sunday He came back to deliver on each of His promises, and the disciples would know He was orphaned and abandoned on the cross, so we would never be orphaned and abandoned by God. And now we know it is true. Jesus Will Never Leave Us or Forsake Us.
Sometimes life feels like a big department store and we like lost, little children. Those big isles—one after another—make us feel hopelessly lost and abandoned at times. Strangers block our path and we wonder “Where is my dear parent?! Did they leave me behind? Next, they’ll take me to the manager’s office. He’ll have the police pick me up. Then they’ll take me to the judge and then, just like that, I’ll be in an orphanage like David Copperfield or poor little Orphan Annie!”
Not to worry! Jesus says, “I Will Not Leave You As Orphans.” When panic has set in for a hysterical lost child, suddenly mother appears around the corner, holds her little one and comforts her until the tears stop. She was there all along, right behind the women’s dresses. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are right there too. Don’t panic! Hear the arm-on-the-shoulder comfort of the Spirit and trust your best friend and Savior. Amen.
John 14:1–11
1“Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. 4You know where I am going, and you know the way.” 5“Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “so how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 7If you know me, you would also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that is enough for us.” 9“Have I been with you so long,” Jesus answered, “and you still do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I am telling you I am not speaking on my own, but the Father who remains in me is doing his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. Or else believe because of the works themselves. (EHV)
How many of you have loved ones already in heaven. They believed in Jesus and they died in the saving faith, and now they’ve gone ahead of you. A parent, a spouse, in some cases even a child. They’re already there because they knew the Way. They knew “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” They knew Jesus and now they are with Him. We confidently look forward to seeing them again in the not-so-distant future, where Jesus promised to give His disciples one of His many mansions. He is the Way—the only Way to heaven. How do I know that? Because Jesus is the Truth, and He has told me so, in the Bible. In Him is eternal life. He is the Life. He proved that when He rose from the dead, and He will raise us up from the dead on the last day.
Let’s consider Jesus’ reassuring words together today and remember gladly that Jesus Is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
Jesus Is the Way
Everyone wants to get to heaven, don’t they? Well, maybe not everyone. The growing number of atheists argue that heaven and hell don’t exist. Still, the majority say they want to get there. And they think it’s easy. They think everyone will eventually get there. They think there are multiple easy, wide roads that lead there. Back when Nancy Pelosi, who claims to be Roman Catholic but is virulently pro-abortion, was speaker of the house, she travelled to India to have the Dalai Lama pray for her at his Buddhist temple. She’s convinced that she’ll get to heaven, by trying to take multiple broad roads—all at the same time! Other politicians do the same kind of soul-destroying pandering while claiming to be Christians. But it’s hardly confined to politicians. Most Americans are just as mixed up about how to get to heaven.
But Jesus makes Himself so clear in John, chapter 14! Jesus said to His disciples 4You know where I am going, and you know the way.” 5“Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “so how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
We deserved eternal punishment in hell. Jesus was punished in our place. Faith in Jesus alone brings us to heaven. It’s as simple as that. But simple doesn’t mean easy. There’s a reason Jesus began by saying “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” The Jesus Way to heaven leads us through many troubles. Rather than a six-lane highway, the challenging road to heaven often resembles a narrow rocky path. It passes over high mountains and deep valleys, including the valley of the shadow of death. Persecution of those who follow Jesus on the Way is increasing around the world, and here in America, too. Just think of the hate-crime that took the lives of those Christian teachers and schoolchildren in Nashville that the media won’t call what it is because the victims are Christian. Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” precisely because following the narrow Way is troubling, humanly speaking.
Our narrow, steep path crosses the wide, smooth highways to perdition. And it’s tempting to leave the narrow path and get on the superhighway when our ankles are sore and our knees are burning. After all, the devil tells us, don’t all roads really go to heaven after all? No, they don’t! Jesus told us, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).
But what a blessed promise Jesus holds out to those few who persevere and keep following Him on His royal Way. “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. That’s why we stay on the narrow path, even when it leads through the driest desert or the darkest forest.
Jesus Is the Truth
Since that path is so narrow and difficult to find, how do we keep from getting lost? Jesus gives us clear directions because He is not only “the Way,” He is also “the Truth.” If you hike some of the desert trails, you know that sometimes it’s not entirely easy to discern the right path. So what do you do when you seem to be at a fork in the sand? You reexamine the printed trail map, and you strain your eyes to see the little trail markers. Jesus has given us a thorough, detailed map in His holy Word. It not only shows us the way, it even notes in detail the dangers to avoid along the way. He’s printed warnings there that show when the grade will be steep. He’s pointed out the wild animals to be aware of. He’s warned us not to take side paths that promise to be shortcuts, but aren’t. He’s explained the pitfalls to avoid. He speaks to us through the Word and tells us when to stop, when to go, when to slow down and when to speed up.
There are counterfeit maps also in circulation, and fake trail guides. There is Islam, of course, and Buddhism. Atheism is a religion, too. In fact, “Wokeism” and “Climate Changeism” are well on their way to being classified as religions. Perhaps the most popular religion of all is Universalism. But all these religions disagree fundamentally with what Jesus teaches, and Jesus clearly says He is not just “a” truth, but “THE Truth.”
There’s a popular post-modern notion that two contradictory truths can be true at the same time. FALSE. In the play Fiddler on the roof, one man reads a newspaper article that says the Russians are persecuting Jews in villages nearby and tells his fellow townspeople they should be concerned. “You’re right,” says Tevye, the main character. Another man says, “why worry about the world outside of our village.” “You’re right too,” said Tevye. Then a third man says, “they can’t both be right!” “Your right, too!” Tevye answers. That’s funny! But that’s what so many believe—that truth is relative and therefore not really truth.
Jesus does not ever say that! Pontius Pilate said that! Jesus says, rather, “I am the Truth. …No one comes to the Father, except through me.” Jesus is not just a teacher. He is the Word of God Himself. He is God—one with the Father. Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
All others err. Jesus cannot not err. His words are faithful and true when He rebukes us and tells us we are wrong. He doesn’t want us to go astray. He doesn’t want us to fall into a ditch or hurtle off of a cliff. And His words are just as true when He comforts and reassures us as we make our way along rocky mountain paths. When Jesus says He loves us, we can count on it because He only speaks absolute Truth. When He tells us everything will all be alright, we can absolutely count on it because He is one with the Father. Best of all, when He assures us that our sins are forgiven, that He paid for them on the cross, that because He lives, we too shall live, and that He has gone ahead to prepare a place for us, that we also may be where He is, we can count on that promise 100% because He IS the Truth. His Word is utterly faithful and true, because He is God. He and the Father are one. He cannot tell a lie.
Jesus is the Way to Heaven. By His holy life and innocent death, He earned us a place there. And Jesus is also the Truth who unfailingly guides to heaven through His Word.
Jesus Is the Life
Jesus is also the Life. Last week we heard Jesus, the Good Shepherd, say, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). According to that promise, we have already begun living our eternal life in Jesus. He poured it into us in baptism and nourishes it through His Word and Sacrament. Every day we’re getting closer to the joys of heaven. But while we’re still here, our life has already been filled with eternal significance and meaning. Already now we are God’s children and Jesus’ brothers and sisters. As royal sons and daughters of the King, God is preparing us for our future royal positions. That makes everything we do on the way to our eternal home of deep and lasting significance! Jesus says, 12“Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me will do the works that I am doing. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
Just think of the eternal significance of what we do as parents and grandparents to raise and keep our children in the faith so that they carry it forward again to their children. Six years ago this week, I got to baptize one of my grandchildren. Now it’s our job to remind her of that day when she received her passport to heaven as a citizen of the Kingdom of Our Lord and of His Christ. That’s the kind of “greater work” God has given us. It’s as great as any work can be. “Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me will do the works that I am doing. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
Following Jesus, the Way, is all about getting to our final destination. “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. How quickly we will forget the frustrations and trials of the long and difficult journey when we’ve finally arrived!
Jesus Himself traveled the path before us. At His Ascension, His disciples literally saw Him head back the final leg of the Way to heaven with their own eyes. This same Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. That’s who says to us, “Trust in God, trust also in me” … and we do! Amen.
Luke 24:13–35
13Now, on that same day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing this, Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. 16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” Saddened, they stopped. 18One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19“What things?” he asked them. They replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death. And they crucified him. 21But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. Not only that, but besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22Also some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. 23When they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” 25He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28As they approached the village where they were going, he acted as if he were going to travel farther. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them. 31Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those who were with them assembled together. 34They were saying, “The Lord really has been raised! He has appeared to Simon.” 35They themselves described what had happened along the road, and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. (EHV)
Do you remember the old days of pulling into a gas station to ask directions? Do you still pick up a paper map when you cross a state line? Or have you turned most of that work over to a map program on your dashboard or on your phone? Either way, life is a lot easier with directions. Without them, we easily go in circles, especially in Havasu City. The two disciples on the Way to Emmaus in need of guidance. They thought they knew where they were at, but they didn’t really know how they got there and didn’t know where to go next—until Jesus came and gave them directions. What a relief they felt as they finally saw the whole map and could understand God’s plan. No wonder they were so eager to plead, “Stay with Us, Jesus.” That’s our prayer, too!
We Need Jesus’ Guidance To Understand The Truth
It’s not surprising these two students were confused and felt lost. Their Guide was gone, or so they thought. He’d been the greatest teacher they’d ever had! But without Him they couldn’t remember much of what He’d taught them. He’d explained the Old Testament prophecies to them. He’d shown them how the Scriptures foretold the Messiah would suffer for the sins of His people. Jesus Himself had told His disciples repeatedly that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die and rise again. But they were so overwhelmed by the whole series of events which had taken place that their emotions kept them from remembering, much less putting two and two together and expecting Easter’s miracle.
Sure, they still knew—and said—that Jesus had been a great prophet, “mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” They remembered how a week earlier He’d entered Jerusalem to the shouts and songs of great crowds. They remembered the powerful sermons Jesus delivered in the temple courtyards on Monday and Tuesday. But then, they recalled, everything had suddenly gone wrong. He’d been arrested, arraigned on trumped-up charges, and hurried through an all-night trial. Then He’d been handed over to the governor, who attempted to free Him but got shouted down. The very same day He was led out to a hillside and summarily executed by Roman soldiers as though He were some kind of a mass murderer. People walked by and shook their fists at Him, shouting obscenities. What a whirlwind of events! What an emotional trauma! It’s no wonder these two disciples completely lost their bearings and couldn’t think straight!
That’s an explanation, but still no excuse for being so slow to remember and understand what Jesus had clearly spelled out beforehand. Therefore, Jesus scolded them, and that was fair. He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! They should have known better, especially since they had heard just that morning from not only the women who followed Jesus, but even from two of the Apostles, that there were angels sitting in His empty tomb, proclaiming that He had risen! Wasn’t this exactly what Jesus had told them in advance—that He would be handed over to the chief priests and teachers of the law and be crucified, and then rise again to life on the third day? That was the most outlandish prediction anyone ever made—and they missed it? They heard it only as background noise?!
Who did they hurt by not thinking through every word Jesus said as He taught them and predicted what would happen and why? Primarily themselves! Our text tells us they stood “saddened,” literally “with their faces downcast.” Their slowness to learn and believe made them depressed on the most exciting day in the history of the world. It’s enough to make you shake your head!
But before you do, let’s take a good look in the mirror. Don’t we, too, sometimes let our feelings and emotions get in the way of hearing, learning, and believing what God says? Adam and Eve were the first to let their feelings block God’s Word out of their minds. The devil knew just how to manipulate them. We, too, forget God’s Words just like our first parents and just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and just like them we wind up hurting ourselves. We wind up with our faces downcast and our hearts confused and depressed.
That’s when we need a kindly rebuke from Jesus just like He gave to Cleopas and his partner. And like them, we need Jesus to patiently re-teach us the basics. What would have happened to these two disciples if Jesus had not gone out of His way to give them His Word all over again? Would they have become atheists? Would they have simply dropped out of religion all together? Because that’s what happens to people today when their shallow or misguided ideas about Jesus don’t work out. They drop out, stop hearing the Word, fall from faith and eventually become hardened in unbelief.
We need to learn precisely who Jesus is, why He came to earth, what He did for us to earn our salvation, how He paid for our sins on the cross and rose again Easter morning—and we need to hear it again and again. We need Jesus to walk and talk with us. And that’s what we get when we hear His Word. We need God’s Word deeply rooted in our hearts and minds, so that when we have the kind of rough week these two disciples had, we don’t walk away in confusion and despair. We need Jesus to Stay with Us—and He promises to do that through His Word and Sacrament.
We Need Jesus’ Abiding Presence for Encouragement and Joy
When we let Jesus instruct us, so that we’re mature enough to handle those tough and confusing weeks that come—when we put in the effort to really learn from Him, we get a lot more than simply knowledge. We get joy!
Look at those two Emmaus disciples. They’d been moping around wondering what value their lives had any more. Had they been total fools? Had they placed their hopes in a false prophet? Were they going to have to admit to their friends and families that they’d been totally duped and joined a false cult? What an awful, depressing sinking feeling! But when Jesus instructed them—when He shared with them the treasured truths of the Bible their joy returned. The bounce returned to their steps—all because of Jesus’ Word! It was like an adrenaline injection. Once they stopped trusting their feelings, that “old feeling” returned—the excitement they had first experienced when they began following Jesus and listening to Him. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” No, it wasn’t an outward, emotional excitement, but a very real, deep inner burning—real and lasting hope and confidence, based on the truth of redemption and resurrection. It’s like the hymn writer says:
Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
Jesus gives us more than just knowledge when we let Him teach us His Word. He pours meaning back into our lives. He gives us hope. He gives us faith. He gives us the Holy Spirit. Have you ever sat there in a church service and truly been moved? Maybe it was the words of some hymn that did it, or a sermon that touched you just when you needed it most. That’s what Jesus wants to do for you all the time. That’s what happens when we keep on hearing and learning His Word.
