What Do You Hear and See? - December 15, 2019 - Third Sunday in Advent - Text: Matthew 11:2-15

Today is the third Sunday in Advent. We have lighted the third candle on the Advent Wreath, the shepherds candle. We are not yet ready for our Christmas celebration, that will come. Today we continue to get ourselves ready. Last week we heard about John the Baptist, the one who came to prepare the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry. This morning we get a look at a day in the life of John the Baptist, and unfortunately, it is a look at one of his last days, when he was in prison, before his execution.
 

Our text begins with John sending his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (v.3). As we hear John’s question for the first time we might think that this is a question of doubt. His words sound similar to too many Christians as they lay on their deathbed and have some uncertainty and doubt in their minds. Perhaps you have heard someone say something like, “I hope I go to heaven.” Well, let me assure you, by faith in Jesus Christ, we have the hope, that is the Christian hope, which is a certainty, of eternal life in heaven. Our hope is not a hope of uncertainty, but a hope of the assurance of heaven. Yes, ‘these things, God’s Word, was written so that we might know for certain that we have eternal life.’ Getting back to John, John has been in prison for a while, his life might be coming to an end, certainly he has a lot of time to think and all that thinking may have brought some doubt. Or maybe not.
 

It is more likely that John is merely voicing a question that has been prompted by his disciples and their lack of faith and understanding. John’s disciples have been with him for some time. They have been listening to him and following him, they have heard and seen him pointing to Jesus, and now he is in prison. And this person that John has been pointing to, Jesus, where is He? What is He doing to help John? Why is he not starting an uprising and breaking John out of prison? Certainly there were suspicious thoughts about Jesus. Certainly John’s disciples did not completely understand why Jesus was getting all the attention and John was in prison. They were like everyone else, even Jesus’ own disciples, not understanding what it meant that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, not that He was a social-political savior, but a spiritual Savior. Yet, John understood that his role was simply to point to Christ. As John said, “I must decrease and He must increase.”
 

John’s question, and I would say, his question on behalf of his disciples, is a question of faith. John’s disciples probably wanted to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but they needed some help, they needed some “proof,” they needed a sign. They are no different than we are in our world today. How often it is that we would like God just to give us a sign, just to show us something to help us in our unbelief. The fact is that He does daily show Himself to us and we just miss it. John is simply voicing for his disciples their question and giving them the opportunity to go and get an answer. Notice John’s evangelism technique? It is very much like Philip’s technique. Remember when Philip told Nathaniel, “we have found the Christ.” Nathaniel was very skeptical and asked, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said, “Come and see!” Likewise, here John is encouraging his disciples, “Go and see.” As we share our faith with others through our lives, through our vocations, as well as through our words, sometimes we need to simply say, “Come and see.” Come to meet the Lord where He comes to meet you, in His Word and in divine service.
 

Our text does not give us the complete exchange of words of John’s disciples to Jesus, simply their question concerning whether or not Jesus is the “one who is to come,” but we do have Jesus’ answer. Jesus’ answer is, “Go and tell John what you hear and see” (v. 4).  First, Jesus tells them to listen. Listen to the words of good news that He speaks to the people. Likewise today, we are to listen to the words of good news that Jesus speaks to us, because Jesus does continue to speak to us today. How does Jesus’ speak to us today, through His Word, namely through the Bible. As we read the Bible, Jesus speaks to us. As we hear the Word of God proclaimed, Jesus speaks to us.
 

The second thing Jesus says is “see.” In other words, look at the signs and wonders, the miracles that He is performing. In his Gospel, John makes a lot of these signs and wonders. These signs and wonders, these miracles are “proof” (if you will) that Jesus is true God. Who else can do miracles except God? And Jesus is doing miracles, therefore He most certainly must be God.
 

