Taught by men [Passion Sunday]

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Genesis 22:1-14

• Hebrews 9:11-15

• St. John 8:46-59

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 

Jesus speaks to you today, saying:

“…but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple.”

 

In our sin, we forget about God and what it means to follow Him. As Jesus demonstrated for us last week, to follow Him means to eat and drink His Body and Blood. As Abraham shows us today, to follow Him means to sacrifice your one and only son. God’s Word to Abraham was no metaphor and Abraham didn’t think so either. Neither should we, when it comes to Word and Sacrament.

 

One of the reasons following Jesus is hard, is because we don’t get to make the rules. We don’t get to follow our heart or our dreams. We don’t get to listen to voices in our head and we don’t get to watch for signs in sun, moon, and stars. God speaks through His written Word and if what we experience in the world contradicts that, then we are to disregard the experience.

 

For Abraham had the good life. The really, good life. Part of this “good life” was his family. We don’t really think about this too much, even in the Church, but remember all those long lifespans they had in the beginning? That Adam lived 930 years and that Seth, his priestly son after Abel, lived 912 years? That Noah lived for 950 years and Shem, his priestly son, lived 600 years?

 

Well, what this means is that Noah’s father, Lamech, lived with Adam for over 50 years and with Seth for almost 200 years of his own 777 years of life. 

 

I don’t think this has sunk in yet. Lamech, Noah’s father, knew Adam. He got to sit at his feet and listen to a first-hand, eyewitness account of all God did in the beginning. He got to hear of Eden and Eve and the serpent. He got to hear of all that the Lord spoke to him and did with him. Lamech’s catechesis was done by the First Man ever created.

 

Such that when God’s Word shows up to confront Noah, Noah is able to believe. And he is able to believe for 2 reasons: 1) was his faithful upbringing and catechesis done by his father, and 2) it is easy to believe when there is somebody talking to you, rather than a ghost. 

 

For Dr. Luther contends that Adam and Eve were not only parents, but acted also as God’s Priests on earth. So they were not only in charge of ceremonies and the Church of the day, but also in charge of revealing God’s Word to everyone, as in when the Lord speaks Adam is doing the speaking. And after him, Seth, then Lamech, then Noah, then Shem and on and on.

 

As Hebrews 1:1 tells us, “…at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.” God speaks through men.

 

So when we get to Abraham and this seemingly ridiculous command to sacrifice his son, Abraham is not hearing voices. I believe that Shem was speaking to Abraham and Abraham trusted Shem and the Word of God from Shem. Shem outlives Abraham and knows both Isaac and Jacob and preaches to them as well. 

 

What this means for us is that God takes special care of His Word. He makes sure, double sure, and triple sure that it will get to you. Not by legends or myths or he-said-she-said, but by the word, ink, and pen of men. 

 

Such that, Abraham “…considered that God was able even to raise [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb. 11:19). Now, it is enough, for a father, to receive one’s son back from the dead, but the Lord’s promise was greater than that. Not only would the Son return, but “…I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:17-18).

 

This of course is impossible with man. Not even Adam with his long life could have enough children to fulfill this promise in a natural way. No, this promise is for the resurrection. This promise is made to prove the resurrection of all flesh, not just the Son. For the amount of offspring that have died in all of history, to this point, truly does surpass the number of stars and sand.

 

So the Lord provided. He provided Isaac in this rehearsal of the resurrection. He provided His Word through the prophet Shem to Abraham. And today, the Lord provides a Son of His own. For “at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Heb 1:1-4).

 

Jesus is both Isaac and the ram caught in the thicket. Jesus as the ram is caught in the thicket of our sins. The ram did nothing to deserve being sacrificed, neither did any of the other sacrifices demanded by God in the past. However, the Word has spoken through men and now through His own mouth: “the Lord will provide”, “the lamb that taketh away the sin of the world”.

 

Jesus as Isaac is the one who gets away. The guilty that goes free. For Jesus is condemned and found guilty of our sin, punished to death upon a cross and is raised again. Through His death, Jesus escapes death forever. By His suffering, dying, and rising He will never die again. Though it is not really an escape, because He dies, but He does so in order that Isaac, and all his descendants, would escape.

