Preparing for Worship - November 9, 2025

There are only three Sundays left in this church year, and the new church year begins on November 30, with the Advent season. Our thoughts are turned, therefore, to end times in some of our lessons and the return of Christ and/or the end of our own lives on this earth and eternal life in heaven.

The psalm is Psalm 148, as all of creation is called upon to praise the Lord, beginning with the angels and all the “hosts” already in heaven, having lived and died trusting in the Lord. The sun, moon, and stars and all above the earth are also called to praise, as they witness to the glory and majesty of God as Creator, with the natural knowledge of God. (See Psalm 19:1-4, Romans 1:19-23, and Romans 2:14-15.) All creatures and activities of the natural world on earth are called to praise the Lord, as well, even though now in a “fallen state,” affected by sin in the world. (See Romans 8:21-22.) All people of any age or status on earth are also called to praise the Lord, for He cares about them and has a plan of salvation, here called “a horn raised up for people.” (See also Psalm 18:2, 89:19-29, and 92:10, and the fulfillment of all that in a Son of David, predicted by Zechariah (Luke 1:67-79), qho would be the “horn of salvation for us” (v.68-69), our Lord Jesus, whose powerful yet humble way was prepared by John the Baptist. See John 1:26-30. (If you have a Lutheran Study Bible, see p. 842, where a “horn” is called “an image of power. Animals with horns are bold; in Israelite thought, a horned animal with its head held high symbolized strength and triumph.”)

The Old Testament lesson is Exodus 3:1-15, where Moses is called by “an angel of the Lord,” who is also called God Himself, speaking from the fire of a bush, “burning yet not consumed.” (This may likely be God the Son, the preincarnate Christ, speaking.) Moses is called to “bring God’s people, the children of Israel, out of (slavery) in Egypt.“ Moses is very reluctant about this, but the LORD, I AM WHO I AM,  reassures him and enables him. (When Jesus came, He used this name for Himself in His “I AM” sayings, including John 8:12, and most clearly in John 8:54-58. Jesus also quotes from this passage in our Gospel lesson for today, we will see.) Jesus was ultimately that powerful Savior.

The Gospel lesson is Luke 20:27-40. Sadducees, “who deny that there is a resurrection of the dead,” came to Jesus with a theoretical question which, in their view, would show the absurdity of life after death. (Sadducees were more liberal Jews, who also did not believe in angels or spirits. See Acts 4:1-2 and  23:6-11. Some of the most powerful priests were also Sadducees, who hated the Romans yet did not want to upset them, so that they could keep their own positions of power and influence in their nation of the Jews. See also Acts 5:17 and John 11:46-52, where these leaders plan to get rid of Jesus, for their own benefit, yet were also prophetic of His own saving work.) The Sadducees also primarily believed in the validity of only the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch. In this passage, they therefore quote from Deuteronomy 25:5-6, a rule about Levirate marriage, a brother marrying a brother’s wife, if the brother died, to keep a family inheritance. If a woman married a man who had six brothers, and he and all the brothers died, who would this woman be married to in heaven, the Sadducees asked? (In reality, Levirate marriage was not considered a binding rule, and few ever followed it.) Jesus clearly affirms that there is a resurrection of the dead. People who are worthy of eternal life (through trust in Jesus and His gift of faith and His saving work for the world) will live in eternal life when they die, though they don’t marry and aren’t given in marriage in heaven. Such questions as the Sadducees raise are no longer a problem in heaven. Jesus then quotes from Exodus 3:15 and the story of the burning bush (a Scripture that the Sadducees should respect) to show that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive with God in heaven, even though they are dead. God is the God of the living, who live and die in Him. (Jesus could have quoted from other very clear passages about life after death,  like Daniel 12:1-3, Isaiah 26:19, and Job 19:25-27, etc., but the Sadducees would reject those passages, as not coming from the Pentateuch. The last verse of this Gospel text indicates that they still did not believe Jesus, but realized that they could not trap Him with foolish questions. There is life after death and resurrection from the dead, and Jesus would prove it by His own resurrection from the dead, as well as by events like His transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah appear alive with Him (Matthew 17:1ff).

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17. Paul writes to assure the believers at Thessalonica that Christ had not come back secretly on the Day of the Lord, and they had not missed Him. Other events must occur, including the rise of many false prophets and “a man of lawlessness who will lead many astray,” before the Last Day and the return of Christ. We do not know what all this means, but we must be on alert about false teachings and teachers who could even invade churches. Ultimately, Christ will defeat these and all enemies by “the breath of His mouth and bring them to nothing.” In the meantime, God’s people can thank the Lord that they have come to the true faith through the Holy Spirit and trust in Jesus alone as their Savior. We are to stand firm in the Word of God, spoken by and written down by Paul and others in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. (Paul uses the word “traditions,” but he clearly means what we find in these Scriptures, things “handed down” by these Biblical writers.) We are to check every teaching we hear against what the Scriptures say. God’s Word alone is our foundation, and we are to reject any later “traditions” we hear about that we cannot find in Scripture. The Scriptures keep our focus on the “eternal comfort and good hope” we have through the “grace” of God, which comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, God our Father, and the Holy Spirit. In the Scriptures, we find “every good work and the Word we need.” As Jesus said, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-36). In Christ is our hope in this life and for eternal life to come.