The lutheransermons's Podcast

Sermon from April 30, 2025

Epistle - 2nd Sunday of Easter

Revelation 1:9-18

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).

Our text for today is a part of the Epistle lesson from this past Sunday, April 27, 2025. We often tend to avoid the Book of Revelation because it is not an easy book, and it has challenging things to hear and understand. Yet it also has encouraging and comforting things to say to us as God’s people. I will read just a few verses at a time and then talk about them

Revelation 1:9-11: “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the Kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’”

John says that he was “in the Spirit,” being led by God’s Holy Spirit, on the “Lord’s” day, a Sunday, because Christians were moving away from the old Jewish sabbath day, Saturday, and focusing on the day of Christ’s resurrection, a Sunday. In those days, trumpets were not so much musical instruments, but a way of making a loud noise to get people’s attention. The loud voice, like a trumpet, told John, “Write what you see in a book, and send it to the seven churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor (now modern-day Turkey), beginning with Ephesus. John had been the chief pastor and leader of these and other churches and Christian people for many years. But he does not put himself way above them, but says that he is their brother and partner in three ways.

They are all part of the Kingdom of God, first and foremost, by the grace of God and by the gift of faith in God’s Son, Jesus, as their Savior and King, with the promise of eternal life. At the same time, that did not exempt them from the second thing they had in common with John, tribulation in this life, in this very troubled, sinful world.

In fact, as John wrote this Book of Revelation, the last book of Scripture written, in the 90s AD, persecution of Christians was increasing under the Roman Emperor, Domitian, who reigned from 81-96 AD. Domitian strongly pushed the idea that as Emperor, he should be worshiped  - and worshiped as Lord and God. Christians, however, would call no one Lord but the Risen Lord Jesus, to the glory of God the Father and in the power of God the Holy Spirit, as the one true Triune God. Refusal to call the Emperor “Lord and God” could put people under the penalty of death. John himself says that he had been exiled to the island of Patmos, a tiny island (10 miles by 6 miles) off the coast of Asia Minor, away from these seven churches. Close by was another island, Miletus, where many more “disturbers of the Roman peace” - enemies of Rome - were banished. John was on Patmos simply because he preached the Word of God and testified about Jesus alone as Lord to others. He says that he needed the “patient endurance” that is in Jesus and trust in Him as the true Savior and Lord, above all. The need for “patient endurance” is the third similarity to the churches to whom he writes.

We do not have such persecution in this country, but there is still much opposition and indifference to Christ and what the Scriptures teach. There are countries like Nigeria, where thousands of Christians have been killed and their lands stolen in recent years. And there are places where you could be imprisoned just for telling others about Jesus in your own home, still today. We have many joys as Christians, but we all face tribulations of other kinds, too - physical problems and illnesses, family and job troubles, the death of loved ones, worries of many kinds, and on and on. What was John to write to help fellow Christians, including us, to have patient endurance, in these times of difficulties?

As the Revelation passage goes on, John writes (Revelation 1:12-16): “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, One like a Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around His chest. The hairs of His head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a fire, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

John is seeing and hearing the voice and presence of God the Son, Jesus, who is often called “The Son of Man,” as a true man here on earth, while still being God. We hear, week after week, of Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” who suffered and died on the cross to take away the sin of the world. But here is a picture of a Lamb who was slain, who has begun His reign again in glory and heavenly power, as our Risen Lord. We can’t talk about it all in one sermon, but if you have a Bible with cross references to other Scriptures, look them up, and you will discover these are Old Testament pictures and prophecies, especially from the Book of Daniel, of God the Father, called “the Ancient of Days,” who always existed, combined with pictures of God the Son, the Son of Man, doing His saving work and then returning to God the Father in glory, in what we now call His Resurrection and Ascension. It is the story of the Triune God at work for us and our good and salvation (Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 10:4-8, 18-19, etc.).

Let Scripture interpret Scripture. Jesus does not literally have a sharp, two-edged sword in His mouth, but His Word has great power and blessing for us, as both the Law that shows us our sins, but also the Gospel that shows us our Savior and His love and forgiveness for us. As Hebrews 4:12 says: “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” and works in our lives, still today, as we read and listen to it, through the Holy Spirit. And even in His public ministry, there were glimpses of Jesus and His glory, as His appearance dazzled like the sun on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3). This tells us to look for other “picture images” in Revelation. Not everything is to be taken literally, but guided by other Scriptures.

And the risen, glorious Lord pictured here said after His resurrection, “All power, all authority, in heaven and on earth has been given to Me,” and “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Here was the help John was to write about to the churches to give them strength and patient endurance in Christ in the troubles and tribulations that they and we have to face in our lives, at times.

John himself had recorded these words of Jesus earlier in his Gospel, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” And Jesus had added these words, “I am not alone, for the Father is with Me” (John 16:32-33). Jesus, as true man, had His own troubles and tribulations in this world, many of them, and He had to trust His Heavenly Father’s presence and strength to help Him through, as we now trust the Triune God, including Jesus’ saving work.

John knew all this, but we read, as our text goes on (Revelation 1:17), “When I, John, saw Him, the glorified Jesus, I fell at His feet as though dead.” This often happened to people when they saw God in His glory. John, too, when he saw the glorious, victorious Jesus, was even more conscious of his own sins and weaknesses. He didn’t even deserve to stand before Jesus.

And when we’re honest, we know our own sins and weaknesses before the Lord, too, don’t we? We don’t deserve His mercy. And sometimes physical and emotional problems and the struggles of this life knock us down as well. The Christian churches in Asia Minor were experiencing such things, too.

How does Jesus respond to John, fallen down before Him? John writes (Revelation 1:17-18): “But Jesus laid His right hand (His hand of power and authority) on me, saying, ‘Fear not!’ How often did Jesus say these same words - to the frightened disciples on Easter evening, behind locked doors, to doubting Thomas, the next Sunday, and on and on, to us still today. Jesus said to John, “Fear not! I am the First and the Last (the living eternal God), and I am true man, the living One. I died (for your sins) and (I rose) and I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.” I am alive and can help you through this life, and even in death, to eternal life in heaven one day.

And right after our text, Jesus said to John, in effect, "Get busy now!": “Write therefore the things you have seen, those things that are and those that are to take place” (Revelation 1:19) Write down everything I tell you, for you and the churches in Asia Minor need this comforting message in hard times coming, and future churches will need this, too, (as we do, still today).

There are mysteries in the Book of Revelation, Jesus adds, and some things are hard to understand. (He shows that by explaining in Revelation 1:20 that the stars in His hand (v.16) represent angels (messengers) sent to the churches, and the lampstands represent the churches themselves. Watch for such picture images in Revelation.) But above all, hear that Christ is Risen indeed and is “alive forevermore” and can and does come to us personally through His Word and in the Lord’s Supper we soon receive, as He has come to us in our baptism. And He can and will help us through the days ahead and for eternal life to come. There is our hope and confidence. Amen.    

