Good Friday

(Audio)

John 18:1 – 19:42; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This is the day that Abraham saw on Mount Moriah, and He was glad. Jesus is the Lamb, of God’s offering, caught in the thicket of your sins, even as you remember this day the thorns that crowned His sacred head and pierced His holy flesh. Jesus is your unblemished Passover Lamb who willingly lays down His life for you. Like the fiery serpent in the wilderness, Jesus is made to be the symbol and token of your poisonous sin and death, raised up for you on a tree that you may look to Him and live. Jesus is your Great High Priest who has entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

For generations, the Patriarchs and the Prophets had told of His coming, but you have not believed their word. Because He comes in lowliness and humility and poverty you do not receive Him, while those from afar, and those who cannot see, hear the Word and believe. And, because He preaches, not works, but forgiveness, you reject Him, insisting, “Just tell me what I have to do, and I’ll do it, if it seems good to me.” And, because He receives sinners and the unclean, even gentiles to Himself, and because He eats with them and drinks with them, you despise Him, and esteem Him not. And, when He is marred and disfigured, without majesty or beauty, a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief, hanging upon the cursed tree of the cross, you hide your face from Him and consider Him justly stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God.

And you are right. It was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief. But, He did not suffer because He deserved it, but, rather, He Suffered because you deserve it. Jesus did not suffer for His own sins and guilt, but it was your griefs and sorrows that He bore. It was for your transgressions that He was wounded. It was for your iniquities that He was crushed. It was for your peace that He was chastised. And it was for your healing that He bore the stripes. For, the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. And so, you do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with your weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as you are, yet without sin.

Yet, all this He does willingly for you. No one forced Him to go to the cross and no one took His life from Him – Not the Sanhedrin, not Herod, not even Pontius Pilate, Satan, or even the LORD Himself – but Jesus went willingly, like a lamb to slaughter, silent, opening not His mouth. And, in death, He gave His soul as a guilt offering and He suffered the excruciating loneliness of abandonment by His Father. But, as a seed planted in soil, the Seed promised to Eve, reiterated to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, He saw His offspring, as countless as the stars in the heavens. And, for this, He gladly suffered.

Therefore, because your Great High Priest Jesus has redeemed your flesh from death and has atoned for your sins and guilt, you may in confidence draw near to the throne of grace and receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That throne of grace is the cross of your crucified Lord and King Jesus from whence mercy comes and grace is offered. It is the mercy seat where the sacrificial blood is sprinkled on behalf of all nations. Do not hide your face from Jesus’ crucified body on the cross, for the crucifix is the image of God’s love for you. In His wounds and stripes you have healing; and, in His death you receive life. For, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus is that holy grain and Seed; you are His abundant fruit.

“This is the day that the Lord has made,” sings the Christ in Psalm 118, “let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Though that day is the day of resurrection properly, it cannot be separated from this Friday which we also call good and in which we rejoice. As your substitute, Jesus prayed, “Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.” As Jesus faced His Passion and death for you, He trusted in the LORD and in His Word for strength, deliverance, and for salvation. He prayed, “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.” Now, the crucified Christ has become the very Gate of Heaven that the righteous may enter through it. And so, we sing with Christ, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Holy (Maundy) Thursday

(Audio)

John 13:1-15, 34-35; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Exodus 12:1-14

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Can you even imagine the sound of that night, the sound of the slaughter of all those unblemished, one-year-old male lambs, bleating and neighing and screaming at twilight as darkness descended upon Egypt? Of course, shortly after that, the lambs were no longer screaming, but they fell silent. Then it was the mothers and the fathers, the sisters and the brothers of the firstborn sons and daughters of Egypt that were screaming and wailing in horror, and grief, and mourning over the slaughtered victims of the LORD’s wrath against sin and unbelief. Then, it was not lambs, but the Egyptian firstborn that died, but it was the children of Israel who heard the screaming as they prepared to leave Egypt, the land of their slavery and hardship, their hell.

The children of Israel heard the screaming of the Egyptians as they ate their slaughtered lambs together with their firstborn sons and daughters and their families, safe from the horror descending upon the land. They ate their lambs, roasted in fire, in haste, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs, with belts fastened around their waists, with sandals on their feet, and with staffs in their hands. For, because of the blood of those innocent slaughtered lambs that marked the doorposts and the lintels of their homes, the LORD passed over their homes and spared their firstborn His wrath against their sin, even as the LORD visited the homes of the Egyptians and all whose doorposts were not marked with lamb’s blood, pouring out the fullness of His wrath upon them and killing their firstborn. This was the LORD’s Passover, in which the LORD spared His people His wrath upon their sins because of the blood of the lambs that marked them, even as He poured out His wrath upon those who did not heed His Word and trust in Him.

Indeed, in the Passover, the LORD made a key distinction between His people and all others. His people listened to His Word and trusted in Him. They marked their doorposts with lamb’s blood as He had commanded them. Therefore, the LORD passed over them and spared their firstborn. The LORD did not spare them because they were sinless or holy or righteous or anything else, but the LORD spared them because of His Word and His promise in which they trusted, just as, long ago, their father Abraham believed the LORD, and the LORD credited him with righteousness and spared his son Isaac. In contrast, the Egyptians, and, quite likely, a few Hebrews, did not believe the LORD and His Word and, therefore, refused to mark their doorposts with lamb’s blood. Therefore, the LORD poured out His wrath upon them and took their firstborn. The distinction between the two peoples and how they received and experienced the LORD’s visitation depended solely upon their faith and trust in the LORD and His Word. The righteous shall live by faith, then, now, and always.

Moreover, we see in the Passover that the totality of the LORD’s wrath against sin was expended for those who trusted in Him. The unblemished, one year old, male lambs were to be roasted whole, head, body, legs, and entrails, and the entire lamb was to be eaten; any remains left over were to be burnt so that there was absolutely nothing left. The lamb, whose innocent blood was shed to mark the doorposts of the faithful’s homes, was completely destroyed, having absorbed, the totality and the fullness of the LORD’s wrath against sin. Those who trusted in the LORD and His Word and sacrificed their lambs in the manner He commanded were spared the death of their firstborn, not because of their work in making the sacrifice, but because of the LORD’s Word and promise which He connected to those lambs, the benefit of which the people received through faith and trust in the LORD, His Word, and His promise.