As they walked on, they arrived at Emmaus and Jesus acted as if He were going to continue on. But they weren’t willing to let Him go. They pleaded with Him to please come to their home and continue talking with them. They couldn’t get enough of His gracious words. So, Jesus went in with them. They prepared a meal and Jesus sat down with them to eat. When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them. 31Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then he vanished from their sight.
Three days earlier Jesus had taken bread, broken it, given thanks and distributed it to His disciples, saying “Take and eat, this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” As their unknown guest repeated those very words and actions, they realized that it was Jesus. Now their joy was complete. They realized that Jesus was still with them. They realized that He had given His body as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. They realized that Jesus was risen and glorified and would never, ever leave them or forsake them. When they had rushed back to Jerusalem, they told the disciples everything that had happened, and that they had recognized Jesus “when he broke the bread.”
Today, our risen Lord has come into our midst again and spoken to us. And I pray that His words have warmed our hearts as well. But Jesus wants to do one more thing to assure us He is with us. He wants us to know for certain that He is truly in our midst. And so, we will give thanks, break bread, and let Him feed us. We will hear His own voice and recognize Him “in the breaking of the bread,” as He, truly present, gives us His own body to eat and His own blood to drink for the forgiveness of sins and to strengthen our faith.
How like the disciples on the way to Emmaus we all are at times. We make our way from one station in life to the next, and often get lost on the way. We fail to take comfort and encouragement from the Word. We lose sight of Jesus, and sometimes even mope as though He had been a failure. But then He comes to us again in His Word and Sacrament and revives our sinking spirits. Let Him do it often! Pray what those two disciples said so eagerly to Jesus that late afternoon: “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” Don’t miss out on the joy and encouragement and understanding and peace that Jesus gives when you let Him talk to you and feed you. Pray “Stay with Us, Jesus”—in Your Word and in your Sacrament. Amen.
John 20:19–31
19On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” 22After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
“Peace be with you!” Jesus said.The disciples were decidedly not at peace. They had experienced incredible emotional trauma, as their Friend and Mentor and Rabbi was taken away with His hands tied, subjected to a kangaroo court in the middle of the night and publicly executed. They were numb! But they were also scared. They thought maybe they were the next to go. But then, Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!”
When you were a scared little kid, do you remember your mother or father comforting you and making it all better? Jesus one ups that. He comes to us, just as He did those first disciples, and says to us, “Peace be with you!”
Jesus Appeared to His Disciples
On Maundy Thursday, all the disciples had boldly declared, “Lord even if we have to die with you, we will never desert you.” Now they were cowering in a secret upstairs room, hoping nobody would find them. They were afraid to venture out—except for Thomas. Despite their bravado, even despite the initial reports of Jesus being seen alive and angels at the tomb they were still afraid they might die. After all, by now, they might well have heard the rumor the soldiers were being paid to circulate—that they were guilty of sneaking to the tomb at night and stealing Christ’s body!
Not only were they scared, they were also grief stricken. Their whole way of life had suddenly come to an end. They wouldn’t leave Jerusalem this time, to go on another preaching tour with Jesus. It was all over.
But then Jesus came, and that changed everything. The risen Redeemer put them at peace. 19On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus took away their fear and their sorrow. Their fears were based on the thought that Jesus was the dead victim of the priests and Pharisees and Romans. He had looked so helpless hanging there on the cross. Their sorrow came not just from losing a friend, but from the thought that maybe all those moving things Jesus said weren’t real or true. ‘Maybe Jesus was just a well-meaning dreamer. Maybe we were just naïve to believe Him.’
But then Jesus came and put them at peace in their hearts. He hadn’t been a dreamer! He really is the Messiah! The Jewish leaders were wrong when they mocked Him on the cross, saying, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself!” Jesus did save Himself, and that means Jesus can indeed save others! What a joyful set of thoughts began rushing through the slow minds of the disciples. But rather than just speaking peace, “…he showed them His hands and side.” And joy swept over them.
How many times aren’t we fearful and sad just like the disciples? The stress of leading the Reformation and seeing the backlash against the Gospel from Rome got to Luther sometimes. The Good News that Jesus completely paid for our sins on the cross and freed us from the fear of death and hell was such a radically joyful message at the beginning of the Reformation, that Luther naively expected it would overwhelm the false teachings of the medieval church. When backlash came, and threats, and radical fanatics and then the peasant war, Luther got sad to the point of depression. One day, as he was moping in the house, Katie Luther came down the stairs dressed in all black, as if going to a funeral. Martin asked her why, and she answered, ‘Because Jesus is dead.” “Stop talking nonsense,” Luther rebuked. But Katie said, “Then why are you acting as if Jesus is dead.” Luther snapped out of it.
Sometimes we act as if Jesus is dead. We get all fearful and sad as if it’s just us against the world. We forget that Jesus rose from the dead. We forget that He paid for our ticket to heaven, and that He’s alive and with us today. He lives my mansion to prepare. He lives to bring me safely there.
The disciples needed courage for the job ahead. And Jesus gave it to them, proving death is but a doorway. “Because I live, you also will live,” Jesus had said. And now the disciples saw with their own eyes how true that is! That’s what gave Peter the confidence to write, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.”
Jesus Established the Gospel Ministry
They all needed that confidence, because Jesus was there to send them out of that room and into the world. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” 22After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus had trained these men as His disciples for three years. Now He was commissioning them as His Apostles. They were to be His official ambassadors. They would write His story. They were to carry His Name to every continent. Jesus breathed on them gave them the Holy Spirit in extra measure to give them wisdom, determination, and courage. And He equipped them with special authority—the authority to forgive and retain sins, to preach sin and grace one on one, up close and personal.
It’s appropriate that we take a few moments here to review just what the Ministry of the Word is. Jesus established not only His church, but the preaching ministry of the church. It is not a mere man-made arrangement for Christians to belong to a congregation or to have a minister of the Word. That is God’s will and Jesus’ arrangement. On Good Friday, Jesus declared the work of earning our salvation “finished!” On Easter, God the Father raised Jesus to prove it. But people need to hear the message in order to believe and be saved. Paul put it this way in Romans 10: “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (vv.13–15).
The ministry that Jesus established on Easter evening, is the same ministry we have today, through which the risen Redeemer puts us at peace. Through His Word and Sacraments Jesus calls us to repentance and then reassures us that we are forgiven, that our sins are paid for, that Jesus is alive, and that because He lives, we too shall live. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Jesus Removes All Doubt
But one of the Apostles was missing that night. He didn’t see Jesus. He didn’t hear Jesus’ voice, and he refused to believe what he heard from the other apostles. Despite his stubbornness, Jesus came back to show Himself to Thomas one week later. “Peace be with you” He said to Thomas and then had him touch the nail marks in His hands, and the spear wound in His side. 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
We can be glad that Thomas was stubborn because the devil tries to get us to doubt about Jesus, too. Bible critics claim, ‘the disciples were so sure Jesus would rise, that they convinced themselves they saw Jesus.’ ‘It was all in their heads,’ they say. Nothing could be further from the truth. The disciples were slow to understand the prophecies—even Jesus’ own clear words about what was going to happen. They were confused Easter day until they saw Jesus. A week later, thanks to Thomas’ demand and Jesus’ convincing proofs, we know without a doubt that the disciples didn’t imagine what they saw. Thomas was forced by the irrefutable proof to confess, “My Lord and my God!”
But then Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” We believe because we trust the Word of God. In fact, John concludes his book—and our text—by writing: Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
These Scriptures have convinced hundreds of millions of Christians through the ages, demonstrating the powerful working of the Spirit through the Word. And they have convinced you as well. The disciples staked their lives on what they saw—the risen Lord pronouncing His peace on them, tackling Thomas’ doubt, even asking for a piece of fish to eat to prove that He wasn’t a ghost. The risen Redeemer put them at peace.
Jesus, God’s Son, came into the world, lived without sin, went to the cross as the Lamb without blemish to pay for the sins of the world. He rose on Easter morning, showed Himself to His disciples as proof that His Word is true. And now we will live forever through faith in Him. We have heard and believed. Through His Word, the risen Redeemer puts us *at peace!* May we continue to gladly hear and believe the message of Jesus that chases away our fear, our sadness, and our doubts. And may we continue to support the ministry of the Word in our church and synod. Amen.
Matthew 27:62–63 On the next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered in the presence of Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remembered what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’
Matthew 28:5–6 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
If you watch different news channels the same story is often reported in two totally different ways. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to believe. There were two completely different versions of what happened on the first Easter too. There’s the one that has survived in writing from no less than five different sources, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the Apostle Paul. They all tell us the same story, filling in some extra details, but all in agreement on what took place that first Easter. But then there’s a totally different version, that the same writers tell us about: The “Fake News” story, namely that the disciples came and stole Jesus’ body.
The fake news version of Easter started with the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were worried they would lose their power and influence if people believed Jesus was alive so they made a plan to guard the tomb. They saw to it an official wax seal was placed on the stone at the entrance of the grave, and they arranged to have a detachment of guards spend the night there to make sure no one could disturb the burial place. In our text they said, “We remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’”
Did you hear what they called Jesus? “That deceiver.” And this was not the first time. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, these same people had challenged the temple guards who had been amazed at Jesus’ teaching, “You mean he has deceived you also?” (John 7:47). Wicked people project their motives on others. As they planned their own deception, they accused Jesus of being the deceiver.
More than once, Jesus had been unjustly labeled a deceiver. Could His resurrection be nothing more than a well-orchestrated hoax? Could the resurrection be “fake news”? No, Jesus Rose, Just as He Promised. Let’s examine the evidence.
He Was Truly Dead
Jesus Rose From The Dead Just As He Promised. For that to have happened, Jesus first of all had to be truly dead. We may take that for granted, but unbelieving skeptics haven’t. Have you ever heard of the “swoon theory”—the idea that Jesus simply passed out convincingly? But for Jesus to have risen from the dead in fulfillment of His incredible promise, there can be no mistake, no deception, in regard to His death. We weren’t there to witness the event. How can we be sure? Don’t take my word for it. Consider the facts.
First, of course, is the written testimony given by the evangelists, who passed on the words of Jesus from the cross. The last words Jesus cried out were “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Then, Matthew writes, He “gave up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50). That’s the definition of death—when the spirit leaves the body.
Jesus’ friends and mother weren’t the only ones who witnessed His death. What about those who actually executed him? Scripture tells us “when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus,…saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39). That Italian centurion was an official of the Roman government—and a soldier—hardly what you’d call a sympathizer. Undoubtedly, the centurion had witnessed lots of deaths. He knew. He testified. Jesus was dead.
And what about the crowds? Luke wrote: “When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away” (Luke 23:48). Why did they do that? Why did they express such grief? Because of the scene they beheld. They saw Jesus cry out, then bow His head in death and stop breathing. Then, at the very same moment they heard the earthquake. His spirit left him. Jesus was dead.
Finally, we have the word of the soldiers whose job it was to make sure that the crucified men actually died. They were sent out to break the legs of the three being crucified to speed up their deaths. But when they came to Jesus, they didn’t do it. Why not? Certainly to fulfill the Scripture which said, “Not one of his bones will be broken” (John 19:36). But the Roman soldiers weren’t exactly Bible readers. They simply saw that He was already dead. Instead one of the soldiers thrust a spear into Jesus’ side, just to be sure. Out flowed blood and water. Yes, Jesus was dead.
Dear friends, we could go on. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross and carried Him to the garden tomb. The women who followed to the tomb with them to watch—they also gave the same testimony. Even the chief priests and the Pharisees joined in by demanding a guard be posted at the tomb to make sure the dead man stayed put. Jesus was dead.
The Jewish leaders falsely accused Jesus of being a “deceiver.” If He had been, the time of His death would have been the time to do it! If you want to stage a fake resurrection, it’s a lot easier if you’re not really dead! But there was no deception. His death was not “fake news” but the real deal.
When He began his final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus foretold He would die there. He took His disciples aside and said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again” (Luke 18:31-33). It all happened just as Jesus had said it would.
It may sound strange, but we find great comfort in the fact that Jesus truly died. Why? Because, as we learned on Good Friday, the Old Testament prophets had foretold, “He was taken away without a fair trial and without justice, and of his generation, who even cared? So, he was cut off from the land of the living. He was struck because of the rebellion of my people. 9 They would have assigned him a grave with the wicked, but he was given a grave with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, and no deceit was in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:8–9). The prophecies were clear: the Messiah was to die. If Jesus had not died, if His death had been a deception, you and I would be doomed, because God demanded the death of His Son as payment for our sins. If Jesus had not really died, we would still be guilty.
But His death was no deception, and we are justified—acquitted before God. Thank heaven that Jesus really died!
He Is Truly Alive
But as surely as the Lord died, so surely did He rise from the dead! Again, there was no deception. It’s not “fake news.” It’s the real deal.
Oh, the chief priests and elders of the people tried their best to make it look like “fake news.” They gave the soldiers who stood guard at the tomb a large sum of money and told them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep’” (Matthew 28:13). That’s a pretty lame story when you think about it, since the penalty for a Roman soldier falling asleep on the job was death. But the Jewish leaders wanted it to look as if Jesus’ followers had pulled off a grand illusion.
But there was no deception in Jesus’ resurrection!
Again, consider the evidence. When the women arrived at the tomb, a totally unexpected sight greeted them. The guards were gone. The stone had been rolled away. The tomb was empty. Mind you, they didn’t jump to any spiritual conclusions. Just the opposite! They assumed there was some completely earthly explanation: the grounds-keeper had moved the body or, worse yet, perhaps someone had stolen it.
The angels, however, knew the truth. They told the women, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” Angels—beings created to come and go from the presence of the living God—were the ones who delivered the news. God’s holy angels do not lie.
It’s not good to question the reliability of an angel’s message. Remember when Zechariah did so? The angel responded, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news” (Luke 1:19). And before he could say another word, Zechariah had been struck dumb to teach him a lesson: When angels appear to you and talk, listen up! The angels on Easter morning were sent by God Himself to deliver the good news to the women: Jesus Rose, Just As He Promised.
