Dear family and friends of Anna Mae Wolfgram, Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

The Christian life is not one of ease or convenience. When we are guided by the Holy Spirit into the waters of holy baptism, where we die to sin and rise with Christ to new life, we do not magically escape from the suffering of this world; rather, in our suffering and our struggles, we have our Lord Jesus who remembers us and does not leave us or forsake us. Through the water and the word, we are joined to our Lord, and he is made one with us. So when we Christians endure hardship imposed upon us by the world, the devil, or our sinful flesh, these hardships also come upon our crucified and risen Savior. And this hope of our Christian faith was no different in the life of our dear sister Anna Mae. 

In our second reading from Saint Paul’s second letter to a young and timid disciple, Timothy was most likely one of the last words that he wrote before he himself departed this world to join his Lord Jesus, as he was about to be killed for professing the name of Christ to the nations. Saint Paul says that his departure is at hand, and as he begins to reflect on his years of ministry, he says, “for I am already being poured out as a drink offering.” Again, he says the word “already.” Not that he will soon be poured out or that he awaits being poured out. But that he is being continually poured out before the Father, as an offering. This tells us that the Christian bears the image of God here and now as we suffer hardship and struggle because we bear witness to Jesus. 

Look to the life of Paul. After his conversion on the road to Damascus to be a follower of Christ, he became an enemy to the world, to Satan, and to sin. He speaks of his suffering in another letter that he has been beaten and flogged and shipwrecked. He has also endured the loss of sleep, food, water, and shelter while always being on the move, not only to escape from death, but more importantly to spread the gospel of Christ Jesus.. Even in all this, his main concern was for his churches and not for himself. As he says again, “Now I rejoice in my suffering for you.”

This sounds like our beloved sister. The many things she has carried for the sake of her family and for those whom she loves so dearly. From her childhood of losing her mother to polio, and needing to step up for the sake of her younger siblings. Or as a mother putting the needs of others before herself, caring for Daral and their five children, which can be no easy task.  See the fruits of her labor as a mother and spouse sitting in these front pews. Being brought up in this church and taught the fear and knowledge of the one true God. They were raised to prioritize our Lord Jesus Christ and the family that the Lord has given them. To be a faithful spouse to Daral, in not just one round of cancer, but two. To see her own son, her firstborn, to fight cancer and win, and tragically be taken home to his heavenly Father. Oh yes, there were many joys in Anna Mae’s life that cannot be taken away. To see the birth of many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As she rarely forgot a birthday. To see children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren be baptized, confirmed, and married. And during her own illness of ovarian cancer, she did not let any of these trials overcome her joys and her faith in Jesus Christ. As our Lord has been there for Anna Mae every step of the way in times of joy and times of struggle.

This is also something that she taught her children and those around her. When times were hard, she taught them to depend on Christ, telling them, “Remember that Jesus and I love you.” And then those times of sorrow and grief she told them again “Cry and you cry alone. Laugh and the whole world will laugh with you.” 

For Christians, we do not boast in our accomplishments or hold up our hardships because it is not we who bear them alone. It is our Lord Jesus Christ who provides strength, wisdom, and courage to bring us through these things. It is faith given to us by the Holy Spirit that was given to her by the hearing of the Word of God, which created and kept her in the one true faith until life’s end. For this faith given to Anna Mae and to all Christians is not faith in a mortal man, such as the Apostle Paul, but in the very Son of God, our Lord Jesus. Christ, who has looked upon Anna Mae and all humanity with love and compassion by taking upon himself human flesh and blood for our salvation. So that he would carry the sins of the whole world committed from the very beginning until the very end is he died on the cross of Calvary. He is the very Lamb of God who was led to the slaughter to save us from our sins. He became sin itself as he hung and died.

And even on the cross, he says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What marvelous and comforting words for us, since he was forsaken, we will never be forsaken or forgotten by our heavenly Father. Through everything that we carry on our backs, every tear from our eyes, and sorrow that breaks us down, Christ is in the midst of us even now. He knows our suffering through his cross and has given us the victory by his resurrection. As he ascended on high, he continues to make his dwelling among us, in our hearts. And there he continues to give us faith until he brings us to our final home.

And if we could ask Anna Mae, what was it that brought you through it all, even until the end? Her answer would certainly be quite simple, mirroring the words of the apostle, “It is not I, but Christ who lives within me.” 

And now our sister in Christ has obtained the goal of her faith, which is eternal life with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Do not fret or be dismayed, but do not feel as if you cannot mourn or weep. Yet, we do not mourn as those who have no hope. For she has fought the good fight and has finished the race, not on her own, but because and through her Lord Jesus.

Therefore, you also keep the faith. The Lord does not abandon. The Lord comforts and leads us unto himself in his heavenly mansions that he has prepared for those who love his appearing. Christ Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and through his Holy Spirit, he will bring us to the way that leads to eternal life, where we will be joined with such a great cloud of witnesses, including our sister Anna Mae. May Almighty God, through the death of his only begotten Son, accomplish this in us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Amen. 

 Today, in our gospel reading, we find a surprisingly unique interchange between Christ and the Sadducees and the teachers of the law. They attempt to confuse and entrap Jesus, but to their amazement, Christ not only answered a question that they cannot answer. They were also put to shame. And in return, he inquires of them about who they believe the Christ is. And to this, they have no answer because, in the end, it would result in Jesus as the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of the law, and the payment for sin. 

The question for Jesus was, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” It is a last-ditch effort to try to stump Jesus. Prior to this passage, Jesus had answered all their questions using the scriptures pointing to him as the Christ. It is one lawyer who fires this question across the galley in order to provoke him. The Gospel of Matthew says that this was in order to “test” the Lord. This young lawyer and scholar of the Scriptures obviously does not know the word of God at all. As he is not the first one to test the Lord. 