Preparing for Worship - Sunday, May 11, 2025

This 4th Sunday of the Easter season is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, with a focus on our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. The psalm is Psalm 23, a psalm of David familiar to many. Even David, as King, was a sheep and needed a Shepherd to lead and guide him and provide for his physical and spiritual needs. That is what his Lord did, with green pastures and still waters, and care for his soul. The Lord was with him, seeking to lead him in righteous ways and helping him through dangerous times in the shadow of evil and death. Even in the presence of enemies and in the midst of his own sins and failures, at times, the Lord showed him goodness and mercy, with forgiveness, all his life, and pursued him and finally brought him to perfect peace and joy in the house of the Lord in eternal life forever.

Jesus, of course, was the ultimate Good Shepherd, the Heavenly Father’s Son, who came into this world as a true man to accomplish the saving work for David and for us all. The Gospel lesson is from John 10:22-30. Jesus was in Jerusalem at the temple during the Feast of Dedication, a winter Jewish festival (Hanukkah), remembering how the evil Greek leader, Antiochus Epiphanes, was stopped from desecrating the temple and overthrown, and Jews regained freedom in Israel for a period of time under the Maccabees. At this festival, Jews asked Jesus to tell them if He really was the promised Christ, the Messiah. Jesus said that He had already told them who He was, but they would not believe because they were not His sheep, following Him. Jesus calls people to be His sheep, through His Word and work, and He knows them and brings them to hear His voice and believe and follow Him. He is one with God the Father and gives His sheep the gift of eternal life, and no one can snatch such people from His hands. (People can resist and reject Him, though, refusing to be drawn into His hands and flock, as many Jews did, or can drift away from Jesus and His Word, and go on their own, to their sorrow. Jesus will not let this happen easily, though, for believers. He guards and protects His flock.)

In the Acts 20:17-35 reading, from the history of the New Testament church, Paul meets with the elders (pastoral leaders of the church at Ephesus) and reminds them of how he had faithfully sought to teach them the whole counsel of God, whatever was profitable for them, and especially the Gospel of the grace of God, bringing people to repentance for sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was revealing to Paul, though, that imprisonment and afflictions were coming for Him and that he might not see these leaders again. He calls these pastors to pay careful attention to themselves and their faith, and to the flock, the people bought by the blood of Christ, over whom they are shepherds. He warns, with tears, of fierce wolves, men speaking twisted things, and seeking to attack the flock and draw people away from the truth. Paul commends these leaders to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build them up and give to them and their believers, their flock, the eternal inheritance prepared for them. This means hard work in very challenging situations, not for personal gain, and Paul gives himself as an example of one who knew the Words of Jesus that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” in helping the weak and struggling sheep entrusted to them.

The Lord Jesus, the Lamb who was sacrificed for His sheep and washed them clean by His blood, shed for them, will be the Key for His people, His sheep. In Revelation 7:9-17, John sees a vision of an innumerable multitude of believers from every tribe and nation, in heaven, crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” who deserves all glory and honor and praise and much more. Some may even die for the faith, in the tribulations of this life, but all believers will be with the Lord forever in His temple, His holy of holies, in His presence, praising and serving Him. There will be no more hunger or thirst or tears or scorching heat, but springs of living water, provided by their Lamb, their Living Lord and Good Shepherd.

What an amazing future is ahead for us in eternal life in heaven, in the whole new existence the Lord has for us. This gives us great hope and patient endurance in the tribulations we face in this life, along with the blessings and joys God already gives us here, in Christ and His Word and Sacraments, which sustain us.

Preparing for Worship - April 27, 2025

The Easter celebration goes on for seven weeks, as we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and what that means for us. The Psalm for this week is Psalm 148, a great song of praise to the Lord. Everyone and everything everywhere is called to join in this praise, beginning with the angels and all in heaven and the sun and moon and stars and all the clouds from which the rain comes, who are all created by the Lord. All on earth are to join in this praise, as well, on the land and the sea and all the creatures and living things who dwell here. All people, high and lowly, young and old, are to praise the Lord, too. Even the seasons, with their variety and storms and wind, fulfill the Word and will of God and show His power and control. He and His majesty alone are to be exalted, and most especially because He has raised up a “Horn” for His saints, His believing people near to Him. (Animals with horns and heads held high represented strength and victory for Old Testament people.)  How did this happen? It is referring to the coming of the Savior Jesus. See Luke 1:67-79, where Zechariah, through the Holy Spirit, prophesied of the Lord Himself visiting and redeeming His people by raising up “a Horn of Salvation” from the house of David. Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist, would prepare His way, and then Jesus would come, as the “Sunrise” and “Light for us sitting in the darkness of sin and death” and to bring us into “the way of peace.” Jesus would bring the knowledge of and accomplish salvation for His people, in the forgiveness of their sins.

The certainty of that forgiveness, life, and peace was proclaimed through the resurrection of Jesus, after He had completed His work of forgiving our sins on the cross. The Gospel lesson is John 20:19-31. The disciples had lost hope and were full of fear, when the Lord Jesus appeared to them on Easter evening and the next weekend and many other times. It was Jesus, with the marks of the nails and spear in Him, yet with a resurrected and glorified body, which could appear and disappear and go through locked doors, and yet be seen and touched. He gave his disciples of His Holy Spirit, that they might believe and began to prepare them to be sent out into the world, sharing the forgiveness of sins that Jesus had won for them and for the world. The disciple, Thomas, was not there and refused to believe until Jesus also appeared to him. Brought to faith, Thomas proclaimed the truth about Jesus: “My Lord and My God.” That’s who Jesus was! The apostle John, who wrote this Gospel, added the Words of Jesus for future generations, including us, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed“ through the eyewitness testimony of these early believers who saw the risen Lord alive. John says that he writes this Gospel for this very reason: “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you may have life in His Name.” John proclaimed this same truth in Jesus in all His letters and other writings. (See the quotation from Jesus in John 5:24 and what John clearly says in 1 John 5:9-13, for example.)

