Death and Life contended [Easter 4]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ezekiel 34:11-16

• 1 Peter 2:21-25

• St. John 10:11-16

 

Grace to you and peace from Him Who Is and Who Was and Who Is To Come: Jesus Christ. (Rev 1)
 
Who speaks to you today, saying:
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me”
 
You see folks, life is real easy. There are only two religions in the world: “Do this” and “Done. And there are only two paths in life: life or death.
 
Behold Jesus sets before us two ways of life, today. The way of seeing and the way of not seeing. This is not the first time Jesus has spoken like this. He asks questions like, “Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?”, from Mark 8:18. 
And, John 12:40, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”
 
And my personal favorite in John 9:39-41, “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind…If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.’”
 
What God wants us to hear in His Word is that there is a Way of Life and a Way of Death. What’s interesting about John 9 is that it is those who are blind who are declared guiltless, forgiven, you could say. Their blindness saves them. Why is that? Because, when we say, “we see”, we are putting our fear, love and trust in our observation and reason, as opposed to the Word.
 
And yet, Jesus gives sight to the blind and blindness to the sinners who refuse to repent. 
 
Jesus has addressed this sort of upside-down Gospel before, such as in Jeremiah 21. At that time, Babylon is threatening the complete conquest of Judah and Israel, finally destroying Jerusalem, and taking all the treasure and all the people captive to Babylon. The Babylonian Exile, in other words, is right around the corner. The king and the priests turn to Jeremiah for the Lord’s guidance, His all-seeing wisdom.
 
And the Lord responds:
"Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death, he who stays in this city (Jerusalem) shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” (v.8-10)
 
So much for being God’s chosen people. Thus, the leaders of the Israeli kingdom said in their sin, “We do not see this happening” and they murdered Jeremiah. His message of “submit to Babylon” earned him multiple assassination attempts, imprisonments, and eventually his martyrdom. As Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Mt 23:37)
 
He says the same in our Gospel today. Will you have joy now or later? Will you have suffering now or later? If you suffer now, as our pregnant woman, that is, if the Jews submit to Babylon, forsaking Israel, and allowing their capture, then their sorrow will turn into joy. That is, they will go to captivity, but they will come back. God will not forget them.
 
Jeremiah even gave them the great promise of “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”, before they went (Jer 29:7).
 
But if they want joy now and listen to the false prophets, they have their reward now. “They are swindlers and liars”, says Jeremiah, “from the least of them right to the top! Yes, even my prophets and priests! You can’t heal a wound by saying it’s not there! Yet the priests and prophets give assurances saying “peace, peace” when there is no peace. Were my people ashamed when they worshiped idols? No, not at all—they didn’t even blush. Therefore they shall lie among the slain. They shall die beneath my anger.” (Jer 6:13-15, ESV and TLB)), thus saith the Lord.
 
Thus, the unfaithful say two opposing things at the same time, we do not see our pride and joy failing and we see our success only. This is the way of death. The repentant sinner says, we see judgement coming, but we cannot see how this can be, or how God can do such a thing. This is the Way of Life.
 
But why is it so backwards? Why can’t God just be upfront and obvious? Proverbs calls this out saying, "There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). 
 
In our eyes, the way that seems right is to cling to our own empires and declare them “what God wants for us”. However, when we get what we want out of it, it is never enough. So much so, that when we get what we want it is not what we want, as we thought. The way that seems right is the way we observe in sin. Thus, our very point of reference is warped.
 
So when the sinner looks at the suffering and death of Jesus, he says, that’s all wrong. Its all backwards. Its all so messed up, in unbelief. Jesus is supposed to bring about the new kingdom of Israel. Jesus is supposed to right all the wrongs. Jesus was supposed to live. 
 
In Jesus the way of life is the way of death. In this case, death to self and death to the world. The Way of death, that way of hearing the Word of God and rejecting it, comes only after faith can hear and eyes can see. The way of death Jesus has come to walk is the way of the Law.
 
That, you would think, would be the Way of Life. And it is, for the good, upright, and holy. As St. Paul says in Galatians 3:10, “For all who rely on works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them’”
 
And here is our best at walking this way, in our catechism from the 9th Command: “We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.”
 
We should do those things. But we don’t. Jesus does and thus we hate Him for it. That He can be content, that He can want more for His neighbor than He has, and that He can be right in serving that way, takes the spotlight off us. 
 
When God is made flesh for His neighbor, His own received Him not. Jesus only had the Way of Life, so our sin, the devil, and the world had to put Him on the Way of death, falsely accuse, and convict Him, and nail Him to a tree. 
 
Little did our sinful minds understand that love is the fulfillment of the Law, of the Way of Life. And since, Jesus took up His cross and followed God in perfect, pure, sacrificial, obedient, and serving love for God and neighbor, He was accepted by God, “a fragrant sacrificial offering” (Eph 5:1).
 
What appears wrong, the suffering and death of Jesus, is meet, right, and salutary. What appears right, rejoicing and reveling in our self-righteousness, is wrong. Sin has skewed our vision and thus we remain in our sin. The Son of God has come giving Faith; faith to hear, see, and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
 
The Kingdom may not be of this world, but there is life in it, in Jesus. And that life is found and received by faith alone. For, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14)
 
The Way of Life is the Way of Jesus, really Jesus Himself and His work completed on our behalf. That is, that the Word of God be taught in its truth and purity and we as children of God lead holy lives according to it, from our Catechism again. (1st Petition) 
 
The way of death is every other way that is not the Way of Life. That is, despising and teaching or living contrary to God’s Word. That is the Way of the Cross, that He Who knew no sin chose to walk the way of the sinner, ingesting the wages of sin, in order that death be destroyed. 
 
And death is destroyed by death, the death of God in the flesh. It’s reign and power ended, but Christ lived on. Jesus was supposed to live and He does live. And because He lives, the Way of Life lives as well, now open to all Who believe and are baptized.
 
This can be done any and everywhere. The Jews believe, “Israel first!”, Rome thinks, “Rome first!”, the Americans think, “America First!”. Each believing that they have found God’s promised land and woe to any who disagree.
 
