The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - July 10, 2022

The Scripture readings for this Sunday center around love for our neighbor, in response to God’s love for us, first given to us. The Old Testament lesson, Leviticus (18:1-5) 19:9-18, specifically says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” and gives a number of examples of how a person might show such love. Several times God also says, “I am the Lord your God. I am the Lord.” We seek to love, in response to Him, our Lord, who first loved us.

The Psalm is Psalm 41. It has similarities to Psalms 38, 39, and 40, all psalms of David, in times of trouble. These psalms complete the first “book” or set of psalms, which ends with the blessing: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen!” In Psalm 41, David admits that he is poor and weak, and his own sin has contributed to his problems. Yet the Lord has sustained him “on his sickbed;” and he prays that the Lord would also be gracious to him and “Heal my soul.” He still has enemies, though, and even “a close friend” who turns against him. (This passage is quoted by Jesus in John 13:18, regarding what Judas would do, betraying Him into death.)

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 10:25-37, a teacher of the Law asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks him what he thinks, and the man quotes passages from the Old Testament about loving God and loving one’s neighbor, including the passage from Leviticus 19 in the OT reading. Jesus agrees and says, literally, ”Keep on doing this, and you will live.” The expert in the Law must sense that he does not always do this and tries to lessen what Jesus says by asking, to justify himself, “And who is my neighbor, whom I am to love?” Surely there are limits on such love! Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead along a road. A priest and Levite come by and avoid any contact with the man who needs help. Only a hated Samaritan helps, in a very generous way, and offers to do more. Then Jesus asks not "who is the neighbor" but "who is being a neighbor." Even the lawyer knew it was the Samaritan, an enemy who actually gave help. Jesus said again, “You go and keep on doing likewise.”

The Epistle lesson is from Colossians 1:1-14. The reality is that none of us keeps doing good and loving God and our neighbor all the time. We are all sinners, who fail often and cannot ever do enough to be able to inherit eternal life on our own. We cannot qualify ourselves. That is why Paul emphasizes so strongly what God the Father has done for us through the perfect love and life of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. “The Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

The alternate Old Testament reading that St. James will use is Daniel 6:1-24, the story of Daniel being delivered from the lions’ den. Daniel had certainly sought to love and serve his neighbor by being the best leader he could be for King Darius and his people. Daniel also loved the One True God and kept praying to Him, even when he was to pray only to King Darius himself. Daniel was caught and thrown into a den of lions as punishment. King Darius respected him so much, though, that he hoped that Daniel’s God could save him - and God did! Daniel was one more in the line of prophets preparing the way for Jesus. While Daniel was rescued, Jesus was not and willingly died on the cross - and only then rose in victory to qualify us to receive the gift of eternal life through trust in Him.

Study of Galatians Part 5 - Galatians 2:11-14

Last week, we heard Paul describing how he came to know the truth of the Gospel of Jesus - especially by revelation from Christ Himself. Paul spent little time with the original apostles and then only with a few of them, and they affirmed what he said and “added nothing to it.” They did not require Titus, a non-Jew who visited Jerusalem with Paul, to be circumcised or to follow all the laws and rituals of the Old Testament (Galatians 1:18-2:10). (See especially 2:3-6 again.)

Paul and Barnabas then returned to Antioch and continued the ministry there. At some point, Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch to visit the churches there, and Paul had to confront him and oppose him for something he was doing (Galatians 2:11).

At first, Peter was very willing to have regular contact and fellowship with the Gentiles who had become Christians and to eat with them (Galatians 2:12). He had learned he was free to do this from revelations of Jesus and his contact with Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and his family and friends in Acts 10-11:18. Remember what Peter had said in Acts 10:28. Peter was free from the old Jewish law that said that any contact with a non-Jew would make him spiritually unclean.

However, when “certain men” also came from Jerusalem to visit the churches, Peter “drew back and separated himself” from the Gentile Christians because these visitors were part of “the circumcision party.” Members of the “circumcision party” had come to believe in Jesus, but also still thought that they needed to follow all the old Jewish laws and that Gentiles also needed to do the same, including being circumcised. According to this thinking, if the Gentile Christians had contact with the Jewish Christians, then everyone would become spiritually unclean. This also implied that salvation depended on faith in Jesus, but also upon still keeping all the Old Testament laws (Galatians 2:12).

