Jesus’ Triumphant Entry - March 29, 2023 - Lent Midweek 6 - Text: Zechariah 9:9; Isaiah 62:11; John 12:13-14a; Matthew 21:1-11

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continuing what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we take a look at Jesus’ Triumphant entry into Jerusalem, which we will celebrate on Sunday.
 

By inspiration of God, both Zechariah and Isaiah foretell of the events of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Zechariah writes, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). And Isaiah writes, “Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him’” (Isaiah 62:11).
 

Jesus is king, but not in the sense of being an earthly king. No where in scripture are we given any indication of Jesus’ kingdom being an earthly kingdom. His is and always has been a heavenly kingdom, an eternal kingdom. In the Garden of Eden God’s promise was always a promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven. To Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and to all of Israel His promise was always pointing to the ultimate fulfillment of heaven.
 

And so, as king, Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem, humbly, mounted on donkey, a symbol of peace. Jesus riding into Jerusalem in peace looks forward to the events about to take place, events which bring true peace, that is the peace of sins forgiven and eternal life in heaven.
 

Thus, Jesus enters to die, to bring our recompense. Indeed, the very reason Jesus came to earth, entered human history, and was born was for this purpose, to fulfill God’s promise of a Savior, a Messiah, One who would pay the price for sin, the sin of Adam and Eve and for all people. Jesus was born to restore the broken relationship between God and man.
 

In his account of the fulfillment of these prophecies John writes, “13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ 14And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written.” (John 12:13-14a). As we have said before, there were those in Israel, especially the Pharisees and teachers of the law who had given up on or had forgotten the promise of a Savior from sin and were simply looking for a new social political Savior as they had witnessed in their past history. And there were those who are still looking for a Savior from sin and thus recognize Jesus as their Savior and came to welcome Him into Jerusalem and praise Him.
 

Of course we would understand that it was not of their own recognition, but by the power of the Holy Spirit those who gathered to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem recognized Him as the King of Israel. And again, Jesus comes in peace. He does not come into town as a conquering King, although that will be His ultimate triumph as He rides into Jerusalem for the last time in order to go to the cross to pay the price for sin and ultimately to rise again defeating sin, death and the devil.
 

In his account of these events the Gospel writer Matthew gives a fuller account as he writes, “1Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, ‘Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord needs them,” and he will send them at once.’ 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5‘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.”’ 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’ 10And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’ 11And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.’” (Matthew 21:1-11).
 

From Matthew’s account it would seem likely that Jesus had prearrange the events as He instructs His disciples where to go to find the donkey and her colt, what to say to the people, perhaps as a password and what to do. It may be that these disciples had some apprehension as to His instructions, but certainly having seen Jesus perform many miracles they believed His word and followed His instructions.
 

As Jesus begins riding into Jerusalem the crowds begin to gather and follow after Him. He rides in, not as a conquering hero, but as one who comes to bring peace. Jesus has been teaching and preaching for three years and those who heard His message and those to whom He has given faith and understanding are there recognizing Jesus as the one long expected promised Messiah. The people spontaneously began to take their cloaks and to cut palm branches and spread them on the road, much like a “red carpet” in our world today. They welcomed Jesus and sang praises to Him.
 

The crowds spontaneously begin to sing parts of the great Hallel, the doxology used on great festivals. The Holy Spirit stirred in the heart of the people to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and King, as the crowd openly confessed, “This is the prophet Jesus.” “He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
 

What does this mean? Once again, as always, we see that God’s Word is efficacious, that is it effects, it does what it says. Here we see that God said it and God brings it to fruition. God spoke by the prophets, Zechariah and Isaiah and God brings their word to fulfillment as rehearsed by Matthew and John.
 

As we hear of this Palm Sunday event and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with praise, and as we will later move to Thursday, Maundy Thursday and Friday, Good Friday of this Holy Week and the chant of the crowd to crucify Jesus we might get the idea that this is probably not the same crowd that gathered on Good Friday. Although, knowing and understanding sinful human nature, there may well have been some or even many in this crowd who were there with the crowd on Good Friday as well. Even as we see happening in our world today, a mob crowd and a riot or quite dangerous. People get caught up in the mod and riot so that they no longer can think or speak for themselves.
 

Here it needs to be said and reiterated, Jesus came willingly and gave Himself. His life was not taken from Him. Here we see what great love our God has for us, a love so great that He did not spare His only Son, but gave Him up for us all. Greater love can no one have than that they would lay down their life for another. And while we were yet sinners, in our sin, fighting as enemies of God, Jesus came to give His life for ours.
 

Once again we are reminded that Jesus is our prophet, priest and King. Today, as our King, we see Him riding into Jerusalem for the last time, riding humbly, riding ready to go to the cross, ready to give His life for ours. We see Him being given the praise He so well deserved and the recognition of being the Son of God.
 

Jesus comes into town to complete the work He began. He came preaching repentance and forgiveness. He came bringing comfort, healing, casting out demons, raising from the dead. He came demonstrating that He is true God in human flesh. He came to fulfill what we are unable to do. He came to do what Adam and Eve could not do, what all of Israel could not do, what we could not do, live in perfection. And He came to take all our sins upon Himself and to suffer and die to pay the complete price of eternal death and hell for us in our place. And He did. He earned and He gives the forgiveness He earned and with forgiveness is life and salvation. He gives faith, forgiveness and life.
 

God said it and that settles it. God said the price for sin would be death, but knowing that we would sin, He promised that He would take care of our sin, which He did. Today He continues to move and stir in us to repent, to be given forgiveness and to share that forgiveness and His words of salvation to others. He stirs in us to rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Walk According to the Spirit - March 26, 2023 - Fifth Sunday in Lent - Text: Romans 8:1-11

So far this Lenten Season we have been following along through the epistle readings listening to Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome and in Ephesus, and we have been reminded that his words to the Romans and the Ephesians are also God’s Word to us today here at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. For those of us who have been Lutheran for more than a little while, Paul’s words are no longer surprising, but are very comforting and even this morning we continue to be given comfort and hope through his unsurprising words, words which remind us of our sin but even more, words which remind us of our Gracious and Loving God who has taken care of, continues to take care of and will always take care of everything, including our eternal well being, for us.
 

In our text for today, Paul begins by laying out the demands of the law. We begin at verse one (v. 1-8), “1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Perhaps it would do us well to understand the demands of the law. If we do not understand the demands of the law then we might think that we can keep the law, after all, we understand many of the laws of our country, city and state and we do pretty well at keeping them. Maybe we can keep the demands of the law of God, if we knew what was demanded. Simply stated, the law of God demands perfection, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” To be perfect means to be born in perfection, to live in perfection and to enter heaven in perfection. Oh, well, so much for that idea, remember, we are conceived and born in sin, so we are at a lose from the very start. Simply stated, the law of God demands perfection and simply stated, we cannot be perfect, no matter how hard we might try and believe me, many people try and even many churches teach that you can reach perfection by being obedient to God’s Word.
 

Paul explains our imperfection by stating that our minds are set on things of the flesh. How are our minds set on the things of the flesh? To get an answer to that question, simply look at how you spend your time, where you spend your treasure, what you do with your talents and abilities. God gives 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. How much of that time do you spend with Him? One hour on Sunday, maybe two if you attend Bible Class. If you say the Lord’s prayer every morning, along with Luther’s morning prayer, say before and after meal prayers, and Luther’s evening prayer before bed, that amounts to a total of about 8 minutes of time spent with God a day. If you add that 8 minutes a day plus the one or two hours of church and Bible class that amounts to about two to three hours a week out of the 168 hours he gives you a week. That is simply speaking about our time. But what about our treasure, where do we spend our treasure? Remembering that everything we have is a gift from God, in one way or another, does our distribution of our treasure suggest where our heart is? Matthew says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And what about our talents and abilities, do we use those in service to the Lord, or for our own well being? Are our minds set on things above or on things of the earth?
 