Peter and the other disciples proclaimed the same truth and hope in Jesus in Acts 5:12-20 (21-32). After initial doubts and fears, they boldly proclaimed the Risen Lord Jesus as Savior. More people came to faith as the Holy Spirit worked through the Good News of Christ they proclaimed, and people were helped and healed by God’s power, in Christ. The Jewish religious leaders, and particularly the Sadducees, who denied that there ever would be resurrection and life after death (see Luke 20:27), were very upset and jealous and had these disciples arrested and thrown in prison. An angel of the Lord opened the prison doors for them, though, and sent them back to the temple to keep speaking “all these words of Life” in Jesus to the people. The religious leaders were very surprised and perplexed when Jesus’ disciples were not in prison, but in the temple again, and they had them brought again, without force this time, to them to be questioned. They reminded the disciples that they were “strictly charged not to teach in the name of Jesus.” Jesus was the real problem for them! Peter and the other apostles answered, “We must obey God and not men.” In Greek, the word for “obey” combines two words: to obey someone in authority. (See how the same word is used in Titus 3:1, where we are called to be submissive and obedient to rulers and authorities, and in Acts 27:21, where Paul says, “You should have listened to me" (as an authority on this subject). God is our ultimate authority, and in v. 31, Jesus is called not only our Savior but our Leader, our Authority, in giving us both repentance and forgiveness of our sins, by which we are saved. Peter also brings in the importance of the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word to bring us to faith and keeps us in faith. Peter says what Jesus says in John 15:26-27: “When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me; and you also are witnesses because you have been with Me from the beginning.” See also the emphasis on the Holy Spirit, together with the Father and our Lord Jesus, in John 7:39 and Acts 11:15-18. It is ultimately God who saves by His grace. We do not save ourselves by our decisions and efforts. To God be the praise and glory, as the psalm for today said!

We hear from the apostle John one more time in the reading from Revelation 1:4-18. John was exiled by the Romans to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. He had worked with churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor (part of what is now modern-day Turkey). The Lord instructs John to write to seven specific churches there, representing all churches. John begins this message with a blessing of grace and peace from the Triune God: the eternal Father, “who is and was and is to come,” and God the Son, Jesus Christ, firstborn from the dead by His mighty resurrection and now living and reigning over all, and God the Holy Spirit, described here and in Isaiah 11:2 as the sevenfold Spirit at work in the seven churches to whom John writes. John focuses then on the saving work of Jesus, who “loved us enough to free us from our sins by His blood” and made all believers part of His kingdom and “priests” before Him. (See 1 Peter 2:9-10, for example.) To God be the glory for all this, now and when Jesus comes again with the clouds on the last day, and all will see Him, and some to their sorrow for rejecting Him. This one true God is the Beginning and the End, represented by the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, “the Alpha and the Omega.” (The same is said of Jesus in v. 17-18, though as a true man, as well as God, He lived and died and rose again to life forevermore, with victory over death and the grave and hell.

In Revelation 1:9, John reminds the churches to whom he writes that he is with them in living in tribulation because of believing in and sharing the Word of God and the Good News of Jesus. Yet he is still part of Christ’s kingdom, and was called to write to the seven churches identified in v.11. He was called to write by Jesus Himself, now in glory in heaven and pictured in an amazing way, which combines pictures of God the Father, the “Ancient of Days,” and God the Son, “the Son of Man,” described in Daniel 7:9-14 and 10:5-19, etc. (This is a highly symbolic picture, which indicates from the start that much of Revelation uses such symbolic images. If you look at Revelation 1:12, 16, and then look at v.20, you’ll see that the stars and lamp stands represent angels and the seven churches. Jesus does not literally have a two-edged sword in His mouth, but His Word has great power, as pictured in Hebrews 4:12.)

All this is to say that Jesus instructed John to write the letters to the churches and the entire Book of Revelation to give them the Law, warning about sin, but above all, the Gospel, in Jesus and His saving work and victory for them, in a time of tribulation and difficulty. Much more could be said, obviously, but this could be summarized in the Words of Jesus, recorded also by John, in passages like John 16:20-22 and 16:33: “I have said these things to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We are called, still today, to hear the Words of Revelation 1:17, when we sometimes feel like John and fall down as though dead, overwhelmed by the troubles and difficulties of this life. “Fear not,” says Jesus, as He points us to His Words and promises and His love and His victory already won for us for life and hope now and in eternal life to come in heaven.

Preparing for Worship - May 20, 2025

The Psalm for Easter Sunday is Psalm 16. David prays that the Lord would preserve him, as He has blessed him so richly in the past, even in very difficult times. David knows that all “good” comes from the Lord for him and for all “the saints,” the believers, in his land. (See John 3:27 and James 1:17, too.) David calls the Lord his “Chosen portion,” his “Cup,” his ‘lot’ in life, and “a beautiful inheritance” for his future. The Lord continues to give him “counsel” and “instruction” through His Word and “is at his right hand,” giving him stability in this life and the promise of joy and blessings in His “presence forevermore” in heaven. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 and 23-24, and 2 Timothy 1:9-10 for these same promises for us in Christ our Savior.) Some of what David says, though, is really prophetic of and happened only with Christ Jesus Himself. Only Jesus was the truly “Holy One" who was without sin and died for our sins. When He died, His body did not see corruption, but He was raised from the dead on the third day and provided “the path of life,” eternal life, through the gift of faith in Him. (This psalm is quoted by both Peter in Acts 2:23-32 and Paul in Acts 13:34-39.) David died, and his body saw corruption, but Jesus’ body did not. Christ’s death and resurrection for us ensure that we will have eternal life, too, through Him. Therefore, with David, “our heart is glad, and our whole being rejoices” in the Lord.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 65:17-25. God Himself tells, through Isaiah, that He will one day “create new heavens and a new earth.” A whole new existence in which we can rejoice forever in our Lord in “gladness and joy.” It is the opposite of the time of curses and judgment for nations and people because of sin and rebellion against the Lord and His will and rejection of Him. (See the warnings to Syria and Babylon, for example, in Jeremiah 49:16 and 51:53 and even to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 28:15ff. and 25ff.) In that new existence, there will be no more weeping and distress. Strong picture images are given of the wolf and the lamb and the lion being together and not hurting or destroying and of people no longer “laboring in vain.” With the coming of Christ and the New Testament, we will hear of “death itself being swallowed up in the victory of Christ” in His resurrection and all other evil banished in eternal life with our Lord.

That victory is seen in the Gospel lesson in Luke 24:1-12 when women who had followed Jesus (see Luke 8:1-3 and 23:55-56 and John 19:25) came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus and found the stone rolled away and Jesus’ body gone. Angels appear to them “in dazzling apparel” and tell them that Jesus had risen from the dead, just as he had earlier predicted both His death and resurrection that had to happen to complete His saving work for the world. The women then remember these Words of Jesus but don’t immediately understand. They tell Peter and the other apostles what they have seen and heard, but these words sound like “an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” Peter himself does go to the tomb to check things out and finds the tomb empty and finds the linen cloths that Jesus was wrapped in, by themselves. He marvels at all this but does not understand. Dealing with so much sin and evil and death in this life, and knowing that Jesus had been crucified and died, none could easily believe until the risen Lord Jesus began to appear directly to them. (The angels were correct in telling the women that Jesus had predicted all of this. See Luke 9:22,24 and Matthew 16:21 and 17:22-24 and Mark 8:31 and 9:30-31.)