But the angels weren’t alone. Many others testified that Jesus had risen. The women later saw Jesus with their own eyes. Then the disciples saw Jesus appear before them in the upper room. A week later, Thomas—the biggest skeptic of them all—touched His hands and His side. In fact, more than five hundred believers saw Him at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:6). Summing it all up in his first epistle, John tells us, “That which…we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim” (1 John 1:1).
The disciples saw, heard, and touched the Lord, not just once or twice, but repeatedly over the course of forty days, before they personally witnessed Him ascend into heaven. He talked with them. He ate and drank with them. He even cooked breakfast for them on a beach! The evidence is overwhelming! If it weren’t, Gamaliel’s prophecy would have come true, and Christianity would have quickly died out—no more than a blip on the radar screen of history! Instead, the truth of Jesus’ resurrection has conquered the globe, as evidenced by the millions upon millions in church this day.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord made a promise. When He told the disciples He would die in Jerusalem, He also told them that He would rise again. What an outrageous promise! No other person in the history of the world has ever promised to return to life and then actually done it! Only Jesus! He alone has the power over death! He Rose Just As He Promised! Try as they might, the Jewish leaders couldn’t stop Him. They knew He said He would rise again. They knew that if Jesus did what He said He would do, He would overthrow all their false ideas. They knew their followers would recognize them as frauds and abandon them. But they couldn’t do anything about it! Their paid guards couldn’t stop Jesus. Nothing could! He Rose Just As He Said He Would.
And if Jesus could keep this most awesome promise, we need to take everything else He says seriously. He can do everything He promises! And He promised: “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). He can and will keep that promise. Let there be no doubt in your minds. Let there be no fear in your hearts. I Know that My Redeemer Lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives!” Jesus lives! This real news has stood the test of time for 2000 years. Jesus Rose, Just as He Promised! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Matthew 21:1-11
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there along with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their outer clothing on them, and he sat on it. 8 A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them out on the road. 9 The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, asking, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” (EHV)
We’ve come to the culmination of our journey. Jesus has arrived at Jerusalem. It all started in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born as the Son of David, the everlasting King of Israel, long promised and prophesied. Already there in Bethlehem, the Magi from the East came to find the promised King of the Jews. We followed Jesus’ ministry from the time He was baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. For three years He preached and healed throughout Galilee and Judea and even Samaria. Since Ash Wednesday we’ve seen Him zeroing in on his goal, telling His disciples that He would be going up to Jerusalem where He would be mistreated and abused and handed over to the Gentiles to be crucified, but on the third day rise again. Last week we observed as Jesus did His greatest miracle of all, raising Lazarus from the dead. After some final, intensive instruction of His disciples He has now come to the final week and the closing days of His life on earth as our Savior. Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now He must be lifted up on the cross to sacrifice His innocent blood for the sins of the world.
But first, one more prophecy must be fulfilled—the prophecy of Zechariah. Jesus must ride into Jerusalem as a humble King. He must make His way to the cross. As the hymnist wrote: Ride On, Ride On in Majesty, In Lowly Pomp Ride On to Die. But first, Hark, All The Tribes Hosanna Cry.
Hark, All the Tribes Hosanna Cry
Many acclaimed Him as Jesus rode into the city, just as was foretold through the prophet Zechariah. A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them out on the road. 9 The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting. Truly they should have shouted and acclaimed Him, for He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Listen to their cry: Hosanna to the Son of David! God had promised David that one day he would have a Son who would sit eternally on his throne. It was the Lord Himself who would provide this eternal Heir. How appropriate was their acclamation: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Jesus was more than a King He was and is the Lord Himself. Hosanna in the highest! they shouted, as they should have, for His throne is at the right hand of the Father.
Truly they should have acclaimed Him, for He is the Long awaited Savior of the world, foretold by Zechariah and all the prophets. “Hosanna” means “Lord, Save us,” and those words were properly directed at Jesus, the Lord of lords.
Sadly, for many, it was a superficial cry, quickly to be forgotten. They didn’t understand the importance and the truth of their own words—liturgical words ingrained in their vocabulary from childhood. Pray that never happens with the liturgical words we speak to our Lord—the words of the confession of sins, the words of the creed, the words we so often sing in our communion liturgy: “O Christ, the Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.” *“Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”*
The people of Jerusalem cried out because they were swept along in the excitement of the moment. ‘Here comes the great prophet! Here comes the rabbi who does miraculous things. This is the man who raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead after four days!’
But how quickly their mood shifted, when Jesus refused to set up an earthly kingdom. Four days later He still hadn’t established His throne. Four days later there were still Roman soldiers patrolling the streets. Five days later, many of the same people were therefore stirred up as a mob to shout “Crucify him, crucify him!” just as easily swept up in the crowd mentality and emotion as on Palm Sunday—only in a different direction.
It is no wonder that, according to Luke, this day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the empty acclamations of joy, is the very day when Jesus wept over the unbelief of the people of Jerusalem: As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41-44).
Is our “Hosanna” heartfelt? When we sing “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy” do we really mean it? Our hymns, our words, our coming to church—is it based on emotion, family ties, or mere habit? Is it based on false hope for earthly success and ease, as was the Hosanna of many on that first Palm Sunday?
Our “Hosanna” should be based on fact, and can be. The Scriptures tell us who Jesus truly is (as in fact they told the Israelites then, if only they would have listened). He is the Savior from sin and eternal death—Son of God and Son of Man, eternally begotten of the Father. God from God, Light from God, True God from True God. His miracles, too, attested to His divine sonship.
How quickly loyalty to Jesus can change if it’s based on outward things like crowds and emotions and earthly ease and success. Let us not quickly lose sight of who Jesus really is—the Savior from sin and ruler of the universe, who will return in majesty to judge:
“Ride on, Ride on, in majesty!
Your last and fiercest strife is nigh
The Father on His sapphire throne
Awaits His own anointed Son.”
But, as that hymn verse attests, first comes that “fiercest strife.” Indeed!
Ride on, Ride on, in majesty
. . . In lowly pomp, ride on to die.
In Lowly Pomp Ride On to Die
Jesus knew what lay ahead. He had forewarned His disciples. He had been preparing for this all along. On Maundy Thursday in Gethsemane as He prayed with sweat like great drops of blood, Jesus revealed that He knew full well of the cup of suffering He was expected to drink. And He knew its purpose also. Our reading from Philippians reminds us that Jesus knew it all from eternity. He knew why He was coming down to this earth before He was born. (Jesus demonstrated His omniscience when He instructed His disciples where to find the donkey for His parade.)
Many times the leaders in Jerusalem had wanted to arrest Jesus, but He had prevented them. Now, during the feast, when they did not want to arrest Him, Jesus would see to it they did! He let the cries of the people go on, even defending them: “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:39-40).
Why did Jesus let them draw such deadly attention to Himself? Why, after avoiding arrest earlier, does Jesus now court disaster during the feast? Because Jesus Is the Passover Lamb! He must die on the Passover to fulfill the Passover. The original Passover Lamb was sacrificed in Egypt on the night the Israelites were rescued from slavery. But its annual commemoration looked forward to the true Lamb of God who would rescue all people from their bondage to sin. As the Passover Lamb’s blood—painted on the doorposts—saved God’s people in Egypt from the angel of death, so the blood of Jesus Christ saves us from eternal death and the devil. Of course Jesus rode on in lowly pomp to die right on God’s schedule at the Passover!
“Lowly pomp” indeed—riding on an animal designed for humble, peaceful work, not for war and glory like a steed. He rode in, being praised by the children and commoners as most of the dignitaries stayed noticeably away, and even mocked and rebuked those who acclaimed Jesus (Luke 19:39-40).
Jesus wants to enter our hearts meekly and humbly. He wants to come into our hearts today and every day, not as the King of Kings, the frightening Lord of all creation and judge of all mankind. But rather as the meek and humble Savior. He wants to enter our hearts with forgiveness, strength, joy and peace. Let Him enter gently and stay. Let Him love you. Let Him forgive you. Trust Him. As Zechariah foretold: “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey!”
This is the purpose of Holy Week, or as the Germans call it, Stille Woche, quiet week. Letting Jesus ride gently into our hearts is the purpose of observing Maundy Thursday and Good Friday before we celebrate Jesus as King on Easter Sunday. Let these days serve their purpose. Come and hear God’s Word. Partake of your Savior’s sacrament. Meditate on your Savior’s suffering and death—and His victory over suffering and death.
Let all the days of grace God has given you here on earth serve their purpose of grace. Take them and use your time of grace wisely. Focus on Him. Remember Him. Trust in Him now as your gentle, loving Savior, before He return in full pomp and majesty as Judge.
“Ride on, Ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die
Bow Your meek head to mortal pain
Then take, O Christ, Your pow’r and reign!”
Amen.
Romans 8:11-19
1 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you. 12 So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. 13 For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. 14 Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Can you imagine being there, that day in Bethany when Lazarus came walking out of his tomb? Jesus had done many miracles before that day, but none quite as big as this one. He’d made lepers whole. He’d made the blind see. He’d even raised the dead before—but never right in a cemetery days after the funeral and burial. What people witnessed that day changed them. People who’d been interested in Jesus, had their last doubts removed. “Many put their trust in him,” John reports.
It’s one thing to have been a witness. But can you imagine what it was like for Lazarus? One day you’re ill and getting worse. Your sisters kept telling you they’ve sent for Jesus. But He didn’t show up and you just kept getting sicker and weaker until finally you couldn’t stay awake any more. The next thing you know, you hear Jesus’ voice calling you. “Lazarus, come out!” You wake up, wrapped like a mummy, and stumble toward the little bit of light you can make out through the cloth wrapped around your face. You hear shouting and shrieking and crying. You hear pounding footsteps as people run up to you to release you from those tight burial cloths—and then you can see. You’re not where you were the last you remember. You’re not at home anymore. You survey the scene and begin to realize what’s going on. You’re at your family’s crypt in the cemetery. You’ve been inside it! Everyone is dressed for mourning. Your sisters run up to you and put their arms around you, hug you and kiss you, tears flowing down their cheeks. And then you see Jesus. You can see in His eyes that He’s been crying too. Like a press conference, people start asking a million questions. “What did it feel like to be dead?” By the end of the day, you finally have a moment to think. It’s almost unimaginable what has happened.
Lazarus was a new man—not only alive again…but changed! He would never be the same again. Every moment from that day forward must have been so much more valuable, yet at the same time he never again had to fear he’d ever run out of time. He now knew firsthand that death is not the end of life. No fear could ever overwhelm him. If his dear Savior could raise him from the dead, what could ever harm him?
In our Epistle lesson today, Paul urges each of us to Live Like Lazarus.
Live Like You’ve Been Raised From the Dead
Paul isn’t asking us to use our imagination. In the verse right before our text, Paul wrote: “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10). Elsewhere he put it this way: “…Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5).
Without faith, without Christ, we were nothing but walking dead, but God has put His Spirit in us, and now we are alive! Without faith in God, there is no real hope and no great purpose to life. Without faith in God, I don’t know why I’m here or where I’m going. Without faith, I try to go on with my life without thinking about such things because it’s scary. The devil fills the void by providing millions of distractions so that I won’t think about the big questions. But they have to be answered, because we will all die and face our Maker.
Are we ready to realize how hopeless and meaningless life would be without God? Are we ready to listen to the powerful voice of Jesus, who can even call the dead back to life with His voice? We need the voice of God who can change death into life, sin into forgiveness and time into eternity. God raises us up from spiritual death by His Word. He drowns the old me in baptism and raises up a new me again to live for Him here in time and forever with Him hereafter. Paul wrote “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into [His] death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). You were dead, but now you’re alive—just Like Lazarus!
Lazarus would never be the same, ever again. And neither can we be! 12 So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. 13 For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. Lazarus lived the rest of his life, fully committed to the One who had raised him from the dead. We want to Live Like Lazarus. Every step he took, every bite he ate, every breath he drew—he knew he was living on borrowed time, someone else’s time, God’s time. How could he waste those precious moments? How could he devote them to sinning or idleness or worldliness? He lived each day with a clear vision of what lay behind and what lay ahead. He lived each day with prayer and without fear.
What grace it is when we recognize that we were dead without God. What a blessing that God led us to realize the meaninglessness of life without Him—the way God finally taught Solomon to think. Solomon described life without God in the book of Ecclesiastes: “My heart began to despair over all my hard work at which I worked so hard under the sun. 21 Sure, there may be a man who has worked hard—wisely, aptly, and skillfully. But he must hand over whatever he accumulated by all his hard work to a man who has not worked hard for it. This too is vapor. It’s so unfair!” (2:20-21). Without faith in God the most we could hope for would be a nice cemetery plot, and a few tears and flowers. We were as good as dead, like Lazarus, spiritually, but now God has made us alive! Now we know that we will rise again and live with God forever.
We owe everything to Him. Without Jesus we are deadenders. Helpless and hopeless. As a reminder, God allows hardships, disease, suffering and a nagging conscience to remind us again and again to despair of ourselves and live for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. 17Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. We all suffer in this life. How meaningless it would be if this life were all there is. How helpless we would feel if God hadn’t adopted us as His children in baptism. How lonely it would be if we couldn’t call out to Him as His dear children in prayer. But we can! 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.* And our Father hears us! He is our dear dad, our Abba***!
Imagine how Lazarus looked at Jesus that day! He owed Him everything! And so do we, now that He’s given us a new life that will never end. 12 So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. 13 For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.
Live Like You Will Be Raised From the Dead
Like Lazarus, Live remembering that You’ve Been Raised from the Dead in Baptismand Like Lazarus, Live knowing Your Body Will Be Raised from the Dead on the last day, just as Martha said to Jesus when He arrived at the cemetery. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.
You have been marked with the Holy Spirit to be one of those who will joyously rise from the grave on the Last Day to live forever with the Lord. You’re going to experience a scene just like the day in Bethany when Jesus raised Lazarus. You won’t have to imagine what it must have been like to be Lazarus. You’ll experience it firsthand. The very hands you have in your lap right now—the very eyes and ears you’re using right now will be resurrected, only better.
