“Jesus, the Life of Jesse’s Tree,” Matthew 3:13-17

Text: ¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. ¹⁶ When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ¹⁷ And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (NKJ)

Rom. 6:1-11 — ¹  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ 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. ⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJ)

Ps. 1:1-6 – ¹  Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. ³ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. ⁴ The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. ⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. ⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (NKJ)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

In these past few weeks for our Advent midweek services, out attention has been drawn to Christ Jesus: The Seed, The Root, and now, The Life, of Jesse’s Tree. With the first of these, we reflected on the words of our Lord concerning the Seed of the woman, Who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3;15). Jesus did just this when He died on the cross of calvary (Luke 23:33). “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,  and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15 NKJ).

In the second, the “Root of Jesse’s Tree,” we reviewed the account of Abraham, whom God tested by calling him to sacrifice his own son, whom he loved. Abraham was just about to offer his son Isaac as a  sacrifice according to the Word of the Lord, but the Lord stopped him, saying, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen. 22:12 NKJ).  The Lord there granted a substitute offering instead of Isaac, and there the Lord God also said to Abraham, “Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 22:17-18 NKJ).

In that event, God foreshadows the substitute sacrifice for us in Christ Jesus, Who for us died in our stead for sins that He had not committed—to deliver us from God’s judgment—to give us peace with God.  Through Jesus, we have such peace, having been justified by faith (Romans 5:1). And as to Jesus Christ as that seed promised to Adam and Eve and then through Abraham and David, St. Paul in His letter to the Galatians writes, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise” (Gal. 3:16-18 NKJ). Just later, Paul then also writes, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5 NKJ).

The Son, the beloved Son, in Whom the heavenly Father is well-pleased, He also is the life Jesse’s Tree. By Jesse’s Tree, we mean the generations of God’s people from promise to fulfillment to glorious return of our Lord—believers in Christ. These all are in Christ and live in and by Him alone. That Jesus is “the life” is the witness of the Gospels and the testimony of the Apostles.

Beginning with John 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:1-4 NKJ).

In John 5, we read, “As the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself” (Jn. 5:21-26 NKJ).

In John 6, Jesus says, “The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world,” and “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (Jn. 6:33-35 NKJ).

After a number of Jesus’ disciples “went back and walked with him no more” (John 6:66) because they did not believe His Word, Jesus then says to the twelve, “‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Jn. 6:67-69 NKJ).

Jesus’s Words are life. They are eternal life. This is what Jesus means when He says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:10-11 NKJ).

That abundant life Jesus is talking about is not meant in the way of prosperity, peace, or productivity. As Jesus is the “Resurrection and the Life,” John 11, so also does He give and do so much more than what sinners seek and hope for in this life alone. As Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” (John 14:6) so also is He the means to the Father. That you have life in Jesus’ Name, John also writes that his Word, inspired by God, is given you “that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn. 20:31 NKJ).

Not surprisingly, John the evangelist, who also wrote the Gospel associated with his name, also speaks of Jesus as Life in his first epistle, where he says, “This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 Jn. 5:11-13 NKJ).

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, the 6^th Chapter, tonight’s first reading, Paul writes, “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Rom. 6:3-8 NKJ).

Paul also says, “The death that He (Christ) died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:10-11 NKJ).

Add these few references together and you find that Jesus not only linked to life. He is life—and the Giver of it.  His blood does “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9 NKJ). His blood also is life. By means of His death on Good Friday, your sins are forgiven you. They are no more.  Now you live—in Him—before the father—forgiven—a child of God—an heir of the promise. You now live in Him and He in you.

Such life God freely gives you through the very means He provides you. As water cleanses, so do the Holy waters of Baptism cleanse your from your sin, from death, and from the power of the evil one, the devil—in the Name of the Father , and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

The benefits of Holy Baptism are these. “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.” Those words and promises of God are these. our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). (Luther’s Small Catechism, The Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Second).

As to the water and the great things that accompany Holy Baptism, “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying” (Titus 3:5-8). (Luther’s Small Catechism, The Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Third).

When Jesus was baptized with water by John the Baptist, it was not because Jesus needed to be baptized for Himself that He was baptized. John the Baptist did not baptize Jesus because Jesus needed baptism for any sins committed or for any wrongdoing he had done. Jesus was baptized for us—in order “to fulfill all righteousness” (v15).

Just as Jesus was conceived from you, born for you, lived for you, died for you, rose for you, ascended for you, and is returning for you —so was Jesus baptized not for His sake, but for yours. That approval, that acceptance given to Jesus, God the Father’s only-begotten Son, is now also your own—through faith in the One Who died your death, bore your sin, and rose from the dead.

Your life is in Him—As your life is in Him, He provides you with everything needed to support and sustain that life.  He gives you His very Word and promises in the very tangible means of Word, and Word with water, and Word with bread and wine, Christ’s very body and blood, that you continue in this life of yours in Him, not in your own strength and power, but by these very things that He freely gives you to sustain, nourish, and preserve you, now and always.

As a seed is nourished by that which is external to it and does not grow on its own, so also does God nourish you by that which is external to you—by the very gifts that God gives—according to His Word. Just as Jesus is life—and just as His Word is life—so are the very things He attaches to His Word life. Where God gives life, where God sustains and nourishes unto eternity, there must life be given; and there, there is life sustained and nourished, nowhere else. Amen.

“Forgiveness and Mercy,” Matthew 18:21-35

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²¹Then Peter came up and said to [Jesus], “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.²³“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³²Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

God is the God of compassion. God’s nature is to be merciful, to pity the sinner, and to act kindly towards him who deserves it not.  This is our God, our God who abundantly pardons and who completely forgives your sins.  He holds back none of His mercies to those who call upon Him, to those who call upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:18). 

God is a gracious God, who hears the cries of the penitent.  He hears the prayers of those who call to Him in faith, those who believe that He is a gracious God and will act in no other way than with kindness and good intentions. 

“He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

God rewards with good those who diligently seek Him.  God’s Word reveals His goodness to us sinners.  It is there, in His Word, that you know the true God, not to be a god of conditional love whose love must be bought or purchased, but the God of unconditional love, who demonstrated that love to us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). 

The God of conditions, the God of condemnation, the God of wrathful judgment—this is the God that unbelievers know—because they do not know Christ.

But because of Christ, God remembers your sins no more.  “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us,” writes the Psalmist (Psalm 103:12). 

The debt that you could not pay because it is beyond you Christ paid fully when He died on Good Friday. 

“The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).” 

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). 

This is the Gospel, the Gospel of our Lord, the Gospel through which you have life, life everlasting. 

This is all gift, the very gift of God to you, but not because you deserve it in any way. 

But because God is a gracious God. 

“He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). 

God does not leave the lonely comfortless.  He does not leave the helpless hopeless.  He does not leave the sinner to judgement.  He forgives the sinner all his sins. 

