“Believing…Confessing,” John 20:19-31

¹⁹On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

²⁴Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

²⁶Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

“These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

These words recorded by St. John the Evangelist apply generally to all of his written Gospel. They also apply specifically to the text before us – that of Jesus’ appearance to His disciples that first day of the week – and of Jesus’ appearance to them again later – and to Thomas – who of Jesus – later confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Such a belief in the risen Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, cannot remain silent. It speaks – sings – confesses – what God has made known. Such a faith expresses itself in Word and deed – in song and praise – in life and way. It rejoices in the Word of God – in the work of God. Faith and confession go together. They continue. The Word of the living God – the revelation of His Son – does this.

“We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20 NKJ). And as St. John writes in his first epistle, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life– the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us– that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” (1 Jn. 1:1-4 NKJ).

Silence might be golden in the movie theater – but not in the church – nor in the life. In the church – God speaks. We listen – and respond – saying back to God what He has spoken to us. In the life – this is also where we confess – by what we say. This is where we love – by what we say and do. The two go hand in hand: believing and confessing. God has given ears to hear. He has given mouths to speak. So, Christians do – both.

On that first day of the week – Jesus – to His disciples – speaks peace. This is the first word they hear. With that Word – Jesus gave peace in the speaking of it. Peace is what the disciples had. For fear of the Jews – the doors had been locked. But behind those locked doors – Jesus stood. Jesus spoke. The disciples saw the Lord – the Lord risen from the dead. Showing them His hands and His side, the disciples saw that it was Jesus – alive – dead no more. That Word of peace from Jesus’ lips they had heard before. They believed it. Standing in their midst, the disciples could not deny their Lord and their God.

In the midst of this appearance of Jesus to His disciples – Jesus speaks of sending – and of forgiveness – and of withholding – of sins. After Jesus ascension – the disciples would apply and use what is called “the Office of the Keys,” “That special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent” (Luther’s Small Catechism). This authority – given by the Lord – the disciples used – the church continues to apply – for the salvation of souls – for the condemnation of the wicked – that sinners repent of their sins – that hearers believe the Gospel of sins forgiven in Christ.

It is no coincidence that these words of forgiveness and withholding of sins are here in the account of Jesus’ first resurrection appearance to His disciples. Jesus does not just appear to show Himself alive and that’s it. He here breathes on them and gives the Holy Spirit – to carry out the work of forgiving the penitent and withholding forgiveness from the impenitent. This is the work of the church. This is what the church is about doing. In the preaching and in the teaching – in the Baptizing and in the administration of the Sacrament of the Altar – the Lord’s Supper – in the absolving – in the warning and the admonishing. The Church – centered on Christ – is about doing the things Jesus has given her to do – not that she find a place in the world or be accepted – but that she be faithful to the Lord and to His Word. The Church is His body – not her own. She is in the world. She is not of the world. The way of the world is something different – far different from the way of Christ.

The way of the world is seeing – like Thomas – who did not believe the testimony of his brethren. It was he who said, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25 ESV). Demonstrated by Thomas here is not mere doubt or uncertainty – but unbelief – plain and simple. Unbelief needs to see. Belief – on the other hand – takes the Word spoken – as it is – not just any Word and testimony – the Word and testimony of the Lord – and those sent in the Lord’s Name.

Christians do not just believe anything or everything said to them. We discern. We distinguish. We make distinction. When it comes to God’s Word – we take it as it is. Though we might question – wonder – debate – according to what is natural to us and apart from God’s revelation – God’s Word – that stands – that Word of peace – sin forgiven in Christ. Though we might not feel peace or see it – or feel that we are forgiven – what makes these things so is not the feeling or the sense – or the seeing or the sight. What makes for peace with God and forgiveness of sins so is the Word itself – the Word incarnate – Jesus – He Who conquered sin and death – by His own death – He Who on the third day rose from the dead – He Who speaks to the disciples – He Who spoke to unbelieving Thomas saying, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27).

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Thomas did not just believe because he saw the risen Lord. Thomas believed – not just because Jesus was standing before Him. Thomas believed because of the Word of the Lord spoken – said – worded – to him. “Peace be with you…Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:26, 27). These words were those of the risen Lord. Thomas could not deny them. Many do today. But when the Lord returns in glory – His Word – His appearing – all will acknowledge. Until that day, the Lord gives us His Word – His Word of peace – His Word of forgiveness – His Word of Law and Gospel – His Word of repentance – His Word of mercy and grace.

Seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. “Hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Rom. 8:24-25 NKJ). “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18 NKJ).

Note what Jesus says in verse 29 of John 20. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Jesus is also talking about us. We have not “seen” Him – but we know Him – as He has made Himself known – as He makes Himself known – in Holy Scripture – in the preaching – in the absolving – in the baptizing – in the Lord’s Supper. We are blessed – you are blessed – of God – believing His promises. These are yes to you in Christ. God is faithful (2 Corinthians 1:18-20). God is not to be doubted. His Word is not uncertain. It is sure – without a doubt – certain – true.

As God’s mercy and kindness extended to Thomas – who professed unbelief until given eyes to see – so also does God’s mercy and kindness extend to you – that you, too – believe – and continue believing in the Christ – God’s Son – your Savior. Such is the abundance of God’s love for you in Christ – Whose love He demonstrated by His own death – on the cross – Whose love He continues to reveal to you in His Holy Word – that you believe that love in Christ to be for you – that you believe – and continue believing – “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Romans 5:8; John 20:31). Such faith – such believing – is not self-derived – originating from within. Such faith – such believing – comes from God – Who reveals to you your salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord – by His Word. This you could not see or come to on your own. But God opens the eyes and blesses – that you see Jesus for Who He is. Amen.

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

“Their eyes were opened,” Luke 24:13-35

¹³That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²²Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

²⁵And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. ³¹And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” ³³And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Though the disciples of our Lord had had the Lord’s Word spoken in their ears, even that very Word by which He revealed to them what was to come, that Word of His death, and that Word of His glorious resurrection, the disciples had not first believed.

Time after time Jesus told them of what was to come, but they did not understand, they hadn’t believed, what He said.

After the third day, the words of the women declaring to the 11 that Jesus was alive seemed like an idle tale (Luke 24:11).

When the Lord first appeared to the 10 behind closed doors that Easter Sunday night, Thomas was not there.

When the disciples had told Thomas that they had seen Jesus, Thomas declared, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger, into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

It was not until Jesus Himself appeared to Thomas, spoke to Him, and showed Him His hands and His side, that Thomas then believed, confessing, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28).

Like Thomas before he saw Jesus and believed, the two men on the road to Emmaus in the today’s Gospel reading also did not believe.

They had heard the reports of others, but they did not make the connection between what Jesus had said before and then believe that it would be just as Jesus had said.

They had not put two and two together, Who Jesus truly was, that the words of Jesus spoken were as good as done.

Though Jesus truly did die, as He had said before that He would, so would He truly rise from the dead on the third day, also just as He had said.

If it was, and is, any other way, then Jesus is not God and you are still in your sins.

But Jesus is God. He is risen!

His resurrection shows that all that Jesus did and said was true, that you are not your own Savior—Jesus is.

Death is undone.

In Christ, life reigns.

In the post-resurrection accounts, we have examples of those, like Thomas and the two traveling to Emmaus, who did not believe the testimony of others.

Yet, Jesus revealed Himself to them that they not be uncertain, but certain of His resurrection – certain of His triumph over death and the grave – certain of His victory over sin.

The post-resurrection account drawing our attention today offers another example of some whose eyes remained closed to the glorious resurrection until the Lord made Himself known by Word and Sign.

Though Jesus was right before the two, and talking with them, the text says that their eyes were restrained from recognizing who Jesus was, that is, until their eyes were opened when Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30).

Then they recognized the man before them for Who He was.

We might be able to understand why those disciples were down and out concerning the events of the Lord’s suffering and death.

They had hoped that Jesus of Nazareth would be the ONE to redeem Israel. Their expectations went unmet. Sorrow and grief filled the day. Bewilderment and confusion took root.

Reason tells us that the dead remain dead, that the dead do not rise, that death is final.

Reason also tells us that miracles do not happen – that what we see is what is true – that we must be able to understand for something to be true.

God says differently.

God reveals that we are created beings (Genesis 1), created by the Creator who is above us – by God who transcends our thoughts and our ways (Isaiah 55:9) – yet God who also becomes flesh – taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of men – humbling Himself – obedient to the point of death – even the death of the cross – not to be served – but to serve – and to give His life as a ransom for many (John 1:14; Philippians 2:7; Matthew 20:28).

The two disciples on the way to Emmaus had heard the news of the women who were at the tomb and came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive.

But they did not believe it.

Even with Jesus before them, they did not recognize the risen Lord.

As we go by only what we see or only by what reason tells us, and not by the Word of the Lord, Jesus remains obscured, and His promises remain hidden.

Like Peter who began to sink when He took His eyes off Jesus as he walked on water, so also our attention to Christ is off where we give attention to that which is not according to the Lord’s Word. Such is the temptation when experiencing trouble, trial, and tribulation. Though God’s Word be right in front of us as it is today – at those times – God’s promises might distant and far off from comforting. This is not because what God says is ineffective. This is the struggle to believe what God says – especially when everything else suggests otherwise.