When Lazarus rose, he was still mortal. He was still susceptible to disease. He would die again. He still lived in a dusty village. When we are resurrected, we will have glorified bodies, in a new, glorified world. That’s why Paul says, 19In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed.
We will know joy beyond description. At the grave of Lazarus, even Jesus Himself wept. On that day there will be no tears because there will be no more death—no pain, no suffering, no aging, no itching, no anything that to detract from our pure joy—ever again! Paul writes: “Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” Because we are eternal people, with such joy awaiting us, we’re willing to suffer with Christ on our way there. We’re not worried about anything that could happen to us. As Paul goes on to say after our text, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37–39). Whatever suffering we may need to endure is really only for a short time, and not even worth being mentioned in the same breath with what is to come.
My eternal friends, we’ve already experienced one resurrection—we were dead in sin, but now we’re alive in Christ. We’re going to experience another one—the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. How can this not affect the way we believe and live each day? How we use our hands? Our ears and eyes, knowing these are the hands and eyes and ears that will be raised and renewed by Jesus?
At many funerals I’ve read this old prayer at the graveside: “O Lord Jesus Christ, who will come in majesty to judge the living and the dead and call forth all who are in the grave, either to the resurrection of salvation or to the resurrection of damnation, we implore you to be gracious unto us and to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, so that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in you and, on the last day, be raised up to life everlasting and inherit the kingdom which you have prepared for all who believe in you. To you be glory and praise, now and forever.”
Trust in Jesus for full forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. Then Live Like Lazarus! Amen.
Isaiah 42:14–21
14 I have been silent for a long time. I have kept still. I have restrained myself. But now, like a woman giving birth, I will scream. I will gasp and pant. 15 I will dry up mountains and hills. I will make all their grass wither. I will turn rivers into islands. I will dry up pools. 16 I will lead the blind on a way they do not know. Along paths they do not know I will direct them. Ahead of them I will turn darkness into light and rough places into level ground. These are the things I will accomplish for them. I will not abandon them. 17 They will be turned back and completely disgraced— those who trust in an idol, those who say to molten images, “You are our gods.” 18 You deaf ones, listen! You blind ones, watch carefully so that you can see! 19 Who is as blind as my servant? Who is as deaf as my messenger whom I sent? Who is as blind as my associate, as blind as the servant of the Lord? 20 You, Israel, see many things, but you do not observe. Israel opens his ears, but he does not hear. 21 Because of his own righteousness, the Lord was pleased to make his law great and glorious. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
My guess is that some of you don’t see as well as you used to. I’ve known people dealing with macular degeneration. If you’re fortunate enough to live longer you get to have cataracts removed, maybe more than once or twice. But can you imagine what it would be like to be born blind? To have never seen anything? Years ago, I used to visit a group home every Friday afternoon to teach Bible lessons. One of the happiest residents there was named Robert. He was so excited to sing Bible songs and hear Bible stories. He was about 35 years old but had the development level of perhaps a 10-year-old. He wasn’t only blind; he had been born without eyes. But He could see his Savior! He loved Jesus. He was eager to be baptized, but his mother, who had eyes that worked, but was spiritually blind, refused to allow it. That was not a good thing to do The Lord soon ended her life unexpectedly and Robert was finally free to be baptized. How happy he was that day! Now he could see his Savior even better!
Why was he born blind? I don’t know, but I do know that God sure used it to give him eternal vision! One day in Jerusalem people asked Jesus about a man born blind. They figured it was a direct punishment of either him or his parents. The Lord answered, rather, it was so that he could meet Jesus that day, be healed in public, and thereby bring glory to God. Many could see what had happened and did glorify God, but not the spiritually blind Pharisees who proudly claimed that day that they were the only ones who could see everything ‘clearly’. Jesus warned them ominously, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
How about you? Can You See What God Sees?
Those Who Think They See Are Blind and in Danger
Like the Pharisees, many of their Jewish ancestors were also spiritually blind but thought they could see everything clearly. Based on their outward peace and prosperity, they claimed ‘the proof was in the pudding.’ They were living in ease and luxury. They had the same prideful attitude as those who asked Jesus why the man had been born blind? “Who sinned?” they asked, as if bad people always have it bad, and so-called good people always have it easy. Day after day God sent His prophet Isaiah to warn of coming judgment for Judah, but they dismissed his message because no judgment had yet come and they were still living in ease. In our text, God admits that His judgment has been delayed—because of His longsuffering mercy—but that His patience would soon wear out! 14 I have been silent for a long time. I have kept still. I have restrained myself. But now, like a woman giving birth, I will scream. I will gasp and pant. 15 I will dry up mountains and hills. I will make all their grass wither. I will turn rivers into islands. I will dry up pools.
The Pharisees thought they saw everything clearly. The people of ancient Judah thought they saw all things clearly. If we are arrogant like them and trust our own so called “common sense” more than God’s Law and His Gospel, we put ourselves in the same category—the blind who think they can see.
Without the Light of God’s Word, our world is filled with blind people—people who believe there will be no judgment. ‘We can live any way we want. We can dismiss the 10 Commandments as out of date. There is no God. There is no Jesus.’ Listen again to God’s words through Isaiah: 14 I have been silent for a long time. I have kept still. I have restrained myself. But now, like a woman giving birth, I will scream. I will gasp and pant. Don’t be fooled by the Lord’s gracious delay in sending judgment. The silence will not last. The Lord’s tolerance of arrogant mankind will not last. I will dry up mountains and hills. I will make all their grass wither. I will turn rivers into islands. I will dry up pools. Arrogant Judah thought their land would last forever, but the Lord sent the Babylonians. The Babylonians after them thought their empire would last forever. But then, suddenly, the Lord broke His silence again. He cried out like a woman in labor and Babylon was destroyed by the Medes and the Persians, and a small, believing remnant of Jews was allowed to return to Jerusalem.
If God did not spare Judah. If He did not spare the ancient empires, will He spare modern kingdoms and countries which mock and defy Him? What awesome responsibility falls on those called to be spiritual leaders, who are to see and then show what God says and warns, such as the leaders of Judah at the time of Isaiah and the spiritual leaders of Israel at the time of Christ. “18You deaf ones, listen! You blind ones, watch carefully so you can see! 19Who is so blind as my servant [Israel], or so deaf as my messenger, [the people] whom I sent [to tell the the world the truth]? …You, Israel, see many things, but you do not observe. Israel opens his ears, but he does not hear. And what will be their punishment? 17They will be turned back and be completely disgraced….”
God had given Israel the Gospel. He had blessed them with the saving truth of His Word, and they had ignored it. They had twisted it. They had lost it, and God held them accountable.
New Testament Israel is the church, and it is incumbent now upon us to listen carefully and see clearly both God’s warnings and His mercy, lest we in our turn, be turned back and be completely disgraced….” Let us keep getting our hearing and eyesight checked. Let us look for the beams in our own eyes and the motes that block our vision. Let’s check for nearsightedness that prevents us from seeing God. Let us correct the stigmatism that blurs our understanding of God’s truth so that We Can See What God Sees and be His faithful messengers.
Those Who Recognize Their Blindness Will Be Led by God
Only the one who goes to the eye doctor, comes home with new glasses. Only those who recognize their natural blindness hold out their hands to be led by God. God graciously offers, 16 I will lead the blind on a way they do not know. Along paths they do not know I will direct them. Ahead of them I will turn darkness into light and rough places into level ground. These are the things I will accomplish for them. I will not abandon them.
The Lord is always gracious to those who turn to Him for help. As later generations of Jews like Daniel and his fellow believing Jews in Babylon opened Isaiah’s scroll and read God’s then 100-year-old promise through Isaiah, they were comforted knowing that somehow the Lord would keep His promise and bring His people back home. He would make a way in the desert and lead them along new and unfamiliar paths until they were finally back in the Holy City. The Lord kept His promise: “I will not abandon them.”
But the Lord fulfilled these words in a much more dramatic and lasting way 700 years later when He, the Lord Himself, personally and physically came in His mercy to lead the blind home to the true promised land of heaven. Jesus didn’t heal every case of physical blindness. He came to heal the spiritual blindness of our souls so We Can See What God Sees. But in order to prove He was the One foretold by Isaiah, He did heal the blind, like the man in today’s Gospel. He did it so others would see the authority of His Words and listen.
Most of us don’t like to talk about our weaknesses. But there comes a time when we realize only God can help. The blind man in our Gospel had come to that point. Can we admit our blindness and beg Jesus for light and sight?
When God came to rescue the Jews from Babylon, He literally opened up a “new highway in the desert.” Thousands of former captives followed God’s lead through men like Ezra and Nehemiah. Not only did they return to their homeland; not only did they rebuild the temple and the city; but now they listened to God’s Word and they believed what they heard. They believed and waited in faith for the coming of Messiah and were saved.
When Jesus came, He opened up a new highway for all people, a Way through the wilderness of this world to the promised land of heaven. Jesus opened that Way by taking our sins on Himself and being punished for them in our place by dying on the cross. Then He rose from the dead and ascended ahead of us to open the final stretch of the highway to heaven.
And now He Himself takes us by the hand—we who were blind—and leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. He alone knows the way. He IS the Way! We need Him to take us by the hand and bring us safely there. We need Him to keep us from stumbling and falling. The minute we think we can see on our own we start to wander and put our souls at risk. As our text says, these are “ways [we] do not know.” We don’t know the turns. We don’t know where the rocks might be along the way or holes on the side, or steep cliffs at the edges. We have to let Jesus take us by the hand and lead us.
The Lord leads and guides us when we listen to His Word. That’s the only way He can turn our darkness into light. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” When the apostle Paul was converted, he was struck blind. Then as he was instructed in the Word by the aged Ananias, something like scales fell from his eyes. The same thing happens for us throughout our lives as we continue to learn from God, admitting we can’t see what God sees on our own.
It is sad how many refuse to allow the Lord to teach and lead them. We all fall into that trap at times. We need to continually ask ourselves, ‘What is my attitude toward hearing, reading and learning God’s Word? Do I think I can see the truth on my own? Am I at risk like the Pharisees of being blind while claiming to see? None of us sees 20/20 spiritually.
The Lord didn’t promise to lead those who claim they see. No, He said, 16 I will lead the blind on a way they do not know. Along paths they do not know I will direct them. Ahead of them [the blind] I will turn darkness into light and rough places into level ground. These are the things I will accomplish for them. I will not abandon them.
Will you follow Him? We were blind, before God gave us sight through faith. And we’ve still got a long way to go. Let’s keep begging Jesus for sight. In this Lenten season, let us repent of our sins of pride and self-assurance. Let us repent of overestimating our wisdom and knowledge. Let us ask Jesus to forgive us these sins for the sake of His sacrifice on the cross. And let us resolve to let Him lead and guide us through His Word, so We Can See What God Sees. Amen.
John 2:1–26
Whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.” (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Last week we heard Jesus tell Nicodemus “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). Jesus wanted to save Nicodemus, the Jewish council member. He told him that “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Today Jesus is seeking out another person—as different from Nicodemus as anyone could possibly be—for the same reason. Jesus wanted to save her. Scripture tells us Jesus “wants all people to be saved.” We are saved through faith in Jesus. Paul elaborated, He “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”(1 Timothy 2:4).
John 4 is one of the great evangelism texts in the Bible, where Jesus Himself is the evangelist. It’s remarkable, considering how eager He is to bring faith and forgiveness to this woman, that Jesus is so incredibly truthful with her even on touchy topics. But it really shouldn’t surprise us, because it is, after all, the truth that sets us free and saves us—especially the truth that Jesus is the One and Only Savior. The Gospel truth is Living Water in the dreary desert of life. The Gospel brings life, just like rain brings blooms amidst the sand and stones around us. Samaria was a parched land when it came to the Gospel, but on this day a super-bloom began.
Jesus Seeks People to Save Them
It was very rare for a Jew to pass through Samaria. In modern terms, it would be like a Jewish Israeli heading into the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. But Jesus went there intentionally because He wanted to save a Samaritan woman and her village by bringing them to “the knowledge of the truth.” Jesus sought her out. She wasn’t looking for Jesus. She didn’t venture into Jewish territory. Jesus came to her hometown. She wasn’t out looking for a spiritual awakening. She’d probably become a bit cynical about spiritual matters. After all, she was shunned by her own people. She certainly didn’t expect anything more than condemnation from a Jew. She was just looking for a bucket of water to do the dishes and cook the evening meal. All the other ladies went there in the evening, so she went at noon so she wouldn’t bump into any of them and have to feel their eyes looking at her.
But she didn’t find the solitude she was looking for. Someone was there. That’s because Jesus came to meet her. She didn’t know it, but He was there because He wanted to invite her to heaven, and through her, many others. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Then Jesus, being tired from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When it came to religion the Samaritans were a mixed breed. They only recognized the first five books of the Bible. They didn’t recognize the prophets other than Moses. They didn’t go to Jerusalem to worship. Jews thought of them the way we would about some far-out sects. But Jesus wasn’t afraid to witness to anyone. He “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). The Samaritan woman wasn’t looking for Jesus, but Jesus was looking for her. He knew He would meet her there that day at noon. And sure enough, right on schedule, A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Notice how Jesus treats this stranger. Jesus knew her heart and her unsavory life story. He knew that she had false beliefs and that she was “living in sin” with her boyfriend. But none of that held Him back. He not only talked to her politely, He even asked to drink from her ladle! Was He the only Jew not afraid of Samaritan germs?! Jesus wasn’t condoning her false religion or her tenuous relationship with the 6th Commandment, as we’ll see. But neither does He view her as irredeemable. He doesn’t regard her as a spiritual enemy. Rather He sees her as a victim of the Adversary—Satan. He sees her as someone who is lost and needs to be found.