Again, our minds are set on the things of the flesh when we spend our time and energy on the things of this world with little or no regard for the world to come. Jesus warned of how people were in the days of Noah, right before the flood and of the people of Sodom and Gomorah right before their destruction and how the people had no thought for anything except living their lives in this world, to their fullest, meaning as decadent as they might live. People were marrying and being given into marriage, eating, drinking and being merry with no thought of their eternal well being. How often do we find ourselves channeling all our energies into the lives of our children and grand children, running here and there for sports games, music practices, and other lessons, focusing our own attention on our own clubs and events, allowing for our work and play to interfere with our spiritual lives. Yes, we are guilty because we do walk, continually, in the flesh.
 

Paul urges us to walk in the Spirit. We pick up at verse nine (v. 9-11), “9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Thanks be to God that Jesus took care of the demands of the law through His perfect life. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit making Him true God and truly perfect.
 

Not only was Jesus born perfect, He took care of the demands of the Law, through living perfectly according to all the Laws of God. Jesus fulfilled all the Law, perfectly. Jesus also fulfilled all the promises, that is the prophecies of God, perfectly. He actively, perfectly fulfilled all that God had demanded. And He passively allowed Himself to be crucified. Through His perfect obedience, suffering, death and resurrection He completed the demands of the law, that is He paid the price for our sins of not being able to keep the law, He paid the eternal death penalty of hell.
 

Not only was Jesus born perfect, not only did He take care of the demands of the law, perfectly, Jesus also, now gives us His perfection. By faith in Jesus, when God looks at us, He no longer sees the imperfect sinners we are, instead He sees Christ’s perfection covering us.
 

Martin Luther used a fitting phrase to describe us. He said we are at the same time sinner and saint. We are and continue to be sinners. We cannot help but sin, remember, that is our nature. We cannot help but continue to get our priorities confused, spending more time on our lives in this world instead of our lives in the world to come. And I do not say that to give us an excuse, rather I say that as an encouragement to struggle, with God’s help to work to get our priorities right.
 

We are and we continue to be sinners. We cannot save ourselves. There is nothing we can do to pay off the sins we have committed. There is nothing we can do to reduce the punishment for our sins. There is nothing we can do to appease our just God who demands perfection. And remember what I said earlier about some churches teaching how you can be obedient with the goal of becoming more and more like Jesus and they would continue and say that this obedience is done so that you might be a mentor to help others be obedient. Of course, if this belief were true, then why would we need Jesus. As we understand our sinner/saint nature, we understand that the more we grow in our faith, the more we realize just how sinful we truly are and the more we need to cling to Jesus for forgiveness.
 

Thanks be to God that there is nothing we need to do, because Jesus has done all that is necessary to save us. Jesus has been perfect for us, in our stead. Jesus has faithfully and fully satisfied the demands of His own law, the law of God. And what He has done He freely has done for us and gives to us.
 

Because of all that Jesus has done, we are and will continue, by faith, to be saints. A saint is one who has eternal life in heaven. By faith in Jesus we have eternal life in heaven. This eternal life is not something we will have, but is something we have right now. Certainly we will not move in until we pass away from this world, or until the Lord returns, but it is ours now.
 

Not only has Jesus taken care of and given everything to us, He also continues to send His Holy Spirit who continues to work in us to do the good works which God has for us to do. Notice again, as is the case week in and week out, where is our focus. Our focus is always away from us. We do not focus on ourselves because we sin and mess everything up. Thus, our focus in always and only on Jesus who gets everything right, who does everything for us, who has taken care of all that needs to be done and who gives everything to us.
 

What does this mean? As we live in this world and we will live in this world for anywhere from one day (from the moment of conception) to a hundred years or a few more, as we live in this world we will constantly face temptation and sin. We will constantly fail and fall into sin. We will constantly sin. We will get our priorities mixed up. We will fail to be in worship and Bible Class as often as we are able. We will fail to give to our Lord as He has given to us, that is we will fail to give until it feels good. We will fail to use our talents and abilities for service to our Lord in His kingdom. That is our nature and our Lord knows it and yet, that is no excuse. At the same time, we will continually, constantly, as often as we are in Divine Service and as often as we remember in our own prayer life, we will confess our sins and hear our Lord’s most beautiful words of absolution, “Your sins are forgiven.” And so there will be this temptation, sin and confession and absolution battle going on in our lives until the end.
 

As we live in this world we will try to do what is right but we will fail, we will sin. It is amazing how we struggle and try to do what is right, but we sin anyway. We constantly fall back to what we know, living according to the flesh.
 

Thanks be to God that Christ has done what is right and continues to give us forgiveness. Thanks be to God that Christ is in us. He is in us as He comes to us through His means of grace. He is in us as He has come into us through His Word. He is in us as He has come in us through Holy Baptism. He is in us as He comes to us through Confession and Absolution and through His Holy Supper. Again, reminding us of the importance of making regular and diligent use of these means of grace.
 

What a wonderful example of what Paul is speaking about that we have in the Old Testament reading and in the Gospel reading for this morning. In both these readings we hear of the dead being raised to life. That is exactly what Paul is talking about in regards to each one of us. By nature we are spiritually blind, spiritually dead and enemies of God. Yet our Lord comes to us to raise us up, to give us new life, to open our eyes and to bring us back into right standing with Him. And He continues to send His Holy Spirit to help us to be, even if only imperfectly, the people He would have us to be. Thanks be to God that He has taken care of everything, gives everything to us and continues to do so. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Jesus, His Character - March 22, 2023 - Lent Midweek 5 - Text: Isaiah 11:2; Luke 2:52; Luke 4:18

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continue what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we continue with a look at Jesus character, in particular that He is God in human flesh.
 

About the coming Messiah, Isaiah prophecies, “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. ” (Isaiah 11:2). By inspiration of God, Isaiah sees that the promised Savior would be filled with wisdom and understanding. A reading through the book of Proverbs reminds us that God is described as being wisdom, as it was Wisdom that created the world. John describes Jesus as being the Word and in particular the Word of creation, thus being God in flesh. Jesus describes Himself as being the Way, the Truth and the Life.
 

Isaiah further foretells that the Savior would have the Spirit of counsel and might. Indeed, Jesus came proclaim words of salvation to all who would hear and believe. Jesus demonstrated His might through the signs, wonders and miracles He preformed giving proof of His divinity, that is that He was God in human flesh.
 

And Isaiah further foretells that the Savior would have the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord. As the Apostle Paul so well state, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Indeed, apart from Jesus, apart from faith in Jesus there is and can be no truth nor wisdom.
 

In his Gospel account Luke bears witness of Jesus even from birth as he writes, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Luke writes about Jesus’ life at the age of twelve when He was in Jerusalem in the temple, probably celebrating His bar mitzvah, being declared a young Jewish man, that Jesus was speaking questioning and answering questions of the teachers in the temple, that Jesus was seen to have wisdom. And Luke makes note that Jesus grew in wisdom.
 

But not only does Luke write concerning Jesus wisdom he also writes concerning Jesus growing in stature, that is in physical growth. Jesus was a human being. He was born as a baby, an infant. He grew to boyhood and ultimately to manhood. Thus, He grew not only in wisdom, but also in stature.
 

And Luke writes that Jesus grew in favor with God and man. Evidently Jesus was a likable person, at least as a young boy and young man, up until He had to confront the Pharisees and teachers of the law. So, according to Luke, Jesus, true God in human flesh continued to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
 

When Jesus reached the age of thirty, after His baptism by John in the Jordan river, being ordained into His office of ministry, when Jesus preaches in His home town, Luke writes Jesus’ words. Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,” (Luke 4:18). The words Jesus read were the words from our Old Testament reading and Jesus preaches that He is the fulfillment of these words of Isaiah the prophet.
 