Notice that Jesus does not try to argue these disciples of John into believing. He does not try to convince them through great words of debate. He simply asks them to look at the evidence and interpret that evidence according to Holy Scripture, which bears witness of the answers for which they are looking. Here we get a second lesson in witnessing and evangelism. We witness best when we witness by not saying a lot, by not arguing, by not being confrontational, but by living our faith and by pointing to Christ and being ready to give an answer, a defense of our faith. We witness best when we let our lives, our words and actions point to our faith in Christ.
 

After John’s disciples leave, Jesus speaks a word concerning John. He says, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” (v. 7b). In other words He is saying that John was not swayed by public opinion. Certainly he was not swayed by the opinions of the Scribes and Pharisees. John did not necessarily preach what the people wanted to hear. He did not preach to the felt needs of the people. He preached to them what they needed to hear. He preached words of Law, that they are sinners who need to repent, and he preached words of Gospel, for the forgiveness of sins.
 

Jesus continued by saying, “What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses” (v. 8). In other words, John could not be bought. He was not living off the monies of the rich in order to preach good words about them, like many of the Scribes and Pharisees. His words were not swayed to favor anyone for any reason. John spoke the truth, sometimes in love.
 

And Jesus tells why as He says, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you’” (v. 9-10). John was not swayed by the opinions of others, he could not be bought, because he was a prophet of God. He was sent by God to proclaim the message God gave Him, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and so he could not proclaim anything else.
 

Finally, as we alluded to last week, Jesus explains that He is the Messiah and He is ushering in the end times, He is fulfilling Holy Scripture as He explains that John is the forerunner of the Messiah and that He has come in the spirit and power of Elijah for those who can believe, Jesus words, “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come” (v. 13b-14). You might remember that every year at the Passover celebration, at one point during the Seder, the door is opened and it is hoped that Elijah will come in to usher in the coming of the Messiah. Many Jews today still carry on this ritual, but Jesus says that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, thus ushering in the end times and the time of the Messiah.
 

John was the way preparer for Jesus. He was a great prophet, but unfortunately, for his own sake, he was not a witness of Jesus’ death and resurrection. John did so much to prepare for Jesus earthly ministry and His ushering in the kingdom of heaven, yet, he did not get to see it happen. In that sense, John was lower than the least in the kingdom.
 

John is a wonderful example to us and he is a good way preparer for us as we get ready, not only for our Christmas celebration, but as we get ready for Jesus’ second coming. John’s words remind us to “Hear and see” if Jesus is who He says He is, to “Hear and see” all that Jesus has done, to see if His signs, wonders, and miracles do not show Him to be the Christ, the Messiah. John reminds us of the need to listen and look as Jesus comes to us in His Word and sacraments. Then we are strengthened and encouraged to go and bear witness of Jesus through our lives, our vocations, our words and our actions.
 

We are great in the kingdom of heaven because we have seen Christ. Through the Word of God we have seen Jesus, born and placed in a lowly manger in Bethlehem, fulfilling God’s promise to send a Savior. We have seen Jesus live perfectly for us in our place because we cannot live perfectly. Remember, the fullness of the Gospel is the fact that Jesus lived perfectly as our substitute, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves, be perfect. Then Jesus took all our sins upon Himself and suffered and paid the price for our sins on the cross and He died for us, in our place. We have seen Jesus die the eternal death penalty for us, in our place. And we have seen Jesus risen from the dead. We have been eyewitness of these things through God’s Word. And we are to be eyewitness of these things to others so that they too may come to know Jesus and everlasting life.
 

Have you ever had doubts about your faith? You are not alone. That little bit of doubt is good if it moves you to question and to look for the answer to your question and especially to look into God’s Word for the answer to your questions. When you are in doubt it is important that you go “to see and hear” in God’s Word, the answers to your questions. John sent his disciples to Jesus to still their doubts. As we said earlier, Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus to still his doubts. This morning I encourage you in the same way by telling you the same thing. If you have doubts, come and see and hear. Open your Bible, come to divine service and Bible class, remember your baptism, partake of the Lord’s body and blood in His Holy Supper. These are the means, the ways the Lord has given to come to us to give to us, to strengthen us and to keep us in faith. These are the ways the Lord has of stilling our doubts.
 