Peter knew better than this, but he “feared” these people and did not want to get into conflict with them over this issue. He decided to avoid this by keeping a distance from Gentile Christians and especially by not eating with them.

Peter sometimes had this weakness in the past, when he was afraid of others and what they might think and do. Peter had said he would stand by Jesus always; but when Jesus was arrested, Peter (and the other disciples) ran away in fear. Jesus had warned Peter that he would deny his connection with Him. Peter was sure he would never do such a thing, yet he denied three times that he even knew Jesus, when he was confronted and feared what would happen to him. (See Mark 14:26-30, 43, 50, 66-72.)

What Peter did also set a very negative example for the rest of the Jewish Christians, who began to follow Peter and not associate with or eat with the Gentile Christians. Even Barnabas “was led astray” by this action of Peter. He must have “backed off” in some ways from the very Gentile Christians he had been sharing the faith with (Galatians 2:13).

Think about what these actions might have implied. Were the Gentile Christians inferior Christians? Were they “polluting" Jewish Christians just by being around them? Were they not even actually Christians, unless they were circumcised and started following all the Jewish rules?

Think of all the practical questions that these “hypocritical” actions also could raise for churches. Were separate churches needed for Jews and Gentiles, or at least separate places where Jew and Gentiles could sit without much contact with one another? We hear already in Acts 2, after 3,000 people were brought to faith in Jesus and were baptized at Pentecost, that the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

“The breaking of bread” refers especially to receiving the gift of the Lord’s Supper together. But we know that the early Christians also began to have a fellowship meal before the worship and communion, as they met in peoples’ homes. This would be something like what we call a “potluck” or “carry-in” meal, where food would be shared with one another, including the poor and needy who had nothing to bring, before the worship.  

How could that have happened if Jews and non-Jews could not even eat together? How could people even receive Communion together, which is a very special kind of eating and drinking together, if non-Jews were “polluting“ Jews, just by being there. (See 1 Corinthians 11:17-22. Maybe some of the “divisions” in the church at Corinth were not just over important doctrinal issues or “the rich vs. the poor,” but over Jewish and non-Jewish issues and other ethnic issues still creating problems.)

Paul knew very quickly that what Peter was doing in Antioch was a very serious matter and that Peter needed to be “condemned” for it. That is why Paul used such strong language, calling Peter and others “hypocrites” and “opposed him to his face” very directly (Galatians 2:11, 13). Paul realized that the conduct of Peter and the Jewish Christians “was not in step with the truth of the Gospel.”

The Good News of salvation earned entirely by Jesus’ saving work and received simply by faith through the gift of God’s grace was in grave danger if people were required also to do other works of their own, whatever they were, truly to be saved (Galatians 2:14). Paul spent almost all of the rest of this letter teaching what salvation by God’s grace alone through Christ really meant and what a joy it is.

Nothing more is mentioned of this incident in the Scriptures. Apparently Peter realized the wrong he had done and repented, and later on he defended the teaching of Paul in the Book of Acts. In 2 Peter 3:15-18. he spoke of his “beloved brother Paul” and his letters which were also “Scripture,” the very Word of God. Peter ended his letter with the same teaching and focus that Paul gave, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Peter was not perfect; nor was Paul, and neither are we. How often do we back down and not stand up for what we know is right, because we are afraid of what others will think or say of us? How good it is to know that we can be forgiven, too, by that amazing grace of God in Christ.

Next week, we will see more of what happened after the incident between Peter and Paul, leading up to the writing of this letter we are studying. God’s continued grace and blessings for you all.

Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost - July 3, 2022

Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

2 Samuel 11:26-12:10,13,14

Galatians 2:15-21, 3:10-14     

Luke 7:36-8:3

Sermon originally delivered June 16, 2013

Preparing for Worship - July 3, 2022

The Scriptures for this 4th Sunday after Pentecost call for us to praise and trust our Lord, for He is the one who brings hope and ultimate victory in our lives.