Neither the Hebrews nor the Egyptians deserved to be passed over. Likewise, the lambs did not deserve to be slaughtered. However, the Passover is not about the LORD giving us what we deserve, death, but the Passover is about the LORD giving us what we don’t deserve, forgiveness and life. For, just as in Noah’s flood, when the waters of the LORD’s wrath destroyed the wicked, unbelieving, and unrepentant world, even as they raised up faithful Noah and his family and delivered them safely in a new world and life; and just as in the crossing of the Red Sea, in which the waters of the LORD’s wrath destroyed the wicked, unbelieving, and unrepentant Egyptians in the Sea, even as the faithful children of Israel passed safely through the waters on dry ground; and just as in Holy Baptism, where the waters of the LORD’s wrath against your sin drowned and destroyed your old sinful nature, while a new holy and righteous nature was raised up to new life that never ends, so the fate of all people is dependent upon whether or not you are marked with the blood of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ.

Yes, the holy and innocent shed blood of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ must mark the doorways of your body and your soul so that the LORD’s wrath against your sin will pass over you. And, just as in the first Passover in Egypt, this is the LORD’s work and doing, and it is accomplished, complete, and fulfilled in the self-sacrifice of the Lamb of God, God’s only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who selflessly laid down His life for you, and for the whole world, in love for the LORD, and in love for you, whom the LORD loves with a boundless love. You receive the benefit of the Lamb’s self-offering just the same as Abraham, the children of Israel, and all people of all times and all places – by believing and trusting in the LORD and in His Word and promise, and by believing and trusting in the LORD’s Word and promise made flesh and fulfilled for you in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who has borne the fullness of the world’s sin, and the fullness of the LORD’s wrath against sin, so that there is nothing left, for, it is finished.

“I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you,” wrote St. Paul. St. Paul did not proclaim something new to the Corinthians when he instructed them about the Lord’s Supper, but he directed them to the Apostolic tradition and practice that he had taught them, which he himself received from the Apostles, which, in turn, they received from Jesus Himself when He celebrated his final Passover meal with His disciples on the night in which He was betrayed and was delivered over to the Jews and the Romans to be sacrificed as the Passover Lamb of God for the sins of the entire world. That night, while recounting and celebrating the mighty deliverance the LORD visited upon His people in the Passover, Jesus reinterpreted that event in reference to Himself. There was no Passover lamb at this meal, for Jesus was the Passover Lamb of God. And, as He shared with His disciples the unleavened bread, He told them plainly that it was His body. Likewise, as He blessed the cup of wine and shared it with them, He told them plainly that it was His blood of the New Covenant, shed for them for the forgiveness of their sins.

After dinner, at twilight, Jesus and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane, to pray. The sun had set and it was now the Day of Preparation, the day on which the lambs were to be slaughtered for the Passover. There in the garden, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested, and taken to Caiaphas, the High Priest, and tried for the crime of blasphemy, for claiming to be the Son of God and the Messianic King of the Jews. Throughout the nighttime hours of Good Friday, Jesus was tried by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, by the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate, by King Herod, and finally by Pilate once again, who, then, delivered Him over to be crucified. In the later morning hours, Jesus was scourged and mocked and humiliated, after which He was crucified around noontime, the same hour that the sacrificial lambs were being slaughtered in the temple for the Passover.

I hand over to you what I myself have received, writes St. Paul. And, so do all faithful pastors hand over to you what they themselves have received: “This is my body which is given for you.” “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” And, as you eat and drink, again and again, the holy, innocent, shed blood of the Lamb of God marks the doorposts and lintels of your body and your soul – the Lamb of God who has borne the fullness of the LORD’s wrath against your sin for you so that it is finished and there is no more. His wrath passes over you, because it has fallen upon Jesus, whose blood has cleansed you and covered you from all sin.

Jesus’ selfless sacrifice was for you. You receive the benefit of His work by faith and trust in Him and His Word. Even more, you are clothed with the benefit of His sacrifice for you in Holy Baptism: His righteousness is your righteousness. His life is your life. His Sonship with the Father is your adoption as His son. Just as in Noah’s flood, just as in the Red Sea crossing, so in Holy Baptism, you have died in Christ, and you have been raised in Him to new and everlasting life. The LORD’s wrath has been poured out for you upon His Son, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus has borne it all for you. Now there is only love and life and blessing through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, there is a New Commandment, the mandate, the mandatum, of Maundy Thursday: “Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” This is not a commandment of the Law, but it is a promise and a blessing proclaimed by Jesus just before He fulfilled the Law completely in your place. For, it is with His perfect, holy, self-sacrificial love that you are to love others. You are to deliver to others only what you have received from the Lord: grace, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and love. By this, all people will know that you are Jesus’ disciples when you have love for one another.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Palmarum (Palm Sunday)

(Audio)

Matthew 26:1 – 27:66; 21:1-9; Philippians 2:5-11; Zechariah 9:9-12

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Palmarum is both the Second Sunday of Passiontide and the beginning of the holiest week of the Church’s Year of Grace. The liturgy and the Propers for Palmarum are steeped in drama and passion. Even the most stoic of Lutherans may be seen this day to divert their eyes, to wriggle uncomfortably in their seats, maybe even to shed a tear or two. You cannot help but get caught up in the emotion of the day, for it brings together the entire Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ in one setting.

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on the first day of the week that would end with His trial, scourging, crucifixion, death, and burial, the crowds gathered in the City of God’s Peace for the Passover received Him with joyous, triumphal acclamation and praise, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” They threw down their garments and palm branches before their Messiah King who would release them from their oppression under the Romans, retake the kingly throne of David, and restore glory and honor to Israel before the eyes of the Gentiles.

But, this was not the first time that they tried to make Jesus their king. When He fed the 5,000 plus with five loaves of bread and two small fish, and the people ate until they were full, and still they took up twelve basketfuls of leftovers, the mob rushed at Jesus to force Him to be their king. Jesus retreated up the mountain to be alone. But, the next day the mob found Him in Capernaum, and there Jesus taught them that they sought Him to be their king for all the wrong reasons. “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” Jesus then taught them that the True Bread that gives True Life is His flesh come down from heaven. Then the mob began to grumble.

How quickly the songs of praise turn to angry shouts and hatred. Palm Sunday begins with the joyful “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord” and it ends with ugly shouts of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews, and of the Gentiles, – the sentence nailed over His gory head was correct – but He was not the kind of king the mob wanted. He rides into the capital City of God’s Peace, not on a war horse with a chariot, but lowly, in humility, on the colt of a donkey. He wears no royal gown of costly purple, but He is stripped of all clothing, scourged until His flesh is ripped and torn and He is robed in His own blood. Only then, and in cruel mockery, is He robed in purple cloth. His crown is also a mockery, a twisted ring of terrible thorns beat into His skull. To the eyes of the Jews and the Gentiles, to the eyes of the Sanhedrin, the Romans, and even to the eyes of the disciples, King Jesus was weak, pathetic, pitiable, and defeated. Change the sentence to “This man said I am King of the Jews,” the chief priests shouted. But Pontius Pilate, the sword of authority in God’s left hand, ruled “What I have written, I have written.”