But if we just look at God’s gift of Holy Baptism, we see that’s not true. Anywhere there is water, can be a holy baptismal font. Likewise, anywhere the pure Gospel is read and taught, can be a holy pulpit. And anywhere Jesus is proclaimed as Body and blood, God and man, given and shed for you, can be His Holy Table.
 
The Way of Life is the Way of Faith. And faith leads to the cross first. When Jeremiah and Moses lead the people out of a seeming promised land into exile and into the desert, they are prophesying the cross. 
 
Back to Galatians 4:25-31, “present-day Jerusalem…is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother…Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise…Therefore we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.”
 
In faith, we see that suffering comes first, glory second. In faith, we see that our heavenly Father has placed us in our own Babylonian Exile that we may learn to love Him and our neighbor. In faith, we walk the path of sin and death, because it is the path that our Savior leveled out for us, not that we continue in our sin and die, but that we live.
 
Moses cried out in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;”
 
Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (Jn 11:25-26)
 
Amen. 
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
 

Misericordia: A Life laid down [Easter 3]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ezekiel 34:11-16

• 1 Peter 2:21-25

• St. John 10:11-16

 

Grace to you and peace from Him Who Is and Who Was and Who Is To Come: Jesus Christ. (Rev 1)

 

Who speaks to you through His Introit in His Divine Service saying:

“The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord: Alleluia!”

 

Each and every Sunday, we are saturated with the voice of our Good Shepherd. Every chant, every prayer, every hymn from the Bible, as you can see for yourself in your hymnal. God has ordained it this way so that you are familiar with His voice your entire life. So familiar that it is like family. We repeat the sounding joy over and over so that, by God’s Grace, we may hear our Shepherd when the Last Invitation goes out.

 

With these words from our Introit, you are connected to the early medieval Church. Over a thousand years ago, this part of Psalm 33 was employed to express and proclaim this Third Sunday of Easter. On top of that, the chant tone we used for it, while having some modern modifications, dates back at least 1500 years. And the Psalm itself, was composed about 3,000 years ago, which then connects us to the rest of God’s revealed Word to us.

 

You are loved by God, O little Flock. You are remembered. You are treasured and not an orphan. This is part of the goodness of the Lord, chanted of in the Introit. Ironic, too, because Psalm 33 is termed an orphan psalm. It is one of 50 in the book of Psalms that do not have a clear author. That is ok because they do not disagree with the rest of the book or the entirety of Scripture.

 

And another thing that gives great comfort in trusting these psalms is that they can be explained ceremonially. As in, a large, biblical character may not have written them, though they probably did, but instead the Old Testament Church may have. As in, these Psalms were written for the Divine Service done in the Temple. Very likely, the Book of Psalms is a hymnal.

 

As in, now by chanting this psalm at this time and in this place, you are now in communion with the Old Testament Temple worship, chanting at the appropriate, set-aside-time to pray, praise, and give thanks, along with all the other believers in Christ. 

 

So nice. But also, how bloodless, as in we have never met those people and praying, praising, or giving thanks is no real sacrifice on our side. Time has a way of drying out our bones, so to speak, and we lose that familiar, blood connection. The goodness of the Lord may extend to us from the beginning of all things, but what good does that do me today since I cannot interact with those people? 

 

The word used in the Introit psalm for “goodness” is actually a little deeper than simply being good. The Lord’s goodness is His mercy; thus, the word is just that. Better to understand the psalm as saying, “The earth is full of the acts of mercy of the Lord: Alleluia”. 

 

Acts of mercy come in two ways: spiritual and physical. From today’s Gospel, Jesus explains it as the Voice and His Life. In the Voice, Jesus teaches that the Gospel far exceeds monetary and physical aid. We see this in Jesus’s encounter with the paralytic. On the 19th Sunday after Trinity, men of His own city, bring to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed (Mt 9).

 

Instead of healing him, Jesus forgave his sins and would have left it at that, had the scribes present not accused Him of blasphemy, “only God can forgive sins”. At that, Jesus did heal to prove the fact that He was God. Nevertheless, we see the emphasis on forgiveness. The Gospel is more important than healing.

 

In Acts 3, a lame man was brought to the city gate daily to beg for money. Sts. Peter and John looked directly at him, said they didn’t have money, but healed him instead. The point being, physical restoration expands the meaning of mercy. Forgiveness is first, but Christ’s name meets the deepest need. This act of Apostolic charity became an evangelical platform that gained thousands of converts (Acts 4:4).

 

When thinking about the life of Jesus, we must think on His death. This is the meat of “acts of mercy”, or in the Latin “misericordia”. Literally, “miserable heart”. It is the miserable heart of the world that demands our death, with no mercy. In fact, there is a medieval weapon named the Misericorde and it was used for mercy killing mortally wounded knights after a battle.

 

No real mercy, however. No life. Just misery. No “thank you”. No “well done good and faithful soldier”. Just, “you’ve outlived your usefulness”. This is the extent of the world’s mercy and what our old Adam extends to his neighbor.

 

It is the miserable heart of Jesus that combats the world and our sinful nature, for His voice and His life have come into this world. The Word of God is made flesh and has compassion upon His creation.

 

His voice goes out, with His Voice, all under the banner of His Gospel, that Gospel of the free forgiveness of sins. And He lays down His life for the sheep. Not a miserable heart, but the ultimate act of mercy. A joyful heart, joyfully giving His own life, that we may live. A merciful heart, desiring mercy and not sacrifice.

 

God’s misery is not like our misery. He is only miserable until there is His compassion. Jesus does not give in to despair, but He does weep, He does anguish, He does get anxious. This all, however, is only for His suffering and death. He weeps for His friends Lazarus, whom He must rescue from the dead. He bows down in aguish and anxiety when He nears His cross. Not because He doesn’t know, but because He is true man.

