St. John's and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Parish

Call Upon Me

Text: Second Commandment

When we gathered this past Sunday, we began our Lenten review of the Catechism. The Catechism is a collection of our Lord’s teachings that is essential for all Christians to know. It includes the Commandments, Creed, and Lord’s Prayer; and also, Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper. Our Lord has impressed upon us, His people, the responsibility to teach these things to our children and grandchildren. In order that we might always be prepared for this, the Lutheran Church has a good practice of revisiting the Catechism each Lent. This year, our focus is on the Ten Commandments.

On Sunday, we learned the meaning of the First Commandment – that we should have no other gods. This means that we should look to God alone, above all other things, for all help in time of need, as well as for all things good. We noted that this in an activity that goes on in the heart. To have a god is something that happens in the heart. The next stop out from the heart is the mouth. Jesus once said, “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.” In the Second Commandment, we who have been brought to fear and love God are encouraged to call upon His name in all troubles, to pray, praise, and give thanks.

Let’s go ahead and speak the Second Commandment together from the hymnal. It’s on page 321. [You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.] As our Lord said, what comes out out the mouth comes, first, from the heart. Our Lord intends that we who have had our hearts sprinkled clean with pure water in Baptism, would have His name pass from our hearts and out our mouths in ways that are good, right, and salutary. So that might happen, our Lord has given us His name.

When Moses stood before the burning bush and asked the Lord what name he should give to the people of Israel for who sent him, God said, “I AM WHO I AM…say to this people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” I AM is the English translation of the Hebrew, Yahweh. This is God’s personal name, the name by which His people called on Him throughout the Old Testament. Then, when the fullness of time had come, God’s people received a new name by which to call on Him, the name “Jesus.” Jesus is the name of the Second Person of the Trinity, who now shares our same human flesh. The name Jesus means, literally, “Yahweh Saves.” It’s a testament to His love and truthfulness. God has given us His name so that we might know who it is that created and redeemed us, and so that we might call upon Him in prayer and praise and proclaim His goodness in this fallen world.

II.

God intends that we use His name in those good ways, but because the depravity of our fallen nature knows no bounds, He keeps our evil in check through the Second Commandment. In this Commandment, God strictly forbids any and all misuse of His name. He said on Sinai, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” This includes, perhaps above all, using God’s name for any sort of lie. We may take oaths calling upon God’s name to testify to the truth of a matter – such as when we are called upon as witnesses in court. However, God will not hold guiltless anyone who takes an oath in His name, who knows they are lying.

God would not have us use His name in any sort of lie. This means, also, saying things in God’s name things He hasn’t said. As in, teaching false doctrine. All false doctrine and wicked pastors and teachers are condemned by this commandment. So, also, is the misuse God’s name for sorcery, fortune-telling, astrology, or calling upon the dead for any purpose. Lastly, we should not use God’s name carelessly or in vain such as in expletives or curse words.

How, then, should we use God’s name? As the Catechism says, we should use it to call upon the Lord in every trouble, to pray, praise, and give thanks. The Lord has brought us into His family through the washing of Holy Baptism and invites us to speak to Him as we would an earthly father. This means that in every trial, need, or distress, we can call upon Him to help. It says in the Psalms, “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” When we call upon the Lord, He answers us. His great grace and mercy cause us to praise and thank Him. For that, we should use His name. Finally, we should use God’s name in service to the truth. We should teach and preach His Word rightly here and in our homes. If called upon to testify in court, we should speak the truth in God’s name, knowing that is a work pleasing to Him.

St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” What’s in the heart and what comes out the mouth are one and the same. The Lord teaches us in this Commandment to use the name He has placed upon our foreheads and hearts to call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

Let us pray:

Holy Father, purify our lips from every misuse of Your name by cursing, swearing, superstition, lying, or deception. Open our mouths to reverence Your holy name, calling upon it in every time of trouble, praying for what You promise to give, praising You for Your glory, and giving thanks to You as the giver of every good and perfect gift; this we ask in the name that gives us access to You, the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

No Other Gods

Text: The First Commandment

On the eve of their entrance into the Promised Land, Moses spoke to the children of Israel. He said to them,

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Moses reminded them of the Lord’s Commandment to have no other gods before Him, and our responsibility to teach the knowledge of our God and His grace to our children.

The instruction of Christian doctrine, according to the Holy Spirit, is to take place, first, in the home. Parents are to bring their children up in the fear of the Lord, talking about Him with their children at home, in the morning, during the day, and at night. This is a hard work, but a blessed one that bears much fruit. To aid in this task, the Lutheran Church has long had a tradition of re-visiting the Catechism every Lent. We’ve inherited this from the Ancient Church, which used to teach and baptize converts to the true faith in the 40 days before Easter. This year, we’ll be reflecting on our Lord’s Ten Commandments. Today, we are reminded that, in the First Commandment, our Lord encourages us to trust in Him above all things – for He, only, can help in all times of need.

Let’s back up for a moment, and ask this question, first: what is the Catechism? The word itself is old word we receive from the Greek. Originally, it meant the process of teaching by question and answer. In ancient Greek and Roman schools, this is how teaching was done. The teacher would ask questions and the students would answer. This method of teaching was adopted by the early Church along with a great emphasis on memorization. Catechism was the word used to describe both the process, and then, the content as well. In the early centuries of the Church all Christians were expected to know by heart (at least) the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. These things together were called the Catechism and were taught to children by their parents and Godparents.

What the Lutheran Church has used for about the last 490 years, we know as Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Over the centuries previous, Christian education declined sharply. It fell so far that even many of the clergy could not recite the Commandments, Creed, or Prayer. This was also true, initially, among many of the congregations and pastors loyal to Luther’s reforms. At their invitation, a new edition of the Catechism was to be prepared for the education of Christian homes and congregations – though, Luther was originally not to be the author. After visiting many of the local congregations and seeing how poorly they had been taught even the most basic doctrines (clergy included) and finding the teaching material – then being written – lacking, Luther took on the task. It took about a decade and the preaching of many sermons, until the material we know as the Small Catechism was published in 1529. The first thing Luther covered in this new edition of the catechism? The Ten Commandments. Let’s go ahead and open to them. They’re on page 321.

II.