Everything that those two disciples in the Gospel knew to be true to their experience testified against the Lord’s resurrection, everything except the Lord’s Word and work.

Though the two did not recognize their risen Lord, Jesus did not turn from them in anger or bitterness.

Instead, He walked with them, even asking the reason for their sorrow.

Even though He already knew, He asks for their sake, that He point them to Himself.

“We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 14:16).

The Lord made known to them that Christ’s suffering and death was foretold in the Old Testament and that Christ was indeed the Messiah, the ONE who would redeem Israel.

Indeed, Jesus is the redeemer.

He redeemed us “not with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with” His “precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

All that the Old Testament had prophesied of Jesus was fulfilled in Him – Even His death and resurrection, all according to Scripture.

What the two had not yet understood was that it was through Jesus’ own death that He Himself would put sin to death and usher in new life by means of His resurrection.

Where sin has ceased, so has death.

There, the hope of life remains.

As Jesus spoke concerning Himself, beginning with Moses and the prophets, the hearts of those two burned within them.

Here, Jesus points the way to interpret the Old Testament and all of Scripture, through Himself.

Earlier, Jesus had declared to the Jews, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).

Here, Jesus is talking about the Old Testament Scriptures.

In another place, concerning “the Holy Scriptures,” it is written that they “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

The reason this is so is because the Old Testament is about Christ, as is the New Testament.

Jesus is the center.

He gives you His Word, that you believe against what you only see, contrary to what your eyes alone tell you, that you take Him at His Word, before and in the present, and into the future.

It is significant that on the road and talking with Jesus, the two disciples had not recognized the risen Lord.

Only as Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke and gave it to them, then their eyes were opened.

We have seen similar words spoken before, as had the disciples.

In the upper room with the Lord’s disciples, on the night when He was betrayed, “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it”(Matthew 26:26).

In the feeding of the 5000 (Luke 9:16), then in the feeding of the 4000 (Matthew 15:36), Jesus did the same thing. He took bread, blessed it, and broke it.

When Jesus did these things before the two, they recognized Jesus for who He was.

It was Jesus, alive from the dead, just as the others had said.

In the breaking of the bread, their eyes were opened.

With them all along was the risen Lord, preaching His Word, giving comfort, testifying to the truth of His salvation. Then He vanished from their sight.

Right then and there, Jesus left them, not in doubt, but believing.

His Word and the blessed bread were sufficient to bring about the recognition of Christ the Lord, to quicken faith, and to cast away any doubt.

The Lord continues to give you His Word and to bestow upon you His grace, that you believe and remain believing in Him who died and rose again, and that you, with the two on the road to Emmaus, recognize Christ for who He is, your Savior from death and the giver of eternal life, indeed, the Messiah. 

By means of His Word, and in the sacred meal, the Lord Jesus strengthens the weak and gladdens the heart.

The Lord continues to make Himself known that you hold fast to him, in life and in death.

In the Lord’s Supper, Christ gives His own body and blood for you to eat and to drink, and there, makes Himself known to you as your Savior and strengthens your faith.

Do not ignore the Lord’s Word or His promises, nor stay away from them, as growing numbers continue to do.

God calls you not to despair of Him, but to place your confidence in Christ alone.

Cast all your burdens upon Him, for He cares for you (Psalm 55:22).

Wait on Him and believe His Word. It is as He says. It will be as He promises. Amen.

“Jesus and the Father,” John 14:8-11

⁸Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The words that draw our attention this morning are those of our Lord recorded in St. John, the 14^th chapter, where in the revelation of our Lord Jesus to His disciples, Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus responds with the surprisingly direct – and profound – words, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” And then, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:8-11).

The works of the Lord Jesus bear witness to Who Jesus is – then – and now. Up to this point in the Gospel, those works of Jesus include the following: turning water into wine (John 2); giving a lame man use of his legs so that he can walk (John 5:1-9); the feeding of the 5000 with five barley loaves and two small fish (John 6:1-14), giving sight to a man born blind (John 9), and the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11). Such works are works only God can do. These were not the works of a charlatan or of a magician. Those receiving what the Lord gave were truly in need and unable to meet the need themselves. Such works testify of Jesus’ identity – as they reveal Jesus’ divine authority over creation and over sins’ effects – even death. The resurrection of Jesus reveals that authority of Jesus over death. In His raising Lazarus from the four-day tomb, Jesus showed that death did not have the ruling word. Jesus did. Jesus Himself rose from the dead three days after His crucifixion. Here, too, death gave way to life. The Lord’s Word came pass. “I lay down My life that I may take it again. “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (Jn. 10:17-18 NKJ).

Jesus spoke these words in the context of using Shepherd language. Jesus is the Good Shepherd – laying down His life for His sheep (i.e., John 10:14). “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11 NKJ). When the going gets tough – Jesus did not flee. He willingly bore what was given Him – what was placed upon Him – what the Father had given Him to bear – to carry – to do – for you – that you live – that you have peace with God – that you have the certainty of God’s good favor – because of Him – because of Jesus.

Jesus’ work in raising the dead, healing the sick, feeding the hungry – all that Jesus did – all that Jesus does – Jesus did – Jesus does – freely – without condition – without charging interest – gratuitously –unconditionally – and not dependent upon the faith to follow. Such works – freely done and given – show forth the goodness and kindness of God. So also, His death and resurrection – and the gifts of forgiveness and life flowing from His work for your salvation. These gifts no one merits. No one earns life eternal from God. Everlasting life – salvation – peace with God – these gifts God gives without condition – also the things of our earthly life – these are gifts of God, too – gifts of God for which we give continual and never-ending thanks. “All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true” (Luther’s Small Catechism, Explanation to the First Article of the Creed).

The works that Jesus did prior to today’s text when Phillip made that request of Jesus bear witness to Jesus and Who He is – the Son of the Father. This includes – also and especially – His own death and resurrection – in obedience to His Father – His life for yours – that you live. The benefits of Christ’s work for your salvation God gives in the means of grace – in the Word and the Sacrament. These – too – show the work of God and are the work of God – though not all believe.

All that has been said thus far – of Christ’s work – and that work testifying of Jesus’ identity as the Father’s Son – and the work that Jesus still does today – these are what God does. Yet, God’s work – and all that Jesus does – remain hidden – revealed in the Word. This is not because the work itself is hidden – by no means. It is there for all to see. But apart from the Word – the work appears as something other than God’s doing. We attach God’s work to that which is not. And that which is not God’s work we attribute as being God’s work. The biblical text records the truth – what we cannot know of ourselves.

Some might understand the Bible only to be literature of the past – of a bygone era – obsolete and outdate. Some might say that same about gathering around that Word preached and proclaimed and eating and drinking, as in the Lord’s Supper. Some might say these are irrelevant. Centered as the church is on the risen Christ – preaching Christ crucified – baptizing babies and adults with water – giving bread and wine to eat and to drink – forgiving sin – preaching hope for a decaying and dying world? All can seem as nonsense and empty – meaningless and a waste of time – if not true – and irrelevant as some – even many – might say – either with words – or by their actions of not giving heed and attention.

What God does – however – is recognized – known – believed – not according to sight or experience – by feeling or what we think. What is hidden to us but by faith is revealed – made known – in the Word – the Word of the Lord. the Word and the Sacrament – administered in the church – the baptizing and the Holy Communion – the preaching and the absolving – these have their basis – not at all in man-made ritual or routine – but in the Lord’s institution and given -for the benefit of His people. These are always relevant – as God’s work is always relevant.

Faith is given in Holy Baptism – as God applies water and Word. New life is granted there as God cleanses of sin by “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Penitent sinners – those who are sorry for their sins and seek God’s mercy in Christ – find peace in the absolution – as the pastor forgives sin “in the stead and by the command of Christ.” Communicants partake of Christ’s body and blood according to Jesus’s own words – believed or not.  As believed – they receive for their good. Not believed – they still receive the body and the blood of Christ – but to their judgment (1 Corinthians 11:29), being “guilty of the body and blood of our Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27).

What the church is about – her mission – the preaching and the teaching – the baptizing and the distribution of Holy Communion – these are not about her. These have to do with the Lord – the Lord Who reveals Himself in His work of saving and redeeming – His work of giving the benefits and blessings of the holy cross – life and salvation – forgiveness of sins and peace with God – to the undeserving – to the unworthy – to the sinner – to the one burdened by God’s Law – to the one who seeks God’s mercy and kindness.

The request of Philip in today’s text, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough,” could be said to be the request of one seeking God. But lest the god be one of our own making – we do not deny the Word of our Lord Christ, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 10:9). This we confess – just as Jesus Himself says. This we believe. Jesus is God – in the flesh. Apart from Him – there is no God – capital “G” – only false gods – lower case “gs” – who are no gods at all but imaginations of the sinner’s heart. Apart from Jesus – there is no salvation. There is only true and enduring life in the “living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious” (1 Pet. 2:4 NKJ). To we “who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense’” (1 Pet. 2:7-8 NKJ).