 

But the kind of power to forgive sins and rise from the dead does not come from man. St. Peter proclaims, back in Acts 3, “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” 

 

The miserable heart of God is the joyful heart of God. Not miserable, but joyful and merciful. For the dagger that pierces the haze of time and history for us is the cross of Christ. To bring life to us who are here, thousands of years disconnected from those people, places, and events. It is the Blood of Jesus that centers all of history and all of His Church.

 

St. Peter explains, again in Acts 3:

“By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given [this man] this complete healing in your presence” (Acts 3:16)

 

The Blood of Jesus comes to us by faith alone. The Good Shepherd’s voice leads us to His Body and Blood, His blessing, and His history. The Word of God is living, because the Word is Jesus. Therefore history is alive as well, in Christ. 

 

Do you want to be a part of the Third Sunday of Easter, in the true Church? Faith alone has granted you this seat. Do you want to be in the choirs of the true Church spanning thousands of years? Faith alone. Do you want to worship the Lord with the Temple, with David, Moses, and Adam? 

 

Jesus is the key. The Good Shepherd calls, gathers, and enlightens all to Himself. He alone fulfills God’s promise, made to Israel, to gather all those exiles into their own land, their own green pasture, which is the Body of Jesus. 

 

The Body of Jesus Who was crucified. The Body of Jesus Who bids us follow Him. The Body of Jesus into Whom we are baptized. The Body of Jesus Who gives us our cross to bear, our own misericorde dagger. 

 

Indeed, we are mortally wounded by sin. By faith in the Name of Jesus, we are killed and raised to new life. In Holy Baptism’s dagger, we are united to Christ’s death and resurrection. Why? Because the Old Adam in us must daily die. Bury him, and do not visit his grave again. Rather, let Christ crucify him and bury him.

 

When we fall into temptation, the Old Adam rises again, to dry us out, to cut us off from family, from our Church family. He promises fulfillment but delivers only suffering. Christ promises suffering, but delivers only eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and faith in Him. All this He accomplishes through His Word and sacrament.

 

So where do you belong? Which line is the line following the Good Shepherd? Where have your fathers gone before you in the faith? Will there be mercy when you get there?

 

In Christ alone there is mercy in death, for the grave is open and death has lost its sting. The Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep. There is no other history and there can be no other song.

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

 

 

Word and good bones [Easter 2]

  * * T E X T  O N L Y ~ A U D I O  O N L Y * * 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ezekiel 37:1-14

• 1 John 5:4-10

• St. John 20:19-31

Grace to you and peace from Him Who Is and Who Was and Who Is To Come: Jesus Christ. (Rev 1)

 
Who speaks to you through His Apostles saying:

“These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God”

 
Thus far from God’s Word, written and spoken to us, because God wants us to always hear His Word. And what better way to accomplish that than to create His Church and place all of those words in Service, prayer, and song? You are to hear Jesus connecting you to His Church today, His Body, and giving you the words to praise Him with. These Church words you are to memorize, treasure, and teach, as He commands.
 
Cremation is cheaper than a regular funeral, because bones are not included in the cost. Oh you get the bones of your loved one back, but they have been ground to dust, not burned with the rest. You see, most of what chemically makes up your bone is non-flammable and actually melts at high temperatures, not burns. 
 
The bones are always left behind.
 
The bones are always left behind to tell a story. In this case, it was that our loved one lived a life and we loved them. In Divine Service today, our Lord gives us two instances of bones. First in our Old Testament, where the Lord says of the valley of very dry bones, “these bones are the whole house of Israel” (37:11). Now, this may be a metaphor, but who’s bones were those and why were they in that valley?
 
The second instance is this Easter appearance to His Apostles. It is St. Luke who records Jesus saying this: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39)
 
Now, because of our Epistle reading, we would expect Jesus to say Body and Blood, not “flesh and bone”. This is the only place Jesus speaks this way about Himself. This, too, tells a story, or Jesus is meaning to connect us to the story. That is the story of Adma an Eve, when Jesus presented Eve to Adam and he said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen 2:22).
 
Brought into easter, then, that old bones story is Jesus teaching that His will is to be united with us. That we be a part of His Body in order to grant us eternal life with Him. It is an important part of the complete story of Jesus the Crucified that He renew us and take us into Himself: water, spirit, flesh, blood, and bones.
 
We use this same metaphor today, when we see an old building that is still doing its job of standing up. We say it has good bones. After our admiration, then its “who built it”, “why is it here”, “what stories could these walls tell”? And they tell nothing, of course, because they are walls and walls don’t speak. 
 
However, the Lord’s Church is different. During the Reformation there was a fight over bones. When fighting for a proper understand of the Mass, what we term the Divine Service today, the Lutherans found 6 things that violate the rule: “The Word of God shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel”, from our Confessions (SA II:II:15).
 
First was the invention of purgatory, next was appearances of souls of the dead demanding vigils, pilgrimages, and alms. Third was those pilgrimages, fourth the monasteries, sixth the infamous indulgences, and fifth, because we’re talking about it, relics. These relics were mostly the bones of saints, when in reality they were animal bones. But, they were sold as bones so blessed that you don’t even need Jesus for faith.
 
Bones that outlasted the bodies of the saints. Bones that contain a history. Bones that connect us to our history and patristic wisdom. And that’s the religious pull. If only we had something more than a book. If only we had something more than spirituality. If only we had something to sink our teeth into, then our faith would be genuine and we could know that it came from God.
 
Repent! As your Introit stated we are indeed newborn infants in the faith. We love to misunderstand God, because it makes more sense to us. We would rather be connected to God in our own way, since we know ourselves best and can feel the results.
 
Except we don’t. The famous line “know yourself”, is a lie of this world. Instead, Jesus says, “deny yourself”. Deny, deny, deny ourselves to death maybe, until all that’s left of us are some dry bones. Yes, dry, dead, and forgotten in our sin. That’s our belief. That’s the apostles’ belief, too, on Easter Sunday. 
 