Now that she’s curious, Jesus further piques her interest: [He] answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
“Living Water,” could have simply meant spring water to her, as opposed to well water. She still doesn’t get the spiritual meaning Jesus is driving at, so she answers with a touch of cynicism in her voice: “Sir,” she said, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals.” 13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.”
Now Jesus has made it perfectly clear that He’s not talking about ordinary liquid water. Jesus wanted her to see that He had something she really needed. He wanted to go from asking her for something, to getting her to ask Him for something. Notice that Jesus is doing all the work in this conversation, the work of directing her thoughts to God. You see, people don’t seek God by nature. We need God to seek us.
That’s why we want to reach out to people with the Gospel—not just wait for them to come to us. We’re believers because Jesus sought each of us out. He found us when we were lost just like this woman. If we ask Him for forgiveness, it’s because He prompted us to do so. If we believe in Him, it’s because He gave us faith. If we’re His children, it is because God adopted us through the gift of baptism.
Jesus Proclaims the Law
“Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” She’s still not following what Jesus is trying to tell her. But then, Jesus isn’t done with her yet. In fact, He’s only just begun. He sought her out and found her. He’s put her at ease. He’s showed her He’s caring and friendly. He’s made her curious, but she still doesn’t believe in Him. But now Jesus is in a position to get down to the nuts and bolts. She’s asked Him for Living Water. This is how Jesus, the all-knowing God answers: Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.” 17 “I have no husband,” the woman answered. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say, ‘I have no husband.’ 18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Instead of immediately giving her the Gospel, Jesus touches her raw nerve—the one that made her come to the well at noon so she wouldn’t bump into anyone. Her life had been a mess: five failed marriages and a live-in boyfriend doesn’t sound like the life of someone bubbling with eternal life. And that’s exactly why Jesus brought it up. You can’t heal a wound by ignoring it or by putting make-up on it. Jesus’ question stung because her own conscience had not yet totally become silent. She was not a “well-adjusted” person, any more than your typical Hollywood celebrity. She had a problem which had never been dealt with. Her soul was an empty well.
Jesus wanted her to think about that hurt, that emptiness, so she’d recognize her need for His wonderful medicine. Jesus wasn’t looking for an earthly friendship. He wanted to cure her eternal soul.
Jesus pokes our sore spots too, not because He’s mean, but so we keep coming to Him for the medicine of the Gospel. That’s what our friends need too. They may not be looking for Jesus, but Jesus is looking for them—through us. Whether they’re outwardly happy or not—whether they look well-adjusted to us or not, whether they know it or not, without Christ unbelievers have a hole in their soul just like the Samaritan woman.
Jesus Pours out the Gospel
Now it was time to give her what she really needed: forgiveness, faith and eternal life—through the truth. 19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews insist that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
Jesus doesn’t shy away from her question about which church to belong to. “Whose religion is right?” she asks him, “The Samaritan or the Jewish?” Jesus doesn’t say, “It doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re sincere,” or “Let’s not emphasize the differences, but concentrate instead on our similarities,” or any of those other popular bromides. No. He answers her with the truth. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming and now is here when the real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for those are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”
Jesus Himself is the Water of Life He was offering. He is the Messiah, the Christ, the long-expected Savior of the world. Jesus doesn’t give her a five or ten-step list of “what to do to be saved.” He who has just convicted her of her sin through the Law, isn’t about to give her a new law. Instead, He tells her the simple Good News that He is the Christ, her Savior from sin, and lets that Water of Life become in [her] “a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.”
Because the Gospel is powerful, it brought her to faith and gave her the gift of life. We can see it in her reaction. Her cynicism is gone! Instead of hiding from her fellow townspeople any more, she was so excited, she left her water jar sitting there and hurried into town to tell them all she had found the Savior! Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony: “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his message.
Look at how powerful the Good News is—all by itself! The truth—the message of Law and Gospel—is powerful. In fact, “It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The Gospel is pure and potent Living Water from God. It’s the cure for sin and death. God wants us to drink and drink and drink His Gospel in! And like the Samaritan woman at the well, He wants us to eagerly share our ladle and offer it to others, so they can share the joy and excitement of eternal life. Amen.
John 3:1–17
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. 8 The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.
10 “You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things? 11 Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. 14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
There’s a big divide in our country right now. I’m not talking about the political divide. I’m talking about a much bigger divide, one that’s not new. It’s always existed—in every country on earth. But it’s a divide that’s becoming more obvious in our country right now. I’m talking about the division between believers and unbelievers. It wasn’t always so clear decades ago because there were a lot of shared values. Back in the 1980s it was perhaps a little easier to strike up a conversation with an unchurched person about faith—to make an evangelism “cold-call.” Nowadays we have to rethink our outreach strategies. Last week, we got a good example of how shared values have been disappearing right here in Arizona. A public school district in the Phoenix area voted to end an arrangement they had for education students from Arizona Christian University to do their practice teaching in the district. One of the board members attacked the University because their website says they’re committed to Jesus. ‘We can’t have their students teaching in our schools.’
When Jesus talked to Nicodemus, he could count on a number of shared values as He began that conversation. At the same time, Jesus knew something about Nicodemus, that we would do well to acknowledge ourselves, namely that non-Christians have an very different worldview than Christians. Jesus had an entirely different worldview than the religious people of His day. And that’s because, as Scripture says, the things of the Spirit cannot be understood without the Spirit. Jesus alluded to that mysterious truth in His conversation. “The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
There was so much for Nicodemus to first unlearn and then to learn in order to see things God’s way. Ultimately, Jesus wanted to bring Nicodemus into the greatest story ever told—the story of “God’s Plan for Nicodemus, the World, and You.”
Jesus Came to Save Nicodemus
Nicodemus was quite a man. He’d been elected to the Sanhedrin by his peers, which was a sign of great respect for his character and knowledge. Jesus even refers to him as a religious teacher. He was a serious man, and an intellectual man. Unlike some of the other religious leaders, he was a man devoted to learning the truth, not “his” truth—the way people talk to day, but “the” truth. But he hadn’t yet learned it. His education was lacking because his teachers were lacking true wisdom and knowledge. In fact, the majority of his fellow religionists rejected Jesus out of hand. Nicodemus was afraid of how they’d react to him showing interest in Jesus. All the “smart guys” knew that wasn’t ‘the right thing to do’!
If this were today and they’d found out he went to talk to Jesus, they might have told him, “Take off your tinfoil hat. Follow the science. Jesus is an uneducated crackpot. His followers are conspiracy theory types. They’re dumb and uneducated unlike we elites in the ruling class.
But Nicodemus couldn’t not be interested in Jesus! He was unable to dismiss Jesus out of hand because he personally knew about what Jesus did and said. The miracles Jesus did couldn’t simply be ignored. They were real. They were done in public. There was a reason the crowds were talking about them. And the teaching… The teaching was amazing! No typical uneducated Galilean could talk like that! The crowds were glued to Him because what He said was so compelling. But Nicodemus didn’t quite grasp this wisdom Jesus proclaimed. He needed to understand it. He had questions, deep questions, a bunch of them. He just had to meet Jesus one on one!
So, he went to Him under cover of darkness. He couldn’t afford to be seen. He’d be cancelled. He’d be ridiculed. He might lose his position.
Jesus was more than happy to meet with Nicodemus when and where Nicodemus requested because Jesus came to save Nicodemus.
He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus began by piquing His interest. He wanted to raise new questions in Nicodemus’ mind. Rather than answer all the questions Jesus knew Nicodemus had directly, Jesus in effect told him that without faith it’s impossible to understand the Gospel and who He is. And by doing so Jesus was telling him the Jewish religion as he’d been taught was not the saving faith of Abraham—true religion, the real religion of the Old Testament. He told Nicodemus he needed the Holy Spirit to give him faith.
So Jesus presented brand new concepts and terminology to Nicodemus, expanding on His words. “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.” That sparked an interesting exchange that gave Jesus the opportunity to connect His ministry with what had been going on in the wilderness where John had been preaching and baptizing the crowds for the forgiveness of sins and new birth.
Jesus wanted to save Nicodemus, and by sharing the Gospel with him, He did. It may not have happened immediately. Jesus didn’t baptize him that night. Nicodemus took home what he learned and pondered it. The Holy Spirit worked on him through the Word. We know the ultimate outcome, because when Jesus died for the sins of the world, Nicodemus was one of the two men who lovingly took Jesus’ body and buried it in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. Nicodemus brought a massive, expensive pile of spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body that day.
Jesus Came to Save the Whole World
Jesus came to save Nicodemus. Jesus came to save the whole world. As He explained the faith to Nicodemus that night, He came to the very center of the Gospel—the Gospel in a nutshell, John 3:16. But let’s look first at verse 3:17. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
God’s gracious plan was always to save the whole world—to reverse the massive destruction released by the fall into sin! Sin requires punishment. In fact, before the fall even happened, God warned that sin would lead to death for everyone and everything—the exact opposite of the life God created in six days at the beginning of time. But death and destruction was never God’s will. God’s will was paradise, enjoyed eternally by all creation. Just think of how beautiful the world must have been before the fall. It’s not hard, because it’s even beautiful today despite all the scars and extinction from the flood.
Even after the fall, God didn’t want to destroy the world, but to restore it to its former abundance, beauty and life. The moment Adam and Eve sinned God immediately set in motion His plan to save them and restore what had been lost.
God started the world by creating paradise and God pressed the reset button with His plan to save the world through His Son. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The world needs Jesus for salvation—it’s The Plan—the only one. He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
In explaining salvation, Jesus connected it all to a story Nicodemus knew and you probably do too: the story of the poisonous snakes that attacked rebellious Israel when they grumbled against Moses and God in the wilderness. God saved them by a promise connected to a symbol. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Just like the Israelites, people everywhere rebel against the God who so graciously planned from the beginning to save them. Despite that rebellion, God sent Jesus to die for all. On the cross He was more than a symbol. He, their Creator and Savior, saves everyone who looks to Him in faith.
Jesus Came to Save You
John recorded these words of Jesus to Nicodemus by inspiration for you! God sent His Son to save the world not condemn it, but He saves us one by one, just as He did for Nicodemus. God gives us rebirth one at a time through water and the Spirit in baptism,God leads us to trust in Jesus by telling us His plan and His story and leading each one of us to put trust in Him. Like those poisoned Israelites who trusted God’s promise and looked up to the bronze serpent and were healed, so each of us who trusts the Promise and looks up at the crucified Lord in faith is saved. Those who do not are lost and never get back the life that was lost in Adam’s fall. But God wants you to be saved!
God has led you to Jesus and given you new birth and new life. Still, as long as we still live in this “body of death” as Paul called it, we need the life injections that come from above. The Holy Spirit blows where He wills, and He chooses to work through the Word and through the Sacrament of the altar, just as He first worked in your life through the saving Sacrament of Baptism.
Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save it. Jesus did not come to destroy you, but to save you. Cling to Him in faith. Remember your baptism. Go to Calvary’s Holy mountain, look up, and live. Amen.
Pastor Timothy Buelow
Our Saviour Lutheran Church
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Matthew 5:21-37
21 “You have heard that it was said to people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will have to answer to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of hell fire. 23 “So if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift. 25 “If someone accuses you, reach an agreement with him quickly, while you are with him on the way. Otherwise your accuser may bring you to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Amen I tell you: You will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ 28 but I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to fall into sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to fall into sin, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, causes her to be regarded as an adulteress. And whoever marries the divorced woman is regarded as an adulterer. 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to people long ago, ‘Do not break your oaths, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear at all: not by heaven, because it is God’s throne; 35 and not by earth, because it is his footstool; and not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your own head, since you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Instead, let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes,’ or ‘No, no.’ Whatever goes beyond these is from the Evil One. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Every year, we hear of some young person dying of a heart problem, right after competing in a sport. Lately, we seem to be hearing about it more often than ever. Just think of that member of the Buffalo Bills football team who had a heart attack right on the field causing the game to be cancelled. Did he have a previous heart condition nobody knew about?
A lot of people look spiritually heart-healthy. But what’s really going on on the inside? Sometimes signs of spiritual heart disease are clearly visible. Drug addiction, getting into trouble with the law, marriage problems. But a lot of people are really good at hiding spiritual heart-disease. The fact is, we all have it. None of us is as healthy inside, as we may appear on the surface. As we delve further into the Sermon on the Mount today, Jesus goes right to “the heart of the matter” when it comes to sin, so that He can offer us the cure.
Spiritual Heart Disease
I’ve had doctors that were soft on me and others who were a bit more harsh in their statements. Maybe you have too. Our Spiritual Physician is pretty blunt in His diagnosis in His sermon. If you’ve ever had a lustful thought, you’re an adulterer. If you’ve ever lost your temper unjustly, you’re a murderer. If you’ve ever failed to keep your word, you’re a liar. “Ouch! Take it easy, Jesus! We’re on your side!”
But we need to know the truth. We need to know we’ve got Spiritual Heart Disease. Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’” (Matthew 15:19, 20a).
People often wait until they’re in pain before they go to the doctor. But that may be too late. Similarly, the world doesn’t regard people as evil, or even spiritually sick, until they commit murder or some other grievous crime. When we hear about horrible crimes like the recent mass shootings in California we think, “Wow! Where did that come from?!” But those weren’t good people who went bad suddenly overnight. They were sinners from birth. They were born with Spiritual Heart Disease. And if there’s one tough thing we’ve learned from Scripture, it’s that we ourselves were also born sinners! We like to imagine that we are pretty good, that it’s only those other folks—the ones that make headlines—who have the disease. That’s why Jesus so carefully points out the more subtle signs of the heart-sickness that we have. “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Other symptoms He lists are refusing to forgive, holding a grudge, and taking cheap and meaningless oaths.
Brothers and sisters, I trust we can all be mature and honest enough to accept the jarring diagnosis Doctor Jesus is delivering. We’ve got the disease. We need treatment, major intervention, because this spiritual disease is fatal! Don’t be fooled by the fact that the worst symptoms have been hidden so far. Other people may not be able to see what goes on inside your heart, but God does.