Dearly beloved people of God, having eyes, you do not see. Having ears, you do not hear. There is only one Law of God, and that is love. Love is the fulfilling of the Law because love is always concerned with the welfare of another, not with the welfare of the self. How do you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind? You begin by not loving yourself more than Him. How do you love others? You begin by not loving yourself more than others. God is love, and this is how God loves, He gives, He doesn’t take, and what He gives is a free and perfect gift, the most costly and most precious gift possible, the gift of His Son in death for the life of the world. He gives the Life-Giving Bread from Heaven that men may eat and live forever, yet we grumble and complain and disbelieve because the gift doesn’t come in the fashion we desire. We are like children screaming “There’s nothing to eat!” standing before a pantry full of food!

Oh, we have eyes that see and ears that hear, but we allow them to be filled by the lies and deceptions of the devil because they fulfill our emotional needs, for a while. But, like eating a bag of fatty chips or a half-gallon of ice cream, what the devil gives us always leaves us feeling worse in the end, fat, lethargic, depressed, no energy, self-loathing, etc. Oh, we make for ourselves so very many kings, but none of them satisfies, and none of them frees us from the bondage of sin and death.

But, o people of God, you have a True King in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. King Jesus rules the people of His kingdom by serving them. King Jesus has served you by taking on your human flesh, by humbling himself, by becoming obedient to the authority of an earthly king even unto the point of death on a cross, because King Jesus is the sacrificial love of the Father for you His beloved sons and daughters that you may live with Him in His kingdom forever.

Your King who serves, your King who suffered and died for your sake to set you free from sin and death, your King Jesus, your Bread King, continues to serve you still. This day He stoops down from His throne to wash you anew in His absolution, restoring you to the purity of your Holy Baptism. This day He proclaims to you again His victory over sin, death, and the devil in His creative and life-giving Word. And this day He feeds you, still, with the Bread come down from Heaven, His holy flesh and precious blood, in this Blessed Sacrament that your flesh may be joined in His flesh and that your blood may be joined in His blood, O, most Holy Communion, that you may have the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. Oh, what a King our Jesus is!

As I began to prepare for today’s service, at first I thought that it was going to be quite a challenge to work together the joy of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the horrible shouts of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” on Good Friday. But, as I prepared, I began to see that it is precisely Holy Communion that ties Palm Sunday and Good Friday together. Do we not sing the song of the Palm Sunday mob “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord” each and every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist? Does not our King Jesus come to us humbly, mounted in, with, and under the common elements of bread and wine to serve us with the forgiveness, life, and salvation that He died on Good Friday’s cross to give us? And, does not our Lord Himself exhort us to eat and to drink His body and blood in remembrance of His Holy Passion and Blessed death?

Yes! The Lord’s Supper brings to you your King. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble…” and hidden in lowly form, simple bread, inexpensive wine, He comes! He comes, and He is present, here and now for you, always for you. Once again King Jesus comes to you where you are and He serves you with His forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation. And where the King is, there is His Kingdom as well, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven. And at the Name of Jesus every knee bows, knees in heaven and knees on earth, even knees under the earth, and every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And, God the Father is glorified!

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Lenten Vespers in the Week of Judica - The Fifth Week of Lent

(Audio)

Mark 14:53-72; 1 Kings 21:1-29

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

If you visit Israel, you will undoubtedly see the symbol of a hand having an eye in the middle of its palm. This hand symbol is called a Hamsa, and it is as prevalent today in Middle-Eastern culture as is the Star of David or the Islamic crescent moon. You will find jewelry depicting the Hamsa, doorknockers, billboards and graffiti, t-shirts, purses, and more. But, what does the Hamsa mean? Well, traditionally the Hamsa represents the Hand of God, that is to say, God’s active presence among His people. The Hamsa’s five fingers represent the five books of the Torah, the Word of God. However, over time, superstition has arisen concerning the Hamsa, particularly with the addition of the eye in its palm, and it has become a sort of amulet to ward off evil or a good luck charm. Particularly, the Hamsa is said to protect oneself from the “evil eye” of others and their covetous gaze upon what belongs to oneself and one’s family.

The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments each address the matter of covetousness of God-given gifts that belong to others: The Eighth Commandment pertains to the good name and reputation of our neighbor; the Ninth Commandment pertains to the material possessions of our neighbor; and the Tenth Commandment pertains to the personal relations and family of our neighbor. Because of our fallen sinful nature, our every thought and desire is corrupted and selfish and self-serving. thus, we need the LORD’s Commandments to expose our guilt and convict us sin that we might despair of salvation by our own works and obedience. However, because we have been regenerated and renewed in Holy Baptism, we also have a new spirit who genuinely love the LORD and His Commandments and wants to keep and do them. This new man in us needs the LORD’s Commandments to guide him in the way he should go. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther ingeniously meets both of these needs in his explanations. First he addresses the old Adam, commanding him what he must not do. Then he addresses the new man, directing him in the law of love in how he should think of and treat his neighbor in love.

The Eighth Commandment commands us so to love God, that we also love our neighbor whom God also loves, so that we not only do not seek to harm our neighbor’s name and reputation, but we actively seek to uphold, defend, and protect them. In Israel, the Hamsa is often invoked when someone offers a seeming compliment – “Your dress is beautiful,” for example. Such a compliment may mean that you have been viewed by an envious and possibly covetous eye. Rather than appealing to amulets and charms, which are of the devil, the LORD’s children are to view their neighbors with selfless, sacrificial love, the love of God, which seeks, never the harm, but only the good of others. Similarly, the Ninth and Tenth Commandments forbid the covetous desire to have the property and relations of our neighbor, the wicked desire that our neighbor should not have them, but we are to help our neighbor to keep and protect and enjoy the blessings he has received from our LORD. Superstitions like the Hamsa do not look in love to the good of neighbor or in love towards the LORD, but the Hamsa looks to the self, it’s wants and needs and self-preservation alone. This is the very opposite of the LORD’s Commands and is of the devil.