We do not need to look further than in the book of Exodus. After the Lord has delivered the people of Israel out of bondage from the house of slavery in the land of Egypt by crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, and even after receiving the bread from heaven. They became thirsty and began quarreling with Moses and testing the Lord. It is their natural inclination to sin that takes over the hearts of the people of God as they become indignant and impatient with the servant of God who brought them out of the house of slavery, and in the end, they do the same to God himself. As the Lord brought the people into the wilderness to test them. And they would be purified and prepared to enter into the land of promise; it is the people who test the Lord. 

In their groaning, they prove themselves to be sinners. To be taken over by their passions of body and soul, to be satisfied the moment when desire comes. In this way, the young lawyer is just like the people of Israel, wanting to trap God to get what he wants instantaneously. He desires Christ to change the Law so that he may justify himself. For even asking such a question, he would like to limit the law so that it would never accuse him of any sin whatsoever. And as a result, Jesus humbles this self-justifying man by exhorting him to love God with all that he is, and to love his neighbor as himself.

It is easy for us to look down upon the young lawyer and the people of Israel in the wilderness as they tested God to change his commands, but are we much different than them? How often do we allow our tendency to sin to obscure our vision of the law of God? This may be when we say to ourselves or to God, “Yes, I feel bad about what I did, but I technically didn’t break a commandment.” We might say I told that small lie to save my job, and God doesn’t want me to lose it. Or it technically isn’t stealing because they owe me that in the first place. Or it’s not really adultery, because we truly love each other.

These are all cases where our sinful nature takes us captive once again. We diminished the law’s accusations against us. It is as if, instead of using a magnifying glass to examine the Ten Commandments to find all our shortcomings and wrongdoings, we turned the glass over to magnify ourselves and to make the law of God unreadable. We do this to call ourselves great and noble Christians by making the law so precise that no person could be found guilty. 

What makes this thinking dangerous is that when we make our sins so small, we also make small the need for a Savior. We may think we are doing ourselves a favor, but instead, we are doing ourselves much harm. As it is of no benefit to us, for this is how we sin against God. 

But to this, I say, let the law accuse you. Let every commandment of God find you guilty. And let every secret sin be brought to light before God. Let the commandments of the Lord leave you dead in your trespasses and sins, so only Christ can raise you up. For he is your pure and holy Savior waiting to forgive you for all that you have done. Waiting to receive you. Waiting to comfort you with his love and grace. This is why Jesus looked upon this young lawyer with compassion. As the Lord offers him a question concerning the Christ. He is asked, “Whose Son is He?”

Jesus is, of course, the Christ. And he is both the Son of David and the Son of God from all eternity. Christ is the one whom God says, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” What a marvelous saying of our Lord’s victory! For our Lord is not referring to us as God’s children still long under the bondage of sin. The enemy that must bow down to Christ, must be forced into submission under his feet, and finally must be destroyed by God himself, is not us, but is sin itself. 

And where are these words and promises of God fulfilled? It is at the Cross of Calvary, where Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, in flesh and blood, who is also the Son and Lord of David, takes his proper place upon the throne of his forefather, not in a luxurious palace, but in the place of the skull where he dies. He does not die, the noble death of a king, but he dies in the company of hardened criminals. For he bears our chastisement and the condemnation of the world. By the death of Christ, we do not fear the law; in it, we have our perfect and obedient Savior who has washed away all our sins and has thrown them into the depths of the sea.

So when we come to the judgment seat of God, we do not need to fear that he will put us under his feet. So when the law of God is placed before our eyes, we can say, “Yes, I have committed all of these and many more, but I have the blood of Jesus Christ, who loves me and who has given his life for me.” Do not fear any letter of the law, for it is given by your savior who has loved you and has redeemed you. And he is the giver of all good gifts.

When Christ asked the Pharisees whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, he was really asking whether they knew the purpose of this day of rest. And in the end, he is asking them if they know God’s salvation in the first place. And to this, they have no reply. For the Pharisees, the Lord’s salvation is severely misunderstood. In their eyes, the Old Testament laws of the sabbath should be kept by the letter in order to be a good Israelite and to be saved. In our Lord’s questioning, Jesus shows them the frailty of their interpretation as he asks them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” Here, Jesus shows the absurdity of their belief. For who would not put more value on saving a life in danger than a day of rest?

By healing this man from dropsy, the Lord teaches us that the sabbath day was created by God from the very beginning for the purpose of mankind. It was meant for hearing God’s word and for serving our neighbor. For one cannot be saved by strictly obeying the law, yet it also instructs us how to live our lives before God, and to our neighbor. As Jesus sums up the entire law in these two words: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. If Jesus had turned the man away, he would have used the Ten Commandments against their purpose, and therefore neither would have shown love to this man nor to his father in heaven. The Lord instructed the Pharisees that the true meaning of the day of rest is to put aside our work for God and for neighbor. 

It is for this reason that Christians should not neglect the third commandment, “You shall remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” We do not intend it as the Pharisees do, believing that by not lifting a finger on one day of the week, we will keep God’s word. Instead, Christians keep the third commandment whenever they hear the word of God. As Luther explains this commandment in his small catechism, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” This is not a commandment that only affects us on Sunday, but in every day of our lives. For we find our day of rest whenever we hear the word of God. When we pray before meals, saying “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest…” When we wipe the dust off our catechisms to find comfort in those words we used to know so well. Either before we start our day or before we close our eyes to open our Portals of Prayer, to hear the words of Christ crucified for us. These are all times we keep the third commandment, not in order to be saved. Instead, because God desires us to find rest in his word. 

Of course, there is Sunday morning Divine Service. This is where we, the people of God, find rest in the word of God as the community of the baptized. In this unique way, God comes to us all in the absolution pronounced by the ordained minister of the word, in the corporate reading of the scriptures, in the preaching of the word of God in the sermon, in the prayers as we commit our cares to the Lord. And finally, in the Lord’s supper. For holy communion is the very word of God, the body and blood of Christ, in bread and wine for your forgiveness, to restore you to the Father, and give you rest. It is in the Sunday service that you are drawn away from the worries of this world, which leave you anxious and dreadful for the next day. Your worries assail you, for the purpose of taking you away from the promises of God. For in the house of God, there is no poor or rich, as we are all poor sinners seeking the mercy of God. Here, there is no one who has better health than the other, for we are all infected and tormented by sin as we all come from the one Adam. And no matter how great your sin may be or how far it has led you astray from God, Christ Jesus is here to give you rest. If it’s your first time in church in a while, or you were here last week. God rest is for our good for all those who put their trust in him. 