 

And where does this information come from? How do we know that what we hear today is trustworthy? We know because a Man spoke it, the God-man, Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, and other men listened and recorded it as the Holy Ghost guided them.

 

For Jesus is also the Word made flesh, not just ink and paper, Who hides Himself within the mouths of men. The Messiah and His promise were hidden in the mouth of Adam and Eve, hearing the first Gospel proclaimed in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

 

The Word made flesh was hidden on the lips of Noah and Shem and Abraham as they proclaimed the resurrection through water and the Word. The water of the Flood which corresponds to Baptism and the Word of the promise of the provision in the Ram.

 

Jesus hides Himself today. In His holiness, none will ever lay hands on Him or humiliate Him ever again. He may be blasphemed against, but none of the charges stick.

 

There is comfort and blessing found in the hiddenness of Jesus. For when Jesus hides, He does not do it to be found by only a certain special someone. He hides such that all may find Him as He said. As He said to Adam and Eve. As He said to Abraham. As He said to His disciples on Easter, “He is not dead but alive…He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he said” (Mk 16:7).

 

Just. As. He. Said.

 

Repent and be forgiven, dear Christians. Jesus still hides Himself for you. What has He told you? He told His disciples to go to Galilee to see Him. He tells you to find His Body and His Blood in bread and wine, hidden upon your own lips today.

 

Such surpassing blessing the world has never known! The Word may have been on Adam’s lips and all the patriarchs, but they never had the Word as you do. In fact, as wonderful and miraculous as all the things in the past that happened to them, they “…all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 6:13).

 

Abraham had to die, never being able to to see more than His son Isaac and most of the trouble he got into. He had to wait for the true Ram of God, Who would not only take away the sins of the world, not only resurrect all flesh, but Who would give Himself completely to sinners, securing an eternal redemption, purifying our conscience from dead works, and granting the eternal promised inheritance (Heb. 9:11-15), all through the Sacrament, as our Epistle has said.

 

Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Jesus and the full completion and perfection of the promise made to him, on the cross. Abraham saw it and rejoiced, because Abraham is not dead, but lives. For the Word gives life (Jn 6:63) and the Word is life (Jn 1:4).

 

Jesus lives and Adam lives in Him. Jesus lives and Abraham and Isaac live in Him. Jesus lives and you will live. For, it turns out, the Word was not just thoughts, ideas, and feelings, but a man. The Word was made flesh, hiding the glory of God in a body, which is glorified by the Father by rising from the dead and becoming a Supper for all who hear it and believe it.

 

For as it has always been and will be, world without end, the Word is given that men may believe. It is spoken so men may hear. It is revealed that men may understand. And it is given by men such that men may take and eat and drink and be unified in the one Body of Christ, their Ram, Who forgives all their sin.

 

 

Siloam and the Divine Service [Wednesday in Lent 4]

 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ezekiel 36:23-28

• Isaiah 1:16-19

• St. John 9:1-38

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 Jn. 1)

 

Who speaks to us today, saying,

“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

I apologize. I did not bring any green beer for you, but we won’t be talking about St. Patrick anyways. Not that he’s not important. He is. And so we will be talking about what he would have talked about, Jesus. Jesus, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Pool of Siloam, as St. John 9 mentions this evening.

The Pool of Siloam has been regarded as sacred by a variety of faiths since ancient times, but chiefly for the Christian faith. For, the faithful in the Old Testament used water from the pool for purification rituals in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles. First built in 2 Kings 20:20, a tunnel was dug to bring spring water into the city of Jerusalem as a guard against invaders or sieges. 

The city did not have water on its insides. It needed water from outside itself in order to live and function, which is a perfect, divine picture of true salvation needing to come from the outside, God, to us, who have no merit or worthiness of our own.

In any case, it is important because during John chapter 9, the Feast of Tabernacles was happening, as John 7:2-3 stated, and Jesus was saying things like “I am the Light of the world” (8:12), in the midst of this festival of lights, and “unless you believe I AM, you will die in your sins” (8:24), claiming to be God, and “before Abraham was, I AM” (8:58), and that He is the Giver of  “living water” (7:37-38).

