Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)
Jesus speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard,
saying:
“Perceiving then
that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus
withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”
Do not calculate, but celebrate (Ap VII VIII:42), says our
Apology of the Augsburg Confession when speaking of our Church.
In this light, it is extremely fitting that we continue our
talk about the true Church on earth, that we started last Sunday, with this
Sunday’s joyful Gospel of the feeding of the 5 thousand. Last Sunday, the Holy
Spirit revealed to us that our earthly and heavenly Church membership rests on
God alone. He converts. He retains. He sustains. The Word of His cross is the
Word of salvation.
Today we make the confession that “Although the Church
properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since
in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is
lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of
Christ: The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, etc. Matt.
23:2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution
and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men”
(AC VIII).
Same source of comfort. Since it is God’s own Word, no
matter who speaks it or administers it, believing we receive what it says.
Where this matters for us is when people try to take the Faith and recreate it.
They use the word “god”, but make them define it and it turns out to be a false
god of their preference. They use the word “christian”, but mean “self-ian”.
When Jesus fed the multitudes, I’m sure the question that
was on every jewish mind in attendance was: is Jesus now going to restore the
kingdom of Israel to its former glory. Though that question is only recorded
once, in the first chapter of Acts (1:6), it is always at the tip of the tongue
at every miracle of Jesus, probably.
They then think, when the blind receive their sight, when
the lame walk, when the sick are healed, when the hungry are fed, this makes
the previously unable able. Able to fight. The amount of soldiers increase, for
they are once again fit to fight for the kingdom. Once again fit to rejoin us
who have been able since the beginning, struggling under their weight and our
own, since they could not help bear the burden.
So it is that we hear the crowds, satisfied with Christ’s
bread, clamoring for a king, when no king of bread will be given. No miracle
king, is our Savior, and yet this is all we want Him to be. What is so wrong
with wanting to make Jesus king? Well, first off, His kingdom is not of this
world, so…
Secondly, His crown is of His own choosing. His throne is
His own. What throne could any sinner possibly put Him on when the earth is His
footstool, heaven His home, and the sun, moon, and stars, His crown? In fact,
Jesus purposefully confuses this earthly issue of kingship by causing the sun
to rise on the evil man and the good, and rain to the righteous and unrighteous
(Mt 5:45).
Similar abuse has been done to the Lord’s Church. Where no
dates of ceremony and celebration were set by the Word, man’s word declared
them required and necessary for faith. On the other hand, where the Word
invites the world to eat and find within His cross of wood the Tree of life
with every good, the same gatekeepers close the gate.
They say you must do so many pilgrimages, service, or much
penance, before receiving the Body and Blood. You cannot be divorced; you
cannot retain any spot or wrinkle. They say that you should only commune in one
kind, just the bread, just to be safe. They finally conclude that the Lord is
not in His Sacrament, because it is in too much danger of being blasphemed, to
say that an infinite Lord resides in finite material, touched by you.
Repent! Well did Jesus chide and rebuke the super religious
men. For we are quick to change our Lord’s words and slow to change our own .
We speak of universal ordinances that are allegedly handed down from the
Apostles, but we forsake the Doctrine of the Apostles. We teach the traditions
of men as God’s Law, and cast aside the Word made flesh.
Think of it this way, no dates for holy days are given by
the Apostles. They just didn’t think it necessary or of importance when such
things be observed, only that they should be observed and celebrated. Errors in
computation, should not negate celebration. Celebrate, don’t calculate!
Thus our new righteousness errs on both sides of the horse:
first that we believe universal uniformity is necessary and second, that we
throw celebration in the trash.
And when we say celebration in the Church, it means a
complete Divine Service. For the victory and celebration feast is the Lamb’s
High Feast, which He sets before us, saying take and eat, take and drink. Jesus
is Lord before we decide to make Him Lord.
With or without our prayer, our bread and miracle King is
the Resurrection King. He wants all to be healed and fed, but healed and fed
perfectly. Yes, we are given our daily bread and health and wealth and all
that, but so is everyone else. It is not a sure and certain sign of the hope
Faith gives to us.
