The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - January 14, 2024

This is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. The readings this week have to do with people being called by the Lord to serve Him. In the Old Testament lesson, 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20), Samuel was already serving the elderly priest, Eli, when the Lord called him to be His prophet. Samuel did not realize it was the Lord calling until Eli explained it to him. Eli and his family were to be replaced because of sinfulness. The Lord would now reveal His Word to Samuel, and it was his job to bring that Word to all of Israel.

In the psalm, Psalm 139:1-10, David also knows that he has been called to be King among his people. He knows that he cannot run away anywhere from the Lord and His Spirit, “holding” him and “leading” him in His ways. The Lord knows everything about him. To David this “knowledge” is “wonderful,” for even on the darkest of days there is still Light from the Lord.

In the Gospel lesson, John 1:43-51, Jesus is calling disciples to “follow” Him, including Philip. Philip tells Nathaniel that Jesus is the One of whom Moses and the prophets wrote. Nathaniel is skeptical, but Philip says, “Come and see.” Nathaniel comes and is quickly amazed at the “knowledge” Jesus has of him and calls Him "the Son of God” and “the King of Israel.” Jesus tells him he will know much more, and using an Old Testament story about Jacob (Genesis 28:12-17), Jesus says that He Himself, “the Son of Man,” is the ladder, the Way to heaven.

In the Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth that they, too, have a calling. They have been “bought with a price” - a great price, the sacrifice of Christ for them on the cross. “They and their “bodies” are not their own,” but they are “members of Christ” and their bodies are to be a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” who lives “within them.” Their bodies will one day be raised and changed for eternal life, even as Jesus was raised. They, and we, are called to use our bodies in “helpful” ways that please our Lord and not with “sexual immorality” or whatever we want to do. We can “glorify God even in our bodies,” as individuals and as a church, the body of Christ.

Bible Study - Psalm 139

The readings for worship this week have to do with people called by the Lord to serve Him. In Psalm 139: 1-12, David knows that he has been called to be King among his people. He knows that he cannot run away anywhere from the Lord and His Spirit, “holding” him and “leading” him in His ways. The Lord knows everything about him. That thought could be scary and cause him to be honest and confess his sins to the Lord, as he does in psalms like Psalm 51. In this psalm, though, the fact that God knows all about him is “wonderful,” for even on the darkest of days there is still Light from the Lord, and the Lord knows and cares about him.

In Psalm 139:13-16, David speaks of the fact that the Lord knew about him even while he was still in his mother’s womb, being “fearfully and wonderfully made,” as one of the Lord’s own “wonderful works.” (The psalms are poetry, and this is a very poetic picture of the creation of a child. Solomon speaks of the mystery of it all. In Ecclesiastes 11:5 he says, “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God Who makes everything.”)

We have many questions about all this because, in a very fallen, sinful world, things don’t always work in the womb in the way we wish or expect. We leave all these things in the Lord’s hands and trust Him. The Lord knows what will happen, as v.16 says, though this does not mean that everything in our life is predetermined. People can resist and reject the good and gracious will of God. This is one of the passages that causes us to be pro-life as a church. We cannot purposely take away life, for our own desires, that God had created. Every life is precious. (One of our other Bible readings this week is 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, which also reminds us that we are not our own. Even our bodies are not our own, to be done with as we please. That is certainly true of little children, too.)

In Psalm 139:17-18, David simply marvels at the precious thoughts of God, greater than he can count or comprehend. Whether he is asleep or awake, he is with the Lord and the Lord is with him. Maybe if we could all remember that, we would sleep better and more peacefully!

Psalm 139:19-22 sounds very harsh to our ears when we think of New Testament passages where Jesus talks about “loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us” (Matthew 5:44). Luther talked about “trying to put the best construction on everything” in dealing with others and explaining things in the kindest way. At the same time, there really is evil in the world and evil people, and Satan is a real and dangerous enemy. This passage reminds us of that reality also. David was a warrior king and fought against many enemies in trying to protect His country and his people. Goliath was no friend. There really is right and wrong in the world and in God’s standards for us. We cannot put a stamp of approval on what is evil or neglect to stand up for what is true. Christians are being killed in many places just for being Christians. Many hate the Lord and take His name in vain. The devil is deadly serious in fighting against us and our Lord. David knew these realities and spoke clearly of the battle we are also in and need to be in.