This miracle also teaches us that the sabbath is for our neighbor. For we hear the word of God and allow teachings to conform our lives, we find that keeping the third commandment brings us to the latter six. How we are to love and serve our neighbor. Just as Jesus loved this man and had compassion on him, the man was healed of his disease. The word of God teaches us to have compassion and mercy for those in need. The faith that is given to us by the Holy Spirit is not simply knowledge, beliefs, and principles that we know about God. Yet, when it is given to us, it is meant to be lived out, to conform us to his will, and make us more like Christ. So when we love our neighbor as ourselves, put the needs of others before our own, or act with mercy and compassion, we do not do this in order to be saved. We do this because we are given the gift of faith, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and saved through Christ. And when we do these things, it is Christ in us who does them. For apart from him, we cannot. 

And if you feel that your mercy and compassion may be lacking, let me assure you that it is not. As they do not come from yourself, but they come from Christ Jesus. Rely on him and his word, and he will give you rest. 

It is by the power of his cross and his suffering and death that our Lord Jesus Christ comes to give Sabbath rest. For he has first looked upon all humanity with mercy and compassion. And as he sees our human race lost and restless because of our sin, he takes sin upon himself and dies on the cross and rests in the Earth for three days. And as believers in Christ, we will inherit his eternal Sabbath in the kingdom of Heaven, where there will be no worry or anxiety or fear. And he comes to you even now as he says, “Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” So let us come to him in this sacrament, and we will find rest for our souls. 

Seen in last Sunday’s gospel reading, with Jesus preaching that we should not be anxious about our lives. That we should look to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, and God provided for them, so how much more will he provide for us? For Jesus says, “Seek the kingdom and all will be added unto you.” And now we come to the widow of Nain. This woman has lost her husband and is now burying her only son. It appears all the Lord has provided her is now gone. What a stark contrast! Yet trials in this life are not given to us to burden us, but to strengthen us in the Faith of our good and gracious heavenly Father who has restored us to new life. 

This woman is a member of a long procession of faithful people of God who have been given burdens and trials in this world by the Lord. It is true that the Lord tests his people. These trials are not to draw them away from God, but to draw them closer to him. To rely on him all the more.  That Saint Peter would go as far as to say in his first epistle to the church, “You have been grieved by various trials,that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to the praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” As as seen in the Saints of old, were called to put their trust in the Lord in difficult times and their faith is truly refined.

First, of course, there is God’s servant Job. The story of Job is one of testing and faithfulness. The Lord allows all his goods, his property, and even his children to be taken away from him. And still Job says, “The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” And Satan struck him with many sores, and yet the Bible says, “In all this job did not sin with his lips.” Even as his companions tried to comfort him by saying that he must have some fault that he is unaware of, something that he has not completed, a secret sin, or grievance with God yet to be settled. Throughout the entire book, Job insists that he has done nothing wrong, and yet God remains good, faithful, and just in what the Lord is doing. For the servant of the Lord, even says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the Earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh. I shall see God.” The Lord allowed him to be tested, and he never lost hope that he would be vindicated by his good and gracious God. 

Then we come to the widow of Zarephath, the same woman who receives the miracle of the flour and oil that would not run out. Now her son, whom the prophet Elijah saved from starvation, is dead. Despite her question, she has done nothing wrong against this man of God. Still in her pain and misery, she gives the Prophet her dead son. This is a great act of faith and worthy of imitation. Her faith receives its result as the Prophet Elijah says to her, “See, your son lives.” Just as gold is purified by fire, for this woman trials refine and increase the value of faith. 

Now to the widow of Nain. This woman has already buried her husband, and now her only son will join him. She entirely relied on her son, and now she has no security. Many have come to march with her to the outskirts of town, and now, how many of those people will have compassion on her after everyone has moved on from the death? Despite this trial from the Lord, she remains faithful as she lays her son in the ground with the hope of the resurrection. For she does not turn the Lord away from this parade of death. 

The Lord Jesus turns and looks upon her with compassion. Because even in such a trial, the Lord does not allow death and Satan to have the last word. He has compassion for those whom he purifies. The Lord’s mercy is properly acknowledged not when it is expected, but when it is called upon. When this woman saw the Lord Jesus, could she have known what was going to happen next? Maybe some words of encouragement or an embrace from Jesus and the disciples. Instead, this faithful woman receives her son back alive and well. Through her pain, she is brought to greater reliance and faith in Christ Jesus. This woman, who undoubtedly believes that her son would outlive her, would remain comfortable and secure for the rest of her days. She takes her son by the hand, leaving his casket on the road, even with more joy and gratefulness in the Lord than on the day that he was born. As this man was raised from the dead, this woman’s faith is also raised, being more precious than gold.

And what does this mean for us? It is without a doubt, as seen in all of Holy Scripture, that trials will come. And when they do come, they often come from the hand of the Lord. They may not be as extreme as the examples already mentioned, yet you know what I am talking about, now or in the past. I may not know the cross you bear, and you may not know mine, but since we are Christians, we know that from the hands of the Lord come hard times and trials, and the Lord sees us through so that our faith in his mercy may grow and be purified. These could be times when we lose our jobs for no fault of our own, when we lose friends for something we never said, or when our families no longer want to speak to us because we refuse to deny the truth. God uses all things for our good, to put our faith and trust in him.

It is out of his great love that he desires your faith to increase and to be seen by all. Look at Job —how great a witness does he give to his three friends who believe he is a fool?  When trials come, we bear witness to Christ and the Holy Spirit at work within us. For example, one of the fruits of the Spirit is love. If it is love that must increase, for the Lord will give us our opportunities for love. If it is patience, the Lord will give us the opportunity to grow in patience. If it is gentleness, the Lord will provide times to be gentle, and so on. The Lord does not do this to shut you out, but to bring you closer to him, to rely on him, and to ask for love, patience, and gentleness. 