God gives hope to the helpless and comfort to the lonely.  All in Christ! 

Because of Christ, heaven is yours and you now have peace with God. 

In Christ, God no longer holds any of your sins against us. 

Though you deserve nothing but God’s wrath, God freely gives you His love and affection. 

God turns His eyes to your needs and gives you help and aid.  God opens His hands and feeds you.  God forgives all your sins.

By God’s forgiveness, His mercy, and His compassion, you live.  And in this living, the forgiveness, the mercy, and the compassion God bestows upon you for Christ’s sake also shows itself from you to others. 

Faith is to God.  And that faith to God is active in love toward one another. 

By means of faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, you have salvation.  But such faith is never alone. 

As you have freely received, so you also freely give (Matthew 10:8).  As God is toward you, so are you also toward others. 

Because God is merciful, you, His servants, are also merciful.  Because God is compassionate, you are compassionate. 

Because God forgives you your sins, you also forgive those who sin against you.  Your sins against God are greater sins than those sins that are done against you.  Because God forgives you the greater sin against Him, so you also forgive others the lesser sin against you. 

But if you will not forgive those who sin against you, you have only the sure expectation that God will not forgive you, even as Christ our Lord says, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mathew 6:15). 

If this sounds like Law, it is.  It is Law because it carries a threat, a threat if something is not done, in this case, forgiving another.  If you do not forgive others, God will not forgive you.  It is God’s disposition to have pity, to show compassion, to have mercy, and to forgive. 

All who do not have these towards others, within God’s own household, show themselves as not being of God nor of His kingdom. 

“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 John 4:10-11).

In the same chapter 4 of St. John’s first epistle, he also writes, “We love Him (God) because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 Jn. 4:19 -21).

God’s kingdom is not about holding grudges, being angry, and not caring.  God’s kingdom is about having pity, loving one another, and giving help where needed, not for anything in return and not even for recognition, but because God has done the same for us in our need.

The wicked servant in our Gospel text from St. Matthew is the example of the one who accepts his master’s forgiveness for himself but himself does not forgiving.  He owed the greater debt, but He refused to forgive the lesser. 

The wicked servant owed his master 10,000 talents, an unpayable amount, and his master let it go.  A fellow servant owed 100 denarii, a far lesser amount of debt, and this servant he did not forgive.

The one who was forgiven should himself have forgiven, just as the master in the parable had noted when he said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (Matthew 18:32-33) 

Because that wicked servant did not forgive, even as he himself was forgiven, he reaped the reward of his unkind-nesses.  As he was unforgiving, so his master who before had shown undeserving compassion now showed him deserving wrath.  Where the debtor was at first set free, he was now in debt, and paid accordingly, and without end.

By means of the parable, Jesus gives warning to those for whom God has compassion, and yet do not show that compassion to others. 

It is human nature to receive, but not so to freely to give, unless there be strings attached.  But God doesn’t work along the lines of ‘I’ll do this for you if you do this for Me.’

God attaches no strings.   What He gives, He gives freely.  Yet what He gives freely is not received but by faith.  And one who freely receives through faith will also so live.

One who believes that he is forgiven, not because of his own worthiness or even because of his own faith, but because of God’s grace in Christ, cannot but also forgive if He is Christian. 

To be a Christian is to be of Christ.  To be of Christ is also to forgive, just as in Christ, sin is forgiven. 

Holding grudges and resentments against a fellow believer is not the way of Christ.  God rather teaches this, “As the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:12-13).

Peter’s question at the beginning of this morning’s Gospel, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Matthew 18:21) was a ‘how much is enough?’ kind of question. 

Peter was asking, ‘How much of my forgiving another is enough? When am I done forgiving?’ 

Peter had somehow missed the point that Jesus ‘desired mercy and not sacrifice’, that He showed abundant compassion, and His words, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

Peter was asking a question according to the way of the world and the sinner, the way we understand well. 

You don’t ‘get something for nothing,’ and you should get what you are due. 

The way of God is different from the way of the world. 

You don’t get what you are due.  You get what you are not due. 

God forgives you freely in Christ because He is a gracious God who desires that all be saved.  He pardons your iniquity and canceled the penalty of your sin when Christ died on Calvary.  Instead of God’s judgment, you have His mercy. Instead of God’s wrath because of your sin, you have God’s forgiveness because of His Son.

In the world’s book, it might have do with ‘how much,’ ‘how often,’, and ‘when is enough,’ but in God’s Book, it is different. 

God doesn’t go by ‘enough’ in terms of what you do.  “Enough” is a law word, a law word that implies limit.  The limits of God you don’t and can never fulfill of yourselves.  Our quotas are incomplete.  God’s law cannot be fully kept.  We fall short time and time and time again.  No matter how hard we try, no matter what we do, our sin still clings to us and from it we cannot be rid.

Christ has already fulfilled the requirements of the law, for He came, not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).  This He has already been done. 

God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does. 

God doesn’t need your forgiveness.  You need His.  And in Christ, you have it.

To Peter’s question, Jesus replied, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). 

“If your brother sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4).

Impossible?  By yourselves, yes.

By means of God’s holy Law, God shows you your sin—that He show you Jesus your Savior. 

In Jesus, you learn what true forgiveness is.  God no longer counts your sins against you.  The debt of your sin is gone.  This means that you are free from the curse of the law, Christ having become a curse for you (Galatians 3:13).

You are free from the curse of the Law and now, free to serve your Lord in word and deed—free to show compassion to others because God shows compassion to you—free to have mercy on others, because God in Christ is merciful to you; free to forgive without end those who sin against you because God abundantly forgives you, for Christ’s sake.  Amen.

O God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, hear the devout prayers of Your Church, especially in times of persecution, and grant that what we ask in faith we may obtain; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. (Collect of the Day)

“Humility before God and one another,” Matthew 18:1-20

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¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ²And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

      ⁵“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

      ⁷“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ⁸And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. 

      ¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. ¹²What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

      ¹⁵“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (ESV)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Like the disciples who had at other times debated who the greatest, the most important, was (i.e. Mark 9:33-37; Luke 9:46-48), we too have certain ideas of who the greatest and most important person is.

All our ideas, all our expectations, all our criteria for who should be at the top, however, run contrary to the revelation of our Lord.  Jesus clearly reveals this in today’s Gospel.

There, the disciples asked Jesus who the greatest was.  Reading this account in context, however, might lead one to think that they weren’t really listening to what Jesus had been saying. 

Just a bit before (Matthew 17:22), Jesus had again told the disciples what was soon to be coming—His betrayal, His death, and His resurrection.  You would think that instead of asking, “Jesus, who’s the greatest?” they might have been wondering what Jesus was talking about concerning the weightier matters of death and resurrection.