Psalm 66:1-7 calls upon “all the earth” to give “glorious praise” to God for His power and awesome deeds. The psalmist remembers God’s help for His people at the time of Moses at the Red Sea and Joshua at the Jordan River. It may not seem like it, but the Lord “keeps watch on the nations” and there is a warning about judgment for “the rebellious who exalt themselves.”

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 66:10-14. Isaiah has brought many warnings from God about judgment coming for the people of Israel because of their own sin and rebellion. Yet he was also able to speak from God about “comfort” and “peace” and “rejoicing” that would come through what would eventually happen in Jerusalem. “The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants” and “His enemies” will be defeated through the coming of Jesus, our Savior.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 10:1-20, Jesus sends out His disciples to prepare the way for His message and saving work, “like lambs in the midst of wolves.” There will be those who resist and reject His message, but there will also be “sons of peace” who will come to trust in Jesus. As His Good News is shared, “Satan will fall” and “demons” and the powers of evil will be broken, ultimately through the saving work of Jesus Himself. “Rejoice,” above all, that the names of those brought to faith “are written in heaven.” Our eternal future is secure through Christ Jesus.

The Epistle lesson is from Galatians 6:1-10 and 14-18. Paul reminds us that our sins can be forgiven, even when we fail, and though we stand alone before the Lord, we can help one another and do good and encourage each other “in the household of faith,” as the Holy Spirit guides us. Above all, we keep our eyes on our hope, “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and what He has already done for us. He makes us “a new creation,” and we have “peace and mercy” and “grace” through Him who saved and sustains us.

Those at St. James will have an alternative Old Testament reading, from 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. Goliath is a giant and a leader of the Philistine army. He curses the true God and wants to fight anyone who will go up against him. No one in Israel has the courage except for a young boy, David, who said, “The Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” David felled Goliath with a stone and slingshot and then killed him, and the Lord gave victory to Israel. David eventually became king of Israel, and God fulfilled many promises through him and his descendants, finally with the coming of Jesus, who was from his family line and as both God and man won the ultimate victory over the worst enemies - sin and Satan and death - for us.

Study of Galatians Part 4 - Galatians 1:15-2:10

Last week, we heard Paul explaining that he had become a believer and was called to preach purely by the “grace” of God, through “a revelation of Jesus Christ” Himself. Previously, he had been “extremely zealous for the traditions of his Jewish fathers” and had therefore been persecuting Christian churches because they were not doing everything the Law and precepts commanded. Then God “was pleased to reveal His Son” to Paul, so that he might preach Him (Christ) as Savior, among the Gentiles” (Galatians 1:12-16).

Christ’s own revelation was key for Paul. He “did not immediately consult with anyone (Galatians 1:16). He did not even go to Jerusalem to talk with the apostles. Rather, he “went away into Arabia” for a time (we know nothing more about this) and then back to Damascus. There, we are told in Acts 9:20-22, he was “proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, as the Son of God” and “proving that Jesus was the Christ.” He increased in strength and spent “many days” doing this preaching until “Jewish people plotted to kill Him” and he had to escape (Acts 9:23-24).

It was not until three years after his conversion to faith that Paul went to Jerusalem and met with Cephas (Peter) for 15 days. He met none of the other apostles but James, the brother of the Lord. He told this in his letter very emphatically, saying, “In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!” Then Paul went to regions of Syria and Cilicia.

He was still unknown in person by the churches in Judea, though people had heard of him and that “the one who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they “glorified God” because of what Paul was now doing (Galatians 1:18-24).

Paul does not mention it in his letter, but at some point he was back in Jerusalem and then had to flee again because some Greek-speaking Jews wanted to kill him. He was then sent off to his hometown of Tarsus, where some think he spent about eight years. (See Acts 9:29-30.)

We know very little about this part of Paul’s life. He was surely sharing his new faith in Christ, but he may have spent a lot of time studying the Old Testament and the many prophecies about Jesus and having his faith strengthened by the Lord. In other letters, he often mentioned revelations from Christ Himself, many of which may have come during that period of time, since he had not had the chance to learn directly from Jesus during His public ministry. Some think that Paul also learned his tent-making skills during this time, which he used to help support himself at times during his later ministry.