In the Epistle, in the great Resurrection Chapter of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul strongly affirms and defends the reality of the resurrection because the risen Lord Jesus had appeared to him and many others. He knew it was true (1 Cor. 15:1-11). Some churches may use 15:19-26, which affirms “the fact” of the resurrection, but we heard these words earlier during Epiphany, on February 23. You can read comments about those verses there in my podcast. We’ll look at the alternate reading, 1 Cor. 15:50-57. Paul begins by saying that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” - the human, natural flesh and blood we all have and are born with. When Jesus was raised on Easter, the third day, His body and not just His spirit was raised, but it was changed and glorified. He could appear and disappear and go through walls, etc. His perishable body could not inherit what is imperishable in eternal life. When we die, our soul will go to be with Christ in eternal life in heaven. (See passages like Romans 6:23, Acts 7:59, Philippians 1:23, Luke 23:42-43 and 46, Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, Philippians 3:19-21, 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, etc.) When Christ returns on the last day, the dead shall be raised at the last trumpet (v.52 and Matthew 24:31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16). The bodies of all believers will be raised and changed and glorified and become imperishable and immortal, even as Jesus’ body became when He rose. Paul refers to Old Testament passages, Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14, when writing of this. We thank God, together with Paul, for giving us eternal life, which he says is an “inheritance,” a gift of God by His grace through the gift of faith when we die, and we thank Him for the gift of our changed, glorious resurrection body coming on the last day. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 5:9-12 for another discussion of the same and our always living with Christ.)

One last comment. Paul ends this resurrection discussion by reminding us to be steadfast in faith and abounding in the work of the Lord, for “in the Lord our labor is not in vain.” That was one of the promises for the time of the new heavens and new earth to come (Isaiah 65:58). With Christ and the Holy Spirit in and with us, even in this life, our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Whether we see results or not, God is working for good for us and for one another, too, as we seek to follow Him and His Word. Paul reminds us that we “shine as lights” in a “crooked and twisted generation” when we “hold fast to the Word of Life.” In that way, through the Word Paul shared with us, his own labor and ours are not in vain (Philippians 2:15-16)!

Preparing for Worship - April 13, 2025

The Old Testament lesson is Deuteronomy 32:36-39. Even Moses must speak God’s Word, warning of judgment coming even for God’s chosen people when they are trusting in false gods, who can provide them no help or protection, or in themselves and their supposed goodness. It is the same warning we heard Jesus give His own people in the parable of the evil tenants in the vineyard last week (Luke 20:9-20). There is no god but the One true Triune God, Who can both kill and make alive.

Amazingly, we hear in the Epistle lesson, Philippians 2:5-11, that God the Son was willing to “empty Himself” and become a true man, sent from His Heavenly Father, a servant who gave his life on the cross to pay for the sins of his own people and the whole world. He was killed and made alive for us. Some of that suffering and rejection of Jesus is predicted in Psalm 31:9-16, with His sorrow and grief, as His enemies and persecutors plotted to take His life. Yet Jesus entrusted Himself into His Father’s hands and knew that the Father and the Holy Spirit would save Him, with everlasting love, in His Easter resurrection. That victory is described in Philippians 2:9-11, as Jesus is raised from the dead and exalted to heaven again. On the last day, everyone will have to recognize that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, and by the Spirit of God (Philippians 3:3).

The Passion readings (the shorter versions in Luke 23:1-56 and John 12:20-43 and the longer version in Luke 22:1-23:56) tell us of the road of Jesus to the cross. The suffering and punishment we deserve, Jesus took upon Himself, in our place, in His saving work. (We heard that described a few weeks ago in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, especially in v. 21: “For our sake, God made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God,” forgiven and counted righteous through Jesus. See the sermon from March 30, 2025.) Just read through as much as you can of this Passion History, and if you are able, attend special Holy Week services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and maybe an Easter vigil on Saturday for more detail on all this.

Some churches will also have a Palm Sunday processional or Palm Sunday emphasis, with the reading of John 12:12-19, as Jesus came into Jerusalem, with people carrying palm branches and saying, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” Some of the crowd had heard of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and wanted to see Him. This Palm Sunday event was in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 35:4 and 40:9, and Zephaniah 3:14ff. Though it was a glorious day, Jesus came to Jerusalem humbly, riding on a donkey, and words of praise did not last long. The Pharisees and other religious  leaders were even more eager to get rid of Jesus, and by Good Friday, they had stirred people up to cry out: “Crucify Jesus!” Our own sins also helped send Him there. (Look also at Psalm 118:19-29, an alternative Psalm for this day, which is prophetic of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, with some of the words used to describe Him that day. Jesus came through the gate of Jerusalem as the true Gate through whom people will enter for salvation. He is the Stone on which salvation is built, the Cornerstone, though many people would reject Him. All of Holy Week is a time to give thanks for the Lord, for He is good, and His steadfast love shines upon us so clearly in Jesus and what he does for us. “This is the Lord’s doing,” from beginning to end, and “it is marvelous in our eyes,” as we see again what our Triune God has done for us, in and through Christ, for our eternal life and salvation.

Preparing for Worship - April 6, 2025

The Old Testament lesson for this 5th Sunday of Lent, Isaiah 43:16-21, speaks of God’s mercy for His people, who have been “blind” and “deaf” toward Him at times. He, the Creator of Israel, their Redeemer and King, will rescue them from serious troubles for their sins, coming at the hands of the Babylonians. (See Isaiah 43:1, 8, 14-15.) As the Lord rescued His people from slavery in Egypt and extinguished their enemies in the Red Sea, so the Lord will care again for His chosen people in wilderness and desert times, that they may declare His praise. They should focus not just on the things of old but the new things the Lord will do for them. (See similar messages about past and future events in Isaiah 46:8-13 and Isaiah 48:14-16.) Ultimately, as Colossians 2:17 says in the New Testament, “The past things are only a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” when He came.

The Psalm is Psalm 126. God’s people had joy and laughter, and their dreams were fulfilled, as the Lord did great things for His people again, in bringing numbers of His people back to the promised land after the Babylonian captivity. Their enemies, who had said, “Where is their God?” could no longer mock them. (See Psalm 42:10, 79:10, and 115:1-2 and the reason for this trouble in Ezekiel 36:19-22 and v.6-7.) They would still face difficult times and pray for the Lord to restore their fortunes. In what they did, they would still sow with tears but would reap a harvest with shouts of joy. (See again how this is spoken of in Psalm 30:4-5 and remembered by God’s New Testament people, ultimately blessed by Christ Jesus, in Luke 6:21-23, Acts 14:21-22, and Revelation 7:14-17.) A psalm we looked at for Sunday, March 23, Psalm 85, spoke of God’s Old Testament people asking the Lord again to restore their fortunes and revive them and have mercy upon them, with the Lord’s promise to do so, with the coming of the Savior, Jesus, with righteousness and peace for them. There was also the warning, though: “Let His people not turn back to folly” (Psalm 85:8).