As we continue to get ready for our Christmas celebration, I would continue to urge you, not to jump the gun, so to speak, but to wait with your Christmas celebration until Christmas Eve. Remember, the twelve days of Christmas do not end on Christmas morning, but begin with Christmas. Now is the time to get ready, to make use of the means of grace, to prepare for your Christmas celebration and as we have been saying the past two weeks, now is also the time to continue to get yourself ready for Christ’ second coming when He will take us from this earth to be with Himself in heaven for eternity. And to that we say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Christ as King - Second Wednesday in Advent (Midweek 2) - December 11, 2019 - Text: LSC #125

This year our theme for Advent is Christ as God/man, Prophet, Priest and King. This week we will look at Jesus as our King. In order to help us with this theme we go to our catechism and under the question, “For what threefold office was Christ anointed?” we have the answer, “Christ was anointed to be our Prophet, Priest, and King.” This evening we want to look in particular at the third response, that of Christ as our King and again the catechism tells us, “As King, Christ; 1. rules with His almighty power over all creation (the kingdom of power-all creatures); Matt. 28:18; 2. governs and protects especially His church (the kingdom of grace-the church on earth); John 18:36-37; 3. finally leads His church to glory in heaven (the kingdom of glory-the church in heaven). 2 Tim. 4:18.”
 

As we were reminded last week, the promise to send a Savior, a Messiah was made back in the Garden of Eden. Immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin, God stepped in and promised to take care of the broken relationship between Himself and His creatures. God promised to send a Savior who would also be a King. The prophet Micah tells us, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). The Messiah would be of the human line of David. Bethlehem was David’s hometown and Jesus would be born not only from the line of David, but also in his hometown. David was also the second king of Israel meaning that Jesus would be born of his descent putting Him in line for earthly kingship certainly, but more importantly, also putting Him in line for heavenly Kingship, which is really what this prophecy is about.
 

So, not only would Jesus be human, born of the earthly descent of David, born of a human woman, Mary, He would also be divine, being conceived by the Holy Spirit. He would be the one whose “origin is from of old, from ancient days,” in other words, He would be from eternity with no beginning and no ending, thus, He would be of the heavenly line of His divinity.
 

And of course, this promise was fulfilled. The genealogy of Jesus traces His life back to David, even to Adam and Eve and to God. The genealogies given in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, trace Jesus’ ancestry to David and to God respectively. Thus, again, we see Jesus as being truly human with an earthly ancestry traced back to King David, giving Him royal blood and even back to Adam and Eve and we see that He is truly divine, that is He is truly God tracing His ancestry back to being the Son of God.
 

Jesus’ kingship was revealed and confirmed by the recognition of the people especially at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday, the crowds gathered making a path with their coats and palm branches as they sang, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). Certainly we see that they recognized Jesus’ Kingship.
 

Jesus also acknowledged His own Kingship before Pilate. When He was on trial before Pilate and Pilate questioned Jesus about what he had heard concerning His Kingship we are told, 36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:36-37). Certainly Jesus knew He was a King, but He also knew that He did not come to this earth to declare such Kingship nor to rule on earth, but that His Kingdom was and is in heaven for eternity.
 

Even today Jesus kingship continues as He rules in the Kingdom of Power over all creation. Although He does not rule us directly, as in a theocracy, like He ruled the children of Israel after sending judges and kings, today Jesus rules on earth indirectly. He rules through various authorities. He rules through parents and guardians, through teachers and pastors, through law enforcement officials as well as through governments. The Fourth Commandment certainly is the basis of all authority for in the giving of parents, all authority flows from this parental authority. Jesus rules us indirectly, giving us government in order to keep the peace so that we might have order in our land and He does this because He still cares for us.
 