We do know from the Book of Acts that at some point a Christian worker, Barnabas, went to Tarsus to look for Saul (Paul) and brought him to Antioch, in Syria, where they carried on a strong ministry, blessed by the Lord, and where “the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:25-26). Prophets also predicted a “great famine” coming. The disciples gathered funds, and Barnabas and Saul delivered these gifts to people in Judea (Acts 11:27-30).

It might be that what Paul described in Galatians 2:1-10 happened during this visit to Jerusalem. In verse one, we hear that Paul and Barnabas were there, along with Titus, a Greek person who had become a Christian also. Paul mentioned a “revelation” and that likely was the one described in Acts 11 about the “famine” and the need to bring help to the poor, struggling people in Judea. This was also a chance for Paul finally to meet in a “private way” with some of the “influential” leaders who were “pillars” of the church in Jerusalem. He wanted to assure them that he was not off track or “running in vain” in his “proclamation of the Gospel among the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:2).

In Galatians 2:6-9, we hear that those leaders, James (the brother of Jesus) and Cephas (Peter) and John the Apostle “had nothing to add” to what Saul was preaching. “On the contrary,” they were excited about “the grace” of God given to him to preach “to the uncircumcised, to Gentiles,” while they were called to focus upon Jews (the circumcised). They all had an “apostolic ministry” - but with a primary focus on different groups of people.

They only asked Saul to be sure to “remember the poor,” as well, which he was already doing in his ministry. Many times we see Saul (soon to be called Paul, most of the time) bringing up in his letters the importance of helping the needy in this way (Galatians 2:10). And, of course, both Paul and the other apostles shared the Good News of Jesus with everyone they could, Jew or Gentile, as they had opportunity.

In all that he wrote, then, at the beginning of this letter to the Galatians, Paul was emphasizing that he was not preaching a “man’s” Gospel, but what he had learned from Christ and His Word. He had actually had little contact with the most famous apostles, and when he did talk with them, they agreed with what he was saying and preaching. He was preaching the truth, unlike the false teachers who had come later and so upset the Galatians with their additional Jewish rules and regulations that they claimed that Christian believers also had to follow.

As we will see, one of those “regulations” of the false teachers was the need for every male believer to be “circumcised.” So, Paul also included one important detail of his visit with the leaders in Jerusalem, back in Galatians 2:3-5. Titus, who was Greek, a Gentile, a non-Jew, but now a believing Christian, was with them. Greeks and Romans and many other Gentile men were never circumcised. Titus was not, and none of the leaders brought this up and tried to “force” Titus to be circumcised. It was not necessary in the new “freedom” of the Gospel in Christ. The apostles and Paul all knew that, as they had learned the Good News of Christ, from Him and through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:3).

Sadly, even then there were some “false brothers” around who wanted to put Christians into “slavery” to additional rules and regulations, as necessary for salvation. They must have been troubling Titus and others, for Paul said that "to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the Gospel might be preserved for you” - that salvation is a gift, given purely by God’s grace apart from our works or efforts and is received simply by the gift of faith that God works in us (Galatians 2:4-5).

The pressure is still great to make salvation dependent upon faith plus various other works we must do. Paul gave one more example that we will look at next week in Galatians 2:11-14, where even Cephas (Peter) backed down and acted in a hypocritical way on this issue. The rest of this Letter to the Galatians is about this very issue.

May the Lord open our eyes to be clear about why this teaching is so important and why Lutherans have said that this is the key teaching about Christ on which we and the church stand or fall.

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost - June 26, 2022

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Pentecost, based on:

1 Kings 17:17-24

Galatians 1:11-24        

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon originally delivered June 9, 2013

Preparing for Worship - June 26, 2022

The Scripture readings for this 3rd Sunday after Pentecost have to do with ongoing commitment to the Lord, as He leads us on the path of life eternal. The Psalm is Psalm 16. King David knew that he had “no good apart from the Lord.” He knew “the sorrows of those who run after another god.” He prays that the Lord would “give him counsel” and “instruct him” and be “at his right hand.” David even gives prophetic words that were eventually fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus. (See Acts 2:25ff.) Only in the Lord is “the path of life.”

