Preparing for Worship - July 9, 2023

Last week we heard that Jesus came not to bring peace, but a sword. His Word is a two-edged sword, which does bring the Law of God and reveals our sinfulness and need for a Savior (Matthew 10:34-39, Hebrews 4:12-13, and Revelation 1:13-16, for example).
Jesus ultimately, though, wants to bring the Gospel and His forgiving rest and peace in His eternal Kingdom, as we hear in our readings this week.

In Psalm 145:1-14, David sings a great song of praise to God for His “goodness, mercy, and steadfast love” and the “unsearchable greatness” of His “everlasting kingdom.” He has “mercy over all that He has made,” from “generation to generation.” He helps “those who are falling” and “raises up” those “who are bowed down.” In return, we can only bless his name every day and praise Him for His abundant goodness.

The Lord is also “faithful in all His Words” (Psalm 145:13). We see that in the Old Testament lesson, Zechariah 9:9-12. God’s people could “rejoice greatly,” because the promised “salvation” was coming in a humble King, who would “speak peace to the nations” and bring “freedom to prisoners.” This Scripture is quoted in the New Testament in Matthew 21:5 and indirectly in Luke 19:37-38, in reference to Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as a humble King on a donkey. This Scripture also speaks of “the blood of the Lord’s covenant” - the New Covenant, in which Jesus would later that Holy Week shed His own blood on the cross for the forgiveness of all sins, as the Lamb of God.

Paul speaks of his own need for forgiveness in the Epistle lesson, Romans 7:14-25a. Last week, we heard him speak of his struggles with “covetousness” in the past, before being a Christian. Now he switches to the present tense and talks about his continuing struggle to do the right things, because of his “sinful flesh” and nature. He wants to do God’s will, but he finds himself doing the opposite, at times. He says “he has the desire to do what is right, but not always the ability to carry it out.” There is a “war” going on within him. He “delights in the law of God,” but “evil also lies close at hand.” He calls himself a “wretched man,” a poor miserable sinner. “Who will deliver him from this sinful body of death?” He knows that his only hope is in Jesus. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus promises “rest for the souls” of those who, with the faith of “little children,” simply trust what He has done for them and reveals to them. Religious leaders of His day spoke of the heavy yoke, the burden of the Law, and thought of themselves as being more “wise and understanding” than others by carefully trying to keep these hundreds of laws. Jesus Himself not only kept the Law in our place, but was “gentle and lowly of heart” and carried our burdens of sin to the cross to pay for them all. As we keep coming to Him and learning from Him, He now lightens our burdens and gives us the rest and peace we really need. We do not rescue ourselves. Jesus rescues us.