The very reason Jesus came into the world was to preach the good news of salvation, which He would earn. God promised a Savior back in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. God reiterated His promise throughout the Old Testament. God narrowed the family line of His fulfillment through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, King David, and so on. Jesus was born from the line of David, in Bethlehem, the hometown of King David. Jesus was born to preach the good news of His coming into the world to bring forgiveness of sins, to reconcile humanity to with God.
 

Not only did Jesus proclaimed the miracles He would perform, He also performed the miracles He proclaimed. Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, cast out demons, feed the hungry, walked on water, raised the dead, and most importantly forgave sins. Jesus demonstrated that He was truly God in flesh through the signs, wonders and miracles He performed.
 

Indeed, most importantly, and the reason Jesus was born was to proclaim freedom from sin, death and the devil. Not only did Jesus proclaim freedom from sin, death and the devil, He earned and paid for our freedom and the freedom from sin for all people of all places of all times. What Adam and Eve could not do, what the whole nation of Israel could not do, what we cannot do, live in perfection, live perfectly obedient live, Jesus did for us, in our place. Jesus lived the perfect life demand of us by God Himself. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and gave us His perfection. Jesus suffered the eternal death penalty of hell, the price for sin, for us on the cross.
 

What does this mean? The character of Jesus is that He is true God, as we confess in the creeds, conceived by the Holy Spirit, thus He was born perfect and holy. Jesus had to be true God so that He would be born perfect and holy. He was not begotten of a man, conceived in sin, but conceived by God Himself making Him one hundred percent God, perfect and holy.
 

Not only is Jesus truly God, but His character is that He is also true man, again as we confess in the creeds, born of the human woman, the Virgin Mary. Jesus had to be truly human in order to be our substitute, that is in order to be able to trade His perfect life for our sinful life. The price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden and that price was death, human death for human sin. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament, all the ceremonial sacrifices did not earn, pay for nor give any human forgiveness. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament simply pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice of the human man, Jesus on the cross.
 

Throughout His earthly life Jesus showed Himself to be the Savior, the one promised in the Garden of Eden. Jesus showed Himself to be the Savior, the one promised because He was perfect in all things. He suffered all the temptations we suffer and even greater temptations and yet He never sinned. He fully obeyed all of God’s Laws perfectly because we cannot. He fulfilled all of God’s promises concerning the Savior, perfectly. Then, of His own free will, not by compulsion nor coercion, He took all our sins and all the sins of all people of all places of all times upon Himself. And He suffered. He suffered the eternal torment of hell for us in our place. He suffered and He died. Yes, God in Jesus died. Our God died, just like you and I will some day die. When He died His God soul exited His body. But we know the whole history, that is we know that He did not stay dead, but on the third day He and rose from the dead victorious over death.
 

For forty days Jesus showed Himself to be alive. He allowed as many people as possible to see Him alive and to attest to His rising from the dead. Then He ascended to the place from which He descended were He is seated at the right hand of the Father, watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us. Ten days after His ascension He sent the Holy Spirit who comes to us today through the means of grace, the Word of God, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution and His Holy Supper to give us faith, to strengthen and keep us in faith and to give us forgiveness and eternal life.
 

The character of Jesus is that He is God in flesh, the One who created the world, the One who knew man’s sinful tendencies, the One who came into the world to reconcile His creatures with Himself because we would not be able to do so. Jesus, God in flesh, continues today to proclaim good news to us, show us His wisdom and understanding, His counsel and might. He continues to bring us healing and liberty from sin. He continues to work in us the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. He continues to lavish us with all the good gifts and blessings He has to give because that is His nature and the reason He created us, to love us. Our response is simply to rejoice and say, to God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Lutheran Way - It Makes A Difference? (Series 2 of 9)

(An Introduction, part 2)

Back in the early 1980s a book was written entitled Evangelical Style and Lutheran Substance (David S. Luecke, Concordia Publishing House, 1988). The author, pastor diligently attempted to separate style, or what we might label as “practice,” from substance, or what we might define as “doctrine” or “teaching.” Okay, a lot of big fancy words need to be defined here. As always, sometimes when discussions begin we need to define terms so that we are understanding what each other is saying. Here we are defining “style” as the way something is presented. In the fashion industry we know that “styles” change quite often, and we see that in the different clothes which are being presented. We are defining “substance” as that thing which is under what is presented. In other words, no matter the “style” of clothing, the fact is clothing is a material which is worn in one fashion or another. We are defining “practice” as how we conduct ourselves, either in our lives or in our Divine Service. And we are defining “doctrine” as what we believe, teach and confess. And yes, we use all of those terms, “believe, teach, and confess” because each is important. We believe something, not blindly, but as Christians our faith is in a historic person, Jesus. We teach about Jesus, and we confess our faith in Him. One more definition is important as we will hear, and that is the word “rhetoric.” Perhaps you have heard of a “rhetorical question” meaning a question which is asked without any expectation of a response. We are defining “rhetoric” as the unspoken statement behind what is being presented. In other words, when you look at a piece of art, what does that art work say to you? What is its meaning? We will have more definitions as we go.
 

Last time we talked about style and substance, about practicing what you preach and about talking the talk and walking the walk. What does this mean? Perhaps you grew up and your mother told you, “Practice what you preach.” That was her way of reminding you that if you say something, then you better follow through with what you have said. If you say your are a good person, you had better be a good person. If you make a promise, you had better keep it. A few years ago the statement was “If you’re gonna talk the talk, then you better walk the walk,” meaning you had better do what you say, that is let your actions confirm your words. Of course, as memory serves me, this may have had to do with some bit of bragging by one or another.
 

Today I like to use the illustration of a hand and glove. A five-fingered glove is made for a five-fingered hand. If you change the glove, it does not fit so you have to make an adjustment to the hand. Likewise if your hand changes, you have to make a change to the glove. If your glove has only four fingers, it does not fit, and although I would not suggest it as such, the way to make your glove fit would be to lose a finger. And if you lose a finger, for whatever reason, your glove no longer fits thus you need to make a change to your glove. This analogy works for style and substance and more to the point for doctrine and practice. We believe that doctrine and practice go hand in hand such that if you change one, you are automatically changing the other, or if you change the other, then you change the one. So, if I change my practice, my Divine Service and how we do that thing we call worship, then I change my doctrine, that is what I believe. And if I change what I believe, then I need to change my practice accordingly.
 

Before we move on, let us define two more words, “worship” and “Divine Service.” “Worship” is often defined as something we do for God. We are the actors, and God is the audience. “Divine Service” is defined simply as God’s service to us. God is the one acting, and we are the ones being acted upon, given to, done to, etc. More on this next time.

Walk As Children of Light - March 19, 2023 - Fourth Sunday in Lent - Text: Ephesians 5:8-14

In the book of Genesis, before God began His work of creation, we are told that everything was darkness and chaos. When God began His work of creation He called the light out of the darkness. In the New Testament, in the Gospel of John this work of creation is described, again, as the light shining in the darkness, but John also uses this imagery to describe the Light of Christ shining on the darkness of sin. Today we talk about things being black and white. Today we talk about some things being in a grey area, meaning they are or may not be wrong or right. In our text for this morning the Apostle Paul continues to use this imagery of darkness and light. Darkness we understand to be wrong and sin and light we understand to be right and good.
 

Interestingly enough, have you ever noticed when most thievery and robbery, when most crimes occur, or at least it used to be, it was at night. Today it seems more are more are rather brazenly committing crimes even in the day. Anyway, why at night? Because most people who break the law do not want to get caught and so they do their deeds when they are least likely to be seen, at night. The logic is that the darkness will cover our sins, yet we are reminded that the morning always comes and light shines on the scene and what was done in the dark is exposed for the sin that it is.
 