Let me leave you with this: do not let the world deceive you. As the world doesn’t endure trials from the Lord. For God only can purify those who already have faith. The Lord will not test you beyond your abilities, as he always provides a means of escape. For he is the Lord, who raises the dead to take death upon himself. And he has been raised and ascended to the right hand of the Father, to be your advocate and your helper. So whatever may come your way, either from hell below or heaven above, neither life nor death can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Christ says in this portion of his Sermon on the Mount that even the Gentiles seek food, drink, clothing, and shelter from their creator. Therefore, he tells his disciples that those who would acknowledge him to be the only Son of God do not seek from the Lord what the Gentiles do. He teaches that the Lord supplies to meet our needs, so we are to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things will be added to us.

For God even preserves the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. God, as the creator of all things, gives to all his creation. Although the birds and plants are part of God’s handiwork, the Son of God has not come to redeem and save them; yet, He does not forget their needs either. As birds are able to feed and build nests for their young, and the plants are given all they need to produce flowers and seeds, how much more does the Lord desire to do for mankind, the purpose of his creation?

As man and woman are created in the image of God, is not our life more than food and the body more than clothing? Yes, of course. Our Lord does not tell us to ignore the needs of the body. Instead, he tells us that life is more than just the body. For we are created with a body and a soul. A body that is preserved by the creator and the soul that desires to know and love its creator. 

To those whom he has elected to faith, we are to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. By faith, we have a higher calling. This calling is to put our trust in God, not only in the things needful for the body, but also for the soul. The Lord does not give us needs or desires that he does not plan to fulfill and satisfy. Just as He created all things on the Earth to be put under submission to man, and to satisfy his needs. God gives us spiritual yearning so that He may satisfy us and put our trust in Him. 

While humans have hunger, it can only be calmed by food that fills the stomach. It is for this reason that God created food, knowing that man would be hungry. So too, we possessed desires of the spirit, which can only be satisfied in a spiritual way. In other words, man desires to be satisfied and filled with God. Each of us longs for God. For we all know that we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We know in ourselves that we are incomplete. Spiritual hunger is felt when our souls become restless, doubting that God can forgive our sins. When we still carry the pain of being sinned against, even long ago. When we have sinned against someone and they do not want to forgive us, no matter how many times we try. Or when we grieve the sins and atrocities of this world. These are times of spiritual hunger and distress, only to be cured and relieved by the Word of God.

It is for this purpose that the Son of God, who is the Word of God, takes on human flesh and blood. The same flesh and blood that has suffered upon the cross, paying the penalty of our sins. And by his suffering, agony, and death, he knows how we suffer from the spiritual hungers of this world. As our Lord says from the cross, “I thirst.” This is for our salvation, as He suffers in both body and spirit. As we are rejected by the world for holding to the truth that Christ is the Son of God, so was he. As we are despised for loving those who hate us, so was he. As we are ridiculed for speaking forgiveness, so was he

For in the death of Christ, he does not only suffer for you, but he suffers in and among you. Even as you endure torment and temptation, loss and pain, distress and worry, Christ, the crucified Son of God, does not leave you or forsake you. For he is in his word. He comes to you in prayer. And he is in your fellow Christians who are there to support you and console you. Therefore, cling to where Christ has promised he would be, and your spiritual hunger will be satisfied. As the Lord has not left you hungry and without shelter, he will neither leave you helpless and afraid. 

As long as we still live in the world, anxieties will persist. This you already know a great deal. Worries about new health concerns and whether insurance will cover these expenses. Worries about money, choosing to be late on the mortgage or the utilities, or whether your retirement savings will outlive you. Worried how our families will manage if we move or pass away. You will have a God who, despite your worries about this life, still graciously provides for you. In times of drought, when it seems that the blessings of the Lord have run out, we still reach into our jars and find enough flour and oil for the day. 

Knowing the Lord has laid out all these things needful, Christ says, “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”  The number of our days is in the hands of the Lord, for our anxiety cannot add a single hour to our life, so put trust in the Lord. If he plans to give you tomorrow, he will also supply you with everything necessary to live out the day. And our Lord has promised this for all the tomorrows that will come. 

The Lord does not give you all things necessary for this life so that he may abandon you. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. By his word and sacrament, which are true food that comes down from heaven, you are not only filled until you are hungry again, but you are satisfied. And his salvation is your clothing that never tatters or stains. Your salvation has been sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and on the last day, when he raises you up, he will clothe you with new robes that will shine and never fade as you are in the presence of God forever. And at the table of the Lord, there will be no more need or want, hunger or shortage. 

As this is our certain hope, the Lord bestows every blessing of body and spirit for this life and the life to come. Anxieties cannot remove us from the grace of God. The Lord has provided for you thus far. He will see you through. And for those who seek him, he will bestow on you all things, including his kingdom and his righteousness. 

The Lord Christ has mercy upon those who call upon him, even those who will no longer believe, as his blood cleanses all from the leprosy of sin. While Christ knows that only one, the sick man from Samaria, will truly acknowledge him as the one high priest and Son of God, he has mercy upon the ten. 

Those who were affected by the disease of leprosy were seen as socially inferior and under God’s judgment because of their sickness. Because of their sores and stench, they were removed from society. It did not matter your social status or your family’s. If you were aged or just a youth. Someone infected with leprosy can no longer live among the people, but in the colony of other lepers. These ten men are forced to live off the charity of others who were not ashamed to be seen among the undesirables and morally inferior. They live in complete slums as they cannot take care of themselves and barely survive. I am sure many of these outcasts died of starvation, the elements, or violence among them before the leprosy could kill them. 

