Together, we are united in Christ, His work, which is the great act of love that saves us and binds us together.

• Christ’s great act of love

Jesus Christ, the God-man, walks to Jerusalem to commit the ultimate act of love. Love is making yourself less in order to bless others. It is doing to your neighbor as you would be done by. Jesus does even more than this, by making himself the least, the lowest, in order to save sinners. What Jesus tells to the twelve here as He takes them aside is not the first time He would describe His passion. Here he goes into the detail about the suffering that He must face for the sins of men.
Jesus says He will be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. The Jews, being under Roman rule, were generally able to arbitrate their own disputes. The Romans did not particularly care about how they worked day to day goings on in their own religion and their own people. But the Jews were not allowed to put people to death. Jesus must be delivered over to the Romans so a Roman magistrate can sentence Him to death. We confess this every week as we say, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate.” By this, Jesus Christ submits to judgment, not only of one nation, but of the government of the whole world. Here all willingly condemn Christ, whether out of jealousy, foolishness, or cowardice.
Jesus does not only submit Himself to judgment, but He would be mocked, insulted, and spit upon. They can’t only condemn Christ, but must make Him feel as low as possible. The soldiers array Jesus in a purple robe and crown of thorns, mocking His kingship. They spit on him and strike him over and over. Jesus willingly takes the shame. He takes the shame because He is taking on our shame. We should be ashamed of our sin, of turning from God, of denying the king of glory and treating Him like nothing. God should place on us nothing but everlasting shame. But in love He takes that shame on Himself in our place.
Then Jesus is scourged. He is struck with whips which make ruts in His back. No one can say it better than the prophet Isaiah: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” For we sheep who have gone astray, all our sins were put upon Him. By His suffering, we receive instead life, healing and salvation. We are cleansed by the blood sacrificed for us that pours from His wounds.
No greater wounds, than those given on the cross. There He takes the ultimate suffering, not only of the crucifixion, as the two thieves do, but of the wrath of God poured out upon Him. It pleased God to make Christ’s soul and offering for sin, and it pleased Christ to follow His Father’s will and be the sacrifice. Christ dies, in accordance with His Father’s will, as God shows His perfect love for us in His death.
You know all these things, but at the time, the disciples did not understand these things. Their eyes were not open. They were hidden. If our eyes are not open to the love of Christ in His suffering and death, then nothing else in Christianity will make sense. Easter will have no point. We look into the valley of Lent, on our way to Easter. We should not let it be a time to ignore Christ and His Word, only to celebrate on the other end. Nor should it be a drudgery of our own work with no view of what Christ has done. Lent is a time for us to lessen love for ourselves, and increase love for neighbor, as we remember Christ’s love for us.

• Christ’s particular love

It would be enough if Christ’s death on the cross was all He did for us. But daily He shows His particular love with so much more. As Jesus is on His way to Jerusaelm with His disciples, and passing by Jericho, there is a blind beggar on the road. Now the Jews were not supposed to have beggars among them, but take care of their poor, widows, and orphans. But here he is. He has been shown very little love in his life. Jesus will show this man His particular love.
We are all like this blind beggar in a way. We are not in Jerusalem yet, in the place where Jesus is going. We sit by the roadside, in Jericho. And all we can do is call out for help. That is the nature of repentance. Nothing to offer Christ. We see where we are, that we in our sin cannot do anything for ourselves. So we call out to Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of the King, to help us.
You know what Jesus does? It specifically says He stands still. With all Jesus has to do, with everyone thronging around, with the importance of His mission in His mind, He stops. He has the beggar brought to Him and offers help. Though all the world told the beggar to be quiet, He didn’t give us. Christ hears your prayers. He hears your call for help. He will stop and help. This is His particular love for you.
See how Jesus fulfills St. Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13:
Jesus is longsuffering and kind. He does not mind the blind beggar calling out over and over. We might mind our own children, whom we love, asking the same things over and over. Jesus doesn’t. He will hear a cry for help again and again, and in love come kindly to assist. He never ever gets tired or annoyed with us praying “Lord, have mercy on me.”
Jesus does not think himself too important for our needs. See here, He is the Son of God, He is on His Father’s mission, He is going to the cross, to do the most important thing in human history and yet He is not too busy or too important to stop for a blind beggar. Do not think that you are too small or insignificant for Jesus’ love.
Jesus is not rude or self-seeking either. He is not secretly in the back of His mind thinking about how annoying you are. Love does not behave rudely or think evil like that. He does not think how helping you will benefit Him. Jesus is open and honest in His love. What you see is what you get. If He was willing to suffer on the cross for you then certainly He is genuine about hearing and helping you with your needs.
Jesus rejoices that people may see Him and believe. It is His greatest joy that a sinner be saved. His love is that in seeking the best for you, He also seeks what He and His Father desire most. They desire to be at peace with sinners. That is why Christ died to atone for us, so we could be one, in union with God and one another. This desire, which comes from God’s love for you, will never fail.

• Love is the fruit of our faith

We know that Christ has this unfailing love for us. He has suffered died and risen to make peace with God. We can call on Him for help, because He has shown and continues to show His love. Calling out, trusting in the love of God, is faith. Faith has the greatest value in this life. Faith trusts that God loves us and has a good disposition toward us because of Christ. Faith trusts that God will hear our prayers, come to our aid, and forgive our sins. Because the love of God has been revealed to us, we can have faith.
That faith now is not perfect. In this world we are still affected by the Old Adam. We still have to deal with sin pulling us to not trust in God. We see Christ through the testimony of the scriptures and we trust in His Word. We have good reason to trust, but everything is not yet complete. Paul speaks about this in two images. A child can have right understanding of things, but he understands as a child. When we grow older, our understanding changes, becomes more complete, we leave childish things behind. When we see things in a mirror, as we see Christ in the Word, we see dimly. It is a true image, but not as bright as when we see face to face.
Faith looks forward to being completed in sight. For now, we trust in God, and from that trust in His love, flows our love. When the blind man is healed, his eyes are opened to who Christ is. His response is to praise God and to follow Christ to Jerusalem. He will proceed with the disciples on this same path.
What does it mean for us to follow Christ to Jerusalem. Our eyes have been opened to see who he is. We are no longer blind beggars, but sons and disciples. In faith, we pursue the way of love where Christ is going. As St Paul says, it’s not about tongues of men and angels, prophecy, or knowledge, at least those things are not of any worth without the love of Christ.
As we follow Christ to the heavenly Jerusalem, we see with our eyes opened. No longer do we see as the world sees, but with the eyes of faith. So we can be kind and long suffering to other people. We don’t have to be annoyed with our kids, or others who call on us again and again because Christ never is for us. Like Christ, we don’t need to seek the best for ourselves. We can realize that we aren’t really that important. If Christ with His universe-changing mission was willing to stop for one blind beggar, certainly nothing we do is that important that we can’t take a little time for someone else. Call a friend, play with our kids a few minutes, bring some soup to someone who is sick.
Not just this, because even a pagan could do these things, but rejoice in the truth. Like the blind man, the first thing he does is praise God. We too show love by rejoicing in the things that are truly good, that God loves, and hating the things that God hates. We show love not by covering up truth to protect feelings, but by, in wisdom, letting the truth of God’s Word shine through what we say. And then when get push back, we bear it, believe and hope the best, endure whatever mocking out of the sake of love.
At the end, at the heavenly Jerusalem, love will pervade all things. There will be no impatience or annoyance, pride or boasting in self. There will be no rudeness, self-seeking, or rejoicing in evil happening to others. Only the love and truth of Christ will shine forth. We will no longer know as a child, or see in a mirror, but we will see and know God face to face. That face will shine forth with love, which will be perfectly reflected in us.
Now, as we follow Jesus to the heavenly Jerusalem, we practice that love, in faith, even in great weakness. But it is a practice for who we really are and who we really will be, when the Lord’s Supper here is complete and we come to the feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, who reigns forever, Jesus Christ, the Son of David. Amen.  

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
Grace and Peace be to you from God, our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ.

This Sunday is called Cantate because the beginning of the introit is “Sing to the Lord a new song.” I hope that maybe by the end of the sermon, when you look at a hymn like this, that we were just singing, your first thought wouldn't be, “oh, no, another 10 stanza hymn we have to sing.” But your thought would be, instead, of how this applies to you. That, as Martin Luther beautifully writes here about being caught in besetting sin, being chained by it. Not, even by your own works, being able to get out of it. If you've ever felt like that in your life, if he's experienced the anguish of conscience, and then God comes out of nowhere, simply out of love, and says, Son, let's have compassion, Son, Let's heal them. To think of and meditate on those words - that's the power of singing to the Lord a new song. It's the power through which the Holy Spirit works as he works through the word of God and the Word preached through good hymns as well.

Jesus says in the Gospel lesson today, it is to your advantage that I go away. And we've heard from Jesus many times on this matter, but this goes against our typical way of thinking and the way that the disciples were thinking as well. Why would it be better Jesus, if you went away? Wouldn't it be better to be there with Him in Galilee? Wouldn't it be better to be sitting there with Him in the upper room? Wouldn’t it be better to be like those cartoons, there's a lot of them, when I was a kid, the Christian cartoons where the kids would go back in time, and then they live out the Bible stories and be with Jesus. Wouldn’t that be better than just hearing about it in the Word? And we heard a few weeks ago, Jesus says to Thomas, blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. That it's actually better to be believing the word, to be in our place now than to be where the disciples were.

And Jesus explains it here several chapters before, on the night he was betrayed. He says, “If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.” That Helper is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. As Jesus will go he'll go away, He ascends on high. He sends the Holy Spirit who convicts us, convicts our hearts, gives us new hearts, guides us into all truth in the Gospel of Jesus. And as the Father does not do anything with measure. You see so many times in scriptures, He gives without measure. He's like me adding olive oil to a dish. You just you don't measure it. Just keep going. That's how he gives He gives the Holy Spirit to us without measure through his words, so we can receive Jesus, and as we receive Jesus, we also receive the Father. There's no measure, there's no holding back. Jesus must depart, so he can send the helper who will bring us to a closer communion with Him, even than the beloved disciple John leaning on his breast at the Last Supper. We have a closer communion even than that. So let us look at the coming of the helper who delivers us Christ's victory delivers a great comfort in Christ's victory and creates our response.

Today is a day we're still in the Easter season, but we're really looking forward to Pentecost now. We're kind of turning this way now, turning forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit, 50 days after Easter, to the church. We're connecting those two, the resurrection and then the bringing of the Holy Spirit to the church. So we're going to turn today to the Old Testament reading, Isaiah 12, that looks forward to that day. This is the day that he's talking about.

Isaiah says, “In that day, you will say,” and that day he's talking about is Christ's victory day. Now in Isaiah, chapter 11, I'll summarize it. He is talking about this day of great victory that is coming for the Israelites, a day that he says is going to be greater even than the victory over the Egyptians at the Red Sea. If you were at the Easter Vigil, you remember we sang that song of Moses from Exodus chapter 15, when they crossed the Red Sea and then saw Pharaoh and all his armies covered up with water. He said, “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider, he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.” And now Isaiah sings “for Yah, The Lord is my strength And my song. He also has become my salvation.” And that “Yah, the Lord,” that's Yah Yahweh. It's repeating God's name twice. Some translations would say the Lord God, but it's really God's name twice. It's not just Yahweh. It's yah Yahweh. He's ramping things up. Things are getting even greater than they were when Moses and the people were delivered.

That's what Isaiah says in chapter 11, that the remnant will be brought in from the four corners of the earth. There will be no jealousy between the northern and southern kingdoms, Ephraim and Judah. All their enemies, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Egyptians themselves, will all be destroyed. And one might think that this is just about a historical thing, like the Israelites returning from exile, but Isaiah is speaking about much more than that, because there was a joy when the people of Judah, the Judeans, they returned from exile and came back. That was a joyful time. But it's not quite what Isaiah is talking about. They weren't victorious, conquering people. They were just a people who were kind of allowed to go home. They weren't even really ruling themselves. They were still under the Persians. So nothing was quite completed there. We look to a greater event in the future.

We look to a bigger event, and he talks about a root of Jesse, who's standing as a signal for the people. Now, what is the root of Jesse? You probably hear that around Christmas a lot. We know that Jesse is David's father. The root of Jesse is the son of David, the one who is descended from David, the one who was promised to David. I will have one who will rule on your throne forever. And he says that root of Jesse will stand as a signal, as a pole up on the pole, bringing all people from all nations to himself. Are you getting the image now we have a son of David lifted up on a pole, and everyone coming and believing in him. I don't know, but something up here kind of looks like that.

This great victory, this great deliverance, this day that Isaiah is talking about is the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This day is greater than when the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea. This is greater than when David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem with singing. It's greater than the Israelites’ return from exile in Babylon. Christ's victory over sin and death by his crucifixion and resurrection is the greatest victory of all time, one which changed the world, ones which brings us to God and Heaven.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

This victory that we have from Jesus, we receive it by the work of the Holy Spirit. As Christ says, He will depart and the Helper will give us everything that is his. This victory means that God is now truly our God, though we have sinned against him, we can call him our Father. Isaiah says, “Though you were angry with me, your anger is turned away and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.” It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. Maybe in English class in high school, you read Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of the Angry God, and that “loathsome spider” that God holds over the flames of hell. We don't fall into the hands of an angry God, because his anger has been turned away from us, even though we have truly hated God and taken him for granted.

We have not loved him as we ought. We have not trusted him first in all things. We have not made him our top priority. We barely muster any effort to pray to him or to praise him, the prophet Zephaniah says in chapter three, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout O Israel, rejoice and exult with all your heart. O daughter of Jerusalem, the Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You shall never again fear evil.” Think of the deliverance and think, is this you? Do you sing aloud and shout for praise with what God has done for you? Do you consider those words, as we heard in the hymn, of how fast bound in Satan's chains you had laid and God, simply out of compassion, came and freed you? Do you make sure to call on the Lord where he may be found?

You have a wonderful promise here, because Isaiah says “You were angry with me, but your anger has turned away.” Why? Because “God is my salvation.” Our Savior, the one who has rescued us, and the rescue itself is from God. Jesus has saved us and keeps us saved. He has sent the Holy Spirit in order to do this. He has made peace with God by His death, and now, by the Holy Spirit, He gives us faith so that we can believe in him. He changes our hearts so we can hold to that promise, and we trust in God himself for his salvation, so that his anger will be turned away from us. We trust that God Himself, the Son of God, has come to die for us, become our Savior, and keep us in that faith by the Holy Spirit.

So instead of taking Him for granted, let us remember, Yah, the Lord is your strength and your song. When you need strength, as you always do, he is there to depend on. He gives you strength for every day, even without your prayer. He is your song. He is your declaration of what is good. The pop recording industry gives us songs that are just nonsense, but a song is something which is meaningful. A song is something which comes at an important time, and we need to remember that (and not think that we need to be a professional singer to sing a song).

We'll get more to the songs in a minute.

But where do we receive this victory? Where do we receive this assurance? Where do we receive the Holy Spirit? We “draw water from the wells of salvation,” as he says. Remember Jesus with the woman at the well at John chapter four. He said, “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. Whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.” Hopefully, when we hear that like the woman, we say, “Lord, give me that water always.”

And Jesus clarifies later in chapter seven of John, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for. As yet, the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified.” That LIVING WATER IS THE HOLY SPIRIT. We come to Him and drink, we come and receive that water in our baptism. We receive that by hearing and believing His Word. We receive that by eating of His body and blood and trusting that this is for our salvation, that we are sinners and need His forgiveness and strength. When we do those things, we are drawing waters from the wells of salvation. We are remembering that his anger is turned away because He is our Savior, that while we were fast bound in Satan's chains, he decided to save us simply out of compassion.

And so as we draw water from the wells of salvation, as Isaiah says that should bring us joy. “With joy, you draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say ‘Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His deeds among the people. Make mention that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. Cry and shout, oh inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst.”

Christ was given for this very purpose, so that on account of him, we may receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. This produces in us new and eternal life what we draw from for the wells of salvation, which gives us His eternal righteousness. The Spirit reveals Christ to us: He sends His Helper so we know about His salvation. He sends His Helper so we can have comfort in his victory, that His anger turns away, and then he leads us to so many of his other gifts: love, peace, prayer, Thanksgiving, chastity, endurance.

And along with that, the response - it says to sing. Songs are for singing at important times (I'm getting back to the singing now). Songs are not just to play on the radio in the background. Songs were created to commemorate important times, to remember things that are important. We remember songs better than we remember just about anything else. So let us sing at important times as the Scripture calls on us to sing, “sing to the Lord a new song.”

When Moses and the Israelites are saved from the Egyptians, they sing a song, and they remember that song and pass it down to their children. When David brings the Ark into the city of Jerusalem, he sings to the Lord a new song, and he passes that down to his children, to the people, to sing. The songs that we have in the Psalms have been passed down to us to sing, to remember what God has done for us, to commemorate the new things that are happening. At every important, most important point in the Old Testament, the people call on God with song, And not just the Old Testament.

When the Virgin Mary knows that she is going to birth the Savior and comes to greet her cousin, Elizabeth she breaks out in the song of the Magnificat. When Zechariah names John the Baptist, he breaks out in song. When Simeon sees the infant Jesus there in the temple, he sings, “Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace” There is no more appropriate way to praise than to sing.

What do we praise the Lord for? He has glorified himself. He has raised himself up to be that signal to the nations. He has brought people to Himself to believe so that the anger of God may be turned away from us. He has magnified his people. For those who believe in Him, He has raised us up, given us his righteousness, given us His Holiness, given us a new heart so we are better than before. All by His grace, all by his gift. And He will be great among us because He is truly good. So, as Isaiah tells us, we call upon his name, we praise his name, sing to his name, we pray to his name, we proclaim him among the peoples, proclaim Him to all. We preach, we write, we talk about Jesus. We exalt Him like the victory for the coronation of a king. This is what flows out of what the Holy Spirit. It does as the helper brings to us Christ's victory.

So as a challenge, I would say either one, maybe the basic one, would be to pay attention to the hymns. Pay attention to the words. Think about how this applies in your life. Think about where you are in this hymn and what Christ has done for you. And maybe, as an extra challenge, learn one hymn this year, a good, strong hymn that tells clearly what Christ has done and how his victory has been given to us. It doesn't have to be 15 stanzas, but that helps (I'm kidding about that). Learn that hymn so that you can hold on to it, to it for strength, so that you can sing to the Lord, so that you have more than the pop ditty or the jingle for the local Chicago carpet companies in your head. If we have these songs in our heads and in our hearts, if we make God our strength, put our confidence Hn him, He will be our strength. He will be our song. Alleluia, Christ is risen. Amen.

As many of you may know, and maybe some of you don’t, Stuart had a particular opinion of what heaven would be like. It changed and grew over the years but I gather these were the main details – there is a cathedral there the size of 4 galaxies. The church bell is the size of the Hancock Building, but don’t worry, you can only hear it in heaven because if we heard it it would break our ears. The pipe organ is also the size of Hancock Building. There is, of course, a park where the angels have a picnic, because you need somewhere to come from if you are going to church. And in church they sing happy birthday to Jesus a lot!