And where is this Jesus to be found? Where do we know of God and His will and favor toward us sinners? Where do we hear God’s voice and know of His tender mercies toward the undeserving and the outcast – those burdened by sin and those struggling with temptation? In His Holy Word. In the preaching – in the Absolution – in Holy Baptism – in the Holy Communion. That’s where! Not be experience – not based on feeling – not dependent on excitement – or lack thereof – only in the crucified and resurrected Lord Christ – revealed in Holy Scripture – the Word made flesh (John 1:14). The Word that He speaks is spirit and it is life (John 6:63). Have Jesus any other way than the Jesus revealed in the Bible – and you have a different Jesus – a different god – who is no God at all. There is no other God than He Who sent His Son because He so loved the world (John 3:16). There is no other Jesus than the One Who died and rose again – and Who gives you the benefits of His cross in the means He has instituted.

Whoever believes Jesus believes the Father also. Conversely, whoever believes God – also believes Jesus – for Jesus is God. Jesus Himself says, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (Jn. 14:1 NKJ). These were the first words of today’s Gospel text. They direct us to the truth. Jesus is to be believed as God – because He is. His Word and His Work testify to this. His work then. His work now – forgiving sinners – giving new life – baptizing – preaching – administering the Lord’s Supper – all benefits and blessings of God through Jesus’ cross – ours – yours – according to God’s promises. Amen.

“He Who Loves Jesus,” John 14:15-21

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The words that serve as the basis for today’s sermon are those of our Lord from the first and the last of those from today’s Gospel. Verse 15 reads, “If you love me, you will keep my commandment” – and these – from verse 21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:15, 21).

[The following was not in preached sermon…]

Couched between these two bookends of loving Jesus – keeping His commandments – are words of promise – concerning the Holy Spirit – Jesus coming to His disciples – the disciples seeing Jesus, whereas the world does not – knowing that Jesus is in the Father. they in Him and He in them – and living – because Jesus lives. 

Word spoken – Word fulfilled. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit – the Helper – the Spirit of Truth – that Day of Pentecost. As He promised – so Jesus did. And still, His Spirit He sends – working through the Word – creating faith when and where He wills – according to the Word – that nonbelievers become believers and that believers be strengthened and mature in their faith. Gathered around Word and Sacrament – so the Lord does – and so His people He nourishes and sustains. God’s kingdom comes. The disciples did see Jesus “resurrected from the dead” – just as He said. They recognized – and confessed – Jesus to be one with the Father and the Father in Him. The Lord opens our eyes to see Jesus for Who He is – God’s Son – Savior from sin and death. Him we confess – Him we trust. The disciples of our Lord lived in Jesus – emboldened by the Lord to so be and to say – to confess and to abide – in Christ – “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). As they lived in Him – so do we – by faith – according to the Word. So, we – too – are emboldened to confess – to abide – in Christ.

Just as Jesus had said – so He did. He kept His promises. He was faithful to all that He had spoken. Jesus is faithful to all that He says. Jesus keeps His promises. Every one of them. Unlike us, Jesus follows through. Intentions are not enough. Jesus means what He says and says what He means. We often say one thing and do another. Jesus fulfills His Word. What we think about such things has no bearing on Jesus’ Word being fulfilled – His promises being kept – His being faithful. The apostle Paul writes, “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:11-13 NKJ).

The certainty of our hope – the confidence of our trust – is Jesus – His Word – His work – His promise – His doing. Resting on these – there is no doubt. Jesus is faithful and true to all that He says and does. His Word He keeps. His promises – He fulfills. So, it is with Him sending the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. So, it is with Jesus giving His Spirit in Word and Holy Baptism – convincing of sin – creating faith – sustaining His people. So, it is with Jesus rising from the dead – the disciples seeing the risen Lord – Jesus coming to them – they living – because Jesus lives.

Because Jesus lives – so do you live – not just breathing and walking and talking – but living – abundantly. In Jesus, you have the surety of eternal life – the confidence of the resurrection – the comfort and consolation that your sins are forgiven you – which means peace with God. Having been baptized into Christ, you “were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6:3 NKJ). “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4 NKJ). “In newness of life” – you now walk. In newness of life – you now live. All who love Christ Jesus live this new life. No longer for themselves. Unto God – for others. The old is gone. The new has come. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJ). This new life looks just like what Jesus says in today’s text, bookending what is in-between.

[…The preached sermon resumes here]

 All who love Jesus Christ will also keep His Commandments. Similarly does Jesus also say, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (Jn. 14:23-24 NKJ). Jesus says these words to His disciples. These words He also speaks to you – through them. “If you love” Jesus, you will keep His commandments. You will keep His Word. You will believe what He says. You will hold Him to what He says. That is faith.

The keeping of Jesus’ Word follows the loving Him. Here – especially – we recognize the difference between saying and doing – between loving and doing. Many, for example, claim to be Christian – of Christ. But of these many – not all believe in the Jesus of the Bible as their sufficiency before God. Some believe that God does His part. We – then – must do ours. Some believe that we must first do our part – then God does His. Both – however, err in claiming that we must do something – either initially or later – for God’s acceptance – approval – favor. Both betray a position that is not biblical – and therefore – not Christian.

The Bible teaches – not only that sinners cannot contribute to how God views them. The Scriptures teach that we are inherently – originally – by nature since the Fall – at enmity with God. In Genesis chapter 8, for example, God says, “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21 NKJ). Likewise does King David confess, “My sin is always before me” (Ps. 51:3 NKJ) and “I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5 NKJ). Later, he also says, “If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning– Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption” (Ps. 130:3-7 NKJ).

Since the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden – the world – God’s good creation – including the descendants of our first parents – us – are not righteous – holy – innocent – or good – before God. Before God’s throne of judgment – in our sin – we stand condemned. Apart from Jesus and His work of redemption for us by His death on the cross, sinners either despair before God – believing all to be lost – or they exude a self-righteousness – believing themselves able to meet God’s demands – either by lowering the bar of God’s expectations – or by raising themselves up in a kind of delusion of grandeur – thinking themselves to be better than they are. They thus reject the Word revealing the extent of man’s sin and the world’s fallenness – just as much as the one who does not believe that Christ’s death on the cross is sufficient satisfaction for sin. Either way – unbelief shows itself and the sinner – not God – takes the helm – leading the way to death – not to life. The Way to life is through Christ – Him suffering – dying – and rising from the dead.

Wanting to take matters into our own hands before the Lord is not the way given by the Lord – whether that way be not trusting His promises or that way be not trusting what He says about sinners in need of salvation from outside of themselves and not from within. As sinners – we fight against these temptations to either deny our Lord His promises or what He says about us. We are sinners – poor miserable sinners. The moment we stop believing this – confessing this – that is the moment that we are saying to God, “I don’t need Jesus anymore” – or – at least all of Jesus as revealed in the Word. Doing that – we make our own Jesus. And our own Jesus does not save. A jesus of our own making is not Savior. He leads – not to heaven – but to hell. Similarly, not trusting in Him Whom God the Father sent – Who was crucified for us – this is unbelief – however one cuts it.

The Good News is – you do not save yourself. God does – in Christ. You cannot make amends to God for your sinfulness. Your guilt – your shame – these are either on you or on Christ. If these are on you – you alone must bear them – unto judgment. If your sin and your guilt and your shame are on Christ – these are no more held against you – for on the cross – He crucified them. “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God” (Rom. 8:31-34 NKJ).

Because God is for us – because God is for you – because it is God Who alone justifies – and not you or anyone else – you – before God – stand not condemned – (but) justified by God – having your sin not against you – therefore – having peace with God – in Christ – the Lamb without blemish – the Lamb of God Who takes away your sin and the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus took your sin away. Him taking it away means that it is no longer held against you. God does not hold grudges. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:8-12 NKJ).

He who believes these words – he who believes that he is reconciled to God in Christ – freely – unconditionally – no strings attached – he and he alone truly loves God – not in order to get – not to barter or to bargain with God, as if he has something to offer other than his sin. He who loves God is He who loves God because God has freed him from his sin – from his lovelessness – from his conditionally trying to do what God says to earn anything good from God. Trying to appease God for His favor is not the way of the Lord. It is the way of an unbeliever to try to get into God’s good graces by doing or not doing – by what we do or do not do. The way of the Christian is to believe God’s promises in Christ – for you – that you are in God’s good graces – not because of you – but because of Christ. In Him – all is well with your soul – and not because of how strongly you believe – but because of the One Who you believe in – Jesus the crucified and resurrected Christ.

You cannot placate God’s just judgement yourself – either by what you do or do not do. Be wary when someone boasts in loving God – but does not keep His Word – does not believe what He says – does not do what He says – and continually does what God forbids. Such a one might claim to love God – maybe even to love Jesus – but a different God – a different Jesus – they have than the God enfleshed as revealed in the Bible.

The love of God in Christ is not conditional on you. It is not true to say that God loves person A more than person B because of how person A lives or because of how person B does not live. That is not the Gospel. The Gospel reveals that God loves sinners – not because of what they do or do not do – but in Christ. God’s love for you is not dependent on you. If I do more – this does not mean that God will love me more. If I do less – this does not mean that God will love me less. God’s love for you is founded on Christ – Whom God the Father sent because He loved the world (John 3:16).