And now this band comes into the village to seek out the Lord. They journey where they are forbidden to go. The men stand before him at a distance, knowing that even as he is the Son of God, he is still a man, as they are. They called upon him as Jesus, a name that means “God saves.” And master denoting him with great authority in both heaven and on earth. The petition for mercy is a plea to be cleansed, to be restored to society, to no longer live with the fear of death by disease, hunger, storm, or bloodshed. And for the men of Israel to access the temple and synagogue for worship. This cry is not only to be relieved from the disease; it is to be reunited with the life they once knew. 

Christ desires to do this for all humanity. By our own sinful nature, we have been infected by the leprosy of man’s own making. This is no disease passed down by contact of the skin; rather, it is a leprosy passed down from parent to child. This goes back to Paradise, as Adam and his wife were deceived by satan, and when they were discovered by God, they were found to be unclean. The two became lepers in the garden. Outcast from God’s presence and kingdom. Instead of possessing natural righteousness, which they would give to their children, their descendants must live in the colony of sin and death until they are cleansed and restored by the crucified Son of God.

For Christ comes to us first when we are lost in our trespasses and sins. When we are still under the deception of the world, the devil, and our sinful flesh. The disease of original sin is so deep that it manifests itself in every opportunity that it deems fit. When we become prideful of the good we have done for our families, communities, or congregations, those good deeds become sinful. When we say that we need only a certain amount of time in prayer and God’s word, that is a sin as well. Or when we compare our own faithfulness or dedication to someone who we believe is inferior to us, what does that say about our own faith and dedication to the word of God? Apart from Christ, we cannot earn any approval from God. 

By his blood, we are restored. We are no longer in exile because of our sins. In Christ, we are cleansed of our spiritual leprosy. The Lord Jesus did not die so that he would cleanse you only once. The blood of Christ cleanses you each day. You who were far off are now brought near by the shepherd’s staff of his cross. We exiles do not only return to a garden, but come to a heavenly kingdom that is superior to the paradise once lost. We are brought back to perfect communion with God and with our fellow Christians. The disease of sin no longer separates us as we love and serve one another out of service to Christ, the Redeemer. In the new life of the Spirit, we do not fall into strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissension, or divisions, as we are all one in Christ. We no longer fend for ourselves, but are united in our Savior. 

As seen in our reading, the dear Jesus extends this new life to all people, including the nine lepers who would soon reject him. The nine shows that not all who will call upon the name of the Lord will endure until the end. At first, they called upon Jesus for salvation, seeking the salvation of both their bodies and souls. Then, after going to the Temple to present themselves to the priest, they are nowhere to be found. For they are drawn away from Christ, as certainly the priest asked them who had cleansed them. These nine lepers represent those who desire Christ at the beginning. May need Christ at the very start, but they do not see a continual need to rely on Christ. He has done one great miracle for the nine, and now they have no need for his word or his continual grace and blessings. 

Many of us know people like this, either in our families, among friends, or within our community. I’m sure most of us have had a period of time when we were in the same spot as the nine. So what can we do for them? First, I would say do not look down on them. We have a God who is patient, and so should we. Second, we should encourage them with the promise that the Lord has never ceased to wait for them. For you never know what a simple phrase of encouragement and love can do. Bring the love of Christ to them, even if they do not desire to know the Lord again. And finally, put your trust in prayer. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring them back and that you would not be a hindrance to their return, as God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of him. 

And now, how do we ensure that we will not be like the nine? Well, what does our text say? They all called upon him and said, “Jesus, have mercy upon us.” This is all we can do. continue to put our trust in the Lord Christ, who hears the prayers of his people and is eager to answer them. For our Lord never turned away from those who seek his mercy. For all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Christ has suffered for all things upon the Cross so that he may show his mercy to those who are lost and have gone astray. And through his mercy, he keeps you in his holy church, where his word and sacrament keep you safe and secure until He returns on the last day or calls you to Himself. 

Our Lord’s chief desire is to have mercy upon us, cleanse us, and bring us to himself. For he has cleansed us by his blood that we may be brought into his heavenly kingdom, his kingdom of mercy and grace. Remain steadfast in seeking His mercy, and He will bring us closer to Himself. Call upon him, and he will come near. The mercy of Christ cleanses you and remains with you.

On this holy cross day, consider how foolish the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ is.   Crucifixion was not the sentence given to an honorable man. Crucifixion was reserved for hardened criminals, repeat offenders, and dangerous threats to society. For not even Paul the apostle could have been crucified, as he was a Roman citizen and could not be sentenced to such a terrible death. The Christ was led to the slaughter like a sheep that was silent before the shears. When the cross was lifted, Christ began to suffocate until he gave up the spirit to our heavenly father. His time on the cross was filled with agony of body and spirit. For he was mocked by those who wanted his blood upon them, saying, “he saved others, but he cannot save himself.” Then, as Christ asked for water to drink, soldiers only gave him sour wine, showing they had no remorse for what they had done to him.

No matter how many times we consider the death of Christ, we will never know about the pain, suffering, and mockery that he endured for our salvation.  As the world sees the death of a carpenter’s boy, the Christian see life eternal in the Son of God. As the Lord chooses what is foolish to shame the wise and what is weak to shame the strong. The world would like to explain away the crucifixion of Christ apart from the Bible. You will hear all kinds of reasons. He wanted to lead a revolt against the Roman colonizers. Or that Jesus no longer saw a need for the Old Testament scriptures. These are simply far-fetched and not biblical whatsoever. These somehow soften the crucifixion of Jesus because these interpretations take away sin from the death of Christ. 

This is why the crucifixion is so scandalous, because it means our actions have violated God’s will and have offended God. Our offenses cannot be remedied by our own actions, as the book of Hebrews makes clear: “There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.” How many people in this world have rejected God because they do not want to hear? Countless Christians have died because they want to bring the message of repentance and forgiveness through the cross of Christ. Not only in times past with the apostles, who all suffered for the gospel. Those who brought the gospel for the first time to distant lands long ago. But even in the present time, at a Catholic school in Minneapolis or a college campus in Utah. These people were slain because they held fast to the truth that there is one God who has sent his son to save man, and to be saved means to change your way, trusting in Christ. May God grant that we have faith, such as these.