David ended Psalm 139 by asking the Lord, in v. 23-24, to keep searching him and knowing his heart, so that if there are “grievous ways” in him, he can realize them and repent and return to the Lord in a more faithful way. In spite of his faults and struggles, he prays that the Lord will keep teaching him “and lead him in the way everlasting.” As New Testament believers, we know that Jesus himself is finally "the way everlasting,” as we keep trusting Him and receiving His Word and seeking to share Him as Savior with as many as we can, so that others may know “the way everlasting too.”

Sermon for the Baptism of Jesus - January 7, 2024

Sermon for the Baptism of Jesus, based on:

Genesis 1:1-5

Romans 6:1-11

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon originally delivered January 8, 2012

Sermon for Epiphany - January 6, 2024

Sermon for Epiphany, based on Matthew 2:1-12

“Mystery Revealed: Good News to All in Christ”

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

The text for our meditation tonight is the Gospel Lesson, from Matthew 2:1-12. You are welcome to look at it with me, as it is printed in your bulletin.

The Epiphany story is both an ending and a beginning. It is an ending of the Christmas story, as the wise men finally reached the Christ-Child, Jesus. It is clear from this passage that it was some time after Jesus was born in Bethlehem that they came.

Nativity scenes often try to picture everything together, but Matthew clearly tells us,
inspired by God, that the wise men were led by the star to a house, where Jesus and Mary and Joseph had moved, by this time, in Bethlehem.

And who were these wise men? The word for them is “Magi,” a Persian word which means that they were not kings but advisors and representatives who helped kings and other leaders in the Babylonian Empire and later in the Medo-Persian Empire, far to the East of Israel. And how did they know about a star announcing a coming King?

God, in His wisdom, allowed the Babylonians to carry many of God’s people into captivity in Babylon, because of their own sins and rebellion against God. One of those captured Jews was a young man, Daniel, who was a faithful follower of the One True God, even in pagan Babylon. Most of us probably remember only one story about Daniel - how he was thrown into a lion’s den because he would not worship and pray to any kings or false gods (Daniel 6). God spared him and protected him from the lions, and he became a great advisor to leaders in Babylon and among the Medo-Persians who followed (Daniel 2:47-49, 5:11-12).

Daniel also wrote one of the Old Testament Scriptures, as a prophet of God, and in it, he is described as “chief” of these advisors, these Magi, the wise men of his time, but only by the power of God and His Word. For example, he did not follow astrology, as others did, because it was condemned in the Scriptures.

Daniel also had and used the other Old Testament Scriptures and knew of prophecies of a coming star and a kingly symbol, a scepter, connected with the land of Judah and a Ruler to be born there (Genesis 49:8-11, Numbers 24:16-19). Daniel even predicted, by God’s power, the coming of a Son of Man, a term Jesus often used for Himself when He came - a Son of Man who would have an everlasting kingdom, where “all peoples, nations, and languages” would be drawn to and “serve Him” (Daniel 7:13-14). Daniel would certainly have shared these Scriptures, the Word of God, with his fellow Magi, also, and he seems to have been influential among Medo-Persian leaders, who allowed Jews to go back to Jerusalem at last. And from that group of Jews, from the line of David, that promised Savior, our Lord Jesus, was finally born, of the virgin Mary, by the miracle of God.

Scholars think, then, that when the very unusual star appeared in the East, wise men, Magi from that time, still knew the Scriptures and promises, given long before, and some of them chose to follow the star and go to Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, to find this King. We don’t know, but maybe God gave them some direct revelation to help them, as well, as God at the end of this text warned them not to go back to King Herod.

These wise men clearly came in faith, trusting the promises of the Scriptures about this King. They were not Jews but came to worship this King of the Jews and called the star His star. The star seems to have disappeared at times, but they still came. And what joy they had when they were directed by the Scriptures to Bethlehem, and the star, clearly not a normal star, reappeared and led them directly to where the child Jesus and His mother were.

And notice that the wise men did not worship Mary, but only Jesus. And they gave gifts specifically for Jesus - gold, worthy of a King; and a kind of incense used for worship of God, since Jesus was God the Son who became man for us; and myrrh, like that used later on to anoint the body of Jesus after His crucifixion, and thus predicting His death on the cross to pay for our sins and their sins and the sins of the whole world.