Turning to our text, Paul writes that we were darkness, in other words we were living in sin. Paul says, “8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (v. 8). And here I go again, reminding us that we are conceived and born in sin. We simply cannot get away from the fact of our sin. It is our nature to sin, we simply cannot help but sin. We have talked some about free will and we always need to be reminded that because we live on the sin side of the Fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, we really no longer have a freedom of the will. Our will is tainted by sin. Our will is only to sin.
 

And so we do sin and we sin boldly. We sin not only by what we do and not do, remember those are sins of omission and commission, but we also sin by our words, by what we say or do not say. We sin by hurting and harming others. We sin by not helping and defending others. We sin by our very thoughts. To sin is not simply to commit an act, but to sin, in God’s eyes is to think the thought. The progression of sin usually takes the course of thinking, speaking and then doing.
 

Now, please understand, I am not telling you this to make you think that you have a right to sin, after all we might surmise, if I am sinning by thinking it, I might as well do the deed. No, I am telling you so that you might rejoice even more greatly in what Christ has done for you and in so rejoicing you might be more inclined to, with His help, work to resist temptation and sin.
 

Paul reminds us that we are sinners, but that our sins, that is the price for our sins has been paid. With this in mind He reminds us that we are now light that is we are now to, again, with God’s help, walk in the way our Lord would have us to walk. Paul continues, “9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (v. 9-11).
 

What has God done for us? What has Jesus done for us? He has given us faith through the means of grace. He has given us faith through His Word. He has given us faith through Holy Baptism. He strengthens us in faith through His Word, through our remembering our Baptism, through the Lord’s Supper.
 

God has given us faith and He has given to us to know what is good and right and true. How do we know what is good and right and true? We know what is good and right and true through the same means He has given us faith, namely through His Word. It is the Word of God which tells us what is sin, what we should and should not do and it is the Word of God which tells us what is righteousness and what is good and right and true.
 

God has given us faith and He has given us to know what is good and right and true so that we might also be discerning. He gives us discernment. How does He give us discernment? He gives us discernment through the same Word that He uses to give us faith and knowledge of what is good and right and true. He gives us to discern right from wrong. He gives us to discern that there are absolutes.
 

Why does our Lord give to us faith and knowledge of what is good and right and true and discernment? So that He might also give to us to show our faith through our actions. Earlier in this letter Paul writes that we are saved by grace through faith and this is a gift of God so that no one can boast and in the next verse he says that this is done so that we might “do the good works which God has prepared beforehand that we should do them.” The reason He gives us to show our faith through our actions is not something we do in order to earn anything from our Lord, but is a response of faith, a culmination of what our Lord does for us, beginning with giving us faith.
 

A part of living lives of faith is that the Lord also gives to us to demonstrate our faith and through our demonstrating our faith we expose sin. As we refuse to be a part of the unfruitful works of darkness we expose them for what they are, sin. As they are exposed as sin, the goal is to bring those in sin to see their sin so they might repent, be given forgiveness and be brought into the Lord’s Kingdom as well.
 

Paul further warns us to have nothing to do with darkness, that is sin. Picking up at verse twelve, Paul says, “12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’”(v. 12-14). What is Paul talking about? What are these shameful things that are done in secret. Paul says, do not even speak about things done in secret. Here I should remind you that in God’s eyes all sins are equal, there is no such thing as one sin being greater than another sin. So, Paul is telling us that any sin committed is a shameful sin and should not be spoken about. And here, remember what I said earlier about when dastardly deeds are done? They are done in the dark so as not to be seen, they are simply so bad that we do not even want to mention them. At the same time, God’s Word exposes these sins as His Word is publicly proclaimed. Proclaiming what is right always exposes what is wrong as sin.
 

Yet, the deeds done in darkness to hide them, when exposed by the Light, that is when they are exposed by Jesus, the Light of the world, the Word made flesh, then they are seen for what they are, sin. So we are back to the importance of the Word of God and the fact that the Bible is the Word of God, not merely contains the Word of God. Because the Bible is the Word of God it is authoritative, that is it is the final authority on what is right and wrong and it is efficacious, that is, it does what it says. Because the Bible is the Word of God it tells us what is right and wrong, it helps us discern what is right and wrong, and it helps us in our own fight against temptation and sin.
 

Notice that there is no synergism here, that is there is nothing of our working with God as if we might have some authority on our own or as if we might be able to gain faith and discernment on our own. No, there is no synergism, only grace. It is God who calls us to and gives us faith. It is God who is the One and only Authority and the One who gives discernment and He does this through His Word.
 

What Does This Mean? Again this week, as always and as it should be, we are reminded that we are wholly sinful. There is nothing we can do, nor is there anything we might desire to do to come to our Lord. Any desire to come to the Lord is against our conceived and born in sin nature. Yet it is our Lord who comes to us and calls us to faith. He calls us to faith through His Word. He gives us faith through His Word. He gives us faith through Holy Baptism. He strengthens and keeps us in faith through that same Word and Baptism and through His Holy Supper.
 

Not only does our Lord call us to faith, He also calls us to works of service. Here again I refer you back to Paul’s words which I talked about earlier, his words in chapter two of this letter, that is that we are saved to do the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do. These good works are not done to earn anything, nor are they done to appease an angry God. These good works are done as a response of faith. They are done only as they are motivated by God, worked in and through us by God and done to His glory.
 

Now we hear Paul tell us that our Lord also calls us to discern what is good and right and true and as we have said, we discern these things through His Word. His Word is the foundation of our faith. His Word is authority. His Word is efficacious, that is His Word does what it says.
 

Notice again as always, it is our Lord who does it all. He gives faith. He strengthens and keeps us in faith. He gives to us to know what is good and right and true. He gives discerning hearts and minds. He gives to us to do the good works which He has for us to do. He gives a demonstration of what is sin through our actions exposing sin. He gives, He gives, He gives and we are given too.
 

How important are the means of grace? As we see once again, they are the foundation of our faith. Without the means of grace we take away the way our Lord has to come to us to give us His good gifts and blessings. Without the means of grace we would be lost. Thanks be to God that He has given us the means of grace. Thanks be to God that He has given us His Word which is His authority and which works, that is it does what is says. Thanks be to God that He has given us confession and absolution, through which we are constantly being given forgiveness. Thanks be to God that He has given us Holy Baptism and His Holy Supper through which He also gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith. Thanks be to God for His great grace and to Him be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Jesus, Rejected by the Jews - March 15, 2023 - Lent Midweek 4 - Text: Isaiah 53:3; John 1:11; John 5:43; Luke 4:29; Luke 17:25; Luke 23:18

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continue what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we continue with Jesus’ rejection by the Jews.
 

About Jesus, the Messiah, speaking through the prophet Isaiah God says, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Isaiah’s prophecy is that the Messiah, Jesus, would be rejected by His own people. Isaiah’s words of truth were seen way back in Advent when the birth of the king was announced and King Herod sent his men to slaughter all the children two years and under in the area of Bethlehem in order to make sure there was no threat to his throne. Jesus was rejected as the professional clergy, the scribes and the Pharisees continually attacked Him, called Him names and sought ways to do away with Him.
 

Jesus was acquainted with grief as He began His public ministry by being tempted by the devil for forty days in the wilderness. He was grieved as many of His own people refused to believe in Him and even as His own disciples at times did not know what to make of Him. He was most especially acquainted with grief as He suffered being beaten, whipped, mocked, spat upon and nailed to a cross, innocent though He was.
 