God’s love for You in Christ is not at all conditional. Likewise, the kind of love that keeps the Word and Commandment of Jesus is the kind of love that loves – not to get in return – not to placate an angry God – not to get more grace – not to merit more of God’s favor – but because such is what God’s love does. It does not do to get. It freely gives. Freely does. “As the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28 NKJ), so do the people of God – they who love God and His Word – Jesus and His Word and work – likewise serve – serve the Lord and serve others – not in the way that they want to serve – but in the way that God has given to serve according to His Word.

One who has been changed from within – who has nothing to give – but everything given – and who has been changed from hating God to loving God because of God’s goodness and kindness in His Son – such a one cannot help but seek the Lord’s Word – and there – in God’s Word – see His revealed will – what to believe – how to live – not conditionally loving others based on what they might be able to get in return – or loving another based on expectations met – but loving others independent of expectations met or conditions reached. God does not love sinners only if they try to meet His expectations or meet certain criteria or conditions. He loves them – God loves you – through His Son. In Him – you are sure of God’s love and mercy and favor. Outside of Jesus – you will only know God’s love for you if things are good – or His anger if things are bad. But in Christ – you are certain of God’s favor – whatever your circumstances. And such confidence is what Jesus gives – always.

The one who loves Jesus – not merely in word – and by confession – will also keep the Word and Commandment of the Lord Jesus – not according to one’s personal view or opinion – but according to what the Lord Himself says. Here, it is true that many – maybe even “most” – even outside the church – might say that they love God. But which God? A god of their own making, or the God Who made heaven and earth? Many – if not most – in the church – will say that they love Jesus – but do they keep His Word as recorded in the biblical text? Do they approve what God forbids and forbid what God commands? Do they “call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20)? Are they “wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:21)? Do they call sin what is not sin and accept what is sin? Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:16 NKJ).

To say that one loves God – loves Jesus – God in the flesh – to say this and to believe it – is to keep Jesus’ Word and commandments. As Jesus says earlier in John’s Gospel, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:31-32 NKJ). Being a disciple of Jesus means following Jesus and not one’s own way – Jesus first – abiding in Jesus and His Word – holding fast to Him – to what He says – and not to self – the devil – or the world. There is one – and only one God. It is not you. He Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit – was born of the virgin – suffered – was crucified – died – was buried – and on the third day, rose again from the dead – this is the One Who also said, “Believe in God; believe also in Me” (John 14:1).

This One – and what He has done – what He does – and what He has given – what He gives – this One alone is your Savior – your hope – your peace with God. He is your everything. In Him, you lack nothing. In Him life – abundant life – eternal life – is yours. In Him is your peace with God. No more “rat race” of trying to get on God’s good side. You are already in it. You already have God’s favor – in Jesus – in Whom the Father is well-pleased (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). In Jesus – because of Jesus – His heavenly Father is well-pleased with you – because of Him. No doubt. No uncertainty. No condition. No dependence on you. All has been done – Your salvation won through Him – Jesus – God’s own Son.

You are now free to keep His Word – His Commandments – not out of expectation or hope for something in return. God’s people keep His Word – they abide in Jesus and what He says – because they know that in Jesus is their Salvation. They believe Jesus alone to be their sufficiency. They do not add to or subtract from His Word and work. Instead – believing Him – they love Him. Loving Him – they know God the Father is pleased with them – because of Jesus – Who loves unconditionally. Because He does – so do His people. “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 Jn. 4:9-11 NKJ).

Not only do we love one another – freely and unconditionally – so do we – first and foremost – above all – love Jesus and His Word – for these are life. That we still say and do contrary to the Lord’s Word and will is evidence that we still live in the world and struggle with our sinful flesh. Yet – we do not want to do that which is contrary to our Lord – that which is against His Word. Those who continue to do what God has not given – and continue to believe something other than what God has said – these show whose they are. But those who love Jesus – not just saying the words – they believe Jesus – they believe what He says. They will seek to do and live as Jesus says. They will be in His Word. They will pray. They will be His people – for so they are. All the while the trust fully in God’s mercy – yours in Christ – revealed in the Word. To this they hold fast – and they find their rest in Him Who says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30 NKJ). Amen.

“The Promise through faith, not the Law,” Genesis 12:1-9 (Romans 4:1-8, 13-17)

¹ Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ⁴ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,  ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes, “The promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13 NKJ).  That “he” who “would be heir of the world” referred to by Paul is Abraham, whose former name was Abram. The promise “to Abraham and his seed,” Paul says, “was not…through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Abram, later given the name Abraham, was that man in today’s Old Testament reading. God called Abram to leave his country and his family to go to another place – to a place that God would show him. This Abram did. There, too, God promised to make Abram a great nation. God promised Abram blessing. And God promised that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed.

These words of our Lord to Abraham here were not at all conditional. There is no “if you do this, then I will do this” of God to Abraham. God promised. Abraham received. The fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham were not dependent on Abraham. The text, the words themselves, bear this out. God spoke. He promised. The words – the promise – would to be. Those words Abraham believed. He showed this by going just as God had said. This is what faith does. It believes the promise given and spoken. One who believes goes where God says – does what God says – believes what God says. It is such faith that believes the promise that is reckoned as righteousness before God.

Just a little bit later in the book of Genesis. God promises to Abraham a son, an heir. God there says to him, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’” (Gen. 15:5 NKJ). Then, this is written, “He,” Abraham, “believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6 NKJ).  This is the Old Testament, not the New. Through faith – belief in the promise of God – is how Abraham was considered righteous before God – not by what he did – but in whom he believed – according to what God had said.

The righteousness of faith has to do with the promises of God. This is born out in this morning’s Epistle of Romans – in today’s Old Testament reading – and in today’s Gospel. The righteousness of faith says “yes” to what God says – to all that God says – whether such words of God – all that God says – be fully grasped and understood – or not. Whether the promise be fulfilled at a much later time – beyond comprehension – or at once – it makes no difference. God’s Word – His promises – will come to pass – not because of faith – (but) because of the One Who promises – in Whom faith believes. Such faith is sure because it is in the Lord and His Word – not in our doing or dependent upon us.

The righteousness of faith is different from that of the law. The righteousness that is of faith is certain and sure. It begets confidence. It bears the fruit of faith – that of abiding in the Word – living it – doing it. That which is of the law – on the other hand – is uncertain and begets doubt. It bears the fruit of either self-righteousness and false security – or despair.

God’s promise to Abraham of land, great nation, and blessing, was not at all dependent on Abraham. The promise of God was to Abraham. The promise was not conditionally given – as if God has said to Abraham, “If you leave your country – your family – if you leave and go as I command – only then will I fulfill my Word to you.” If this were the case – God’s promises to Abraham would be fulfilled only if Abraham did as he was told. If Abraham messed up the promise would be null and void – if what God had said was dependent on Abraham’s doing.

According to the text, however, the words themselves show quite differently. There is no doubtful condition – No uncertainty – No burden placed on Abraham as if it was up to him whether or not the blessings were his or that the promises would be fulfilled. God promised what he had to Abraham. That is it. Promise spoken. Promise to be fulfilled. The righteousness of faith takes hold of such words and lays claim to them. They are everything. Of course, the promises of God to Abraham were to Abraham – not to us. Yet, we are heirs of Abraham – through faith – not because we do or do not do – conditionally – as if we are heirs because the promises of God – the Word of God – are dependent on us. If they were – we would have nothing but God’s wrath and displeasure. As it is – we are heirs of Abraham through faith in the promises and Word of God given us. As Abraham believed – so do we. So does Paul say, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:26-29 NKJ).

According to the promise of God – the Word of God – we “are Abraham’s seed” – through faith – not works – not by what we do – not according to the Law – according to the promise – in which we believe. So also does our Lord say those familiar words, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (Jn. 3:14-17 NKJ). He then says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn. 3:18 NKJ).

No mention of Law or command or our doing for us not to perish but to have everlasting life. Faith alone. Faith in the Word of God – the promise of God given. Faith, too, is gift. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17 NKJ). “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3 NKJ). “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJ).

Faith in the promise of God is born of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:6 NKJ). “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3 NKJ). “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5 NKJ). “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:7-10 NKJ).

“When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7 NKJ).

Born anew – by word and water – Word and Spirit – God’s Word and Spirit – God’s Word and water – God raised us from death to life. “He who hears” the Word of Christ “and believes in Him who sent” Him “has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (Jn. 5:24 NKJ).

No more do we – God’s people – have only the inclination to get for our good – out of love for self – for self-preservation. God creates us anew – to willingly give and do for others – freely – in faith according to His Word – and in love for neighbor. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:22-24 NKJ).

With our sinful flesh and inclinations – we still struggle. Yet – because God’s promises of life and salvation – forgiveness of sins and peace with God through Jesus Christ – are not at all dependent on us – of God’s mercy and grace we are sure. As the promise of God – the Word of God – was the surety and certainty of Abraham when God told him to go – so also for us. The promise of God – the Word of God – is our surety and certainty – before God and in the world. We don’t know the details of what will be for us in the near future or further on this side of heaven. But our eternal inheritance is certain in Christ. This we know because God’s promise of blessing to Abraham – that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed – that promise God fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:3).