So we seek another way, the way of better men than us. But all the biblical men are dead. Long dead. That is probably what the Lord wanted to teach us in the valley of dry bones. So we imagine that if we just have a bone from them, no matter how small, we believe we can be connected to them and their holiness. Even though we believe that better men than us lived, we are it today. Dead, dry, forgotten.
 
That all changes when Jesus passes through the locked doors. You see, when you died and were buried with your fathers, as the Bible says elsewhere, it was your bones that were kept. For example, Joseph, of the coat of many colors fame, made his people swear an oath to take his bones with them if they ever left Egypt. Thus, Moses took Joseph with the people, just before crossing the Red Sea (Ex 13:19).
 
What that means for us today is that bones are locked inside the bone box. They cannot get themselves out. Though a living person may open the box, the bones are trapped in death. Same with the bones of saints, apostles, and prophets. All dead. All trapped.
 
Imagine a bone box opening on its own and the person coming out! That is the debilitating fear that held the apostles in that upper room. Why didn’t Jesus knock on the Upper Room door on Easter? “Behold I stand at the door and knock”, right? 
 
They wouldn’t have let Him in. There would have been furniture piled up against the door. There would have been a laundry bill. Was it Jesus? Was it the Jews? Was it Elijah? The Apostles were overwhelmed and sick with fear. They could feel it in their bones.
 
Jesus, in a suit of flesh and bones, came in anyways. He came in out of His tomb that was supposed to be locked and sealed. His bones are not supposed to move around, much less speak “Peace be with you”! His bones are not supposed to tell the story. His bones are not supposed to connect us to God. His bones were not supposed to do anything but lie still until the end of days.
 
Jesus was not supposed to, but Jesus is alive, never to die again. Death has no more dominion over Him. So while Jospeh’s story must be told for him, Jesus comes to tell His own story, which includes Joseph. There Jesus stands in His flesh and bones to bring peace to His wayward Apostles and to bring a message: Go.
 
Go into all the world with the flesh and bones of Jesus. That is, His Body, the Church. What are the bones of the Church? Are they dead saints? 
They are the words of the Living Savior. The Church has the Word. It is the Word that carries the stories to us and faith to our ears. We have been baptized into His Body. And what is Baptism? Water and the Word. What is a worthy reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood? He who has faith in these words, “given and shed for the forgiveness of sins”.
 
Water, blood, Spirit, and belief. All these come wrapped in one package for us. This is why the Epistle speaks of overcoming the world by believing that Jesus is the Son of God and why the same author, said in the gospel today, “These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.”
 
This is why the Church has her own language and uses words and phrases you don’t find in the outside world. We use these words because they connect us to our faith, the Bible, the Apostles, our God, all of it. Every Sunday we sing the word “Hosanna” and it is Palm Sunday when we hear why. When we sing it, we sing along with the crowd around Jesus, on that first Palm Sunday.
 
Every Sunday, we sing, Gloria in Excelsis, or “Glory to God in the highest”. It is Christmas that let’s us hear just what those words make us a part of. Where Palm Sunday was on earth, the Gloria in Excelsis is the song of angels. Our history and memories in those words now tie us to heaven.
 
And the list of these words, these bones, goes on. By hearing, singing, and praying these words, you prove the survival, longevity, and endurance of God’s Word. Thus, the Church has accumulated these words and kept them around, teaching them to the next generation. 
 
Here our Psalms preach to us: “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). And from Deuteronomy 11:18-20, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
 
Hosanna, Gloria, Amen, Sanctus, Nunc Dimittis, and Justification all are strange words and yet all are used by Jesus to join us to Him. “Truly, truly, I say to you”, Jesus says in John 5:24, “whoever hears my Word and believes Him Who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” 
 
At the Word of Jesus, in His Church, spoken to us in this valley of dry bones, we then are brought together. We are gathered, bone to bone, sinews and flesh, as Jesus knits us into one communion in the mystical Body of Christ, as we pray at funerals. He gives us breath through His Gospel preached in its purity and we are stood up again, back from the death of our sins, a great army for the Lord.
 
We are gathered in Jesus. We have hope in Jesus, because His bones came back. Risen from the grave, Jesus proves His words true and shows His intentions. Not to leave us as orphans, but to be as He is, Body and Blood. And to have His breath, His Holy Spirit, to remember, to witness, to confess these same words, “Peace be with you”. 
 
No one’s bones have come back, except Jesus’s. No one’s words hold power except Jesus’s. No one’s wounds heal except Jesus’s. We do not fill Church with our own words. Though it is our language, our Lord’s words still carry their full strength and we hear and believe, ever to confess the One Who comes by water and blood. Water to baptize and Blood to feed, unto life everlasting. Amen.
 
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
 
 

Joseph's tomb [The Resurrection of our Lord]

* * * T E X T  O N L Y ~~ N O  A U D I O * * *

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Job 19:23-27

• 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

• St. Mark 16:1-8

Grace, Mercy, and Peace are secure for you from God our Father, through our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Crucified of God!
 
Who speaks to us, even today, and we have been given ears to hear:

“Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen”

 
Thus far from our Gospel reading this morning, included by God in His Word for us to know and believe in the tomb of Jesus. And that belief and knowledge should point us to the very true and historical fact that Jesus died and was buried, and that the tomb was and is today, very very empty. 
 
This applies to two areas for us. First that we can be certain that the Bible is true, historically and religiously, and second that it is also true for the rest of the world, to which we are to go out into and share the Truth.
 
Joseph of Arimathea is a very important figure in history, for he was given charge of the Holy Grail. In his last words, carved within the Cave of Caerbannog, he writes, “He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the Holy Grail in the Castle of aaaaggghhh”.
But that is a silly story and not ours today.
 
Our story is that is man is a very crucial reason we know there was a tomb of Jesus. All 4 Gospels say that Joseph of Arimathea was the one who owned the tomb and had the body of Jesus put there. So who was St. Joseph of Arimathea?
 
St. Joseph of Arimathea was a Biblical figure who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. Three of the four canonical Gospels identify him as a member of the Sanhedrin, calling him a “member of the council” (Mk 15:43) while the Gospel of Matthew identifies him as a rich disciple of Jesus. 
 