I can say this sounds more accurate to scripture than many popular books you might find. As we heard in Revelation, the worship of God is central in heaven and in the resurrection from the dead. We will experience glories that “no eye has seen nor ear has heard.” Christ has gone before to prepare a place for us, because in his home there are many mansions.
Even greater things than these we hear from Revelation concerning the new heavens and new earth. God Himself will dwell with us, there will be no separation at all between God and man, what is faith now will become sight. He will wipe away every tear, all death, sorrow, and sadness will be gone. And as Christ’s faithful and true words say, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Today we remember that Stuart was already made new, and will be made new on the last day. At his baptism, he received forgiveness of sins and new life by the Holy Spirit. God made Stuart new, changed his heart, so he could trust and believe in Jesus Christ as his savior. And as that faith endured in Stuart’s life, he is with Christ now, safe in his Savior’s arms, and will be raised from the dead on the last day.

Stuart truly has a unique confession. Of course, Stuart only had the intellect of a little child. This does not demean him – he was definitely clever. He knew how to get what he wanted. But through this we see that faith is not about intellect. As Jesus said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” and “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

The confession of Stuart’s life is that it is Christ alone who saves, who creates faith in the heart, who works through his promised means in baptism. It is not by reason or strength that anyone comes to the Lord. If you were the smartest person on earth, you would have no advantage over Stuart. The one who enters the kingdom of God receives it, trusts like a child, with a trust created by Christ Himself.

In faith, you or I have no advantage over Stuart. We are all born in sin and enemies of God. No natural abilities we have can restore faith or bring us back to God. We can’t think our way there, work our way there, spiritualize our way to God. For all our striving is nothing to God. He created us, gave us life, sustains the universe, and yet we ignore Him, turn against Him, act like He doesn’t exist. We treat God poorly and our neighbors worse, always looking out for ourselves above all. Into this predicament, this corruption, we are born, and on our own cannot free ourselves.

Therefore, our God and Father took pity on us, and out of love for those who showed no love back, sent His Son Jesus Christ to take on human flesh, become man, live a perfect life, and die in our place. He died because His Father sent Him, and we showed our appreciation by putting Him on the cross. Yet his death, his blood poured out for us, forgives Stuart’s sin, our sins, all sins. All who repent and believe this have that forgiveness. Stuart received this repentance and faith, becoming a little child, by the very working of the Holy Spirit, just as all Christians do.

Yes, Stuart was a sinner, in thought word and deed, and inherited from his conception, as with all of us. But he had a greater Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave him faith and made him a Christian.

Stuart showed fruits of faith as well. He would listen and be good. I remember him acting particularly well when Laura was injured. This fruit is going to naturally flow from any Christian life. But the fruits are a sign of the inward, heart change that Christ works in us.

So as we consider Stuart’s final Christian confession today, think of your own life. If everything was taken away, what would you have left? What have you built for yourself that will endure forever? I can tell you that if you think you will just die and be gone, be nothing, you are mistaken. We are eternal, and will be eternally with Christ or eternally separated from God. Stuart is eternally with Christ, and if we hope to see him, the only way is to draw nearer to Jesus, to repent of our sins, to trust in Him. Remember, it’s nothing you have to earn, work for, or buy. Salvation comes to you as it came to Stuart, by simple trust, by becoming like a little child.

To trust in Jesus is to gain everything. Life and strength in this world, and hope for the life to come. Stuart’s death was truly a shock, and it is right for us to mourn. But as Christians, we do not mourn without hope. For Stuart is with Christ, and will live again, body and soul in the resurrection of the dead.

I don’t know about the size of the cathedral or the bell, scripture isn’t clear. But I know in the resurrection that there will be no pain or sorrow, and no death. Stuart will be more like himself and more like his savior than ever. His mind is now clear and sharp, and his body will be restored and perfected. In that last day we will be able to commune and communicate with Stuart better than we ever could on earth, even better than Laura could, which is saying something!

We look forward to a last day without sin, or sickness, where all mental and physical disabilities are taken away. Today, as we bury his body, Stuart’s soul is with Christ, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in paradise. In the last day, body and soul, Stuart and all people will be resurrected from the dead. We will be singing happy birthday, go tell it on the mountain, and many more hymns, for the focus will be on the Lord of Life, Jesus Christ, who has saved Stuart and all of us and brought us to be with Him in His kingdom, His little children, foreever. Amen.

Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

One memory I have of my visits with Carol in the last three years came to mind while I was reading her obituary. I remembered discussing her love of history and especially the history of shipwrecks. It’s not often a pastor visits a person who likes to talk about shipwrecks at length, so that stuck in my mind. Therefore, I thought it appropriate to choose this reading from Acts 27, in which we have a detailed description of a shipwreck experienced by St. Paul and his companions.

Those who are in the know say this account written by St. Luke in the book of Acts is the most detailed account of a shipwreck in the ancient world in existence. There are all sorts of geographic points and nautical terms, and amid them is the continuing story of the Apostle Paul. Paul is traveling to Rome from Jerusalem by ship, to stand trial before Caesar. He is a prisoner, under guard of a centurion, a Roman non-commissioned officer, named Julius, and his friends Luke and Aristarchus are with him, as well as other prisoners. The sailors decided to depart from their last port at the end of the year which was a bad decision. Like the song says of Lake Superior, so too in the Mediterranean Sea the skies of November turn gloomy, and the ship became a bone to be chewed. St. Paul warned them, but they did not listen. For fourteen days the ship faces stormy seas, headed for certain doom.

Yet amid this, St. Paul has a promise from the Lord that he will reach Rome to stand trial, and that all who remain on the ship with him will be preserved. Paul holds on, trusts this word of God even throughout those fourteen days of stormy seas. When the sailors attempt to leave on the lifeboat and abandon ship, St. Paul urges them to stay aboard, or they will not be saved.
This true history is much like the story of the Christian life, and therefore the story of Carol’s life. Many have spoken of life as a journey, it is no wonder for we begin at birth and continue to an end. And we don’t know how that journey will be. Maybe for many days there are fair winds and comfortable tides, at other times a storm that brings us to a lee shore. Carol had many blessings in her life, most of all her husband Frank and her children, she would always be telling me about them, and also sorrows, especially deaths which were very hard, hitting close to her.
These difficulties in life are the result of sin, sin which our father Adam brought into the world, turning against God through disobedience. We have all inherited this sin which brought both death and suffering into the world. Storms and shipwrecks, both actual and metaphorical are a result of sin. For now in this life, we suffer through these effects every day in our lives. Carol was no exception.

But for Carol, and those who trust in Christ, there is a hope. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, God taking on human flesh, and lived the perfect life and died for the sin of the world. Now all who trust in Him, trust that this is for them, are forgiven and have an eternal life which goes beyond death. This is what Carol has today, as well as all who believe and are baptized.
This is where St. Paul gets his confidence, knowing the Word of God that he will be preserved with the ship, and also knowing Jesus as his Savior. The other members of the ship only see the storm and coming wreck, they are in despair, they will not even eat – what is the point if you are going to die anyway? Work for your life! Paul knowing that the Lord will preserves them calmly has those on the ship all sit and receive a meal, breaking bread together for strength. For they will wreck, but will still be preserved, and need the strength food brings for the days ahead on shore.

Carol too trusted in the Word of God. She believed that Christ died for her and rose again from the dead, and so she too, believing in Him, would have eternal life. She demonstrated this faith every time I came to see her as we discussed the Word of God and the people and things she was praying for in the world. Even when the world seemed like a storm, she took time to receive the forgiveness and strength which Christ gives through His word and the food of His Holy Supper in communion. In this way, she was not preparing for the end, but for the beginning of the rest of her life.

No one knows when the end will come for each one of us, so all we can do is always be prepared, always be ready. St. Paul and the men on the ship saw the end of their voyage, trying to run the ship aground on the shore. They threw out anchors, they jettisoned all the cargo to make the ship float a little higher. The cargo was of no value anymore. And then they didn’t run aground where they thought. The ship was stuck on a shoal before they got into the bay. The expected end came much earlier than they expected. What is important is that they were prepared, and trusting in Paul’s promise that they would be saved, all safely made it to shore.
Carol was ready, even though we did not expect her life to end this soon. But whether one’s ship of life crashes upon a rock or grounds smoothly on the beach, the important thing is to hold to the solid promise of the resurrection in Jesus Christ. While death still is a reality in this life, for all who believe in Jesus and cling to Him, life continues after death. So now Carol is with Jesus, safe on the shore, resting in his arms.  Free from fear and the storms of life, with the One who loves her best, awaiting the last day and the resurrection of the dead.

Carol wants you too to join her in the resurrection, by coming onto that ship where all will be preserved. It is the ship of those who trust in Christ and follow Him. He is found where his Word is preached, and His people are gathered, in His church. All who remain in this ship by trusting in Jesus will be preserved, and like Carol, reach the other shore.

There, at the end of this worldly life, we will see, rejoice, jump out and swim to our resurrected Lord. And there we will be face to face with our Savior, and gathered will all our loved ones, as we and Carol and all the company of heaven forget the past storms and shipwrecks, rejoicing to look upon His face of love. Amen.
   

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Truly today we continue to celebrate that Christ is risen from the dead. Our Lord has died and risen again for our salvation. Not only have our sins been taken away on the cross, but our Lord has sealed our salvation by rising from the dead, so we too, believing in Him, will rise. Certainly the Sunday of Easter is a great celebration of our Lord’s victory, and many were here to celebrate. But you can tell there are fewer people here this week.
Today’s gospel lesson also has to do with gathering, location, and missing people. First, on the evening of Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples are gathered together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. The disciples are not in a position of confidence and faith with regards to the resurrection. The disciples do know that it would be best to gather together. There in the midst of their gathering, Jesus appears to his disciples. He appears even though the doors are locked and says, Peace be with you. He shows them his hands and his side, his holy wounds. The disciples then are glad when they see the Lord.
See the very specific way that Jesus appears to them. Jesus appears to them in his body. Jesus is always in his body, he is always the God-man, even after his death. When he appears to them, they recognize him as Jesus. He is physical. He shows his holy wounds on his hands and in his side. There is no doubt that this is the man Jesus who was crucified. Jesus is also God, and by his divine power can appear to them in a locked room. There is no other way that Jesus could appear to them in his body than by divine power. He is not a ghost or spirit. Jesus is always man.
It is important that Jesus is man because Jesus as man is our Redeemer. All the work Jesus does for our salvation is in his human flesh. The Son of God had to become man. He had to show up on this earth, taking on flesh in the womb of the virgin Mary. As a man, he is our brother and has the same flesh. As a man, he is able to take on the punishment for our sin. As a man, he is a high priest who sympathizes with our temptations.
This is why the disciples are glad when they see him. Seeing his wounds, they know he is crucified for them. He is close, being the God-man he shares their flesh. He has not resurrected to be a far-away God, but one very close. They are glad to gather at the place where he is located.
How do we gather where he is located? We know Jesus being God and man is everywhere as God and man. He is separate from creation, but fills all creation. If this were all we had, it would be enough. Jesus has given better promises than this. We can trust his word that he gives to the disciples – receive the holy Spirit, if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. Jesus is with us in his Word of absolution. You need to be where that absolution is promised. In the gospel preached. Even in private confession and absolution. He has given these gifts for your benefit. This is where he is in his body, as God and man, very close to us.
You are here the week after Easter, you know this, but others need to know too. Encourage people who aren’t here. The disciples told Thomas what Jesus brought to them. We don’t know why Thomas wasn’t there. He was not in the place he should have been. The disciples encouraged him to believe. He would not believe unless he saw the crucified Jesus in his body.
When Thomas was with them and the Lord appeared, he then believed. When people are brought to Jesus where he promises to be, doubts are taken away. Christians need to be strengthened regularly by receiving from Jesus. Christians are also strengthened by being with each other. We need those people here who only come on Easter. It is better for the body of Christ. We also need the people here to be here and willing to serve.
Service in the church will not earn you salvation. That comes from receiving from Christ. As Thomas saw the Holy wounds of Jesus, so we also partake of Jesus’ crucified body in a more blessed way. Jesus says blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. We do not see Christ bodily, but we believe. When we believing partake of his supper, we are those who are blessed. Christ is here also in his body and blood because he has promised it. This is his seal and promise on his presence with us.
Christ dwell in us by faith. That means that he is held onto by trust in his Word, not by what our senses perceive. St. John wrote these things were written that you may believe. Jesus has sent us his gospel so he can dwell in his church personally. He is not far away, but personal, close, and active. He is constantly guiding and protecting his church. Next week, we will talk about Jesus as the Good shepherd and how he himself rules his church. For this week remember that Jesus is always God and man, crucified and resurrected. He promises to be with you always. Is that not a reason to always want to dwell with him? Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

It is amazing how everyone in the gospel accounts of the resurrection seems completely floored that Jesus actually rose from the dead. They heard his promise many times, he openly told them in three days he would rise, and still when he actually does it they are filled with fear and wonder. Maybe they weren’t sure what to believe. The three women come to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, they assume he is still dead, they saw him dead Friday evening. Then halfway there they realize it would be impossible for them to access the tomb! Do they expect him to be dead or alive? Is something stronger pulling them there to the tomb?

The women come to the tomb, and it is open! How fortunate, they can get to Jesus’ body! But when they enter into the tomb, there is a young man, clothed in white, who says, “Jesus is risen, he is not here.” He says that Jesus has gone before them to Galilee, just like he said. This causes them great fear and wonder. Jesus has really risen? He has really done everything that he said he would?

Yes, Jesus Christ always keeps his appointments. For most people being dead would stop them from being able to keep their promises, but not Jesus. Why? Well, Jesus said, he is the Son of God. Death does not have power over him, he has power over death. So when the Son of God becomes man and death tries to get Christ in its jaws, it is death who gets the worst of it. Jesus breaks out of death and the tomb, for he does exactly as he has promised. He rose after three days and went ahead to Galilee.

Surely the women should have seen this before they arrived at the tomb. For what does the gospel say? “Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.” Do you hear that? Do you hear the proof right there? The sun had risen! And no, I’m not trying to do play-on words here. The sun, Sol, the big ball of light which governs the sky had risen. You might say, so what? The sun rises every day. Of course the sun rose, nothing can stop the sun from rising.

Yes, nothing can stop the sun from rising, but even more sure is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If the sun had risen, then the Son of God must have risen. Listen to the words of Jeremiah the prophet:

This is what the Lord says, the Lord who gives the sun for light by day, who regulates the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, whose name is Lord of Armies: Only if these ordinances could vanish from my sight, only then could the seed of Israel cease to be a nation before me, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:35-36)

This seed of Israel is Jesus. Jesus is all of Israel rolled into one. He accomplished what Israel could not by being perfectly obedient to the father and dying for the sins of the whole world. Jeremiah is saying if the sun and moon and stars still exist, then God’s promises will not go away. How could Jesus remain dead if the sun had risen? That would mean God’s promises were false, which could never be.

Often it seems like the rhythm of the natural world is more sure to even Christians than the promises of God. You know that spring follows winter and day follows night. Do you as truly believe that resurrection follows death for those who believe? Both exist by the promise of God. Hear the words of the prophet Hosea:

Let us acknowledge the Lord. Let us pursue knowledge of the Lord. As surely as the sun rises, the Lord will appear. He will come to us like a heavy rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth. (Hosea 6:3)

The Lord has promised that springtime and harvest, day and night, will not cease until the return of Jesus. So when you see these things, know that the same One who rules the sun and brings the rain raised Jesus from the dead, and will keep all his promises to you. Nothing can stop Jesus Christ from keeping his appointments.

Not even a large stone on his tomb can keep Jesus down. The women coming to the tomb worry about the stone, but quickly see that it is rolled back. This is another sign where they should have known Jesus had risen. What other explanation could there be for the stone being rolled away? The women had seen Jesus laid there on Friday night. Jesus’ enemies made sure the stone was secure and posted guards so no one would steal the body. They had no motivation to take it. Certainly the disciples were in no position to fight off Roman guards to take the body. This could only be the work of God. It must be Christ keeping his promise to rise again.

If the rock is moved, then the tomb is empty. If the tomb is empty, Christ must have risen from the dead. Some may say the empty cross is a symbol of the resurrection. This can be one symbol, but the thieves next to Jesus had empty crosses too after they were taken down. They remain dead. Only Jesus has an empty tomb.

The empty tomb means a risen Jesus, one who truly defeated death and appeared to many people. St. Paul writes, “Christ…appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one one, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:4b-6). St. Paul is claiming that many saw the resurrected Jesus, that in his time you could even still go talk to these witnesses, ask them what they saw. The resurrection which you trust in is not a fable or story. It’s not just something inspirational. It is a true event, recorded in history, attested by many people, with lasting and continuous effect.

Little history that you know, especially of 2000 years ago, is more surely testified to than the account of Jesus’ resurrection. Ever since the women saw the tomb roll away, Jesus has left significant evidence for keeping his promise of rising again. If Jesus’ past promise is sure, then you also know your future is sure.

When the women entered the tomb, they were told Jesus’ plans by the young man in white. Jesus’ itinerary was to go ahead to Galilee, just as he said. Jesus keeps his appointments. Jesus isn’t just waiting around after his resurrection; He is going on ahead. If Christ is risen from the dead then he has gone before you to Galilee, that is to say, if Christ is risen, then he is on his victory march. To meet him there is your future.

The Psalm today says, “Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” It is a victory songs of God’s people in the pavilions of his army. Christ has fought for you valiantly. He has taken your guilt and shame and punishment on the cross, going through agony and suffering. He was swallowed up by death, sent down into the grave. Yet as a mighty warrior he has overcome death. He burst forth from the tomb, striking down death with his mighty right arm. He crushed the ancient serpent, the devil, with his foot.

See, as he promised, he goes before you to Galilee. Then he goes before you to the Father. Even though you were bound in Satan’s chains by sin, living in fear of coming death, he has trampled down these enemies and leads you to his everlasting promised land. Trusting in him, you follow him on his victory march. He is the firstborn of the resurrection, and in your baptism you join that resurrection band. Whatever toil and turmoil comes in this life, your hope in the resurrection is sure, because Jesus’ resurrection is sure. You can say with the prophet Job,

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Though the earth pass away, though all history be erased, though you decay and die, Christ’s resurrection will always be sure. Every day you see that these things have not yet passed away, you can know Christ’s resurrection is sure. Satan is defeated. Death is swallowed up. The son of righteousness has risen with healing in his wings. See he goes before you. You will see him, just as he told you. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

St. John mentions several times that Jesus dies on the Jewish Day of Preparation. What is the day of Preparation? Well, when God created the heavens and the earth, he created in six days and on the seventh day He rested. This day was the Sabbath, Saturday, and it was passed down through the law of Moses, through the Ten Commandments that none should work on Saturday, on the Sabbath. So Friday was a day of preparation for the Jews, to get everything ready before the Sabbath when no one can work. So when St. John speaks of the Day of Preparation he means Friday, but Friday with a special significance.