Spiritual Heart Surgery
The only solution is Spiritual Heart Surgery. An operation can be a little intimidating—to be opened up and have someone else’s hands reaching inside your chest! But in this case, the Surgeon is Jesus Himself. He made you. He knows everything. And He can make you good as new! But He has to start with a knife, a sharp cut from the scalpel of God’s Law.
It hurts to hear that we’re wrong. It’s embarrassing and demoralizing to hear Jesus call out the secret thoughts hidden in our heart. It’s uncomfortable when we speak and take to heart the words we recite in our confession of sins. I am sinful by nature and have sinned against you in my thoughts, words, and actions.” Still, if we want to be cured, the scalpel has to sink in; the cut has to be made. It’s the first and necessary step in our Spiritual Heart Surgery. Without the law, there can be no Gospel. Without confession, there can be no absolution. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8–9).
But once that cut has been made, Jesus can begin to heal us. The moment we confess, God comes to us with sweet forgiveness. He pours out His soothing Gospel balm on our hearts and the healing process begins. We want that healing. We need it, and so we pray for it with earnest lips, “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me, take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit.”
Going into surgery is scary, but once it’s over and been successful you can breathe a great sigh of relief. You’re over the hump. From here on things will only get better. It’s the same with our heart of hearts. Once Jesus operates, once the sin is cut out and new life put in, we can begin the recovery process; our hearts truly can be recreated by God.
Spiritual Heart Diet
Nobody leaves the cardiac unit in the hospital, without lectures from the doctors and nurses. They send you home with a stack of brochures. There are strict orders about making some lifestyle changes.
The first change is the Heart Diet. Dietitians seem to change their mind every few years about what exactly should be included in a healthy heart diet. But when it comes to spiritually heart friendly food, there is no doubt whatsoever. We know exactly what foods we have to avoid, and we know exactly what we have to eat for our spiritual heart-health, because Doctor Jesus tells us. Just as there is junk food to tempt our bodies, there is also lots of spiritual junk food on the market. But that stuff can harden and clog our spiritual arteries and send us to an early spiritual grave. Good, healthy spiritual food is much harder to find. It costs more than what the world offers. But it leads to health and life. That food is the pure Word of God.
So how are you coming on your spiritual heart-diet? Are you lapsing back to junk food? Are you remembering your daily doses of the good stuff? How is your personal and family devotional life? Have you fallen out of the habit? Are you ignoring the Great Physician’s orders? Our spiritual heart works just like its physical counterpart. If you don’t take care of it with the right food, your heart-condition will deteriorate. The heart disease you were born with will begin to worsen until it claims you as another statistical victim. Don’t neglect your diet!
Spiritual Heart Exercise
But it’s not just diet the cardiologist and nurses lecture you about when you’re going home from the hospital. They also tell you to Exercise. Sitting around doing nothing is bad for your spiritual heart too. Jesus wants you to put your faith into action. It’s not enough to avoid self-destructive behavior like hatred and lust. He wants us to replace bad habits with good exercises, to replace our sinful attitudes with love—love for Him and love for our neighbor.
God’s spiritual exercise program is not optional for Christians. As Paul wrote, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we may walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).This is what we have been redeemed for. So, are you challenging yourself spiritually to do what God, your Doctor, prescribed? Are you actively dealing with anger, unkindness, impatience, greed, lust, and untruthfulness in your life? James wrote “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does” (1:22–25).
It is true that you can’t always tell an unbeliever from a believer from the outside—not at first, or from a distance. Some people’s heart disease produces mostly internal symptoms. But, of course, God can tell the difference from a thousand miles away. And finally, so can we, if we take to heart the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave us this sermon, firstly, to show us how perfect God law expects us to be, so that we recognize our disease and our need for His healing. As the confessional rite in the old Lutheran Hymnal put it, “If we diligently examine ourselves, we shall find nothing in us but sin and death, from which we can in no way set ourselves free.” Use Jesus’ words to diligently examine yourself and then joyfully acknowledge that God has given you a heart transplant. He’s created in you a new heart. Take good care of your new heart. Faithfully take the medicine of eternal life in the Lord’s Supper. Read, mark learn and inwardly digest the pure spiritual food of Scripture. Exercise your heart by living your faith. Prepare for and look forward to the day when your cure will be 100% complete on the day when Jesus takes you home. –Doctor’s orders.
Amen.
Zephaniah 2:3, 3:11–13
Seek the Lord, all you humble people of the earth who have carried out his commands. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. Maybe then you will be sheltered in the day of the Lord’s anger. ….11In that day you will no longer bear the shame of your rebellions against me. Then I will remove the proud boasters from among you, and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill. 12But I will leave among you the people who are humble and weak. They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord. 13The Israelites who remain will no longer act unjustly. They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. Instead, they will graze peacefully like sheep and lie down. No one will terrify them. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
O Lord, it’s hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way.
I can’t wait to look in the mirror,
I get better looking each day.
To know me is to love me,
I must be a @#% of a man,*
O Lord, it’s hard to be humble,
But I’m doing the best that I can.
We used to put that song on the jukebox when I was in college and we’d all sing along. We thought it was funny for the same reason Mac Davis thought it would be funny to sing it in the first place—because it’s a tongue-in-cheek way of mocking overblown pride and self-confidence.
And what makes boastfulness and pride funny? The fact that God has given each of us a conscience that rightly tears us down from the inside out. Unless you’re blinded by ego, you know that you yourself have weaknesses and foibles just like everyone else. What a salutary function the conscience serves! It is true, though, that an amazing number of people manage to silence it and actually believe their own PR. In fact, there are lots of them. Overblown egos.
Are you one of them? Fact is, we all think of ourselves more highly than we ought at times, which is why we need the reminder Paul gave us in our Epistle, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:21).
The Lord speaks through Zephaniah the prophet to all who boast in themselves. His words ought to strike fear in our hearts: “Then I will remove the proud boasters from among you, and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.” Whether it’s Zephaniah, or the Apostle Paul, Solomon in Proverbs, or Jesus Himself in the Beatitudes, the Word of God makes clear that blessings come to the humble, and judgment to the proud.
Zephaniah’s Message in Judah
Zephaniah was a prophet during the reign of king Josiah in Judah. Josiah was a rare ‘good guy’ among the wicked kings of Judah before the Babylonian Captivity. Remember and honor his name! Josiah became king when he was only eight. His father Amon was assassinated. Amon had it coming. 2 Chronicles reports, (22-25) “He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord…. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and he served them. 23But he did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself. Instead, Amon even multiplied the guilt. 24His servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. 25Then the people … made his son Josiah king in his place.”
Others did the governing while Josiah was still a boy. But when he grew up and took control he shocked everyone. Despite his wicked father and grandfather, he became a believer.
Chronicles reports, “In the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David. In the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images. 4In his presence they tore down the altars of the Baals. He chopped down the sun pillars, which stood above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images into pieces and ground them to dust, which he scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5He burned the bones of their priests on their altars. In this way he purified Judah and Jerusalem.”
Next, in the 18th year of his reign, he started the ambitious project of cleansing and refurbishing the temple on Mount Zion. It was during that work, some years down the road, when the workmen famously found the Bible under junk in a back room of the temple, covered with dust. When they read it out loud, Josiah tore his robes and called on the whole nation of Judah to repent in sackcloth and ashes.
That’s what it means to humble yourself before the Lord.
Chances are that when Zephaniah delivered the words of this prophecy the temple mount was still crawling with idol-worshiping, self-serving, fat, rich boasters who made fun of the rube in the palace who wanted people to get back to God. “Ha! C’mon,” they thought. “Who’s he trying to kid. He’s just a kid himself. He doesn’t know how the world goes ’round.”
And so the Lord sent Zephaniah to preach, “Seek the Lord, all you humble people of the earth who have carried out his commands. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. Maybe then you will be sheltered in the day of the Lord’s anger. ….11In that day you will no longer bear the shame of your rebellions against me. Then I will remove the proud boasters from among you, and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.”
Zephaniah’s Message to the World
Zephaniah’s message was for the people of Judah in 600 bc. But it was also written for us today. “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
God’s universal message through Zephaniah, as it also is through Paul and Jesus Himself is: Humble yourselves before God. Put yourself in perspective. You are dust and to dust you shall return. You are a sinner and God is holy. “I am weak, but He is strong—yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so. And that’s “The Blessing of Humility.” Only in lowliness, can we receive the gift of God. Only in repentance can we receive the forgiveness of God. Only in recognizing our weakness, can we truly experience the power of God.
Listen to Paul in the epistle: “Consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, 28and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).
It’s true that it’s harder for the rich and powerful to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. It’s true that those who love Jesus are the ones that felt the need of the love of God Who loved them first. It’s also true, ironically, that the rich and powerful are afraid of the weak. Why else do they attack Christianity and Christians. Everyone from media elites to Communist party leaders fear and attack the church. Go figure! The powerful fear the meek, but “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Or as Zephaniah puts it, “I will remove the proud boasters from among you, and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill. 12But I will leave among you the people who are humble and weak.”
The Blessings in Humility
Why is that? Why is Jesus OK with us enduring persecution willingly? Why does He want us to humbly and meekly endure? Why does God promise blessings to the humble, rather than the proud? It’s because humility is the only way into the kingdom!
Isn’t that the central message John the Baptist preached? Isn’t that the same message Jesus preached? That’s what we heard in last week’s Gospel: Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17b). Repentance is all about humility, because repentance is recognizing what a mess we are, what worthlessness is in our own works. Rather than singing “O Lord, it’s hard to be humble,” Repentance is recognizing, “O Lord, it’s impossible to be anything but humble if I’m honest! When I look at your righteous requirements, when I look at my miserable record, when I recognize that even my humility and repentance is halfhearted, how can I do anything but tear my robes like Josiah, how can I not crawl on the ground in dust and ashes and weep and wail over my countless sins? O Lord, I get it. Even my righteous acts ‘are as filthy rags.’”
That’s why humility is the only way into the kingdom! Only Jesus can save us. And He did! God requires holiness. Yet we are anything but holy. We are nothing, but Jesus is everything! Jesus was holy. Jesus was perfect. Jesus kept the commandments that we didn’t. And He gives His holiness to any and all who humble themselves, who stop bragging about and trusting in themselves and who finally, out of desperation, trust in Him alone.
If you’re one of those, if you are humble enough to admit the worthlessness of your own works, and cry out with the Publican, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner,” then God eagerly and lovingly lifts you up—all the way to heaven. You are forgiven. “Blessed are the meek! Blessed are the humble, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.”
Fruits of God’s Elevation
Have you ever noticed that the nicest people on earth are the ones who are humble? People who’ve survived cancer, people who’ve looked death in the eye, people who’ve been wronged to the hilt and who survived purely by the grace of God…. People like that are the nicest people in the world, because they realize grace and only grace is the most powerful force in the world, and that Jesus—only Jesus—is their Redeemer.
And He is their Lord. Zephaniah concludes, “The Israelites who remain will no longer act unjustly. They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. Instead, they will graze peacefully like sheep and lie down. No one will terrify them.”
Friends, that’s who you want to be. You want to be one of those humble people who knows grace and acts gracefully. You want to be one of those people who shares the grace of God with everyone you can, because you know, “there but by the grace of God go I. I was nothing, and God gave me the world and more! And I want you to have that too!”
The Blessings of Humility are forgiveness, life, and salvation. Drink them in! And share them with everyone! Amen.
Pastor Timothy Buelow
Our Saviour Lutheran Church
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
John 1:29–41
29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before me.’ 31 I myself did not know who he was, but I came baptizing with water so that he would be revealed to Israel.” 32 John also testified, “I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and remain on him. 33 I myself did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this myself and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 35 The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. 36 When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned around and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 He told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying. They stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his own brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated “the Christ”). (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
The word translated Look! both in Hebrew and in Greek has a special significance that just can’t be fully translated with the word “Look.” The word is like the upside-down exclamation point at the beginning of a sentence in Spanish. Before you hear or read a word, it draws your attention to the fact that what follows is of special significance. In our text John uses that word, which in our older translations came out as “behold.” John wanted people to look at Jesus, but more than that. He wanted them to stop, take a deep breath, clear their minds of all distractions. “Now, Behold! Take a serious, long, look at the one at whom I am pointing. Stop and really think about the words I am about to use to describe him. This man is “the Lamb of God.”
He Takes Away the Sin of the World
The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! If you were clueless about the Bible, that would be an extremely unusual thing you just heard. But of course, I’m not talking to people who know nothing of the Bible, and neither was John. Like them, you know that lambs played a significant role in Old Testament worship. The Lamb was the center of the Passover celebration. The first Passover in Egypt was the night that the Lord sent the final and most horrible of the 10 plagues. That was the night of the destruction of all the first born males in Egypt—both men and animals. The only way to escape that horrible plague, was to kill a lamb that evening, and smear the blood on the doorframes of their houses. If you did that, the angel of death would pass over your house and spare those inside.
That Passover foreshadowed how those who trust in Jesus’ blood, the blood of the Lamb of God, are spared from everlasting death today. Until Jesus came, God’s Old Testament people needed to sacrifice lambs again and again, not only at the Passover but throughout the year, to remind them of God’s promise that one day, the Lamb of God would come and offer Himself once and for all for their sins and the sins of the whole world. We don’t celebrate the Passover anymore. We don’t sacrifice lambs anymore, because Jesus—the Lamb of God—came to offer Himself once for all. That’s what John meant, as he pointed to Jesus and said Behold the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World.
What John exclaimed was foretold by the prophets and has been the center of Gospel preaching ever since. Just think of the first evangelism experience recorded in Scripture, the account of Philip and the Eunuch of Ethiopia. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture (Acts 8:32–35) “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (Isaiah 53:7).
Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, has been sacrificed on the cross. Through faith in His blood, we have forgiveness and eternal life. Peter wrote: For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, But with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18–19).