King Ahab looked on the possession of his neighbor Naboth with a covetous, envious, spiteful, and unloving eye. When Naboth rejected the King’s offers to buy his vineyard or to give him another in exchange, Jezebel the queen put a wicked plan into action in order to acquire the vineyard by deceit. She wrote false letters and sealed them with the King’s signet declaring a fast and for Naboth to be set at the head of the table. Then she arranged for two deceitful men to bring false testimony against Naboth saying that he cursed both God and King. They took Naboth outside the city and stoned him death with stones. Then Ahab went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard, which he covetously had acquired by deceit and murder. Ahab and Jezebel transgressed the Eighth Commandment, for they bore false testimony concerning Naboth, slandering him and destroying his reputation so that he was not only rejected by others but was murdered. They also transgressed the Ninth Commandment for they covetously desired to have Naboth’s vineyard and they deceitfully conspired and schemed in order to take his inheritance. Of course, this means that they also transgressed the First and Greatest Commandment: They did not love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and so they did not love their neighbor, even Naboth, as they loved themselves. The LORD sent the Prophet Elijah to Ahab to confront him with his sin, which he called idolatry, for that is what all sin ultimately is – fear, love, and trust, not in the LORD the creator of all things, but rather in the created things that He has made.

Similarly, false testimony was brought against Jesus. The chief priests and the elders of the people could raise no charge against Jesus that would merit His death, so they gathered worthless and deceitful men who would slander and tell lies about Jesus. In contrast, Peter, Jesus’ dear friend and Apostle, had an opportunity to defend Jesus’ name and reputation against such slander and false testimony, but in fear for his own safety and welfare, Peter denied even knowing Jesus, even invoking a curse upon himself in order to convince them of his sincerity.

Truly, with the examples of Naboth and Jesus, we can clearly see how the sin of covetousness is no small or insignificant thing. What we are want to consider white lies and gossip, or what we feign as admiration, even a complement, often is but a sugarcoated demonic hatred and desire to have, or to ruin and destroy, what belongs to another. Covetousness is a failure of love for the neighbor, and ultimately it is a failure of love for the LORD. When our eyes are scouring the gifts and possessions of others we display our dissatisfaction with what the LORD had provided us. From this, Lord, protect and defend us. And, by Your Holy Spirit, fill us with such love for you that we will truly love our neighbors and help them to keep and preserve your gifts to them.

In sum, the Commandments of the LORD are not a burden to the soul who loves Him. Indeed, the LORD has promised great blessing to those who keep His Commandments. However, we must keep them out of love for Him and thanksgiving for His grace and mercy shown to us. If you try to keep the LORD’s Commandments in order to justify yourself before Him, they will either plunge you into the deepest depths of despair, or they will catapult you to the heights of pride and self-righteousness, either of which lead only to hell and eternal damnation. May we ever sing with the Psalmist: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Judica - The Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent 5) / Sunday of the Passion

(Audio)

John 8:42-59; Hebrews 9:11-15; Genesis 22:1-14

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Who’s your daddy? That’s the question we consider today. In Hebrew culture, who your father is says everything about yourself. That is why the prefixes Benand Barproceed so many biblical names – Benjamin, Simon BarJonah, Bartimaeus, etc. The prefix benis Hebrew, and baris Aramaic, but both mean son, or more precisely, the possessor of. The idea is that a sonis thepossessor ofhis father’s inheritance, name, and reputation. So, as you can imagine, who your father is says a lot about yourself.

The Jews, that is the Judaizers, the practitioners of a hypocritical and legalistic religion that was not the faith of Abraham, routinely questioned and criticized Jesus concerning whose son He was. When Jesus taught in His hometown synagogue in Nazareth, they derided Him saying, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” And, of course, Satan tempted Jesus to doubt His own sonship saying, “If you are the Son of God….” You see, sonship in Hebrew culture meant much more than mere blood descent, but sonship had a spiritual dimension as well. Thus, when Jesus said to the tax collector Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house, since [Zacchaeus] also is a son of Abraham,”He didn’t just mean that Zacchaeus was a Jew, a direct descendent of Abraham. He meant that Zacchaeus had faith. It is the spiritual dimension of sonship, faith, which Jesus proclaimed as being true and salvific, over and against the Judaizers who held to sonship by blood descent.

And so, Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here.” “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My Word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.” That Jesus is the Son of God means that He is the possessor of all that is His Father’s. That the Judaizers are sons of the devil means that they are the possessors of all that is the devil’s. And, what they possess, Jesus says, is murder and lies. Murder and lies is the fullness of the devil’s character. He is fundamentally opposed to and set against all that is good and right and true. He is fundamentally opposed to and set against God and His Son Jesus, and he is fundamentally opposed to and set against you whom the Father and Son love with a selfless, sacrificial, perfect, and holy love. The Judaizers demonstrated this by accusing Jesus of having a demon, which is nothing less than blasphemy and the unforgiveable sin against the Holy Spirit, for only the Holy Spirit of God can create and sustain faith that saves.

Appealing to blood descent, the Judaizers claimed to have Abraham as their father. At one time Jesus said that he could raise up children for Abraham from the stones lying on the ground. The Judaizers understood that He was referring to the Gentiles, for stones was a derogatory term they used to describe the Gentiles. This time, however, Jesus answered saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” The Judaizers protested saying, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus answered them saying, “Before Abraham was, I am.” And, they took up stones to throw at Him for the sin of blasphemy, for He used the divine Name of God in reference to Himself.

But, when did Abraham, who lived 1700 years before Jesus, see Jesus’ day? Abraham saw Jesus’ day when his only son Isaac was spared on the Mountain of the LORD, Mount Moriah, and a ram was provided as a substitute sacrifice. You will remember that the LORD had promised Abraham a son of his own flesh by his aged and barren wife Sarah. Moreover, the LORD had promised Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed through this son of promise. However, as time passed, Abraham and Sarah began to doubt, and Abraham took Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar and she conceived and bore him a son, Ishmael. But, Ishmael was not the son the son of promise. The LORD keeps His Word and promise, and in time Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son, the true son of promise, Isaac. It was this son, the son of promise, Isaac that the LORD then commanded Abraham to sacrifice. This time Abraham did not waver in faith, but he trusted in the LORD completely.