Jesus rules in heaven, the Kingdom of Glory, where He is watching over us. He knows all that is going on here on earth and for us Christians, for those who believe in Him and look to Him He works all these things out for the best for us and for His glory. He sends His angels to guard and protect us. He knows we live in a sin filled world and He works to bring out the best for us in any and all situations and struggles in life.
 

Jesus rules in heaven where He is also interceding for us. He is praying for us because He knows our needs better than we know our needs and He provides for all our needs according to what He knows is best for us according to His good and gracious will. As we recognize that Jesus is in heaven interceding for us we also recognize that Jesus rules over His Church, the Kingdom of Grace. Indeed, His desire is, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, the greatest prayer He has given us, “Thy Kingdom come,” we are praying for God’s Church on earth. We are praying that those in the church might be strengthened in their faith and that His Church might be extended into all the world through the sharing of His Word.
 

That Jesus now rules in heaven does not negate the fact that He gave up and set aside His kingship, His glory and humbled Himself in order to take on human flesh and blood in order to be our substitute and to give His life for ours on the cross. When we speak of Christ’s states of humiliation we do understand that it was humbling and humiliating to give up the glory that was His in heaven as He was ruling as King in heaven, but to give that up in order to take on human flesh and blood. While on earth, then, Jesus did not always nor fully express His kingship, that is He did not always nor fully use His divine powers, rather He actively set His kingship aside in order to save us. As we prepare ourselves for our celebration of Christ’s birth, God in human flesh, we understand that His humiliation began with His conception and His birth, not that being a human was humiliating, but that giving up the glory that was His in heaven is what was humiliating. We also understand, as difficult as it may be, that we continue to see the cross in our Christmas celebration. The reason Jesus was born, the reason the baby was born, was to die.
 

What does this mean? First, God the Father promised it. And we know that whatever God promises, He brings to completion. God promised He would send a Savior who would be from the earthly, human line of king David, so He would be of kingly descent. He also promised the Savior would be from of old from ancient days and certainly Jesus is from of old, being God Himself, taking on human flesh and blood.
 

Second, Jesus fulfills it. Jesus is one with the Father and so He fulfills the promises He makes that is He came not only to live for us, to do all that things we are supposed to do but are unable to do, but also to pay the price for our sins, to suffer the eternal death penalty of hell for us in our place. Jesus came to die.
 

And third, the Holy Spirit gives us faith in Him. The work of the Holy Spirit is to motivate us, to stir in us and to work in and through us to live lives of faith, doing the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do. And they are good works because they are done to His glory.
 

Thus we see, Jesus is our Messiah and our King, not only as He came during His life, but also as He continues to come to us and for us today. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Are You Ready? - December 8, 2019 - Second Sunday in Advent - Text: Matthew 3:1-12

This morning we continue with our preparation for the “advent” or coming of our King, Christ the Lord and our celebration of His birth on Christmas morning. This morning all three of our readings continue to hold a double emphasis, one of preparation for Jesus’ first coming, as we see John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry, and one of preparation for Jesus’ second coming at the last day.
 

Our text for this morning is the Gospel lesson and the account of John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus and His earthly ministry. Matthew does not say it specifically here, but elsewhere in his Gospel as well as in the Gospel’s of Mark and Luke we are reminded that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Matt. 17:9-13; Mark 9:9-13; Luke 1:17). John came to prepare the way for the Savior of the world. He came as “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
 

John’s message was not necessarily a politically correct message. He did not tell the people what they wanted to hear, what their itching ears wanted to hear. John was not swayed by public opinion and he did not preach about the felt needs of the people. As a matter of fact, John would not be considered one of your church growth practitioners of his day or even of our day today. Yet, the crowds gathered around him day in and day out to hear the message that he proclaimed. What John preached first and foremost was the real need for repentance and forgiveness. John preached a message of urgency, for the kingdom of heaven is near, after all, Jesus was there, right there in the flesh, ready to begin His own earthly ministry and to give His life for all.
 