Jesus was despised by His own people. By the time of Jesus’ birth and life, the promises of a Savior had turned into earthly promises only, that is earthly promises for a social-political savior. One who would free them from their bondage and rule by the Romans. Perhaps it was the way it was because throughout their history the children of Israel had to be rescued time and again as they would sin and God would allow other nations to discipline them and then would have to rescue them. Perhaps that is why the most important part of the promise of a Savior made in the Garden of Eden, that is the promise of an eternal life in heaven Savior, one who paid the price for sin, was all but forgotten by many in Israel. Yet there were some in Israel who did continue to look for the Savior from sin and did believe Jesus to be that Savior.
 

In his Gospel, John speaks of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy as he speaks of Jesus own people rejecting Him, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5:43). Jesus was born of the line of Jewish descent from the line of Judah and King David. Jesus was a Jew and yet His own people, at least many, did not or would not or even could not believe Him to be the One promised through the line of Abraham. As John so well lays out through the signs, wonders and miracles Jesus performed that He is truly God in human flesh. Yet He is denied by many of His own people and yes even by many people still today.
 

In his Gospel Luke writes of the account of Jesus’ rejection in what was believed to be His hometown. After preaching and offending the people Luke writes, “And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff” (Luke 4:29). As Jesus tells those of His hometown that a prophet is not accepted in his hometown, so Jesus was not accepted in His home town. As He proclaimed the fulfillment of God’s promises so they took offense and became angry with Him, thinking that they knew who He truly was.
 

And so the people tried to kill Him. They rose up in order to take Him and throw Him off the edge of the cliff in order to kill Him. Yet, even in their failed attempt they failed to recognize the truth of His words as Luke relates that He passed through their midst, indeed, as He performed a miraculous feat so as to escape.
 

Later Luke writes further of the rejection of Jesus by His own people as he writes, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (Luke 17:25). And in conjunction with the accusations against Jesus before Pilate and the release of a prisoner Luke writes, “But they all cried out together, ‘Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas’” (Luke 23:18).
 

So, we have Jesus Himself speaking of his rejection, that is as He told His disciples He would tell them what would happen before it happened so that they would believe when it did happen. And it did happen just as He spoke. Jesus was rejected and we have Luke relating of His specific rejection when He is standing before Pilate on trial for being the King of the Jews.
 

Pilate had a custom of releasing one Jewish prisoner at the time of the Passover. He knew that Jesus was brought before him on trumped up charges and because of the jealousy of the Pharisees and so Pilate gives the people the option of a known, proven murderer, Barabbas, or of an innocent, not proven guilty, prophet, Jesus. Being stirred up by the Pharisees the people ask that Barabbas be released and that Jesus be crucified. One may only wonder if Barabbas understood the gravity of the situation, his freedom for the life of an innocent man.
 

What does this mean? Certainly we know who Jesus is. We know that He is the Messiah. As we read and hear the prophecies of old and as we read and hear the witness of the New Testament Gospel writers we know that Jesus is the promised Messiah. We can know for certain that Jesus is the Messiah as the Gospel writers write of His fulfilling the prophecy of God and especially today as we hear of His fulfilling the prophecies of His rejection.
 

Jesus was rejected by many of His own people who would deny His Messiahship. As we said earlier, too many in Israel had given up or forgotten of the most important part of God’s promise of a Savior, that is the forgiveness of sins part, that part in which we are made just and right in God’s eyes so that we may have eternal life with Him in heaven. Too many were too concerned about their lives in this world, their being freed from their bondage by the Romans.
 

Jesus was rejected by His own people and what may be the worst case scenario was that He was innocent and Barabbas was guilty and yet the people asked that Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified. Certainly the people were stirred up by the Pharisees and certainly as is usually the case with mob violence, they had no idea of what they were doing or for what they were asking. Yet, in all that took place, God’s hand directed these events for us and for our salvation.
 

And so, Jesus was put to death for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us. In His perfection, and because of His perfection, Jesus took our sins, all our sins, our sins of omission and our sins of commission, our sins of thought, work and deed, and the sins of all people, of all places, of all times, upon Himself and paid the complete price for all sin.
 

The price for sin set in the Garden of Eden was death, human death for human sin and that is what Jesus paid. He paid the price for our sins for us, in our place by giving His life for ours. Though one man, Adam, sin entered the world and yet, through one man, Jesus, forgiveness was earned and paid for, for all people.
 

Not only did Jesus pay the price for sin, He also gives us the forgiveness He paid for and earned so that we have eternal life with Him in heaven. Indeed, all sins have been paid for and all forgiveness is given to us. Our only option would be to refuse and reject His forgiveness which many do by not confessing our sins and by not believing that Jesus accomplished all that needs to be done in other words believing that we need to do something because what Jesus did was not enough.
 

Thanks be to God that He sends His Holy Spirit to come to us through His Holy Word, through Holy Baptism, through Holy Absolution and through His Holy Supper to lavish us with all the gifts and blessings He has to give; to give us forgiveness, to give us faith, to strengthen our faith and to give us life and salvation. And He stirs in us to rejoice and say, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Justified for Hope - March 12, 2023 - Third Sunday in Lent - Text: Romans 5:1-8

Two weeks ago we were reminded of the reason that Jesus came into this world, true God born in human flesh, true man. It was because of the sin of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, sin that has now infected our whole world. Jesus, who is true God and who had to be true God so that He would be holy, sinless, and perfect, humbled Himself, giving up all the glory that was His in heaven in order to be born as a true human and He had to be born as a human in order to be our substitute. Jesus came to fulfill the promise God made to Eve and Adam, and to all people, in the Garden of Eden, He came to be our Savior. Last week we moved forward to hear God’s promise reiterated to Abraham and his part in God’s plan of Salvation. This morning we see and hear how Jesus is the Savior for all people. We see and hear how Jesus came so that we, you and I, and all people might have forgiveness of sins, faith, life and salvation.
 

Paul begins by helping us to understand how we are made right with God, in other words, how our sins are taken care of so that we are brought back into a right relationship with God, a relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden and is constantly broken as we daily sin much. We begin with verse one: “1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (v. 1-5).
 

By nature, we are conceived and born in sin. We daily sin much and add to our sinfulness. As sinners, we cannot stand in the presence of our God who demands perfection from us. Thus, in our sin we would live in fear and terror of our just and righteous God. Paul comforts us by telling us that we can have peace with God. We have peace with God as He gives us peace. Yes, in and of ourselves we are at odds with God, we are His enemies and there is nothing we can do to build bridges or to get Him to like us, that is why He takes the initiative. Paul says, “since we have been justified,” this is a past action, it has already happened. We have already been made just and right in God’s eyes, not by something we have done, but by something God has done. Or actually, because of what Jesus has done. Being made just and right before God, by (or through) forgiveness brings us peace, true Godly peace. Because we are forgiven we no longer need to be afraid of God because He has taken care of that which terrorizes us, our sins.
 

This justification brings us hope. And here I would remind you that our definition of hope as Christians is different from that of the rest of the world. When the world speaks of hope it is speaking of something that is an uncertainty, something that is a maybe, something that might happen. When we Christians speak of hope and use the word hope in the context of faith and forgiveness, it means a certainty, it is something we can count on. Justification brings us hope which is a certainty of heaven.
 

And so we have forgiveness, we are made just and right and brought back into a right relationship with God the Father through Jesus’ work on the cross, yet, we remain in this sin filled world and as we remain in this sin filled world sin abounds, thus suffering continues. And here we see that suffering is a result of sin. Some suffering is a direct result of sin, that is when someone disobeys the law and gets hurt, that is a direct result of sin. However, some suffering is not necessarily a direct result of sin, but is a result of the sins of our society as a whole. When a baby contracts AIDS because of a blood transfusion, that is not a direct result of the babies sin, but a result of the sin of our society in which sexual promiscuity runs rampant and sexual disease is a result.
 

Paul exhorts us to rejoice in our suffering, not for the sake of suffering, but because, as he tells us, suffering produces endurance. Endurance is an attitude of perseverance. As a Christian our attitude toward suffering is to understand that suffering draws us closer to our Lord who is always with us to take care of us. And to be closer to the Lord is indeed a good thing.
 