St. Matthew 27 describes him simply as a rich man and a disciple of Jesus (v.57), but according to St. Mark 15, Joseph of Arimathea was "a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God" (v.43). St. Luke 23:51 adds that he "had not consented to their decision and action".
 
According to John 19, upon hearing of Jesus' death, this secret disciple of Jesus "asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission." Joseph immediately purchased a linen shroud and proceeded to Golgotha to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. There, Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and bound it in linen cloths with the spices (myrrh and aloes) that Nicodemus had brought. Luke 23:55-56 states that the women "who had come with him from Galilee" prepared the spices and ointments.
 
These courageous disciples then moved the Body of Jesus to a man-made tomb, hewn from rock in a garden nearby. The Gospel of Matthew alone suggests that this was Joseph's own tomb (27:60). The burial was undertaken speedily, "for the Sabbath was drawing on" and “the tomb was near” (Jn 19:42).
 
Joseph answers the question of whether or not Jesus was really buried in the tomb. Not just because he had a tomb ready and close by, but because he is a very unlikely candidate for burying Jesus. For one thing, he as a member of the Sanhedrin, the very council that voted, voted mind you!, to condemn Jesus.
 
 This is probably why St. Luke made sure to mention that Joseph did not consent, probably wasn’t even there for the vote, as Jesus said, “this is your hour and the power of darkness” (Lk 22:53). I’m willing to say that even Nicodemus was not there as well or any other faithful, real Jew at that time. 
 
In fact, given the early Christian anger and bitterness towards the Jewish leaders who crucified Jesus, its highly unlikely that the Christians writing the gospels would choose Joseph to give Jesus an honorable burial or make him up as a character in their fake religion, according to the world. Especially when all the disciples deserted Him!
 
Not only that, but no one else tried to write a competing story of Jesus’s burial to try and remove Joseph. thus, by trusting the Joseph of Arimathea was a real, historical figure, we can trust the gospel accounts that Jesus was buried and rested in the tomb, just as our creeds tech us.
 
 Which brings us to another interesting fact. Though older than the copies of the gospels we have physically, 1 Corinthians is not older in time, and it records a very early creed which also teaches of Jesus’s burial. This we hear on the 11th Sunday after Trinity and says:
“For l delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to The Twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” (15:3-7)
 
And even though St. Paul does not say “empty tomb”, it is there. The resurrection has to do with bones, just as we will hear in Ezekiel 37, next Sunday, the valley of dry bones. And then, Jesus will say to His Apostles, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Lk 24:39).
 
Implicitly but quite clearly then, by St. Joseph of Arimathea and our own, historical creeds, an empty tomb was left behind. Thus was fulfilled as was written by the Prophet, “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).
 
Thanks be to God for the Lord’s servant Joseph of Arimathea, who with reverence and godly fear prepared the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and laid it in his own tomb: Grant, to us, O Lord, Your faithful people grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days of our life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end:
 
Of Whom, St. John Chrysostom from the 4th century, preaches:
 
If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast.
If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.
If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward.
If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast.
If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore.
If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing.
If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.
And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts.
And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second.
You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day.
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast.
The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
 
Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free.
He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.
By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.
He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions.
It was embittered, for it was abolished.
It was embittered, for it was mocked.
It was embittered, for it was slain.
It was embittered, for it was overthrown.
It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.
Christ is risen, and life reigns.
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.
Forever and ever.
Amen.
 
Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!
 
 

What a Christian is [Easter Sunrise]

* * * T E X T  O N L Y ~~ N O  A U D I O * * *

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 25:6-9

• 1 Corinthians 15:1-25

• St. John 20:1-18

To my true children in the common faith: Grace and Peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior (Titus 1)
 
Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

 
All of His work being finished, Jesus now gives this strange warning and command to St. Mary. This is included by God, in His Word in order for us to ponder why we are here on this particular Sunday and what it means that we call ourselves Christian. Jesus wants to point us to certainty in Him not ourselves, that we are Christian because of Christ. Therefore we should love our name’s sake and love His Church.
 
What makes a Christian? Can you just say “I am a Christian and it be true”?
The world and our sinful nature fight for supremacy on this point. The world wants Christianity to be just another religion, able to be relegated to a mental disability corner, but dangerous enough to be persecuted and eliminated. And our sinful nature wants nothing more than for Christianity to be of that same world.
 
It is a strange relationship, to be sure. On one hand, the world is trying to absorb Christianity into its nothingness and on the other, so-called Christians are doing their best to be doing the things of the world. And I’m not just talking about sinful behavior, “of the world”, stuff. I’m talking about changing doctrine and sacrificing truth.
 
For example, we know the reason that unbelievers don’t want Christians involved with politics. What we don’t always think about is why self-professed believers don’t want the Church involved with the government, because its the same reason. They both want to be able to do whatever they want, that’s the bottom line. They both want to interpret the Bible however they want, with no repercussions or discussions. “Imagine”, they say, “if the law of the land were ‘baptism is for babies’”. I don’t believe that. How unbiblical! What a horrible world that would be.
 
Not all who claim the title of Christian or even Lutheran are what they say they are.
 
So what makes a Christian?
Better yet, we should start again by asking “What is Christianity?”
“Christianity is the life and salvation God has given us in and through Jesus Christ.”, says our Small Catechism (LSCE, 47). This definition is primarily dependent on God’s service to us in Jesus Christ, because without Him giving us Jesus, there would be no life or salvation.
 
Christianity, then, is not merely knowing certain facts, doing certain things, or pledging allegiance to certain groups.  It is, rather, receiving the Lord of Life who is among us as One Who Serves.  The faith He gives us, then, will have its own effect on what we say and do and how we live.
 
What is this service God supplies?
For one thing, He provides new clothes. A Christian is one who has been covered and clothed by the sweet exchange. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is the foundational verse: "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him".
 