For there were 3 main rituals that accompanied the Feast of Tabernacles.

First, the “Rejoicing at the Place of Water-Drawing”, as Isaiah 12:3 says, “With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam every day of the Feast with great ceremony, then brought to the Temple. Here the priests made libation of the water AND WINE for purification. This is why Jesus points to Himself, instead of the Pool, as the One Who gives living water.

Second, the Illumination. Great pillars, like candelabra, were erected and illumined in the Court of Women. Levite youths poured oil into the basins for the different branches of the candelabra, and worn-out priestly undergarments made of linen acted as wicks. Because the Temple stood atop a hill, the blazing candles illuminated the city below, so that the denizens of Israel could see from afar. This glorious blaze of fire recalled the pillar of fire by day and smoke by night that wandered in the wilderness with the Israelites. The Temple illumination that accompanied the water-drawing ceremony, brought great joy to all who saw it, so say eyewitnesses.

3) And finally, the building of the tabernacles themselves. Whole volumes have been written elucidating the niceties of their construction. The tabernacles were not very good shelter for good reason. They reminded the faithful of their own frail frames and our utter dependency upon the Lord. The Israelites made booths when they were wandering in the wilderness and by God’s grace survived. 

Of course, the real tabernacles are our bodies, but overall I hope you heard your own beloved Divine Service being described in what I was saying about the Feast; about water and wine and lights. I hope you heard and believed that what was going on in the Temple continued in the Church, even to this day for you.

At Jesus’s time, the Temple had lost it’s flair. No miracles were happening or being performed by those in charge. No glory cloud was descending from heaven for Service. All of the pomp and circumstance appeared droll and man-made. Sin causes that.

So when Jesus heals the blind man, during the feast, at the pool, in front of these sin-bored people, the calm waters of apathy are disturbed. This is not just becasue the Kingdom of God has come among these people in Jesus. It is also because these accusations against the former blind man are made against God and God is watching and listening in His own Body.

In verse 22, they have already made up their minds to excommunicate anyone confessing the Christ, so there is no point in the rest of the interrogation of the blind man, but still…

In verse 16, they believe Jesus is not God, because He does not keep the Sabbath and God has not spoken to Him as He did to Moses, in verse 29.

Though they admit that they can’t prove that point, they believe their argument of “you disagree with me so you’re wrong” to be valid and simply declare the formerly blind man to be a sinner and excommunicate him. And as we see over and over, doing the devil’s work always works out in God’s favor. For his “excommunication” leads directly to Jesus, in verse 35.

Thus, those who see are blind, says 9:39, and they retain their sin (v.41). The condemned sinners cast out the righteous man, have Him scourged, and crucify Him outside of the synagogue. They can’t even bring themselves to do God’s great work of casting out sinners in the city or the synagogue or even the Temple, which is where it should be done.

So Jesus leaves the Temple completely, tearing the curtain in two as He goes. He baptizes all with living water, drawn from the well of salvation, His own side, and from the same place offers the wine of His own Blood for forgiveness. 

This Water and Word causes the scales to fall from our sin-blind eyes, that we behold the Light of the World in His Temple, that is His Body, given for you upon the cross and in His Supper. And though we are housed in frail and failing tabernacles at the moment, the Lord will return and frail will become immortal and failing will become incorruptible.

The blind must be made to see the crucifixion. The deaf must be made to hear the Gospel. And they must be excommunicated from the church of satan into the true Church of the Body and Blood. The sinner must be remade into the Image of God, in Christ, in order that true worship be found on earth, in Word and Sacrament. 

Today, the Feast of Tabernacles lives on. Not in Jewish circles, where it is incomplete, but in Churches where its perfection is offered by God Himself. For the church is washed in the Living Water that flows from Jesus, She is illumined by the Light of the World in His Gospel, and She is housed in His true Body and true Blood for the forgiveness of sins. The true Feast is the Divine Service.

This is my Body [Lent 4]

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 16:2-21

• Galatians 4:21-31

• St. John 6:1-15

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 

Jesus speaks to you today, saying:

“ Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.”