But even more, as Paul progresses, this endurance produces character, which is a genuineness in one’s life. Our character is who we are and certainly we know some people who are more of a character than others. Today we may be more familiar with the word reputation instead of the word character. Our character is our reputation, that is, how others know us. Are we known for our patience and longsuffering? Or for our short temper? Are we known for being gentle and kindhearted or for being rude and mean tempered? Are we known for our humor and joyous spirit or for being serious and sullen? Are we known for our faith in Jesus or for our religious struggles, not knowing where to turn? We know and understand that our Lord never tempts us to sin, but He does allow us to be tested so that we might be the people, the characters He would have us to be.
 

But Paul is not done yet, he goes on to add that character produces hope and here again this is the hope we just mention, the certainty we Christians have, the certainty of eternal life in heaven. And that certainty does not disappoint us.
 

Paul then goes on to tell us why we can have such confidence. We pick up at verse six: “6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v. 6-8). While we were in the middle of our sinning, Christ died for us. Yet, even after justification, that is even after we have been given forgiveness because of Jesus’ death on the cross for us, sin continues to abound. In the Old Testament Lesson for today we see the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, the people He did so much for, including deliver from bondage of slavery, continue to rebel against Him and we are no different as Christians in our world today.
 

Paul lays out the usual conditions we may give for giving one’s life for another and that is that perhaps for a good person one might possibly dare to die, but for someone who is not a good person, forget it. Certainly we have our standards as to who is worthy and who is unworthy to have us put ourselves on the line.
 

But not so with God. God’s love is seen in the giving of His life, while we were sinning against Him. Remember, our nature is to sin. Our nature is to do everything we can against God and this we do, well, every day, without thinking, without practice. And yet, it was us, you and me that Jesus had in mind when He went to the cross to give His life for ours. What great love our God has for us and greater love can no one have than this.
 

What does this mean? Each week, and especially during the season of Lent we are reminded that sin entered the world through Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. We are reminded that immediately after Eve and Adam sinned, separating God from His creation, His creatures, He, God stepped in so that He might bring us, His creation back into a right relationship with Himself, by promising to send a Savior to take care of the penalty which was due for the sin of the man and the woman, the eternal death penalty of hell.
 

Jesus is true God and true man, who was sent into the world and who came into the world to take care of the sin of Adam and Eve and our sin by paying the price for their sin and for our sins. Jesus came not just to save some people, but to save all people. In our Gospel reading for today we are reminded that Jesus came to save all people as we see Him in Sychar speaking to and giving faith to the Samaritan woman and then to many other Samaritans in the village. Jesus came to save us, you and me as well.
 

Following His resurrection and ascension, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit who comes to us to give, strengthen and keep us in faith. The Holy Spirit works through means, namely through the means of grace, the Word, the Bible, Confession and Absolution, and Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Perhaps you may wonder why I always harp on these means of grace. It is because we need to be reminded, again and again, that this is how our Lord usually works with us, namely through these means, reminding us of the importance of making regular and diligent use of these means. Most of us make regular visits to the grocery store, understanding that if we do not make regular visits we will not have any food and we may starve. Likewise, if we fail to make regular visits to these means of grace we may starve spiritually, they are that important and so I continually stress their importance lest we forget or take them and our faith for granted.
 

And yet, even though our Lord created us, our Savior redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit brings us to, strengthens and keeps us in faith, sin still abounds in our world. Thanks be to God that we still have God’s continued promise that our sins have been forgiven and He helps us to be the people He would have us to be.
 

Which brings us back to Paul’s opening words, that our suffering produces endurance, which produces character which produces hope which does not disappoint us.
 

As we continue through this Lenten Season, my prayer for you is that the Lord will continue to help you to see your own sin and your part in Jesus’ death on the cross, even to the point of understanding just how big your part and my part was in putting Jesus on the cross. My prayer is that we do not try to justify ourselves and belittle our part, because that could in our own minds make Jesus’ work less necessary for us, meaning we would not fully comprehend His love for us. But, even more, my prayer is that the  greater we see our part in Jesus death, the greater we will come to understand how great God’s love is for us and how all sufficient His sacrifice of Himself was for us, for you and for me. Indeed, God’s greatest love for us is seen in these words of Paul, “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. . . .  but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What great love our God has for us, living the perfect life for us, taking our sins, paying the eternal death penalty of hell for us, suffering, dying, rising, ascending, giving us faith, forgiveness and life, giving us the hope, the certainty of eternal life with Him in heaven. Thus, we rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Jesus, a Priest, Like Melchizedek - March 8, 2023 - Lent Midweek 3 - Text: Psalm 110:4; Heb. 6:20; 5:5-6; 7:15-17

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continue what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we continue with the prophecies of Jesus as a priest and in particular a priest like Melchizedek.
 

In Psalm 110 David, speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks of Jesus being a part of the greatest priesthood, that of Melchizedek, “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4). You may or may not remember that Melchizedek was the priest of Abraham. He was the priest through whom Abraham offered sacrifices to God after the successful rescue of Lot and his family in Genesis.
 

After God delivered the children of Israel from the bondage of slavery in Egypt He established the priesthood through the line of Moses’ brother Aaron who was from the tribe of Levi. Thus, the Old Testament priesthood was the priesthood of the Levites, but in particular through Aaron’s family of the tribe of Levi. Melchizedek was not from the line of the Levites, but was from a higher calling, that of God Himself.
 

The Old Testament was a priesthood of the law, especially the ceremonial laws, those laws of the sacrificial system which always and ultimately pointed to Jesus and His sacrifice of Himself for the sins of the people. Remembering that the price for sin, for human sin, was set in the Garden of Eden was death, that is human death for human sin, we understand that none of the animal or other sacrifices actually paid for human sin, they merely pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice of a human, of Jesus for our sins.
 

The writer of Hebrews speaks of Melchizedek when he writes, “where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). He goes on to explain, “5So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’; 6as he says also in another place, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek’” (Hebrews 5:5-6). And finally he says, “15This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is witnessed of him, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek’” (Hebrews 7:15-17).
 

Jesus was born as our prophet, priest and king, but unlike worldly prophets, priests and kings. The role of the priest in the Old Testament was to offer sacrifices. The people would bring their sacrificial offering to the priest who would prepare it and offer it on behalf of those who brought the sacrifice. The priest would take care of the normal operations of the temple. The priest would once a year offer the sacrifice in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. The priests were not allotted land as were the other tribes of Israel, but were supported by the offerings of the people. This priesthood was the earthly priesthood. The order of the priesthood of Melchizedek was a heavenly priesthood, one that would have no end, but would be a heavenly priesthood, the priesthood of God Himself.
 

As an earthly priest Jesus fulfilled the law, the ceremonial, moral, and civil law and He did so perfectly. What Adam and Eve could not do in the Garden of Eden, what all of Israel could not do in the promised land, what we today cannot do, be perfect, be obedient, be the people God would have us to be, Jesus did, perfectly. Jesus obeyed all the moral law of the Ten Commandments. Jesus obeyed all the civil laws, the laws governing the land. And Jesus obeyed all the ceremonial laws especially and including all the required sacrifices.
 

As our priest, Jesus fulfilled all righteousness, that is He never sinned. Of course, this requirement is why He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and why He had to be truly God in human flesh, because as humans we are conceived and born in sin and thus are unable to be righteous. As true God in human flesh Jesus was righteous for us, on our behalf, in our stead, as our substitute.
 

Jesus was born a priest of the line of Judah. As was promised, the Savior of the world would be born through the line of Judah, the fourth born son of Jacob, that is of Israel. Through the line of Judah the Savior was promised to be born. King David was from the line of Judah, born in Bethlehem. Jesus was from the line of David, born in Bethlehem.
 