But before jumping the gun and attacking the disciples for their lack of attention, we too must confess that we often have our minds on other things than what the Lord is saying.  Throughout the week, and even on Sunday in the Divine Service, God’s Word is not always our top priority.  And when we do hear and consider it, we don’t always take it as it is.

Yet Jesus does not jump on His distracted disciples.  Instead, He gives answer to their self-centered question. 

The greatest in the kingdom is not the ‘king of the hill’ or the ‘A student.’  The greatest in the kingdom is not the highest paid or the one who is most well known and praised for their personality, for their compassion, or for their ability to give everyone a sense of fulfillment.  It is not the one who gets everyone motivated and going that is considered great in God’s eyes.  No—the one who is the greatest in God’s Kingdom is the one who, as Jesus says, “turns and becomes like a child.” 

“Truly, I say to you,” Jesus says, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Becoming like a child, however, does not mean in the sense of blindly trusting in anything, becoming gullible, or becoming immature. 

When Jesus talks about turning, He is talking about turning from one’s independence from God to complete and total dependence on God.  He’s talking about becoming what you by nature are not—fully loving, trusting, and fearing God above everything else.  First Commandment stuff.

When Jesus talks about becoming like children, He is talking about becoming entirely dependent and fully trusting of and in God and His goodness.  He means denying oneself the honor of self-reliance to holding on to God’s help in Christ alone. 

When Jesus talks about becoming like children, He means abandoning the belief that we only need God a little bit or maybe even a little more, and instead, treasuring Christ and His Word and His promises fully.

Those whom God considers great in His Kingdom are those who acknowledge that they have no goodness or merit in themselves, who look to God alone for help, and who wait only on Him for salvation.

God considers great those who have nothing and to those whom He gives everything and who trust in Him.

This is as unsympathetic to our American do-it-yourself, “can-do attitude,” as anything. 

Just as the disciples had argued about who the greatest was, thinking that it was a position to strive for and a title to possess, so we too want to achieve and become great in the sight of others.  We want to be recognized for what we do.  We want others to notice what we do, to complement us, and to make us feel good about ourselves.

The way of the Lord is different.  He puts us in our place: not as independent, but as dependent upon Him; not as self-sufficient, but as reliant upon Him; not as looking down upon others, but as caring for others and showing compassion to those that the world neglects, judges, and casts aside.

The greatest in the kingdom are those who trust alone in the Lord Jesus for salvation.  These are looked down upon and despised by the world but loved by God. 

The greatest in God’s kingdom are they who humble themselves before God and receive His mercy and compassion, the very thing that they do not receive from the world. 

These are the greatest in God’s kingdom, however, because they take God at His Word and repent of their sin.  They do not despise preaching and His Word, but gladly hear and learn it.  They look to Christ and find in Him their salvation.

Through Isaiah the prophet, God says it this way, “On this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2).

The one who is the greatest in the Kingdom, Jesus says, is the one who confesses his sin, who recognizes his own ability to save himself, and who takes God at His Word.

In the eyes of the world, such a one would not be considered great.  In the eyes of the world, greatness has to do with ability, fame, prominence, popularity, and reputation.  Greatness is having control.

In the eyes of God, things are different.  In the eyes of God, greatness does not have to do with how others see you, how others define you, or how others characterize you.  In the eyes of God, greatness has everything to do with how God sees you, and believing the way that God sees you, according to His Word.  In this is true greatness, not because you have anything to contribute or add to your status before God, but because of what God, of His kindness, freely gives and declares to you, in Christ. 

Just as the child is dependent on his or her parent for food, clothing, shelter, nurture, so are you dependent on God for your everything.  And just as the child receives what is given, so you also receive what God gives to you (such is what faith is and does). 

This does not mean that you will always be satisfied or content with what the Lord gives, just like the child who complains about not having this food or that toy.  You still struggle with your selfishness and greediness.  And on this side of heaven, with these you will continue to struggle. 

As long as you are in the flesh, you will continue to fight against the tendency to want things your own way rather than God’s way.  You will continue to wrestle with the will of God that is not your own.  You will continue to wage war against your members that seek to usurp God’s Word and ways.

As God’s child, however, you will also recognize that these tendencies to want things your own way and not God’s are not the way of the Lord.  From these you will turn, and in turning, you will again become as children, waiting upon the Lord, depending on Him for life, trusting in Him for strength, and believing His Word. 

You will rejoice in having God’s favor in Christ.  You will not desire things your own way, but God’s.  You will not continue to neglect His Word.  You will not continue to look down and despise others.  Instead, you will give thanks for the Word that the Lord speaks, whether you like it or not.  You will praise Him for His forgiveness.  You will seek to please Him according to His own Word, in the way that He desires you to do, not comparing yourself to others, but seeing yourself as God sees you and seeing others the way that God sees them. 

You will see yourself as God sees you, a poor miserable sinner, forgiven in Christ. You will see others the way that God sees them.  You will begin to see that it is not what I or the world say about another that really matters, but what God says. 

If the one who turns from his self-centeredness and idolatry and humbles himself as a child is who God considers greatest in His kingdom, so will I also consider that one to be greatest.  

If one of those little ones who believe in Him are so precious in God’s sight, so will that one also be precious in my sight.

I will therefore not seek to lead another brother or sister in Christ to doubt, to despair, or to question the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ because of what I say or do.  Instead, I will seek to build them up in the true doctrine with my words and by my actions.  I will watch my own life closely and not try to hurt another so that they lose sight of Christ and His forgiveness because of me.

Where I have hurt, I will seek forgiveness, first from God, and then from the one I have hurt.  Where I am unsure, I will look to the Lord for certainty.  Where I have fallen, I will seek the Lord’s strength. 

All the while, because of God’s forgiveness of my sin and His love for me and for others, I will also seek to show that forgiveness and love that God has for me to others for whom Christ has died. 

The Christian, in humility, sees himself as not deserving anything from God, only what God deems to give. 

Yet instead of death, God gives life.  Instead of everlasting fire in hell, God promises heaven. Instead of condemnation for sins, God forgives all sins. 

Such is God’s compassion for sinners.  Such is God’s compassion for you.

Because of God’s great love and compassion and mercy for you, you, as God’s child, you begin and continue to have that same love, compassion and mercy for others.  The ‘little ones’ that the Lord does not neglect, you too do not neglect.  God’s concern is your concern.  Therefore, do you watch what you say and watch what you do, seeking to help others remain in God’s gracious care. 

Should your brother sin, you will seek to warn him of his sin, not once, but continually.  You will talk with him personally and not talk behind his back or damage his reputation. 

Far from it being only the pastor’s job to go and speak with the one who is in the wrong, you will go, out of love for the one who is erring, for such things brothers and sisters in Christ do for one another. 