 

John 6 has been very divisive in recent Church history and by recent I mean the last 500 years or so. This is because Jesus appears to be divisive here in talking about the Lord’s Supper. Where we want gray lines or blurred lines in order to appear more tolerant and inclusive, Jesus smacks the sinner in the face saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (v. 53).

 

Here God draws a line, not in the sand, but in the Rock, Who is Christ. It is the line between belief and unbelief. Heaven and hell. Saved and unsaved. And, as I already mentioned, the line is drawn upon the flesh of the Son of man, Jesus Christ.

 

There are only two religions in the world, one that says “Do” and the true one that says “Done”, and the border between them lies at Christ. Not just the idea of Jesus, it lies on exactly Who He is and what He came to do. And He tells us this in this title He gives us today, saying He is the Bread of Life, or the Bread of heaven. In other words, He has come to give Himself as a true food for many.

 

Why all this is interesting is because Jesus puts the entire discussion of His flesh and blood immediately after physically feeding 5000+ people. Not only will that food be on everyone’s mind, and face and stomach, but as God’s creatures we can not help but think about actual food and get hungry when the subject is brought up.

 

However, some say that this is just a spiritual eating, all in your mind, because Jesus says things in John 6 like, “Do not work for the food that perishes” (v. 27), which would be the bread and the wine we use in Service. No matter how many zip-locks or BHT we throw on it, it rots away.

 

And, “Truly, truly, I say to you”, says(v. 32), “it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven”, suggesting that men can not hand this Bread out. 

 

Also, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger” (v. 35). Of course we can’t get to Jesus. He has ascended to the Right Hand of God, wherever that is. How does a body get there? Must be a metaphor.

 

And finally, verse 63 in which He says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all”. Couple that with the Old Testament prohibition on eating blood in Genesis 9:4, “you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” and Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” we may have a shut case on this prohibition from God.

 

Here now, the Christian engages in battle. Not with guns and knives and not even with loaves and fish, but with God and His Word. For, now it appears that God is at odds with Himself. He says don’t eat blood but now we are to eat it. 

 

First, Your “go to”, should you ever find yourself in a discussion involving John 6 and the Lord’s Supper, is simply to continue to go back to the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26. Jesus’s words there is why the Supper is even on our radar in the first place.

 

Second, do you know why you are not supposed to eat the flesh with its blood? Because it is corrupted, having come from this world of sin and death. But notice that Leviticus 17 passage again. Even though the blood is corrupted, God still commands that it be used to make atonement. One more time, we run into a wall, concerning God’s Word. How can corrupted blood make atonement?

 

The beginning of our answer lies in Ezekiel 16:19 where the Lord says that He has fed us bread and will feed us bread and yet we offer it to our idols instead. What I mean is that if you were to eat the flesh with its blood now, you would remain forever in your sin and die eternally. This is the same reason that Adam and Eve could not eat of the fruit of the tree of Life, after the Fall. 

 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps 127:1). Unless the Lord sanctifies the Altar and the sacrifice on it, those who worship, worship in vain. Unless the Lord gives the bread…you get it.

 

Jesus was able to be crucified by His own followers, because the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel was seen as an earthly kingdom, not the suffering and dying of God. The revelation that took place upon the cross turned everything on its head and we see this in Jesus’ constant clashes with the Pharisees and even His own disciples.

 

Yet, in God’s Word, you find the crucifixion; the betrayal, suffering, dying, and rising of the Messiah on behalf of His people, as Jesus says in multiple places, including Matthew 20:17-19. It was simply a case of revelation to show that true victory (Easter) comes in the form of apparent defeat (Good Friday) and not in military conquest.

 

So it is that when we approach the spirituality of the Bread of heaven, our two religions only give us two choices. Either we disagree with Jesus or we agree with Him. Either we say that this Bread is only spiritual and that as long as you believe and feel it in your heart that you have eaten and drunk the Body and Blood, you have.

 

Or we can agree with Jesus and not only feel it and believe it, but actually do it.