Even more is this Friday significant as it was a Friday before the Passover. This sabbath was also a high holy day, a festival of God’s deliverance. Before Moses gave the Ten Commandments to God’s people, God has to make Himself a people. He did so by bringing these people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt. The Passover celebrates when the angel of death passed over the Israelites and killed the firstborn of all the Egyptians, freeing them from the oppressive slavery of Egypt. The Lord told the Israelites at the time to kill a lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts, so death would pass over. The Israelites that night, and every year to follow, would eat a roast lamb, standing at the table, dressed and ready to go. In so doing, they remembered God’s mighty work to deliver them from Egyptian slavery.

That same God has sent his son to take on flesh and become man, to become one of his people, these Jews whose ancestors were freed in the Passover. See that in the day of preparation the Jews are all very scrupulous about the coming holy day. They will not enter Pilate’s house, for he is a Gentile and will make them unclean. They must have those crucified taken down before the Passover begins. Very moral and scrupulous are they who crucify the very God who saved them. The very Son of God, who freed them out of slavery in Egypt, who spoke with Moses and gave the Commandments, they choose to kill as a common slave.

Yet do not focus only on these Jews. For you in their place would have done the same. That is not a judgment on your personality. It is a judgment on who you are, who all people are in their sin. After God created the world and rested on the Sabbath, all the world was very good, in harmony with our first parents, Adam and Eve. Yet Adam and Eve sought more, they ate of the forbidden fruit because even with all the good around them they thought God was hiding more from them. They brought sin into the world, and all their descendants, including you, have followed in their footsteps.

Despite every good that God has done for you, you still sin. You seek more, you do not trust that he will give you what you need. This is the story of humanity. Even when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, it did not stop man’s sin. God’s people immediately broke the commandments. You know that you break the commandments daily, and you do not fear God’s punishment for doing so. Even those who have every reason to love God show their hatred for him by ignoring him and turning to other things – other gods you fear, love, and trust more.

Throughout all this history, there was no one found who could reconcile for humanity. No man would make a perfect substitute, for all men are sinners. No animal could be sacrificed for all. So God in His wisdom sent his son to reconcile for you. His Son took on flesh in the womb of Mary and became man. He became flesh and blood, like us, to pay for your flesh and blood. For no amount of silver or gold, not even the value of the whole world could pay God back for your sin. Only Jesus Christ can, who pays with the very blood of God through his innocent suffering and death.

This death he had to bear by the very ones he desires to save. For his death is caused by your sin. Your sins are the slap to his face. Your desire for other gods is the thorns cutting into his brow. Your lack of contentment with what he gives causes the whips to dig into his back. You mock him when you speak the name of Christ and break his commands. Your disobedience nailed him to the cross. Your self-assurance and pride at being a very good person on your own put the spear in his side.

Upon the piercing of the spear, out flows the water and the blood. Even in his death comes the blood which covers all sin and the water which washes you clean. Jesus will not leave you merely in sorrow for your sins. Just stopping at sorrow for sin helps no one. Even Judas was sorry for his sin. Jesus wants you not to despair like Judas but hold on to the promise of the water and the blood. Jesus is pierced with a spear because they don’t need to break his legs, he has already died. None of his bones are broken. This is just like the Passover lamb, who is roasted whole with none of his bones broken. The same Passover lamb whose blood marks the doorpost to keep back the angel of death. Jesus is our Passover lamb. When you trust in his blood to cover you, you are freed from death.

Jesus knew that the sinful world would reject him. He knew that he would be crucified. He came to this world so that every real sin which you commit would send him to the cross. From the virgin Mary to the wicked king Manasseh to even much more vile people and to you he left himself to bear all the punishment that sin could bring. As every person on earth by their sins mocks him, beats him, kills him, he does not respond with a tally to get even. He takes every one. Then he takes, instead of you, the punishment for every one. The Passover lamb is roasted in the wrath of God. And in return you receive the water and the blood. You receive from that ever flowing fountain which comes from his cross, the place where every sin goes in and forgiveness and life comes out.

What love God has for us, that to redeem you, who deserves nothing but punishment, he would kill His Son. See how terribly heavy your sin is. See and feel just what was needed to pay for it. Know it was paid. Whatever guilt you feel, load it onto Christ, he has come to bear it. And he gives back life. Whatever sufferings you face, throw them on Christ, he has come to bear them. And he gives back life. If you desire life, turn from your sins and trust that Jesus gives life.

This is the day, Good Friday, the day of preparation, when your sins were paid for. Because of Good Friday, all who trust in Christ’s Word and his sacrifice do not need to fear judgment. For when you are before that Judge and the devil brings the list of all the sins for which you owe God retribution, He will look at the blood of Christ, which covers you in your baptism, and say, “paid in full.” Not even death will be able to punish.

Christ has even taken on that punishment of death. Joseph and Nicodemus agree, Jesus was truly dead. He will be laid in a new tomb near the cross. The first Adam in the garden of Eden caused the need for the cross. The last Adam, Jesus, will take his Sabbath rest in a garden, for he has completed his work. But the one who gives life cannot stay dead for long. The preparation has past, he rests for now, but the first day of the week is just around the corner. Amen.    

What’s the point of the Lord’s Supper? Why do we come here and partake? We know this bread is the very body of the Lord, and this wine is the very blood of the Lord. We know that in these we have forgiveness of sins, that is life and salvation. Jesus gives this to us not out of our merit, but out of his love for us. We receive in faith, trusting that what he says about His Supper is true.

Does this answer why come here often? Do you know why you receive regularly? That is a fruit of faith. It is true that the supper is for weak sinners who are in need of forgiveness. Even the least faith is worthy to partake of Jesus’ supper. It is the medicine of immortality to heal the wounds of the soul. Yet that is just one aspect of the Lord’s body and blood. It doesn’t fully explain why we partake often.

We take medicine when we are sick. Maybe if we have a chronic sickness we take medicine every day. This is part of an explanation – we do have a chronic sickness of our sinful flesh. As the Lord’s Supper is a strengthening and assurance of forgiveness, we seek it the more we realize we are sick with sin. This is why Luther said anyone who takes the Supper less than 4 times a year is a not a true Christian. That person does not see their sickness and does not want the cure. It is the true Christian who sees how desperately sick he is, how he needs the strength of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and takes it regularly. If you think you are too weak, if you know you need the strength Christ gives, then this sacrament of Christ’s body and blood is for you. Take it, knowing that as surely as you taste the bread and the wine, your sins are forgiven. If you think you are strong and don’t need this, if you think Christ’s body and blood are unnecessary, then stay away, for you are not ready. Repent of your sin, examine yourself and see your need, then you can trust in Christ to forgive and strengthen.

For those who know they need the medicine, know that this is not just medicine. This is what I was saying before – there are other aspects to the Lord’s body and blood. It is also true food and true drink. I don’t mean this because it is bread and wine. The eyes can tell that this is not much of a meal if we are looking at the bread and wine. If you look in faith, it is a great meal, filling the soul. And food is not just taken when we are sick, but to sustain us every day. This is the meal of those who love God, to restore and refresh in Spirit. We partake of the Lord’s body and blood not only because we need it, but because this is what those who love God do.

The psalmist says, “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.” This is what a Christian says. We love God, because we needed mercy and he gave it. We were caught in sin and death and even though we did not deserve it, he saved us. “Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!” Isn’t this just who we are in Christ. We realized that we were surrounded by anguish and death. In great distress, we needed a savior. Every Christian comes to some point where he realizes he cannot go on his own. He cannot save himself. And that is when we call on the name of the Lord. Maybe that was in baptism, maybe when you heard the gospel as an adult, but every Christian calls to the Lord and confesses, I am a sinner, I cannot survive on my own, Lord, deliver me!

The Lord has heard your voice, he knows your need for mercy. He came to die for your sins and by his blood delivered you from death, distress, and anguish. He is gracious and bountiful, and wishes to give you all good things. When you were under the shadow of death, full of tears, stumbling along, Christ came and brought you up. He put you on your feet so you can walk again. He has returned you to a place of rest. No one could do this but the Lord, and he has done so through the death of Jesus Christ.

So we do not thank him only once, as he says, “Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.” The Christian’s life is continually one of calling on the name of the Lord. This is remembering your baptism. This is trusting his word. This is taking of his Supper. For these are the things he has told us to do. As Christians, we continually call on Him and ask for his mercy, for we know we need it and he will supply it.

Sometimes we feel like we have to make up for what Christ has done for us, so we make up rules or sacrifices that we think he would like. We feel like we need to pay God back somehow. This can be a good thing, an inclination of thankfulness toward God. Yet we should know that God does not want any self-made sacrifice. The Israelites thought they could live however they wanted as long as they piled up sacrifices to God. The medieval church wrongly taught that the extra works of the monks made them especially holy over other Christians. Even today, many preachers and churches will pile up rules beyond Christ’s commandments of what it means to be a ”true Christian,” a “real born-again Christian,” or a “totally committed follower of Christ.”

Christ says, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He has taken on the burden of our sins already. He has already answered our response in His Word. The psalmist continues, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?” If I, as a Christian, recognize what God has done in Christ, what more can I do for him? “I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” This is what Christ desires of you, to lift up the cup of salvation, this cup of Christ’s blood, and partake in faith. He is saying, “call on me, trust in me and the salvation I promise to you here. This is the thanks I need.” To call on the name of the Lord is to trust in his Word, especially the Word of the promise of forgiveness. When we trust Christ alone for salvation in the way he has promised to give salvation then we are giving to him what he really desires from us, rather than some made-up sacrifice of our own.

Then you may say, “if there is no sacrifice of our own, what is it to pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of his people?” This is a result of taking the cup of salvation. Because Christ has freed you from sin and death you can say, “I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.” That is to say, “Lord, I will follow my commandments. You have freed me to do so, just as my mother did.” This may be true of your natural mother, the one who brought you to baptism so your bonds could be loosed. Even if not, it is true of your mother, the church.

The church is that true heavenly Jerusalem, where we the servants of the Lord gather to pay our vows. We hear his promises, we partake of his body and blood, we call on his name together. For what the Lord also desires is for us to come to his house together. He wishes that all his servants would do nothing more than come in thanks for his work and partake of that body and blood which he has given to strengthen them.

That is the point of taking the supper often. We certainly need the forgiveness. We need to realize that we need forgiveness and are weak without it. Also, we who love God, give our thanks and service to Him in the best way we know how, which is the way that he has told us to do. This is what we were meant to do. In this supper, we are preparing for heaven, where we will continually be participating in the wedding feast of Christ and his church. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,” for they have entered into that eternal feast. Therefore partake now, prepare now. Even though your sins are many his blood is greater. Lift up the cup of salvation, call on the name of the Lord. This is what the Lord considers acceptable service. Free to you, paid for by his blood, with eternal benefit. Amen.

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” If the people of the city of Jerusalem had known scripture, they would have known what was happening when Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey. Jesus comes into the city as a great king, with the acclamations of a king. The people shout hosanna – “Save us!” – to the Son of David, the true heir to the throne.

Jesus will not be led to a throne in a king’s palace. All the city is stirred up by his entrance, but not necessarily for good. The topic of conversation becomes “who is this Jesus?” Some will say, “it’s the great prophet from Galilee!” Others will say, “he’s a blasphemer we must destroy.” Very few will say, “the Son of God.” Jesus will then not be led to his throne by a cheering multitude, but by soldiers with swords and clubs. He will be beaten and mocked by soldiers rather than guarded. He will be led to a hill so weakened that another man will carry his cross. For Jesus will be crucified and his king’s throne is a cross of wood, with the words written above, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

A throne is a place of judgment. From the cross, Jesus declares the true judgment to those before him. Who are there before him? The artist James Tissot created a very striking painting of Christ’s crucifixion called “Crucifixion, seen from the cross.” It is much different from other paintings of the crucifixion, as the only part of Jesus which is seen is his feet at the very bottom of the painting. The perspective is Christ’s, it is a Jesus-eye view. So the majority of the painting is instead the different people gathered around his cross. There is a great mixed group of people, some mourning, some sneering, some just looking on – different reactions to the King of the Jews upon the cross.

Sitting on a low circle of stones around the cross are many soldiers, some sneering, some looking away, some bored with the situation. They don’t even feel the need to stand before the king. These are the ones who mocked him, putting a crown of thorns on his head, a scarlet robe on him, and a reed in his right hand, kneeling and saying “Hail King of the Jews!” Then they struck him and spit upon him. These Roman soldiers show the world’s view of the kingship of Jesus. What kind of a king would be so weak to allow himself to be mocked and spit upon? Jesus is no great Caesar. They do not see him as worthy of any respect.

Do not be like these soldiers. They only see physical might and appearances. Their god is their bellies, they are the fools who say in their heart there is no God. They put their trust in rulers and in chariots. All these things which they see as important will pass away. For everything on earth will die and decay. This world is destined for fire. Caesar will not save in the final judgment. Politics, wealth, status will do nothing in the final judgment. So do not look at the things which seem impressive now, for they do not last. Even Rome’s great empire fell. It is God who raises and lowers kings, but his Son will be on the throne forever.

Before Jesus’ cross there are others mocking. Prominently on the right side of the painting, there is a group of sneering chief priests, scribes, and elders, well-dressed upon their own donkeys. These are the ones who said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The elders and priests, unlike the soldiers, don’t just despise Jesus for his weakness. They have heard his words and reject them. They don’t want Jesus as king. They are pictured sitting on their own donkeys, richly dressed. In a mockery of Jesus’ entrance into the city, they are the ones who will be seated as kings. They will be the leaders of the people, not Jesus, and they think they have finally put down the one who threatened their power.

Their mockery is similar yet different than the soldiers. The soldiers at least do not need to have a comprehension of who Jesus is or what he claims. The chief priests, scribes, and elders know exactly what Jesus has said and who he claims to be, and they reject him. Even though they recognize the miracles he has done – he saved others – they do not believe what he says. These men have been soundly defeated by Jesus in every confrontation, and now like cowards and bullies mock him in his weakness. So it is with those who claim to be followers of God, but when the opportunity arises will attack others in hate. They do not love their enemies, and thus the reject the very love of God for them. It is impossible to love God and hate your brother, for in so doing you hate the very sacrifice of Jesus, as the chief priests and elders do.

The chief priests are pictured in the painting as standing a ways off, as if they are worried Jesus may actually come down from the cross. Right in front of Jesus are the women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, along with John, the only disciple who did not abandon Jesus. They are all looking up to Jesus, mourning at his feet. All their hope of these last years was put onto Jesus, and now he is being put to death. He has loved them, forgiven them, healed them, saved them. They kneel before him as their king, but their king is dying.

These are the blessed ones, generations yet unborn will be following in their steps. They cling to Jesus even when their eyes see that he has failed. They hold to him at the cross in faith, because they cannot put their faith in anything else. Others, even most of the disciples, would say, “it’s over, Jesus is done. We must have been wrong. There is no saving us now.” Yet these dedicated Christians before the cross of Jesus hold to him even though they do not know how the promise will come true. Maybe they remember his words that on the third day he would rise. But the resurrection is hard to see in times of suffering.  

Jesus cries out before them at the ninth hour, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The bystanders look on, not knowing what he is saying. In the painting there are many dozens of bystanders, not mourning, not mocking, just watching the spectacle. Yet if they knew Christ, they would know Jesus is not calling Elijah. These words are their salvation.

Jesus cries out because he has taken on the sins of the whole world on the cross. Though he committed no sin, the sins of the world have been laid on him as a sacrifice. Every mockery of the soldiers, the sneers of the chief priests, the despair of the women, the ignorance and apathy of the bystanders, the sins of all, even yours, were laid on him on that cross. Jesus Christ, the king of the Jews, lays out a judgment, but it is not a judgment on anyone being viewed from the cross. The judgment is upon him. And the Father, seeing Jesus take upon himself all our sins, gives Jesus the just punishment that we deserved. All the wrath of God is put upon Jesus. He suffers the ultimate suffering and is abandoned by the Father.

So he cries out the words of Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” This is not just a Psalm of despair. It is a royal psalm. It is the words of the king. Jesus shows that what he must suffer is the way of the true king. See, all this was the Father’s plan from the beginning. The psalm says:

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me. They sneer.
They shake their heads.
They say, “Trust in the Lord.”
“Let the Lord deliver him. 
Let him rescue him, if he delights in him.”

The sneers and mocking were already known. It is the true king who is mocked. It is the true king who is crucified.

For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evil men has encircled me. 
They have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me. 
 
The people think this is the end of a man who would be king. They are wrong. This is the way in which Jesus takes his throne. He is not conquering Caesar, looking for a kingdom of this world. He is not just another wise rabbi. He is the Messiah, the Son of David, the one who saves not only in spite of his death, but by his death. For, as the psalm says,

…he has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted.
He has not hidden his face from him, 
but when he cried out to him, he heard.

The Father heard Jesus’ cry. His sacrifice was accepted. Jesus gave up his spirit and died, but at that moment everything changed. The temple curtain was torn, there was no more need for sacrifices, for Jesus made the final sacrifice for our sins. The tombs were opened and people were raised. Resurrections were happening everywhere. In Jesus’ death, death had already been beaten and was failing. The whole earth shook, rocks split, the earth could not bear to see its creator die.

There in the painting to the left is a centurion, standing nobly before Jesus. At the sight of all these things, that centurion in awe said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Already at his death, all the ends of the earth are turning to the Lord. This pagan Roman soldier is the first to say what all Christians will say before cross – truly this is the Son of God.

Yes, Jesus is truly the Son of God and our king. He shows this no better place than his cross, where he gives a judgment that is both just and merciful. Sin is punished by taking it on himself. So in him, all are forgiven. Even though you are not before his cross with the women and John, you do receive his forgiveness and his righteousness. For Psalm 22 ends,

Descendants will serve him.
For generations people will be told about the Lord.
They will come and proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet to be born—
because he has done it.

This Jesus is your king, he has died for your sins, even when you were not yet born. Though you have done as badly as the mockers and sneerer and bystanders and worse, he offers full pardon. For the punishment for the guilt of your sins was taken by your King. Now your King, buried, resurrected, and ascended, gives the gifts of his death to you, his body and blood. Receive him, trust him, knowing that this is a trust that will never fail. Firmly cast all your hopes, your cares, your sins, onto the crucified King, and say, “Hosanna!” Lord, save us! Amen.

Many events, especially in the last two years, have served to challenge our normalcy bias. It is possible, with wars and rumors of wars, that it will be challenged even more in the future. Normalcy bias is when we assume that things will just continue as normal, what seems to be a coming threat or catastrophe is no big deal. Like ignoring a tornado warning, thinking, “well I’ve been in dozens of these and was never hit by a tornado before.” Then despite all warnings afterward saying, “I never thought it would happen to me.”