In our Gospel lesson, Luke 20:9-20, we see the Jewish religious leaders challenging the authority of Jesus and His preaching and teaching (Luke 20:1-8). Jesus then told a parable using a picture image familiar from the Old Testament. God had chosen and planted His people for Himself as a fruitful vineyard. (See Isaiah 5:1-7.) Unfortunately, when God sent His servants, the prophets, to gather some of the fruit from the vineyard, the chosen people treated them badly and sent them away empty-handed. (See, for example, Amos 3:1-2, 7-8, 10-11.) This happened again and again, as too often, God’s people rejected their Lord and His will. Finally, the owner, the Lord, said, “I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” They did not do so. They killed the owner’s son, wanting to have total control and do only as they pleased. The Owner of the vineyard finally had to wipe out “those tenants of the vineyard and give the vineyard to others.” The Jewish leaders and others listening to Jesus cried out, “Surely not!” for they realized that Jesus was talking about them and their treatment of Him and coming rejection and killing of Him.

We hear Jesus looking directly at these leaders and others and quoting  Old Testament Scripture, which predicted: “The Stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” and the salvation for the new people of God. This One “shall not die, but shall live” (Psalm 118:21-24 and v.16, and Isaiah 28:16). Jesus would die in payment for the sins of the world, but He would live again and rise in victory. In contrast, if people stumble and fall over this Stone, or if it falls on them, they will be broken to pieces and crushed. (This is a reference to other Old Testament prophecies of the Lord as a Stone that people can stumble and fall over and be crushed by if they reject Him. See Isaiah 18:13-15 and Daniel 2:34-35 and 44-45 and the promise of a new and everlasting kingdom.)

The scribes and chief priests wanted to seize Jesus then for speaking so badly of them in this parable. They feared the people who respected Him, though. So they watched Him and sent spies pretending to be sincerely interested in Him but really wanted to catch Him saying something that they could accuse Him of before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. This opposition to Jesus only continued what was already happening and would keep happening from most of the Jewish leaders and people. (See Luke 6:7, 16:14-15; 19:47-48, and Mark 12:13-24 as examples of this.) This parable predicts the eventual fall of the Jewish nation and many of its people to the Romans in 70 AD.

The Epistle lesson is from Philippians 3:(4b-7), 8-14. Since many Jews rejected Jesus, the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Savior spread on to non-Jewish people, the Gentiles, since Christ has died for all. Paul was a perfect person for sharing this Gospel of Christ, since he was a Jewish Pharisee who was brought to faith in Jesus. (Clearly, God did not forget His chosen people, the Jews, and numbers of them came to faith in Christ, though many more rejected Him as Savior and still do, even in our own time.) Paul had strong Jewish credentials, as he explains in this passage, and lived as blamelessly as he could, according to the Jewish standards of his day, even persecuting Christians, himself. Paul was also a Roman citizen because of his place of birth. He was very successful in Jewish and worldly terms until coming to faith in Jesus and being baptized and called to be a witness for Christ Jesus. He then realized by God’s grace that his old life was “rubbish” compared with the gifts of God given to him in his new life in Jesus. He no longer trusted his own righteousness, but only the righteousness that came from God to him earned by Christ Jesus Himself through His suffering, death, and resurrection, and the gift of faith in Christ worked in him (through the Holy Spirit.) Christ Jesus had made Paul His own, but Paul knew that he was far from perfect and pressed on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ. That call especially was sharing the Good News of God’s love in Christ with as many more people as possible, both Gentiles and Jews. As Paul wrote in Romans 1:17, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel (of Christ), for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (and all others). For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed (in and through Christ) from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’ or, ‘he who through faith is righteous shall live.’" (See Habakkuk 2:2-4 and Habakkuk’s faith and trust in the Lord that he too was brought to by His Lord in Habakkuk 3:17-18 after questioning God in Habakkuk 1:1-2:1.) May we all continue to trust in that grace of God won for us by Christ our Savior, too!

Sermon from March 30, 2025

“Reconciliation”

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon for March 30, 2025

4th Sunday in Lent (Series C)

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 today is the Epistle Lesson, from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. You are welcome to look at that reading with me in your pew Bibles, p. 966.

Five times in these six verses, Paul uses the word “reconciliation” or “reconcile.” This is not a word used a lot these days.

• Sometimes, it is used when you try to compare your financial records with what your bank or financial institution says - and hopefully, everything reconciles - and comes out the same, correctly.
• Sometimes, the word is used when people are having trouble with one another, and there’s a separation, a division between them - until hopefully things are worked out, and there’s a reconciliation, a coming together again.
• Most often, in the Bible, the word is used to refer to separation from God Himself and His will and the need to be brought together and reconciled with Him.

It all began with the rebellion of the devil, Satan, and many angels who followed him and opposed God and have continued to produce only evil and chaos ever since. It continued with the temptation of Adam and Eve and their falling into sin, as well, bringing a sinful human nature to every person born into this world. Not everyone believes in a sinful human nature, but it is very clear from the Scriptures and from ourselves and the fallen world in which we live. Paul described this condition that he was in and that all of us are in, left on our own, as he wrote, very dramatically, in Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world… and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” - under the wrath and judgment of God. And how much can a dead person do? Nothing!

There is nothing we can do on our own to make things right and reconcile ourselves to God. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Your sins, your iniquities, have made a separation between you and your God.” It is a gulf, a separation that we cannot cross on our own. But Isaiah also wrote, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that he cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

What we could not do, God did for us, in the gift of His only Son, our Lord Jesus, and His loving, saving work for us. Paul put it this way in another of his letters, writing about himself: “Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent, I received mercy… and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:13-15).

So, Paul writes, just before our text for today, “The love of Christ (now) controls us because we have concluded this: that One (Jesus) has died for all; therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

And as our text begins, Paul says, “From now on, therefore, (because of the love of Christ and the fact that He died for all) we regard no one according to the flesh, in a purely human way. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer.”

Before the risen Lord Jesus appeared to Paul and turned His life around, Paul, who was a Jewish Pharisee, looked at Jesus as an ordinary man and even as an evil man, just as the Pharisees in our Gospel lesson grumbled about Jesus for receiving tax collectors and other sinners, bad people, and even showing care and fellowship with them, by eating with them. Now, Paul knows better about himself and about others because of His faith and trust in Christ Jesus and His Word and His work. Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new had come.”

And Paul adds, very clearly, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself.” This is God’s doing, from beginning to end. We do not reconcile ourselves to God by our own efforts or our decisions or any good things that would merit or earn God’s favor. All this is from God.