God’s family cares for one another. 

The one who is erring, the one who is sinning, even the one who doesn’t know that he is doing wrong, is to know that what he’s doing is wrong in God’s eyes—that he repent and be saved. 

God would have the sinner saved from sin.  But if that sinner doesn’t recognize his sin, how will he know that he needs saving? How can there be repentance, a turning to the Lord, and a humbling oneself like a child, unless one is aware that that’s what God seeks? 

God’s love goes out, bursting forth from His own heart—to ours—to others.  Love doesn’t seek its own, but the other’s well-being.  The love of God is not self-serving.  It is sacrificial and self-giving.  It puts others first, even those deemed unworthy by our own standards. 

God’s people have such love, because God has such love for them. They are God’s family. As children of God, they have such love toward one another.  “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

Being the greatest in the kingdom is not about independence, boastfulness, or making comparison.  It is not about how we define greatness, but how God defines it.  It is not about becoming great but recognizing one’s place before God—in need of Jesus.

All need this Savior!  No one is excluded from the need of God’s forgiveness and salvation.  Yet, it is the neediest who need Him the most.  The greatest are those who so see themselves, and so also is their concern that of others.  Amen.

O God, from whom all good proceeds, grant to us, Your humble servants, Your holy inspiration, that we may set our minds on the 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.  Amen.  (Collect of the Day)

Audio

“The Separation of the Righteous from the Wicked,” Matthew 25:31-46

 

³¹[Jesus said:] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

      ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46, ESV)

 

The central teaching of the Christian faith is that God alone, in Christ, saves sinful man.  Sinners do not save themselves.  You do not contribute at all to your salvation.  You do not make a choice to be saved.  Your works, nor your neglect, do not add to or subtract anything from God’s promise to you in Christ.

With reference to God’s grace, you are recipients, not the active agents, of eternal life.

This is good news!

God gives full confidence, and the blessed assurance, of complete and total forgiveness on account of Christ Jesus, apart from your works, distinct from what you do.

This is the Gospel, and woe to the one to whom the Gospel is not preached.  No faith is given apart from the hearing.  To the one who hears the good news of sins forgiven but doesn’t believe, the certainty of eternal death remains.  But to him who hears and believes, the hope of everlasting life is the sure promise from the God of all grace.

This is so because of Christ’s cross.  Christ died to save you from your sins.  Jesus fulfilled all that the Heavenly Father gave Him to fulfill.  This means that there is nothing for you to do for your salvation.  Christ has already done it all.

To speak, teach, or believe differently than this is to step outside of the Word of God and to walk by sinful reason, instead of going the Lord’s way of revelation.

Any who teach that what you do earns you heaven teaches falsely and leads away from Christ and is outside the parameters of the Christian faith.

Any who teach that what you do keeps you in the faith misunderstands God’s working. It is most certainly true that you cannot by your own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ your Lord or come to Him.  So we confess by the words of the 3^rd Article of the Creed.  It is also most certainly true that it is the Holy Spirit who calls you by the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit who keeps you in the true faith, and not you yourselves (i.e. Galatians 3:3-9).

God keeps and preserves you in the true faith, according to His good and gracious will, by means of His Holy Word.  Here, He directs you to Jesus and away from your own self-righteousness, and away from your sinful pride.

Away from these and to God’s Means of Grace the Lord directs you, where you find refuge and shelter from the attacks of the world, strength to resist temptation and the evil one, and rest for your weary souls (Matthew 11:28-30).

By means of His Word and Sacrament, God keeps and preserves you a people for Himself, a people who live by faith, yet a people who also live in the world.

What God gives in Word, Baptism, and Supper, are the very means by which you live.  Without these, you would be as the nonbeliever who sees Christianity as only one religion among many.  All religions, except Christianity, teach ways of getting right with God by what one does.

Only the true Christian religion teaches that God saves sinful man through the suffering and death of the God-man Christ, and that God works through visible means of water, bread, and wine, and that in these, according to divine revelation, God gives forgiveness, life, and salvation. This the nonbeliever cannot fathom.  He believes himself to have to do ‘for God,’ rather than say the ‘for me’ of faith.

In truth, God needs nothing from you.  You need everything of Him.  His forgiveness, grace, mercy, kindness, favor, help, provision, and supply you cannot do without, lest you despair of God in your own sinfulness or rest in the false confidence of your wayward flesh.

Either way, whether falling into despair or having a false sense of security before God, you are sinners in need of God’s rescue.  The Lord will come to judge between ‘the living and the dead.’   And when He does, He will come in all of His glory, with all of His angels, and will then sit on His throne.

Only for Christ’s sake, when Jesus does come to separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12), and the believer from the nonbeliever, will you not be the nonbeliever, nor the hypocrite, the chaff, or the goats, to whom He will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, ESV), but those to whom the Lord will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34, ESV).

In the parable from St. Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord says of the righteous that they had given Christ food and drink, welcomed Him, clothed Him, visited Him when He was sick, and came to Him in prison. Then the righteous answered, “When did we do these things?”

In other words, the righteous were not aware of doing the very things that the Lord had said of them.  From their hearts they did what they did because they didn’t believe in their works, but in Him through whose works they were acceptable to God.

The righteous are called righteous, not because of any self-righteousness, virtuous living, or upright morality, but because of Him who declares them to be righteous, good, and holy, not of themselves, but of the good and gracious God who gave His One and Only Begotten Son, that all would live through Him (John 3:16).

Being righteous has to do with Christ, and having faith alone in Him, whose holiness is counted as your own through faith and not apart from it.  Of yourselves, you are nothing but sinful and unclean, in desperate need of Christ.

Any and all who would deny this truth of Scripture, that you are sinners and remain sinners in need of God’s forgiveness, diminish Christ and throw Him out, regardless of how often and how frequently the name of Christ might be mentioned.

The ‘happy preacher,’ Joel Osteen in Texas, and the popular Joyce Meyer of TV and radio fame are such who give lip service to Christ, but don’t know Him in their teaching.  When they say that you need to stop calling yourselves sinners and move on, they deny John’s First letter which says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8, 10).

They and others in Christendom have said that churches and congregations that confess their sins ‘every’ Sunday need to stop this needless bringing down of its members and speak of the sanctified life, for we no longer sin.

Such optimistic words of the human condition are far from true.  Being a Christian does not mean that you stop sinning.  Nor does it mean that you need less forgiveness.  The maturing Christian finds just the opposite to be the case.

Instead of being ‘sin-free,’ Christians find themselves fighting all the more with themselves because of the sin that still clings to them.  Rather than see himself improving and getting better, the Christian sees his sinfulness ever clearer and wants to rid himself of his sinful inclinations and desires all the more.

The Christian despairs of himself and leans ever the more on Christ, through whom alone is his salvation.  The Christian sees himself decreasing, and Christ all the more increasing (John 3:30).