These wise men went home, trusting that Jesus had come as a King and Savior not just for certain people or just for the Jews, but with Good News for everyone, including them. These wise men were, in fact, also fulfilling many prophecies, including our Old Testament lesson for tonight, where we hear that the Lord Himself would come, in Jesus, and people from other nations would come to His light and bring Him gold and frankincense and see that He was for them and for all people.

Contrast the wise men now with the current actual king of the Jews and the Jewish religious authorities when the wise men came. Remember that Jesus was born to bring Good News to all, but He could be resisted and rejected. Herod was the king and had been for more than 30 years, but was actually not even a Jew himself. He was an Edomite, and if you read Old Testament history, you find that Edomites usually hated Jews and were often creating trouble for them. Herod had been appointed as king not by Jews, but by the Roman government, and Herod was a clever and diabolical leader. He tried to keep the Roman authorities happy, above all, but also pleased many Jews and the Pharisees and others by remodeling the temple in Jerusalem, making it a magnificent place for worship. At the same time, he was very paranoid and cruel to anyone who seemed a threat to him.

Jewish historians said that Herod had murdered his wife, his three sons, other family members, and many others, because he feared that they were trying to overthrow him - and it was no surprise, then, that he later ordered the killing of all the babies and small children in Bethlehem to try to get rid of this supposed newborn king.

And what did the Jewish religious authorities do? Nothing, as far as we can tell. They did look at the Scriptures and saw that the promised Savior and King was to be born in Bethlehem, but there is no indication that any of them bothered to go to Bethlehem to see if what the wise men said was true, even though Bethlehem was only about six miles south of Jerusalem. They didn’t care and didn’t expect that the Messiah would care about these non-Jews, anyway. The Messiah would come only for His own people, many of them thought.

Jesus and His family were able to escape to Egypt and returned to Israel only after King Herod had died. As time went on, opposition to Jesus often came from these same religious authorities and those who came after them. Even Paul, who wrote our Epistle lesson for tonight, was anti-Jesus and persecuted Christians until the risen Lord Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and brought him to faith in Him.

Paul wrote in our Epistle lesson for tonight that this was all a great mystery to him, “not made known in other generations, as it had now been revealed in Christ. “This mystery is that (even) Gentiles (non-Jews) are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promises in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (Ephesians 3:3-6).

God’s Son was born into this world in love for us all (“God so loved the world” -John 3:16) and He lived a perfect life in place of us all, where we fail to do so. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for all of our sins, no matter who we are. And He rose in victory to give us all forgiveness and new life, through simple faith and trust in Him.

The wise men saw the star again and found Jesus and “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” in Him. We can have that same joy in our Savior, for Jesus cares about us all, too. But it is hard, at times, to see that. We live in such a troubled world, with personal and family problems and so many difficulties and conflicts all around us. We can get overwhelmed with all this - and forget the promises of Jesus.

But as I mentioned earlier, Epiphany is not just an ending of the Christmas story. It is also the beginning of a whole Epiphany season, six weeks where we see that in His own life and public ministry Jesus did care for all kinds of people with His Good News - and that means us, too.

Paul was converted to faith in Jesus, but he also had to spend time searching the Scriptures again and seeing that the promised Savior would come to help everyone. Paul still had plenty of problems in his life, but he could then go out in joy, sharing the Good News of Jesus with everyone he met.

The same is true for us. Let me give just one quick example, as I close. We heard Psalm 72 chanted so beautifully, a little while ago, in our service. It is also a prophecy about Jesus, “the royal Son” of God. He came not just for the high and mighty, like the “kings of Tarshish” who are mentioned. He cares also for “the cause of the poor” and “the needy” and for those “oppressed” by many things, as we often are. He came for “children,” as well as adults. In short, He came for each and for all of us. In Him and in the Epiphany Scriptures we will hear in coming weeks, we too can find peace and joy and hope in Him as this Epiphany season continues

Let us rise for prayer: Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they are safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)

Preparing for Worship - January 7, 2024

This Sunday is the First Sunday after the Epiphany, the Baptism of our Lord, and I will focus on those readings, here. 