As they made their way to the Mountain of the LORD, Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Though he was prepared to carry out the LORD’s command if necessary, still Abraham trusted in the LORD and His Word and promise to provide him a son of his own flesh through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. Even if he had to sacrifice his son, Abraham believed that he and Isaac would return, just as he had said to his servants. Then Isaac asked his father saying, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering.” Abraham answered him saying, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So, Abraham bound his son and placed him on the altar he had built. Then he raised the knife and was prepared to plunge it into the flesh of his son. That is when the Angel of the LORD – the Malak Yahweh – intervened and said to Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. And so, the LORD provided, not a lamb, but a ram for a sacrifice, and Abraham saw the day of Jesus and was glad, for his son was spared, and all the sons of God would be spared through Him. Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide,” and for generations it was said of Mount Moriah, “On the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Upon that mount, the very place where Abraham offered up the ram the LORD provided as a sacrifice in place of his son, did King Solomon build the Temple of the LORD. That temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. and rebuilt under Cyrus the Great in 515 B.C. Herod the Great then expanded the temple in 20 B.C., an expansion that took forty years to complete, being finished in the lifetime of Jesus. Outside the walls of Herod’s temple the LORD provided the Lamb of sacrifice for the sins of the entire world, His only begotten Son, the very same Lamb promised to Abraham 1700 years earlier. Today the Muslim Dome of the Rock stands upon the Temple Mount, inside of which is the very same stone altar where Abraham offered up the ram in place of his son. The Muslims claim it to be the very spot upon which Muhammad received revelation from Allah that became the Koran and the foundation of Islam. Thus, the Temple Mount is sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

And yet, only the practitioners of one of those three faiths shares the faith of Abraham and has the LORD as father – Christianity. “Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain. But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb, takes all our sins away; a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they.” Jesus became for us both priest and sacrifice, offering up His sinless life and shedding His holy, innocent blood for all the world. “Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” Jesus is the promised Son who carried the wood of His own cross up the Via Dolorosa to the mountain of sacrifice, who was slaughtered in our place and was consumed by His Father’s wrath against our sins. Jesus is the one who was before Abraham was, and yet is his promised descendant. Jesus is the ram who is offered in our place, who is willingly caught in the thicket of our sin, and who wears the crown of thorns upon His head. Through Him we are judged not guilty and are vindicated in His blood. Through Him we have been made to be sons of God, not by blood descent, but by faith in His Word and promise that can never be revoked or broken. We have God as our Father and we are possessors of His kingdom, righteousness, and life through His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ.

You too, with Abraham and all of God’s children, have seen Jesus’ day. When you come to this altar and eat His flesh and drink His blood you do so in remembrance of His atoning death. However, you do not merely remember an event that is long past in time and memory, but you actively participate in the eternal reality that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. This is the mystery of faith. This is life and sonship with Jesus as co-heirs of His Father’s kingdom that has no end. All things are now prepared. Let us make our way with Him to the Holy Mountain, to the place of sacrifice, and to the empty tomb.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Oculi - The Third Sunday in Lent (Lent 3)

(Audio)

Luke 11:14-28; Ephesians 5:1-9; Exodus 8:16-24

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The great temptation of the Church of Christ is to accommodate and to assimilate Herself to our world and culture. For, the Church is tempted, pressured, and even attacked, both from without and from within, to compromise Her confession that Jesus is the only Name under heaven by which men must be saved, that He is Truth and the only judge of morality, of good, and of evil, who has not taken the Law of God away from men, but has fulfilled it for us, and that the Church of Christ is His body on earth in and through which His gifts are given and distributed: the forgiveness of sins, faith, life, and salvation. Indeed, the Church exists on earth today, as always, that men may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they may have life.

But the Church, which is the body of Christ, goes in the way of Her Lord and Head Jesus. She is spoken against, mocked and ridiculed, She is persecuted, and hated, and there are not few who would love to kill Her. That’s ok, for Her Lord and Head took the mocking, ridicule, persecution, and hatred, even suffering and death to the cross where He died for the sins of the world and rose in victorious life for all men, even those who hate Him. Jesus has sanctified the Church’s suffering and has promised that, through it, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. So, as they did to Jesus, so will they do to you. They will take your love, mercy, and compassion, so long as you keep your faith, truth, and convictions to yourself. They will gladly use your hospitals, orphanages, adoption agencies, and soup kitchens, but you’d better not talk about truth, morality, or ethics. “Just shut up and give me what I want.”Because if you don’t, well…. They’ll call you every name in the book – ignorant, uneducated, bigoted, misogynistic, hateful, immoral, evil – because, along with showing compassion, mercy, and love to your neighbor you dare to say what you believe, what Jesus has taught, and what God has given in His Law, at the very least in the Ten Commandments. “How very un-post-modern of you.” Keep up the good work.

“Whoever is not with Me is against Me,”Jesus taught, “and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”Is that a shocking statement to you? I hope not. Yes, Jesus really is that exclusive. He really is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only source of Life for all men, whether they believe it or not. But, He is for all men, without exclusion, whether they believe it or not. What lead Jesus to make this statement was that people were claiming that Jesus cast out demons and performed other miracles by the power of Beelzebul, that is, by the power of Satan. Though He was doing good, they accused Him of doing evil. Others tempted Him to produce another sign before they would believe Him. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, taught them saying, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”Essentially, He was saying, “Look, there is good and there is evil. Evil does not cast out evil. Satan is not going to work against himself.”Can you believe it? A man who was possessed by a demon and couldn’t speak is freed and healed and the crowd has the nerve to call Jesus an evil magician. It seems that post-modern relativism isn’t as new as we might think! When it comes to Jesus and our Holy Triune God, good is good and evil is evil – and that’s the Truth. It’s only the world of men that there are shades of gray. Thus, Jesus teaches, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”

It was a similar incident that occurred in our Old Testament lesson today where God made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians, between His servants and Pharaoh’s magicians, and between His power and the power of Beelzebul, Satan. In the first plague that God sent upon the Egyptians, He caused the Nile River and all the waters of Egypt to turn to blood without distinguishing between His people and the Egyptians. But, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to produce the same effect by their secret arts; Satan enabled Pharaoh’s magicians to copy the miracle God had performed through His servants Moses and Aaron. In the second plague, God caused frogs to cover the entire land of Egypt. Once again, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to do the same by their secret arts, but they were unable to then make the frogs go away. Thus, Pharaoh had to plead to Moses and Aaron to plead with their Lord to take the frogs away. Then, in the third plague, which was our Old Testament lesson today, God sent gnats or lice upon all the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh’s magicians were unable to do the same and they confessed to Pharaoh, “This is the Finger of God.”  This was a stunning confession, for the Finger of God is the Holy Spirit and, when the magicians say this to Pharaoh, it shows that they know there is a power greater than their own, yet it is a power that they do not honor and serve. In the following plagues, God began to set His people Israel apart from the Egyptians by sparing them the effects of the plagues while the lands of the Egyptians suffered.

Satan is strong, but God is stronger. Pharaoh’s magicians were able to perform some powerful signs, but they soon met the limits of what they were able to do. Satan’s power now is but lies and deceptions. In truth, it is you who give him power, by believing in his lies and succumbing to his temptations. Jesus compared Satan to a strong man, fully armed, who trusts in his armor. But, Jesus is a stronger man who attacks him and takes away his armor and divides His spoil. Does it seem odd to you to think of Jesus on the offensive, in attack mode? Yet, that is exactly how He describes Himself in relation to Satan. And, that wasn’t the first time. When Peter made his bold confession of Jesus saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, Jesus commended him saying, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Did you hear it? The gates of hell will not withstand the attack of the Church, but they will fall before Her. What, did I shock you again? I hope not. I know, you’re used to hearing about Jesus’ love, mercy, and compassion, not His judgment against sin and evil. Yes, Jesus is God’s love incarnate for all men. Yes, Jesus loves all men without distinction or discrimination, even those who hate Him. Yes, Jesus loves all men, but Jesus hates sin. He has mercy and compassion on sinners, but sin is judged, condemned, and damned.