This is what it is to be growing in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Less and less stock do you place in your own doing.  More and more do you place in the Lord’s doing, to whom is all glory, honor, and praise.

Because the Christian believes that he has no righteousness of his own, and that He is saved completely by another, by Christ Jesus the Lord, all the more good works does He do because of the Lord who works in Him, who creates and strengthens faith by means of His Word.

It is through faith in Christ alone that you are saved, are promised heaven, and have new life.  This new life is not lived unto itself.  Nor is faith ever alone with regard to good works.  Faith is active and busy in love.  Fruits will be born unto it, even as Jesus says in the Gospel according to St. John, the 15^th chapter, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5 NKJ).

In Christ, therefore, through faith, you are not fruitless.  You do bear fruit, good fruit, works that are good and acceptable to God, for only with faith is it possible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Such fruits are works which are done in faith and according to His God’s Word.

When in our text the Lord describes that judgment made upon the ‘Blessed of the Father’ and ‘the cursed’ on account of their feeding or not feeding the hungry, giving drink or not giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming or not welcoming the stranger, clothing or not clothing the naked, visiting or not visiting the sick, or coming or not coming to visit the prisoner, He’s looking at the fruits of faith or faith’s outcome.

The one who calls himself a Christian and who claims that doing these things is reason for God’s favor is no Christian.  Such a one instead demonstrates unbelief in Christ because He trusts in his own doing.  This one, therefore, will go into eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46).

The one who fails to recognize the good that he’s done because of His sin, places no confidence in what he’s done, yet clings to Christ and Him alone for mercy and pardon, this one is righteous, and will enter eternal life.  This is the Christian; whose confidence and hope is the Lord.  The nonbeliever does not do these things, but trusts another.

St. Paul the Apostle writes,  “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.’”(Romans 4:4-8 NKJ)

The Christian rests on God’s forgiveness for hope and salvation, not on his own works.  The glory goes to God.  He seeks to do what God says because that is what God has given him to do.  He serves others because Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

The Christian is active in good works.  By faith he is righteous.  This faith is active in serving and helping others, especially those who are of the “household of faith” (Galatians 6:10), the brothers and sisters of Christ, and even the least of these His brethren.

By such good works you are not saved.  But such good works are done by those who have faith in Christ. Amen.

 

Heavenly Father, keep me from believing that I contribute to my salvation.  Give me confidence that before You, because of Christ’s death on the cross, I am Yours, forgiven.  Help me to live in this forgiveness in service to others, that I continue to trust in You and in nothing that I do. Amen.

 

 

 

God heals…the brokenhearted

He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3, NKJ

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

God doesn’t leave the brokenhearted to self-mend. God doesn’t leave the wounded to self-heal. Rather, the Lord God does the healing and the mending. He binds the wounds of the brokenhearted and heals them.

Note, though, that it is the brokenhearted and the wounded that the Lord heals and binds. Those not wounded and those not brokenhearted are whole and well. It is as Jesus had said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).

Thus, if you are neither brokenhearted or wounded, you have no need of healing and binding. If you have no sin, you have no need of forgiveness and salvation. If you aren’t sick, you don’t need a doctor or medication. If you don’t need salvation, you don’t need Jesus.

But don’t go by what you perceive or by what you think. Don’t follow your own advice or your own self-diagnosis. If you do, you will be woefully wrong.

Jesus says, “Judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24). Determine how things are with you according to the Word of our Lord, who teaches that, “Whatever the law says, 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” (Romans 3:19-20).

According to the Law of God (The Ten Commandments), you are not as God would have you be (i.e. Matthew 5:21-42; Romans 7; etc.). You are not as God commands you to be. And this is not because you don’t try. It is because you offend the Holy God by your transgressions. Though you may minimize your shortcomings before God, He certainly does not.

It is for this very reason that God the Father sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16), to save you from your sin, which is not little at all, for if it is, then Jesus is only a little Savior.

Thus does St. Paul write, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:8-10).

Even while we were sinners, Paul says, Christ died for us. He also states that even while we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of Jesus. This means that your justification before and your reconciliation with God is in no way dependent upon you (nor your decision or choice, for such you cannot make, Ephesians 2:1-2, 5). Rather, these are founded alone in Christ. Faith simply takes hold of what God has already declared and says, “Amen,” to what God has made known.

You don’t make yourself acceptable to God. So also, you don’t make yourself healthy and you don’t bind your own wounds. God does these, through His Son. He speaks to you His Word, and you stand forgiven. He absolves you of your sins, and you are absolved. He declares you righteous before Him, and so you are. He declares you whole and well, and so you are. All in Christ.

Take hold of Christ, therefore, and believe the Word of the Lord to you. As He calls you a sinner, don’t deny, but confess the Lord to know more than you (Psalm 19:12). As He says, “Believe,” don’t deny or reject as the godless and unbelievers do, but believe, according to His Word, that it is just as He says. As God speaks forgiveness to you in Christ, and justification, and reconciliation through Him who shed His holy blood, entrust yourself to these blessed words and our Lord who, in His mercy, raises you from the dead and gives you everlasting life. Doubt yourself, yes, but not God, who alone is faithful and true!

If you are brokenhearted because of your sin, and fear that the Lord’s kindness is not to you, cast away such thoughts, for it is to you that God speaks and heals with His kind and compassionate words. If you are wounded because of your own transgressions or those of others, and doubt the Lord’s care and keeping, forsake such thoughts and cling to Christ, who through His wounds not only cleanses you, but heals the scars and ensures you everlasting peace with God.

If you neither feel your sin, be brokenhearted, or recognize the extent of your troubles before God, trust what the Lord says. “There is a time for everything under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Times of overcast and clouds, as well as rain and troubles, even if they be minor, will come, as also, by God’s grace, times of sunshine and warmth. Circumstances vary in life, as you know, but God does not change, nor do His promises in Christ. Amen.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to believe your Word and promises, even if I don’t feel my sin and my need for you. Take care of me and keep me from doubting what you say. Give me firm faith in You that in any and all circumstances, I repent of my sin and entrust myself to You, my Great Physician and healer of body and soul. Amen.