Today our focus is on the First Commandment, which is the headwaters for all the others. Let’s read it together. “You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” The first thing we should ask ourselves in order to understand this commandment is, what does it mean to have a god? To have a god is not simply to bow down and worship something, because, really, not all worship takes that form. Having a god is something that happens in the heart. To have a god, in the most basic sense, is to trust in something or to look to something for help in times of need and for all good things. God would have us look to Him for all this; that we would call upon Him in all times of trouble and believe in His promises to provide us with all the things we need.

Therefore, we are forbidden by this Commandment from seeking help and good things from anything or anyone that isn’t the Triune God. The easiest application is that we shouldn’t look to idols or false gods for these things. This is all over the Bible; but I would venture that none of us has worshipped an idol, per se. However, this commandment is concerned, above all, with what’s in the heart. We may never have worshipped an idol, but what have we turned to when things go badly in our lives? What do we trust in? What do we look to, to make us happy? What do we turn to when we are sad? The Lord would have that be Him alone. Whenever we put something else there, whether it’s money, recreation, friends, even family – or ourselves – we are breaking the chief commandment.

III.

One of the functions (uses) of the Ten Commandments is to show us our sins. We reflect on this Commandment correctly when we realize from it that we have not always placed God first in our lives. There are things that we have trusted in more than Him. It may not always look like that from the outside, but this Commandment deals directly with our hearts. We also reflect on the Commandments correctly when we are driven by them to Christ, who alone, has kept them perfectly. He kept the Commandments perfectly, and then willingly suffered the punishment we deserve for not keeping them on the cross.

It’s good we recite this Commandment today, with the Gospel reading being the Temptation of Our Lord. All throughout those 40 days, our Lord trusted in His heavenly Father for all good things. When Satan tempted Him to turn stones to bread, Jesus trusted in God’s Word and that the Father would provide for His earthly needs. When the devil tempted Jesus to test the Father’s protection, Jesus did not put Him to the test. He had faith in the Father’s good will. Lastly, when the devil tempted Jesus to worship him in exchange for all the world’s goods, Jesus held to the Lord His God above all earthly treasures. All of this, He did with you in mind. He was determined to keep the Law in full, so that His death could atone for you.

The Lord promises us in His Word that He is able and will deliver us in all times of need. He says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.” It also says in the Psalms, “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He also hears their cry and saves them.” The Lord promises to provide for us everything we need. He said, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Jesus also comforts us with these words, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Let us pray:

Lord God, author and source of all that is good, give us wisdom to fear Your wrath, strength to love You above all things, and faith to trust in Your promises alone, that by Your grace we may serve You all our days and finally come to inherit Your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Your Faith Has Saved You

Text: Luke 18:31-43

As Jesus drew near to Jericho in the Gospel text, He encountered a blind man sitting beside the road. Hearing the crowd passing by, the man cried out to Jesus saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The crowd threatened the man in order that he should be silent, but he continued crying out to Jesus – all the more loudly. Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. He said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has saved you.” If you look in the bulletin, that’s not how the ESV renders Jesus’ words to man; but, literally, that is what He said. This is an important distinction.

Though we missed our opportunity to gather together last week, you might remember that, two weeks ago, I mentioned that this little season in the Church year, “Pre-Lent,” is liking packing our bags before joining our Lord on His Lenten journey. Two weeks ago, we heard the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard where, by the master’s grace, they each received the same wage. Last week the Gospel reading was the Parable of the Sower, which teaches us that God’s Word produces fruit in us hundredfold by giving us the gift of faith and the forgiveness of our sins. With today’s Gospel we see what role faith plays in the work of our salvation. Through faith we receive the salvation which Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.

Our text this week from St. Luke’s Gospel has long been associated with the beginning of our Lord’s Lenten season. St. Augustine preached sermons on this text and the same epistle from St. Paul that we heard today over 1500 years ago. St. Luke’s text is fitting for this Sunday because, not only are we now 50 days away from our Lord’s resurrection, but, also, a nearness to Jerusalem is brought up in our text. The events today take place as Jesus is nearing Jericho, one of His last stops before Jerusalem.

As the time of His passion was approaching, one final time Jesus took the disciples aside to explain to them privately what He was about to do. St. Luke recorded for us,

“Taking the twelve, [Jesus] said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.’”

Since shortly after the Transfiguration, Jesus’ face has been set toward Jerusalem and He’s been teaching the disciples what would happen there. Everything that was delivered through the prophets about Jesus will be completed. Jesus was be delivered over to the Gentiles, He’ll mocked and humiliated and spit upon. Then, He’ll be killed. But, after three days He will rise.

This is all to fulfill, among other things, what the Holy Spirit spoke through King David, that Jesus would be, “scorned by mankind and despised by the people.” Through Isaiah, the Spirit said that Jesus would be “despised and rejected by men,” but also that He would bear our griefs, carry our sorrows, and be pierced for our transgressions. And, this all, so that we – by His wounds – might be healed. Jesus taught the disciples one more time that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die, to fulfill God’s promises, and bring salvation to us all. But, they didn’t understand, St. Luke wrote; they couldn’t “see” what Jesus meant. Soon, Jesus would encounter one who could.

II.

As He went on and drew near to Jericho, there was a blind man sitting beside the road begging people for alms. St. Luke writes, “Hearing a crowd going by, [the blind man] inquired what this meant. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’” Hearing this, the man cried out those words we’ve already heard, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” The reports of Jesus had gone out into all the surrounding regions – reports of Jesus’ preaching and teaching, and of His miracles. This man believed those reports and desired this Doctor’s healing medicine for himself. Notice, how he referred to Jesus: as the Son of David. This man also knew his Bible. He knew the Messiah would be an offspring of David, and he knew that the miracles Jesus was doing were the works that would accompany the coming of the Messiah. In a few ways, the man grasped what the disciples fumbled over; though blind, he saw what they didn’t.

St. Luke writes that the crowd tried to silence the man by rebuking him, but he cried out all the more. Jesus stopped and commanded the man be brought to Him. He asked the man what he wanted Jesus to do for him, and he responded that he desired to regain his sight. Jesus spoke, and immediately the man was healed. He then began following Jesus and glorifying God. The whole crowd, also, when they saw this, praised God, too.

