READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Numbers 21:4-9
James 1:22-27
- St. John 16:23-30
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:
“His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly
and not using figurative speech!”
Thus far from God’s Word teaching us about proverbs and boldness. The Lord wants you to hear His plain speech and not stay lost in the figures of speech. Jesus is God’s Word and He will explain and teach all plainly. Simply follow Him and you will hear His Gospel. This should lead you to confess this same truth in your life and conversation.
Don’t let anyone tell you there is no humor in the Bible, because this verse is peak, right here. The disciples are acting like “Yes-men”, just acknowledging what Jesus is saying and not really processing it. Yes, Jesus, yes we will understand you. Yes, Jesus yes You are going to the Father. Yes, Jesus, yes You have a plethora of piñatas for your birthday.
And you encounter your own “plethora” when you come to church, your own things that you don’t quite understand. And it is at that point where the devil attacks. For others, who claim to be the true church, will say that your church, this church, is not a true church of Jesus Christ.
Some examples:
Did you know the Trinity is not in the Bible and is therefore evidence of corrupted Scriptures? If your church teaches the Trinity, then you are not in a true church of Jesus Christ.
Did you know if your church doesn’t have and teach a proper doctrine of the Urim and Thummim, then you are not a true church of Christ?
If your church doesn’t have a doctrine of polygamy, because you know those Old Testament Patriarchs had those harems, then you are not in a true church of Jesus Christ.
And the list of obscure Bible passages, turned into necessary doctrine for salvation, goes on. When it comes right down to it, those teachers who make those lists are attempting to follow Jesus, when really they are only copying Jesus. In other words, they mistake the proverbs, or figures of speech, from Jesus as His plain speech.
Proverbs, figures of speech, are allegories. We find this same word in 2 Peter 2:22 which says, “What the true proverb says has happened to them: ‘The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.’” An allegory uses common words to get you to think and understand truth.
Obviously people are not literal dogs eating vomit, but he is alluding to the truth of what sin does to a man. It turns him into a false prophet who, having first heard and believed the Gospel, goes back to his falsehood. We do not copy Jesus here, by becoming dogs and avoiding vomit. We follow Jesus by believing and not returning to our past sins.
There is another level to figures of speech, that Jesus gets to in John 10:6 when He is teaching about being the Door of the Sheep. It says, “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them.” We do not copy Jesus by saying, “Yeah-Yeah Jesus. You’re the Door man. We dig it.” Instead, we take Jesus at His Word and follow His Word into His Church.
So, this is using proverbs to teach about Christ and this is what God’s Word does all the time. Not what we are to do, but what Christ does for us. This, then, brings us to the “speaking plainly” word that is in the Gospel today. This is better understood as boldness or openness. As in how Jesus explains in John 18:20, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.”
If we think that by just copying Jesus, that is, just doing whatever the Bible says, then we will be lost in translation and be unable to interpret the figure of speech.
For example, when Israel was wandering through the desert, the issue of authority came up. Did Moses truly have God’s own authority to lead Church Service or could anyone do it? It was just praying and offering incense, anyway. So easy even a caveman could do it.
Korah, in Numbers 16, believing Moses to be lording it over everyone, when he is simply acting as the pastor, hurled insults and false charges against Moses. Moses said, fine, you think its so easy and that everyone is a minister? Go ahead and offer your incense to the Lord.
Being un-ordained by God, even though the actions were the same, true “fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense” (16:35).
To copy or mimic just because there are words in the Bible does not produce faith. The Urim and Thummim are mentioned a grand total of 8 times, but are valued so highly simply because the word is there on the page. No one knows what they are or where they are, but if we just have something and call it the Urim and Thummim, then we will be biblical.
Nevermind that the words mean light and truth. Nevermind that they were used as lots to determine God’s “yes” and God’s “no”. And nevermind that Jesus said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no”. As in do not simply ape words. For Jesus explains in St. Matthew 23:16-22:
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it.”
So, which is greater: the words written or the One Who caused them to be written? And if He caused them to be written, then He has the purpose for them. We do not put on a turban and pretend to be Old Testament Jews. Once again, we ask Jesus, what does this mean?
Temple. Gold. Altar. Gifts. What do they all have in common? The One Who dwells in it. Without Him, it is but stone, metal, wood, and junk. “Be doers of the Word, not hearers only”, says St. James, and the Lord is the Doer. His gives the Promise, and the place where He chooses to dwell becomes the Temple. He gives His Word, and the gold that covers the Temple becomes sanctifying. He steps up to His own Altar, offering Himself as sacrifice, and it becomes the Forgiveness of sins.
Only in Jesus do figures of speech become plain speech.
He Promises that He will visit the orphans and widows and yet remained unstained. That is, while we were yet sinners, Christ dies for us (Rom 5:8). While we were orphaned, having no one to take us in to wash us, feed us, or teach us; while we were yet without father, mother, and family; while all had been taken from us by our own sin, by the power of death, and by the devil, Jesus spoke above the din: today you will be with Me in paradise!
What is promised in the Trinity, in the Urim and Thummim, and in marriage between one man and one woman? Unity with Christ. That’s it. The Revelation that God the Almighty gives is that Christ is God and salvation is found only in Him. The figures of speech were everything that came before, pointing to the coming Messiah. And the plain speech is everything the Messiah did when He came.
This is the mystery of the Word made flesh. That He speaks plainly to us in the place of His choosing, the words of His choosing, and the gifts of His choosing. He so desires that His religion be undefiled that He takes up His cross to purify His own creation, covering all sin with His own blood. He so desires that His Blood be upon us and our children, that He promises to give that Blood by hearing, by Baptism, and by Communion.
He so wills that His gifts of faith in Him, forgiveness of sins, and life eternal be strong upon the earth that He defeats death by death and opens His kingdom to all believers, at His Word.
Of the Law, of copying Him in figures of speech, Jesus says in Psalm 50:16, 21, “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?…These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you”.
And St. Paul agrees. “For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the Promise is void” in Romans 4:14. God forbid! And yet, there is a lack in you that prevents such adherence. That even if you were to offer sacrifice to God, He would not accept it. That is your Original Sin.
But there is a gift that has been prepared for you. Before you thought of the Trinity, before requirements for priests’ clothing were given, and before a proper doctrine of marriage, there was a Savior. A Savior Who desires unity with you. A Savior Who wants to cover you in His Clothing. A Savior Who pledges Himself to you, even beyond death.
For the plain speech of the cross now presents Word and Sacrament to us. The means by which Jesus truly gives to His Church to become one with Him, even today. The figures of speech were preparing you and the plain speech saves you, for it is the Body and Blood of Christ that forgives sins.
So now, in the true Church and Faith of Jesus Christ, let your yes be yes and your no be no. You may be “yes men” all you like in the face of the truth of God’s own Gospel. Even if you don’t understand it, pray for understanding. Do not throw away what the Lord has set before you. Pray for understanding and continue to confess the faith.
That God is three in One. That Jesus is the Truth and the Light. That marriage is between Christ and His Church, whom He purifies as a bride. And if His promise is to purify, then no amount of copying Old Testament dress codes will do a better job.
Only in the Name of Jesus. The Father loves you, in the Name of Jesus only. Loving Jesus and believing in Him makes you a recipient of the Father’s love. Loving, believing, and following Jesus means desiring to receive what He is handing out in His church: forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness (Apology IV(b):189).
Faith is that worship which receives God’s offered blessings (Ap IV(II):48).
Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
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