Therefore, we can only cling to him as the dear Christ says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” For Christ could only be referring to his coming suffering and death, as he is the Son of the Father sent into the world to redeem what has fallen. The hour of Christ’s planting is coming. God, the Father, has sewn him into the good soil. That by his going into the ground, he may be glorified. He does not come to save himself; Christ is righteous and pure, being one with the Father. Christ comes into the world, making himself a little lower than the angels as he takes on human flesh and blood, so he may become the seed that goes into the ground. He comes for this purpose that man would be grafted into him. 

Just as the sower does not plant seeds only to watch them die in the ground. Neither God has sent his son. The Christ is laid into the Earth that he may bring before the Father much fruit. These fruits are branches of Christ, the one true vine. Christ, who is the firstborn of those who have fallen asleep, now brings with Him all those who believe in Christ to the Father. Apart from the seed, a plant cannot grow or produce any fruit. So too, without Christ’s crucifixion and laying in the ground, we are still lost in our trespasses and sins. We would remain displeasing to the Father. It is only the blood of Christ in his suffering that is able to cover for sins. 

Calvary is where the Son of Man is glorified. The Father speaks: “I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” It is in this moment, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God fully glorifies his name through his son. As even the people of Israel knew the glory of God when they ate manna and quail from heaven. And how often do we emulate these people also? Instead of seeking God’s will and his gifts first, we decide what God has given is good or not. Or that He would be gracious in the way we desire Him to be. 

Still, the glory of the Lord was not revealed in the fiery serpents that bit the people; God is glorious in his grace as he made Moses construct a bronze serpent. For when they looked upon it in faith, where the world would see only death, they were restored to life again. The Lord’s glory is made known in his salvation in the days of old and throughout the scriptures. Now, the Father says that he will glorify it again. Not with a serpent brought upon a pole, but the body of Christ upon a wooden cross with blood pouring out. 

This is foolishness in the eyes of the world. But for God, this is how he desires his glory to be made known throughout the Earth. The dear Lord says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the Earth, will draw all people to myself.” It is in the hour that Jesus speaks of that the Son of Man is glorified, as he is lifted high upon the Earth, stretched out on a tree. This bloody man, who was beaten and scourged, is how God puts an end to sin. For God loves the world in this way that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. His life was taken away from the Earth so that the children of this world may be exhorted and glorified with him. 

Dear friends, you also have been drawn up with Christ. For with him, your sins died in the body of Christ. Then he was putting the fertile ground cut from stone, that is, his tomb. And he was raised again, bearing much fruit. And finally, when he was lifted up once again to be seated, the right hand of God the Father lifted you up with him. First at your baptism, then daily in lives lived according to his grace, and finally on the last day, when you will be raised from the dead eternally. 

Rejoice in the suffering of Christ, for it is wiser than all the wisdom of man and stronger than all the power of the world. That even when we wait for our Lord’s reappearance, we do not wait without purpose, for the Lord is soon coming to harvest the wheat. Even in the various ways that you suffer in this life, you have a God who has suffered all things for your good, as you are never alone. Today is the day of your salvation. And soon he will lift us up and draw us to himself.

How great it would be to have friends such as these? Friends who have heard of the marvelous deeds of our Lord Christ, and they bring their friend so that he, too, may hear the word of the Lord and profess his holy name with his mouth. The dear Jesus comes across the Sea of Galilee, and a deaf and mute man is brought to him that he might receive life anew. For such a man, how could he have known where his friends were taking him? Or what would he receive from the Lord? These friends bring him to Jesus so that he may believe also.

This act of faith and compassion on the part of the friends stirs up our Lord’s compassion for the fellow in his helpless state. The friends know Christ to be no shaman, or they would have brought bags of money to make a remedy. For how could you coerce the Lord of Heaven and Earth with gold or silver? They also know that he is of the lineage of David and not Levi, or else they would have presented him with pigeons or lambs that by their offering they would grant healing. As it would be of no avail to them, as Christ himself is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So, therefore, they only offer prayer and supplication that Christ would heal their friend. 

The friends serve as a model of Christian faith. For by their faith, they knew that Christ would hear them and would not neglect their prayers for grace. Just as the Lord did not neglect the man, their faith taught them that they should not neglect him either. Believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior changes the heart from stone into a heart of flesh. Just as Christ’s heart bled out of compassion for sinners, so too is the Christian transformed by compassion. For he has acted as a friend towards this man. As Christians, we are to do the same. 

To be certain, it is faith in Christ that saves us, yet it is our neighbor, helpless or in need, who requires our friendship. In other words, we show our faith by helping our neighbors because we are Christians who have been transformed by the love and compassion of Christ, the one true friend of every needy and aching soul. Through the spirit, faith bears fruit. And so we are friends to those in need because Jesus Christ has first befriended us.

As our dear Lord shows mercy upon the man by loosening his tongue and opening his ears, this miracle is not only for this man, for Christ bears the sins of all men. And along with sin, Christ bears the consequences of sin, such as the devil, death, and hell. The mercy he shows to the deaf and mute man is no different than the mercy he shows to all mankind. For Christ, after touching his ears and tongue, he sighs, knowing the pain and suffering he will bear upon the cross. He takes sincere pity on the part of the whole human race. Christ’s suffering is not only for the ears and tongues of mankind but over every heart, body, soul, and all people from Adam to the last human being yet to be born. 

In this miraculous act, Christ demonstrates his pity for our souls as he takes away the suffering of this man, so that he may suffer for sin upon the cross. For the Lord to have compassion, he must suffer the cost of his mercy. Through this miracle and many others, Jesus exchanges their sins and sorrows for grace and healing. The Lord does this to bring this man’s sin upon himself. Not for the mute and deaf man only, but for all mankind. 

Christ Jesus is our second Adam, the man of righteousness. That through the first Adam, all mankind fell. Yet, in the second, Christ takes away the punishment of all the children of Adam into his own body and dies for sin. Our Lord carried our sicknesses and has burdened himself with our sorrows. So when Christ died, the sins of all mankind died with him. As he was raised from the dead by the glory of God, the Father, the sins of the world remained dead in the tomb.