What else could cover our sin, but His righteousness? To be a Christian is to be the recipient of a divine substitution. A Christian is someone whose guilt is overwhelmed by the Holy One’s merit. It is not our pious decisions that makes us Christians, but that "holy and wonderful" moment where our iniquity is hidden in His righteousness. This hiddenness is what we term Justification.
 
Therefore, what makes a true Christian is being unable to do any of that. This is the meaning of Galatians 4:4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son”.  You see, God was waiting for 2 things, first, that our wickedness reach its peak and second, that our inability be clearly shown, in order that there be no reason to boast.
 
Some argue that we must do what is in ourselves in order to prepare for Grace. Titus 3:5, however, speaks of no preparation whatsoever saying, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”.
 
A Christian is not found in nature, nor is he born by nature. He must be reborn by Grace. A Christian’s righteousness in external to himself, received by faith alone. His internal renewal are the good works that follow, but never earn salvation.
 
God does not reward any of our efforts with grace. Instead, He surprises us with benefits surpassing all our expectation. Grace is not the "capstone" of a human process; it is a "sudden" and "unsearchable operation" done to us. It is not that we sought God, but that "He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities" when we were "unworthy". All in order to make us worthy.
 
For Jesus, even Easter morning is not yet time to cling to Him and become a part of Him, as He says to St. Mary, “Do not cling to me”. Not, “don’t ever cling to me”, but don’t cling to me yet. After Jesus has ascended, then we may cling to Him. And His ascended Self is this: that His Word be preached through His Apostles and that we be devoted to the fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and the prayers (Acts 2:42).
 
We do not find Jesus in nature. He came down, as He said, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:51).
He does not wait for an invitation, but interrupts our fatal rebellion.
 
St. Augustine says, "Man, when he was created, used his free will badly and lost both himself and it." (Enchiridion IX:30). St. Bernard of Clairvaux comments that, “God is the Author of salvation; the free will is only capable of being saved” (On Grace and Free Will, p4-5). Grace does not find a prepared heart, rather it creates a new heart.
 
All this is why our Lutheran Confessions state that the chief worship of God in the Gospel is the desire to receive forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness (Ap IV(II): 49).
And Faith is that worship which receives God’s offered blessings (Ap IV(b):189).  These blessings God has located in His Word and Sacrament as witnessed to by Acts 2:42.
 
So a true Christian worships, in this way. A true Christian doesn’t just “go to church”, but gathers together with the risen Christ and His church to receive His gifts of forgiveness and life.
 
A Christian, therefore, is a "miracle of grace" who lives as a stranger on earth because he has been wrapped in the righteousness of Heaven. A Christian is "made" not by an upward climb of the soul, but by the downward descent of the Son into our helplessness. A Christian is "passive" in his justification. To suggest we must "prepare" for grace is to say that the sick man must heal himself before he can visit the Physician.
 
“For by a single offering”, says Hebrews 10:14, “He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb 10:14).
He Who? Jesus. Who is in charge? Jesus. Who’s religion and Church is it? Christ’s. Its right there in the name, “Christ-ianity”.
 
 

Fleecing the Sheep [Palm Sunday]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• St. Matthew 21:1-9

• Zechariah 2:10-13

• Philippians 2:5-11

• St. Matthew 26 & 27

 

Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)

 

Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’”

 

Thus far from the Word of God, written to show the wool pulled over the high priest’s and all our eyes. Jesus has said He is the Christ and has shown it. He also will show it by His death and resurrection and also His return on the Last Day. But in our sin we cannot see it, thus we must have our sight restored. The wool of sin must be shorn off and we must be made like Christ and be restored in Him alone.

 

Church is closed, says a certain, current, one-world government. And we agree because its for safety reasons. We want the people safe, don’t you? You wouldn’t put your family in danger for church, would you? See we agree. Stay home. Turn on your internet. Be safe. 

 

And that’s all it took, in the past, to get a faithful populace out of church and its happening again. In this Armageddon time, because of some blowhards with bombs, once again, we see the same excuses the world governments use to stamp out God’s church. It is not direct warfare, it is indirect. They veil their true intentions and we are fooled again.

 

But this is not new, though we love playing the victim. This is how it has been in our times. We have been fleeced. Do you know that word, “fleeced”? It was only, maybe 500 years ago, that that word came to have a negative meaning. And this made sense because of where it came from. Shearing the sheep, you get its fleece, but it gets to be cold and without any other benefits from its wool.

 

There was the golden fleece of Greek myth. This was a quest of Jason and the Argonauts, which when won, would be a symbol of the rightful king. Odysseus, of Homer fame, then also used the fleece of large sheep to escape from his overpowered enemy. That act puts us closer to define being fleeced, or being tricked out of our livelihood or advantage.

 

And there you have it. Either fleecing can be a symbol of divine right or it can be a tool of deception. Both of which you can see in our reading of our Lord’s Palm Sunday procession. For, at the same time Jesus proclaims Himself as king, riding to the tune of Hosanna, to Royal David’s city, He also then is arrested, put on two trials, and found guilty in front of everyone. 

 

So Jesus puts on the figurative golden fleece, claiming rule by divine right. Christ is king, He says and appears to trick everyone by being convicted of blasphemy against the same people’s religion He claims to be from. This is evidence of the crowd replacing shouts of Hosanna with shouts for His crucifixion, on Good Friday.

 

In like fashion, Judas was fleeced, though he did not repent. St. Peter was fleeced, though he did repent. And here we see in this very church, fleeces hanging up. Covering what? Metal? Jesus? Our guilt and shame? Indeed and all the other unsightliness we want hidden before the Day of Judgement.

 

St. Paul says that we cover up what is less honorable in our bodies. And yet, by doing so we give it more attention. Adam and Eve come to mind here. When they cover up after sinning, they simply bring more attention to their sin. When we cover up, it is to our shame for by that act we admit our guilt in the matter.

 

But today, in our Armageddon Times, we have no shame. We don’t cover up. It is the exact opposite. What we are shameful of, we want everyone to see. These days, we wear our shame on our sleeves and make parades to show it off to the world. You know why we don’t care? Because as soon as someone objects, we simply point out their shame as well, then everyone shuts up.