When you were baptized, the Stronger Man Jesus attacked the strong man Satan and ran him out of the palace he had made and guarded in your heart. That day you gained a powerful enemy in Satan who was not pleased to let you go. Jesus taught, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”How do you keep the strong man and his minions out of your heart? You gather with Jesus. That is, you gather where Jesus is present with His Words and with His Wounds. You gather with Jesus in constant repentance, in great humility, and in faith and trust in Him. For, Jesus is the Stronger Man, not you. He is your strength. He is your faith. And He is your victory over Satan’s temptations all the days of your life.

Further, you must mark, distinguish, and discern what is the Lord’s will and command and what is contrary to it. That is, as St. Paul writes, you must be “imitators of God, as beloved children” and“walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”You are to be set apart from the world as were the children of Israel in Egypt, partaking not in sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness, indulging not in filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking, but instead giving thanks to the Lord for all things, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).”

And, so it is that the Church is both attacked and She is on the attack. How does the Church attack? The Church attacks, not with violence, not with weapons, and not with force; the Church attacks, not with insults, not with slander, and not with libel; the Church attacks, not with politics, not with laws, and not with government; but the Church attacks with the Word of God and with Truth, for She is Christ’s body, and He is Her Head and Lord, and He is the Stronger Man who fights against Satan and his demons, who indeed has defeated them in His death upon the cross and sends them fleeing by His authoritative Word. And, as the Church suffers attack, she places Her trust and Her hope in Her defensive armor: The belt of Truth, the breastplate of Righteousness, the readiness of the Gospel of Peace, the shield of Faith, and the helmet of Salvation. Indeed, the only offensive weapon the Church has is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Apart from this offensive weapon and defensive armor, you cannot hope to stand against the strong man, Satan. Staking your claim that you are a child of God, born from the womb of the Church in Holy Baptism will do you no good whatsoever if you do not have faith that clings to Christ, for there is no blessing in having the Church as your Mother if you do not hear the Word of God and keep it.

Dear Christian, you have been redeemed out of death by the Stronger Man Jesus Christ who passed through death for you destroying Satan’s armor in which he trusted. Still that lion seeks to devour you and he will use every manner of attack within his power to do so. Beware of his temptations, lies, and deceptions and strengthen your faith by gathering with Jesus where He is present with His Word, which is Truth, and with His Wounds which bring forgiveness, life, and salvation. These are your armor to protect you from attack. And, for a weapon, you have the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Use it in love, that it may cut down the lies of the enemy and rescue those imprisoned by them. At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, and the light of Christ will shine in and through you, exposing all manner of evil and deeds of wickedness, revealing in you the fruit of all that is good and right and true.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Lenten Vespers in the Week of Reminiscere - The Second Week of Lent

(Audio)

John 5:1-18; 1 Kings 18:20-40

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The First Commandment of the LORD is that He alone is Your God and that you must fear, love, and trust in Him above and before all things. That First Commandment is the foundation of all the others so that, if you transgress any of the Commandments, you have necessarily transgressed the First and the Greatest Commandment as well. However, the first three Commandments each speak of your relationship with God Your Father: He must be the first and foremost object of your fear, love, and trust. You must revere and use His holy Name appropriately. And, you must hold His Word sacred and sanctify time for hearing it, and for prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

While the Scriptures forbid the worship of other gods, truly there are no other gods. This fact is shown clearly in our First Lesson this evening from 1 Kings chapter 18 in the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Baal was the name of the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The practice of Baal worship infiltrated Jewish religious life during the time of the Judges and had become widespread in Israel during the reign of King Ahab.Baal was a fertility god who was believed to enable the earth to produce crops and people to produce children. Worship of Baal involved sensuality of all kinds, cultic prostitution, and often the sacrifice of firstborn children. Before the Hebrews entered the Promised Land, the LORD warned against worshiping Canaan’s gods, but Israel turned to idolatry anyway. 

Ahab was the most notorious of a long line of wicked kings in Israel. Ahab took Jezebel, the daughter of a priest of Baal, as his wife and queen. In spite of God’s laws forbidding idolatry and the worship of any god but the Lord, Ahab married Jezebel who brought to Israel with her hundreds of priests and prophets of Baal. A weak and self-pitying man, Ahab abdicated his rule to his queen and enacted what she decreed, contrary to the Commandments of the LORD.One of Jezebel’s first acts was to order the execution of the prophets of the Lord and to set up altars to Baal. During the reign of Ahab and Jezebel, at the height of Baal worship in Israel, God directly confronted their paganism through His prophet Elijah.

From 1 Kings: “When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”

“How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” That’s a great question! You see, we sinful human beings like to have our cake and eat it too. We hate being committed to any one thing or person for fear that we might be missing out on something better. We’d rather straddle the fence than choose a side and stand firm. We prefer shades of gray to uncompromising black or white, shadows to darkness or light. However, the LORD is a jealous God. He will not share you with another. If you are not with Him, you are against Him. There is no middle ground. There is no lukewarm trust and obedience. There is no other way.

Elijah demonstrated precisely that. Elijah demonstrated that Baal was no god at all, but a creation of men, unable to hear or speak or answer the people’s prayers. Though they danced and shouted and cut themselves so that their blood gushed forth, no god answered them and the sacrifice remained untouched upon the altar. Then Elijah, to emphasize that there is no God but the LORD, had water poured on his sacrifice, not once, but three times, so that the sacrifice and the wood were saturated. Upon Elijah’s invocation, “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” “And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.” The LORD will not share you with another god, not that there is another god.

“You shall have no other gods.” The First Lesson demonstrates that well. “You shall not misuse the Name of the LORD your God.” The First Lesson demonstrates that well also. “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” Our Second Lesson addresses the Third Commandment. By the time of Jesus, the Third Commandment had been reinterpreted by the Pharisees to mean simply, “Don’t do any work on the Sabbath.” The true meaning of the Sabbath, however, was rest– to take rest in the LORD and in His Word. That is why Luther explains the Third Commandment saying, “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.” Like the First and Second Commandments, the Third Commandment is about your relationship with God your Father. To be sure, for Old Testament Israel, the Commandment to keep the Sabbath included the cessation of work, and on a particular day, the Sabbath Day, Saturday. However, the spirit of the Law is much broader than that, binding not only physical acts, but words and thoughts and desires of the heart. The Pharisees emphasized the letter of the Law and gave no credence to the spirit of the Law. In His obedient life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the Law for us and reinterpreted the Sabbath in terms of Himself. Truly, the Father has given authority over all things to His Son, and Jesus invites you to keep the Sabbath Day by finding rest for your weary souls in Him.