I said at the start of the sermon that what the ESV translates as, “Your faith has made you well,” may be better translated, “Your faith has saved you.” And, this, perhaps, is the greater point in this text. Jesus did heal him, this is true. But, as great as that healing is, Jesus also secured for the man an even greater healing – forgiveness and eternal life. And that, the man had already received. When he heard the report about Jesus and by the work of the Spirit, received it in faith – he had, then and there, the forgiveness of his sins. Or, as Jesus said, he was saved by faith. The miracle demonstrates Jesus’ great compassion, and is a preview of the full restoration we will all receive in the resurrection.

III.

This is a good point for us to take away from the text this week. Jesus said to the man, “Your faith has saved you.” Earlier in the Gospel, when Jesus’ own synagogue rejected Him, He told them that there were many widows in Elijah’s day, but he was only sent to one. Likewise, there were many lepers in Elisha’s day, but only Naaman was cleansed. This means, that God doesn’t always work miracles in the way we expect them to happen. The Lord is not a miracle vending machine. The Lord works miracles where He wills, such as in this text to this man. But, had it not been our Lord’s will to heal him, that man still would have looked forward to a heavenly healing at Christ’s return – for he was still saved by faith. So are we.

When Jesus said to the man that his faith has saved him, it’s in what’s called the perfect tense in Greek. The way that this word is formed shows that it was something in the past that is presently ongoing and continues into the future. When he first believed he was saved, he is saved now, and he will be saved by faith unto eternity. The same is true for you. The same faith which saved this blind man has saved you. Through God’s Word, in your Baptism, you have received the gift of faith. This faith is not something that you have created, but it is something produced in you by the Spirit of God. Through this faith you were forgiven your sins, and you are forgiven now. You also, by faith, will be saved unto eternal life.

We hear these words today because it might not always be our Lord’s will to preserve us from suffering. It wasn’t for our Lord. Jesus prayed to the Father to remove the cup of suffering from Him – according to His will; but it wasn’t His will. Yet, after His suffering, the Father raised our Lord from dead and seated Him at His right hand. By faith, we also will stand before the throne of God to sing with joy and happiness. We won’t be there because of something in us, but by the grace of God poured out on us richly in Jesus Christ, which we have receive by faith alone.

The Word Works

Bulletin Download

Prayer Download

Text: Luke 8:4-15

Last week we began our walk with our Lord to His cross and resurrection. Last Sunday, along with this and next Sunday, forms its own little season in the Church Year called, “Pre-Lent.” I shared last week that one seminary professor said that Pre-Lent is like packing your bags to go on on a journey – in this case, Lent. In this short season, we’re “packing our bags,” by being reminded of three central teachings of our faith, which we know as the Three Solas of the Reformation: grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone.

The Gospel reading last week was from Matthew 20 about the laborers in the vineyard. Though the laborers were called at different points in the day, at the end of the day they all received the same wage – for their master chose to be generous and give to the last hired as he did to the first. This text teaches us how our God is toward us. He does not reward the forgiveness of sins to those who earn it, nor does He give it in exchange for something in us. Instead, God forgives us all our sins freely, by His grace, as a gift. Our text this week teaches us about the power of God’s Word. Wherever His Word is preached and received in faith it bears fruit a hundredfold in the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.

With the parable this week, our Lord gives us an answer to that hard question: why some and not others? If God is so loving and abundant in His grace, why isn’t everyone a Christian? Further, why it also our experience that many who – by His grace – begin their lives in the faith yet – to borrow St. Paul’s language from last week – don’t run to complete the race? As we’ll see, the fault is not with God’s call through the Word. He said through Isaiah, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout…giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty.” If the fault is not with God’s Word, then, there must be something else going on.

The occasion of our text this week is, St. Luke reports, that “a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to [Jesus].” Our text is earlier in our Lord’s ministry, but not so early that people haven’t heard about Him. The Sermon on the Mount has happened already, and St. Luke wrote as far back as chapter 4 that reports about Jesus had gone out into all the surrounding regions. People from town after town were coming out to hear Jesus, but not all of them would stick around. Over the course of the Gospel, many of them would take offense at Jesus’ teaching and fall away; when they came to arrest our Lord, even the Disciples left Him alone. Jesus explains all this with a parable.

St. Luke writes,

When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Him, He said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.”

II.

Our Lord is gracious and provides us with the interpretation of this parable – which is not something He always does. He said, “The seed is the Word of God.” Perhaps our Lord had the preaching of Isaiah in His mind as He taught this; St. Paul, likewise, when he wrote to the Romans that “faith comes from hearing…the word of Christ.” God the Holy Spirit creates faith in human hearts through the external preaching of the Word. As He has sent His Word into all the world, so also, in the parable the sower casts the seed far and wide.

The seed is broadcast, and some of it falls along the path, Jesus said. This represents those who hear the Word of God, but before they can believe it and receive salvation, the devil snatches it from them. There are many ways he does this, and we often see it happen through violence and false religions. The devil uses these to rob people of belief in Christ or otherwise prevent them from believing at all. The devil is also working on the other seeds: those that fall on the rock and those that fall among the thorns. Those that fall upon the rock, Jesus said, are those who receive His Word with joy and believe for a while, “and in a time of testing fall away.” Said another way, those that fall upon the rock are those Christians who, when it becomes difficult to be a Christian, fall away. In our time this usually takes one of two forms – a complete separation from the faith, or one alters their beliefs to be in line with current society – which often results later in a total loss of faith.

The seed that falls among the thorns, are those who also initially receive the Word with joy. They hear it and go on their journey of life, but something happens. Jesus said, “as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” Unfortunately, many of us have witnessed this. Happiness and wealth, and to an extent – and properly understood -, worry, are gifts of God. But, the Old Adam that still claws away within us likes to take what God gives and replace Him with it. And, that temptation, we all feel because we are all in the flesh. The seed of God’s Word is cast far and wide, but in many cases it is choked out by the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.

III.

I don’t believe Jesus is telling the parable to frighten us, though. He uses it to teach and comfort us. Hear, again, the last part of the parable: “some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” Jesus explained this saying, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Through Isaiah in the words we heard today and through St. Paul, also, Jesus teaches us that His Word works. It creates faith in the hearts of those who hear it and bears fruit a hundredfold – the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

When we hear God’s Word and, by His grace, receive it in faith, we can be sure that we have the forgiveness of our sins. Having the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ also leads us to remain connected to Him by remaining in His Word and receiving His Sacraments frequently. That is what it means to hold things fast in an honest and good heart. Through the Word and the Sacraments, the Lord keeps and strengthens us in the faith so that we abound in works love and, as Jesus said, “bear fruit with patience.”