And how could this happen? Paul goes on to say, “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses, their sins, against them.” All the bad things that we have ever done, all our sins that would condemn us, are forgiven and no longer counted against us in Christ. Paul puts it this way in our text, “For our sake, for us, God made His own Son, Jesus, who knew no sin, had never sinned, to be sin for us” and to suffer the penalty for our sins, as all of our sins were dumped on Him, on the cross. All this was predicted by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. The coming Savior was to be “pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that brought us peace… the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” and “with His wounds, we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

It is exactly what was predicted also in our Old Testament lesson for today. “In that day,” the day of the coming of our Savior, “you will say, 'I will give thanks to You, O Lord, for though You were angry with me (because of my sins), Your anger turned away (by the suffering and death of Your own Son, in my place) that you might (forgive) and comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation'… Shout and sing for joy, for great in your midst (on that day) is the Holy One of Israel” (God’s own Son, Jesus our Savior).

This is the Great Exchange that Paul talks about in our text. Christ Jesus took all our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty for them all in our place, and in exchange, we are forgiven and counted as the righteous people of God, reconciled and at peace with God. And how does all this come personally to us? Paul says again and again in our text that God has now given to him and to all the Biblical preachers and writers “the ministry and message of reconciliation.” “We are ambassadors for Christ,” Paul says, “God making His appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God.” And the Holy Spirit of God works through the Word about and of Christ to bring people to faith and forgiveness in Him as the gift of God.

We have had quite a number of baptisms in our congregation recently, too, and we know that the Holy Spirit also works through the Word of God connected with water in the gift of Baptism. Paul wrote, in another of His letters, “You were buried with Christ, in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses, God made alive, together with Christ, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us (for our sins), nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:12-14).

This is the most important reconciliation we can ever receive because with it also comes new life and salvation through Christ. We know the Scriptures that say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned” (John 3:17-18).

And this is Good News not just to get us to heaven one day but also to help us in this life, too, where we continue to be imperfect people, living with other imperfect people. We, too, can share the Good News of Christ with others, as our Old Testament lesson says, “Let this be known in all the earth… Make known His deeds in all the earth. Sing praises to the Lord, for His has done glorious things” for us (Isaiah 12:4-5).

And we can seek to live in Christ in a more reconciled way with one another by God’s power. Children can learn to forgive and be forgiven by their brothers and sisters and others in a better way, as we heard in the children’s message. A father (or mother) can learn to forgive both his sons (or daughters), as we heard in the Gospel lesson - the son who goes far astray and the son who seems to do more of the right things and yet is still angry and resentful and jealous, at times (Luke 15:1-2, 11-32).

And we can learn better to trust God’s forgiveness for us, ourselves, and our own sins and weaknesses when Satan reminds us of these failures and wants just to condemn us and pull us toward despair. We can confess our sins and remember and rejoice in Christ’s full and free forgiveness, already earned for us on the cross. We can trust not in ourselves and our performance but in Christ and His love and His reconciling work that brings us true peace and hope for us all.

Let us pray, “Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they can truly be safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (Philippians 4:7).

Preparing for Worship - March 30, 2025

The Scripture readings this week are full of the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins this Lenten season, earned for us through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for us. May we keep taking our sins and failings to Him, trusting His continuing love and mercy for us.

The psalm, Psalm 32, is one of the “penitential” psalms of the Old Testament, where we are encouraged not to hide our sins but to be honest with God and bring them to Him for His full and free forgiveness. King David, the author, had struggled with doing this and was trying to cover up his wrongdoing. He was miserable, though, and the Lord’s hand was “heavy upon him” until he acknowledged his guilt. Then his sin was “forgiven,” “covered” over by God (ultimately, through Jesus), and “not counted against him.” This psalm uses several words picturing our wrongdoing: “transgression” -  stepping beyond the boundary of what is right and good; “sin” - missing the mark of what we ought to be doing; “iniquity” - living a bumpy, uneven way, instead of God’s smooth path for our life; and “deceit” - pretending to be better than we are and hurting others with our dishonesty. Such wrongdoing creates great sorrow for us and others, but as we trust the Lord and His forgiveness in Christ, His “steadfast love surrounds us” and gives us gladness and joy and a “hiding place” in His peace. The Lord then “teaches"  and “counsels” us through His Word, with His eyes upon us for our good and the good of others. We can then have a better understanding and don’t have to be “curbed” and pulled along with “bit and bridle” like a horse but can serve our Lord and others with rejoicing.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 12:1-6. In Isaiah 11, God had predicted through Isaiah the appearance of a fruitful Branch coming from the line of Jesse and David, full of God’s Spirit and with righteousness and faithfulness (Isaiah 11:1-5,10). “In that day,” God will turn from His anger over sin and comfort His people. God Himself will be our salvation, our Strength, and our Song as we trust in Him. For He will be great in our midst as the Holy One of Israel (coming to us in the person of His own Son, Jesus). Through Him, we can drink from “the wells of salvation.” We are also to “call upon and proclaim His Name” and “make known His saving deeds among the peoples, in all the earth.” We will “shout and sing for joy," especially in His payment for all our sins on the cross and His victory over death for us in His resurrection.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 15:1-3, 11-32, the familiar story of Jesus of the prodigal son and his father and brother. Jesus was being criticized by the religious leaders for welcoming “sinners” of all kinds, including tax collectors, and even eating with them, a sign of care and fellowship. Jesus then told several parables, including the one about a father who had two sons. Normally, a share of an inheritance would only go to a son when his father died. The younger son wanted his share much earlier, almost as if he wished his father were already dead. The father chooses to give him his share, and he goes off to “a far country,” far from his father and his father’s wishes and what is good. Over time, he squandered his inheritance in wild, “reckless living.” This younger son then had nothing left, and when a famine came, he had to get whatever job he could find, a lowly job of feeding pigs, considered “unclean” animals by the Jews. He made little income, and no one would help him, and he thought he might “perish with hunger.” He finally came to his senses about himself and realized what a sinner he was before heaven (not even wanting to mention God’s name) and against his father. He was not worthy of being his father’s son, but he hoped he could be a hired servant for him and survive. His father sees him coming and has great compassion and hugs and kisses him. The younger brother tells his father that he hopes only to be his servant because he has sinned so badly. Instead, his father welcomes him with honors and prepares a celebration because his son was dead and now alive again, lost and now found. The older son, who has been serving his father for years, is very jealous and angry and wouldn’t even recognize his brother as his brother and his father’s son anymore. He seems to have his own sins and failings in his responses to his father and his unwillingness to forgive his brother. He sees only unfairness and thinks only of what he thinks he deserves for his hard work for his father. The father shows mercy and forgiveness for both sons and only wants them both forgiven and reconciled with one another. Jesus is reminding the Pharisees and scribes who criticized Him that everyone is is sinner and needs the mercy and forgiveness that Jesus had come to bring to the world. And he is willing to give that forgiveness to all, by His saving work, according to the loving plan of His Heavenly Father.