The Old Testament lesson is 1 Kings 19:9-21. Queen Jezebel vowed to kill the prophet Elijah, and he had run away to Mount Horeb (Mt. Sinai) in great fear. God appeared to him in two powerful ways, but then with “a low whisper,” assuring him that He would judge evil and was preserving other believers who had not bowed down to false gods. God also gave Elijah another prophet, Elisha, as a successor - though Elisha had trouble following him right away.

The Epistle lesson is Galatians 5:1, 13-25. Paul reminds us that we have freedom in Christ, but a freedom by which to help and serve others, not to “gratify the desires of our sinful nature, our sinful flesh.” Paul then describes some of the “works of the sinful flesh,” which are dangerous to us and others, and could even cut us off from the “Kingdom of God,” if we keep on and on doing them. Instead, the Lord wants to produce in us “the fruit of the Spirit,” which Paul also describes. God has already brought us to new “life” in Christ by the Holy Spirit. He calls us also to keep walking by the Spirit’s guidance and in His ways, by His power.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 9:51-62. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, for He had just predicted (Luke 9:22) that he would suffer and die and rise again there. He went in mercy and love for people, including Samaritans who were rejecting Him; and He rebuked His own disciples for wanting to destroy the Samaritans. He wanted “followers,” but not those who would just say in an emotional moment that they would follow Him anywhere, or those who kept looking back to past people and past events. Family and friends were still important, based on other Scriptures, but Jesus and His way was a transforming way that meant sacrifice, but also new life and new joy in trusting Him.

The Old Testament lesson for people at St. James, Lafayette, is the alternative, Exodus 12:1-13, the story of the Passover Lamb. God was going to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt and to a new life in a Promised Land. The escape involved the sacrifice of a lamb, which would protect them, and judgment for their enemies; and they were to were trust the Lord and be ready, at any moment, to leave and be rescued. This event was prophetic of the coming sacrifice of Jesus, God’s own Son and “the Lamb of God, Who would take away the sin of the whole world” (John 1:29) - as Jesus also predicted in our Gospel lesson.

Study of Galatians Part 3 - Galatians 1:1-10-16

Last week we heard Paul’s strong emphasis upon the truth of salvation coming simply by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, “who gave Himself for our sins.” Paul also warned that anyone who taught otherwise should be accursed, for there was only one true Gospel, which he had already brought to them (Galatians 1:1-9).

Beginning with verse 10, Paul reminded the churches of Galatia that he was not trying to please any other human beings, but to please God, as His servant. This is what God had called him to do. (See Acts 4:18-20 and Acts 5:28-29. Like Peter and John and the other apostles, Paul was not preaching “man’s Gospel,” but “a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:10-12)).

Paul was different from those original apostles in that he did not learn directly from Jesus during His three years of public ministry on this earth. In fact, Paul had been raised in Judaism and was very anti-Christian, rejecting Jesus as “Lord and Savior and the promised Messiah.” By his Jewish name, Saul, he had “persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13, Acts 8:1,3, Acts 9:1-2). He did this because he believed strongly in the ways of Judaism and was far beyond others of his own age in his “extreme zeal” for “the traditions of his Jewish fathers” (Acts 1:14). That meant that he followed not only the Old Testament, but the teaching of later Jewish leaders who went far beyond what the Old Testament said. That included the teacher Gamaliel. (See Acts 5:34 and Acts 22:3-4.)

Paul was headed in this extreme Jewish direction, but God had a different plan for him. God had “set him apart before he was born” (literally, “from his mother’s womb”) and then “called him by His grace” on the road to Damascus to be a believer and servant of Christ (Galatians 1:15, Acts 9:3-19). (Paul told this story two more times in the Book of Acts in 22:3-21 and 26:9-20 and briefly in other places, because his coming to faith in Jesus as His Savior and being called to share this Good News with others was so important for his life.)