It is difficult to see how many around us in the world don’t believe and witness others believe for a time and then fall away. Yet, we do have this comfort: God’s Word works. He casts it far and wide and has even given it to us. By His grace, we have received His Word in faith and have been saved. Our sins are forgiven, and we have eternal life. The Word has borne fruit in us a hundredfold. We pray this week that the Holy Spirit would continue to grant us His grace that we might hold His Word fast, and be patiently bearing good fruits, until our Lord comes to take us to our eternal home.

Laborers in the Vineyard

Text: Matthew 20:1-16

This week we begin the long walk to our Lord’s cross and resurrection. In our closing hymn last week, we bid farewell to the Alleluia, and already its absence is felt in the service today. We will continue to refrain from singing it until we sing it with joy at our Lord’s Easter. This Sunday, with its long Latin title Septuagesima, marks about seventy days (nine Sundays) until the Resurrection. This week, along with the next two Sundays, forms its own little season in the Church Year called “Pre-Lent,” which is basically what it sounds likes. One seminary professor described Pre-Lent as packing your bags before going on a trip.

In this season we “pack our bags,” by remembering three important teachings of the Christian Church. We know them as the three Solas of the Reformation: grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone. We are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, and the Scriptures alone are necessary for salvation. This week our Lord’s parable teaches us about our God’s abundant grace. Though the servants in the parable were called to work at different times and to perform different tasks, they all received the same wage – for the master of the house was generous with what was his. So, also is our Lord toward us with the forgiveness of sins. In our God’s vineyard, by His grace, all receive the same forgiveness of sins in Christ.

This idea, that our God looks upon us in love and grace and that entrance into His kingdom is by grace, is all throughout Scripture. What we mean by saying that we are saved by grace alone is that our good works, even though they flow from a living faith, nevertheless do not contribute anything to our salvation. We receive the forgiveness of our sins entirely, freely, by God’s grace through faith in Christ. This is taught in all of Scripture, and it’s brought up in the context of our text today. Remember the number one rule for interpreting a passage – take it in context. To do that, let’s stretch back to Matthew 19.

Matthew 19 is where people were bringing their little children to Jesus. This included younger children, infants, and even unborn children. St. Matthew writes that they were bringing them so that Jesus might, “lay His hands on them and pray.” When the disciples got wind of this, they rebuked the parents and blocked the children from Jesus, thinking they weren’t worthy of His attention. Jesus, in turn, rebuked them. He said, “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” The point being, since we are received into God’s kingdom by grace – and not because of who we are or what we do – even children are welcomed to Christ’s side.

After this was when the rich young ruler came up to Jesus, asking Him what good work he could do to earn eternal life. Jesus taught that if he wanted to earn his way in, God demands complete and total obedience to the Commandments. The man went away sorrowful, not wanting to part with his many possessions. The disciples were astounded by this because it was taught that, if anyone was worthy of heaven, it was the rich. The rich didn’t have to worry about money but could be totally given to works of charity. But, that’s not how it works with God, Jesus said. Instead, “many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Many who think they are first because of their works will be last, and many who think they are last because of their sins will be first.

II.

“For,” Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” With these words, Jesus is illustrating what He just taught. The master of house goes out to hire workers for the vineyard. He went out first thing in the morning and, after agreeing with the workers for a denarius – which is a day’s wage – the workers are sent into the vineyard. The master went out again around 9, and said to the workers he hired then, “whatever is right I will give you.” He went again around noon and 3 and did the same. Finally, with one hour left in the day, he hired the workers no one else had and sent them into the vineyard, too.

At the of the day, the owner said to his foreman, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.” When the last ones hired came, they each received a full denarius – even though they only worked an hour. This made those hired at the beginning of the day think they’d receive more. But, when they, too, received a denarius, they began grumbling against the master of the house. He responded to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”

In the parable, God is the master and the vineyard is His kingdom. The wages are the forgiveness of sins and the workers are us. Our God, in His great wisdom and goodness, has sent His Word into all the world. He works faith in the hearts of those who hear it and bids them come and work in His vineyard. To work in the vineyard is to bear the fruits that flow from a living faith, providing a loving witness to Christ wherever He has placed us in life. As the workers were called at different times, so we, too. Many of us were first called as infants in Baptism, others at different points in life. Though we were called at different times and to do different things, we all receive the same wage – the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life in Christ. This doesn’t depend on our works or station in life, but entirely on God’s grace. As it said in the parable, He chooses to freely give what is His to give.

III.

There are a few things we should take away from the text this week. As we said at the beginning, our text calls to mind that we are saved by God’s grace alone, and not by our works. This means that our salvation is earned for us entirely by Christ’s good works and by His death – not ours. We all receive the full forgiveness of our sins and entrance into His eternal life through faith in Christ. No matter who we are or how great our sins may be, our savior is greater, still, and we are redeemed. This should also keep us from looking down on or sideways at others. In Christ’s Church there is no one who is more saved than another or less saved than someone else. We also know from experience, that even those who seem the greatest saints can very quickly fall in need of repentance.

Lastly, as in the parable, we are called by our Lord at different times to perform different tasks. We are called in the same way – through the Word – but not always to do the same things. But, that doesn’t mean that any are worth more or less than another. As St. Paul said, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” We are each called by Christ through His Word. Through the Word, He creates faith and gives us the forgiveness of sins. This faith produces in us the good works of love, which are many, varied, and different. Yet, our God choses to give freely out of what is His. By His grace alone, we all receive the full forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Glory Through the Cross

Text: Matthew 17:1-8

They say that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. These things go together, smoke and fire. Smoke is the result of items burning in a fire. There are a number of things that always go together, but I am reminded of fire this week by what the Holy Spirit said through St. Matthew. He said that at the Transfiguration Jesus’ face, “shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.” The sun is the primary source of light on earth and is itself a great big ball of fire, burning millions and millions of miles from here.