Behold the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World. Sin can’t be undone. What’s done is done. But thank God, sin can be atoned for and taken away. And Christ came to do just that. Either sin is around our neck dragging us down to eternal death in hell, or it is on Christ who takes it completely away. That’s why John pointed at Jesus again and again. 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples…. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he [again] said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” A faithful witness will always come with the same unchanging invitation to trust in Jesus, the Savior.
How many tourists parade through cathedrals in Europe, pass before a beautiful altar painting of Jesus, and see nothing there but beautiful, yet to them meaningless, ancient art? How many people listen to or even sing Handel’s Messiah and think nothing more than “this is pretty, classical music”? A famous musician loved to play the music of J.S. Bach, who signed every one of His pieces with SDG—soli Deo gloria, “to God alone be the glory.” The musician was asked if He believed in God. He answered, “Bach is God. Bach is my religion.” Bach would roll over in his grave and scream! Bach wrote his entire St. Matthew Passion about the Lamb of God. To enjoy that music more than the message it sings is to Look at the Lamb of God, but not to behold him. To behold Him is to look at His hands and His feet and see your sins as the nails which put Him there. Behold His body hanging there dead and see the penalty your sins deserved. Behold His blood and see the reason the angel of death will pass over you. Behold His resurrection and see the forgiveness which He won for you. Don’t just look at the Lamb of God. Rather, Behold the Lamb of God.
He Calls Us to Be His Disciples
Those who do, are called believers, and believers learn from Jesus and follow Him as His disciples. 35 The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. 36 When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned around and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 He told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying. They stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
What were John’s disciples looking for? They weren’t really only interested in seeing what type of building Jesus lived in, were they? Of course not. What they really wanted was to nicely ask if they might walk with Him for a piece, sit down with Him, talk with Him, and listen to Him. These two men had been following John. They were spiritual men. They were looking for the truth. They were eager to have eternal life. They didn’t become John’s followers because they believed in John. They followed John because they believed what he preached. They were ready to leave John at a moment’s notice to follow the Lamb of God. Jesus, not their pastor John, was the object of their faith. And they quickly learned that their faith was correct—this Jesus was truly the long-awaited Messiah—the Lamb of God.
Jesus took the time to invite them to where He was staying and to teach them and reveal to them who He really is. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” 39 “Come and you will see. So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him.” What an exciting moment that was for them. What a memorable day! To go to the house where Jesus was staying and get to listen to Him teach? Wow!
We also get to come to Jesus’ house and listen to Him teach. This is that place. What are we looking for here? Well, there are a lot of smaller reasons we come to God’s house—but the real reason ought to be to Behold the Lamb of God, listen to Him teach and follow Him as His disciples.
Did you notice how John the Apostle wrote down the very time of day he began following Jesus as His disciple? For him and for Andrew, becoming disciples of Jesus was a huge turning point in their lives. It meant leaving things behind, like their friend and teacher, John. It would mean spending the next three years with Jesus. It would mean nothing would ever be the same for the rest of their lives—and It was about the tenth hour.
Becoming a disciple was a huge turning point in our lives too. It happened when we were baptized, and somewhere the date and time for that was also recorded. It meant leaving behind the desires of our sinful flesh and everything that stands between us and Jesus.
Becoming Jesus’ disciples means pursuing a new way of life. It means promising to listen to Jesus, believing everything He teaches us, and striving to do everything He commands.
Disciples aren’t ashamed to talk about Jesus either. They aren’t embarrassed by the topic. Quite the opposite, disciples—even shy ones—want to invite others to meet their Savior: Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” Nobody told Andrew to do that. Disciples don’t have to be ordered to tell other people about their Savior. They speak from the overflow of faith in their hearts.
The very next day, Jesus called Philip as a disciple, and he did the same thing as Andrew! Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” One of the things you quickly notice when visiting a person who has stopped worshiping or fallen into some other sin, is their reluctance to talk about Jesus. If we’re hesitant to talk about Jesus, that tells strikingly how much our faith still needs to deepen and grow. It tells us how much we need His Word and His Sacrament, where we can Behold the Lamb of God Who Takes away the Sin of the World and Who Calls Us to Be His Disciples.
May we keep learning both about Him and from Him. May we let Him keep filling us with His Word, so we speak of Him from the overflow of our own hearts and invite others to “Behold the Lamb of God.” Amen.
Luke 2:21
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (EHV)
Happy New Year! New Year’s is a time when we as Christians focus on the past and the future—last year’s sins and forgiveness and our hopes for God’s promises for the future. We think about sad times we’ve been through, and we pray for good things we trust God will bless us with going forward. But since New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, it’s appropriate that we focus on the appointed day in the church calendar, namely, the Feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. Jesus was circumcised and officially named on the 8th day, corresponding to today, the 8th of the 12 days of Christmas. Throughout the history of the church—until the last couple generations—this was considered a very important day to commemorate. Paintings aplenty have been made. You have two of them in your bulletin. Even hymns: One in the ELS Hymnary as well as the old Lutheran Hymnal says,
O blessed day when first was poured / The blood of our redeeming Lord!
O blessed day when Christ began / His saving work for sinful man!
So what makes the day of Jesus’ Circumcision so significant? First, even at eight days old Jesus was already ushering in the New Testament. Second, on that day Jesus was officially given a New Name, which, as a result, promises us continued blessings as we enter this New Year.
New Testament
Jesus is the Second Adam. The first Adam was created holy and would have actually been able to attain eternity in paradise by keeping the Law perfectly. Adam’s nature wasn’t corrupted yet, so he had that ability when God created him! Ifonly Adam had done what he was supposed to! But he didn’t; and once he fell into sin, it became impossible for him or any of his descendants, including us, to keep the Law from that day forward. God didn’t change. Man did. God still expected perfect law-keeping. So God, since He’s not only holy but also merciful, promised and sent the Second Adam—Jesus. He too, like Adam at the creation, came into this world holy and able to keep the Law. By keeping all the commands of God, He could earn salvation for Himself. But since He is not only true man but also true God, could also purchase our eternal redemption by keeping the Law and shedding His innocent blood in our place! So He did!
But that meant He had to keep every Law of God. He had to keep them all perfectly, from the moment of conception until the moment of His death—and not just the 10 Commandments; Jesus had to keep all the Old Testament ceremonial laws, too! Every single one of them! Once Jesus kept those ceremonial Laws, God was done with them. They were abrogated—abolished—because they were fulfilled. In keeping them Jesus was ushering in the New Covenant, the final age, the New Testament.
God gave the Old Testament ceremonial law—including circumcision—for a purpose—a purpose that was limited in time, designed to end when Messiah came. God’s two-fold purpose was to set apart His “People of the Book”—to keep them separated from other people around them, so that they would not blend in with the world and lose the promise of the Savior or lose the Holy Scriptures He entrusted to them for safekeeping. God’s second purpose for His Old Testament ceremonies and sacrifices was to point them ahead to the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world. God instituted the Old Testament covenant of circumcision with Father Abraham, when He promised that Abraham’s descendants would be a special people, set apart for preserving the Promise and the promised Line of the Savior. “Through your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed,” He told Abraham.
Jesus not only fulfilled all the old ceremonial laws, He fulfilled them for us, in our place, as our substitute—including circumcision. In so doing, Jesus was ushering in a New Testament, a New Testament He sealed with His blood, which He poured out for our sins. When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross, not only was our salvation a done deal; God was also finished with the Old Testament ceremonies, like circumcision. Paul reminds us in Colossians 2:4 that they “were a shadow of things to come. The reality however is found in Christ.” That’s why the temple curtain was rent in two the moment Jesus died. We now live in God’s new and lasting testament of grace.
New Name
As is the ancient Christian practice at baptism, the circumcision of an Old Testament child was also the occasion when he was formally named. It was no different for Jesus.
For thousands of years, God kept the devil in the dark as to just who the Messiah would be. Every time a child was born, the devil had to gulp hard and worry “Will this one be the Messiah?” But now the secret was out. The One all believers from Eve to Joseph and Mary had hoped and waited for was now born. When Christ appeared in the Old Testament—like when He wrestled with Jacob—He refused to reveal His Name. But now the Son of God, who was with the Father and the Spirit in all eternity had become Man and come into the world, and as the angel had announced to both Mary and Joseph separately, His Name was to be forever known as Jesus, the Name above all names! What a Name it is! Jesus means “Jehovah saves.” And He does save, as Peter preached on Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). In fact, as he told the Sanhedrin when they dragged him in, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)
The Name of Jesus is more precious than any other! Millions call on His Name and are saved! Millions love Jesus, who first loved them. Hardly a soul on earth has not heard His Name. Some abuse, revile, and take His Name in vain, but the day will come when all—either willingly or by force—will acknowledge and honor the Name of Jesus. “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10,11).
Calling on His Name in faith, we ourselves have received a new name! In the Book of Revelation, Jesus promises the faithful: “The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. I will also write on him the name of my God …and my new name” (Revelation 3:12).
There’s a reason that your “first name” is also referred to as your “given name” and your “Christian name.” It was given to you at your “Christening,” your baptism into Christ. Paul wrote, “But you were washed, … you were sanctified, … you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. … Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:11,15a). Jesus received His Name at His circumcision. You received your name—your Christian name—at your baptism into the Name of Him who was circumcised for you, who fulfilled for you all the Old Testament Laws, to earn you a place at His side forever. You are “Jesus people,” saved as you call on the Name that is above every other name.
New Year
Along with your new name come special promises from God that you can rely on as you enter into this New Year in faith. God has said: “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent. For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly, and her salvation burns like a torch. 2 Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings will see your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will assign to you. 3 Then you will be a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God. 4 You will never again be called Abandoned (Azubah), and your land will never again be called Desolation(Shemamah), for you will be called My Delight Is in Her(Hephzibah), and your land will be called Married(Beulah), because the Lord delights in you, and your land will be married. 5 For…just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, your God will rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:1–5).
Entering yet another year in this sinful, decaying world, we need God’s promises and reassurance. In this world, we bear many sad crosses. This earthly territory is rightly called a “vale” (or valley) “of tears.” Whenever a New Year comes around, we think of those we love who gone on ahead of us in years gone by. And we wonder what the future holds, and realistically acknowledge that we too shall die, because of Adam’s fall, and our own personal sins. That’s why it means so much to us that Jesus promised: “In this world you are going to have trouble. But be courageous! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b). There will be trials and tribulations, but God uses those consequences of sin to prompt us to call again on the glorious Name of Jesus, our only Hope. And He will hear and answer! Jesus’ promises fall into one of two columns: those He already fulfilled, and those that will yet be fulfilled. Jesus has overcome the world. We can be courageous and of good cheer!
You already possess all the eternal blessings God has reserved for you. We confess that we believe that Jesus has created all things “visible and invisible.” Jesus has already prepared a place for you in heaven. You can’t see it; it’s invisible. But it’s already there, waiting! God has already planned out and mapped His new heaven and new earth! He’s already anointed you a member of His royal family! With a New Name written on our foreheads, all the Promises and fulfillments of the New Testament are already sealed in Jesus’ blood, and even placed on your tongue in the sacrament. You and I enter the New Year with comfort, courage and confidence!
On one of the occasions Luther preached on this one verse text, he said tongue-in-cheek in his sermon introduction that it would be a very short sermon on such a short text. … When he concluded the same, relatively long sermon, he said he could easily have gone on for a few more hours. I think you’ll agree, the day Jesus was circumcised and given His Name above all names, has a whole lot to say to us.
As an infant, Jesus was already earning our salvation, serving as our Substitute already on His 8th day, by fulfilling all of God’s laws—even the Old Testament ceremonial laws. And on that day, He was given the Name that is so sweet in a believer’s ear—the one Name by which we are saved. And to think God has put His own new Name on us! We are “Jesus people”—Christians. As we enter the New Year, we do so with courage and confidence! We are Jesus’ brothers and sisters! We have His Name written on our hearts! Therefore, God is for us! And if God is for us, who can be against us?” God Himself grant you a bless-edNew Year, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.
John 1:1-14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 9 The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (EHV)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Christmas is a commemoration of an historical event. A man named Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2026 years ago. But Christmas is far more than that. It is a festival of faith in our Savior Jesus, born in Bethlehem. We have placed our trust in Him, because we know that He is our Victor in the fight against sin and death, and our Leader in the march to the promised land of heaven. “We have seen his glory,” John says. Herod knew that a baby was born in Bethlehem, but “We have seen his glory.” The Apostle John didn’t just look into the manger and see a little Baby, he saw who Jesus truly is by faith, and by faith so do we.
He is the Eternal Word of God
So, who is He, this little baby born in a stable in Bethlehem? He is the Eternal Word of God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 14 We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The little baby born at Bethlehem is the eternal God, ‘eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God, begotten, mot made, of one being with the Father….’
The little baby born at Bethlehem is the Creator. Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. At the creation of the world, God spoke, and through the Word—through Christ-all things came to be. What an unfathomable mystery, that everything you see, everything in our world, you yourself were created by God, and God came and became part of His own creation! A little Baby, lying in a manger and clinging to His mother, is her creator and ours who not only witnessed the creation of the universe, but made it happen!
Who is the little baby born at Bethlehem? He is Life itself who brought life to the world he created. He breathed into Adam’s nostrils, and Adam became a living soul. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. Jesus brought life to Adam, and through his sin, Adam brought death to himself and the world. God said, “If you eat of the tree…you shall surely die,” and he did, and we do. “Through the sin of the one man, the many have been made sinners.” Andsinners die. But “In him was life.” “For as in Adam, all die so in Christ, shall all be made alive“ St. Paul wrote by inspiration. Christ is Life. He turns walking death into a pilgrimage of life to life! “I am the resurrection and the Life,” He said. Our bodies may die but we never will. He has given us new life and and He has promised His own that even our bodies will rise again, glorified and alive forever, to live with Him in heaven.