 

Yes, do not eat of the flesh with its blood, for that is the blood of beasts. Not only are they corrupt, but they are less than you and cannot give you life from their life. Their blood is incompatible with yours and will only result in death.

 

The Blood you need is the Blood that leads to eternal life. Remember when John 6:27 said “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you”? Well, now the Body and Blood of Jesus, Who is both God and man, does not perish. In fact Jesus says, “Take. Eat. This is my Body”. God just gave you bread.

 

Remember when v. 32 said, “it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven”? Well, now the Father gives His Son and says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him” (Lk 9:35). And the Son says, “Take. Drink. This is my Blood”. God just gave you blood.

 

Jesus’s blood is better than sacrificial blood and even better than your blood (Heb 12:24). Such that, now united with God, the Body and Blood of Jesus, which is the same as our flesh and blood, now gives life instead of death. Corrupted blood can only make atonement at God’s say-so and must be done over and over again. The incorruptible Blood of God makes atonement for all people of all time, once, and it is true forever.

 

John 6:63 is true then saying, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all”, because flesh alone is no good. Flesh and Spirit is double-plus good. For now the Spirit and the flesh are united in one Christ and man ascends to the throne of God in the true religion. The religion of “Done”, as in the Lord Jesus has Done His work for you and you sit at the reception feast.

 

So it is that when we approach the Holy Altar with the Holy Supper on it, we approach both Spirit and Body. It is not one against another or one over another, but one with the other. It is the Word AND the water, the bread, the wine. It is the Promises of holiness AND the physical signs that follow them. 

 

In Christ, there is no more separation between the spiritual and the physical. The line between the two religions are scourge marks and nail scars, proving that God is sacramental, that He works with the Spirit and what He has created. In one religion, the spirit and the invisible are king. In the other, are the sacraments.

 

The physical presence of God makes the religion and the physical presence of God proves the presence of the Bread of Heaven. Since that is so, we can now come to Jesus and never hunger, as He said, for we can literally lay hands upon the Bread of Heaven.

 

And if we can lay hands upon Jesus, we can lay hands upon the forgiveness of sins. And if it is true that the living Christ comes among His gathered people to teach them and feed them in public worship, and if it is true that the life of the church flows to her from Christ Himself, then what is more important than weekly gathering together to receive His gifts and respond to Him with our prayers and praise and offerings?

 

This is the reason Jesus says “as often as you eat and drink”, because not only do you receive your Lord whenever you eat and drink, but He is there, offering the same things, as many times as you are hungry and thirsty.

 

Which of course should be all the time. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”. The man desiring to commune with His Lord is blessed and finds righteousness on his lips and tongue. 

 

For John chapter 6 is about the Lord’s Supper and it is about Jesus taking the time to plant this hunger and thirst inside of you. Such that you find Him. Such that you are not starving yourself or dehydrating yourself, intentionally or unintentionally. He is here for you, in His Supper any and every time you wish it and the only reaction to more often communion is thankfulness.

 

That is what Jesus gives thanks for today, in verse 11. Not only does He gives thanks for hungry and thirsty believers, but also that He is there to feed them. It gives Him no end of pleasure to offer Himself for the forgiveness of your sins. In fact, I would say, Communion with God is the only reason we come to Church and it is the only thing that let’s us truly step outside our dark world and taste an eternity in His Light.

 

 

 

Its the Law [Wednesday in Lent 3]

 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 20:12-24

• St. Matthew 15:1-20

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 Jn. 1)

 

Who speaks to us today, saying,

“But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone”

I know what you’re thinking. The Word said “unwashed hands” so pastor is going to let us have it on how washing hands is not going to save us. And if you’re not thinking that, now you are and that’s good, because I’m not “letting you have it”, God’s Word is.

This is how God’s Law works and this is where we as sinners, begin to feel attacked, especially since all we see in front of us is a man, like us, preaching it to us. In reality, we hear God preach against the things we are doing in life and it convicts us and hits us right in the conscience, as Moses says in Ex 16:8, “Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord.”

This is the way the 10 Commandments and all commands and demands from God work. He says this is how it is and that’s how it is. Even if you feel like you aren’t going against the commands, God says otherwise. 