John preached the need for baptism. John’s own baptism was merely a baptism with water. It was an outward sign and washing. He baptizes and he points to the baptism that Jesus would give and institute which would be a greater baptism, a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism which Jesus institutes is a spiritual baptism, one which comes from outside oneself and works to give faith to the one baptized. The baptism which Jesus gives is one which gives and creates faith, one which strengthens and sustains faith.
 

John preached a warning against work righteousness. He reminded the people that they were not saved according to who they were, from what family they came, or what they have done. John is not telling the people what they want to hear, what good Christians they can be, or how they can be the people God wants them to be, rather he is telling them what sinners they are and how sinful they are. As he speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees he points out that they are mislead in believing that they have a birthright of salvation and he preached against their mistaken belief that they were saved by their good works which really were not good works at all because they were not in keeping with the will and Word of God.
 

John preached a warning against unbelief. Remember, the Pharisees and the Sadducees did have faith, but it was faith in the wrong thing or the wrong object. John’s warning is that the object of faith is important. John’s warning is quite appropriate even for us today, because the object of faith does matter. It matters just as much in what or in whom we believe as it does in the fact that we do have faith.
 

All of John’s preaching pointed to the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior to come. John was the way preparer for Christ. He was not to be the focus of attention, rather he was the one pointing to the one who was to be the focus of attention, Christ, God in human flesh who came to live perfectly, to fulfill all God’s laws, commands, and promises perfectly, to take our sins upon Himself and to give His life for ours on the cross. And that is what John did, pointing to Jesus and decreasing his role.
 

This morning we gather and we focus on this lesson from Matthew. We focus on the similarities between the people of John’s day and the people of today. And we focus on the similarities between John’s message and the messages we need to hear today.
 

Today, God comes to us through the means of grace, His Word and Sacraments. He comes to us as we read His Word, as we remember our Baptism, as we confess our sins and hear His word of absolution and as we partake of His body and blood in His holy meal. The Holy Spirit works through these very means to give us faith, to strengthen our faith and to keep us in faith until Christ comes again.
 

Today, God’s means of grace remind us of our need for forgiveness. God’s Word contains both words of Law and Gospel. We are reminded that we daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness. One quick review of the Ten Commandments reminds us that we have sinned both in the things which we do against God’s Word and in those things which we do not do in helping and being of service to others. We must hear the fact of our sinfulness otherwise we would not know that we need a Savior and if we did not know we need a Savior, we would not turn to Jesus as our Savior.
 

Today, God’s means of grace reminds us of our need for baptism. We are reminded that baptism is God’s way of coming to us to give us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. Holy Baptism is the means through which God’s name and water are put on us, marking us and making us one of His own children. Baptism is not our doing, but God’s doing. Just as we did not choose to be born, neither do we choose Jesus nor choose our baptism. It is God who chooses us. It is God who calls us to and gives us faith, forgiveness and life.
 

Today, God’s means of grace warns us against work righteousness. We are not saved because we are members of a certain family or of a certain church or denomination. We are not saved by the good things we do, as if we could do enough good things to make up for the sins which we commit. We are not saved because we can be the people God’s wants us to be, as a matter of fact, we cannot be the people God wants us to be because we are conceived and born in sin and every inclination of our will is evil all the time.
 

Today, God’s means of grace warns us against unbelief. As we said earlier, the object of faith is important. It does not matter how sincere our faith is if our faith is in anyone or anything else other than our Creator. My sincere faith in a rock will not save me, rather it will most certainly bring me condemnation. There is only one way to heaven and we are reminded that Jesus says He is “the way, the truth and the life.” Here again, as we have said before, this exclusive claim, that there is one and only one way to heaven, is why we Christians are so hated by the rest of the world, because we believe what God tells us that He is the only way to eternal life in heaven.
 