To Abraham – Isaac – Jacob – and later to king David – through the prophets – the promise of a Savior was given. Through Mary’s womb –  the Christ child was born. Promise after promise God gave to them of Old that the Savior was coming. This same Savior – we too – believe in. Through Christ’s shed blood – God cleanses you of your sin. By His death on the cross – you have life – eternal life. This God promises. So, our Lord says, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:15 NKJ).

The Promised Seed to Eve and Adam after the Fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15) – God sent to be born of the Virgin. Him through Whom all the families of the earth would be blessed is none other than the Lord’s Christ. His Word and work are your salvation. In Him – there is certainty and no doubt – confidence and no despair – boldness and no anxiety. That we suffer doubts, anxieties, and sometimes despair is a sign that we continue to live in this world and suffer the consequences of sin. But by Word and promise – God calls us to believe Him – to deny ourselves – to take up our cross – and to follow our Lord – according to His Holy Word (Matthew 16:24). In God’s Word and promise – fears, anxieties, and worries dissipate – replaced with courage and confidence in the Lord.

We leave the old ways of condition – uncertainty – and righteousness through the Law behind. Life anew – in the Lord – we trust His Word. His word of peace and life – of hope and blessing – these are yours in Christ – not conditionally dependent on you. They are certain – yours – in Christ – in Whom you believe. Amen.

“Do Not Fear, Only Believe,” Mark 5:21-43

²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²²Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

²⁵And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” ³²And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”³⁵While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

In Christ and in His Word is where true hope and confidence come.  Today’s Gospel reading does not give an unsure or a false hope of that which might be.  Nor does it direct us to the placing confidence in that which is not. The wisdom of the world and our fallen human nature do not and cannot grasp the things of the Spirit of God.  It is impossible for them to do so, even as St. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, “No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).

The things of God are concealed to man, unless revealed by Him.  This God does through His Holy Word.  All who reject this Word also at the same time reject God’s revelation.   All who trust in it will see Christ for who He who truly is, looking beyond and past what is and can only be seen with the eyes. They will believe what is not now seen, but what is and will be according to what God says.

This kind of trust founded on God’s Word and nothing else is what we see today in St. Mark’s Gospel, on two counts.  The one has to do with the woman with the ‘flow of blood’; the other has to do with the faith of Jairus, father to a dying girl, who believed Christ’s Word, so that even the death of his daughter did not dissuade him from Christ’s promise, even the Words, “Do not fear, only believe.”

As to the first, the woman with the flow of blood who had suffered for 12 years, the doctors not being able to relieve her of her suffering, she believed that just touching Jesus’ clothes would literally, Save her (Mark 5:28).  And such happened.  She touched Jesus and the flow of her blood stopped “and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction” (Mark 5:29).

Such is faith, faith not grounded on uncertainty or in speculation, but faith which has as its object God and His Word, true trust in God’s help and aid. 

After she had touched the clothes of Jesus and become well, Jesus had said to the woman, literally, ‘Your faith has saved you’; “Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction” (Mark 5:34, θυγάτηρ, ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε· ὕπαγε εἰς εἰρήνην καὶ ἴσθι ὑγιὴς ἀπὸ τῆς μάστιγός σου).  She had trusted in Him who alone could help her, and He did. 

What the world offers is nothing more than external and earthly comfort which will not last.  What God offers is everlasting peace, sure confidence, and the certain hope of paradise and the new heaven and the New earth through His Son, Jesus Christ (Luke 23:43; Revelation 2:7; 21:1).

The world and those of it look elsewhere than Christ for help and aid.  And they might find some, but only for a time.  It will not last, as Isaiah says, “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8).

God does deliver.  He does save.  But our final deliverance and eternal salvation is not now seen with our eyes. Rather is it believed in our hearts, not according to sight, but according to the very Word which our Lord has given.  This truth does not make it any less real.  To the contrary, it makes it more certain, founded, not on perception and on what the eyes see, on what can deceive, but on what God has indeed revealed and given, as St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “Hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24-25).

Even like Abraham, who “contrary to hope, in hope believed”, so do we (Romans 4:18).  We believe according to the promise of God given in His Holy Word through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Contrary to hope, in hope we believe that even in sickness, before God in Christ, we are whole.  Before God in Christ, our wellness is not founded on how well we are, how healthy we are, or how much we do or are able to do. It is founded on Jesus Himself. 

God has accepted His Son. Christ is whole and sound. Jesus does have His Father’s favor.  Of Jesus does our heavenly Father say, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).  Of the Father does Jesus say, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand” (John 3:35).  It is the Son that has ascended on high and since the day of Ascension, sits at the right hand of the throne of God.  His sacrifice in death on the cross was for your benefit, for your salvation.

Of Christ, John writes in his first letter, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).  This must mean that Jesus is your go-between to the Father.  He is, the Father having accepted His Son’s death on the cross for you, which means your deliverance from sin and death, Christ being your mediator and your intercessor.  Christ being these for you means that you too are acceptable to the Father, not in your own merit or worthiness, but in His.

Of Christ does St. Paul the Apostle write, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”  And to you also does he say, “And you are complete in Him,” in Jesus, “who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:9-17). 

Contrary to hope, in hope we believe, we believe our treasure is not here with the things on or of the earth. Our treasure is in heaven (Matthew 6:21).  This we cannot see, but we believe, even contrary to what we see, on account of Christ’s Word.  If we are Christ’s and He is ours, then we possess all things (2 Corinthians 6:10).  The world will say differently because the world does not believe.  The view of the world does not change what is.  True wealth is not in how much one has, but in the God Who is the Creator. He is ours and we are His, through His Son.

Though we might at times lack and be in want, God provides for all our needs.  By His grace, we learn to be content with what He gives, and to rejoice more and more in the heavenly gifts of life and salvation, which are gifts greater than the world provides.  In Christ, we truly lack nothing. Life is “more than food and the body” is “more than clothing” (Matthew 6:25).  Therefore, do we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, believing that all these things shall be added unto us according to the Lord’s Word and promise, as Christ Himself says (Matthew 6:33-34).

Contrary to hope, in hope we believe Christ’s Word that even in death, He gives life.  To Jairus, Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe.”  Jesus said this only after hearing that Jairus’ daughter was now dead – Death and the grave do not have authority over Christ – Rather  does Christ have authority over death and the grave.  This He demonstrated when He rose from the dead on the third day.  Also here does Jesus show His identity, God in the flesh, and His care and compassion for those in need.  These He will not turn away but hears and listens. Those who truly call out to Him, trust in no other for comfort and consolation; not in speculation, not in feelings, not in sentimentalities; only in Him Who is able to give true comfort and consolation, Who does so according to His Word.

Have not His Word, and true comfort and consolation will evade you.  Anything other than what God promises is false assurance and will not endure.  But God’s Word stands forever (Psalm 33:11; Isaiah 40:8). The Word of Christ to Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe,” is a call to believe, the call to believe that even though his daughter be dead, really and truly dead, Christ’s Word is greater than death, and greater than what is seen with the eyes and experienced in the world. 

And Jairus believed.  The text says nothing of doubt, only that he went with our Lord.  Even amid the laughing and the mocking of the mourners and wailers concerning his daughter, Jairus followed, trusting Christ’s Word.  This faith does and will do.  Its confidence is not in the response of others or in what others might do with it. It is  in what God has said.  God’s Word is alone sufficient for this kind of faith.  If His Word alone does not sustain, then the problem is not with the Word.  It is with the faith in that Word.

Our reason cannot accept this.  Reason claims that God has not done what He says unless we see it or somehow know it, but distinct from faith. But faith does not go according to what man or the world thinks. Faith goes by what our Lord says.  Even if I do not feel forgiven, still, I am, because God declares it to be so.  Though the Lord’s Supper appear only to be bread and wine, Christ there also gives us His body and blood, for so He tells us.  Though one be dead, having had faith in Christ, he still lives. “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” even as Jesus says (Matthew 22:32).

Our hope here is not that we can sense our loved ones to be still ‘with us’ or that they’re ‘watching over us’.  This is to misplace trust in God to trust in something else, something else that does not have God’s stamp of truth.  Our confidence is in what the Lord does say, in Jesus, Who declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Our confidence is not in what we want to believe, but in what the Lord has said, in what the Lord still says, that we live and have life.

Though death surround us, though suffering be near us, still we have confidence in Christ. As Christ suffered, so surely will we, some more, and some less. As Christ died, we too die to sin.  As He rose from the dead, so we too rise to new life in Him and on the Last Day.  Also do we have the hope of eternal life now, a bodily resurrection to come, as it is written: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:52-58).

If there be no resurrection of the dead in our day as happened when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter with the words, “Talitha, cumi,” faith says, “No matter” (Mark 5:41).  We yet have God’s Word and Christ’s promise of a resurrection.  We go here not according to our senses, our reason, or what is natural to our human nature.  Rather do we go according to what God says to be so, what is and what will be.  This is faith.  This kind of faith in Christ firmly believes what God reveals through His Son, that He alone is our hope and salvation.  It is a gift of God, and comes through hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).  Therefore, do we, as God’s people, “Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.”   We “Set” our “minds on things above, not on things on the earth. For” we “died, and” our “life is hidden with Christ in God.” And “When Christ who is our life appears, then we also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).  Instead of dwelling on what is earthly, which has to do with what we see and what we know according to our nature, we, as God’s people concern ourselves with Christ and His Word.  Thus, do we come to hear and to receive life and salvation, and hope and help.  So do we believe according to His Word, that these He gives.  Amen.