As we have been set free from the condemnation of sin by the blood of Christ, we still suffer under the torment of sin. Even as we still suffer illnesses, infirmities, and diseases of body and soul, Christ does not abandon us. For the cross is God’s promise to mankind that God himself knows our suffering. When the body becomes frail, the memory begins to fail, or the mind is occupied by fear, Christ endures these things with you. The Lord Jesus suffered on the cross that He may suffer with us here and now, until He calls us to Himself in His heavenly kingdom. For there is no greater love than this, than he who lays down his life for his friends. 

This is why God calls us to befriend those in need, just like the miracle. For God’s love for us is so deep that it is more than enough for us. This love extends beyond our necessity to help the needs of our neighbors. Scripture says even if we give someone a morsel of water, it is out of faith in Jesus Christ that we do such a good thing. We have been loved by Christ and served by his friendship upon the cross; now, we love for the sake of Christ.

It is through us that Christ suffers alongside our neighbor. Christ does not abandon the suffering and brokenhearted, but he sends them mercy and relief from the burdens in many and various ways, even through the love of a friend, neighbor, or complete stranger. Let the love of Christ shape your life, your relationships, and your charity. For God has not only sent you to relieve the burden of others, but he has sent you fellow Christians to relieve your burdens also.

Dear friends of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are never alone.  The Lord stays with you in all things, joy or temptation, happiness or despair. And when you have finished the race and fought the good fight, it is your friend Jesus who will call you into his home, where you will dwell eternally as he will say to you, “Come, my friend.” And on the last day, when you are raised from the dead to enter into the new heavens and new earth, you will have your friend Jesus sitting on the throne, waiting to declare you righteous on account of His own suffering and death. You are no stranger, but a friend of our Lord, a friend who will never be abandoned in this life or in the life to come.

It is certainly easy to read the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, and to say that we are the latter. Since we are Christians, we are the humble tax collectors who beat our chests and ask for God’s mercy to pardon our sins. And that the Pharisee in the parable represents the unbelieving world. Those who do not know Christ and the justification by faith in his incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. This would be a simple, cut-and-dry sermon. Christians are tax collectors, and everyone else is a Pharisee. Yet, this does not tell the whole story of the parable. 

Notice that both men go to the temple in Jerusalem. They both believe in God, and they both fear his wrath. The Pharisee and the tax collector see that God is just as he executes judgment on the entire world. Therefore, they enter into the house of God to be in his presence as the Lord desires them to do. The temple was where God promised he would be. Between the morning and evening sacrifices for sin offerings, the courts of the temple were open for prayer and the study of God’s word. Both men feared and loved God enough to come into his presence. In other words, both these men attend church not much different than you or I.

The Pharisee comes into the house of God out of his own piety. For he sees himself as a righteous man, a very righteous man. He looks up to God with outstretched arms for all to see, pouring out his soul to God. As the man gazes down upon the people around him, the Pharisee declares that he is more righteous than these other men, “extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”  He believes that he knows the sins of the people around him; their sins that are condemned, while he should be praised. He may be aware of his own sins, but he certainly sees his fellow worshipers as worse sinners than himself.  

Still, the Pharisee sees himself as guiltless under the law of God. This Pharisee is supposed to be a scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures, and in his reading, he sees none of the commands and ordinances of God that he has violated and needs repentance. In this manner, the Pharisee has violated the first table of the law—the portion of the Ten Commandments concerning man’s relationship to God. These are the commandments concerning other gods, not misusing the Lord’s name in vain, and remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Meanwhile, the Pharisee also excludes himself from the other sinners who have gathered to pray. Yet, in this act, he is showing that he is no greater than these, for the law of God tells us that it is not simply kept by the letter but by the spirit. For he is like every other sinful man who has dishonored authority, hated brother, gazed with lustful intent, taken possession of another’s property in a dishonest way, told a lie to destroy someone’s reputation, or desired from the heart what they have no right to. Instead of being guiltless, he has violated the entire law of God. 

We have no trouble looking down on this Pharisee, but are we much different than him? How easy is it to look at our own sins while also seeing the sins of our neighbors, our fellow Christians in the peripheral? Or to self-justify ourselves, saying at least our sin isn’t as bad as the person across the aisle from me or someone imagined in our mind’s eye. What about using another’s sin to justify committing the same transgression? No one can stand justified before God’s law. And just like the Pharisee, it becomes second nature to use our good deeds that are pleasing in the sight of God to somehow cover up our sins. 

In our old nature, held captive by sin and death, even as we have been made new in Christ, we still seem never to fully put aside our Pharisaic tendencies. So what can we do? We can only do one thing. Look to the other man in the parable, the man who went home justified, the tax collector. 

For this man, when confronted with the word of God, does not make excuses for his sins. Rather, he sees all his transgressions that offended God, including the money he stole from the people by seeking a cut of their taxes, lying to the officials about how much he collected, and not showing mercy to those who could afford what they owed. His sins have not only offended God, but also they have imposed suffering on his fellow children of God. And the same is true for us. There are many times in your life that you feel the weight of your sins as well, as if the burden was too heavy that even God himself could not lift it. Or when the world, the devil, or sinful flesh has taken us so far away from God that he somehow could never find us again. Even when we look at the filth of our sins, we wonder why God would ever want to cleanse us from our miserable state. 

God is not so far off that he cannot find you or reach you or cleanse you. For God has sent his son Jesus Christ to do these things. Christ comes in flesh and blood that he may eat with sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes. He comes to wash away sin by his blood on the cross. Although He knew no sin, Christ Jesus became sin for us. The Son of God, who is blessed, has become a curse for us. He never ceases to seek out the lost to care for them and to forgive them. And just like the tax collector, he has given you the Holy Spirit who calls you daily to repentance and to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. This is not something you can find on your own in the world, but it is something that God has given to you for the sake of Jesus Christ. 