Forgiveness & Love

Apology, IV. Justification

(Tappert)

¹⁵² There is a familiar figure of speech, called synecdoche, by which we sometimes combine cause and effect in the same phrase. Christ says in Luke 7:47, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, because she loved much.” But he interprets his own words when he adds: “Your faith has saved you” (v. 50). Now Christ did not want to say that by her works of love the woman had merited the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵³ Therefore he clearly says, “Your faith has saved you.” But faith is that which grasps God’s free mercy because of God’s Word. If anybody denies that this is faith, he utterly misunderstands the nature of faith. ¹⁵⁴ And the account here shows what he calls “love.” The woman came, believing that she should seek the forgiveness of sins from Christ. This is the highest way of worshiping Christ. Nothing greater could she ascribe to him. By looking for the forgiveness of sins from him, she truly acknowledged him as the Messiah. Truly to believe means to think of Christ in this way, and in this way to worship and take hold of him. Moreover, Christ used the word “love” not toward the woman but against the Pharisee, because Christ contrasted the whole act of reverence of the Pharisee with that of the woman. He chides the Pharisee for not acknowledging him as the Messiah, though he did show him the outward courtesies due a guest and a great and holy man. He points to the woman and praises her reverence, her anointing and crying, all of which were a sign and confession of faith that she was looking for the forgiveness of sins from Christ. It was not without reason that this truly powerful example moved Christ to chide the Pharisee, this wise and honest but unbelieving man. He charges him with irreverence and reproves him with the example of the woman. What a disgrace that an uneducated woman should believe God, while a doctor of the law does not believe or accept the Messiah or seek from him the forgiveness of sins and salvation!

¹⁵⁵ In this way, therefore, he praises her entire act of worship, as the Scriptures often do when they include many things in one phrase. Later we shall take up similar passages, like Luke 11:41, “Give alms; and behold, everything is clean.” He demands not only alms, but also the righteousness of faith. In the same way he says here, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, because she loved much,” that is, because she truly worshiped me with faith and with the acts and signs of faith. He includes the whole act of worship; but meanwhile he teaches that it is faith that properly accepts the forgiveness of sins, though love, confession, and other good fruits ought to follow. He does not mean that these fruits are the price of propitiation which earns the forgiveness of sins that reconciles us to God.

¹⁵⁶ We are debating about an important issue, the honor of Christ and the source of sure and firm consolation for pious minds — whether we should put our trust in Christ or in our own works. ¹⁵⁷ If we put it in our works, we rob Christ of his honor as mediator and propitiator. And in the judgment of God we shall learn that this trust was vain and our consciences will then plunge into despair. For if the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation do not come freely for Christ’s sake, but for the sake of our love, nobody will have the forgiveness of sins unless he keeps the whole law, because the law does not justify so long as it can accuse us. ¹⁵⁸ Justification is reconciliation for Christ’s sake. Therefore it is clear that we are justified by faith, for it is sure that we receive the forgiveness of sins by faith alone.

Scripture Readings for Good Friday, 2013C

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Old Testament: Isaiah 52:13—53:12

        ¹³Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.  ¹⁴As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—¹⁵so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.  ¹Who has believed what they heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

        ²For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  ³He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

        ⁴Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

        ⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  ⁸By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?  ⁹And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

        ¹⁰Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  ¹¹Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  ¹²Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Epistle: Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9

¹⁴Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. . . .

      ^5:7In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. ⁸Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. ⁹And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel: John 18:1—19:42

¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ²Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them,  “Whom do you seek?” ⁵They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them,  “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶When Jesus said to them,  “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷So he asked them again,  “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸Jesus answered,  “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” ⁹This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken:  “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” ¹⁰Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹So Jesus said to Peter,  “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

      ¹²So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

      ¹⁵Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, ¹⁶but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

      ¹⁹The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. ²⁰Jesus answered him,  “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²²When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³Jesus answered him,  “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

      ²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

      ²⁸Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ³²This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

      ³³So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered,  “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus answered,  “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered,  “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

      After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. ³⁹But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

      ^19:1Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. ²And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” ⁶When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. ⁹He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus answered him,  “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

      ¹²From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” ¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

      So they took Jesus, ¹⁷and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²²Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

      ²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

      “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, ²⁵but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,  “Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple,  “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

      ²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture),  “I thirst.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said,  “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

      ³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. ³⁵He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. ³⁶For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” ³⁷And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

      ³⁸After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ³⁹Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. ⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴²So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

—

The Lord Jesus willingly endured the cross–for you!  Through His death, all of your sins are done away with.  Thus can St. Paul say, “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, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:31-34).  In Christ, you’re sins are no more.  Though you still feel them, because of Christ, no longer are they yours.  And because God the Father judged His Son, no longer any judgment do you bear before God.  Thus, are you forgiven, saved, and free, in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Return to the Lord

        ¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.  ¹⁴Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?   ¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶gather the people.  Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants.  Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.   ¹⁷Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.  Why should they say among the peoples,  ‘Where is their God?’”  ¹⁸Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.    ¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.”  (Joel 2:12-19)

 

The day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)

The day of the Lord, the day of Judgment, is come.  It is great and very terrible.  Yes, indeed!  Who can endure it?  Who can persist and continue when the Lord meets out His judgment upon a wayward people, a wayward people even called by His Holy Name.

Joel prophesied to such a people.  He spoke and proclaimed to the people of God.  They had departed from the Lord, following their own ways, heeding their own opinions, holding fast to their own judgments, and not according to the will of the Lord.  They were a way faring people, led by their own desires and hearkening to their own inclinations.

They took for granted all that the Lord had done for them, all that He had provided for them, and how He had kept and preserved them.  And now, judgment was to come, judgment by way of that which would destroy their bounty, diminish their excess, and humble a prideful people.

Joel speaks of locusts, which would devour the land (Joel 1:4; 2:25).  They would leave nothing behind.  Crops would be leveled.  No grain would be in sight.  Harvest would be absent.

The prophet Joel speaks of the destruction caused by the locusts as “The day of the Lord.”  We in our day, on this side of the hemisphere and in this nation have a hard time understanding such devastation caused by such things.  But the people in Joel’s day lived off the land.  They depended on the crops and their bounty for their livelihood.  They couldn’t go to another grocery store if one was empty.  If the crops failed, that meant dire straits.

Farmers today know this.  Yet, for most of us, we know little about true hunger and true devastation.  We know little of what it means to be truly in want, to have little or nothing.  We do not really know what it is like to be in a famine, to suffer the consequences of a deadly plague, to be in the state of starvation, or to be literally dying of thirst.

We have it fairly easy today.  Food is abundant.  We have clean water, clothes on our back, a roof over our heads.  We have all that we need, and more.

Like the Israelites of Joel’s day, we take for granted all that the Lord has provided for us.  We take for granted all that He abundantly gives us of His mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us.  We, like the people in Joel’s day, fail to even see the means by which God would call us back to Himself.

By means of the prophet Joel, God called His people to repentance, to Return to Him with all their heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³and to rend their hearts and not their garments.  God called His people to repent of their idolatrous hearts and their false assumptions that God would always be with them, even should they forsake Him and His ways and not trust in His promises.

They simply went through the motions of God’s people, but their hearts were far from their Lord and their God (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8).  They went to church.  They gave offering.  They did what they thought God required of them.  But they did not believe.  They forsook the Word and trusted in themselves.