“Lord, Have Mercy,” Matthew 15:21–28

 

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²¹Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” ²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (ESV)

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The woman in today’s Gospel reading had a daughter possessed by a demon and wanted help.

She somehow had heard about this man named Jesus.

She also knows of some of His other names, Lord, and Son of David.

She might have known or heard about what God had spoken to King David in 2 Samuel, where it is written, “I will establish a house for you; when your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish his kingdom forever.  I will be his father, and he will be my son” (11-14a).

She might have known those words.

Or, she might have just heard others referring to a Jesus of Nazareth with the titles, “Lord” and “Son of David.”

Regardless, she knew that this man Jesus was no ordinary man.

She also became aware that he was in her neighborhood.

She takes her chances. In fact, she places all her hope on this one traveling from Gennesaret to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  The word got out that this Jesus could heal the sick, even with a touch by the edge of his cloak (14.36).

This man also speaks with authority and does great things with authority from God, according to those from the area of Capernaum, his own town (9.8; see 4.13).

She learned that Jesus was nearby, and she desperately wanted help for her daughter.  She went out to him and cried out, “Be merciful to me, Lord, Son of David.  My daughter is badly demon-possessed.”

In faith, she called out, “Lord, Son of David.”

She believed he was able to help her and her daughter.

The reports of Jesus’ healings had not been kept quiet.

Jesus was someone who could certainly help her daughter.

And he would help. Of this she was certain.  Such was her faith.

Jesus had compassion on those in need, like healing the crowds and feeding those 5000 men, not including women and children.

Jesus had compassion on them by feeding them, all of them, with just 5 loaves and 2 fish.

Jesus would have compassion on the woman and on her daughter.

She believed this.

Yet, Jesus remained silent to her plea.

It was as if he ignored her completely.

So often when we don’t get an answer from God, we think that He’s not listening.

We might think that God doesn’t hear, that He doesn’t care, or that His promises are empty of meaning.

This is unbelief—not to trust the Lord even as He remains silent to our pleas.

Faith and confidence in the Lord, however, continues through such moments, for it recognizes that the timing and the answer is the Lord’s, not one’s own.

Our Lord says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Ps. 50:15, NKJ).

So, He does.  So, He will…

The woman in our text with the demon possessed daughter could have just given up and gone her own way, like so many do who don’t get the answer that they want from God.

We might have done that.

We might have just ended our crying out to Jesus right then and there.

Such is natural for sinners to do.

We hear that God is loving and kind, yet when we need Him the most, He seems a no show.

But faith rests on the Lord’s promises, upon His Word alone, even should the fulfillment of that Word be a time in coming.

Despite what we might or might not have done, the woman continued to ask for mercy anyway.

We might have the feeling of doubt or anxiety when only silence from God be given.

This didn’t stop the woman from calling out to Jesus for help.

Let God’s silence not stop you from coming to Jesus and crying out, “Lord, Son of David, be merciful to me.”

God promises to answer the prayers of the faithful.

God does listen.

But sometimes, seems to remain silent.

Such silence, though, didn’t move the woman to cease her petitioning to the Lord.

She expected an answer.

But the answer she received was not at first from Jesus, but from his disciples.

“Release her,” they had said, “because she is crying after us.”

Jesus responded now, but his answer seems more directed to his disciples than it does to the woman.

“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Jesus says.

Jesus was first sent to the house of Israel, but the Gentiles would be given the message of the salvation, too.

His Father sent Him on a mission to his own people, for the promises were to them first.

They were to receive the first fruits of God’s wonderful gifts.  Only then, after he was sent to his own people, would the Gentiles have their share of God’s goodness.

So, Jesus says, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The woman persists in her desire for mercy, only this time, she also kneels before him.

She says, “help me.”

Following these actions and these words of the woman, Jesus finally answers the woman directly.

Her hope had been granted.

Her expectation fulfilled.

She received an audience with Jesus.

He speaks and she hangs onto every word.

She continues pursuing after his compassion, even though he only responded with silence earlier.

Jesus answers her directly this time and says, “It is not good to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little dogs.”

Wait a minute!

First, Jesus doesn’t give her any kind of response, that is, until the disciples say, “let her go because she is crying after us.”

Then, Jesus says to his disciples, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” which seems to indicate that the Canaanite woman was not on the list of people for Jesus to minister to.

How does this fit in with the loving, caring, compassionate Jesus whom she had come to know?

What is he trying to say here?

The words of Jesus, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” might be troubling to hear.

They might seem to suggest that the Good News might only be for Israel and not for Gentiles.

These words are our Lords, and if we don’t regard them according to all of Scripture, we might fall into the trap of an isolationist way of thinking, that the good news of the Gospel is only for certain groups of people and not for others.

Up to this point, the woman in our text had received nothing of her expectation.

First, Jesus seemed to have ignored her.

Then, she was practically called an annoyance.

She was then told that she was not on the daily planner.

Jesus was scheduled to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and her needs came second, if even at all.

For One who was thought to have had compassion, Jesus seemed to have little.

That “try, try again” thing just didn’t seem to be working.

Have you experienced this before?

You keep praying—but only silence.

Roadblock after roadblock, and nothing but obstacles in the way.

Instead of things getting easier, they become harder.

Instead of promises kept, you feel that God doesn’t hear, that He doesn’t care, that your prayers don’t matter.

You might even start to think that either God really isn’t God or that He is flat out against you.

You keep praying and praying, but – nothing.

It is so easy to want to give up after continually offering petition after petition—but no answer.

You begin to lose confidence and hope that you will ever receive what you are asking for.

This is what’s so extraordinary in today’s text, and such a comfort!

The woman, though ignored and humbled, keeps seeking mercy and help.

She doesn’t lose confidence and hope in the One who could free her daughter.

Even after all that she’s endured, all the time she’s spent pursuing Jesus’, she continues in hope as she also tenaciously says to Jesus, “Yes Lord, for even the little dogs eat from the scraps falling from their master’s table.”

Her hope was grounded in Jesus, and even though things seemed hopeless, she remained confident that Jesus would listen, that Jesus would show mercy.

She affirms what Jesus had said about the little dogs and finds a way into the house of Israel, not as one of the children, but lowly, humbly, as a little dog eating the crumbs falling from their master’s table.

Although she was a Canaanite woman and not one from the house of Israel, she claimed ownership to God’s compassion.

In her humble state, she would receive what Jesus offered.

Ethnically, this woman was not part of God’s chosen people, the people of Israel.

But the way to become a child of God is not by original birth or by nationality, but through faith in the One who is Lord, Son of David.

Jesus received the woman as she was, a Canaanite woman with a request for mercy, and one who had hope and confidence that Jesus could and would have mercy on her and free her daughter.

Through faith in the One whom the Father sent, her confidence and hope found fulfillment.

She humbled herself, admitting that she was not part of God’s people, nor deserving of anything but what He would give her.

This is great faith!

It is true.

None, by nature, are God’s people, but children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3).

This woman, believing, received more than leftovers.

She received mercy from the Giver of mercy.

To her Jesus said, “Woman, great is your faith.  Let it be to you as you desire.”

And her daughter was healed that very hour.

Hear a few words of Luther about this account:

Luther writes, “This was written for all our comfort and instruction, so that we may know how deeply God hides his grace from us, so that we would not consider Him according to our perception and thinking but strictly according to His Word.  Here you see that though Christ pretends to be harsh, yet He gives no final judgment when He says, ‘No.’ Rather, all His answers sounds like no, but they are not no—they are undecided and pending.” (LW 76, p380-381)

If you go by appearances alone concerning the things of our Lord, you will be deceived.

Christ is God in the flesh for your salvation.

Holy Baptism is a washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5).

The bread and the wine in the Lord’s Supper are the body and blood of Christ.

According to Christ’s Word are these things so—not because you see them, but because He says so.

God hears your prayers, and He will answer, in His own time and according to His will.

Only believe according to His Word and do not doubt.

As you believe according to the Word, so it will be.

Faith is believing that God hears, that God is compassionate, and that He will answer, even if all else appear otherwise, not because of your persistence, but on account of His mercy in Christ Jesus, in whom faith rests.

Even if the Lord remains silent, do not lose confidence – and do not lose hope.

Keep praying.

Keep trusting.

Hold to His Word, for the Lord’s promises are “Yes” to you in Christ.

Do not end your praying and do not cease your petitioning.

God does not lie.

He will not let His children suffer for eternity.

His answer will truly come, if not already given, as does His blessing, for the Lord Christ gave his very life for you on Mount Calvary.

Because of Jesus, you have nothing but reason to “keep the faith,” for it is God who gives it. Amen.