Even on those days when we are knowledgeable of our sins and remain assured of God’s grace, Jesus always sends his Holy Spirit to comfort us that we are saved. Though we proceeded from the lions of Adam, we are made members of the body of Christ. As Christians, we are Christ’s hands and feet, his organs and members. For when God looks upon us, he only sees numbers of his Son’s body who are nurtured by Christ, our head, fed with his very lifeblood. For the members of Christ’s body, fed by his blood, are the most righteous of all men. And in us, God the Father only sees us through Christ.

As members of his justified and resurrected body, we cannot leave it up to yesterday’s forgiveness. For we daily sin much. God richly provides his forgiveness to you week by week, by words and sacrament, as organs and members require life from bread and blood. In the same way, God justifies and gives unto you a heart of a tax collector that has been broken by sin and comforted by God’s all-sufficient mercy. We, with the tax collector, can put our trust in his mercy, for there is nothing else in which we can be saved.

Our Lord’s chief desire is to show mercy and pity through his mighty power. Today, Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, a word that means the city of peace. The City of God, Holy Zion, the center of the world in the eyes of the people of Israel. Jerusalem, the city that killed the prophets of old, and only days after this reading from Luke, the city will also kill the Son of God. Yet, before he sets a new altar before the people, that is, the cross of Calvary, Christ himself, our new high priest, and his very body our new temple, must cleanse the old to teach the people of the new. At the end of our reading, we find the disciples at Jesus’ feet as his word is the true refuge from calamity and judgment. 

Earlier in the same chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem, sitting on a colt of a donkey. He comes into the city for his last Passover to the sound of the cries of children, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. “ Yet, it is only Christ who truly knows what awaits him and this passover celebration. That the king, who is the Lord Jesus, has come to purchase his people back from their idolatrous ways with his own blood. The joyous occasion becomes one of sorrow. For Christ knows that not many of that city will come to believe in him as the Son of God either now or after his resurrection. Christ mourns the coming visitation of the Lord. As we know from Jewish history, the words of Jesus in our gospel reading were fulfilled in the year 70 A.D. According to Jesus’ own prophecy, the city was destroyed by the Romans, leaving no stone unturned. This event is known as the Siege of Jerusalem. 

The God of the Bible is the God of visitation. The Lord desires to be with his people, either to demonstrate his judgment or to extend peace. Many times, the Lord’s visitation in the Bible does both of these at the same time. We only need to look at the life of Abraham as it is recorded in the book of Genesis. Here, we see two notable visitations of the Lord. Abraham had a nephew named Lot who lived in a city called Sodom. There, two of the Lord’s angels visited Lot and his family. The men of that town were overcome by evil desires for the two visitors. The men’s sin of sensuality was a result of the people’s hatred of God. Though the Lord had mercy and compassion upon his servant Lot and his family as they were brought out of the city by the angels. The Lord showed favor and great kindness, saving the lives of his servants.

The Lord also visited his servant, Abraham. God visited him as he appeared at the Oaks of Mamre. While Abraham entertained his three guests with bread made from fine flour and a good and tender calf, the Lord revealed that his barren wife, Sarah, would have a son. Sarah laughed in disbelief. The angel of the Lord replies to Sarah, “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”  The Lord came to Abraham to reveal his mighty works, for through Abraham came Isaac and through Isaac came the Christ, the savior of all the world. 

Our God is the God of visitation, and as he visits the city of Jerusalem, Christ, our Lord, brings mercy and pity through mighty power that brings about the judgment of the cross and the grace of the resurrection. Jesus comes to visit the people to save us from the coming destruction of this life and in the life to come. Even as our Lord executes judgment upon sin, he never ceases to come to save sinners, those who are lost and oppressed. 

And now Christ cleanses the temple in order that he may teach the word of God to the people. He throws out the money changers as they have made the house of God into a den of robbers who take advantage of the people, as they were required to exchange their money for the currency of the temple. He cast out the animal dealers, for they took advantage of those who traveled far and wide by overselling their animals so that the people could offer their Passover lambs as sacrifices in the temple. For the temple of God cannot be divided, partially dedicated to the sacrifices and worship of the God of Israel, while also being dedicated to lies and deceit. The same is true for our hearts, as we dwell with Christ and he with us. Our souls and bodies are temples of the Lord. God does not want our hearts divided within us. Partially dedicated to one true God, while the other part is held by the deception of sin. Using our mouth to worship God and to receive his sacrament on Sunday morning, while it is also used for spreading gossip, making up rumors, or fabricating the truth, and many other such things. For Christ our Lord says, “A house divided cannot stand.” 

Yet, do not fear our Lord’s visitation. For Christ has not come only for jerusalem, but for the sake of the whole world. He comes into our hearts to cleanse them from sin, from unbelief, and from the captivity of the devil and the world.  He makes his humble abode with us as he is the Word of God in flesh and blood. We have beheld his glory, the glory of God the Father, full of grace and truth. He cleanses us so that he may be with us, that in all things, even trials, temptations, and yes, our suffering Christ Jesus is with us here and now. For He has bought us with the price of His own blood. As he goes to Jerusalem for the sake of Calvary. There, the cross is his new altar. His body is the new temple. And Christ himself is our new high priest. As the Lord has visited us with his mighty power that he might save us. 

Now that Christ has cleansed the temple in Jerusalem and the temples of our hearts by his word in sacraments. He teaches in the temple day and night for three days. and the people of the city cling to every word that he speaks. And the same is true for you, dear Christian, for this is how you have come to believe in Jesus, by his word of promise and forgiveness. The word of the Lord is given to you for your good. And by his word, you are restored to God your Heavenly Father.

The Lord visits his people to show his mercy. This is not a one-time event, but happened here in this place week after week. Jesus is there in holy absolution pronounced upon his people, he is in the preaching and reading of his word, and he is in the bread and wine that is his body and blood for your comfort and forgiveness. In his word, heaven and earth meet. As our Lord never ceases to be with us and to have mercy upon us all.