Jesus is a priest of the Gospel, not of the law. He fulfilled the law, perfectly, as we said, but the law is His alien work as it is called. His usual work is the Gospel. His usual work is lavishing us with all the good gifts and blessings He has to give. His usual work is forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
 

Thus, Jesus is the great High Priest even the greatest High Priest. His is not simply and earthly priesthood, but a heavenly priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. As to His earthly priesthood He did not come to offer other sacrifices, animal sacrifices, but He came to offer Himself, His life for our life, His life as the once and for all sacrifice for our sins. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament did nothing to pay for sin, they simply pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice of God in the flesh of Jesus for us, in our place, as our substitute. Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself was the once and for all sacrifice for all people, of all places, of all times. And His sacrifice was sufficient. It was enough. Just as through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, so through one Man, Jesus, forgiveness came into the world.
 

What does this mean? In the Old Testament, before the deliverance of the children of Israel and the creation of the earthly priesthood there was the heavenly priesthood of Melchizedek, the perfect priest from God.
 

The Old Testament priesthood was an earthly priesthood which had a beginning and for all intents and purposes has had an ending. The Old Testament priesthood may be compared to the ceremonial laws and the sacrificial system, that is its purpose was to point to the one ultimate priesthood and Priest, Jesus Himself.
 

Jesus, was born of the human line of Judah and King David. Jesus was and earthly priest, but also and more importantly a priest after the heavenly priesthood of Melchizedek. Jesus was the Great High Priest offering Himself as the once, for all sacrifice for all sin, for all people. His sacrifice of Himself fulfilled all that was necessary so that no other sacrifices need be made. The ceremonial law of the Old Testament has been fully fulfilled and completed in the one Man, the one person, Jesus. Full atonement for sin has been made. The price for sin, human life for human sin has been completely paid for by Jesus, His fully human life paying for the sins of all humans.
 

Indeed, Jesus fulfills all, the law and the prophecies. Having completed all that needs to be done, all that has been demanded by God, Jesus now gives all. After His perfect live, His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension He has sent His Holy Spirit who is with us today, who comes to us to give, strengthen and keep us in faith. The work of the Holy Spirit is that work of sanctification. And His work is done through the means God has given to do His work, namely His means of grace, God’s Holy word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution and His Holy Supper.
 

As we continue to prepare our hearts and minds during this Lenten season, so we continue to prepare ourselves as we are reminded of the events of Jesus’ life. As we are reminded of His living a perfect life, for us in our place, we are reminded that it is because of our sin that Jesus had to be perfect, that is that He had to do for us what we are unable to do for ourselves. But even more, we are also reminded of God’s great love for us. A love that, even knowing that He would have to give His life, created our world and us in the first place. Indeed, no greater love can one have for another than that He would lay down His life for us. Because of God’s great love for us Jesus lived for us, took our sins, died for us, rose and now He is seated at the right hand of the Father as the great High priest after the order of Melchizedek, watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us. He continually sends His Holy Spirit to give to us and lavish us with all the gifts and blessings He has to give, most assuredly, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. What else can we do except rejoice and proclaim, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Children of Abraham - March 5, 2023 - Second Sunday in Lent - Text: Romans 4:1-8, 13-17

Last week we were reminded of the reason that Jesus came into this world, that is that God was born in human flesh. It was because of the sin of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, that sin that has now infected our whole world. Jesus, who is and had to be true God, so that He is holy, sinless, and perfect, humbled Himself, giving up all the glory that was His in heaven in order to be born as a true human, being born of the woman Mary so that He might be our substitute. He did everything we could not do, namely lived a perfectly obedient life, as God commands and demands. Last week in our Gospel Reading we even saw how He resisted all the temptations of the devil and did not sin, which He did for us in our place because we cannot. Jesus came to fulfill all the promises God made to Eve and Adam, and to all people, in the Garden of Eden, He came to be our Savior.
 

Today we move forward to hear God’s promise reiterated to Abraham and his part in God’s plan of Salvation. First, we hear Paul’s words beginning in verse one (v. 1-8), “1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” So, Paul reminds us that immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden God promised to take care of their sin by sending a Savior. In our Old Testament reading for this morning we hear God reiterate the promise He first made to Adam and Eve. God reiterated this same promise to Abraham to send a Savior. Notice that this is a promise made to Abraham, not a deal struck with him.
 

To help us understand the difference between what is earned and what is a gift, Paul explains that our wages are earned, they are not a gift that is given to us. A gift is something that is not earned but is a gift that is given to us. Wages are what we are paid for performing services. A wage is expected and is due. A gift is given without cost or expectation, especially without any expectation of something given in return. If something is expected in return, then it is truly not a gift. To give you a practical example of whether or not someone believes they are saved by grace or it is something they have earned, listen to their language. Do they speak about something they have done to be saved, like choosing Jesus, accepting Jesus, making a decision for Jesus, being obedient to Jesus, doing good works for Jesus and the like. Or do they speak about all that Jesus has done for them and given to them?
 

Paul also uses the analogy of an inheritance. An inheritance is usually given to the physical heirs of one who has passed away. Yet, Paul tells us that not everyone who is a physical descendant is counted as an heir before God. Let me say that again so that we understand, Paul tells us that not everyone who is a physical descendant is counted as an heir before God. In other words, just because someone is a descendant of Abraham by genetics, by their DNA, does not mean they are an heir before God. In the Gospel reading we hear Jesus point this fact out to Nicodemus, who is a teacher in Israel. Jesus’ words to Nicodemus and Paul’s words to us remind us that no one is saved by being born of a certain family, even the family of Abraham, rather salvation comes to those to whom it is given, that is to those who believe in Jesus, to those who have been given faith in Jesus.
 

Salvation we understand to mean eternal life in heaven. Eternal life in heaven is not a wage earned, but is a gift that is given. It is given, not according to physical descent, but according to faith, which is also given.
 

And we know that forgiveness is also a gift that is given. We cannot pay for our sins, nor can we earn any less cost for our sins. The price, the cost for sin Paul speaks about is death, eternal death and hell. The price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden, the day Eve and Adam partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they died. They began dying a physical death and they were subject to eternal death and hell.
 

Yet, we know that Eve and Adam did not die an eternal death in hell, because God granted them forgiveness. And forgiveness is not something that costs nothing. Yes, for the recipients of forgiveness, it costs nothing, but the price for our sins had to be paid and it was paid. Thus the price for our sins was paid, by Jesus blood, by His innocent blood and His innocent suffering and death, giving us forgiveness as a gift.
 

The promise was reiterated to Abraham with the reminder that the promise is given to us through faith. We read the last part of our text, picking up at verse thirteen (v. 13-17), “13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” Paul now lays out the distinction between the Law and the Gospel. The purpose of the law is simply to show our sin. The law reminds us of what we have done that is sinful, that is what we should not have been doing. Here I would have us look at the Ten Commandments to see just how sinful we truly are. But the law also reminds us of what we have not been doing, our sins of omission, and again, I would refer you to the Ten Commandments to see how we have not been the people that God would have us to be. Thus, the law shows us our sin and how sinful we really are. Truly the Law always points us to ourselves.
 

The difficulty of the law, is that it cannot save. If we think we can be saved by keeping the law, we are only fooling ourselves. If we could be saved by keeping the law then that would make the promise of God null and void. And here I would refer you back to Paul’s earlier words that there is a distinct difference between wage and gift.
 

Again, referring back to the Garden of Eden, God created everything and it was very good. God gave the perfect man and his perfect wife a perfect Garden to keep and yet, even in their perfection they could not obey God’s commands and so sin entered the world. To take care of sin, God promised to send a Savior. Notice that the promise comes from one who is able to keep the promise. It was not a promise from Eve and Adam to do better. It was not a promise from the man and his wife to be more like God (remember the temptation was to be like God knowing good and evil - and before they only knew good, so now they know evil). It was God who made the promise and God who keeps the promise.
 