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. This might be called a summary of all the other readings and God’s loving rescue plan for the world in Christ. Just before this lesson, Paul had spoken of the love of Christ that now controlled him and all believers because Christ, for their sake and for all, had died on the cross and was raised in victory to life again. “Therefore,” Paul begins this reading, he no longer looks at Jesus “according to the flesh” as an ordinary man whom he opposed. The risen Lord Jesus had appeared to him and turned his life around. He and all believers are now “a new creation” with a new life in Christ. “All this is from God,” Paul proclaims. It is not Paul’s doing or anyone else’s. God reconciled us sinners to Himself. Where there was sin and hostility toward God and others, now there is peace. God does not count our trespasses against us any longer but forgives them, as the father in the Gospel lesson was willing to forgive both of his sons. It can be done because “for our sake, God made Him, Jesus, to be sin,” to take all our sins upon Himself, though He knew no sin and never sinned, and paid the penalty for them all in His suffering and death for us so that we might be counted righteous and be the righteous children of God our Father, as we are brought to trust in Christ alone as our Savior. Paul’s job, now, is to be “an ambassador for Christ.” God appeals through Paul, then, for all people to be reconciled to Him through Christ. As we sometimes hear of a husband and wife having trouble and then having a reconciliation, God reconciles us to Himself, in Christ. All this is done by Him, through Christ, and by being brought to trust what he has done for us. It is the best news in the world, and this salvation is available to all in Jesus, our Savior. We still struggle with sin in this life, even as a “new creation,” but the Holy Spirit is also at work in us, enabling us at least to seek to be reconciled to other people with whom we have had difficulty, at times. What joy and peace there can be when our Lord enables that, too.

Preparing for Worship - March 23, 2025

All of our Scripture readings this week focus on a key Lenten theme - the call to repentance and to trust in the mercy and forgiveness of our Lord, centered in Christ, our Savior. As Martin Luther wrote in his 95 Theses, “The whole life of a believer is to be one of repentance.”

In the Old Testament lesson, Ezekiel 33:7-20, the Lord calls Ezekiel to be a watchman for the house of Israel, warning the wicked to turn from their evil ways. The Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but wants them to turn back from evil and live. The problem is that “our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them.” None of us are good enough in God’s eyes on our own. “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses,” and who of us does not transgress and sin all too often? “If he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered.” We can never trust in our own righteousness because it is never good enough. Even Jesus, in the New Testament, says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). None of us can live up to that standard. We can only cry out for God’s mercy and forgiveness, and we can’t even speak that cry of mercy without God’s grace. As the psalmist, David, says to the Lord, “Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:9-12). It is continually with repentance that we approach our Lord, for it is “a broken and contrite heart that God will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). We pray with Jeremiah, “Bring me back that I may be restored, for You are the Lord my God” (Jeremiah 31:18). We say with Lamentations 5:20, again and again, “Restore us to Yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored. Renew our days, as of old.” And we keep saying, with the writer of Psalm 119, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, and give me life in Your ways. Confirm to Your servant Your promise… In Your righteousness give me life… Deliver me according to Your Word… Let my soul live and praise You… I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant”(Psalm 119:36-38, 40, 170, 175-176). Knowing our sinfulness from God’s Law, we seek our Lord’s mercy, and in hard times, may we be spared from saying, “The way of the Lord is not just.”

The psalm is Psalm 85. It begins with a remembrance of how the Lord was favorable to His land in the past and forgave and covered over the sins of the people and restored their fortunes. Now, the psalmist realizes that his people need to be revived and restored again. He knows that the Lord is “the God of their salvation,” and He prays that the Lord would “show His steadfast love and give them His salvation.” The psalmist trusts that the Lord would speak peace to His people, His saints, but He gives a warning that they should not “turn back to folly.” (Some think that this psalm was written as some of God’s people returned to the promised land after the Babylonian captivity, but drifted away from the Lord and His will for them. They faced opposition from the people now controlling that land and soon abandoned rebuilding the walls and the temple in Jerusalem, as they were supposed to do. (See Ezra 4, especially v.4-5, 24 and Nehemiah 1:4, 2:10, 19-20 and Haggai 1:3-11. Note how it was the Lord Himself who had to stir up the spirits of the people through His prophet and His Word and restore them for the work that they were to do. “I am with you, said the Lord… My Spirit remains in your midst… And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord” (Haggai 1:12-14, 2:5, 9). The last part of Psalm 85 looks forward to the future when “the steadfast love,” “faithfulness,” “righteousness,” and “peace” would finally come from the Lord in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Through Him, “the Lord would give what is good.” “Righteousness would go before Him and make His footsteps the way” to peace with God. See these words also spoken in prophecy about Jesus in Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:6-9, and 14-16, etc. These are also the Words used to describe Jesus when He came into the world in Matthew 3:15, John 1:14-17, 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, 30-31, 1 Peter 3:18, etc. And Jesus is the Way to eternal life (John 14:1-6) and we follow “in His steps,” having been “healed” and “counted righteous” and “returned” to our Good Shepherd (1 Peter 2:21-25). Jesus turned our “futile ways” around so that we are “believers in God” with our “faith and hope” in Christ through the “living and abiding Word of God” (1 Peter 1:18-25). It is all God’s doing for us, in Christ.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 13:1-9. These examples and the parable appear only in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus had been saying in Luke 12:54-57 that people could predict signs of changing weather, but hypocritically, they could not understand how to interpret the present times and the need for repentance and God’s mercy, coming in Him, the Christ. Now, in Luke 13, people were telling Jesus about Galileans who were killed by Pontius Pilate (probably for being Zealots, rebels against Rome). They also noticed the 18 people who had been killed in the collapse of a tower (likely being constructed under the direction of the Romans to provide more water for Jerusalem). People assumed that these people were worse sinners and offenders than others, and that is why they died as they did. Jesus said, in contrast, “I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Every one of us is a sinner, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This is what we all deserve for our sins, left on our own. We are no better than those others who died in a tragic way. Paul quotes Scripture in Romans 3: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one,” according to God’s standard. “For by works of the Law, no human being will be justified in God’s sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin… For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Therefore, Jesus is saying, too, that we all need to repent of our sins and look only for God’s mercy and forgiveness for us. The parable of Jesus brings the same message. A fig tree is planted but produces no fruit. It could just be cut down, just using up ground, in a useless way. However, the vinedresser is patient and wants to give the fig tree more time, caring for it, digging around it, and providing the needed nourishment so that it can bear fruit through his efforts, not the fig tree’s efforts. Paul put it this way: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). All of us are saved only by the grace of God through faith - and even that faith is a gift of God. We can take no credit. As long as we are in this life, we are saints, as believers, but also sinners, with a sinful nature that still troubles us and temptations all around. It is Christ who has already paid for all of our sins, but we continually need the repentance and forgiveness we have in our Divine Service and through the Holy Spirit at work in us through the Word of God and the Sacraments. The Greek verb for the word “repent” in Luke 3:3 and 3:5 is in the present tense, which indicates it needs to be an ongoing action. “Unless you keep on repenting, you will all likewise perish.” That is what the words mean. Sometimes we also forget that we sin not only by active evil that we do, but also by what we should do but omit and fail to do. How many of those sins of omission do we do each day? We live only by the continuing grace and mercy of God, earned for us by Christ.