Fire is destructive element, but fire can sometimes also result in good things. Shortly before I was born, there was a wildfire in Yellowstone National Park. Roughly 794,000 acres burned in 1988, some 36% of the whole park. The fire consumed many trees and a few buildings. But after the fire, the park abounded in wildflowers and new tree growth as the fire left the soil rich in nutrients. I read that after the fire, they didn’t even have to do any replanting because of how quickly and widely regrowth set in. The fire was destructive, but it brought a new beauty to the park; a new sense of glory, maybe. In the Transfiguration, we receive a glimpse of Jesus’ resurrected glory, but the full revelation only comes through the cross.

Before we talk about the Transfiguration in the proper sense, it’s important that we hear its context. As Lutherans, that’s near our number one rule for interpreting the Scriptures: take passages in their context and allow Scripture to provide its own interpretation. St. Matthew invites us to do this when he begins the text, “And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” In Matthew’s Gospel, there’s nothing symbolic about saying, “after six days;” it just serves to connect the Transfiguration with what came before it. What came before Matthew 17 is Matthew 16. Matthew 16 is where the Holy Spirit led Peter to give his great confession of the Christ. Jesus asked the Disciples who people said He was. Then He asked them who they thought He was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

From that time (when Peter said that Jesus is the Christ), St. Matthew wrote that Jesus began showing the disciples what being the Christ meant. It meant that, as the Holy Son of God, He would go to Jerusalem. There, He would suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes; He would be killed. But, after three days, He would rise. The Scriptures long promised that the Messiah would bring the gifts of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. These things would come through the brutal death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, you know how Matthew 16 goes: Peter makes his great confession of faith, Jesus explains that being the Christ means He’s going to die, and Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke Him and tells Jesus, “This shall never happen to You.”

II.

Six days after that, Matthew said, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up a high mountain. “He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him.” The Greek word metamorphosis, which is translated as “transfigured,” means to be changed in a manner visible to others. And, so, Jesus was. His face was shining, His clothes were bright as light. This is the same language used to describe Christ in His glory in the books of Daniel and Revelation. In the Transfiguration, we get just a glimpse of Christ’s resurrected glory.

Moreover, Moses and Elijah appear there and were speaking with Jesus. St. Luke tells us they were talking about Jesus’ upcoming exodus, meaning, His upcoming death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. Now Peter, who struck out a week earlier when he forbid Jesus from dying, again, has something to say. “Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’” Peter intends that they should stay on that mountaintop and revel in the glory. Totally understandable. When something great is happening, you don’t really want that greatness to ever end. Peter is mid-sentence when God the Father speaks from heaven. He said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” The disciples were terrified when they heard this, but after Jesus comforted and raised them, they saw nobody else there – just Jesus.

III.

When God the Father spoke from heaven that the disciples should listen to Jesus, what do you think He was referring to? What did Jesus say that they should listen to? The Holy Spirit through St. Matthew provides the answer. Remember what we said a few moments ago, the first step in understanding a passage is taking it in context. Just before the Transfiguration, Jesus taught that, as the Christ, He would go to Jerusalem, suffer, and die. As the eternally-begotten Son of God, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus had no sin. The death He died was the perfect, full, and complete atonement for our sin. By faith, His resurrection means our resurrection. In the Transfiguration, we receive a glimpse of Christ’s glory – glory that we will see with our own two eyes – but that glory only comes after the cross.

God the Father teaches us to listen to what Christ says about His cross, but we should also listen to Him about our own crosses. Jesus also taught the disciples right before our text saying this, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Jesus speaks of the crosses His followers, we, bear: the crosses of self-denial and persecution. The life of a Baptized Christian is a life of continual confession and absolution, seeking to love and serve Christ and neighbor and putting to death in ourselves that which is contrary to God’s Word. Fighting against sin and denying it a place in our lives is a battle, and it’s made even harder by a world that trivializes it and makes fun of us. The world mocks both our beliefs and we who believe.

Jesus said that whoever loses his life for His sake finds it. Just as He died and then rose from the dead in glorious victory, we who die and rise in Him will also live eternally. We will see with our two eyes the glorious majesty of our God. But, for us, that only comes after death – and that, after crosses of various sorts. Such as it was for our Lord, so, also should it be for us. St. Paul said in the Epistle last week, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” This is true. Thanks be to God. Amen.

What Sort of Man is This?

Text: Matthew 8:23-27

There’s an old Christian spiritual song that goes like this: “He’s got the whole world in His hands; He’s got the whole world in His hands; He’s got the whole world in His hands; the whole world’s in His hands.” I would bet that most of us have probably sung it at some point in our lives. That chance goes up if you’ve ever been to a VBS or, as I did, grew up attending a Lutheran school. The point of the song is – as it sounds – that Jesus has the whole world in His hands, in His keeping. As St. John said back on Christmas, all things came into being through the Son of God – who, with the Father, continues to uphold them, as well.

This is the witness of the Holy Spirit through our text this week. Jesus demonstrated yet again that He is the Lord God almighty in the flesh. In particular, Jesus showed by calming the wind and wave that all things are under His control. Even though wind and waves caused the disciples to fear, they were of no concern to Jesus. Instead, He was asleep on a cushion. When the disciples woke Him fearing for their lives, He rebuked the sea and it became exceedingly calm. By the calming of the storm, Jesus shows that He is the Son of God and that all things are in His keeping.

Our text this week is set in the same chapter as last week: Matthew 8. Though it only follows ten verses later, much has happened. After Jesus spoke a word of healing on behalf of the centurion’s servant, He went into Capernaum and stayed at Peter’s house. Peter was married and, within his vocation as husband, cared for his mother-in-law. But, she was sick with a fever. St. Matthew writes that, “[Jesus] touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve Him.” That evening, Jesus continued to heal many who were possessed by demons and also all the sick who were brought to Him. We confess as Christians that Jesus Christ is true God and true man – that He has both divine and human natures. Therefore, how do you think Jesus – as a man – felt after healing and teaching all day long? Probably tired.