While normalcy bias is dangerous in disasters and other catastrophic events, Peter warns by way of reminder of another type of normalcy bias. This is the bias of only looking at life in this world, as if God were not a part of it. When our mind is focused every day only on this world and not on the Word of God we will train ourselves to think of this world as the only real and important thing.

We should make all efforts to avoid this and fix our mind on the Lord and His Word. As the Psalm says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). As we heard last week, the writings of the prophets and apostles are not mere writings of man, but are inspired by the Holy Spirit. They cannot err since they are from God. Faith holds on to the writings of Scripture, knowing that the predictions and commandments are true.

One of those predictions is that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. There should be no surprise to Christians that there are those who scoff at the predictions of the prophets, even among those who call themselves Christians. These last days are now, the time between the Ascension of Christ and his second coming. We wait in hope, trusting in the promise of Jesus’ coming, partaking of his gifts now that he gives to us, ascended to the right hand of the Father. These gifts, the Word and sacraments, are streams of water to a tree in the desert. Ignoring and departing from them leads to seeking solace elsewhere, usually in our own sinful desires. So it is no wonder that scoffers, who ignore or deride the scriptures, will scoff at that blessed hope, the coming of Jesus Christ.

This is the ultimate normalcy bias – “where is the promise of Jesus’ coming? He hasn’t come so far, so I suppose he will never come. Seems pretty foolish to hope for someone who never comes.”  Scoffers view Christians looking to the return of Christ like Linus waiting for the great pumpkin on Halloween. Maybe sometimes you feel like you’re waiting for the great pumpkin, something that you only have the vaguest hope for, and this life takes over as the real thing. It doesn’t even have to be a conscious decision to scoff at Christ. When we make career or sports or success or the daily troubles of life the priority over Christ, we aren’t living as those anticipating his coming, but the scoffers who say, “things will never change anyway.”

We should repent of this, for Jesus is not the Great Pumpkin. He does not promise his return without evidence. The people in Noah’s day were warned and continued living their lives, marrying and giving in marriage, until one day the flood came and all life outside the ark perished. This was done by the Word of God, the very same Word which is preparing for the coming of Christ and the final judgment.

We could list off several other occurrences that Peter does not. Sodom and Gomorrah continued their sin and even when visited by angels did not repent until it was too late and the cities were destroyed in fire for their evil. In Jeremiah’s day, he prophesied that the Babylonians would come take the city of Jerusalem, that God had given them over because of their sin, but they would survive if they surrendered. The leaders and false prophets scoffed at Jeremiah, after all God had always protected his holy city before! Yet when the Babylonians came those who did not heed Jeremiah were killed and the city was destroyed. So also too after Jesus’ day, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, razing it to the ground, fulfilling Jesus’ words that no stone would be left on another – which none of the Jews would believe.

Jesus says that he will return like a thief in the night. The thief does not announce when he will come. This does not mean he has not warned of his coming. He has told us that he will return soon. Those last days are now, just as they were during the time of Peter. All Christians are currently awaiting Jesus’ coming. We don’t know the day or hour, but we know he could come any time.

Even more, it may seem like Christ has delayed long, but to God it is not a delay. For him a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. Time does not pass for God as it does for us, He is not bound by it. A thousand years is as a day – the longest human life recorded did not reach even a thousand years, and to God it was just a blip. To say “nothing changed in my day” is foolish. Yet on the other hand a day is as a thousand years – God is longsuffering and gives us time to repent that we need. We can only repent of our sins while we are on earth, and God wants all to repent and believe in Him. The seeming delay is not due to God’s weakness, but due to His great love for fallen humanity, for you.

See, in all those times where God gave the warning and then came suddenly, there was a way of escape. Noah and his family had the ark. Lot was rescued from Sodom. The Israelites who gave themselves up were not killed by the Babylonians. The Christians who knew the Romans were coming had fled from Jerusalem long before. What is the common theme here? All these who escaped followed God’s Word. They did not let normalcy reign, but let God’s Word reign in their lives and acted according to it.

So when Christ comes like a thief and the heavens and the earth are dissolved in fire, the escape will likewise be to those who hold to God’s Word. His coming is nothing to fear for those who have the life which cannot be consumed in fire. In our baptism, like pure gold we will not be dissolved but refined, as in the coming of Christ at our resurrection we will live yet without sin. Baptism gives us that life which is ready for the new heavens and the new earth. Nothing sinful or ungodly can remain at the end, but those in Christ shall endure forever.

We live then in lives of holiness and godliness, trusting that Christ is coming soon, and we with him will pass through the judgment and the fire and enter into the new heavens and new earth. Live as if you have a true and final hope which outlasts everything in this world. When you consider the troubles and successes of this life are temporary you can more firmly fix your eyes on the goal which is the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ. The longsuffering of Christ does not mean he does not care about you. It does not mean he wants the wicked to prosper. Christ waits to return for he wants all to repent. Let that repentance begin here, seeing every day until Christ comes again not as an opportunity to sin, but another day in which He shows to you His love and patience. Amen.  

It’s hard to consider that people may not like us. We generally want to be liked. We assume that if someone doesn’t like us it’s a misunderstanding on their part, or maybe a bad impression. If they really knew me, they would like me. Well, this was not the case with Jesus. The more the Jews knew him, the less they liked him. Once he fully told him who he was, they wanted to kill him. Sometimes in the gospels, Jesus speaks in a hidden way so the people will not understand what he is saying. Not in our gospel reading today. Here, Jesus speaks in a very direct way. Without faith, Jews who hear Jesus’ words find them very disturbing. The words of Jesus divide, they force people to make a choice, and that can make things very uncomfortable.

C.S. Lewis wrote of the trilemma of Jesus in his book Mere Christianity. Lewis writes that given what Jesus says about himself, he must be either a lunatic, a liar, or who he says he is – the Son of God. The one thing Jesus does not allow us to do is to just think he is a good teacher. No, the claims Jesus makes about himself are definite and extreme. He is the Son of God. He is the one who knew Abraham, before Abraham was, I AM. Through him were all things made. We say that every week in the Creed, but do we think about what we are saying? We are not saying Jesus is just a good teacher, that we really like him, that we think he’s pretty swell. No, we say he is the creator of the universe, us and all things! He is the same substance as the Father – the one who is eternal, over all creation, this man Jesus is fully divine!

See, the Jews really act quite rationally here. They take Jesus at his word. Sometimes unbelievers can be more honest than Christians in this way. Christians will say they believe the Bible. Unlike the unbeliever, they will say everything in it is true. Yet when something comes up which is uncomfortable, the Bible becomes obscure to them, and they’re not sure if that’s what it really says. When we show from scripture that homosexuality is a sin, or women should not be pastors, or even that God commands us to gather to worship, all of a sudden the “well actuallys” come out. The unbeliever sees the Bible as clear, he just thinks it’s wrong. Can the Christian be so honest?

Maybe that’s what Abraham was tempted to do when God told him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham believed God. God had taken him from a pagan life and given him faith. Abraham was a Christian who believed in the promise of God that his family would be a great nation, that one of his offspring would bless the whole earth. Even in his and his wife Sarah’s old age, he believed that God would give him a son when God promised it. And God did.

Abraham knew and believed God. He believed God for a son. He and Sarah received a son. Imagine the joy that son was to them, the promised son given by God. In their 90s, after decades of marriage they finally have their own little boy. Even more, the future promises of God are all resting on this boy, Isaac. Yet the more Abraham believed God, the more he is tested. The closer he is to God, the more crosses he bears.

Abraham is told by God to sacrifice his only son, his beloved son.  How can he understand this? Abraham has followed God for years. He has heard the promises of God, promises which come through this very son. Abraham has no idea he is being tested. He cannot see behind the words of God to know God’s hidden will. None of us can. We can only trust the words which God gives us. And that’s what Abraham does. He knows on one hand, that God has promised to make Abraham a great nation and bless the whole world through this son. He also knows that God has told him to sacrifice his son.

Is Abraham able to love God more than his son? Will he trust God with the joy of his life, his one and only son? God is testing Abraham to see what he fears, loves and trusts in the most. Abraham goes and takes his son to sacrifice him. What is he thinking? Maybe he is thinking, “Even if I sacrifice my son, God will resurrect him.” That would be a Christian thing to think. All we know is when Isaac asks about the sacrificial lamb, Abraham just replies, “God will provide the sacrifice.” He is determined to follow God’s Word. And Isaac too, follows his father and willingly is bound on the altar as a sacrifice. And then the angel stopped him. God provided the sacrifice, a ram in the thicket.

What Abraham and Isaac experienced was a specific test. You are not commanded to sacrifice your children, nor should you! Yet the test brings out where the word of God can divide. The world will bring things before you which demand your loyalty over God, even good things like children and friends. Sometimes Christians think we can love God and our beloved neighbors equally. If they also trust in God, it is not an issue, it usually works together well. Yet if the ones we love do not follow God, they will at some point make us make choices.

If following God’s Word or speaking to your loved one about Christ threatened your relationship with them, would you do it? Are you able to love God more than your children, more than other relationships? If Abraham in faith can bring his son to be sacrificed for God, can you sacrifice your relationship with others to declare to them in love the truth of Christ? Jesus’ words do not bring peace in the way the world wants peace. Too often Christians prefer to cover everything up, to try to save by being nice.
We do not have the responsibility to save everyone by being nice. We think that if we sugar coat and lighten the Word of God for people, it will bring them into the kingdom. This is wishful thinking. It’s a type of universalism, bringing people into heaven just because we think it was right. Yet no number of wishful thoughts saves anyone. Only faith in Christ saves. If people do not know that Christ is our salvation, and the only way of salvation, how can they be saved? If those who were Christians continually keep themselves away from the word and God’s gifts, how will they return unless someone tells them they should?

Your job as a Christian is not to bring people into the kingdom by wishful thoughts. It is to speak the truth. Exclusive truths, truths which can be hard to hear. Truths which can make you unpopular and disliked. No one wants to be “that kind of Christian.” No one wants to be a “Bible nut,” a “fundamentalist,” or a “Christian fanatic.” Certainly there is a difference between speaking offensively or speaking words which cause offense. But the world does not see it that say. For them, to say “If anyone keeps the word of Jesus, he will not see death” and that Jesus is the only way to God is completely offensive in its content no matter how nicely you say it. For it makes claims and demands that people in their sinful flesh do not want to deal with.

For Jesus’ claims do not allow him to be just a good teacher, on equal footing with other religious leaders, or a nice memory from childhood. Jesus claims to be the Son of God. And this, while maddening to the world, is the very basis for our hope. When we are attacked for these things, we are in Christ. When we hope for change, we are in Christ. When we hope for the future, we are in Christ.

For God did not test Abraham by making him do something God himself would not do. God sent His only beloved Son to take on human flesh so he could be sacrificed. There was no replacement for that sacrifice. Jesus instead became the replacement for all of us, bearing the guilt of all our sins and the punishment of God on the cross. He would bear insults and bear the hate of His people for the claims he made: claims that qualified Him to be their eternal savior. The one who saw Isaac bound and the faith of Abraham was crucified by Abraham’s children. But it was not their will, but his father’s will that Christ followed, like Isaac, a willing sacrifice.

The Father would not allow his Son to remain dead. He would provide a resurrection. What Jesus Christ said is true. He is not just a good teacher. He is not a liar. He is no lunatic. He is I AM. He is the LORD of the Old Testament and the New. And in his resurrection he proves it.

The more we know Jesus, maybe for some the less we like him. That is, if we are looking for ease in this world. If we are looking for life, if we are looking for something real to hold on to which will sustain us through suffering and arguments and the hate of the world, for our only hope for our loved ones who have fallen away, then Jesus becomes more precious. If Jesus is a just a good teacher, then throw this all out. If Jesus is the I AM, then everything is life rests on that. Amen.

We heard several weeks ago, at the end of Epiphany, about our Lord’s Transfiguration. To refresh your memory, Jesus had taken three disciples, Peter, James, and John, up on a mountain, and then was changed before them as his face and clothes shone with a bright light. Moses and Elijah also appeared and spoke to him, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” The three disciples were told to tell no one about this until Jesus rose from the dead.  

After the resurrection, Peter describes this here in his second letter, “we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.” Peter is not saying this just to brag. He is supporting his claim to be able to exhort us as he writes to us.

Peter says earlier in the letter that he is writing in order to remind us of the qualities which establish us in the truth of the gospel. For hearing the gospel, knowing that Jesus Christ has died for our sins and risen from the dead, has by faith given us divine power for godliness. For in baptism, we have been cleansed from sin, the old Man has died, and have risen to a new life in Christ. By faith, as we trust in Christ in our baptism, we also are united with him. We are godly because we share in his godliness. Yes, the blood which covers our sins gives us the righteousness of Christ in that God sees us and declares us righteous and holy. But also, that righteousness is more than skin deep. Peter is saying here that the fact that we have been forgiven by Christ’s work also means he is rubbing off on us and making us actually holy. That is, in Christ we are doing righteous actions – good works and virtues.

This is necessary because it is possible to have faith and then be unfruitful and ineffective – to fall away. Jesus explains this in the parable of the sower as the seed which grows up and then is choked out by the thorns which are the cares of life and the deceitfulness of riches. If we say we believe in Christ but then spend our time pursuing everything for our own benefit, without love for the brother, without self-control and other spiritual gifts, we are in danger of being unfruitful. Therefore, Peter finds it so necessary to remind us to continue practicing the qualities of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Not that these earn forgiveness, but they are ours by faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus has given us the freedom to live and practice these things as we are forgiven only by his blood.

Peter wants to remind us of these things, while as Christians we should already know them, he is still exhorting us all the more. Peter writes this well for a group gathered here for a midweek service, those of you who are here often and know the teaching of Christ, for you have made hearing it a priority. Yet not all preaching is just teaching and building the foundation. With the foundation built, the holy scriptures also continue to remind and exhort us to remember these things. As St. Paul says elsewhere to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Not only teaching, but also reproof, correction, and training in righteousness are important uses of scripture which the Holy Spirit works on our hearts through preaching.

Peter then is speaking of the Transfiguration which he saw as eyewitness to testify to the truthfulness of his claims to exhort Christians. For someone could come back to him and say, “well what gives you the right to tell me what to do?” or “this person says something different – how do I know he’s not right and you’re wrong?” It’s not a bad question -  a lot of people make religious claims on others.

Peter has an answer – what he speaks of is the power of God through the gospel, which is founded on the work of Jesus Christ. That coming of Jesus in power is not just some story, but is a real event to which he and the other apostles were eyewitnesses. He especially saw the Transfiguration – the manifestation of the glory of Jesus before the resurrection. This is not ancient tales of Zeus and Hermes or Aesop’s Fables, but the true power of God which he has seen and known. In fact, he has the Word of God confirmed even better than the prophets, for no prophet saw the face of Christ in all its majesty. This Christ whom he saw confirms the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament and validates the writings of the apostles in the New Testament.

Being confirmed by Christ as the very Word of God, we can sure that scripture which Peter preaches is sure and can be held to firmly and strengthen consciences, for it is filled with the Holy Spirit. In scripture there is nothing which is merely the writing of man, and no mere writing of man is scripture. If the scripture we had was just wise thoughts, morals, stories by this or that person, it might be somewhat useful, but nothing to bind our consciences to, and nothing to put all of our trust in. If we are to hold to Christ in faith, if Christ is our only salvation, then we must be sure that the word which we have heard has the power and eternal nature of God. Otherwise, we are standing on shaky ground.

No other Word gives the assurance that God’s Word does, to feed and sustain consciences. It is gravely important that what we hear in the church is the Word of God. The Father is interested in no other Word. No prophecy in scripture was something which came from man. The prophets did not write interpreting omens or by cleverness or their own reason. They were given the words to speak and write by the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is the direct inspiration of God, and has the assurance of God.

Peter writes this because he knows he will soon die. The church in his time has the benefits of the apostles and the eyewitnesses, but they will not last forever. He knows he must write so future Christians may be reminded to supplement their faith with virtue. Unfortunately, that which he fears does come true. In many places scripture is obscured and people do not hear the true gospel. Their sinful flesh may prefer inspiring stories written by men, or may find a certain interpretation flattering to themselves. Many times feeling can be confused for the work of the Holy Spirit.

Thus we must always return to the scripture, preachers and hearers both. We must diligently hear and learn as much as we can and as often as we can so that we know the Holy Spirit’s voice. We want to believe that there are shortcuts to know who preaches truly – just follow this guy, read from this publisher, anyone who calls himself “Lutheran” – but these are never foolproof. The only answer is for all of us to do the hard work of knowing the Scriptures. Yet while our sinful flesh hates this work, it is life and salvation for our new man, and balm for the troubled conscience. For nothing shines in the darkness of our life like the dawning of our morning star, Jesus Christ, who truly died and rose to unite us with him into life and godliness. Amen.

Paintings and movies don’t usually do justice to what it was probably like at the feeding of the 5000. Usually it seems to be depicted as everyone sitting or standing all orderly and quiet around Jesus. Yet how many groups of 5000 have you seen that are orderly and quiet? There was probably yelling, pushing, screaming children, people talking among themselves, all sorts of chaos. In the midst of this chaos is Jesus, ready to have compassion, ready to satisfy this huge group.

They have all been following him because of the signs he was doing on the sick. Now, a sign is something that points to a greater meaning. We understand this even with street signs – a stop sign is not important as a red metal octagon about 5 feet in the air, but it is important in it’s meaning, that cars which approach should STOP there. This mass of people was impressed with Jesus because of his signs – miracles he had done. Like the stop sign, the miracles were not the end goal, but pointed to Jesus. The miracles give a message about who Jesus is – he is the Messiah; he is the Son of God. The chaotic crowd did not understand the meaning of the signs, they just wanted to see more of them. So much so that when Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee on a boat, they were willing to walk all the way around to follow him.

The chaotic crowd of the world only seeks in this way. The spirituality of the world is interested in signs and wonders, in impressive feats their senses can take in. Our world sees spirituality as something you see, feel, and experience. The more impressive the better. Even non-believers are impressed with Bach cantatas and beautiful cathedrals. Yet if Bach is just background music on your stereo, or a cathedral is just a museum of impressive architecture, the sign is overtaking what it is pointing to. Bach wrote and the cathedrals were built to the glory of God, to the beautification of the worship service, and to teach Christ. In teaching Christ, their purpose is to strengthen trust in Him.

Jesus looks upon the crowds and is concerned about what they will eat. Even thought they are coming for the wrong reasons, even though they have done nothing to deserve a meal here, Jesus wants to feed and a provide for them. Even despite our blindness to the truth, Jesus wants to come to us and feed us and sustain us. He came to this world to give his grace to a world that did not deserve it and did not even know it needed it. Only because in our lost estate he came to us and saved us through baptism and the Word do we recognize Him and trust Him. Otherwise we would be just like those crowds, focusing on the wrong thing.