The Old Testament lesson for the Baptism of Jesus is Genesis 1:1-5. In the beginning, there was only God - the Triune God, the Father, the Spirit, and according to John 1:1-3, God the Son, the Word, as well. God is the Creator of all things, including light, which was good and was separated from darkness, making both night and day, evening and morning, the first day. (This is why the Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and goes to sundown Saturday.) The Spirit of God was also hovering over the waters, at Creation, like a bird. Some Jewish rabbis pictured the Holy Spirit as a dove, because of this.

The psalm is Psalm 29, a psalm of David. David calls upon all, in heaven and on the earth, to give glory and worship to the Lord. Six times, the “voice of the Lord” is called “powerful” in what it can do. Three times the Lord is spoken of as “over many waters,” as he was at the Creation. He is “King forever” and gives “strength” and “peace” to His people.

The Gospel lesson is from Mark 1:4-11. In previous weeks, we have heard that John the Baptist was “a voice” preparing the way for the Lord Himself to come to His people, and calling people to a baptism of repentance and forgiveness. John could only baptize with water, but when Jesus came and was baptized, the Holy Spirit was very evidently at work, too. “The heavens” were “torn open” (see Isaiah 64:1), and the Spirit not only was over the waters but “descended on Jesus like a dove,” “anointing Him” for His saving work. (See Isaiah 61:1 and 42:1-2.) The “voice” of the Lord Himself also “came from heaven,” identifying Jesus as His “beloved Son,” with Whom He was “well pleased.” (See again Isaiah 42:1. God cannot say that He is pleased with any of us like that on our own.)

The Epistle lesson is from Romans 6:1-11. Through what Christ Jesus has done for us, and our connection with Him in our own baptism, we now receive the blessings earned for us by Him. Our old “body of sin,” “enslaved to sin,” died with Him, and we were raised to “newness of life.” So, we are to “consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus,” confident of our own “resurrection” on the last day. We still struggle with sin and seek daily to remember our baptism, in repentance, but sin does not need to “reign in our mortal bodies.”

Bible Study - Thoughts on Psalm 72

As I have mentioned already,  Epiphany is a day to remember the coming of the wise men to find the promised “King of the Jews.” It is likely that knowledge of several Old Testament Scriptures caused them to come looking for this King. One of those Scriptures is Psalm 72, a psalm “of Solomon.” This phrase can mean that this was a psalm written by King Solomon or a descriptive prayer on behalf of him as king, possibly by King David. Either way, this psalm goes far beyond what Solomon could ever do, and points to the coming Savior, our Lord Jesus, and His “everlasting kingdom.”

Verse 1 asks God to give “righteousness and justice” to His “royal son.” That is a wish for David and Solomon and all kings to follow in their line, but is ultimately fulfilled perfectly only as God’s own Son, Jesus, came into the world. Verses 2-4 indicate that this promised Son would deal justly with “the poor” and “defend their cause” and “deliver children of the needy” and speak against their “oppressors.” The same concern is expressed in verses 12-14 for the needy and the “weak” and “him who has no helper.”

Think of how Jesus welcomed little children and people with all kinds of needs. Terms are also used of “saving and redeeming their lives” because they are “precious in His sight.” This indicates the care, no matter who people are, for their physical lives, but also for their spiritual lives. Jesus is called the Savior and Redeemer, who shed His own blood so that all in the world could be forgiven and helped. Think of how the Sermon on the Mount begins in Matthew 5:3ff. Blessed are the spiritually poor, who know it and mourn over their sins and are meek before the Lord and hunger for God’s righteousness and mercy for them. Jesus gives such mercy and forgiveness.

This King can provide things that no earthly king can give, too: “rain and showers that water the earth” (Psalm 72, v. 6); “abundance of grain and fruit” and “people blossoming, even in cities,” “like grass in the field,” (v.16). (See again more words from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:43-46, calling us to love others, even our enemies, “as we are sons of our Heavenly Father, who makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Jesus, as God the Son, helps with all of this, too.