The Epistle lesson is from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Paul describes God’s Old Testament people as under the cloud of God’s presence and going through a kind of baptism through the Red Sea and receiving spiritual food, the Word of God, along with manna and quail and water provided by the Lord Himself. In fact, Paul says the pre-incarnate Son of God, Christ, was also with them in some way, caring for them. Even with all these blessings, many of the Israelites went astray and were “overthrown” in the wilderness. Their failures, Paul says, are an example for us not to be drawn to evil as they were: idolatry, sexual immorality, putting Christ to the test, continual grumbling, and on and on. We, who have also been richly blessed by God, should learn from these things “written down for our instruction.” Then Paul includes these sobering Words: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” This would be “a misplaced trust in ourselves” and our abilities instead of relying upon the Lord. “God is faithful,” Paul says. God does not spare us from temptations. They are “common to man.” They are not easy to deal with. Paul uses strong words like temptations “overtaking” us - temptations hard to “endure.” Yet, there is always a way to escape. Paul was teaching the same to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1,3: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus… Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Sometimes, we fail and don’t take the way of escape, though. That is why Paul also says in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, God remains faithful.” Jesus Himself preached, “Repent and believe the Gospel,” at the beginning of His ministry (Mark 1:14). And after His resurrection, He taught that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations” (Luke 24:47). There is our hope in Christ - and remember that even repentance is a gift that God works in us, along with forgiveness, in His love for us. See Acts 5:31: “God exalted Jesus at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” See also Acts 11:18: “They glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life,” (eternal Life through Jesus Christ.) May the Lord keep giving us such continuing repentance and forgiveness in Christ!

Preparing for Worship - March 16, 2025

In most of the readings this week, the people following the Lord are being threatened. In Psalm 4, in David’s case, David has often been in distress, literally, in a tight spot, but the Lord has given him relief, giving him some breathing space so that he could escape his enemies, both King Saul and others. See, for example, Psalm 18, where the introduction says that the Lord had rescued him from the hands of all his enemies, and then David calls Him his Deliverer (18:1). In 18:19, David says, “The Lord brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me.” Psalm 3 speaks of David fleeing from his own son, Absalom, and Psalm 4 is likely talking about the same situation when Absalom turned people against his own father. Read 2 Samuel 15:2-6, and see how David says in Psalm 4, “O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?” David says, “How many are my foes… rising against me… and saying of my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’” Yet David knew that the Lord would be “gracious” to him. By His grace and mercy, the Lord would hear his prayer! For "the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself.” David then pleads with his enemies not to do evil and to stop and think about what they are doing and put their trust in the Lord, as David does, with repentant and contrite hearts (Psalm 51:17). David is confident that the light of God’s face would shine upon him (Numbers 6:22-27) and he would ultimately have real joy and peace and rest in safety in His Lord, as bad as things seemed, at times.

In the Old Testament lesson, Jeremiah 26:8-15, the Lord had commanded Jeremiah to speak strong judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, with destruction coming. The priests and prophets (who should have known better) and many of the people surrounded Jeremiah and said, “You shall die!” because he had dared to speak against their city. Then, officials of the city came and listened to all that was being said. They heard Jeremiah say that he was only speaking what the Lord had told him to say. There was still time for the people to mend their ways and obey the voice of the Lord; then, the disaster would not come. He had to speak these very words into their ears. But if they killed Jeremiah, they were bringing innocent blood upon themselves and their city. (If you read on after this text, Jeremiah was spared from dying, at least at this point.)

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 13:31-35, Jesus was likely in Perea, in Herod’s territory, and some Pharisees warned Him to get out of there and blamed Herod (Antipas) for wanting to kill Him. (See how Herod had treated John the Baptist (Luke 3:19-20 and Matthew 14:1-12) and was superstitiously concerned about Jesus, too (Luke 9:7-9).) Some think that the Pharisees were really trying to scare Jesus into leaving Perea and going to Jerusalem, where they would have more control over Him. Jesus knew that Herod was cunning, like a sly fox, but He was determined to do His Father’s will and continue to battle demonic forces, provide cures for people, and do His prophetic work in the days ahead in Perea until He was brought to His goal, His finishing His course, when he would go and die in Jerusalem. Jesus sorrowed over Jerusalem and its people, its children, and had often wanted and tried to gather its people together and protect them, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. Many of the people were not willing, though, and resisted the Word and work of Jesus, as had happened so often to God’s prophets and leaders in the past - as we hear in the Old Testament readings today. Jesus warns the Pharisees that their house, their people, and their temple would soon be forsaken because of their rebellion. That was the reality for many in 70 AD, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans and in later troubles.

Finally, in this passage, Jesus says, “You will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” This is a quotation from Psalm 118:26, and the crowds, including Jews, were shouting these words regarding Jesus on what we now call Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, humbly, on a donkey, just days before His suffering and death. (See Matthew 20:1-11. However, Jesus quotes this passage again in Matthew 23:27-29, later that week, just before predicting the destruction of the temple.) Others, therefore, think that Jesus is also predicting that even after the rejection of Him at the cross, there would still always be a remnant of Jews who would eventually be brought to faith in Jesus and call Him “Lord” in the early church and even to this very day. Jesus never gave up on His fellow Jews and knew that some would still and do still receive the eyes of faith and trust in Him as their Savior, too. We pray for that for them and for all people.

Paul, who was one of those Jews who did come to faith in Jesus later in life, after being strongly anti-Christian, writes words of encouragement to fellow believers in Philippians 3:17-4:1. All around them (and us) are “enemies of the cross of Christ.” Their "god” is themselves and their own bellies and shameful earthy things instead of our Lord Jesus. Paul reminds fellow believers (including us) that our true place of citizenship is in heaven. Paul wrote earlier in this letter, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain... for to depart and be with Christ is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23-24). Paul is in prison for his faith as he writes this letter, but expects that he will be set free and be able to “strive side by side for the faith of the Gospel” with the Christians at Philippi and others (Philippians 1:27). He urges the believers, “whom he loves and longs for, his joy and his crown,” to “stand firm in the Lord.” Heaven is their true home, with Christ. When they die in faith, Christ will take them to heaven (John 14:1-6). There is also the promise of the resurrection of their bodies (and ours) by Christ on the last day when their bodies will also be changed to be like His glorious resurrection body. There is much about all this that we cannot fully understand or comprehend, but we know that our future is secure in Christ, in life and death, in heaven, and at the resurrection of our bodies. We have a loving Lord who gave His life for us and who will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5-6).