What about the disciples, the Christians? Do they understand Jesus? We get the answer here as Jesus tests them. Jesus requests from them an impossible task – how can we feed these people? Now this is 5000 men plus women and children. Forget they are in the wilderness. Forget this is a time before mass food production. If you were told, “we have half the town of Lockport coming over in a few minutes, please find a place where we can get enough food for all of them to eat,” you would simply be unable to do this! So much less the disciples when Jesus asks them.

The disciples focus on the question as a command and see themselves as fulfilling it. Philip says, there is no way they would have enough money to even give everyone a little food, much less a meal. Andrew starts searching for food that might be around and despairs and finding five loaves and two fish, maybe a small meal for ten people, not even enough for the disciples.

The disciples want to find the needed food to please Jesus, but they are missing the point. The question is not about them, it is about who Jesus is. That has been the point of all these signs that Jesus has been doing. The disciples are not alone, we also act the same way. We know Jesus is the Son of God, we confess how great and good he is, we say he can do anything, yet then we live as if Christianity was about us. As if Jesus saved us and got us in the club, and now it is our job to keep things running. So when Jesus tells us to do things, we assume we can do it on our own. We think if we know the commandments we can be husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, employers, workers, citizens, Christians, all on our own, or that he is there to prop us up a little bit from time to time.

No! Repent of this attitude! Jesus does not only save us once but is the source of all our life. He sustains us every day. As we live by faith, we do not grow increasingly dependent on ourselves, but realize our dependence on Jesus more and more. This is what Luther realized when debating his opponents. They claimed that if God commands us to do something, then that implies that we must be able to do it on our own. Yet this is not true, even in the command Jesus gives to the disciples. Every moment of our lives exists in dependence on God. We could not take a breath without his sustaining us. We could not do anything without His will holding the world together. We could not last a moment if Christ’s atoning blood was not constantly forgiving us. We should not just say that God is great and the source of all things, but actively trust that this is true.

What the disciples did not see was that Jesus was showing himself as the provider of all things. It was near Passover, the celebration of the Israelites fleeing from slavery in Egypt. This chaotic crowd was in the wilderness, just like those Israelites wandering toward the promised land. And who provided for them in the wilderness? Moses? Even greater than Moses, the Lord himself. The Lord rained down manna from heaven and fed all those people. So if Jesus is the Lord, the disciples should be looking to him to provide. The correct answer to Jesus’ test would be to turn to Him and say, “You will provide, Lord. As you always do.”

Jesus provides even without our prayers, all we need and more. Greater than the miracle of the manna, where each person had just enough food for each day, Jesus provides more than needed to feed all this crowd, even 12 baskets full. When we seek him, He provides what we need and more. When we don’t seek him and don’t realize it, He still provides all we need and more. His provision is not based on us, but on his love for us. It is based on his goodness, his grace. For on the cross he has not only paid for all our sins and through baptism given us a clean slate of righteousness, but always does over and above. He paid for your sins, gave you new life in the resurrection, gives you life every day, and blessings even besides.

So while Jesus provides this without our prayer even to the ungrateful and the evil, let us receive these things with thanksgiving. For there is nothing that we can bring to God but our thanks and praise. Even as we come to worship him, he sustains us in faith in him. We are not strong enough to be Christians on our own. No one can sustain himself as a Christian, apart from Christ’s Word, his forgiveness given in the sacraments. So let’s not think that knowing the goodness of Christ we then turn to our own efforts. Our Lord is here, as He was before the disciples. He has provided for us more than enough of His body and blood. Come to his table, eat and drink and be filled with Christ.

Some may look on these things and only see bread and wine. Some may only see this as a duty. See this as the source of life. See this as your Lord coming to you through the chaos and giving more grace and forgiveness than you even knew you needed. The more you depend on him and receive, the more you see your need for him – but he never lessens, he never runs out. He is ready to sustain you ever more and even unto the age to come. Amen.

Monarchies have a singular worry that we never experience in our modern democracies – the stress over the king’s heir - especially traditionally when the birth of a son was needed to continue the family line. When no child is found to inherit, there is a great degree of uncertainty and stress. In our democracy, we do not have this issue, because our leaders are chosen by merit, not heredity. What is needed to merit the most votes in various circumstances is up for debate, but for whoever prevails it is certainly an achievement. A royal son comes into his rule by no achievement, only by who he is. So while our modern democracies don’t have the stress over heirs, we also don’t have the understanding of a ruler who rules without earning it, someone who is a ruler by grace.

Beginning with Moses, Israel had many rulers by grace. The Israelites would be enslaved, in trouble, harried by their enemies, and even in spite of their sin the LORD would raise up for them judges to deliver them. Yet eventually the Israelites asked for a king like the other nations around them. Was it evil for them to want a king? Yes and no. Not in that they wanted a sole ruler – for what was Moses, but basically a king? The problem a desire among the people that they did not want to be ruled directly by God, and those who God raised up, but by a strong man. They did not want to seem different than the nations around them but have a human ruler they could look up to, a great man they could, well, idolize.

The Israelites did not want to depend on God to raise up leaders. They wanted a king they could see, a king that could make them like the other nations. Even when they were warned – the king will take your sons and assign them as soldiers and workers, he will take your daughters to be his cooks and bakers, he will take your livestock, land, servants, whatever he wants, and you will be his slaves. They still reply – we still want a king like the other nations! We want someone to judge us and fight our battles for us like all the other nations. They did not want leaders by God’s grace, they wanted a king by works, and they were willing to suffer to be like other nations.

That is the stupidity of sin, the stupidity of idolatry. We look at the attractive things of this world like Eve, things desirable to the eyes, and think “I want it, I must have it!” And God comes in with his Word and says, this is going to be a waste of your money and your time and will enslave you. And we still say, “I don’t care!” Then later we are asking, “why is my life such a mess, why do I have so much stress and worry? Why didn’t someone warn me not to do this?”

Hopefully we do eventually realize that – we return to the Word of God. For it is only the Word of God that makes one truly wise. The answer to the stupidity of sin is the wisdom of God. In God’s wisdom, he allows us to go our own way, to reject his Word, so he can bring us back and save us. He allowed Israel to have their king, just like everyone else. He gave them their king by works, one who would fight their battles for them and judge them. It was a disaster.

First Saul, who was anointed king and then quickly fell. Then David, who though he was the best king they ever had, was still only a man. He had failings. He practically caused a civil war. Yet David knew, unlike Saul, the forgiveness of the Lord. He knew that what he had received from God was truly only by grace. Due to David’s faith, he was known as a man after God’s own heart. Due to David’s faith, he was promised that he would always have a descendant on the throne and his house would last forever. In this David trusted, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

God gave the Israelites a king, but while they wanted a king of works, he was planning to send a king by grace. No mere man would achieve the position of this promised heir of David, this king of grace. After David, king after king would be worse and worse until the idolatry of the nation caught up with them and the whole kingdom was lost. After Judah was exiled to Babylon, the line of David would fall into obscurity, no longer on the throne of Israel. At this point it seemed like the promises would not come true.

Then at the darkest moment, the angel Gabriel appeared to the virgin Mary, “Greetings O favored one! The Lord is with you!” The frightened Mary had found favor with God. She had held on to the promises of the king of grace, of the Messiah, of the Savior.

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. You all held out for a king. The Israelites wanted their king but wanted the wrong thing. Still out of love, God gave it to them. And He gives even more. He gives his king. His king of grace is here, Mary, conceived in your womb. For you remembered.

Yet this child is not just for Mary, for the ones who remembered. For this child is JESUS. He is the SALVATION OF JEHOVAH. The Lord’s salvation does not come by works, this is the KING OF GRACE. He comes to save the ones who remembered. He comes to save the ones who forgot. He even comes to save the Gentiles in complete darkness who had no idea.

This is no ordinary human king. This is the incarnate LORD. God himself has come down to us. Salvation can come to the world through this king because by the Holy Spirit the Son of God takes on human flesh in the womb of Mary. This child in the womb is our God. This man is our God. He shall reign forever on the throne of his father David over the house of Jacob. But don’t think it stops at David or at Jacob. He comes to save all who will trust in him.

The Israelites had the law and the promises, but still wanted a king like the nations. They still like the nations had sinful and idolatrous hearts. So God gave them a king. Not only a king like the nations, but a king of all nations. Not only a man, but God himself as a man. Not only to rule over armies and fields and livestock, but to rule hearts.

We celebrate today that God became man, that God has sent us a king by grace to rule over us. That king did not take power of his own, but laid down his life for us. The flesh he took from the virgin Mary, the flesh like ours, he gave to be delivered over, whipped and beaten, mocked and spit upon, and crucified. That same body, our God, lay dead in a tomb. And in three days he rose.

Now we have a glorious and perfect king. Because he defeated death and rose, we do not have to worry about a successor, his rule is eternal. He will not enslave our sons to armies or our daughters as cooks. For his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. He has fought our battles as a king against sin and death. His judgment is still to come, yet it is sure. For we who trust in him know that the king is our brother. For he has our flesh, he died in flesh for us, and when we rise again in the flesh we will be like him. Amen.

The Christian life is a life of humility. This is a fundamental part of the Christian life, for to be Christian is to be like Christ. Christians are “little Christs” and as St. Peter says we follow “in His steps.” The Son of God became man and humbled himself, not coming in power, but as a poor infant. He grew up and lived generally holding back his divine power. He came not to overthrow kingdoms, but to establish his kingdom of forgiveness by humble means, preaching repentance and faith. Then he submitted to his death, suffering and being crucified for the sins of us, the very ones whose sins sent him to die. Rising from the dead, Jesus has given all through baptism the new resurrection life which he has won, completely free. Therefore, as Christians in this resurrection life, we have nothing to boast of and nothing to gain for ourselves. We are free in Christ, so we can live in humility as Christ did.

It is obvious then, that our life in the church, where we all live in the freedom of Christ, should be one marked by humility. St. Peter says, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, for love covers a multitude of sins.” This is not your own sins he is talking about. Your sins have been covered by the work of Christ. His atoning death has made you righteous before God, his blood has forgiven and covered your sins. Only Jesus could reconcile sinners to the Father. He is the only mediator. It is because of this great blessing of the grace we have received from Christ that our love covers a multitude of the sins of others. We have been freely forgiven, when we did not deserve it, therefore we freely forgive.

Pride is like the unforgiving servant, who, having been forgiven much by the king, will not forgive his fellow servant even a little. Even though everything he had was only out of the mercy and forgiveness of the king, he acted to his fellow servant like he earned it. Such a person will not inherit the kingdom of God. Christians serve in the strength of this gospel, that Christ has served us first and given us all things. All things are his and given by him. So when our brother or sister out of weakness sins against us, our possessions, or our reputation, we bear with them in love, not holding it against them. For all these things came to us as a gift from Christ.  There is an old saying, “Fish and relatives begin to smell after three days.” When hosting, an extended stay by certain guests can seem like a imposition on kindness. So also forgiveness for brothers in the church can seem like taking advantage. In humility we remember, what is really ours that hasn’t been given? What sins do we commit that others look over every day?

Each of us has been given varied gifts by the grace of God, and each also has certain weaknesses. Let us serve one another in our weaknesses, not enabling sin, but strengthening each other in love. One can use his gift in humility – not to boast in himself, but to serve where others are weak. This is what Christ has done for us. For us to live and serve according to what God has given us glorifies God. It is not burying the talent if no one knows, but investing it so that it comes back double. Not because our work inherits such a great benefit of its own, but because our work continues the work of our master Jesus, who rules over heaven and earth.

Jesus rules even now in humility, as his kingdom proceeds by faith, not by sight. St. Peter says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Jesus came in humility and suffered the persecution of the sinful world. If he had come in might, maybe he would have been free from such suffering, but then we would not have been saved. Even now he saves in humility through the means of his word and sacrament. This word can be easily rejected by the world.

Therefore we should not think we are special and free from the trials which come from the world, since our Lord also suffered. As Christ humbly suffered, you too will suffer, but you share in the suffering of Christ. These trials do not come to you in vain. When you suffer for Christ, when you are insulted, it is not you, but the name of Christ who is upon you. That name was put on you in your baptism, and makes you a target for the devil on the one hand, but an inheritor of great and precious promises on the other. If you are insulted for Christ, you are blessed, for you have the same promises of Christ, the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. At this time, this is not seen, but being humbled now means great glory in heaven

The very name “Christian” was first said as an insult to those who followed Jesus. It is related to suffering. But we know it is one who is baptized, one who has put on Christ. The ancient martyrs proudly kept the name Christ when they were brought to trial. When asked their name, they said, “I am Christian.” So in their suffering they glorified God, not even in their own names, but in the name of Christ.

The name of Christ is never something given in vain or for a useless purpose. When the Word is preached in the name of Christ, it always brings with it peace. Jesus told the apostles to preach, and when they are not received in a town to let their peace they preach come back to them. The peace of God is never wasted or lost, even when reject it abounds to those who preach it. So we humbly preach Christ, and if the proud reject it, blessed more are the humble who receive it. For those proud will be humbled eventually – “if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Knowing that Christ will vindicate us, we are humble and ready for judgment to begin with us, for we trust that our faithful Creator has saved us and will remain faithful.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. In the midst of fears of others taking advantage or suffering for the faith, true humility is found in casting all anxieties on God. The hindrance to humility most of all is an idolatry – it is fear of missing out, of losing to others, of not getting what is needed. Humility, to trust in the provision of God first, is what brings the exaltation we seek. When we cast our cares on him and trust in his mighty hand, then all these other worries are taken away.

Yes, the enemy prowls around looking to devour us, but if we are sober and watchful, if we trust in the salvation of Christ, then he will have no advantage. The devil would love to devour Christians, but he can be resisted in faith. When difficulties come, when forgiveness is difficult, if we abandon our pride and trust in Christ the devil is defeated. Part of that strength comes from knowing you are not alone. The suffering you endure is shared by Christians all over the world, and most of all, is shared by Christ. Elijah despaired that he was the only one who followed God, but God showed him that 7000 had not bent the knee to false Gods. Christ does not just preserve you, but his whole church, and sends brothers and sisters to pray for you, forgive you, and strengthen you.

Even when it seems like we are alone and exposed, as we may experience many times in life, remember Christ is coming. He sends you his gifts now to restore and strengthen you through his word. Even St. Peter, feeling alone at the time of Christ’s death, fell away and denied Christ three times. Yet Christ restored and forgave. That is why he came in humility. He is all grace, all underserved favor. If he expects you to forgive and love others, would he do any less for you? Amen.

Jesus drives a demon out of a mute man, a great work of healing, and yet some of the people accuse him of working by the power of Beelzebub. Who is Beelzebub? He is their name for the prince of demons, or Satan. The name Beelzebub literally means “lord of the flies.” It was the name the ancient Israelites gave to one of the pagan gods but given that all pagan gods are really demons in disguise, it came to be a word for Satan. Jesus is accused of driving out demons by Satan. Jesus states the illogic of their claim – if Satan is working against Satan, how can his kingdom stand? A divided realm is one that is falling.

The funny thing is, Satan’s kingdom is falling. It will not stand. The members of Satan’s kingdom have no love for each other. This is the case with the demons, and the case with those who are not part of God’s kingdom. All who are sinful are ultimately selfish and will do anything as long as it benefits themselves. Satan’s kingdom only stands by a temporary truce in opposition to God. Satan has built his castle as a strong man who has fooled the world into following him, these he holds as his possessions who all oppose and fight against God.

The greater lesson from Jesus follows from this, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” The kingdom of God is one which is never divided against itself. All those who are in Christ are united in Christ. This implies that those who say Jesus is working by Beelzebub are not part of the kingdom. To speak against the work of Christ is to oppose God. God will never have a divided kingdom. God’s kingdom is one where all confess by the Holy Spirit that the Father has sent the Son to do great works of salvation for the world. Against this, there is no unity, no kingdom, no lasting defense.

Yet people still speak against God and oppose his kingdom. Those who speak against Jesus in the lesson follow many Biblical examples from the Old Testament, no one more than Pharoah. When the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, God sent Moses to command Pharoah to let His people go. Pharoah refused to listen to God’s word, even when Moses showed mighty signs to Pharoah like turning his staff into a snake. Pharoah first scoffed because his magicians could do the same thing by their Satanic arts. They turned staffs to snakes and we able to turn water into blood. They were even able to recreate a plague of frogs. Pharoah used this as a reason to reject God’s command through Moses and harden his heart.

God allowed the magicians using satanic arts to replicate the first plagues for his purposes. Of course, they could only replicate, they could not solve the plagues. Satan never brings relief, only more pain and temptation into the world. They could make more water blood and add more frogs, but could not take one away. Then Moses brought plagues of gnats and flies to Egypt and the work of Satan was completely stopped. The magicians of Pharoah could not even make one gnat, much less make any go away. God had given Satan enough time to be comfortable, and then came in with the crushing left hook, the winning blow. The so-called lord of flies could not make or remove a single fly without God’s permission. Pharoah faces this earthly hell of plagues for failing to heed God’s word.

This is an image of what happens to those who speak against God, like those who spoke against Jesus. To call what Jesus does evil or demonic is to reject that work of Jesus. When Jesus’ work is rejected, so are his benefits. There is no salvation, no kingdom of God for those who reject the work of Jesus. Therefore, we must repent of speaking against Jesus.

Maybe you think you have not spoken against Jesus like the people watching Jesus’ miracle, but this does not mean you have not spoken against him. We often speak against him when we don’t like what he does. Sometimes we speak against Jesus because he does not do what we want when we want. Rather than learn patience, we complain that he doesn’t do anything, that prayer doesn’t do anything. Or we may speak against Jesus when his commands are not fashionable or to our liking. Maybe the way God says to live in the Ten Commandments sounds prudish, old-fashioned, our out-of-touch. We think we can speak or live against these commands and still be Christians, but there is no division in the kingdom of God. Therefore, as St. James says, we must bridle our tongues and continually live according to Christ.

Sometimes sin may also come by not speaking. Jesus healed a man who was made mute by a demon, he was unable to speak. Not every muteness is demonic, but this one was. Another demonic muteness is when we are to speak for truth and for Christ, but hold back. Whether it is from fear, the idolatry of what others think, or other sin, it is certainly not from Christ. The devil wants us to be mute when we are to speak up for the truth. When Christians do not speak up, evil wins.

Look at Moses, who was slow of speech and slow of tongue. He was called by God to speak the words of God to Pharoah and to set the Israelites free. Moses gave every excuse of why he couldn’t do it, but God chose him. Moses eventually submitted, and because he was able to speak the Word of God boldly, God worked mightily through him. The greatest empire on earth fell to its knees by the work of the finger of God. That finger of God is no less than the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word of God.