 

Almighty and everlasting Father, You give Your children many blessings even though we are undeserving. In every trial and temptation grant us steadfast confidence in Your loving-kindness and mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. (Collect of the Day for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost)

 

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“The Father’s Gracious Will,” Matthew 11:25-30

 

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²⁵At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (ESV)

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

It is not to the wise and understanding in their own eyes, but to the little children, who believe the Son for Who He is – God in the flesh—the Second Person of the Holy Trinity—the Messiah promised of Old – the Savior of the world—to these God reveals Himself, through the Word, making known the works and Person of Jesus.

The wise and understanding in their own eyes close themselves off from God and His revelation of the Son through the Word.

By their own wisdom and understanding—that of Satan, the world, and their sinful flesh—they do not and cannot see the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, the little children, the babes in Christ, believers in the Word of our Lord; these take God at face value according to what He says.

They believe His works, rendering to God the things of God (Matthew 22:21).

This is a most amazing thing: not according to human insight or speculation, not by power or might, not by coercion, but by grace alone—God’s goodness to the undeserving and unmeriting—does God give true and salvific knowledge of Him, insight into His goodwill, kindness to the wayward, eternal life to believe beyond sight, hope beyond what is seen of the temporary to trust in that which is everlasting.

St. Paul describes it his way.

“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:27-29 NKJ).

That God works this way and reveals Your Savior, not according to the ways of the world and men should not surprise or deter but turn you to His Word all the more.

“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:6 NKJ).

Jesus says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12 NKJ).

All of this is to say that God’s thoughts and ways are different from our thoughts and ways, and our thoughts and ways are different from His.

So, St. Paul in his letter to the Romans writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor” (Rom. 11:33-34 NKJ).

Only according to the Word itself, even the Word incarnate, the Word made flesh, and not the world will you know and believe God according to Who He is—Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

All else teaches what you must do, basing salvation and peace with God on you.

And whether such dependence on you be partial or entire, the result still, in some way, big or small, depends on you.

God, however, reveals in Holy Scripture that if anything depends on you for peace with God, forgiveness of sins, or His favor, it will not only by uncertain and unsure, but sure and certain that you do not have what God desires to give.

“By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9 NKJ).

“To him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:4-5 NKJ).

“To him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David (in the Psalms, Ps 32:1-2) also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ^‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin’” (Rom. 4:4-8 NKJ).

Simply said, if salvation is in any part on you, it is not all on God and therefore, not of God.

In contrast, if salvation is dependent on God alone through Jesus, Who alone reveals the Father’s gracious will, such is certain to be of God.

Such revelation is not from the wise and understanding, but from God alone as made known by Him, now also to us, in Holy Scripture.

Here, we gladly humble ourselves before the Lord, not dictating to God how He is or should be, but rejoice in the working of God—His grace and mercy—according to what He reveals—the very things, the very Word and Work by which God gives certainty of everlasting peace with Him—only through His Son.

Jesus is more than example to follow.

Jesus is more than good teacher imparting knowledge.

Jesus Himself is Truth, the Way, the Life (John 14:6).

Jesus Himself makes known to you the Way to the Father, everlasting life, the truth of God.

Jesus is these.

In going to the cross in your stead, fulfilling God’s Law in place of you, suffering God’s wrath as your substitute for all that you deserved—you have God’s full and entire favor.

Note that these have nothing to do with what you’ve done or not done.

These have everything to do with what Jesus has done and does for you.

Thus, it is the Father’s gracious will, not that God’s revelation of His Son Jesus be to the wise and understanding, not to those who abide by the ways of the world, but to those who, humbling themselves before God, acknowledge themselves as undeserving, and simply believe according to the Word alone.

As God’s people walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), they go according to what God says and not according to their own hearts.

The inclination to follow after our own thoughts and desires in the direction of what we want, even at times trying to convince ourselves that what we want is what God wants, contrary to God’s Word, this very inclination is what we contend against as God’s people, as expressed by Paul in today’s epistle,

“What I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Rom. 7:15, 18-19 NKJ).

The answer to such a condition, however, is neither to deny it or to dismiss it, to give in or to give up…

The answer is Christ.

So writes Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God– through Jesus Christ our Lord! ” (Rom. 7:24-25 NKJ).

Jesus alone saves.

Jesus alone delivers.

Jesus alone gives the peace passing all human understanding.

Such peace is certain because it is of Him who gives it.

So says our Lord, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 NKJ).

True rest from battles within and without, the unrest of the day, the struggle and burden of sin, whether of our own or that of others—is the Lord of the Sabbath—the Lord of Rest Himself.

His yoke is easy.

His burden is light.

These are not as we might think.

His yoke, His burden, is gift given, not for the meriting of eternal reward, but that we find rest in Jesus alone—in Jesus Who is our true and everlasting Rest.

Because of Jesus, your sins are forgiven you—all of them.

Jesus shed blood cleanses you from all your sin.

None remain.

In this truth is true freedom, genuine and lasting liberty, which no one can take away, end, or limit.

The love of God in Jesus compels us.

Having God’s forgiveness means that Satan and our own conscience can no longer make due on their accusations, nor can their allegations stand.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God” (Rom. 8:32-34 NKJ).

Jesus is your certainty, your hope, your peace, your Rest—always!

God having us all things in Him, we then so come, for so does He continue to give—even in Word, water, bread and wine, for the salvation of your souls, rest from your labors before Him, relief from your burdens, confidence of His mercy. Amen.

 

Gracious God, our heavenly Father, Your mercy attends us all our days. Be our strength and support amid the wearisome changes of this world, and at life’s end grant us Your promised rest and the full joys of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. (Collect of the Day, 5th Sunday after Pentecost)

 

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“Loving the Lord Jesus, Keeping His Commandments, and the Spirit,” John 14:15-21

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¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Approaching Holy Scripture, we do so in a way that differs from that of others.

We believe the Bible to be God’s Word.

The Bible is God’s Word, not because I make it so, not because I believe it to be so, not because the church says it is so, and certainly not because anyone has determined the Bible to be God’s Word, God’s revelation, on the basis of investigation, explanation, or analysis, thus make the Bible God’s Word based on man’s finding and declaration.

It is the Word of God itself that reveals Holy Scripture to be of God, not the work or idea of man.

It is the Word of God itself that reveals Jesus Christ to be God enfleshed for the salvation of sinners.

We do not make the Bible any truer than it already is because we believe it.

Nor does one make the Bible any less true by not believing it.

Contrary to popular belief, truth is not relative.

Many are learning today that we don’t get want we want the way we want it or when we want it.

We are learning that we are not the one’s who decide how everything is in life.

We are at the mercy of Another.

Because the Bible is God’s Word, it is true, whether believed or not.

We believe the Bible to center on Christ.

As the Bible is God’s Word, it reveals, not what we want it to, but what God wants to make known to us.

Many view the Bible as primarily a book of do’s and don’ts.

Some even refer to the Bible with the acronym B-I-B-L-E, “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.”

That the Scriptures contain do’s and don’ts throughout is readily observable.

The Commandments may immediately come to mind, as given in Exodus chapter 20.

The words of Jesus in Matthew chapters 5-7 also might draw out attention, where Jesus speaks of love to neighbor and enemy alike and how His people are to be towards one another, whether friend or foe.

It is in chapter 7 that our Lord says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21 NKJ).

The position that the Bible is merely a manual for how to get right with God, “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth,” a book of do’s and don’ts—such views are not only insufficient, but express the Bible, not as God’s revelation making known Christ as Savior, but as means for the sinner to obtain God’s favor; not as gift, but as compensation.

The Bible would then be like any other text from a nonChristian religion, deceiving people to believe that they can somehow appease God by what they do or don’t do, even if they need a little bit of Jesus to help.

The Bible doesn’t teach this.

The Bible teaches that sinners cannot keep God’s commandments unto eternal life, not because the Law itself is insufficient or lacking, but because we are.

“Whatever the law says,” St. Paul writes, “it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:19-24 NKJ).

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23 NKJ).

“Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. ” (Jas. 2:10 NKJ).

The list goes on.

The Law cannot save the sinner.

The Law demands.

The Law’s demands what we are not able to do.

Since the Fall, all is not well between us and God.

We cannot make things right.

Only God provides the means of forgiveness and peace: through His Son—through Jesus alone—Who was conceived of the Spirit, born of the Virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, was buried, on the third day rose again, and ascended into heaven.

Jesus did these things and reigns even now, bodily, for you and for your salvation.

Jesus was born, lived, died, rose, ascended, and reigns, not merely as Example, that you follow in His every footstep, but as your Redeemer and Savior.

What you could not do in keeping the Law, Jesus did for you.

The judgment you deserve for your sin against God and against your neighbor Jesus received on your behalf.

All the demands of the Law and all of sin’s judgment were fulfilled and met on Jesus.

This is the Gospel.

Your salvation is won.

It is certain.

It is gift.

This is what the Bible is all about, not about you doing that eternal life and its certainty be yours.

The Bible is about Jesus for you, giving what you don’t deserve, creating that which was not; giving life to that which is dead; giving salvation to those deserving condemnation; forgiving sinners; cleansing the unrighteous; God remaining faithful to His promises, His mercy, His favor, through the very means the Lord Himself provides—not dependent on you—fully resting upon Him.

As God’s people, we believe the Bible to be God’s Word.

As God’s Word—the Bible is true.

We believe Jesus to be the center of all Scripture.