And today, God’s means of grace points to the Christ to come. You may have noticed that we do not hear a lot about the Holy Spirit because His job is not to point to Himself but to Christ, and to point to Christ on the cross, that He gave His life that we might have life. I am not here to talk to you about myself and my life, I am here to point to Christ, yes, Christ on the cross and the fact that He gave His life for yours and mine. As we each live our lives as followers of Christ, we are not to point to our own lives, but we are to live our lives in such a way that they point to Christ. I will never forget what the dean of students said my first year in college. He said, “I do not want others to look at me and say, ‘what a great guy he is,’ but ‘what a great God he has.’” So is my hope.
 

Again, this morning we ask the question, are you ready? Are you ready for Christ’s second coming? If He came today, are you sure that you are ready? If you were to die and go to Him, are you sure you are ready? Are you in the Word, seeking forgiveness, and making use of the sacraments? These are the means that God has given to us to get us ready to meet Him.
 

Are you ready? Is your faith focused on Christ and His good gifts and blessings? Does the way you live reflect that your priorities are being about the business of the Lord or being about the business of this world? Again, as I said last week, does the way you respond to the Lord with your time, talents and treasure reflect that your life is centered around the Lord and your relationship with Him, or does it reflect that your life is centered around this world, making a name for yourself in this world or amassing a fortune or small fortune to pass on in this world?
 

As I alluded to a moment ago, if Christ returned tonight would you be ready? I am not sure if there are any more Joe’s Crab Shack restaurants still open and I am not advertizing for them, but I do remember the sign they had on their wall, it read “Free Crabs Tomorrow.” So, if you come back tomorrow, do you really think you will get some free crabs? How many of us live our lives with the thought that Jesus will not return until tomorrow and thus we live our life for today. Will we not be surprised if Jesus were to come back today instead of tomorrow. Certainly then we should live our lives as if Christ would return today and be ready.
 

Now is the time to be ready. God has fulfilled His first promise, He sent Jesus, true God, born as a true man, who lived perfectly, died perfectly and rose so that we might have forgiveness and life. Before His ascension, Christ promised that He would return. He will fulfill this promise as He fulfilled His first promise. Now is the time to be ready. Now is the day which might be the day of His return. Thanks be to God that He gets us ready, that He strengthens us and keeps us ready. Because by His grace, through faith in Jesus, which He gives to us, we know that we are ready. Thanks be to God for faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. And thanks be to God for stirring in us a response of faith so that we might say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Christ as Prophet - First Wednesday in Advent (Midweek 1) - December 4, 2019 - Text: LSC #125

This year our theme for Advent is Christ as God/man, Prophet, Priest and King. This week we will look at Jesus as our Prophet, next week Jesus as our King, the following week Jesus as our Priest. For Christmas Eve we will take up the them of Christ as God and then finally on Christmas morning we will talk about Jesus as man. In order to help us with this theme we go to our catechism and under the question, “For what threefold office was Christ anointed?” we have the answer, “Christ was anointed to be our Prophet, Priest, and King.” This evening we want to look in particular at the first response, that of Christ as our Prophet and again the catechism tells us, “A. As Prophet, Christ: 1. preached personally during His life on earth, validating His word with miracles, especially His own resurrection; Deut. 18:15; Matt. 17:5; Mark 1:38; John 1:17-18; John 6:68; 2. through the preached Gospel today still proclaims Himself to be the Son of God and Redeemer of the world. Mark 16:15; Luke 10:16; 2 Cor. 5:20.”
 

The promise of a Messiah was first given in Genesis. Let me set the stage. In the beginning God created all things, out of nothing. Then, on the sixth day, after creating all the animals God set out to create the crown of His creation, human beings. Human beings were created different from the rest of all creation in that man was formed out of the dust of the ground and then God breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living being, with a body and a soul. Soon afterward God created the woman from the rib of the man in order to be a helper suitable for him. And up until this time everything was good and even very good, meaning everything was perfect. Again, please notice that after God had completed all His creation everything was good and even very good, again meaning everything was perfect. When we move from God’s hand of creation, from God running the verbs, as we say, to the account of the humans doing the doing, then we move to the fall into sin and the ruin of creation. However, even though God’s creatures, humanity, brought sin, death and destruction into the world, God continued to show His love, care and concern. Immediately after man fell into sin, God intervened and promised to take care of what man broke, to send a Savior, a Messiah. We read this promise in Gen. 3:15, “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.”
 