Such is the case with this evening’s “washing of hands”. Jesus takes God’s commands to a height we cannot hope to attain. On the surface washing hands is easy and proven by testing over and over that it not only helps you remain healthy, but also helps others. In fact, hygiene in general has been the game changer, in the last century, to increasing survivability.

However, we do have a saying that pits our good conscience against itself about “washing hands” and it means the exact opposite of godliness. “Washing your hands” of something means you take no responsibility for it, just as Pontius Pilate did with Jesus’ crucifixion. 

And this is where the sin lies, as Jesus has explained in the Gospel. He said we do one thing, give things to God, and expect it to be substituted for another, honoring father and mother. In the case of washing hands, or any other perceived medical action, we keep ourselves clean and chalk it up to caring for and loving our neighbor. In one sense that may be true, but it is not the whole truth.

Many things in the civil realm are used this way by us. Everyone’s complaint about welfare is that it’s just hand outs and that hard earned money that is taxed, shouldn’t go to something like that. But there are people in need of handouts precisely because you have substituted being taxed for charity work.

Let us fail in the doctrines and commandments of men. Let our stricken consciences be dragged to private confession and absolution. God’s conclusion of the 10 Commands from our Exodus reading is not “now go and get that work done”. It is “now go have church and I’ll bless you”.

Washing hands is not enough. your neighbor needs helping hands. Accessible hands. Physical hands. And not just from you, but from God as well. And while God does let you do good works in His Name, He would rather take that work upon Himself.

Jesus demands an Altar be made in order that He put the sacrifice on it, Himself. Jesus demands burnt offerings and peace offerings be on the Altar that bears His Name. This is so only because He is on the Altar, He is the sacrifice, He is the burnt offering, and He is the peace offering made between God and man.

Jesus does not let washed hands get in the way of His work of salvation and it is in no way a barrier between His sacrifice and the sinner for which it was made. In Jesus explaining the commands and demands from God for us, we see only one conclusion: that we will not win if we fight the law that only condemns.

True washed hands are dirty hands. They are the soiled hands that beg for forgiveness. They are the grimey hands that beg for bread and wine. God’s hands are dirty hands. We prefer to picture Jesus as bright and full of Easter shine, but that is not this side of glory.

On this side of glory, cleanliness is found in the dirtied and bloodied hands and feet of Christ on the cross for you. In that, though, is the forgiveness of sins found. for though we do our best to cleanse, it is never enough, until we believe in and take credit for Christ’s cleanliness, which He lovingly and happily gives us.

The cleanliness we seek is not of this world, thus it is only found in the Gospel. Not in the law, but in the free offer of the free forgiveness of sins for free. So it is that the filthiness of God is cleaner than the cleanliness of men. Such that it is the only sure proof against sin and death.

God forgives, so we confess our uncleanness and believe in and receive His absolution and His purity. Though the Law call us filthy rags, yet the Gospel gives to us Christ’s robe of righteousness. 

If our hands are not dirty, if we need no physician, then God has nothing for us. If our heart is already good, then we do not need a clean heart or a right spirit within us. Are our hands bright scarlet? Good. Are our hands dirty in service? Good. Is our Savior “radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach” Him (Mk. 9:3). Better. Best.

Sad Divider [Lent 3]

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Jeremiah 26:1-15

• Ephesians 5:1-9

• St. Luke 11:14-28

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 

Who speaks to us today, saying,

“And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”

Of course we can answer our Lord and say, that it won’t stand. How can it, as He has already asked. In fact, satan was doomed from the beginning. Its in his name after all. Diabolos, which is the Greek, very literally means to divide. It has the same prefix as “diagonal”, which is to cut across, or draw through two non-adjacent angles, as us nerds would say.

Satan is divided from the start, even against himself. Why? Because on one hand he is a creature of God and knows Him very completely. He understands God’s will of mercy and salvation. On the other hand, he just can’t bring himself to face that scientific fact of God’s will. His will, his heart, and his soul are divided and he will stop at nothing to divide the entire world with him.