Jesus directed the disciples to get the boat. They did, and He got into it, St. Matthew said. As they were rowing across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, a great storm arose. Given the geography, this wasn’t an unusual thing to happen – and they can happen suddenly. Now, given, also, a boat with no sail and sides only about 4 feet high, we can see it’s not an exaggeration that, as Matthew said, “the boat was being swamped by the waves.” The storm was happening and filling the boat, but Jesus – being tired – was sleeping calmly. The disciples, however, were panicking. Finally, they woke Jesus up and said to Him, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”

Jesus did get up, but not because the storm worried Him. He said to the disciples, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” He got up, then He rebuked the winds and sea, and there was a great calm. The sense of the words is that the calm after Jesus rebuked the storm was greater than there ever was before. It wasn’t just that Jesus calmed the storm, but that He brought a true calm. At this, the disciples were astounded. They said, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?”

II.

They asked this question, but the disciples should’ve known the answer. This is earlier in Jesus’ ministry, but He’s already done a ton of miracles. He’s cast out demons, healed lots of sick people; He’s changed the water into wine. Maybe the problem was this: in a Bible times mindset, the weather is a primal force. In essence, that means that the weather is gonna do what the weather’s gonna do; you don’t control weather, it just happens. And, the only one above the weather is God. He makes it rain, He allows drought and famine. We all live beneath the effects of the weather, but the weather is subject to God’s will. In our text, the weather was subject to Jesus.

The disciples started to connect the dots that the Holy Spirit already has connected for us. Jesus is the creator of all things and upholds all things by His might. Since the Fall into Sin, the elements – which were created by God as good – have become destructive elements. The weather rages and roars, it sinks ships and tears down homes. If we were left unprotected, it could even claim our lives. But, even that wild and destructive force has no power in the presence of Christ. When He rose from His peaceful sleep, He rebuked the sea and waves and they had no choice but to bow before the One by whom they were created. By the calming of the storm, Jesus showed that He is the Son of God and that all things are in His keeping.

As the wind and wave were subject to Christ and showed by their calm that all things are under His control, so also, are our lives within His care. As fallen human beings living within a fallen creation, our lives are fragile. To use St. Paul’s language in the Epistle [Rom. 8:18-23], we are often found groaning in our (and creation’s) bondage to corruption. We are subject not just to the rages of the weather, but our own bodies are falling apart. If our bodies aren’t falling apart, then our lives are falling apart. If neither of these things are happening, that is a true blessing of God; or, we could be deceiving ourselves and blind to the sin in our lives.

The Good News today is that there is nothing we suffer that is outside of Christ’s control. Nor, when we are suffering, are we invisible to our God. Instead, our God – who Himself suffered in ways unimaginable to us, to redeem us – remains with us, and we with Him. Jesus demonstrated His authority and power over wind and wave and, as He brought great calm upon the sea, so He is also able to bring great calm to our distress. In fact, He has done this already, in the forgiveness of our sins. We know that, for Christ’s sake – by faith in Him – we are forgiven and made right with God. When it is our Lord’s will for us to depart, we will be with Him and with all the saints awaiting the Resurrection.In His infinite wisdom, the Lord does allow us to experience things which seem unpleasant. But, these things are never without purpose nor outside His keeping. Rather, God shapes us by these things so that we might be more fully conformed to the image of His Son. This is the Holy Spirit’s teaching for us today. We have confessed this whole Epiphany Season that Jesus, the Son of Man, is also the Son of God. Just as all illnesses and demons were subject to His command, so also the weather. And, if even the weather is under His control, then there is nothing outside of His care, not even our lives. The Scriptures teach that God’s will for us is good; let us, therefore, pray to the Holy Spirit that He would lead us to commend our lives to Christ’s keeping and trust in His care.

Of Faith and Mercy

Text: Matthew 8:1-13

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been thinking about how in the Epiphany season we confess that Jesus, the Son of Man, is also the Son of God. We witnessed this in the visit of the wise men. We heard the God the Father proclaim from heaven that Jesus is His beloved Son, with whom He is pleased. Last week, St. John wrote about the beginning of Jesus’ miracles – changing water in wine at a wedding in Cana. Jesus manifested His glory there and as a result, St. John said, “His disciples believed in Him.”

After the changing of water into wine, Jesus performed many miracles. Sts. Matthew and Mark both report that Jesus travelled throughout all Galilee preaching and teaching in the synagogues and healing “every disease and affliction among the people.” The result of that, as you would expect, was that word of Jesus traveled. It traveled and was believed by many – even by those you might not expect. In our text today we hear of two people who demonstrate great faith in Jesus, a leper and a Roman centurion. They believed in Jesus’ Word and trusted in Him above all things. Jesus, in His great mercy, stretched forth His hand of healing. We should pray to the Holy Spirit that our faith would be like these two men, even as the hand of our Lord extends to us, as well.

As we said, word of Jesus – reports of His preaching, teaching, and miracles – spread. It spread such that people from all over the place – from Syria, Galilee and the 10 Cities, Jerusalem and Judea, and places beyond the Jordan – believed in Jesus and followed Him. Our text today comes just after Jesus finished teaching these followers in the Sermon on the Mount. St. Matthew wrote, “When He came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him. And behold, a leper came to Him and knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.’” There are any number of things that can jump out to us in this text; let’s consider just a few.

Perhaps you might remember from your lessons that, in Bible times, leprosy was not a good thing to have. It was not good for its effects on your body, but maybe more so, its effects on your life. If you had leprosy, you had to go off and live by yourself in seclusion. If anyone ever came near you, you were supposed to shout to them that you were a leper and to keep their distance. In return, people did keep their distance from you. They didn’t talk to you, they certainly didn’t touch you. The man in our text did not keep his distance, he ran up to Jesus and knelt before Him. And, really, he offered Him a prayer: “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.”

Now, at this, Jesus would have been within every societal norm to recoil in horror, to run from or even spit at this guy. But, He didn’t, did He? St. Matthew writes, “Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’” And he was. Immediately the leprosy was cleansed. Jesus did not turn away from this man’s condition, nor his spiritual condition of sin, but instead had mercy. Jesus had compassion and touched the leper. And, with that touch, he was healed.

As Jesus went on from there and came into Capernaum, a centurion met Him. Centurion means that this man was a Roman military officer in charge of 80-100 men. In his account, St. Luke tells us this Gentile had previously converted to Judaism, but had now been brought to believe in Jesus. He had heard the reports of Jesus’ healings and so implored Him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Jesus offered to come to the centurion’s house and heal – a truly bold step, considering this man was a Gentile Roman. He responded that he wasn’t worthy to have the Lord come into his house; if only Jesus spoke the word, his servant would be healed. The centurion recognized he had authority to tell soldiers to do something and they did. So, Jesus, over this illness. Jesus marveled over this outstanding confession of faith. He said, “‘Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.’ And the servant was healed at that very moment.”