Later God reiterated His promise and expanded it when Moses announced to the people, “15The 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—16just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him’” (Deut. 18:15-19). God would send a Savior who would also be a prophet.
 

Although God waited some 4500 years from the time He first made His promise to fulfill His promise, yet He did fulfill His promise. In Bethlehem of Judea God fulfilled His promise. To a young woman, a virgin and to her betrothed husband, God sent His Son to be born. This Child was like all other children in that He was truly a human child, but He was different in that He was also the Son of God, that is He is truly God as well.
 

Up until He was about thirty years old and began His earthly ministry, we hear only about Jesus’ birth and about His trip to Jerusalem and to the temple at the age of 12.
 

After reaching the age of thirty Jesus began His public ministry. It was in what was perceived to be His hometown of Nazareth that we hear of Him as not only the Messiah, but also as a prophet. As Luke tells us, “16And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18“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, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29And 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. 30But passing through their midst, he went away” (Luke 4:16-30). Of course, a prophet is not simply one who foretells of future events. A prophet is also one who proclaims the Word of God.
 

And finally, at about the age of thirty-three, after three short years of work, in Jerusalem Jesus does what He came to earth to do. There, just outside the city gates, Jesus is nailed to a cross in order to die and in so dying He paid the price for all sins of all people of all places of all times, including your sins and mine, once and for all.
 

Today Jesus continues to be our Savior and Prophet, yet He no longer comes to us immediately, rather, today He comes to us through means, mediately, through the read Word, in other words, as the Word of God is read to us every Sunday morning, and Wednesday evenings, Jesus speaks to us through this Word, as He speaks to us individually as we read His Word.
 

Jesus is our Savior and Prophet as He comes to us through His Word, that is as He comes to us through the preached Word. Here we understand that a Pastor cannot improve on the Word of God, and so his proclamation of the Word of God is the Word of God only and in so far as what He proclaims is the Word of God. Which reminds us as Pastors to preach the Word and then to sit down and be quiet.
 

Jesus is our Savior and Prophet as He comes to us through Holy Baptism. Through water and the Word of God, namely His name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Jesus comes into our hearts, gives us faith, gives us forgiveness, writes our names in the book of Life, and gives us eternal life.
 

Jesus is our Savior and Prophet as He comes to us through the Lord’s Supper. Through bread and wine and the Word of God, Jesus comes to us to give Himself for us to eat and drink. Very much like the Old Testament sacrifice, as the spotless lamb was present to be slaughtered, burnt on the altar and then eaten by the family, so Jesus presented Himself as our spotless lamb who went to the cross to be crucified and now comes to us as we eat His body and drink His blood through this most Holy Meal of the Lord’s Supper. And through this meal as through all His means of grace, our Lord gives to us faith, strengthening of faith, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
 

Jesus is our Savior and Prophet as He comes to us through confession and absolution. As we confess our sins and hear those most beautiful, most precious words, “I forgive you all your sins,” then we know we have just what those words say we have, forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness comes life and salvation.
 

What does this mean? First, God the Father promised it. And we know that whatever God promises, He brings to completion.
 

Second, Jesus fulfills it. Jesus is one with the Father and so He fulfills the promises He makes that is He came not only to live for us, to do all that things we are supposed to do but are unable to do, but also to pay the price for our sins, to suffer the eternal death penalty of hell for us in our place.
 

And third, the Holy Spirit gives us faith in Him. The work of the Holy Spirit is to motivate us, to stir in us and to work in and through us to live lives of faith, doing the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do. And they are good works because they are done to His glory.
 

Thus we see, Jesus is our Messiah and our prophet, not only as He came during His life, but also as He continues to come to us and for us today. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.