 

Game. Set. Match. No one fights for right. No one gets upset at real things, as in upset enough to do something about it. We are all too afraid of our own shame and simply retreat into ourselves. We stay home. Turn on our internet, and be safe. 

 

Thus it should be no surprise that Jesus must fleece us, but for the opposite effect. We fleece and un-fleece each other and ourselves in hopes for advantage and know nothing but fleecing, deceit. Jesus fleeces us in order that He get us to crucify Him. He shears Himself of His own life and uses it to cover us. 

 

And when we learn of this, in both senses we feel fleeced. First, because Jesus could have asked for our help. It would have at least been the polite thing to do, even though we would have refused. And second, we are offended because Jesus's shame was turned into glory. As if He didn’t have any shame, like us, to begin with.

 

Jesus’s fleecing was only a fleecing to our sinful senses. We saw it as Him tricking us, because we couldn’t imagine someone without shame, suffering and dying for those who are filled with shame. On top of that, we thought we had covered up enough to not be found. And the shame we did show, we thought could fool God into thinking we were on His side.

 

“by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain [through the fleece], that is, through his flesh” (Heb 10:20). Jesus is God covering Himself with our flesh, with a reasonable body and rational soul. This is the Glory of God and His Golden Fleece. That He can take on human flesh, remain God through it all, and suffer in our place. 

 

In our sin, we see it as Jesus tricking us. Tricking us into this life. Tricking us into suffering our own trials. Tricking us to believe in Him. Thus, we live in the upside-down, where lies are truth and the Truth is treason, deserving of death. Thus, Jesus comes telling the truth and we believe He is lying and so put Him to death. 

 

We believe He is lying and send Him to the cross with our sin. We think we have the power to fleece God, pretending to follow Him, getting Him close, then turning Him over at the last minute. But that is the veil over our own eyes. You see, that was the plan all long and our sin, death, and the power of the devil were perfect, unwilling participants.

 

Look at it this way. The fleecing, or veiling, begins with Moses. In Exodus 34, at the same time the Tabernacle was veiled with the same veil that was torn in two, Moses also was made to veil. This is because every time he would go in to speak to the Lord, whether it was up on the mountain or in the Holy of Holies now being constructed, his face shone with a bright light.

 

“Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him” (Ex 34:30). Able to coax them near again and proving he was safe, he would veil his face for their sakes. So Moses was veiled and the Ark of the Covenant was veiled.

 

That veil stays up, until Jesus. We hear of it still in use in the Temple. Thank God, because we can at least be sure that, if nothing else, the Word was still being preached and taught in its purity, as they still held the Word in high regard, keeping the veil up. 

 

We too, keep the veil up, not to hide, but to remember. Remember that the veil was utilized to cover up the Truth. The truth that Moses spoke and the Truth of the Ark. The veil is lifted, St. Paul says, “when a man turns to the Lord” (2 Cor 3:16). When a man converts, returns to the Truth, then the veil is lifted.

 

And what happens in that moment? The Temple veil is torn in two and we see the Ark of the Covenant, with two angels, the cherubim, one sitting where Jesus’s head had been and one where His feet had been. Moses’s face veil is torn in two and we see a man and hear that God will come as a man and necessarily will suffer.

 

For, “This is what is written” in Moses, St. Luke 24:46-47 records, “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.”

 

In other words, the Gospel was shining under the veil of Moses. Under our fleece we find lies and deceit. Under the fleece of Jesus we find mercy, we find truth, we find forgiveness. The Fleece of the Lamb of God is the Golden Fleece stained with Blood. The marks of spear and nail mark the King. Christ the King. That is the Golden shine that our sinful eyes cannot stand to look at.

 

That Golden Fleece, then is laid on us. Being baptized into the Lamb of God we now put on the Lamb. This Blood-stained, resurrected Fleece of God now fleeces the devil, death, and our sin. It tricks the devil into thinking we are easy prey until he bites into us and finds the Body of Christ. It tricks the world into thinking we are dunces and unimportant, until it kills us and sees us seated with Christ on Judgement Day.

 

It also tricks our sinful nature by telling the truth. For not only do we judge ourselves unworthy of grace, but also not in need of it. We believe we are Jason, able to fulfill the quest towards holiness and we believe we are Odysseus, able to fool God with our sheep’s clothing.

 

Rather the Fleece of God reveals us. It reveals our sin, worthy of temporal and eternal punishment. Out in the open. No veil. And by exposing us, He also reveals the gold and silver of the Body and Blood of Christ, which passes through the trial of the furnace. Jesus covers us, as He says, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7).

 

“Within His wounds I find a stay”, we sing in LSB 716. The Body and Blood of Jesus is now the True Veil. Thus, the last veil to be removed is our own meat-suit. Remember, Jesus has taken our flesh into Himself. He has assumed our human nature, that is, purified it and it now sits at God’s Right Hand, awaiting the Final Day where we will be unveiled, not as frauds, but as true sons.

 

So we sit in this fleece, though it is Christ’s, and not our own. We sit and await the True Last Day, with trumpets and shouts and lightenings. Not the fake armageddon of lies and military strength. But the True appearing of the Lamb, Who’s voice we shall hear and know and follow with our own shouts of Hosanna, to His Wedding Feast.

 

 

Shutting up for the Whirlwind [Wednesday in Lent 5]

~ ~ T E X T O N L Y ~ ~

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Job 38:1-11, 40:1-14

• 1 Peter 5:1-11

• St. Matthew 16:24-28

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1)

 

Who speaks to you, as we continue in His Book of Job heard, saying:

“Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.” (40:14)

 

Last week’s “turn towards the gospel” is this week’s “God speaks for Himself”. Which also means, no matter what it sounds like, its going to be Gospel. Especially as we also remember Gabriel speaking to St. Mary, today, to announce her pregnancy. Yes, the Lord Himself, Whom we haven’t seen since chapter 2, stands up in His own person, with His own reason, and begins to give His TED talk.