There are so many things that we can learn from this text. We should learn from the leper and centurion about how they trusted in the Lord above all things. The leper trusted His good will and the centurion Jesus’ good Word. Notice the leper’s prayer. “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.” There’s two things in there. First, the leper believed that Jesus is able to heal his leprosy, because He is the Lord. Second, the leper trusted in the Lord’s will. If it was Jesus’ will to heal him, He would; if not, do you think that leper then would’ve stopped believing? I don’t think so. He would’ve just known that the Lord’s healing would come later.

The centurion also believed in Jesus’ power to heal and save. But, when Jesus offered to come to his house, he recognized his unworthiness for such a visit. In one of our communion hymns we sing these words, “I do not merit favor, Lord, my weight of sin would break me; in all my guilty heart’s discord, O Lord, do not forsake me. In my distress this comforts me that You receive me graciously, O Christ, my Lord of mercy.” This was the centurion’s confession as well. Because of our sin, we are unworthy and do not deserve anything from God. Yet, the centurion trusted in Christ’s Word. He was not worthy, but if Christ only spoke the Word, his servant would be healed. And so, he was.

Like the leper and the centurion, we come before God with nothing. There is nothing in us but shame and degradation, for we bear in ourselves the spiritual leprosy of sin. It spreads through all our members, and we have used them as instruments of iniquity and not for the glory of God. We, like the centurion, were born as children of wrath and unbelievers in God’s promises. But, as Christ did to the leper and centurion, He has done to us. He has stretched forth to us His hand and Word. He did not recoil from the depths of our sin and shame but took on our flesh, all the same. He took our sins, which break us, upon Himself. He made payment in blood so that we might be made right with God.

According to His good will He has sent unto us also His saving Word. Through His Word the Holy Spirit has called us to faith in Christ so that we might receive – by faith – the good things He earned: forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. In His same good will, Christ also extends to us His hand in the form of His Holy Supper. In the Lord’s Supper, the same flesh which was crucified and which rose for us is given to us in the sacramental union of His body and blood with the bread and wine. He gives these things so that we receive, often, the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith.

In the Epiphany season, again, we confess that Jesus the true man is also the true God. As He stretched out His hand to heal the leper and spoke His Word on behalf of the centurion’s servant, so He gives us His hand and Word for the forgiveness of our sins. May God the Holy Spirit grant us also a faith like the leper and centurion, that we likewise trust in His good will and Word.

A Sign of What’s to Come

Text: John 2:1-11

During the Epiphany Season, we’re celebrating that Jesus Christ, true man born of the Virgin Mary, is also true God, begotten of the Father from all eternity. This was made known to the wise men from the east by the appearance of a star and by the Holy Scriptures. It was made to known to John the Baptist and those who would receive his witness, by the Father Himself who spoke from heaven and by the descent of the Holy Spirit. Today, it is made known once again at a wedding in Cana. St. John wrote at the end of our text, “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory.”

Today, I’d like to draw our attention to that phrase, “the first of His signs.” The word that the Holy Spirit spoke through St. John for, “first,” is the Greek word ἀρχή. This is the same word that, in other parts of Scripture, is also translated, “beginning.” As in, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth;” and, “In the beginning was the Word.” The miracle in our text today was both the first and beginning of Jesus’ miracles. As the beginning of His miracles, it represented the new reality which Jesus was bringing – which all the miracles pointed to. Jesus was already at work in our text, showing us with this miracle the joy which will be ours in His eternal kingdom.

Our Gospel text today follows shortly after Jesus’ Baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Whereas St. Matthew moves directly from our Lord’s Baptism to His temptation in the wilderness, St. John also includes some events between the two. He includes the witness of John the Baptist that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world – words we sing before the distribution of the Lord’s Supper. Also, St. John includes the account of his own calling along with Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Nathanael. After these, St. John wrote, “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples.”

Over the course of this wedding celebration, a problem presented itself. In the words of our Lord’s mother: “They have no wine.” This is a problem because a wedding is a time for celebration. Then, as now, family and friends gather together to eat and drink for joy over this new union of husband and wife. But, with no wine, a portion of that joy is diminished. It happened that there were six stone water jars there. St. John writes that they were for, “the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.” Jesus directed the servants to fill them with water, and they did. Then, Jesus said, “Draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” When they did that, the water had become wine. The master of the feast remarked to the groom that he had, indeed, kept the good wine back until then.

II.

I said a few moments back that I wanted to draw our attention to these words, “This the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory.” This is true. Not counting the Virgin Birth, this is the first miracle that Jesus performed. But, the same word that means “first,” can also mean beginning. In the scope of Scripture a beginning is also a preview or foretaste of what you can expect to follow. St. Paul talks this way using a very similar word when he talks about Christ’s resurrection. He says, “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” St. Paul means that Christ’s resurrection was the first of many to follow, a preview, even, of our own resurrection. Paul used the same word to the Thessalonians. He said, “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” The Thessalonians were some of the first Gentiles to be called to faith in Christ, foreshadowing the generations of Christians who would come after them.

The changing of water into wine was a foreshadowing of the joy that Christ already had come to bring. It is a preview of the joy and celebration we will share in the kingdom of heaven. We will feast together with Christ and all Christians because all sin and evil will have been done away with. We know that Christ, by His perfect life and death for our sins, has destroyed all the powers of sin and hell. Though we remain in the flesh now – with its pains and sorrows – we joyfully await the return of Christ, where He will make all things new – and all sorrows will be no more. This is what St. John is getting at by describing the miracle this way. There is a Greek word that expresses the idea of a numerical first, and John uses that at other times in the Gospel. But, the changing of water into wine was the beginning of Jesus’ miracles, and as the beginning it pointed to the joy to come in the resurrection and our Lord’s return.

III.