Knowing we have the Holy Spirit through baptism, we can speak for truth and do not need to be silenced by fear or other idols. The same Holy Spirit who saved His people from Egypt works through you as you speak the Word of God. So do not be ashamed or afraid to speak. There are times for Christians to speak publicly. We speak truth against the murderous practice of abortion because it is sinful and harmful to our neighbors, even though it is completely legal. That is why I will be encouraging you all to help participate in the 40 Days of Life in the coming weeks, to speak and pray against this public and permitted evil. Sometimes we need to speak against the actions of people we love. They may need to hear that their way of life is wrong. To speak against this is not hate, but the love of a friend. Parents know that once their children are grown, all they can do is speak, warn, advise, and pray. Do not think these are meaningless or in vain. The devil says to stay silent, to let evil prosper, to let your friend or relative remain in sin for the sake of peace. Remember the peace of the devil’s kingdom is a weak and temporary peace. For when you speak the Word of God, then God will work in a mighty way.

Jesus says, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. To keep the Word of God is both to live by it and speak it. This is not just to recognize there is a God, or agree with some facts. Even the priests of Pharoah recognized by the third plague that Moses worked by the finger of God, and trembled. Yet they did not have faith in God. They did not see the work of the Holy Spirit was for them. Confessing God’s greatness is one thing, confession Christ’s salvation is another.

Before we can confess God, he must free us from sin and loosen our tongues. Only through Christ is anyone able to speak at all, this is true. God has given us this ability. Yet even more, only through Christ can we confess that we believe He has saved us. Only when the finger of God moves our hearts by the Holy Spirit through baptism and the Word do we take in that this salvation is for us.

God saved the Israelites by a mighty work against Egypt. If they had not believed this work, they may have never left. The work had already been done, but it had to be held to by faith. That faith then involved first painting the blood on the doorpost, trusting that God would pass over them with death. Then it was taking one foot in front of the other and moving toward the promised land. It was nothing they had done to free themselves, their faith was the hand that received.

We too can trust in the work of salvation done for us. Christ in his little finger is much greater than the devil. Although we were both the captive goods and guards of the devil’s stronghold, Christ’s kingdom came mightily upon us. In his death and resurrection, Jesus destroyed death and punishment, and thus the devil has no more weapons to defend his kingdom. The strong man is made completely toothless by the stronger man. Every plague that the devil meant for you Jesus has put upon him, and he is bound and powerless. Christ the stronger man has marched in and freed you. He has taken the devil’s goods and made them his own, the church.

Martin Luther wrote in his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress” about the devil that “one little word will fell him.” Luther was recorded later as saying that little word was “liar.” For that is all the devil has left, are his lies. His lies that tell you that it is better to live against God’s commands, that speaking for truth is pointless, that he can bring you peace by keeping silent. When these temptations come, tell the devil he is a liar, and trust in Christ. You can speak what is true knowing that the stronger man is on our side. Although it may not bring peace in this world, only the one who confesses Christ will be in his kingdom. For Christ has said those who hear and keep the Word of God are truly blessed. Amen.

We have all heard the story of Noah’s ark and seen children’s books with the cute animals and such. God flooded the earth because of man’s wickedness, but preserved righteous Noah and his family in the ark, along with two of every animal on earth. As Noah and his family were the only people to survive, Noah, like Adam, is a father of all people today. We are all descended from Noah. More importantly, Noah is a father in the faith.

Our father Noah suffered greatly through his life. You think it is hard to be a Christian in the world now, imagine how it was for Noah. He had 120 years to build the ark. 120 years of preaching to the people by word and deed. No one listened, no one heeded his voice. He was alone, except his family, possibly a few older relatives who died before the flood. Our sinful human nature doesn’t change, so one could speculate what others did to him. Did they close his accounts and make it difficult to obtain the wood? Did they call him a hater, crazy old man, or doomsayer? Did people come to try to destroy the ark? Was it a common game among teenagers to steal some boards or knock over posts at night? Scripture doesn’t say, but any of these could be possible, or likely. The world was wicked beyond what it has been before or since, and the devil would have been working hard to stop Noah’s task.

The devil hates everything that God has created. He wants all men to suffer, but most of all to despise God as he does. Imagine that the devil heard God’s decree that Noah preached – God was going to wipe out almost the entire creation. It was like God was making things easy for the devil, there were only going to be eight people he really needed to deal with. The devil would have focused much malice on Noah and his family, hoping to end God’s highest creation forever. What could Noah do against this?

The words of St. Peter in our lesson for tonight are for the church of all ages, and could have been said directly to Noah as well - Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. The Christian calling is not to pay back evil deeds with retaliation, but to bless and pray for enemies. Righteous Noah in faith would have only continued to preach repentance to anyone who would hear continued to do good. Even back in humanity’s early years, Noah had a promise to hold to in faith. He knew that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.

See, being Christian and loving enemies is not just about us being the nice people. If we were just nice for the sake of niceness we would have no hope. For no one can be nice all the time. There is some breaking point. At some point, there can no longer be forgiveness just based on niceness because we still have a sense of justice. Hasn’t God promised that whoever desires to love life and see good days will turn from evil and do good? How can we do good forever if the wicked always prosper? Our love for those who hate us, our rejoicing in suffering is not from our own niceness, but comes from who we are in Jesus.

In Jesus, we are free and have nothing to fear, for we are forgiven. Between us and the creator of the universe and judge of all everything is settled. We are at peace with the one who is really important. Therefore, we can honor him and his will first, because he is greater than any person or institution on earth. If we are slandered for doing good, most importantly our conscience will be good because it is under the command of God. So seek God and his righteousness first rather than pleasing men. For there is no need to fear those less than God if you are in Christ.

Often the Lord will preserve us from suffering, but sometimes it may be his will to suffer for doing good for a time. Through this God wants to make us better and draw us closer to Him. Have you ever had a time in your life of great clarity? Maybe you had an accident or some sickness where you didn’t know if you would survive. Often in those times the things which are important become very clear, and for Christians it can be a time to refocus on our Savior. That is the work of God, pushing you toward greater faith in Christ.

For Christ suffered as well, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. Christ knew that He had to suffer, that His Father willed it. This was not to bring him closer to God, for he could not become any closer, but to push him away. When Jesus the righteous took on all the sin of the world on the cross, He was forsaken by God. He suffered not only the pain of crucifixion, but the agony of separation that sin creates. Yet this was a good thing, for in this taking of God’s wrath he bore all the punishment for our sin. From His suffering we have been made free. We are no longer guilty in Christ. Death and hell even have no power over us because of what Christ has done.

Noah preached to those who did not believe, trusting that God would repay them for their wickedness. In Jesus we see the completion of that judgment. For after Jesus died he first went body and soul to hell, not to suffer, but to proclaim victory. Yes, those who would not listen to Noah and saw the judgment of the flood saw their true foolishness when Christ came. For Christ declared to those in hell, the people, the evil spirits, and Satan, that He had truly conquered in His death. Satan was not able to take Noah down before, but he thought he had taken down Jesus. He had him killed. Yet in rising from the dead Jesus stomped down to hell and proclaimed that Satan had only helped accomplished Christ’s victory. For no one, not even Satan, can overcome Jesus.

So if God can overcome the entire wicked world who persecuted Noah for 120 years with a mere flood, how much more has he kept you safe in Jesus? For the flood in which eight souls – Noah and his family – were saved was only the image of the greater thing we have in baptism. In baptism, we share in that victory of Christ’s resurrection, where he descended into hell to preach to those in prison and then ascended to the right hand of God to rule over all things. Through baptism into him, we have been saved through water as well – the old man in us had been drowned an a new Resurrection man has arisen. Since we share in the resurrection of Jesus, we share in the victory of Jesus. No angel, authority, or power can overcome us when we hold to Christ in faith. They already know that He has conquered.

We too proclaim this victory in our lives in both Word and deed. We tell others what Jesus has done for us and what he has done to save the whole world. When slandered or persecuted, we do not respond eye for an eye, but defend our faith with gentleness and respect. Not because we are nice Midwesterners, but because we know in Jesus, we have already won. Those who revile good behavior in Christ will one day be put to shame. Those who hold on to Christ in faith will join his final victory march when he returns to take his chosen band to the heavenly Fatherland, and the devil will be finally crushed and fully defeated. Amen.    

St. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians about their sanctification, that they become holy as God is holy. Many of the Thessalonians were Gentiles and did not grow up with the Old Testament or the Law of Moses. Among these Gentiles who followed pagan religions, there was no sense of being holy in the way God commands us to be holy through the Ten Commandments. So while believing Paul and becoming Christians, the Thessalonians were not used to living in a way different than the world.

The gods of their world, the Greek and Roman, did not care about any holiness that included refraining from sin. One could just go to the temple of the pagan god, pay for whatever sacrifice or rite, and he would be good with that god until he needed him later. There was no sense of freedom from sin, no holiness, just service and payment. Such was the problem for the Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus. She is from a pagan world and the pagan gods cannot help her. In fact, her daughter is now severely oppressed by a demon. She needs the deliverance that only Jesus can give.

Even though she is from a pagan place, she must have heard about Jesus, for she cries out to him, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” You may remember from a few weeks ago, the blind man calling out to Jesus on the road to Jericho, saying the same thing, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” The people try to silence the blind beggar, but he calls out all the more, and Jesus comes to him and heals him.

Yet the opposite happens with this woman. She cries out to the Son of David, and he does not answer her. No one tries to silence her, and even the disciples beg Jesus to send her away, for she keeps crying out continually. Why doesn’t Jesus answer her request to the Son of David? What is different about her from the beggar? The answer is in Jesus’ answer to the disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The Son of David comes as a promised king, the messiah who will restore all things, but specifically he is the king of Israel. Jesus has come as their king and shepherd, when they are led astray by their false leaders, Herod’s people and the pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus desires to bring these lost sheep back to Him. So when there is a blind beggar in Israel, when no one will take care of this man who God commands they care for, Jesus is there with compassion and healing. He is restoring and growing his kingdom.

This Canaanite woman calling out to him is far outside of that kingdom. At least it appears so. She does not have any Jewish ancestry and was probably raised in paganism. The area of Tyre and Sidon where she is from was never under Israel, and always avoided as a wicked place. One would think she has no right to ask Jesus Christ, the Son of David for anything. Jesus would seem to confirm this with his answer. To her it seems like Jesus is saying she is none of his concern.

If the woman was trying to figure out Jesus’ motivation behind this, maybe she would have turned away. Maybe she would have tried to reason to bargain with Jesus for what she needed. Yet the woman did nothing of the sort – she fell down and knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.” She threw everything she had at the mercy of the man who seemed to have rebuffed her for be presumptuous. She did not think, “well, Jesus must not want to help me after all” or “I guess since I am a Canaanite I am disqualified.” Trusting in what she knew of the mercy of Jesus, she begged for help.

See how she doesn’t act toward Jesus like a pagan. She doesn’t just try to bargain and please him to get on his good side. She doesn’t come to him like someone she has to convince. She throws everything on his character, his mercy. She knows that Jesus is one who gives good things to those who believe in Him, only out of love and compassion for those in need. Jesus gives her the opportunity to say it when he responds, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She answers this test, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” She knows that whether you are part of Israel or not ultimately doesn’t matter in the kingdom. What matters is the disposition of the King towards you.

Jesus came as the one to gather the lost sheep of Israel, but there are many of his fold who are not of Israel by blood. In fact, most of natural Israel will reject him. Natural Israel, the Jews, widely reject Jesus because he doesn’t establish a kingdom for them on earth, because his kingdom is not of this world. This continues with the Jews today. Despite what some popular books and teachers may say, being part of the modern nation of Israel or born of Jewish parents will not save you. All are saved by being brought into Christ’s kingdom, not any kingdom or tribe of this world. All, Jew and Gentile alike, come into Christ’s kingdom by faith in Him.

Faith like the Canaanite woman’s, that even despite circumstance and what seems like direct rejection, keeps requesting from Jesus, knowing who He is. Knowing that He is merciful. For no one, Jew or Gentile has any right to anything good from him on our own. In our sin we do not deserve a morsel of bread. Yet Jesus in His mercy became man to die for us and rise again and ascend into heaven, where he has established his rule over heaven and earth. Knowing this, and that he has promised to hear us and intercede for us to the Father, we can make our requests known to him like the woman, even when everything else seems to be saying “no way!” For Jesus is not a God of sight but of faith, faith in his character a love for us. Pagan gods may need you to earn their love, but Jesus loved us first, so that we could love him.

Since Jesus rules heaven and earth and has put the Spirit of love into our hearts, let us walk to please God more and more. We please God by being holy as he is holy, most of all by being merciful as he is merciful. For if Jesus can extend his kingdom to we Gentiles only out of mercy and compassion, we can certainly live to serve and love our neighbors. For the essence of the law is love, and to follow God’s commands is not just personal moral purity, but shows love and mercy for our neighbors. This is difficult, especially with our enemies. We are in many ways like the Thessalonians, for this is not the way the world around us thinks. Yet it is not our job to set everything right, Jesus is already doing this through his kingdom.

He extends his kingdom even now, through the means of the Word and Sacraments. By these means he rules in our hearts, giving the forgiveness of sins. Receive these words and Christ’s body in blood in faith today, coming as the Canaanite woman only knowing that you need mercy and Jesus is one to give it. For by forgiving your sins and bringing you into his kingdom, Jesus is making you holy, and that is the will of God – your sanctification. What may seem like mere crumbs from Jesus are everlasting life for the hungry soul seeking his divine mercy. Amen.

St. Peter calls us Christians “sojourners and exiles.” We are not in the place where we are truly from, where we are supposed to be. He recalls the memory of the ancient Judahites who went into exile in Babylon because of their sin. These people were held far from their homes as second-class citizens, with no temple to worship God. They wept at the fact of their exile, even as their captors mocked them. This is the image we have of our life on earth as Christians. We are not yet in the place we should be. Baptized and believing in Christ, we have started on our way to our goal. That it our future hope, which we hold to by faith in Jesus, the resurrection and life with God forever. Even if we are living in the place where we grew up, we are still pilgrims and exiles to this place, for the life in Christ is opposed to the life approved by the world.

As Jesus says in the Beatitudes, blessed are you when you are persecuted on account of me. That is what Christians will face. Peter does not see this as a reason to give up and give in. Rather, knowing that we are in Christ, that our hope is elsewhere, we are free. We are free to live serving our true Lord. When we serve our Lord and are spoken against for it, God is glorified. So Peter tells us to keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, for such conduct even in suffering and persecution is kept to the glory of God when Christ returns.

Even if they don’t know it, the powers in this world have been put in place by God for a purpose. God wishes there to be good government to punish sin and reward the good. When this happens, and there is peace, then the gospel of Jesus may be better proclaimed. Luther speaks about government in the Large Catechism when he explains the fourth petition, “give us this day our daily bread.” He says that a loaf of bread should be on every prince’s coat of arms, we could say on the flag of every country, to remind him that God uses him for nothing less than to provide order and peace so people can have their bread. It is good, especially in these last days between Christ’s ascension and return, that we remember that God wants to continue to provide us with daily bread. He tells us to pray for it, and He is ultimately the One from whom it comes. Even in times of wars and rumors of wars, God is still working to provide daily bread for his children.

In fact, our Father gives daily bread to all, even all evil people, only out of his great love and mercy for us. This mercy he showed in the suffering of his Son, Jesus Christ. For Jesus, though both God and man, was never accepted by the world, and knew this was not his final home. Being rejected by his own, he suffered for us, even know he never sinned. As Peter writes, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to the one who judges justly. Jesus bore suffering patiently because He knew His Father’s plan, and that if the Father wanted to remove all his suffering He could. But Jesus submitted to this suffering because with the Father He desired that we should be saved from our sin. He Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He has taken God’s punishment for sin so there might be no more punishment for us. Therefore, our Father will be merciful to us on account of Jesus and forgive our sins. He is also merciful to the whole world and gives to it every good thing and daily bread for this same reason – Christ.

We who in baptism have joined Christ in dying to sin and rising again to live in righteousness should live as exiles in the world in his steps. Not reviling when reviled, not threatening when suffering, not living by deceit or sinful rebellion, but entrusting ourselves to God. Because Jesus has died for us and earned us every good gift from God, we do not have to covet the better life of the connected and elite. Instead we live as servants of God and of our neighbors, giving honor to all, and love most of all to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Christ is our ultimate example in this, and elsewhere in scripture we can see the example of believing exiles in this world, like Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. These men were in captivity in Babylon and their king and masters did not always have their best interests in mind.

When they arrived in Babylon, Daniel and the three men were served from the king’s table unclean food which was against their conscience to eat. Not becoming rebellious or deceitful, they requested vegetables and water and we found soon to be stronger than men eating the other food. We too when our consciences are being oppressed by authorities can appeal for leniency. Many times this may work.

Other times, there is no leniency, and still Daniel and the men kept their conduct honorable. When the king made an idol and the three young men would not bow to it, they were called out due to jealousy by the other nobles. The three young men meant no offense to the king, but they could never worship another God. They were thrown into a fiery furnace, and yet Christ preserved them, as the king saw a fourth man standing next to them in the fire looking like a Son of God. They came out of the furnace and not a hair on their head was singed.

This may not always be the case. God in his wisdom may not always miraculously deliver us from death in this life, but in Christ we will always be delivered from the second death. The image of the four men in the furnace is true for you – Christ is with you in your time of exile on this earth. When you suffer for doing good, your suffering is brought into Christ’s suffering. He suffers with you. And what did his suffering do? Was it useless? Did Jesus die in vain? Of course not! Christ’s suffering did the greatest work that had ever been done in history. His death and resurrection healed the world and made peace with God.

By his wounds, you have been healed from sin and the power of death. By partaking of the crucified body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, you are strengthened as a new creature in Christ by the Holy Spirit. As a new creature in Christ, your suffering is not a waste. Being part of Christ’s cross, your suffering is just as important to God. It gains glory that comes in this life, when those of this world see exiles like you suffer for doing good and are changed in heart. Such happened to the king who saw the three young men survive the fiery furnace. And glory that comes at the end, when Christ will return, coming in his visitation to set all things right for good.

He will then gather all his faithful servants, who did nothing more than follow in His steps, and say “well done.” For we who believe the return of Jesus is not something fearful, but a return of the Shepherd to his sheep. Then all we exiles will enter our real, true home with our true and loving king. There in the completion of all our hope, we will finally have rest. Amen.

The first lesson in the catechism is the First Commandment, and hopefully all the confirmation students here should have this learned by heart, “You shall have no other Gods.” As you know from the explanation, this means, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” The story of God and humanity is wrapped up in the first commandment. We have a God who is worthy of fear, love, and trust, because there is nothing and no one greater, more loving, more trustworthy. Everything we have comes from him. The history of the human response is to fear, love, and trust everything else but God, to seek our good elsewhere. This is also known as sin. This was done first in the Garden of Eden by our parents, Adam and Eve, and through them passed down through the generations to all humanity. No one could get out of this trap, no one fully sought God alone until Jesus. It was Jesus who would face the temptation to seek other gods and, as a man, fully defeat it. The good news today is that this victory is given to you as well.