The Bible is about Jesus—God’s salvation—Christ’s redemptive work—God’s promise of a Savior to come and the fulfillment of that promise, recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and the continual and ongoing work of Christ in His office of Prophet, Priest, and King, post-Gospels, including today, as testified in the writings of the New Testament and until the Lord’s return in glory.

We also believe, because the Bible is God’s Word and that the Bible is all about Jesus from cover to cover—that the Bible is not about us doing for salvation, us retaining God’s good will by what we do, or us remaining in God’s good graces by how we now live.

This the temptation of the sinner, of Christian and nonChristian alike—to believe that we ourselves can somehow choose to or improve our situation before God, and for the Christian, even after conversion.

We can’t.

Though many in Christendom explicitly or implicitly teach this, that the choice is ours to make concerning our salvation or bettering ourselves before God—and then use the Bible to support this false view—the Bible teaches differently.

“By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10 NKJ).

“Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1 NKJ).

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:31-34 NKJ).

Even today’s Gospel reading from St. John does not at all teach salvation, redemption, or God’s good graces conditioned on man.

Salvation is of Christ, not by your works.

“To him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ^‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;  Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin’” (Rom. 4:4-8 NKJ).

Jesus, in today’s text, does clearly speak of keeping His commandments; Later, of keeping His Word.

Jesus does speak of “loving Him.”

If these words be understood apart from the truth the Bible is God’s Word, apart from the truth that Jesus is the center of all of Scripture, apart from the truth that God’s love in Christ is unconditioned by us and solely dependent on God and His Word—His grace and favor won for us by Christ’s life and death and resurrection—then here and in other places of the Bible will be read and understood as conditional upon us and our doing, and not upon God’s enlivening work of the Gospel, even as we confess, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or senses believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel” (Creed, Article 3).

As “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), so we learn to see that Christ, His Word, and the meanings that He gives to words are their meaning and not what we impose upon the text.

For anyone to truly love the Lord, as the Lord would have Himself be loved, one must first know that He has a gracious God in Christ.

One who doesn’t believe that God is gracious in Jesus Christ will believe that God’s love is conditioned upon them, not unconditionally upon God.

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:9-10 NKJ).

To love the Lord, there must first be faith in the heart, gratitude for God’s salvation, surety that God is merciful and kind.

Apart from Christ, without faith, none can rightly love God.

Apart from Christ, all that one does will be for the purpose of earning God’s favor, appeasing His wrath, lessening God’s judgment, not in gladly receiving what God freely gives, which is faith.

Any who think that they can or do love God without loving Christ and His Word only deceive themselves.

“God knows” the “hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Lk. 16:15 NKJ).

“The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men…God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:25, 27-29 NKJ)

God says, “Whatever is not from faith is sin” and that “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Romans 14:23; Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus Himself says, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

It is revealed in Scripture that all lack what God demands.

Thus, is Christ necessary.

Without Jesus, sinners remain in their sin.

To truly fear, love, and trust in God above all things is to have Christ as Savior.

Not attributed to me is true fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

Only in Jesus—my Savior—Who is for Me—my Savior.

As the hymn has it, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name” (TLH 370, v1).

With Paul, we also confess with confidence, “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14 NKJ).

Christ is our boast before the Father.

Because He is, so do we love Him.

Because we love Him, so is He our boast.

Jesus is our salvation.

God’s people do keep the commandments, the Word of Jesus, for they know, they believe, that Jesus’ Word is life and salvation.

It is not that God’s people recognize themselves of themselves to be good and right before God.

Just the opposite.  They acknowledge that they are indeed deserving of God’s judgment.

They do not do as they ought.  They do not believe as they ought.

God’s people confess that they do not do what God demands; that they do what God forbids; that they are not upright and holy as God would have them be.

They also confess that such sin does not lesson God’s favor, God’s grace in Christ Jesus, His mercy—for God’s mercy, His grace, His favor—these are not at all dependent on the sin of the sinner or upon the sinner, but on Christ alone.

Repenting of their sin, confessing Christ to be their salvation, God’s people seek to live and love God and others, not to earn or merit that which is already gift, but because they have come to know and believe Jesus to be God’s Son, whose Word is Spirit and life, and by that Word—alone—they live—and seek to be according to God’s will. Amen.

O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

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“Eyes Opened,” John 9:1-41

 

John 9:1-41

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

In today’s text from the ninth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, there was a man born blind to whom our Lord Jesus gave sight.

There was a common belief, then, as now, that if one was born blind, lame, deaf, mute, with a birth defect, or had another noticeable mark, there was a reason for it.

That reason was either that one or both of parents had sinned, or that somehow the child born with the condition had done something to deserve such a condition.

When the disciples of our Lord asked Jesus who had sinned, the blind man or his parents, that he was born blind, they assumed that the blindness was some kind of punishment.

It is true in general that we receive the consequences for the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden and for our own sin, including sickness, pandemics, and death.

Also, for the things that we do or don’t do in caring for the bod, there can be consequences.

But to say that a sin committed by the parents or a sin committed by the son resulted in the punishment of blindness is something that we cannot say.

To the disciples who had asked the question, Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:3).

Jesus didn’t mean by this that neither the man who was born blind nor his parents were sinless.

What Jesus meant was that the blindness was not a punishment for a specific sin, the very thing that the disciples were thinking.

The man’s blindness, Jesus says, was not because he or his parents committed anything to bring it about, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

And revealed in him they indeed were.

Jesus healed the man of His blindness.

But even more than that, the Lord Jesus opened the man’s eyes to see Him for who He really was, the Son of Man, God’s Son and Savior of the world.

First, Jesus worked the work of God in giving the blind man the ability to physically see, then He worked the work of God in giving the blind man the “eyes” of faith to believe in Jesus.

Jesus had done, and does similarly, for you.

The works of God are revealed today in you.

You still bear the effects and consequences of sin in your bodies and in the world.

This we can see clearly today, also as we see the spread of that for which we have little control.

It is only by God’s abounding grace that the Lord continues to provide for all our bodily needs, even through medical advances, doctors, nurses, hospitals, medications, treatments, and vaccines, as He wills.

Of greater value than these things, your Lord gives you the gift of sight that you see His promises.

Our Lord, by means of His Word, works the miracle of faith in your hearts by which He gives you faith to believe Jesus to be your Savior, your Savior from that same sin which brings forth physical, spiritual, and eternal death, your Savior from that same sin which Adam and Eve brought into the world.

Because Jesus died on the cross and was raised on the third day, you have no need to fear physical death.

You have no need to fear physical death because you know, on account of Christ’s resurrection, that you too will not remain in the grave.

Jesus Himself said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

He also said, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).

Because it is Jesus who said these words, you have no reason to doubt them.

You have no reason to doubt them because Jesus is who He claimed to be.

Jesus is He through whom you have the precious forgiveness of sins; He through whom you have no need to fear eternal death.

The things of this life are only temporary.  And though they certainly are real, they will not last.  Nor do they define who you are as baptized children of God.  God does.

By His Word, our Lord gives you faith to continue believing what He says to be so, that you not think of yourselves higher than you ought to think, but that you humbly look to Him for help and hope (Romans 12:3).

In Him is where you find such things, for such is His promise, now, and when He returns.

All that you rightfully deserved because of your sin Christ Jesus suffered and bore on the cross.

St. Paul says it this way, that “by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19). There too does he also say that “Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation” (Romans 5:18).

As that man born blind from birth could not bring about his own sight, so you too are helpless in your own condition to get yourselves out of it.

The Bible says that “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

By nature, our fallen condition, we don’t believe in the Lord Jesus because we are spiritually dead.

Unless God breathes into us the breath of life, His Spirit, in our sin we will remain.

Natural man can give himself life as much as a baby in or outside of the womb can give itself life.

The baby doesn’t give itself life.  Its mother does.

Natural man doesn’t give himself life.  God does.

So also, with the new birth of water and word in Holy Baptism.

One doesn’t choose or decide to be born again.  It is a gift of God.

Because of this new life given to us, we desire this new life to also be given to others.

We thus desire to speak the truth in love and pray our Lord to give boldness that we not compromise our witness by what we say or don’t say or do or don’t do.

We pray that we not be ashamed of our Lord, even as that man born blind in our text who was given to see did not back down when questioned about how he came to see.

He stood his ground and gave testimony to what had happened to him and how Jesus had healed him.

How much greater it is that Jesus brought that same man to faith!

Not only did Jesus give him the sight to see worldly things.  Jesus gave Him eternal life, and the faith to believe it.

So, to you, too, does our Lord reveal your salvation.

On you, God shows mercy.

“Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life” (Romans 5:18).

 “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8).

Through the preaching of this Good News, God gives faith.

God gives faith to take hold of what God has done for you, that you know and believe that what Jesus has done He has done for you.

God gives faith that you know and believe that what Jesus still does He does for you.

God gives faith that you continue to have life in His Name, that you see His goodness to you, and rejoice, give thanks, and follow Him, praising is Name.

God gives faith that your eyes be opened to His mercy and His grace, given and declared to you in Jesus, now and always.  Amen.

Heavenly Father, give me eyes to believe Your Son, always, and to confess Him alone to be my Savior. Amen.