Do you see the events in the world enfolding before your eyes as a call to repentance?  The downward spiral of our economy and the increasing debt?  The revolutions and rebellions across the globe?  Troubles in the Mideast and elsewhere?  The hypocrisy and the apostasy of church after church which claims to bear Christ’s Name?  Accidents (as we call them), and death after death because of this or that?

Do you see these things as reminder of sin and a call to turn to the Lord with repentant hearts, turning away from your own sinful hearts and to the welcoming arms of the Lord?

May it be that even the smallest and most insignificant thing would move you to turn away from yourself and worldly things to the Lord Himself!

The Lord does not want your false repentance, or your hypocritical and meaningless confession.  He does not want your empty words of regret or hollow mourns of sorrow.

The Psalmist says that, The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all (Psalm 34:15-19).

The righteous are they who see themselves as God sees them—as unrighteous, who say, We are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away (Isaiah 64:5).

The righteous claim no righteousness, or goodness, of their own.  They take God at His Word, and believe Him, come what may.  They do not argue and deny that God is true, but submit to His Word, and believe in the only Savior–Jesus.  In this they are righteous, not because of their own righteousness, but because of the righteousness of another.

Therefore, at the hearing of the Lord’s Word, even through the prophet Joel, God’s people turn to the Lord with all their heart.  They rend their hearts, not their garments.  They acknowledge that they have not been as God would have them be, and seek God’s favor, His pardon, and His peace.  They seek God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus, and there, in Him, they have it.

There, in Him, in Christ Jesus, you have God’s full pardon and peace.  There, you know that you have God’s favor upon you.  In Christ, with nail prints in His hands and feet, and with the mark of the spear in His side, you know that God’s judgment has been removed from you.  God laid the punishment of your sin on Him.

God is indeed Gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.  This you know and believe because of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Turn to God with all your heart!  Return to the Lord your God!  Repent!  Forsake your sinful ways, your trust in yourselves, and your dependency on the things of this world.  These things cannot help you or save you.  But God can!  And God does!  He gives you life in the midst of death, joy in the midst of sorrow, and peace in the midst of strife.  He feeds the hungry and gives drink to the thirsty.  He gives aid to the poor and bounty to the needy.

Therefore, hold fast to the Lord.  He does not forget you.  He remembers His promises.  He holds you in His hands and bears you up (Psalm 91:12).  Sorrow over your sin, but rejoice in the Lord, for He is good and gracious, for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me my sin against you.  I am a poor miserable sinner.  Give me faith to firmly believe in Your salvation, and help me to amend my sinful ways before You.  Amen.

Christ is No New Lawgiver

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10

Christ is no new lawgiver.  The Bible is more than just a book of do’s and don’ts.  It is the precious book of salvation, as is Christ the precious Savior of the sinner.

Though Jesus does indeed accuse, convict, and condemn by the Law, so much more does He acquit, forgive, and save by means of the Gospel.  He speaks words of sins forgiven to those who are troubled and laid low by what they have done, what they think, and by their own sinful wants and desires.

Come seeking Christ to be a judge of your sin, and so shall He be.  The Law of God is too firm to be shaken, too fixed to be flexible, and too solid to be moved.  You can’t undo what undoable.  You can’t avoid what is unavoidable.  The only thing you can do before the Law is plead for God to be merciful.

Should you not see yourself as God sees you, then you will fail to see your absolute dependence on God’s mercy in Christ.  Should you not see yourself as God sees you according to His Law (The Ten Commandments), then you will surely not see your dire need for Jesus to be your Savior, and you will reject God’s abundant love towards you.

On the other hand, should you see yourself as God sees you, you will thus see yourself rightly.  And listening to His Word, you will know how utterly lost your situation is of yourself.  Nothing you do can change how God sees you.  Nothing you change can alter your standing before God.  If it were up to you, all would truly be lost!

Yet by God’s mercy, your standing before God is not up to you.  By God’s mercy, how God sees you is not up to you.

Reject Christ and His Word and before God, there is only that accusing, convicting, and condemning Word of Law which will ring in your ears.  But hear Christ and His blessed Word of forgiveness, life, and salvation, and there is only that acquitting, forgiving, and saving Word of the Gospel.

By God’s mercy your standing before God remains upon Christ.  By God’s mercy, how God sees you is how God the Father sees His Son.  Now, the Father’s words of His Son are also the Father’s words on you, “This is my son, in whom I am pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

In Christ, then, the Father finds you and saves you.  In Christ, no longer are you lost, but found.  And in Christ, your salvation is sure.

Luther

“If Christ gave Himself into death for our sins, then undoubtedly He is not a tormentor. He is not One who will cast clown the troubled, but One who will raise up the fallen and bring propitiation and consolation to the terrified. Otherwise Paul would be lying when he says “who gave Himself for our sins.” If I define Christ this way, I define Him correctly, grasp the authentic Christ, and truly make Him my own. I avoid all speculations about the Divine Majesty and take my stand in the humanity of Christ. There is no fear here; there is sheer sweetness, joy, and the like. This kindles a light that shows me the true knowledge of God, of myself, of all creatures, and of all the wickedness of the kingdom of the devil.”  (Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, LW 26, p39).

Prayer: Lord, help me to remain ever closer to Jesus, believing His precious promise of forgiveness to me a sinner.  Help me not falter in my faith, but all the more to seek Your abundant help in Christ my Savior.  Amen.

God’s Work in the Church and in the World

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle [Jesus] in his talk. ¹⁶And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²²When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15–22)

In the world, but not of the world (John 17:11; 14-16).  This is the reality of the Christian.  The Christian is both physical and spiritual in one person.  We are flesh and blood, but as flesh and blood we also have a soul.  God promises us, right now, eternal life through Jesus Christ.  But right now, we seem Him not except by faith.  His Word gives what it says, but the world says something different.

When the pastor baptizes with water, the naked eye would tell us that water is applied, and that’s it, added is nothing more and nothing less.  Reason would say that the one baptized adds to the meaning or the significance of Baptism by choosing it and that if not, it is meaningless and futile.  Just by ourselves watching and seeing what’s going on in a Baptism, everything would tell us that nothing extraordinary is going on.  But God here speaks differently.  He says that one is to be baptized into the Name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not any ordinary Name.  St. Paul the Apostle, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes that, As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death (Romans 6:3).  Christ Himself says, Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God and Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:5-6).  St. Peter, one of the twelve disciples of our Lord, also writes, There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21).