 

But too bad, He doesn’t. God doesn’t explain anything. For as much time as Job’s friends took up in this book of the Bible, trying to explain God’s actions and thoughts to Job, the Lord takes up about 4 chapters to seem to be indignant.

 

It is more than that, but at first it sounds as if God is offended at being questioned. Like the clay talking back to the Potter.

What He is really doing is overwhelming the sinners, including Job. He doesn’t explain Himself with excuses, He overwhelms. This is the same work God has been doing in Job from the beginning of this book and its the same work God continues today. He overwhelms, He kills our perceived rights to an explanation in order to make alive again in the Gospel.

 

But what is the Gospel? From the book of Job, as we get to the end, we expect it to be an answer to what has been happening. We expect God come down and judge the whole situation. And we want to hear it too. We want to hear why Job’s friends were miserable comforters. We want to hear why Job was afflicted in such a way. We want to hear who Elihu is and what God’s plan is.

 

None of that is here. And none of that is anywhere in the Bible. Why were there two trees in the Garden of Eden? Why the Flood? Why the Passover? Why do bad things happen to good people? 

 

The best answer we get, is heard in the Gospels which say, “It is for the glory of God”, as Jesus says in St. John 11:4. The glory of God. Good for Him, I guess. But then, what, we are just toys or tools to show the works of God? To let Him show off and then just, “Oh well, sorry you had to suffer, but it was for the greater good”?

 

That is, if that is what is God’s glory and God’s will. In our sin, we believe that is so. Even Job has shared that belief with us not only condemning the day he was born, but every day he suffered after that. When we condemn those things, we condemn Him Who created those things. God is on His throne and that’s that. He is in heaven, we are on earth. 

 

Then comes the whirlwind, as we heard in chapter 38. It is indeed mysterious for at the same time it is the whirlwind that took Elijah up to the Lord (Sir 48:12), without dying, and also the storm that Jesus rebukes in St. Mark chapter 4. The same whirlwind that assumes Elijah into it is the same whirlwind that brings guilt and destruction close. That’s Law and Gospel, that is.

 

And speaking of whirlwinds or atmospheric disturbances, don’t we have the wind and the still, small voice Elijah also heard on the mountain? Then there is the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire that led Isreal out of Egypt.

All of this leads to God’s presence among His people and it is terrifying.

 

Storms and whirlwinds are not comforting. They are sources of death which is why we monitor them in our day, producing watches or warnings as need be. In this way, God appears to Job, just as He appeared on the mountain in fire and thunder and lightning. Terrifying to the sinner, ready to stamp out anything not holy.

 

Such as our ego and self-will. When God overwhelms, He is purifying and sanctifying. He doesn’t explain Himself, He gives Himself. The “who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge” is not “I am high and mighty God and I can do whatever I want”. It is “I am high and mighty God and what I want to do is send my only-begotten Son”.

 

In God’s alleged non-explanation at the end of Job, He actually is explaining. He is explaining His love for His creation. All of His “can you do what only God can do? I don’t think so” questions actually betray His deep seeded love for what He has made. He presents Job with His oppressive, whirlwind love and Job is silent before it.

 

Especially, when that whirlwind reveals God in the flesh. That is what Job and sinners cannot stand: a God Who donates Himself to sinful humanity. That willingness to suffer, die, and rise again for enemies crushes us and silences us. It is unthinkable. It is unimaginable. Never in a million years would we think of sacrificing ourselves in such a way. Maybe we would dream of doing it, for a righteous man, but nothing more.

 

And that is the challenge presented in chapter 40. God will take confession and extol our greatness if we can take all the wicked persons in the world and bring them to justice. If we can tread down the wicked and abase the proud and banish their evil forever, then God will believe in us.

 

Answer the Lord, if you are a man.

 

And if you are a man, you know the only answer is the God-man, Jesus Christ. Unimaginable. Unthinkable. And yet, Jesus is the answer. He is the answer to all of Job’s questions and doubts and He is the answer to all our sufferings as well. Not because He solves them or ends them or makes them easier, but simply because of Who He Is.

 

God’s answer is not “let me explain”, but repent and believe the kingdom of heaven is at hand. God’s answer is not “if you make it through this, I’ll reward you double”. Its, “this is my believed Son, listen to Him”.

 

Listen to Him and remember His Words, for His work is to tread down the wicked and abase the proud, in His Body and Blood. The eternal righteousness that sinners seek in this world is only found in Jesus. Gird up your loins like a man, says God, for the Word will be made man and by His Blood and righteousness will all the families on earth be blessed.

 

No matter what. Even though suffering is present, the Blood of Jesus covers all sins. Even though poverty and tragedy attack us, the Body of Christ is exalted in the heaven, of which we are a baptized part. Even though the earth gives way and the heavens melt, the Word made Flesh endures forever and those who keep His Word will never taste death.

 

Thus, our ever-given Lord does explain Himself, but He acts for Himself from the cross of His suffering and death. He will not take any side requests or tangents. For greater than laying the foundations of the earth, greater than making the Behemoth, and greater than taming the Leviathan is Job and all sinners’ rescue from sin, death, and the power of the devil.

 

Not just Job, but all mortal flesh will remain in silence as the Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, the guilt of sinners bearing. Better than Job and better than us who complain every bit of the way, Jesus offers His spotless life. He bears the bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies, the mockery and yet replies, “all this I gladly suffer”.

 

We can ask Gabriel as he once stood in amazement at the same whirlwind. For he came to St. Mary to bear the message that she will be a mother, though she knows not a man. That her womb will bring forth a son, though she is a virgin. This Son will be a man and yet is Gabriel’s Master. St. Mary will be the Mother of the Creator.

 

The Chief Shepherd has appeared and Job receives His eternal reward, which is more than he had. The Chief Shepherd appears and He is handing out crosses to take up and follow Him. All in order that the sinner lose his life, that is lose everything that stands in the way of Grace Alone, and then find life again being baptized into The Life: Jesus Christ.