You today with Jesus are in a better situation than your first parents, Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were created perfect, and perfectly innocent, but could be tempted to sin. The Lord had given them every thing they could need – every plant for food, good work to tend and keep the garden, and each other to serve. These were their acts of worship, to live as God gave them, serving God and neighbor as man and wife. God gave them one other act of worship, to obey his word of prohibition – that they should not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There was good reason for this – in the day they ate of it, they would surely die. So they worshipped God by keeping this law, fearing the punishment, loving his command, and trusting that this was best for them.

Yet as you heard in the Old Testament lesson, they would not remain this way. When the devil came in the form of a serpent, he tempted Eve to take and eat of the fruit. He twisted and questioned God’s word, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Eve remembers God’s Word, no, it is only this tree, lest you die. And the serpent replies, “You shall not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Not too subtle here, the devil merely gives Eve a conflicting story. It is a story that undermines the first commandment. He says, “There is no need to fear God, for you will not surely die. God is giving an empty threat. You do not need to love God by following his Word, for God knows that this will make you like him, and therefore you can love him by disobeying. Trust me, trust yourself, trust what you see here.” And Eve forgot the Word of God and trusted what she saw, and Adam too, and they fell into sin. That day they did die, for they were no longer good and innocent, but spiritually fallen and condemned.

From then on, they could not enjoy the garden, but would have to live by trust in God’s new promise, which He made in the curse on the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” They held to the promise the rest of their long lives of the offspring who would crush the serpent, their enemy who had led them into sin and suffering and death. It was a word that had to be held in faith, for what they saw in their offspring did not look like a Savior. Their son Cain killed his brother, Abel, and while their son Seth followed God, over time Cain’s family would influence Seth’s so there would be few righteous left on the earth. God would save Noah and his family, and then call Abraham, who would trust in the promise of his offspring blessing the whole earth.

Abraham’s descendants did little better, still mired in the sin inherited from Adam and Eve. These people, the Israelites, would be chosen by God and saved from slavery in Egypt by God’s mighty power. Yet as they traveled to the promised land, even after seeing God’s great work with their own eyes, they would again and again break the first commandment. They grumbled against God in the wilderness, “why has God sent us into this desert to starve,” not trusting Him or His love. God was not the god they wanted. They remembered all the good things in Egypt, the melons and meat, and forgot about the slavery. They said, let’s go back to Egypt. They said, let’s make God how we want him to be, a golden calf like the Egyptians have. Then we will have what we want. And like Adam and Eve, because they turned from God, many died in the wilderness and never reached the promised land.

Such are the wages of sin. We often hear “the wages of sin is death” but don’t think about what that mean. To fear, love, and trust in another god is to make that god your boss, to get that boss’ wages. The other god may promise many things, but since he is not the true God, he can not give anything else than what the true God gives him. Being outside of love and trust in God, the only thing there is to give is death. Even with no fear of God or his punishment for sin, the punishment will still come. For every other god gives nothing ultimately but death. You cannot say, I prefer this god instead. You cannot say, I want to love God my way, not his way. It is like your mother Eve, saying, “this way looks more pleasing to me, God must be hiding some good for me, yes, he has forbidden this, but he can’t really mean it.”

God is not hiding any good from you. Everything he has to give you is in his Word. So when God says, “you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” he is not secretly saying “unless the gossip is fun.” When God says, “you shall not commit adultery” he is not secretly saying, “if you love the person it is fine to live together before marriage.” When God says, “you shall not steal,” he does not mean, “well if you can get a really good deal, it’s really the other guy’s problem.” Your sinful flesh will follow the devil’s argument, “did God actually say,” therefore you must repent and seek the true God.

Thanks be to God, as I said earlier, you are in a better place than even Adam and Eve. You are not just given temptation without help. You do not just trust in a future promise. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as a man has faced the same temptation and defeated it for you. Where no one else could succeed, Jesus did, and in the most dire of situations.

After his baptism, Jesus was sent into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted. He was not in a lush garden like Adam and Eve. He was not even fed like the Israelites in the wilderness. He fasted forty days, and in his tiredness and loneliness and hunger was tempted by the devil, one-on-one. Just like Eve, he was tempted to seek his own God. Yes, being fully man, Jesus also feared, loved, and trusted in God. He could be tempted to turn from this, to deny God’s Word. Yet Jesus would not fall, but would cling to the Word.

The devil was up to his old tricks and tried to create doubt in the Word of God, which the Father had just declared at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my beloved Son.” The devil said to Jesus, “if you are the Son of God…” You see how your flesh, in wanting a God of your own making follows the devil. It says, “if you are really God, you would do this for me…you would think what I am doing is ok…you would want me to be happy in this way…” It is a practice of constructing another god, a golden calf of your own making. The devil wanted Jesus to construct a golden calf, but He would do no such thing.

 would not grumble against God for lack of bread. He knew he did not have to prove he was the Son of God to the devil by turning stones into bread. Instead, he drew on the words given to the Israelites when they grumbled that they were starving, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Brother and sisters in Christ, when you face trials of this kind, remember this verse. Write it down and carry it with you. When the devil comes with temptation to sinfully covet what others have and the sins that come with it, this is your weapon. Christ gives you this Word by the Holy Spirit to fight off that tempter and live in the victory which Christ has won. In baptism, you have Christ’s life and victory over temptation. Rebuke that tempter with these words.

So too when the devil took Jesus to the temple and told him to throw himself down for God promised that his angels would bear him up, Jesus refuted him with the clear scripture “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Jesus would not use scripture against God or pit one scripture against another. Unlike the Israelites who said “if you are really God, do this,” Jesus holds to the Word. Unlike Eve who thought, “well God wants us to have good things though,” Jesus would not put one word against another. So when you are tempted to think, well God wouldn’t really punish sin, I could do what I want and get away with it, God wants me to be happy, remember these words which the Holy Spirit has given you as a weapon against testing God.

It finally comes back around to the first commandment when the devil blatantly tells Jesus to fall down and worship him. He says to Jesus, “love me, and I will give you better than God gives.” Jesus does not fall, but rebukes Satan and replies, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” Love of any other person or thing besides God will not ultimately give what it promises. Even if the devil could give you all the kingdoms of the world, you would still in the end be subject to death. Only the love of God brings eternal life and salvation. So fight the idolatry of other things before God by keeping these words, and the Holy Spirit will strengthen you in love for God which is life.

Jesus Christ, in defeating temptation, showed that he would be the one to crush the serpent’s head. He was the promised offspring that Adam and Eve were waiting for. After his temptation, he would not only defeat sin, but death itself on the cross. That was the bruising of the heel. For being free from sin, he died a sinless sacrifice for sinners like you. Without sin, death could not keep Him, but His Father raised him from the dead and He has ascended to the right hand of the Father to rule heaven and earth. Sin, the devil, and death are all crushed under his foot. Ruling over heaven and earth, he distributed good gifts in his kingdom.

Being baptized, you have been brought into Christ’s kingdom and given his life. You are not just a sinner but have been declared righteous by Christ and the Holy Spirit works in you. Christ strengthens you through his word and promises to be with you in temptation. He walks beside you because He has faced every temptation that you do. Therefore when you remember the Word of God and hold to it, you do not just receive comforting words, but the strength, power, and victory of Christ.

In Christ, you can trust God, saying “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

In Christ, you can fear God, saying “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

In Christ, you can love God, saying, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”

All this because you need no other God than the one who would become man, face every temptation for you, die for your sins, rise from the dead, and give you the same life in Him. You can say, yes, I shall have no other gods, because I want a God who loves me enough to die for me so I can be with Him forever. Amen.

Why not be a hypocrite when you fast? Of course, no one wants to be known as a hypocrite, but Jesus doesn’t give instructions about hypocrisy for everything. Matthew speaks about hypocrisy in prayer, fasting, and judging others without your own repentance. The pharisees are often called hypocrites for this kind of judgment. Jesus says they outwardly want to be seen as keeping the law but break it in practice.

So that brings us back to fasting – Jesus speaks about hypocrisy in other places, but when he speaks about fasting, we only know three things – Jesus fasted at least during his temptation in the wilderness, the disciples did not fast when Jesus was with them, and Jesus’ only instruction to us is to not be hypocritical.

Jesus gives much more instruction about prayer than fasting. We know from scripture to pray continually. In the Psalms especially we get many prayers which the Holy Spirit inspired men to write. There is no greater prayer than the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus himself gives us to pray. We don’t get nearly as much information for fasting. Nowhere does Jesus tell us how to fast, or when to fast, or how often to fast. He assumes we will fast, for he says, “when you fast,” not if you fast. Other than that, it’s up to us.

Historically, churches have gone one of two ways with fasting – either completely legalistic, as in making up their own laws about it, or completely ignoring it. The former is what Luther had to fight against in the reformation – the Roman church made laws that it was a sin to eat meat or other foods on certain days, even when scripture does not say so. Yet many protestant churches, and often the practice in the Lutheran church, is to ignore fasting altogether. After all, we are free from those legalistic rules, and Jesus only gives us instructions of how to mess it up!

Jesus does not warn against hypocrisy in fasting to dissuade us from fasting altogether. Just as Jesus shows us that our Father wants us to pray and to pray to him well and without hypocrisy, so he shows that he wants us to fast well and without hypocrisy. Hopefully it would seem absurd to you to never pray because you are worried you cannot do it right. Even if you are unsure about praying in public, you can acknowledge that Jesus does not tell you how to pray in order that you never pray out of fear of praying wrongly. Jesus does not want you to just never pray. He wants to encourage you to do so, because it will help you in growth in faith in this life.

The point of Jesus’ warnings about being hypocritical in prayer and fasting is that growth in faith is not something you acquire like adding training levels or getting more academic degrees. Growth in faith is not something you can advertise to others. It is not like piling on recognition or accomplishments. Growing in faith is growing to live less for self and more in dependency on God. The Father who sees your fasting in secret rewards you because by fasting in secret you are moving to greater trust in him and less trust in yourself or any other false gods.

Prayer, fasting, almsgiving – the traditional practices of Lent – all focus your attention on storing up treasures in heaven instead of on earth. Jesus warns against hypocrisy – the hypocrite is the one who is looking for the acclaim of other people, an acclaim which does not last, and a treasure on earth. Treasures on earth are not just physical treasure but anything that turns your fear, love, and trust to someone or something besides God. Whenever your trust goes to something besides God first, you are saying that the greatest reality is the thing you trust in. You are putting the reality of this world above the reality of the next.

Fasting confesses that the reality of this world will be replaced by the reality of the next. It indicates that there are treasures greater that whatever worldly pleasures we can find. When these spiritual disciplines are done purely, they reinforce to you your dependence on God. You are reminded that ultimately what he promises in the next life is greater. Christ says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” This is the reality we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven.” We ask God for the good things that already occur in heaven to come among us now on earth, to come to we who suffer with the consequences of our own sin.

This is why we put the ashes on our heads today. Not to be seen by others, for that would be hypocrisy. With the ashes we remember “dust you are and to dust you shall return.” Just like moth and rust eventually destroy every treasure on earth, so every person will one day return to the dust from which we all came. The ashes remind you that maybe things that return to moth and rust and dust should not be your priority after all. Maybe pleasing the one who made and sustains all these things should come first.

The thing is, outside of Christ, no amount of fasting you can do will ever please God. Even if you fast in secret and forgo every worldly pleasure, such man-made works won’t bring you closer to the Father. You only come to the Father through the Son. For the works which please the Father are the works that the Son, Jesus Christ has done. In Jesus, the Son of God took on human flesh, the same dust we are part of, and lived and suffered death on a cross. He took on our sins and made peace between God and man. His body was subjected to decay and death. Yet he did not remain dead. For you know at the end of Lent comes Easter, and the resurrection from the dead. So Jesus, obediently following the Father’s plan, suffered death and then, as the sinless one who did not deserve death, conquered it!

Now you have been called by the grace of God through the work of Jesus to be more than just dust. You are dust that has been redeemed. You will return to the earth, but one day when Christ returns, you will arise with a new body. Baptized into Christ, you shall be resurrected with him. So you share even now in his life. For those who believe, God sees not your righteousness, but Christ’s. There is no need for you to work to please God because with faith in Christ, you are already perfectly pleasing to God. For Christ has taken all your sin and given you all his righteousness.

So trusting in Christ, we can fast and pray and give alms, all recognizing that our certain hope is not in this world, but in the next. While here, we are sustained by Christ’s Word and Sacraments. Fasting and other spiritual discipline is like our athletic training. We are learning to shed our sinful desires and trust God more fully, even knowing that we are completely saved in Jesus. So with the Holy Spirit as guide through the Word, discipline yourself to become more of who you are in Christ. You can pray imperfect prayers because the Holy Spirit has made your prayers perfect before God. You can fast imperfectly, because Christ by his fasting has given more merit for it than you could ever gain. The point now is the training, the imperfect practice as you look forward to when you will be made perfect in the resurrection from the dead.

So this Lent, I encourage you to try to discipline yourself in a small new way. Pray at least once a day, or one more time a day than you usually do. Or fast from something. Give a little more away than you usually do. We are all practicing, and the imperfect practice will be made perfect in the life to come. Most of all, read or listen to a little more of God’s Word, for that will sustain any practice in this life more than anything else.

This is not a challenge you need to write down or sign up for or tell me or anyone else. Don’t worry about human recognition. Yet also don’t worry about imperfection. For you have a God who is happy to forgive when your confess your sins to Him. For Jesus Christ has reconciled God and man. He thought it was worth dying for dust like us, therefore we can trust his great and precious promises by holding to that work. Amen.

What would you say if Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Is there some dire need you would ask for? Would you ask for something big and frivolous? Or maybe the opposite – would you ask for something small because you don’t want to presume? Would you not ask at all, assuming it is some sort of test? Would you even believe that Jesus was serious about it?

Whatever you would ask demonstrates your faith. It shows what you believe about Jesus. Faith is true when the object of faith is true. If your faith is in the true Jesus, you have true faith. If your faith is in a false idea of Jesus, you need to learn the true Jesus from the Word of God. So what you may ask or not ask of Jesus shows who you think Jesus to be. If you will not ask for something because it is too big, maybe you don’t think Jesus is able to answer. Maybe you aren’t sure Jesus is dependable to answer, that he hasn’t shown his answer before. Or possibly you wouldn’t ask for much or anything because you believe Jesus doesn’t want to answer.

Jesus does want to answer. This is the last Sunday before Lent, and as you approach this season of repentance, it is certainly good to recognize your sin and focus on your spiritual priorities. Yet don’t get too caught up in yourself, as if you need to make yourself spiritual. Do not think that you are not spiritual enough to fast or to devote yourself to daily prayer. Some may think, “Lent is really for the spiritual ones, people who are really religious. All those extra services are for people who are (or think they are) hardcore top-tier Christians, not for me.” This is the same mindset which says, “Jesus wouldn’t really ask me what he can do for me.” It says Lent is only for the Spiritual. It says Jesus is only for the Spiritual. This is false. Lent is for beggars. Jesus is for beggars.

The blind beggar on the side of the road had nothing to offer Jesus. He had no spirituality to prove to anyone. He had faith. Faith with begs and calls out to Jesus. He knew Jesus was able to answer, had shown he would answer, and wanted to answer. For He knew Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of David, who came to heal and forgive and bring peace between God and man.

The blind beggar called out to Jesus as Son of David, knowing He is a king. The crowds which walked by told him that the man they were following was Jesus of Nazareth. This is a very generic way to refer to Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth makes no faith statement about Jesus besides where he is from. Modern scholars will talk about a “Jesus of Nazareth” in the most sterile and clinical ways. There’s nothing wrong with saying it, but it doesn’t indicate any belief in the person who says it. The beggar however, goes above and beyond. He does not cry out to Jesus of Nazareth, but “Jesus, Son of David!”

What is the Son of David? David was Israel’s great king. You heard about David’s first anointing as king in the Old Testament reading, when Samuel poured oil on David’s head. David too, did not have an appearance of a king like his older brothers, but was known to Samuel by faith in God’s Word. By faith, David is anointed king, which is what Messiah, or Christ, means. As a Christ, an anointed king, David would foreshadow the work of his future son, the true and full Christ, Jesus. David knew this, as God promised him that he would have a Son who would reign on his throne forever. All in Israel awaited the coming of the Son of David who would establish His kingdom and save them all.

How the blind beggar knew Jesus was the son of David, we are not told, but somehow he had heard news of the works of Jesus and identified him as the promised Son. By faith, he trusted that this man who had done so many works, who had healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead could also bring him sight. Not because of who he was, because he deserved it more than anyone else. He knew Jesus could help him because this blind beggar could see who Jesus was – the Son of David, the King who gives good gifts to his people.

A good king is like a good father, he protects and provides. So the Son of David, the Christ, the greatest king, would protect and provide perfectly. Surely this man needed a king’s favor in the state he was in. He was poor and blind and had no one to care for him. You see in the response of the crowd that they did not want to hear him cry out. The people of Israel were supposed to care for the poor, to not have any beggars among them, yet you see the neglect that has happened here. Jesus is the king who comes and answers those who are neglected, those who should have been cared for. Lack of importance to others does not keep Jesus away. He is a good king who cares for every single person, all who he himself has made. This king can and will save his people.

The disciples saw Jesus as the Christ, as the anointed king, but did not understand at this time how Jesus would reign. Jesus does not save his people like David or Solomon by setting up an earthly kingdom. This is what Jesus is saying to the disciples at the beginning of the gospel lesson - See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise. The disciples did not understand that this is how Jesus would become king.

Jesus’ death and resurrection did not surprise him. He knew exactly what he was going to do. For He knew he was the true Son of David, and for his kingdom to last forever, it would not be a kingdom of this world. His kingdom would not be established on conquest or might, but on his death for sinners and resurrection from the dead. The disciples knew that Jesus would save Israel and beyond as a king, but they assumed going up to Jerusalem was to save by conquest. Jesus tells them this the third time, to set their minds on the right thing – Jesus is going to save by taking on shame and spitting and death and in three days rising again.

Do not let this be hidden from you. Especially as we move toward Lent and Holy Week, realize that Jesus has gone to his death and risen again purposely to win salvation for you. The blind beggar probably heard of great works of healing that Jesus had done. You hear of the completion of all these works. You hear of Jesus’ death and resurrection for you. He shows in these that He willingly goes to the cross for your sins, to bear your afflictions, your burdens. He is not overcome by evil men, but willingly and purposely let himself be taken to be mocked and flogged and spit upon and finally killed in order that he could show you that he really would do anything for you. When he says “what do you want me to do for you?” He wants you ask thinking on what he has already done.

For Jesus wants to answer you. He doesn’t ask as a test, or to ignore you. Jesus’ question to the beggar was completely earnest, and it is the same to you. You know that he can answer. You know that he has shown his trustworthiness. “What do you want me to do for you?” This is the question of the Son of David, the King, who rules all things in heaven and earth. It is the question of the one who willingly died for you, who took on flesh and was beaten and bled so that you could be saved. It is the question of the one who loves you more than anyone you can ever know.