It is true that because of what God does, because of what He works and gives through Baptism, all who are baptized and believe God’s promise of forgiveness in Baptism have a clear conscience before God.  God’s Word cannot here fail.  His promise is sure and true.  Where God forgives, sin is forgiven.  Where He promises, that promise will be fulfilled.  Our conscience might tell us, even after hearing the words of absolution from the pastor, that our sins remain, that we’re not sorry enough, or that we don’t deserve God’s forgiveness.  But here, we are to heed the Lord’s Word and not our own.  Even the devil, though he continue to plant doubt within the mind, and though He try to condemn, he can judge us none.  God is the One who justifies us.  No one, not even Satan, can be against us if God is for us (Romans 8:33, 31).

God’s promises are as good as done, but heaven, where our true citizenship is, we do not fully enjoy at the present (Philippians 3:20).  In the world we have tribulation.  There is suffering, burden, and enmity, even within one’s household.  We are God’s people and eagerly await our Lord’s return, for He will come again, a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (Hebrews 9:28).  But the Lord, as long as He prolongs His coming, says, “Wait”, that is, believe in me. “While you are here, your flesh will be tried.  You will be tested. Troubles will come, but fear not, I have overcome the world.  Your sin troubles you, but from your sin you are forgiven.  Live not for yourselves, but believe in me and love one another, your neighbor, and help them in their need.

To our eyes, things look as they appear.  But truly the phrase, ‘there is more here than meets the eye,’ is surely valid.  This especially holds true for the church, for it is a man speaking that you hear, words you speak in the liturgies, bread and wine that you eat and drink in the sacrament.  But what does God say?  St. Paul writes, These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13).

In another place He says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

In Church, a man does speak and a man does preach, pages from a book are read, and bread and wine are consumed.  But more is going on here than meets the eye.  Though man speak the Word of God, it is God’s Word, no ordinary Word.  Though bread and wine be consumed, given also is the body and the blood of Christ for the remission of sins.  These things then are no ordinary things, nor is church just an ordinary place where ordinary things happen.  God is here, giving life through His Word and Sacraments.  Here is where He forgives sinners and gives eternal life.  Here is where He strengthens and increases faith, that we live out our lives in the world as His Holy people.

In this place is where God works by means of His Word.  He forces none to believe.  His Word goes out and those who believe will hear and believe and those who don’t, don’t.  God in this Kingdom of His, this Right Hand Kingdom, the Church, rules by His Word alone.  Here we have Christ, forgiveness, grace, and mercy.  Faith is the means whereby we apprehend God’s goodness and His gifts as our very own.  The one who disbelieves does not have God’s promise of help and comfort, but God’s judgement and condemnation remain upon Him.  This too may not be seen in the now time, but in the hereafter, it will be his reality.

God rules His Right Hand Kingdom, the Church, according to the Word.  By His Word He forgives sin and by His Word, He retains sin.  But in the world that our Lord rules, He rules not only according to His Word in the Church.  He rules another way, too.  He rules by means of force and with the use of authorities for the keeping of peace and order.  This is called the Left Hand Kingdom.  The Lord works through governments to bring about justice, order, and civility among its citizens.

Evidence for this Biblical teaching is given in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans where He writes, Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor (Romans 13:1-7).

St. Peter writes similarly where He says, Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king (1 Peter 2:13-17).

So also in Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and Herodians to the question of taxes do we have evidence for such a thing as paying taxes and giving honor to whom honor is due.  They had asked Jesus the question, Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? in order to trap Him with His own words, but it was they who were silenced, not Christ.  Jesus answered their question with neither a ‘no’ or a ‘yes’.  Instead, He said what is right and true, and also the very thing that they themselves were not able to deny, Give the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God.

The taxes that Caesar demanded were Caesar’s due.  Taxes that the American government demands are also their due.  This is because the government is established according to God’s order.  This does not mean that every government will be good.  Nor does this truth mandate that every government will be godly.  What it does mean is that whether good or bad, that their goodness or badness is not the final answer as to how you are to view it.

Parents can be either good or bad.  But being one or the other doesn’t change what God commands in the Fourth Commandment where He says, Honor Father and Mother (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2).  Fathers and mothers bear the responsibility of care, love, and discipline.  That is their lot.  But the one who is in their charge has the command to honor them who have that responsibility, whether they carry it out or not.  God doesn’t judge you based on what another is supposed to do.  He judges you based on what you are to do.  And thus you have Christ, judged for you that you not be condemned eternally.

Concerning the government, you aren’t judged based on what the government does with its God given authority.  Nor are you condemned because of any misuse or abuse of that authority, unless you are the one’s bearing it.  What you are accountable for is what God gives you in His Word.  Is it lawful to pay taxes?  If the government is due taxes, yes.  Not doing so is in direct contrast to what the Lord says.  The only time when it is permissible to not do as the government demands is when the government demands to be done what God forbids to be done.  Should the government try to keep the church from proclaiming Jesus Christ, We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).  Should the church suffer for being faithful to our Lord, then let it be, for as Christ suffered, so will His church in the world.  But Christ’s church is His blessed Bride.  Though she look unimpressive and ordinary before the world, she is the bride of Christ, washed in His blood, precious and holy, awaiting union with her Christ.

God’s kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).  Your citizenship is in heaven.  But in the meantime, you live in the world.  Christians are not hermits, nor do you live in communes as if to separate ourselves from the world.  You live in the world as God’s people.  It is true that you abide by man’s rules, giving honor here where it is due.  But it is also true that God is the ruler of all things, that He rules in the one kingdom using even physical means to bring about order, working through the established authorities to serve justice and providing help and sustenance to all people.  This is why police officers carry guns, batons, and other means of protection, not only for themselves, but also for others.  This is also why parents discipline, teachers correct, and judges judge.  Through these, our Lord works in His Left Hand Kingdom.

But through the Right Hand Kingdom, God works and rules through different means than force.  He works through words, Words declaring forgiveness to penitent sinners, sinners who are sorry for their sin; and words declaring no forgiveness to impenitent sinners, sinners who are not sorry for their sin.  Here in this Kingdom, God works through preaching and proclamation, through absolution and Sacrament.  Those who deny these deny also our Lord.  But those who hear and believe, these are given the very things that the Lord declares: sins forgiven, eternal life, and peace with God.

Honor is given God through believing His Word and living in the world through your respective callings, your vocations given by God, serving one another in love, and giving to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, as well as giving to God the things of God, hearing His Word, believing His promises, and receiving His blessing in the Sacrament of the Altar.  God’s Word, His promises, and the Lord’s Supper point to Christ, who truly and fully gave to God His Father that which we could not.  Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient and completely kept God’s command to love God and love neighbor for you, not so that you don’t do what God says, but that you do, rightly, through faith in Him who did.  Jesus was obedient, not for the reason that He needed it, but for the reason that you did.  Christ fulfilled the law for your sake.  For your sake He died and rose again, that you live forever with Him, even now, in your bodies, in the world, but through faith in God’s Son.  Amen.

The peace that passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Mt22.15-22, Pentecost 18, 2011A, Sermon Outline & Notes