The sure and certain hope is that God Himself comes to
enthrone and en-crown Himself. With or without our prayer, Jesus hides Himself
from the Bread lines in order to be by Himself, as our Gospel said. That means,
by Himself, He will retake His throne and crown. That means by Himself, He will
retain the honor and glory due His Name. He will stand alone with no help from
miracles, signs, or earthly thrones.
And stand alone He does, not just in front of synagogues and
Temples, but on His cross, in His tomb, and at His Easter. In Christ’s “here I
stand” moment, He accomplishes all good things. For in His death and
resurrection there is purchased sight for the blind, legs for the lame, health
for the sick, and food from the Table of Heaven, which does not run out.
Crowned with the crown of thorns, Jesus Christ assumes His
heavenly and kingly duty of remaining holy by keeping His promises of ruling
over and rescuing His people. Ascending His throne of cross-shaped wood, He
resumes His sinlessness in decreeing that all be justified for His sake alone,
in front of Him.
In celebration of such a momentous and eternally salvific
moment, He lays out His board and is Himself host and meal. No normal bread
does our mighty God-man lay out, but a bread that never spoils and reaches into
eternity. No sour wine of vinegar and gall is in the Cup of the Resurrection
King, but a Blood in which is the Life of God.
Death no longer holds Him. Sin no longer has claim on Him.
The devil no longer has any lies or accusations that stick. The false charge of
“King of the Jews” has become the true title of “King of Word and Sacrament”,
that is to say, “For all who trust and will believe, Salvation's living fruit
receive” (LSB 561:4).
This holiness, righteousness, and power of the Word, Jesus
brings with Him each time He comes to serve you His forgiveness. We do not get
to “make what we will” of Jesus, neither do we create “what Jesus means to me”.
What does Jesus make of Himself! When we encounter Jesus, we should just
confess our sinfulness and stand with the Pharisees and high priest and ask,
“Who do you say that you are, Jesus?”
He is the Christ. He is the Son of the Almighty. He will be
seated on high and in power with the angels ascending and descending upon Him.
He will be honored. He will be glorified. He will be worshipped.
More important to Christ is that He be celebrated. In His
Church, whom He redeemed with His holy, innocent, and precious Blood, and whom
the Holy Spirit has created, before He is obeyed, and sworn to, and followed,
He will be communed with. The invitation is sent. The replies are moot.
Hear and believe that Christ has come into His Kingdom and
He brings His Kingdom to earth. Not by soldiers tramp of feet, but by Gospel,
by forgiveness, by invitation to the Lord’s own Victory Table.
Here the Bread King truly takes His rightful throne, where
He can serve so many more than 5000, so much more than just full bellies. Here
the miracle King truly works the miracle of reconciliation with God and a
resurrection to an eternally sinless and blessed life with Him.
It is the Crucified, Resurrection King that His true Church
worships. And remember, true worship is the desire to receive from the Lord’s
hand what He chooses to give. And He chooses Word and Sacrament, which by His
Word give in reality exactly what they say, no matter who utters and administers.
In this way, your own brothers and sisters in Christ
outnumber the Lutherans. For in no way has God’s Word been limited to Lutheran
Altars and Pulpits. Where God’s Word is heard and believed, true faith is
received. God’s Word is living and all powerful. The preacher’s words are
fleeting and shrivel under the Lamp Who is the Lamb of God.
Yet this is what makes us Lutheran. That we are constantly
worried we are not hearing God right or taking Him at His Word and so we
continue in catechesis our whole life, checking and rechecking. Did God really
say “this is my body; this is my blood” (Mt 26:26, 28)? Yes?
Check.
Did God really say that Easter is a pagan holy day and not
to be celebrated or that Easter is only to be celebrated on the first Sunday
after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox? Or that the
Apostles taught an oral tradition binding to faith, not written in or even
contradicting His Word? No? Double check!
Did God say, “as often as you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor 11:26) and “behold
I am about to rain bread from heaven upon you” (Ex 16:4) and “I am the
bread of life” (Jn 6:35), and "the bread that I shall give is My
flesh” (Jn 6:51) and “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54)?
Triple Check. Time for God’s Divine Service, given to sinful
man, in His true Church on earth.
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