And what does this division produce? Fear. And fear produces hypocrisy. Our two groups accusing Jesus today, illustrate this point. The first group that accuses Him of demon possession, is in fact the ones that are demon-possessed, as are all sinners. As we say in our baptismal rite, “Therefore depart, thou unclean spirit and make room for the Holy Spirit” (LSB Agenda, 13).

The second group attempting to tempt Jesus, are in fact afflicted with temptation. So much so, that they are hell-bent on proving that God is the Tempter, and not them, with their own temptations. The vision of their skeptic minds was keen enough to make them blind to any unexpected act too large for their small world of fact (LSB 472:2).

We shout at God along with these two groups: You are not like us! You are not possessed like us. You do not suffer like us! You are not tempted like us! We cast you out like these demons! We will embrace our sinful hypocrisy, since there is no alternative, and instead exorcise the holy from us forever.

The Lord says, “challenge accepted”. You will be given over to your lusts. You will fear, love, and trust everything and anything besides Me. You will take my Name in vain, you will desecrate my Sabbath, you will dishonor father and mother, you will murder, steal, lie, and you will covet.

You will reach a point of disregard for others and self so deep, that you will say, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry” (Lk. 12:19). For when you become strong in that, just as our strong man in the Gospel, you can safeguard your new normal. When everyone agrees with you, there is peace. When you force true unity upon everyone, then utopia is gained.

Jesus says that there is always someone stronger than you and in this case it holds true. For a stronger Man has descended upon the scene and has called out His challenge. In the face of all humanity loving their sins, He in His humanity loves the sinner. 

He who knows no temptation is not so far removed as to not understand temptation, but He proves His point to us by becoming weak enough to have to endure it. He Who does not suffer and is not sorely oppressed by demons, suffers as a Man and allows the demons to have their way of betraying Him, scourging Him, and killing Him. 

The Man Who knew no sin is the God-Man Jesus Christ and He is the stronger man Who takes on the role of domestic terrorist, in order to plunder the devil’s treasure house, the earth. And His victory is complete. Not because His heavy sword of righteous and holy wrath falls upon the devil to end him, but because the heavy weight of responsibility and righteousness falls upon Jesus.

God may be a “man of war” (Ex. 15:3), but God is love (1 Jn 4:8). How can this all be true at the same time? Through God’s selfless act of suffering on the cross for all of you, that’s how. The war that the Lord fights is for the honor and glory of His Name which He has placed upon you and you have soiled with sin. In this fight, there is no other path but the path of love, the upside-down path where the innocent is punished, God, and the guilty go free, you.

Jesus is the stronger man, indeed the strongest man, and spoils the spoiler of his prey, but makes that spoil so wonderful and precious that not even heaven would reject it. He takes the spoils of satan, of the divider, and unites them to Himself, body and soul. There is now no separation and no condemnation in Christ, for sin has been atoned for and hypocrisy has been put away forever.

In the cross, the Lord shields us from temptation and guards us from every evil, even the demonic. There is no fear where Jesus fights for His forgiven sinners, for His war, this perfect love, casts out fear (1 Jn 4:18). His struggle to be cast out as a demon, suffer, die and 3 days later rise again has ended the war and this work has accomplished salvation for all who are baptized and believe.

In Christ, we are given the baptism that breaks the darkness and drives out demons. In Christ, we are given the Supper that ends all ills and woe of body and soul and converts our temptation into hunger for God’s Word. In Christ, we are handed the Word of God in the flesh and are blessed without fear of betrayal or sabotage.

For, in Christ, we have nothing on the line in this deal with God. There is no collateral we have put up, no inheritance we have to divide, and no loved ones we have to give up in order to gain His favor and blessing. It is all on God and His honor and His holiness and His fight to keep His promise to save His people from their sins.

In this blessed baptismal life, we have been given a life that never ends and so we say with Jesus, what can man do to me, if the Lord is my helper? I will not fear (Heb 13:6). “…though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam” (Ps 46:2-3), though “the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain”, though “the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed”, He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me (Heb 13:5).

For if He does not shrink away from a horrible death at the hands of His enemies, that He could have prevented, “how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things” (Rom 8:32), even His entire kingdom (Lk 12:32).