Note also that Paul was using language that was used by other prophets, including Isaiah in the Old Testament. See Isaiah 49:1,5, and this whole section from Isaiah 49:1-13. These verses are not just about Isaiah’s work, but go beyond as a prophecy of our Lord Jesus and His calling and being “formed from the womb” to be our Servant Savior. See how part of Isaiah 49:8 is quoted in 2 Corinthians 6:2 with reference to Jesus and His saving and reconciling work in 2 Corinthians 5, in “a day of salvation.” So, Isaiah and Jesus and Paul were set apart and called by God “from the womb” even before they were born. They were important to God even while still in the womb, as living persons.

(This is a key Biblical idea to remember in these days when many are trying to defend the “right” to an abortion, no matter what. Paul’s life was a real human life, already in the womb, as God “set him apart” even then.)

Paul told all this to emphasize that he, too, was chosen by God to be an apostle and later on specifically called by God’s grace, and Christ Jesus was revealed directly to him, and gave him what he needed to know “to preach Him, Christ, among the Gentiles" (Galatians 1:15-16). And in all this, Paul was telling the Galatian believers that he had told them what was the true Word of God, revealed by Christ Himself to Paul. He was telling them the truth from Christ, unlike the false teachers who had come later on with their own ideas.

This is something that Paul spoke about, again and again, in his preaching and writing. (See passages like 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. This is the claim of all the Biblical writers. See 2 Timothy 3:14-17. We can have confidence in what we read from Paul in Galatians and from all the Scriptures and especially about the central teaching - that we have “salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”)

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost - June 19, 2022

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Pentecost, based on:

1 Kings 8:22-24, 27-29, 41-13

Galatians 1:1-12         

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon originally delivered June 2, 2013

Preparing for Worship - June 19, 2022

This is the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost. The psalm is Psalm 3, a psalm of David. David had been overthrown as king by his own son, Absalom, and Absalom now wanted to capture David and eliminate him as a threat to him. David knew that “many” were out after him, but trusted that the Lord would be his “shield” and help him. He was able to live without much fear and to sleep at night, knowing that “salvation belongs to the Lord” and that the Lord would ultimately bless His people and prays that he, David, would be saved, too.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 65:1-9. This is a lesson of judgment and grace, with both Law and Gospel. God condemns His own people, because they have been rebellious, with many actions that were not good, provoking God to His face very openly. Many of the things God lists have to do with the worship of false gods and goddesses and getting involved in occult activities, with secret rituals and attempts to consult the dead in tombs. (See Isaiah 8:19, for example.) Even with so much evil, many of the people still felt that they were superior and holier than others. God promised judgment upon their sins, their iniquities. At the same time, God promised to have mercy upon some of God’s people in Judah and Jerusalem and to spare them, so that His promises might be fulfilled for all.

In the Epistle lesson, Galatians 3:23-4:7, Paul says that Old Testament people were held captive and imprisoned by the Law of God, as a kind of guardian, seeking to keep them under control until the promised Savior, Christ Jesus, came and justified all people by the gift of faith in His saving work. Now, all people can be children of God by faith and the gift of baptism and be counted as offspring of Abraham and heirs of His promises, through Christ, who came to be the Redeemer of all.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 8:26-39, Jesus showed that He had come for all people, by traveling to the area of the Gerasenes, where there were many Gentiles (non-Jews) mixed in with some Jews. Jesus healed one of the Gerasenes who had been possessed by a legion of evil spirits and brought him to faith. The evil spirits then went into pigs and caused all of them to drown. The Gerasenes were frightened by the power of Jesus and the economic loss of their pigs and asked Jesus to leave them. The man who was healed went around, though, telling everyone he could about what Jesus had done for him.

Members of St. James should note the alternative Old Testament reading they will hear, Genesis 22:1-14. God had called Abraham to be the father of a new nation, God’s chosen people of Israel. Then God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham trusted God and prepared to do this, but God stopped him and provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac. This story is prophetic of the coming of God’s only Son, Jesus, from the line of Abraham. Jesus would be the substitute who would die for the sins of the world instead of Abraham’s son and in place of us, too. We can now be forgiven through faith in Him. This is another important step in God’s plan of salvation, working its way through the Old Testament, for the benefit of all people.