Mark 7:31-37; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11; Isaiah 29:17-24
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit.
Knowledge of the Scriptures
does not save you. Only faith does that. So, whether you seek wisdom like the
Greeks, or signs from God like the Jews, these do not and cannot save you. Only
faith does that. You are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in
God’s Son Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, hear, read, and study the Word of God
– Yes! To be sure! – but do not think that your knowledge of Bible history, of the
great stories of the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and that your
memorization of countless verses will save you. Only faith does that.
Our First Parents’
succumbed to the temptation to become wise in a worldly and fleshly way.
However, the wisdom they thought they were gaining was really a lie. Indeed, they
could only attain that wisdom by rebelling against and rejecting the true
wisdom of God, His Law and His Word. They exchanged God’s Truth for a lie
because they desired to be like God – they desired to be gods themselves. And,
so do you. God didn’t make them that way, covetous, jealous, discontent,
rebellious – but He gave them the freedom to rebel against Him, the freedom to
choose according to their own will, against His will. They should never have
rebelled against God were it not for Satan’s tempting; but, alas, that is the
way the tale goes. And, you are their rebellious children, carrying their corruption
in your own body, your will enslaved by sin, with freedom only to rebel, to
choose against God, His Word, and His Will – spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind.
Who will save you from your body of death? Who will open your eyes, your ears,
and your mouth? Who will release your tongue?
“O LORD, open Thou my lips
and my mouth will show forth Thy praise.” Salvation comes to you from outside.
“Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He.” He
turns a desert into a fruitful field. He opens the ears of the deaf and the
eyes of the blind. He opens the mouths and looses the tongues of those who
cannot speak. He says “to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear
not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He
will come and save you’.” Did you hear that? He did not say that a Savior will come. He did not even say that
the Messiah will come. But, He said, your God, your King, will
come. Your God, your King, will come and He will save you!
In Jesus, Emmanuel, which
means God with us, God has visited His people to redeem them, to save
them! Jesus is God in the flesh come to save His people. He is your Savior,
your King, and your God, and this is His salvific, kingly, and Godly work – to
save you, to save you from sin, and from death, and from Satan. And so, the
crowd that had heard Jesus’ teaching and that had witnessed His miracles
brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They brought to
their King one of His subjects who was captive to the effects of sin that He
might save him, release him, and heal him. They brought the man to Jesus, just
as you bring your infant children to Him, that He might bless them and touch them,
speak His Word of Absolution to them, release them, heal them, and save them.
And He did: Jesus took the man aside from the crowd, put His fingers into the
man’s ears, took spittle and touched his tongue; and “looking up to heaven, He
sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened’.” And, the man’s
“ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”
Just as the Word of God was
once spoken into the nothingness before creation and all things came to be,
just as the Word of God called Lazarus to life out of death, just as the Word
of God was spoken from the cross, “It is finished,” and it truly was, just as
the Word of God was spoken to the deaf and mute man and his ears were opened
and his tongue was loosed, so too is the Word of God spoken over the
re-creative waters of Holy Baptism and a spiritual nothing, a spiritual
Lazarus, a spiritually deaf and mute man, woman, or child is brought out of the
nothingness, is raised to life out of death, his ears opened, his tongue loosed
to confess, to thank, to praise, and to serve. For God has come to save His
people. In Jesus, God has visited His people to save them. The King has come,
and His reign has begun. Your King reigns over heaven and earth, and His reign
is seen and confessed in the proclamation of His Word and the forgiveness of
sinners in Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper of His very body and
blood.
Though Jesus put His
fingers in the man’s ears, spat and touched his tongue, these actions and signs
alone did not release the man, but it was Jesus’ Word spoken, “‘Ephphatha,’
that is, ‘Be opened!’” It was this performative and creative Word, in, with,
and under the elements and Jesus’ actions that opened the man’s ears and loosed
his tongue. And, it is still that performative and creative Word, in, with, and
under the elements and the actions of the Blessed Sacraments that creates in
you a clean heart, forgives you of your sin, and strengthens and equips you for
every good work.
On this Rally Day, in which
we celebrate the kick-off of another year of Christian Education, let us ever
keep this truth in mind and on our hearts. The Word of God is like no other
word. God’s Word is powerful, performative, and creative – it has the power to
bring into being what it says. If God’s Word says that you are forgiven, then
you are forgiven. If God’s Word says this bread is His body and this wine is
His blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins, then that is precisely
what they are. And if God’s Word says that He will never leave you or forsake
you and that nothing can separate you from His love in Christ Jesus, then you
can bet your life and your soul that He will keep His promise.
Therefore parents and
teachers, guard and keep this Word and make every effort to keep it pure, to
teach it in truth and purity, whole and undefiled, for it is powerful for life
unto salvation. And students, listen attentively to this Word and ponder it in
your hearts and in your minds as the Holy Spirit works through it to open your
ears, hearts, and minds to it that your faith may be strengthened, that you may
have courage to resist Satan’s temptation and to remain firm, and that you may
have comfort when you walk in darkness knowing that you are not alone and that
the Word of the LORD is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.
Because God made you spirit
and flesh, body and soul, His Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst
us, as one of us, as our brother. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. He is Spirit
Word in human flesh, God and man in one person to be your King, your Savior,
and your God. Just as He used His fingers and spit along with His Word in
healing the deaf mute, so does He minister to you, forgive you, and heal you
with Spirit Word and created elements, bread, wine, and water. Do not despise
the lowliness of these means any more than you could possibly despise the human
flesh and blood body the Word of God has taken up. Rather, give thanks to the
LORD your God who comes to you who could not come to Him. Behold, your God
comes. Let us receive Him and give thanks.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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