This King, Jesus, is also to be “feared,” honored, and respected “throughout all generations, as long as the sun and moon endure” (Psalm 72:5). His is an everlasting Kingdom, and “Blessed be His glorious Name forever” (v.19). In this world, “All kings should fall down before Him,” and “all nations serve Him” and “bring Him gifts,” including “gold” (v. 10, 11, 15). This is what began to happen when the wise men came to the child Jesus and “fell down and worshiped Him and gave Him gifts” (Matthew 2:11). Think of how many more people are now “blessed in Him” and “call Him blessed,” all over the earth (Psalm 72:17). They trust in Him as Lord and Savior and know that “He alone has done wondrous things” that rescue us eternally (v.18).

Obviously, people in this world can also resist and reject Jesus or totally misunderstand Him and His mission. Did you notice v. 8 of Psalm 72? We hear a version of this today, as some say “From the River to the sea, our people should be free.” And fighting and troubles continue, without peace. Only the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Lord Jesus, can settle all this when He returns on the last day. He will have dominion forever, in whatever our new eternal heavenly home will be. (See the promise in Philippians 2:9-11. The name of Jesus “will endure forever” (Psalm 72:17).)

Sermon for New Year’s Eve - December 31, 2023

Sermon for New Year's Eve, based on:

Isaiah 30:8-17

Romans 8:31-39

Luke 12:35-40 

Sermon originally delivered December 31, 2011

Preparing for Worship - December 31, 2023

This Sunday is the First Sunday after Christmas, and later in the day, it is also New Year’s Eve. I will give you only some notes on the morning worship for this day. (I’ll also give you a correction from last week. God’s “house” at the time of David was still a tent, the tabernacle, and not a “tension,” as my podcast mistakenly said.)

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 111, a great song of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for His “great works.” His “wondrous works” and “the power of His works” are mentioned in v. 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. He “commands His covenant” and “remembers” it. He is “gracious and merciful” and “sends redemption” to His people. “The beginning of wisdom” and “good understanding” is in “fear of the Lord,” honor and respect for His “holy and awesome Name” and His “faithfulness and uprightness.”

In Isaiah 61:10-62:3, the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah “greatly rejoices in the Lord” because He clothes people with “robes” of “salvation and righteousness.” In the future, “righteousness and salvation” shall “go forth” from Jerusalem “as a burning torch,” that other nations can see. God’s people will be “called by a new name” and will have a “crown” and “royalty” as they are in “the hand of the Lord.”

Paul speaks, in the Epistle lesson, Galatians 4:4-7, of that promised time, when God sent forth His Son, born of a woman (the Virgin Mary), to do the work of “redeeming” people (from their sins) so that they might be “adopted” as the children of God, as “the Holy Spirit is sent into their hearts” to enable them to call God their “dear Father” and trust in His Son and be “heirs” of eternal life. All this is through God and His work for them (and for us).

We see all of this beginning to happen in the Gospel lesson, Luke 2:22-40, as Jesus is brought into the temple as a young child, and a “devout” man, Simeon, sees Him and by the power of the Holy Spirit recognizes Him as the Savior, the Light (the burning torch) for Jews and Gentiles, for “all peoples.” Simeon predicts that people would either “rise or fall” in relationship with Jesus (trust Him or not trust Him), that Jesus would be “opposed,” and that He and His mother would have much sorrow (His suffering and death) before His work would be completed in “glory.”

A woman, Anna, led by God, also came at the same time and gave thanks to God for the coming of Jesus as Savior and went out to tell others who were also waiting for the “redeeming” work of God through Him. The fulfillment of God’s great work in Jesus was already beginning and people were already receiving the robe of righteousness and salvation He came to earn for them (and for us).

Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 7

Last week, we heard that Zephaniah 3:9-20 is predicting the Messianic age, when the Lord Himself would be with His people, in the midst of them (3:15), especially in the coming of His own Son into this world, with the conception and birth of Jesus, the “Mighty One Who will save” (3:17). Jesus would do His saving work, so that “the judgments against us” (3:15) for our sins, our “deeds by which we have rebelled against God,“ are taken away (3:11). In that day, worshippers would come from Cush (Ethiopia) and many other nations, for the Good News of Jesus is for “the peoples… that all of them may call upon the Lord” (3:9-10). “God so loved the world” (John 3:16), and Christ “gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

In His teaching and ministry, Jesus emphasized the same things predicted in Zephaniah 3, also. Jesus wished that people “would serve Him with one accord” (Zephaniah 3:9). See the prayer of Jesus in John 17:11, that His believers “may be one,” and the words of Paul in Ephesians 4:1-6, that believers “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” with “one body and one Spirit”… “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” This is spoken of throughout Ephesians 4, as well as the reality that “the visible church“ that we see is far from perfect because we struggle with sin and our sinful nature.

