The lutheransermons's Podcast

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

Preparing for Worship - December 24, 2023

I am discovering that some churches are canceling their Sunday morning services on December 24 because it is Christmas Eve, as well as the 4th Sunday in Advent, and there are many services later in the day. The readings for the morning are important for us, though, as a final preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth later on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I’ll just take us through those readings in what I write here.

The Old Testament lesson is from 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16. David lived in “a house of cedar” as King, an indication of his wealth and beautiful home. In contrast, God’s house, the tabernacle, was still a tension. David wanted to build a better “house” for the Lord. Nathan agrees until the Lord appears to him and tells him to tell David not to build a house for Him. A son of David would build a house, and from that line of David, the Lord promises an everlasting kingdom.

The psalm is Psalm 89: 1-5, (19-29). The psalmist remembers the covenant made with His “Chosen One” from the line of King David. The Lord has “steadfast love” and “faithfulness,” and “in the heavens He will establish His faithfulness,” for “His offspring (singular) forever,” a reference to Jesus. He will be “the Firstborn,” the Highest, and in the Lord’s Name, His horn, (His strength) shall be exalted, and he will know “His Father, the Rock of Salvation, and will have a “throne” forever.

The One who will have this everlasting kingdom is clearly identified in the Gospel lesson, Luke 1:26-38, by the “angel Gabriel,” who announces the “virgin birth” of Jesus, through Mary. Mary is a "favored one, for she will conceive and bear a Son, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The really important One is Jesus, though, for “He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High.” "He will receive the promised throne of His father David," and “he will reign forever” and "of His kingdom there will be no end.” All this can happen, “for nothing will be impossible with God.” Mary “serves the Lord” by simply “trusting His Word.”

The Epistle lesson is from Romans 16:25-27. Paul assures believers that the “eternal God” will strengthen them (and us) with the “Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ,” and the “prophetic writings” of the Scriptures, and “bring about” in us “the obedience of faith” in the “mystery” of God’s saving plan for us “through Jesus Christ.”

All the other things we hear of and celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the fulfillment of these Scriptures and as Mark says, “The beginning of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).

Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 6

Last week, we heard many more warnings and judgments against Cush (Lower Egypt and Ethiopia, Zephaniah 2:12), against Assyria and its great city, Nineveh (2:13-15), against Judah and Jerusalem, again (3:1-5), and against all the evil of the whole earth, on the last day (3:6-8), until “all the earth shall be consumed.”

Then, at last, come more words of comfort and hope and even rejoicing, as the Lord Himself will bring change, as He announces through Zephaniah. (In a way, this parallels what we have been hearing in the Advent season in our churches. John the Baptist and others have been calling people to repentance and confession of sins because everyone needs forgiveness of sins. Then comes the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Rejoicing Sunday. As Psalm 126 says, people have been crying out, “Restore our fortunes, O Lord,” and the Lord acts and “has done great things for us,” in His rescue of us, especially in Jesus Christ. Then, “We are glad!” “Our mouths are filled with laughter and shouts of joy,” even though there are still times of challenge and “weeping and tears.”)

In Zephaniah 3:9 we hear God’s promise that He will act and “will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord.” Obviously, only in eternal life, in the New Jerusalem of heaven, will there be only believers. But this is speaking of a time when, as 3:15 says, “the King of Israel, the Lord” Himself “is in your midst.” This is repeated in 3:17: “The Lord your God is in your midst,” with the addition, “a Mighty One who will save.” This is clearly referring to the Messianic age, when Jesus, God’s Son, came into the world to be the Savior of the world, Jews and non-Jews. The phrases are used again and again- “at that time” and “on that day.” (See 3:9, 3:11, 3:18, 3:19, 3:20.)

Jesus came to bring in the new Israel, “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16, 3:14,3:26-29), what we now call the Christian church. It is the Lord God Himself who “will bring people in, at the time He gathers His people together,” and He “will make them renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth” (3:20). This is especially the work of God the Holy Spirit, the New Testament reveals, as He works through God’s Word and the Sacraments to bring people from all nations to saving faith in Jesus.

Think about the Pentecost story in Acts 2, when people from many nations were brought to faith in Christ and baptism. See the story in Acts. 8:26-39, in fulfillment of Zephaniah 3:10, where a man from Cush (Ethiopia) is brought to faith in Jesus. An angel and “the Spirit” led Philip to reach out to him through the Scriptures and Baptism, and He was brought into the Christian faith. This man was a eunuch, a man castrated because of his position of service to the Queen of Ethiopia. That would have made him an outcast among the Jews, limited in what he could do, even as a follower of Judaism. But again, in the Messianic age, the Lord says through Zephaniah in 3:19, “I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise.” (I have also mentioned in previous studies that even though judgment would fall upon the Cushites in Zephaniah 2:12 for their many sins, there was still hope, in the coming of Jesus as Savior - and today, there are millions of Lutherans in Ethiopia, more than in the United States.)

With the coming of Christ and the Messianic age, there will be, above all, a clear proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, because of the saving work of Jesus and His dying on the cross in payment for the sins of the world. In Zephaniah 3:11, God says, “On that day, you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against Me.” And in 3:15 we hear, “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you.” What good news (Gospel) that was and still is! Whatever our sins and failures in the past, there is full and free forgiveness for us in Jesus and what He has done for us, through being brought to faith in Him, through the Word of God and our own Baptism. “The restores our fortunes, too, before our eyes” (Zephaniah 3:20).

I will stop here, as there is much more Good News in this prophecy of Zephaniah and how it directly relates to Jesus that we still have not looked at. The Lord’s continued blessings. If you are reading this just before Christmas, remember the many promises fulfilled in Jesus in the Christmas story, too. Best wishes in Christ.

Preparing for Worship - December 17, 2023

As we continue the Advent season, we hear more of the joy that comes to people as the promise of the Savior is fulfilled. The Psalm is Psalm 126, a “song” of “joy” and “laughter” as the “dream” came true, and God’s people, captive in Babylon, were set free and allowed to return to the land of Israel. Their “tears” were turned into “shouts of joy,” as at the time of a great harvest, or when rains came and “streams” appeared in a “dry” land. These words were a “song” as God’s people went up to Jerusalem, in later times, expecting that God would do an even “greater thing” with the coming of the Savior.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, and speaks of what would happen when “the Anointed One,” the Christ, would come in the power of “the Spirit of the Lord.” There would be “Good News” and “comfort” and “gladness” and “liberty” that the Lord would bring in His coming, with a new and “everlasting covenant.” His people would receive a “robe of righteousness” and “salvation” and would be a witness among “the nations” and “the peoples.”. (Jesus quotes from this passage in Luke 4:17-21 and says that He is is the Fulfillment of this Scripture.)

John the Baptist also “witnesses” to this truth in the Gospel lesson, John 1:6-8,19-28. He makes it very clear that he is not “the Light” sent from God, “the Christ,” but is only" a voice making a straight way for the Lord.” He speaks of One already “standing among them.” The very next day, John 1:29, John identifies Jesus as the One, “the Lamb of God, who takes away” the greatest problem, “the sin of the world.”

In the Epistle lesson, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, Paul calls upon those who have been brought to faith in Christ Jesus to “rejoice always” and “give thanks in all circumstances,” because “the Lord is faithful” and He will “sanctify” them “completely” and “keep them blameless” at the return of Christ. This is “the will of God in Christ Jesus” for them (and for us, as we receive the credit for all that Jesus did perfectly for us as our Savior.) In the meantime, we “test everything” according to the Word of God and seek to “hold fast to what is good” and “abstain from evil.”