Who is the little baby born at Bethlehem? He is Light. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. Everything John has written, everything we have spoken about, everything you have ever learned about Christ defies worldly, human reason, because what the world calls reason, and enlightenment is pure darkness. There is no so-called “inner light” without Christ. True enlightenment can only come through Christ and faith in Him. Dark human reason has worked only to destroy faith and salvation. Through the millennia there have been many times where it’s happened. There were the Gnostics against whom the Apostle John wrote, who denied Jesus was true God. Their spiritual descendants were such as the great heretic Arius, against whom the Nicene Creed was written, and Arius’ modern-day descendants, the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have shrouded themselves and their followers in the darkness of human ideas so they cannot see the Light of Christ. Modern theologians in the name of “enlightenment” deny that Jesus is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. They dismiss the truth of God’s own Word as a pious myth hiding some deeper truth which they think they are shedding light on. Instead, they are covering the light of Christ with a bushel.
Jesus, the Eternal Word, came as the True Light to teach us what we could never discern on our own. 5 The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This not only calls for faith, it gives faith. The darkness of unbelief cannot overcome the Truth of Jesus. Only Jesus, the eternal Word, can enlighten us. He came, because without Him there would be no Life, no Light, no grace and no truth. But He is full of grace and truth!
He Is Full of Grace and Truth
14 The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and became one of us. God Himself came to dwell among us as one of us. He is the Offspring of the woman, foretold already from the time of the first sin, when God said to Satan, “…I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will crush his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Just as God had said through Isaiah, [7:14] The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.”
The only-begotten from the Father became man to be our Substitute, the second Adam, in order to undo the eternal consequences of the utter failure of the first Adam. The Eternal Word became one of us, a fellow human brother, because only the God-Man could be our Savior. Only God could be perfect, without sin. Only God–made-man could die for us by shedding “Holy, precious blood”—precious enough to pay for the sins of the whole world and purchase our redemption. Only the Eternal Word-made-flesh could die, be buried, and rise again victorious over sin and death to sit at God’s right hand, rule the world, and return in glory as our Judge and Redeemer on the Last Day.
Christmas is far more than a celebration of history. It is a celebration of the Faith, once delivered to the saints by God Himself by the miracle of inspiration. Without faith in the Eternal Word, all that He has done to save us can’t help us, and sadly that is true for so many. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him.
What a sad and vivid commentary on the natural human disposition against God, that Jesus was, just as Isaiah foretold, “despised and rejected by men, …well acquainted with suffering. Like someone whom people cannot bear to look at, he was despised, and we thought nothing of him” —not just by His own people, but of all of us by nature. By nature, we despised Him too! As Isaiah continued, “Surely he was taking up our weaknesses, and he was carrying our sufferings. We thought it was because of God that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted, 5but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced. He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all have gone astray like sheep. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him” (Isaiah 53:3–6)
We were all like sheep gone astray, running toward a cliff, unwilling and unable to hear the Shepherd’s voice as He ran after us. It’s not enough simply that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He needs to be born in us. Many who were alive when Christ was born, are suffering eternal death now, because they rejected and ran away from the One and only seeking to save them. And many today, surrounded by Churches, even neighbors who are Christians don’t know or even want the Saviour. They’re heading downhill without faith. We don’t want to be among them, and we don’t want our neighbors to be either. It’s a miracle we are here today. God Himself reached out with His staff and grabbed us. We know what Christmas means. May Jesus, who is full of grace and truth have mercy on many more and even use us as messengers of His grace to those who are without saving faith.
11 He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God.
He became one of us, so that you could be God’s child and heir—His brothers and sisters. Just when you couldn’t save yourself, when you were lost, when you were dead in trespasses and sins, the One who gave His life for you gave you new life. You were born again through water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave you faith and God called you His own in baptism—born of God. Truly, “He came…full of grace.”
And He came full of truth too. This little Baby born in Bethlehem is the eternal truthful Word Himself. He came to truthfully reveal to us His Father, and the One true Way to His heavenly home. “No one has ever seen the Father, but God the only Son has made him known,” Jesus said. And later, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6).
But We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. He has made us the sons and daughters of God. He has taught us the truth, and He has given us the faith to see Him for who He really is.
Because of Christmas, because the Eternal Word became flesh—truly human—yet remains eternal God, we can be sure that we receive the divine‑human body and blood of Christ, born in Bethlehem, which earned us forgiveness in Jerusalem, at the Lord’s altar this morning. “We have seen his glory,” we can then say, and with Simeon, “Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation” by faith. What unfathomable mysteries God has revealed to us in His Word! God be forever praised that He sent His Son—the Eternal Word into the flesh, for us and for our salvation, full of grace and truth and that He has made us children of God through faith. Amen.
Service of Nine Lessons and Carols for Advent
Meditation on Isaiah 7:10-14
Isaiah 7:10–14 (EHV)
10 The Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, 11 “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” 12 But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.” 13 So Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men? Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.
https://havasulutherans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/12-18-22.pdf
Matthew 3:1–12
In those days, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, 2 “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” 3 Yes, this is he of whom this was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.” 4 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him. 6 They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit in keeping with repentance! 9 Do not think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10 Already the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But the one who comes after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (EHV)
Do you ever wish we didn’t have to hear about sin in church? Do you ever squirm when you hear God’s law? Certainly, we’d all rather be flattered than censured, even in church. But when it’s a matter of life and death, flattery doesn’t go very far, does it? You wouldn’t appreciate it very much if your doctor would try to make you forget your fever by telling you that your red cheeks improved your natural beauty. You’d tell him, “I’m paying you to cure me, not to flatter me.” All the remedies in the world won’t help if the doctor doesn’t diagnose the problem and apply the right cure. You want an honest doctor who gives you the honest truth and makes you take the medicine.
John the Baptist was such a man. He knew what was afflicting the people of Israel. God sent him to give them the bad news with both barrels, and then to give them the cure. “Prepare the Way for the Lord,” he said. Repent and Be Baptized. Then Bring Forth Fruits in Keeping with Repentance.
Repent
In those days, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, 2 “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!”The word “repent” means “Change the way you think and act.” Have a complete change of heart. Stop dead in your tracks. Don’t go any further! Turn around and go back. Full reset.
True repentance requires being honest with yourself, and that takes some soul searching. True repentance is not just some generic confession that we’re not perfect. True repentance is learning and acknowledging that of ourselves we are completely sinful and deserve nothing but death from God. The apostle John wrote what we regularly recite in our liturgy, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Without repentance, there can be no forgiveness. Without repentance, there is no gentle Jesus of Christmas, only the Jesus who will be a stern Judge on the Day of Judgment. Don’t lie to yourself about your sins. Don’t try to hide them from God. God sees everything. So, admit your sins to God.
When John told the people: “Prepare the Way for the Lord” he was reminding and teaching them that we do have the power to block God’s path. We are more than able to prevent our own salvation. No, we don’t have power to invite Jesus into our heart, but we sure are able to throw Him out and padlock the door. Sin puts obstacles in Jesus’ way and impenitence totally blocks the road. Isaiah wrote: “Your guilt has separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden God’s face from you, so that he does not hear” (59:2). St. John the Apostle wrote: “If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
Yet despite the fact that the Baptizer’s message was so blunt, rude and to the point, still “Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him.6 They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.” I guess it’s not so surprising that people went out to see John in the wilderness. He looked and acted like a prophet of God, following the Nazirite vow. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. He didn’t cut his hair in keeping with the vow. He was a sight to behold.
What’s a bit more surprising, is that people listened to him and took his preaching to heart. He told the crowds in no uncertain terms that they deserved eternal punishment for their false beliefs and their wicked lives, and instead of grumbling and rejecting him, they confessed their sins and were baptized.
That tells us something about owning up to our own sins. If we’re willing to take God’s Word to heart, rather than making excuses, or focusing on some personality quirk of the preacher, we’re instead going to focus on ourselves, our own shortcomings, and be grateful that someone was sent to be honest with us and call us to repentance.
Not everyone repented at John’s preaching. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
The Pharisees were “too good” to repent. Their lives of hypocrisy had blinded them. In the Sadducees’ case, they were blinded by their sensibility. They were the ‘modern’ theologians of Jesus’ day who didn’t even believe in the afterlife, or the resurrection or that there would ever be a Judgment Day. Why should they repent? You can picture both of these groups on the hillside watching judgmentally from afar.
John called both the Pharisees and the Sadducees the “offspring of vipers,” baby snakes. They were not only spiritually dead themselves, and they were spiritually murdering others. They disparagingly observed the masses going down to be baptized and mocked them. “Just look at the fools, going down into that muddy river to be baptized by that uneducated, uncouth man” they thought. “If they want ceremonial washing, let them come to us at the temple.”
Remember Your Baptism
But what the Pharisees and Sadducees refused to accept God mercifully gave to those who confessed. In baptism He gave them the gift of forgiveness. John said to them, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But the one who comes after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” God gave the people John baptized the gift of faith. He gave them salvation. He washed away their sins. He set their consciences at ease by promising them forgiveness and eternal life.
Those are the same gifts we receive in baptism. St. Peter wrote, “Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body but the guarantee of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). At your baptism God, adopted you as His child, and guaranteed you the right to stand in His presence. The salvation that Jesus earned for you on the cross was applied to you personally at your baptism. That’s why Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16a).
All that is God’s one-sided gift. But through baptism God also established a special covenant relationship with you. Our part of that covenant—our response of faith—is the pledge to keep drowning the Old Adam by daily repentance. We promise to continue to let the Spirit pour out His fire on us through the means of grace. John said “He, [Jesus], will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” That fire of the Holy Spirit is poured out on us through the Word—if we keep hearing and believing—and through communion, if we keep receiving it with penitent and believing hearts.
Bring Forth Fruits in Keeping with Repentance
Fire changes things. When fire touches paper, you can see the results. When the fire of the Spirit touches the heart of the believer, you can also see the results. The fire of the Holy Spirit, first given to us at baptism, and given to us again and again in Word and Sacrament, enables us Christians to keep Preparing the Way for the Lord, By Producing Fruit in Keeping with Repentance.
John preached, Therefore produce fruit in keeping with repentance! 9 Do not think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.
No son of Abraham was ever saved by his Jewishness, as the Pharisees and Sadducees thought. Neither does God save anyone today because mama was a Lutheran, or even because “I’m a Lutheran.” Lots of folks have bought the devil’s lie that the Gospel gives us a license to do whatever we want. John makes it clear that nothing could be further from the truth. If we claim to be Christians but refuse to do what God says, we’re not fooling anyone, least of all God.
God saves us through penitent trust in him. God saves us through living faith in Christ, and living faith can’t help producing “fruit in keeping with repentance,” i.e. “good works.” Good works don’t earn me salvation. Certainly not! But good works are the necessary fruit of real faith. Believers know that instinctively. The prostitute Jesus forgave, didn’t go on being a prostitute. The adulteress Jesus forgave ceased her adultery. The Roman soldiers John baptized stopped extorting money from Jewish villagers. The tax collectors Jesus forgave paid back what they’d cheated people out of with generous interest. That’s what repentance is all about. That’s what John the Baptist preached. Already the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Nothing less than genuine, penitent faith—faith in the heart that produces fruits in keeping with repentance, will do. “If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice. 7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).
Jesus will thresh and divide, He will punish, and He will reward. “His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” St. Paul later wrote the same thing in Romans: “God ‘will repay each person according to what he has done’—7 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good, 8 but furious anger to those who out of selfish ambition are disobeying what is true and obeying what is wrong” (2:6-8).
Take John’s harsh, but honest message to heart. It was meant for each of us, just as it was meant for the Jews who went out to hear him 2000 years ago. In this penitential season of Advent, let us Prepare The Way For The Lord into our own hearts By Confessing Our Sins, Remembering Our Baptismal Covenant, and Bringing Forth Fruits in Keeping with Repentance. Amen.
Habakkuk 1:1–3, 2:1–4 1 The threatening oracle which the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help, but you do not listen? I call out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save! 3 Why do you cause me to see injustice? Why do you overlook misery? Devastation and violence confront…
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 5 This is evidence of God’s righteous verdict that resulted in your being counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also suffer. 6 Certainly, it is right for God to repay trouble to those who trouble you, 7 and to give relief to you, who are troubled along with us. When…
Revelation 21:1–7 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer existed. 2And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And from…
John 8:30–36 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. 32 You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered,…
Luke 18:18–2 A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not give…
Genesis 32:22–30 [Jacob] got up that night and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream, and he also sent his possessions across. 24Jacob was left alone, and he wrestled with a man there until…
On another occasion, as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12When he entered a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him. Standing at a distance, 13they called out loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show…
2 Thessalonians 1:1–5,11-12 Paul, Silas, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3We are always obligated to thank God for you, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more…
Amos 6:1–7 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you distinguished people of the leading nation, to whom the house of Israel comes. 2Travel to Kalneh and look. Go from there to Hamath Rabbah, and go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than those…
Luke 16:1–13 Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be…
Luke 24:36–49 All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 He told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one…
Luke 14:25–35 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot…
Luke 14:1–11 One Sabbath day, when Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat bread, they were watching him closely. 2 Right in front of him was a man who was suffering from swelling of his body. 3 Jesus addressed the legal experts and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to…
Luke 13:22–30 (& Isaiah 66:18–24) He went on his way from one town and village to another, teaching, and making his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?” He said to them, 24“Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try…
After these events the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. He said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2Abram said, “Lord God what can you give me, since I remain childless, and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Abram…
Sermon on Luke 12:13-21 Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14But Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15Then he said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because a…
Genesis 18:20-33 So the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very flagrant, 21 I will go down now and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.” 22 The two men…
Luke 10:38-42 As they went on their way, Jesus came into a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and was listening to his word. 40But Martha was distracted with all her serving. She came over and said,…
Luke 10:23-37: Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you are seeing, yet did not see them, and to hear the things that you are hearing, yet did not hear…
1 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his…
All Jesus is asking for is 1st Commandment loyalty: “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” God must always be first. Jesus is God. Jesus has told us that following Him has costs. He’s also told us that following Him has indescribably wonderful rewards. He’s asking all of us to be COMMITTED TO HIM THROUGH THICK AND THROUGH THIN.