Maybe you don’t know still what your answer would be. Yet as beggars you have the same refrain you can cry to Jesus, Lord, have mercy! Son of David, have mercy on me! And your Lord will say, “your faith has saved you.” So do not fear asking the Lord for what you need. Do not be slack in seeking his word. Do as the beggar did and call out to him, and he will answer.

As you approach this Lent, do not think that you are not spiritual enough so need to make yourself more spiritual or just should give up on the whole thing. Lent is rightly observed when it is observed in faith. Faith in Jesus, the Son of David, who has shown his faithfulness through his death and wants to have mercy on you, to give you every good thing. Most of all, to give you the forgiveness of sins he won on the cross. In the Lenten services we come for these gifts as beggars. For in the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.

Let us follow Jesus to his cross again, acknowledging your sins so you may be forgiven. We go up to Jerusalem where Jesus will be handed over and killed. Yet the resurrection and Easter are not far behind. It’s a yearly remembrance of Jesus’ work, and the life we live in him. For while sorrow lasts for the night, joy comes in the morning. Therefore, trusting in Jesus, recover your sight. See the path Jesus has made for you to eternal life. For your faith has saved you. Amen.  

Jesus tells a parable of the sower who sows one seed in four different places. Only in the good soil does the seed grow into a plant that yields a harvest, but in the good soil it yields a great harvest. In the other soils, the plant dies, or does not grow at all. As Jesus says, the seed is the word of God. It does not change, the same message of repentance and faith is broadcast to all. All people are characterized by the four different soils. While the word is good, the people may resist or fall from trust in that word. Jesus tells you this so you may in fact hold onto his word and bear abundant fruit.

Jesus’ word is not going to be accepted by all, and not all will hold on in faith. This is the truth of this parable. It is also why Jesus spoke in parables. You may think that parables were like sermon illustrations, that Jesus spoke them so people could understand the Word of God better. As Jesus tells us, this is not the case. Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds who did not believe so that “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” For those who do not believe in Jesus, parables only confirmed them in their unbelief. Parables gave them more excuse to reject Jesus. Yet for those who believed in Jesus, like the disciples, like you, they reveal things about Jesus’ work for you – the secrets of the kingdom of God.

The secrets of the kingdom of God are not some mystical knowledge. The answer to all secrets are found in Jesus himself. All life in the kingdom is found in Jesus Christ himself. This life is received by the Word of God, through preaching and the sacraments. As the Word of God is heard and dwells on your heart, you are brought to Jesus through faith in him. As you are baptized, the Word of God with the water makes your old man die with Jesus and your new man rise and live in Him. As you receive the Word of God joined to the bread and wine, Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, you are strengthened by being united with Jesus through trust in his promised forgiveness of your sins. The seed which is the Word of God working in you creates faith in Jesus, the only one who can produce the fruit of faith, true life and salvation.

This is shown directly in the parable which Jesus is speaking. When the Word of God goes out, only those who hold fast to it in an honest and good heart will bear fruit with patience. All others who reject the Word of God and therefore reject Jesus will not produce, or may seem to grow for a time and then fall away.

It is especially important then for you to hear the Word and hold it in your heart in faith. Faith is developed in steadfastness and patience, it is fed by the word of God and prayer. The different soils in the parable are all seen from the end of life. One person is either finally good soil or one of the bad soils. Difficulties in life may make you feel like you are a bad soil. What others do may make them seem bad or good at the moment. Yet at the last, the determining factor is the work of the Word of God in you. Christ gives the growth and the strength through his Word, he gives you the ability to hold on to him.

It is possible for you to reject him. Do not reject him! The devil and the world and your flesh will continually work to convince you that you have rejected him, that there is no use, that you are bad soil. This is not what Christ is trying to teach. Do not focus on yourself, on what kind of soil you are, but on Christ. For Christ through His Word is the only one who can bring the good growth. It is normal for you to have doubts, to be worn down by your sin, but this means you turn to Christ in repentance and faith. You can see how Christ frees you from these bad soils as he teaches us how to pray.

The first soil is those who hear the word of God, but do not allow it to take root. Many do hear the Word of God and never believe. Like an asphalt road they are hardened to the gospel of Jesus. These are the many people who never believed at all. They may even be hypocrites in the church who give the appearance of Christianity but have no faith in Christ. Christ tells us that these people do not remain neutral. There is no neutrality when it comes to faith in Christ. Either you trust in Christ, or as we naturally are in sin, you are his enemy. You see that in the parable, that the seed does not remain on the path. It is snatched away by the birds and swallowed up quickly. To refuse Christ is to allow the devil, the evil one, to snatch away the word. He is working hard so that no one hears and believes, and if you will not hear then he will not allow the word to remain on your heart for long.

Therefore, Christ helps us by teaching us to pray, “Deliver us from evil.” You know from the Small Catechism that this means we pray that “our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation.” There is no greater evil than to be kept from the Word of God, which is life and salvation. Yet the Father in heaven commands you, asks you, to pray that you be delivered from such things, and He promises to hear such prayers. He sent his Son to die for you, and so desires that you have a blessed end, and leave this valley of sorrow, and be with Him in heaven for eternity. When you feel indifferent to the Word of God, when you don’t want to hear, don’t want to go to church, remember that God gently calls you to hear Him. God wants you to hear, and when you don’t want to hear he doesn’t push you away. He instead tells you to call on Him, that you may be delivered from your indifference and the evil foe who would snatch the Word away from you forever. For the only way anyone can hear is because God is working mightly for it, that Christ has defeated the devil in his death and resurrection. Otherwise, no one would ever hear the Word of God and believe.

There are still dangers for those who do believe. The second soil is the one who believes in joy, but have no root, like plants in rocky soil. So when a time of testing comes they fall away and never bear fruit. For this person, faith in Christ was only based on the worldly benefits he received from it, and when things get difficult he falls away. It seems less likely in our day that someone would be a Christian to get benefits in society, but in many groups being a Christian can be useful. Maybe for some, they remain Christian to keep peace in the family of make grandma happy. Maybe the church is where all their friends are. But when difficulties come and hard decisions have to be made – do I want to have current happiness or be Christian – they fall away because there is no root.

This does not mean that those who believe in Christ for what seems to be the wrong reasons cannot grow into a true faith. For it is Christ who does the saving by His Word, and he says his Word will accomplish the purpose for which he has sent it. So if you think maybe your faith is weak, or your belief only temporary, do not despair. Repent and turn to Jesus for help. He tells you to pray, “lead us not into temptation.” By this prayer, you pray that He may guard and keep you from falling into “false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice.” Our Lord does not only deliver you from the evil one, but keep you firm in temptation and trial. He desires that your root would grow strong in him. It is strengthened by continually returning to the Word of Christ.

As you trust in Christ’s promises, you learn more and more that you must be dependent on him for all things. For He is the only true God worthy of trust for all your needs. The problem with those like the seeds among thorns, the third soil, is that they trust other things instead of God. Life brings many cares, it brings distractions, good and bad things which can pull your trust away from God. When the pursuit of money, or pleasure, or someone else’s approval come first then faith is choked out.

Yet your Father in heaven provides for all your needs and wants you to realize this. He entreats you to pray, “give us this day our daily bread.” In so doing, you see more that everything you have is a gift from God. Without Him you and all people would have nothing good. Yet out of His great love and mercy because of his son, you receive many blessings of house and clothes, food, family, and friends. There is no need to covet what others have, no need to seek the best for yourself, when your loving Father is the one who provides for you. Therefore in seeking your daily bread, the needs of this life, seek first your Father in heaven, who is the ultimate source of all good.

For all good flows from the death and resurrection of Jesus. Because you know that Jesus has died for you, forgiven your sins, made peace with God, given you new life with him in the resurrection, you cling to his promises first of all. As you pray, He promises to answer and provide. So realize the warnings about falling away and fear God, but do not fear the devil or the world of your flesh. They can do nothing to those who trust in Christ. When those enemies lead you to doubt and say, “look, you are bad soil,” reply back that in your baptism you have good seed. Christ will protect you from all evils, temptation, and lack, you know this because he says to ask for it and wants to provide it. Remain in His word and cling to his promises, and the fruit of faith will grow in you a hundredfold. Amen.

Jesus Christ has given you good work to do, and all by grace. While you did not deserve to do anything but idle without any meaning, He has brought you into his vineyard to work, to do something that really eternally matters.

The master of the house in the parable has a vineyard which needs workers. He has work to do. So going into the marketplace he finds men early in the morning, agrees on the wage of one denarius, and sends them off. Later he finds more men idling and sends them off, not agreeing to a wage, but to whatever is right. At the very end of the day, he finds more idle men who haven’t been hired by anyone and sends them into the vineyard, not even mentioning pay.

All the workmen are brought in under slightly different circumstances, and at different times, but one thing is the same – they were once idle and now they have work. Now some may look at work as a bad thing, as something to get past. This is a culture of “working for the weekend” – work is just something done so one can eat and have a home and do the things that one really likes to do. This is not the way that scripture speaks about work. Clearly in this parable the master is doing something good by hiring these men out of idleness into work. Proverbs says that “Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger” (Proverbs 19:15) and “whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, be he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense” (Proverbs 12:11) and “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys” (Proverbs 18:19). It is clear that idleness is not a positive, it brings no gain or help to a person, and therefore for someone to bring people out of idleness is to do a good thing.

Therefore, at the end of the day, when those who were hired first see they are being paid equally to those who were hired last, the reply of the master makes sense. He has done them no wrong. He has given them a job and pay besides for their work. If he had not come, they would merely be sitting idly in the marketplace, one denarius poorer, but also poorer for the lack of work. The work is harder than standing idly in the market, but it’s also more fulfilling. If you’ve ever had a day where you’ve done nothing at all, maybe a day you even looked forward to, and at the end felt kind of empty, you know what I mean.

Maybe you could say the first-hired are not complaining as much about the work as that they are being treated equally to those who worked much less. Isn’t this the same thing, though? The first-hired either are complaining that they would have been better off being idle all day and working one hour for the same pay, or their full day of work is undervalued for what they could have been doing…which is standing idle in the marketplace. See the first hired don’t value the work, they like idleness and they like the pay, and the less work for the more pay the better for them.

Now here you need to remember that the parables are not one-to-one representations of things which really happen in the world. In the real world, the men would not have to work for the particular vineyard owner, but could still work. Maybe they could find another job that was more fulfilling, maybe another job with better pay. So Jesus isn’t saying here that workers should not have fair wages. The Bible speaks many times as well about not oppressing the hired worker. The point in this parable does not concern different jobs, but work versus idleness. These are the only alternatives we have for the story. When you look at it from a spiritual perspective, seeing the kingdom of heaven, having only those two choices makes much more sense.

Spiritually, there are only two options – to be idle, or to be working in Christ’s vineyard. Spiritual idleness is where you are by nature. Due to the sin you inherit at birth, you cannot do anything spiritually that is lasting or pleases God. This does not mean that you are physically idle. In fact, someone can be spiritually idle and doing many great things before the eyes of men. A spiritually idle person can build bridges and fund hospitals, feed the homeless, donate everything he has to the poor, be seen as the most upstanding citizen there is. Yet outside of Christ there is no spiritual work done.

Without Christ life is spiritual idleness, there is nothing to be gained at all. The secular philosophers came to this conclusion in the last century. If we are all just atoms bouncing around, then what value is there to anything? If every accomplishment on earth will be swallowed by an expanding sun and be pulled into a black hole, how can anything have meaning? Some would answer, “just make your own meaning, define your own life.” This is possible as a way to cope, but it’s still dependent on you. When you die, in 100 years when everyone who knew you is dead, it will make no difference how you defined you life.

Only in Christ is anything you do valuable, because in Christ you have been brought into His life and His works. Only He is the one who has defeated sin on the cross and risen from the dead. This He has done so as the master of the vineyard, he can come down and rescue you out of your spiritual idleness. In your baptism into Him you receive both the denarius of eternal life and the promise of good work in the vineyard now. Everything and everyone in this world only deserves death and destruction, but for the work of Christ. Christ took all that we deserved on Himself, the punishment of the Father, and instead brings life, an eternal life of purpose and meaning. You are not random atoms, but you are a new Adam, the first man who was sent to work and tend the garden of Eden.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has restored all work so all good works are eternally important. You to not gain this by the efforts or importance of your own works, but by His free gift to you. Trusting in him, we are the idling workers in the market who he comes to and says “work for me.” All because he chose to do with His things as He saw fit. Not by any merit of your own, but out of his compassion he brought you into this resurrection life. Now whatever you do to serve God and neighbor is eternally important. When you serve your spouse, kids, parents, co-workers, boss, pastor, political leaders, friends – you are doing work which Christ has set you apart and called you out of idleness to do.

This is why the complaint of the first workers is so terrible. Yes, some are called earlier and have more expected of them. Some only hear Christ’s gospel very late in life. Yet all who are called and trust in Christ did nothing to receive it. For it is all by grace, a free gift. Therefore, in the kingdom, there can be no comparison of one’s gift to another. Some will suffer much for Christ. Some will seem to have it easy. Some seem to have gotten away scot-free by only believing at the last minute. But what is that to you? Christ will do with His things what He will.

You have not been called by Christ out of idleness so that you can be better than others or have it easier than others. If that’s what you want, go back to idleness. If you want a life of meaning and purpose, one that eternally matters, trust in Christ and His work. Do not turn to jealousy, but keep your eyes on Christ. Hear his word and receive His gifts. Exercise self-control that you have been given by the Holy Spirit. Remember that the work and even the difficulty is for good, it has eternal importance and an imperishable prize. Amen.

Jesus is made manifest in His Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is the final Epiphany on the final Sunday of the Epiphany season. Peter, James, and John, led to the top of the high mountain, see Jesus in His glory as the Son of God. His face shines like the sun and his clothes become as white as the light. Though Jesus is often portrayed in paintings with a sort of angelic look, there would have been a great contrast. Jesus, scripture says, was not a man who was much to look at. The vision the three disciples receive at the Transfiguration would have been really something to see.

For what the disciples saw was the vision of heaven. All divine glory and everything illumined by the radiance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God himself. He lights the world as had not been seen from the first days of creation, a light brighter and more wholesome than the light of the sun. In this vision of heaven, you would expect the old saints to all be here, and there they are. Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus! Moses, who went up on the mountain and saw the glory of God, who spoke to God in the tabernacle face-to-face. Elijah, who heard God on the mountain and after many great works was taken bodily to heaven in a chariot of fire. There they were, recognizable to the disciples, in their resurrected bodies.

Imagine how wondrous this vision was to the three disciples. It was not only wondrous because of what they saw, but because of what it meant. Everything was true. They saw it with their own eyes. Jesus is divine. There is a resurrection of the dead, Moses and Elijah live. They knew this, they heard it, but now they saw it. The Sadducees were wrong to say there was no resurrection. The Pharisees were wrong to say Jesus did His works by the prince of demons. Here was no demon. As Peter had just confessed a week before, here was the “Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Jesus allowed them to see this revelation knowing what the disciples would soon suffer, because of what He would suffer. Not only did Peter confess who Jesus was six days before, but Peter also denied what Jesus must must do. Jesus said to them he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, and be delivered to the chief priests and Pharisees and be crucified, and in three days he would rise. Peter rebuked him. Peter would never let such a thing happen. Jesus would never suffer as far as he was concerned! At this, Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23). It was revealed to Peter and the disciples by the Holy Spirit who Jesus was, but Peter could not accept what Jesus had to do.

Peter had the faith given by the Holy Spirit to see who Jesus was. He trusted that Jesus was truly the Messiah and the Son of God. Yet in his weakness he fell back to sight. He saw in his mind’s eye the image of Jesus suffering and being crucified and could not accept that this was fitting and right for the Son of God whom he loved. Even though Jesus said “I must do this,” Peter preferred his own standard.

Even though a Christian may have faith in Christ’s words, in the next moment there is always the threat of doubt. If it is true for Peter it is also true for you. Faith in Christ is not a one-time event but is continually needed throughout the life of a Christian. Faith comes by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. God works through His law and gospel to convict of sin and create faith in Him. When Peter denied that Christ should suffer, he received the rebuke of the law, but Christ would not let him sit in rebuke. Six days later, Peter with James and John would see the glorious vision of Christ transfigured for their benefit and consolation.

Everything in life is not always suffering and hardship. These things come, but God does answer prayer, Christ does show himself working in your life. He knows your weakness and does not only ask you to hold to faith without any kind of evidence. By the Holy Spirit, you can see where God is working, where he has provided for you and comforted you throughout your life. That is different for different people – maybe he provided good parents and loving home, friends when you needed it, your food and clothing and daily provision, the blessing of children, good weather at the right time, comfort in depression and loneliness, or many other things. The Lord gives out blessings to all, and even though He gives and takes as He decides, all Christians can see that God has blessed them in various ways.

This is what the three disciples received at the transfiguration. And you see, like with your blessings, that not even all the disciples received it. Christ knew that these three would need it. They would need it as Christ headed to Jerusalem to suffer, be delivered over, and be crucified for their sins. He knew in their weakness their faith needed a little strengthening by sight.

Peter’s mistake was to dwell on the vision. He says, it is good to be here, let me set up shelters and we can stay in the glorious vision forever. He did not know what he was saying, but he was essentially repeating his denial from before. He was saying, in effect, “Lord, see how glorious you are, you don’t need to suffer and die at all. We can stay here in your glory without that death and suffering.” He did not allow the vision to reinforce and strengthen the word of Christ he had already heard, but let it overtake that word.

Jesus cannot be Christ and Savior if He does not suffer and die and rise from the dead. There would be not eternal benefit if Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John remained on that mountain peak. Therefore the cloud of the glory of the Lord overshadowed the disciples and they heard “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” The voice of the Father overwhelms them and they fall down in fear. For without Jesus who is crucified and rises, God is extremely terrifying to sinful man. The people of Israel could not even bear to see the shining face of Moses after he spoken to God, much less to see God themselves.

The vision of glory is helpful for the disciples as Jesus, and they are about to travel the way of the cross. But there is no glory without the cross. You cannot stay on the mountain in Jesus’ presence if He hasn’t died for your sins. Outside of Jesus, you can never overcome the weight of God’s law, which says to “do this perfectly and live.”

The good news is that Jesus has died and risen for you. He gives you his word to strengthen you. Peter would say later in his second letter that the more sure revelation is the Word of God given by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures. There you hear the true word of Christ for you. That word is the one the Father says to listen to. There Jesus says to you, as to the disciples, “rise, and have no fear.”

Though the power of God and the weight of the law is fearful, though you are often bombarded by doubts, have no fear. For God has shown how He feels for you by sending His Son to die for you. Better than any sign of goodness in this life, even if you had seen the transfiguration yourself, is the word which he promises that you have nothing to fear. For Christ has paid for all your sins, and you are righteous before God. Therefore, trusting in Christ, when you die it is not the end. Death is not the ultimate fear. For when the sinful world fades away, like the disciples you will lift up your eyes and see Jesus only. And He will say to you, “rise, and have no fear.” Amen.