But what is meant by keeping the Sabbath Day holy?” Luther answers: “Nothing else than to be occupied with holy words, works, and life.” It was such as these that the Jewish religious leadership rejected and accused Jesus and His disciples of doing and thereby transgressing the Law of Moses. When Jesus healed a paralyzed man on a Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him. However, necessary and loving work not only is permitted by the Third Commandment, but it is commanded by the law of love. Jesus demonstrated this repeatedly throughout His ministry. The Gospels record seven Sabbath healing miracles performed by Jesus. In one Sabbath healing Jesus challenged the Pharisees and exposed their hypocrisy, saying, “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?” They had no answer and remained silent.

To keep the Sabbath Day holy is to make it holy and sacred to yourself. That is to say that you set aside a day, a significant time, to take your rest in the LORD and in His Word and gifts. Your soul should desire this rest and gladly seek it. Failure to make the Sabbath a priority in your life is also a transgression of the First and Second Commandments, for you have not feared, loved, and trusted in God above all things, nor have you called upon His Name in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. Your LORD invites you to take both spiritual and physical rest in Him. Jesus invites you saying, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Indeed, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and He is your Sabbath rest. In Jesus, you may find rest from your laborious striving to be restored to the LORD by your works and obedience according to the Law.

You shall have no other gods. You shall not misuse the Name of the LORD your God. Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Yes, these are the LORD’s Commandments, and they are Law. However, they are good and true, and blessed are you if you keep them.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Reminiscere - The Second Sunday in Lent (Lent 2)

(Audio)

Matthew 15:21-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; Genesis 32:22-32

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

We are the unworthy recipients of God’s precious gifts. Jesus was no more for us than He was for the Canaanite woman. He was the children’s bread, sent to the house of the children of Israel, not us Gentile dogs. Nevertheless, we, like this intrepid Canaanite woman, have been the blessed recipients of the crumbs that fall from our Master’s table. Like little dogs, we too eat the very same Bread intended for the children of the King, and that Bread gives us the very same gifts it gave them: forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation.

The gifts come to us because they were refused by those to whom they were first given. Though the gifts were always meant to come to us through them, they refused the gifts, not only for themselves, but for us as well. Thus we see that Jesus’ disciples wanted to shut this Gentile dog-woman up. They appealed to Jesus to send her away. They had no mercy. They showed no grace. They had no love. The children of the King thought they were justified in judging and condemning her. She was a Gentile dog, after all, a pagan idolater from a long line of idolaters, a Jewish-Gentile half-breed progeny of those wicked people whom Joshua and the children of Israel had failed to destroy when the LORD gave them the land of Canaan as He had promised.

Jesus tested the woman’s faith, though it wasn’t much of a test, really. He already knew her faith. Her faith was visible in her humility and her boldness, that, though she offered nothing and had nothing to offer, her faith made her bold enough to even come before Him. Moreover, she confessed Him to be the Son of David and her Lord. Her faith was self-evident, bearing the Spirit’s fruits of humility, selflessness, endurance, and love. No, it wasn’t much of a test of this woman’s faith, but it was a test of the disciples’ faith. Jesus had lead them to this test as He lead them directly into the Gentile district of Tyre and Sidon. Who did they expect to find there? For what reason did they believe that Jesus had brought them there? Were they surprised when a distressed Canaanite woman followed them and cried out to Jesus for mercy?

She cried out for mercy – not for money, not for food, not for acceptance, not for anything other than mercy. And, the disciples had no mercy to give. Jesus gave them a chance. This was their test. He said not a word, but He waited to see what they would say. They did not show mercy to the woman, but, rather, they begged Jesus to send her away. This is the exact opposite of mercy. Not only would they not help her, or even listen to her, but they wanted Jesus to reject her too. Then Jesus answered her saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He was speaking the truth. Jesus was not sent for Gentiles like her, but for the children of Israel. But the children of Israel, Jesus’ disciples – they were sent to be a light to lighten the Gentiles. It was the disciples’ vocation, it was the Jews’ vocation, to show the Canaanite woman mercy, but they refused.

Likely, the disciples became hardened in their position, while Jesus’ words had the opposite effect on the woman. With Jesus’ apparent rejection, her faith caused her to cry out all the more, “Lord, help me.” Once again, Jesus tested His disciples, but the disciples remained unmoved. He knew their faith, too, as He knew hers. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” Jesus answered. “You tell her, Master,” the disciples agreed. They failed the test. But, the woman – the woman passed Jesus’ test. Even though she did not get what she pleaded for immediately, even though Jesus seemed to be against her and unwilling to help her, she did not let go, she did not give up. Faith, real faith, is like that. Faith is tenacious and dogged. Faith believes and trusts even when things don’t look or sound the way we think they should. Faith doesn’t let go – not without a blessing. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire,” Jesus replied. And her daughter was healed instantly.

Jesus praised the woman for her faith. However, it was not because of her faith that her daughter was healed, but it was because of the object of her faith, Jesus. That is to say that, what she believed about Jesus – that He would hear and answer her plea for mercy, that He would and could heal her daughter – it was the very real qualities in which she believed, and which she confessed of Jesus, that healed her daughter. Likewise Jesus at times said, “Your faith has saved you.” Faith heals, faith saves, because of what faith believes and trusts in. Faith believes and trusts in Jesus. Thus, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. The Canaanite woman’s faith simply would not let go of Jesus no matter what – not without a blessing.

Just like Jacob. Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau whom he believed desired to kill him. Jacob left his wives, his servants, his children, and all his possessions on the other side of the river and he was utterly alone. He had no one and nothing to comfort him, and he believed that certain death was coming swiftly for him. Like the Canaanite woman, Jacob was in a desperate situation, all alone, with no ability to help himself. Thus, he put his trust in God. But, then, even God became his enemy. An angel of the LORD, even the Son of God Himself, wrestled with Jacob all through the night. Though Jacob was tired and weary and could not prevail, he would not let go, not without a blessing. Then the LORD put Jacob’s hip out of joint, causing him excruciating pain and suffering. Still, Jacob would not let go, not without a blessing. Then the LORD released Jacob and He blessed him. The LORD changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which means, “one who wrestles with God and prevails.” This is what it means to have faith. This is what it means to be a Christian – to struggle and to wrestle with God and to not let go, no matter what, even when God seems to be against you, even when God seems not to answer your prayers, even when God seems to be the one causing your affliction, tribulation, and suffering. The Christian does not let go, not without a blessing.