Hearing this text today along with St. Paul’s writing to the Ephesians, it is good for us to also spend a moment talking about the estate of marriage. As the miracle at Cana foreshadowed the joy that Christ had come to bring, so marriage also points to something else. We learn from St. Paul that, in addition to being for the mutual joy and support of husband and wife and the raising of Christian children, the marital union is a living picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church. In that relationship, Christ set aside everything – He disregarded all thoughts of only His own good – so that He might sanctify and cleanse His bride, the Church, by the shedding of His blood and in the washing of Holy Baptism. In turn, Christ’s bride – the Church – submits to His authority in love.

Our Lord intends that all earthly marriages mirror His own marriage to the Church. As He gave everything for His bride, even His own self, so also we husbands are called to love and sacrifice for the good of our wives. We are not to be domineering, but loving. As Christ’s bride, the Church, submits to her husband so also earthly wives are called to submit to their earthly husbands. This is not because wives are inferior, but it is a choice made out of love and directed from faith in Christ. Insofar as we remain in this flesh we will always be both saint and sinner. There are times where both husbands and wives fail to live faithfully in their vocations, sinning against each other, against their Lord, and, sometimes, against the children He has given them. Let us recognize from St. Paul’s instructions the applications of the Sixth Commandment in our lives – how we have failed – and be thankful that our Lord has come.

Were our Lord not to have come, we would still be left in the guilt of our sins and awaiting only eternal punishment. But, in fact our Lord has come in the flesh. He has come, has fulfilled the Law, has borne our sin in His flesh on the tree, and has risen from the dead for us. His changing of water into wine was the beginning of His miracles, pointing ahead to the joy we will have when we, the bride of Christ, feast with our heavenly bridegroom in His eternal kingdom.

One With Us, One with Him

Text: Matthew 3:13-17

Today we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ by John in the Jordan River. Sometime toward the end of John the Baptist’s ministry, Jesus came out to him to be baptized; and, when He had come up from the water, God the Father and the Holy Spirit proclaimed the Gospel – Jesus is the Son of God, who has come to do the Father’s will. John initially tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized. He said, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” John was right about that, but Jesus said to permit it, for thus it was fitting to fulfill all righteousness.

The celebration of this day is a relatively new one. Historically, the celebration of Epiphany on January 6th also included celebrating the Transfiguration and today’s text all in one day. In the Eastern Orthodox churches, it still does. In the Western churches, such as our own, the Transfiguration was moved to a separate Sunday to give full weight to both the Epiphany and Transfiguration – to give them room to breathe, and us opportunity to hear about them both. More recently, this has been done for the Baptism of Jesus. Recent, as in, within the last generation. We celebrate this Sunday because it is a milestone in the life of Christ and within His ministry, because we get to see all three members of the Trinity at work at the same time, because God the Father Himself speaks from heaven, and more. Today, I’d like us to consider this: By being baptized, Jesus united Himself with us in our sin. By our being baptized, He unites us to Him in life.

That is the answer to a question we might have upon hearing this text; why was Jesus baptized? Before we go further, let’s back up and talk a little about John the Baptist. During the Advent season, we talked about him a few times. Our 5-6th graders have been hearing about him in their lessons, too. John the Baptist was the one sent in the “spirit and power of Elijah,” to prepare the way of the Lord. He was a stark figure, dressed in “camel’s hair and a leather belt.” His diet of locusts and wild honey betrayed a ritually pure diet. John, in short, was a holy man of God; and the way that he prepared people for the coming of the Messiah was by preaching the Word of God, in both Law and Gospel.

John preached the Law to people (the Ten Commandments) to show them their sin and need for the savior. The Holy Sprit worked through that preaching of the Law then, as now, to bring about repentance in the hearts of those people. They heard John preach and were convicted of their sins. The Holy Spirit brought them to confess their sins, and then John would baptize them. That was the other aspect of John’s work to prepare the way of the Lord. People would confess their sins and John would baptize them for the forgiveness of those sins. St. Mark says, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

II.

Over the course of time, Jesus came to be baptized. St. Matthew writes in our text, “John would have prevented Him, saying, I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented.” After Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. God the Father spoke from heaven, declaring that Jesus is His beloved Son. We remember and confess this wonderful event today. But, the question on my mind, and it might be on yours, too, is this: why was Jesus Baptized?

Most of us here are probably post-Confirmation. That means we have spent some time looking, learning, and memorizing Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Part of the Catechism talks about Baptism. It says that Baptism works, “forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe.” That means the people who should be baptized are people who need forgiveness of sins. St. Luke tells us about who was going to see John: Pharisees and the Jewish leadership, sure, but also regular people – tax collectors and soldiers and such. They, like us, were born of natural flesh and blood and in need of the saving washing of Holy Baptism. But, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He neither inherited the corruption of original sin nor did He commit any sin of His own. So, why be baptized?

John the Baptist himself said that he was sent to baptize so that Jesus would be revealed to Israel. But, maybe there’s a little more here. The point of Jesus’ life, from conception to death, is that He is our substitute. We sin, He didn’t. We break the Law; He kept the Law. Rather than God’s wrath against sin being poured out on us, Jesus bore it in our place on the cross. Jesus was baptized to be united with us, to step into our place. He did not have sin, but He became identified as one having sin by being baptized just as any other sinner – you or I – would. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus in this way, “[He] was numbered with the transgressors…He bore the sins of many.” Jesus was baptized so that He might unite Himself with us in sin and death. He united Himself with us in our sin and death, and then carried it all to the cross.

III.

A day like today also gives us the opportunity to talk about the Baptism we have received. We learned from the Catechism that Baptism gives the forgiveness of sins, rescues from sin, death and the devil, and grants eternal salvation. St. Paul wrote to Titus that Baptism is a washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. He also wrote to the Romans that in Baptism we are united to Christ. He says it this way, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Jesus was baptized by John so that, even though He Himself was without sin, He might become identified with us sinners – so that He might be united with us sinners. He united Himself to us in our sin, so that He might be our substitute in carrying that sin on the cross. In our Baptism, He unites us to Himself in life. In Baptism, we receive the fruits of His cross – the forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and hell, eternal life, and the faith which receives these things. For all these things and more, we rejoice.

In the Epiphany season, we celebrate that the man Jesus Christ is our true God and Lord in the flesh. He has come to bear our sin and be our savior. By His perfect life, by His fulfillment of the Law, and by His death in our place, He has secured for us eternal salvation. Today we give thanks that, by His Baptism, Jesus united Himself to us and that, in our Baptism, He unites us to Himself.