God also warned, through Zephaniah, “I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones,” who are all wrapped up in themselves instead of the Lord. The true unity is in what is sometimes called “the invisible church,” the true believers whom only God knows and sees, “the holy Christian church” of the creeds, all believers who are counted righteous by God’s grace through faith. “Abraham believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:3-8). “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16).

Zephaniah also called for humility in God’s people, instead of the pride warned about in 3:11. “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land… seek humility” (Zephaniah 2:3). And the Lord Himself said through Zephaniah, “You shall no longer be haughty… But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge” not in themselves but "in the Name of the Lord” (3:11-12). “I will gather those of you who mourn…” (3:18).

Think now about Jesus, early in His ministry, teaching in His Sermon on the Mount and beginning with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land” (Matthew 5:3-5). Later on, Jesus said, “Come to Me… and learn from Me… for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). And again Jesus said, “The greatest among you shall be your servant, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12). Jesus above all was that humble servant. He sacrificed His life for us and died for us so that He might save and forgive us. (See Philippians 2:1-11. Paul wanted the followers of Jesus “to be in full accord and of one mind”… not acting from “selfish ambition or conceit.” We don’t do that so well, but Jesus did it perfectly for us. He “emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant”… “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.”)

We could go on and on with parallels between what is predicted in Zephaniah and what Jesus did as “the mighty one who will save” (Zephaniah 3:17). He gathered so many people who were “outcasts” in their society (3:19), not just the Ethiopian we mentioned last week. Think of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7-9, 16-18, 27-27, 39-42). See John 15:1-2 - “tax collectors and sinners” - and Luke 18:9-14 and Luke 19:1-10. Jesus also healed the “lame” and so many others (Matthew 11:2-6) just as also predicted in Zephaniah 3:19. Jesus also “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). That includes you and me, too. We would be lost in our sins and failings without Jesus and what He did and still does for us (Romans 3:19-24).

When Jesus carried out His ministry, people noticed and used some of the same terms as predicted in Zephaniah, too. When Jesus met Nathaniel (John 1:47-50), He said that he was “an Israelite in whom there was no deceit,” as desired in Zephaniah 3:9 - “pure speech” and “speaks no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue” (Zephaniah 3:13). Nathaniel responds with exactly the title for Jesus, the promised Savior, that is used in Zephaniah 3:15: “You are the King of Israel.” When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, humbly, on a donkey, people also cried out the same, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel” (John 12:13,15). Those opposed to Jesus mocked Him, as He hung on the cross, but said, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:32). He was “the King of Israel,” but stayed on the cross to do His saving work.

Finally, note the great encouragement given because the Lord would be with His people, as described in Zephaniah. His “humble and lowly people” will be cared for like sheep with their Shepherd. “They shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid” (Zephaniah 3:13). Jesus is that Good Shepherd (John 10:1ff and especially v.14). The Lord also says, “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak” (Zephaniah 3:16). The New Testament tells us that the Heavenly Father is treating us as His children, through Christ our Savior. That means He can sometimes discipline us for our good because He cares for us. (See Hebrews 12:3-13, and the words very similar to Zephaniah 3:16 in Hebrews 12:12-13: “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” And in Christ and His blood shed for us on the cross, we will come to the “heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22-24).

Listen, in closing, to the amazing care of the Lord, fulfilled in the Lord Jesus and His love and care for us as His children, described so beautifully in Zephaniah 3:17:  Your Savior “will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” We in turn, also, “sing aloud” and “shout” and “rejoice and exult with all our heart” (Zephaniah 3:14) that “the Lord our God did come into our midst” (Zephaniah  3:15,17), as we celebrate Jesus’ Christmas birth and all He did for us as our Savior and His continuing presence and help as our Risen Lord, alive forever for us, His children.

Sermon for Christmas Day - December 25, 2023

Sermon for Christmas Day, based on:

Isaiah 9:2-7

Titus 3:4-8

Luke 2:1-14      

Sermon originally delivered December 25, 2011