God’s power is made perfect in your weakness. When you are weak, when your back is against the wall, when you are all out of options, when you are utterly alone and painfully aware of your weakness and insufficiency, that is when your faith will shine the brightest and enlighten all around you, that is when the LORD’s power can really be seen and experienced and known. From the Canaanite woman, and from the Patriarch Jacob, you may learn to have a dogged faith, persistent in prayer and lament to our Savior Jesus Christ in every trial and need. God may test you. So be it. But, as God granted the desires of both the Canaanite woman and Jacob because they held tight in faith and did not let go, so will He bless you and make you a blessing. Moreover, though you are not the children of Israel by blood descent, you are the children of the true Israel sharing the faith of Abraham. You have been adopted as sons and daughters of the King in the innocent shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Your LORD and King has chosen you in His Son and has granted you all things that belong to Him through faith in Him. Therefore, don’t let go. He will never let go of you. Trust in Him, regardless of what you see and hear. Your faith will heal and save you and those you love, for your faith is in Jesus Christ who is your life and salvation.

Even now, the Master’s table is prepared that you may eat, not crumbs and scraps, but the flesh and blood of God Himself and live. Eat and be strengthened. Drink and be forgiven. Remain in Him, cling to Him in faith and trust, and you will be blessed, and you will be a blessing.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen. 

Lenten Vespers in the Week of Invocabit - The First Week of Lent

(Audio)

John 8:31-59; Exodus 32:1-35

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

There was a time when God’s Word was sufficient for man, but it was a precious short time in the grand scope of history. In Eden, God spoke and man believed. Moreover, man believed and did not doubt. The serpent’s temptation was an attack upon God’s Word, or more precisely, it was an attack on man’s faith and trust in God’s Word. “Did God really say?” Shockingly, and sadly, that question is all that it took! For the first time our First Parents thought something about God and about themselves and about God’s Word and creation other than what God had actually said. You see, God had said something, something everlasting and irrevocable. But now, that wasn’t good enough for man. Man desired something else, something more in order to believe, which means, secretly, man suspected that there was something more, and that God was holding out on him. It is man’s desire that leads to sin and death. It’s what we value and treasure most in our lives that control us. It’s what we fear losing or not having, what we love and will sacrifice other things and people for, and what we trust in for our comfort and security and peace that is our god. And, since that first temptation to believe that God was holding out on us, that God is not good, we have not been and cannot be satisfied with God alone, but we crave and desire something other and something else, a desire that is insatiable, unfulfilled, and leads only to death.

It is likely that the Israelites did not think that they were committing wholesale idolatry in their making and worshipping the golden calf, but they simply, but sinfully, desired more than what God had given them. They desired some sign or material proof of God’s presence. They had understood Moses to be the visible presence of the LORD amongst them, but in his absence, how quickly they became afraid and insecure and clamored for reassurance that God was with them. Therefore, Aaron collected their golden jewelry, melted it down, and formed for them a golden calf, which the people understood as a physical, material representation of the invisible God. When he offered burnt offerings before the golden calf, Aaron even called it a “Feast to the LORD.”

But, it was idolatry, despite what seemed wise to men or their pious intentions. And, God’s wrath burned hot against His people and their idolatry. The LORD was prepared to destroy them, but Moses intervened, calling to remembrance the LORD’s covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And, the LORD relented from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people. Yet, still, the LORD was angry and the people had sinned grievously. Moses commanded the sons of Levi to kill their brothers, companions, and neighbors, and about three thousand men were killed that day. And, the LORD sent a plague upon the people because they had sinned and rebelled against the LORD.

“You shall have no other gods.” That is the First Commandment. So simple, so clear, isn’t it? And yet, it is the most difficult for us to keep, and surely if we transgress any of the LORD’s commandments we transgress this first and most important one. This commandment is written on our hearts and is preached by our consciences, and yet we do not keep it. It is the reason our First Parents hid from the LORD when they sinned. They no longer loved or trusted in the LORD, that He is good, but they considered Him evil and cruel, withholding from them knowledge, and power, and glory. And, they no longer feared the LORD in a proper way, with reverence, honor, respect, and obedience, but they despised Him and feared harm to themselves or deprivation of bodily and worldly pleasures.

It is God who has made us, and we confess “that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses,” “clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have” “out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.” It should be self-evident that the One who has made you is greater than you, that you are not Him, but He is other than you and beyond you. Moreover, this One, our LORD, has made all things, thus He is above and greater than all things. Therefore, anyone or anything that you place your fear, love, and trust in above or before God is necessarily an idol and a false god, for you have placed your fear, love, and trust in the created above and before the Creator.

The First Commandment need not have been spoken, for it is simply the right order of things. As the Creator, source, and origin of all things that are, union with the LORD is life, and rejection of Him is, by necessity and definition, death. This is why Jesus taught, “He who is not with me is against me” and “no one comes to the Father except through me” – there simply is no other option or way. Thus, when the LORD says that He is a jealous God, He does not mean that He is envious of others or desirous of that which does not belong to Him, as we understand and experience jealousy, but rather the LORD is jealous of what is His, and that is you – to put it plainly the LORD will not share you with another, with an idol, a false god, or the devil, but He wants you fully, completely, and entirely in body, soul, life, obedience, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

Thus, the LORD has attached both a threat and a promise to His First Commandment saying, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” His threat is dire and unjust from our fallen human perspective. Because our wisdom, reason, and intellect, and our perceptions are all corrupted by sin and concupiscence, we are prone to call the LORD’s good, righteous, and holy wisdom foolishness and evil, and ours good. We must continually repent of this and humble ourselves before the LORD and His holy will and Word. And yet, as severe as His threat is, “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,” the LORD’s promise is all the more sweeter, extending to “a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Although the threat is real and severe, it is alien to the LORD and is not His proper will and work, whereas the promise is proper of the LORD and reflective of His goodness and will towards His creation, of which He made mankind His crowning achievement and placed in dominion over all things that He has made.

There was a time when God’s Word was sufficient for man, but it was a precious short time. God’s Word is truth and life, thus did Jesus teach, “If you abide in My Word, You are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” To the Pharisees who rejected Him Jesus said, “Whoever is of God hears the Words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” They understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God and the promised Messiah. They rejected Him and sought to destroy Him. They wanted something other, something else. The Word of God is truth and life, and the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the Word made flesh, who is truth and life and the only way to the Father.

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.