Preparing for Worship - February 2, 2025

We have again this week the possibility of two different sets of readings being heard in our churches this weekend. I will begin with the readings for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. There is much emphasis in these readings on the power of God through His Word.

The Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah 1:4-10 tells of the calling of Jeremiah to be a prophet of God. God comes to him, but it is described as God coming to him through His Word. God spoke and told Jeremiah that he had been chosen to be a prophet even before he was born, and he was to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah has excuses for not doing what God wants. He is too young, and he is not a good talker to others. The Lord spoke again and commanded Jeremiah to speak whatever the Lord told him to speak. He was not to be afraid, for the Lord would deliver him, even if others opposed him and what he said. The Lord then appeared in a visible way and touched Jeremiah’s mouth and put into His mouth the very Words he was to speak and write. This emphasized the verbal inspiration of the prophet and his Scriptures. They were the very Words of God Himself. Jeremiah would speak to and about nations and kingdoms and their rising and falling according to God’s will and plans for people, including God’s own people of Judah. He was to speak whatever God said, even though many would fight against him and the Words of God he brought. (Jeremiah was also privileged to prophesy of the Savior and the New Covenant He would bring for all people because the Old Covenant had been broken and would pass away.)

The psalm is Psalm 71:1-6 (7-11). The writer is not identified, but some think it might have been Jeremiah because of the challenges he faced for the Words from God he was called to bring against people who were wicked, unjust, and cruel and who rejected the Lord. This author takes refuge in the Lord and calls upon the Lord to rescue and deliver and save him. He knows that the Lord had been with him even before he was born and would not forsake him, even in old age and when his strength was fading. His mouth was filled with praise and glory for God, his Rock and Fortress, the Holy One of Israel (v.22).

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 4:31-44, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum in Galilee, and people were astonished that His Word possessed authority. It was more than just His opinion. That authority became even clearer when an evil spirit in a man there cried out against Jesus and said he knew who Jesus was - “the Holy One of God.” Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and said, “Be silent and come out of him.” The demon came out without harming the man. Again, the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this Word by which He speaks, with power and authority even over unclean spirits?” The power of Jesus’ Word was shown again as He healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law (Peter was married!) of a high fever, and she immediately was well enough to be able to serve them. That evening, after sundown on the Sabbath, many sick people were brought to Jesus, and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them, including casting out some more demons. The demons knew that Jesus is the Holy One, the Son of God, but their witness is not a good witness, and it was too early in His ministry to be identified that way, for the opposition to Him would grow stronger from those who would not believe Him, and it was not yet time for Him to die. So, Jesus silences the evil spirits. Jesus, as a true man, then went out to a desolate place to pray and receive strength from His Heavenly Father. People find Him and beg Him to stay with them, but He reminded them of His primary purpose - to preach the Word of God, the Good News of God’s Kingdom He was bringing, to as many people as possible so that more might believe in Him.

The Epistle reading is from 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13 and continues readings from 1 Corinthians. This chapter is sometimes called “the love chapter” of these Scriptures, with emphasis upon the importance of God’s love in the Scriptures. The primary focus is on the fact that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to be our Savior. We are then called to love as He first loved us. Even if we could speak and act in supernatural or other seemingly helpful ways, as Jesus did, it would do no good without doing so in love for God and in genuine love for others, just as Jesus spoke and acted. Paul speaks of what love is and what it is not and that love never ends. Faith in Christ and hope in Him are vitally important for us now, in the perfect work of Christ for us, and we want them for all people. But we see things only partially, dimly at times. When the perfect future in Christ comes, though, in everlasting life in heaven, we will see fully all that God has in store for us. In the meantime, we try to love our spouse and family and others, as Christ loved us, with His forgiveness and patience and kindness for us. Even though we do it imperfectly, we try to do it as God’s Word directs, in love and care for fellow imperfect people, through Christ.

The second set of readings is being used by some churches in remembering the Purification of Mary (in which Joseph participated, in a sense) and the Presentation of Jesus, which happened about 40 days after His birth, according to Jewish Old Testament law. You can read about these laws in passages like Exodus 13:1-3a,11-15, Numbers 3:21-28, and 12:15-16. We read and talked about this same Gospel reading and heard a sermon about it on the “First Sunday after Christmas.” You can find more details about all this on the podcast from December 29.

The psalm is  Psalm 84, emphasizing the importance of God’s house (in the Old Testament, the temple in Jerusalem), where we can hear God’s Word and worship and praise Him and especially receive His good gifts of strength and joy and renewed trust in Him. We are also reminded of the Lord as our Shield and to look upon His Anointed One. In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed, but this passage is prophetic of Jesus Christ, the One anointed to be our Savior and to bring us the fullness of God’s Word and work. We still hear the Word, centered in Christ, in our churches and worship and Bible study today, and we can receive the gifts of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and forgiveness, as well.

The Old Testament lesson is from I Samuel 1:21-28. A woman, Hannah, was unable to have children but prayed and asked the Lord for the gift of a child. The priest, Eli, said that she would give birth to a child, and in time, she did, as the Lord answered her prayer. A firstborn child belonged to the Lord but could be “redeemed” and stay with family, but Hannah chose to lend her child to the Lord to serve the priest, Eli, at a young age. Samuel served and helped Eli but eventually was called by the Lord Himself to be one of the great prophets of the Old Testament.

The Gospel lesson, Luke 2:22-32 (33-40), tells of the ceremonial Purification of Mary 40 days after the birth of Jesus. Old Testament law said that women were unclean from bleeding and needed to be purified. Mary needed to be purified from the bleeding and other discharges from the birth of a child. This passage speaks of “their” purification because Joseph was involved and needed to pay the price required - for poor people, the cost of two turtledoves or pigeons to be sacrificed. (See Leviticus 12: 1-8.) Jesus was sinless and needed no purification. Joseph and Mary did need to present Jesus to the Lord at this time, though, too. As the firstborn Son, He needed to be "redeemed,” bought back from the Lord, and given again to His family, with the same price required for the purification of Mary. Jesus would be different, though. He was willing to be the true Redeemer and pay the price for us to forgive all our sins and buy us back from sin and Satan and death by His sacrificial death on the cross in our place so that we might have new and eternal life in and through Him. A man, Simeon, was led by the Holy Spirit to be in the temple at this time and recognized Jesus as the Lord’s Christ, His Anointed Savior. Simeon picked up Jesus and sang the song we still sing in our Communion liturgy, the Nunc Dimittis. Simeon could now die in peace because He had seen Jesus, the Light of the world, who would provide salvation available for all people, Jews and non-Jews, the Gentiles. (As mentioned before, you can find more comments on this passage in my podcast for Sunday, December 29.) The key to the eternal future for all people would be whether their hearts would be brought to trust in Jesus as Savior by the grace of God or if they would resist and reject Him.

The Epistle lesson, Hebrews 2:14-18, reminds us that since human beings have flesh and blood, Jesus also had to be one of us, with flesh and blood (as well as being the Son of God) in order that He might be able to die in our place, for us, on the cross, in service to us and His Heavenly Father’s plan. In this way, he would be both the High Priest and the sacrificial Lamb in making propitiation for us (a sacrifice that would make payment for and forgive all our sins). He did this for the offspring of Abraham, which now includes, as Simeon predicted, every human being who was brought to faith in him, Jews and non-Jews. (See how this is described in Galatians 3:10-14 and 26-29.) Jesus takes care of our eternal future, and because He was a real human being when here on earth, He can also help us in daily times of trouble and temptation, here and now, since he has lived here and been tempted as we are and knows and understands our human struggles. How vitally important He is for us!