Notice also that the promise does not depend on the one to whom it is made. Nothing depends on Adam and Eve, nothing depends on us. When God makes a promise, He keeps His promise. How well we know that what God commands and what God demands, God also provides.
 

So, what does this mean? This morning we are reminded once again, as we always need reminding, that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We are conceived and born in sin. We are accountable for our sins from the moment of our conception. Not only are we conceived and born in sin, we also daily sin much, adding to our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness. Not only are we completely sinful and lost and condemned creatures, by ourselves, we know that God demands perfection of us, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Thus, left to ourselves there would be no hope for us.
 

We are also reminded that we are by nature not physical descendants of Abraham. We are not members of the promised Messianic line. Most of us probably do not have any Jewish blood in us. But of course that does not matter. Here I would remind you, again, that when the promise was made to send a Savior, back in the Garden of Eden, at that time there was no Jew or Gentile, only Adam and Eve, thus the first promise was made to the parents of all people, and so was given to all people.
    With that said, let me also remind you of Paul’s words in our text, that we are Abraham’s children. By faith we are Abraham’s children and heirs of eternal life. By faith, given to us through the means of Grace, we are children of the promised line of Messianic descent. And this faith is given us through the means of grace. Notice then, that this is Gospel talk and Gospel talk always points to outside of us, to Jesus.
 

So, even though the law reminds us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that we cannot boast about any part in our salvation, but must fully rest our confidence in what God has done for us. The good news, the Gospel is that we are gifted by God. God has gifted us with faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. These are not earned. These are not deserved. All that we have from God, faith, forgiveness, life and salvation are all gifts He graciously gives to us. “For,” as Jesus tells Nicodemus, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
 

Thanks be to God that He does it all and He gives it all to us so we do not have to concern ourselves with the question of whether or not we have done the right thing, whether or not we have done enough good things, whether or not we have anything, but our confidence is in God who knows all, gives all, and does all. Certainly if there is anything in which to be confident it is in God, in His promises, in His keeping His promises, in His giving His Son, even His life for ours, in His giving us all the gifts and blessings He has to give, faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. To Him be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Jesus, the Prophet - March 1, 2023 - Lent Midweek 2 - Text: Deuteronomy 18:15; John 6:14; John 1:45; Acts 3:19-26

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continuing what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we continue with the prophecies of Jesus as a prophet.
 

In Deuteronomy, Moses prophesied “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—” (Deuteronomy 18:15). As we have often heard, Jesus is our prophet, priest and king. You might recall the gifts of the Magi, gold, frankincense and myrrh, an anointing oil. Gold, the gift for a king, frankincense, the gift for a priest, and myrrh, the gift for a prophet. Here in Deuteronomy we have God’s promise of a Messiah who would be a prophet, like Moses.
 

One of the works of a prophet was to call people to repent. Jesus would be the fulfillment as one who would call all people to repentance and He did. You might recall that when Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” one of the responses was they believed He was Moses come back from the grave. Through Jesus’ work, preaching, teaching and the like He was seen as a prophet.
 

Like Moses the prophet, Jesus, the prophet was also the One Mediator between God and man. Just as Moses would go before God and bring back God’s word to the people, so Jesus goes before the Father in heaven and offers Himself for us in our place.
 

In his Gospel John gives “proof” of Jesus as the prophet promised in Deuteronomy. John writes,  “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14). The Gospel writer John makes much of the signs, wonders and miracles of Jesus which are proofs of His being God in flesh and here in these words are proof of Jesus being the Prophet who has come into the world, in particular the people believing that Jesus is Moses brought back to life. Again, as John relates, the people heard Jesus and spoke, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
 

Earlier in his Gospel John relates the accounts of the calling of the disciples by Jesus to come and follow Him. Jesus calls Philip and Philip’s immediate response is to tell others, in particular to tell Nathanael. Philip’s Biblical knowledge brought him to call Nathanael and attested to him that Jesus was the prophet spoken of by the prophets. John tells us, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him,“ ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph’” (John 1:45). Of course we know the account, Nathanael could not believe it because he did not believe anything good could come from Nazareth. And so, rather than argue with Nathanael, knowing that you cannot argue anyone into faith, Philips’s response is one we put forward as an example even today as to how to evangelize others. Philip simply invited Nathanael to “come and see.” Come and see for yourself and believe.
 

After Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension as the disciples met and moved forward in sharing the good news of salvation with others we have Peter’s message, “19Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:19-26).
 

Peter points to Moses’ prophecy that God would raise up a prophet from among his people, that is a prophet from among the nation of Israel. He says the prophet will be like him, one who would speak to God and relay God’s message to the people. Moses spoke God’s word of warning and punishment to the people and words of grace and forgiveness. Jesus spoke God’s word of warning and punishment for sin and unbelief and words of grace, mercy and forgiveness to all who do believe. Moses led the Children of Israel out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt into the promised land, just as Jesus would lead all people out of the bondage of slavery to sin into the promised land of heaven.
 

Thus, Peter points to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s word through Moses. Peter reminds the people of Jesus’ words and work, His proclamation of the good news of healing and forgiveness as well as His works, His signs, wonders and miracles, feeding the multitudes, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, walking on water, changing water into wine. Indeed, Peter gives proof of Jesus as the One promised by God.
 

And, just as John the Baptist did, just as Jesus did, so too Peter calls for repentance. Peter calls the people to turn from their wicked ways, repent and believe. John the Baptist’s words, Jesus’ words, Peter’s call are all appropriate in our world today where sin continues to abound. We too are called to repent and turn from our evil ways and unbelief, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
 

What does this mean? Jesus came as our prophet, priest and king. Jesus came as our prophet. The prophet foretells, that is a prophet proclaims what will happen in the future and Jesus did predict. He told His disciples of His impending suffering, death and resurrection and it happened according to the word He spoke.
 

A prophet proclaims or preaches. When the apostles died out so did the signs, wonders and miracles which Jesus gave the apostles the ability to perform as an attestation of what they preached. Indeed, prophecies have ceased in our world today. Do not believe those who do such prophesying, and be sure to know the sign of a false prophet, that is that their prophecies do not come to fruition. Today we say that our pastor’s are prophets not that they foretell, but that they proclaim the word of God.
 

And a prophet calls to repentance and faith. John the Baptist called the people to repent and believe in Jesus. Jesus called the people to repent and believe in Him. The apostles called the people to repent and believe and pastors today still call people to repent and believe. Pastors do not give faith, but proclaim the Gospel so that the Holy Spirit, working through the Gospel gives faith.
 

We know and can believe that Jesus is who He says He is because all of Holy Scripture attests to Him. Not only did God foretell of all that Jesus would do, not only did Jesus proclaim what would happen before it happened, He also fulfills all that was spoken about Him.
 

And Jesus calls us to repentance, gives us faith, forgives us and gives us eternal life. Although Jesus can do what ever He wants and can come to us in any way in which He desires, His usual way of working with us today, coming to us and giving us the gifts He has to give is through the means that He has given, His Word, Holy Absolution and His Sacraments, Holy Baptism and His Holy Supper. He has given us these means to come to us to lavish us with all the good gifts and blessings He has to give.
 

Today we rejoice that Jesus is the Great prophet, indeed, the greatest prophet. Jesus is God in flesh who was with the Father and the Holy Spirit at the creation of the world. He knew all that would happen before He even began creation and in His great love for us He created us anyway and He prepared and accomplished our salvation through His life, death and resurrection. So, we rejoice that Jesus is the great prophet fulfilling all that He has given to fulfill and stirring in us to rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.