Preparing for Worship - December 14, 2025

The Psalm for this Third Sunday in Advent (One Year Series) is Psalm 85. The psalm begins with the recognition that the Lord has forgiven and covered over the sins of His people and restored their fortunes, probably referring to the return to their homeland of a remnant of the people, after the Babylonian captivity. Things were not going well for them, though. The people now living in the land did not want them around and did not want them rebuilding a temple and the walls of Jerusalem. Read Ezra 4:1-4 and 23-24 and Nehemiah 1:3. The Jewish people themselves were more eager to build houses for themselves than to rebuild the temple and parts of Jerusalem that were destroyed. Read Haggai 1:3-11. In v. 4ff in Psalm 85, the psalmist calls upon the Lord to turn the people again to Him and revive them, make them alive again to Him, and His steadfast love and saving work for them. The psalmist is confident that the Lord would again “speak peace“ to His people and prays that they would not again turn to folly, away from the Lord and His will. Then the psalmist speaks of steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace, and these gifts of God are combined together in the Person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. (See John 1:14, Matthew 3:15, and 1 Corinthians 1:18-21, for example.) We do not produce these gifts, but the Lord will give what is good and bring His salvation near in Christ the Savior, the psalmist says. Righteousness will go before Him, and His footsteps become the way of life and eternal life for us. (See James 1:17-18 and
1 Peter 2:21-25 and 5:12.)

The Old Testament lesson is Isaiah 40:1-8 (9-11). Isaiah prophesies that the Lord will not give up on His people, but will speak tenderly to them and bring them comfort and pardon. In fact, the glory of the Lord would be revealed. He has spoken, and His Word will stand forever. (See also Mark 13:31 and 1 Peter 1:23-25.) The Lord God will come, in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who will tend His flock, His people, as a Good Shepherd, and who will bring Good News, the Gospel, to all, including His little lambs and those who are with young. We will see that so clearly in just a few weeks, with the birth of Christ and the Good News to lowly shepherds and influential wise men, and the Lord’s care for His own Son, in danger from Herod and Satan and so many others. John the Baptist would also prepare the way for Him. (See Matthew 2:1-17 and Luke 3:4-6 and Luke 4:1-13, etc.)

The Gospel lesson is from Matthew 11:2-10. The coming of Jesus does not mean, of course, that everything will be easy for everyone. John the Baptist has done the right things on behalf of Christ, and yet he has been thrown into prison. John sends some of his disciples for assurances that Jesus truly was the Promised One. Jesus tells them to report to John what they were hearing and seeing. (Luke tells us that John’s disciples were able to be eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesus, in Luke 7:18-23.) Both Luke and Matthew record the Words of Jesus, showing that He, as the Savior, was doing exactly what Old Testament prophecy predicted. Blind people can see, and the lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and deaf people can hear. Even some dead people are raised to life, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. (See Isaiah 35:4-7, 26:19, 29:18-19, and 61:1, for example.) Jesus adds these Words: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” (John was in prison and soon would die, and his disciples would hear of all this. It would be easy for them to wonder why Jesus would allow all this to happen to a faithful follower like John if He, Jesus, really was the Messiah. We struggle with the same questions at times, don’t we, especially when we see things happen that we don’t understand and don’t seem to be fair or right to us in this life?)

Jesus assures John’s disciples that John the Baptist had done faithfully what he was called to do, preparing the way for Jesus Himself, the Savior, even though John would not have an easy life and would not wear fancy, soft clothing or live in a king’s palace. He would, in fact, suffer and die, and his soul would then be taken to everlasting life. Jesus was also, in a sense, predicting His own much greater suffering and death, in payment for the sins of the world, though He was King of the universe, and then be raised to life and ascend and return to eternal life in heaven. And Jesus knew that many would take offense at Him and what He said and did, not trusting in Him and endangering their own salvation, unless they were brought to forgiveness and faith in Him. Simeon had predicted this in Luke 2:34, and Jesus warned about this in Luke 11:23 and John 6:60-63 and 16:1-4. There are many other examples of this offense being taken about Jesus. See Matthew 13:53-58 and 26:31-35 and 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, for example. That is why the Scriptures say, again and again, as in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in Him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.” That is also why, in Matthew 11:9-10, Jesus affirms again that John the Baptist was a genuine prophet of God and was the messenger sent from God to prepare the way for Jesus as Savior, as predicted in Malachi 3:1 and in our Old Testament lesson in Isaiah 40:1-3 and 9-11, and in the New Testament in Luke 1:15-17 and 1:76-79.

Paul also affirms, in our Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, that he and the other early Christian apostles were also servants of Christ and stewards, managers sharing the Good News of Christ, centered in the mysteries of God’s plan of salvation through Christ alone as Savior, for the sake of the whole world. See how Paul describes this mystery of God’s grace granted to him and for him to share, in Ephesians 3:1-12, “This mystery is that the Gentiles (non-Jews) are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel… This was according to the eternal purpose that He, the Lord, has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.” Paul then needed to be a faithful steward and sharer of this Good News of Christ for all. It did not matter what others thought of Paul. See how Peter described the same for himself and all who were “stewards of God’s varied grace,” in 1 Peter 4:10-11. It is finally God’s Work of grace in and through believers, for His glory, as described also in Ephesians 3:17-21 and in 1 Thessalonians 2:4,13. And Jesus Himself called all of His disciples, including us, to be ready by continuing faith and trust in Him as Savior and His Work through them, until He called them to eternal life or until He returned on the last day. See Luke 12:35-43. Our future is then secure in Christ Jesus, the Son of Man and our Savior, now and eternally.