Do not give in to fear. Do not lose hope. Do not turn on those whom you love and treasure. Your Lord has defeated fear and despair to free you to live and love fully and completely. Truly and deeply “relax, eat, drink, be merry”, but do so in the Word and Sacraments that the Lord provides, for they are the way out of this mess. They are the signposts towards the promise of the end of all suffering and pain.

“A man reaps what he sows” and the devil sows division. “A man reaps what he sows” and Jesus sows unity with God. If it divides people, you can be sure the devil’s hand is in it. If the forgiveness of sins is being handed out freely to all people, you can be sure that is God’s unifying hand. Beware of the Divider, but be more aware of the great, personal union you have been given with God and commune with Him as often as possible. 

Apocryphal Mercy [Wednesday in Lent 2]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

 Readings in Holy Scripture

        Additions to Esther 13:8-17

        St. Matthew 20:17-28

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 Jn. 1)

 

This evening, we hear Jesus speak from His holy Scripture. And later on, you will head home and look for Esther chapter 13 in your Bible and you will not find it there. If you are extra curious, you may investigate further and find that many books are mentioned and quoted in your “regular” Bible that are not to be found in a “regular Bible”.

The Book of Jude in the New Testament is our most obvious transgressor here. Obvious because we probably read it more often than the other books I will mention. In v.9 of Jude, he quotes a book by the name of the Assumption of Moses saying, “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.’”

 

And again in v.14-15, he quotes the Book of Enoch saying, “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’”

What are those books? Who wrote them? Why are they not in the Bible if they are quoted in the Bible? On top of those two, there are some 21 other books similarly mentioned and missing from the Bible, including the Book of Jasher mentioned in Joshua 10:13, the Book of the Wars of the Lord in Numbers 21:14, and The Manner of the Kingdom in 1 Samuel 10:25. Most of these are lost to us, but the Additions to Esther, heard this evening, are still to be found in the Apocrypha.

The Apocrypha is part of the Greek Old Testament called the Septuagint. As far as we know, it was compiled two centuries before Jesus’s birth and could be the oldest recorded Bible we have access to. Even older than the Hebrew version we know by several centuries. Does this make one Bible better than another? No. But it does give us more of God to ponder.

During the Reformation, these books were not removed, but were simply called into question regarding their authorship. Since the Apocrypha cannot prove that the books it has were authored by the men it says, we can not be sure of its authority to produce doctrines of faith. Hence the name “apocrypha” means “hidden”, as in the real authors are hidden from us.

But calling them into question does not mean they are worthless to the Church. In fact, Dr. Luther included them in his German translation of the Bible and said “These books are not held equal to the Scriptures, but are useful and good to read.” (LW 35:232).

So what are our lessons for this evening? First, is to realize the depth of the riches and wisdom of God in that He really has been involved with us since the beginning of all things. That He has not stopped caring for His creation and He has not stopped watching over us, such that these apocryphal books and other, non-biblical books of wisdom can be useful to us.

Second, is to repent of our ignorance and inability to comprehend such vastness and of our pride and arrogance in thinking our days are the height of excellence. That we know so much more than our ancestors. In fact, I would argue that we know less.

And third, is to bask in the glory of God’s mercy and grace that He shows to us, even through apocryphal books, and begin to find ourselves praying like Mordecai in the reading from Esther. For we do not deserve to sit at God’s right hand or His left, as the Lord spoke in St. Matthew’s gospel this evening, but in mercy He grants us to drink from His cup and find only forgiveness. In kindness, He grants us His baptism which only restores life and faith.

Going back to our Esther reading: For God does indeed rule over all, as Mordecai tells us and as we hear elsewhere in the Bible, and yet Jesus thinks of men so much that He comes down to save us. No one can resist this plan. Not sin, not death, and not the devil, for who in their right minds would go through with a crucifixion to atone for enemies?

These three foes strive to eliminate us, yet our Lord spares us by drinking to the dregs, God’s wrath and leaving only blessing for us in His cup. This mercy turns our mourning into feasting, not just in eternity next to Him, but even today at this Altar. For we now live in a time where we sing praise to the Lord’s Name in His Divine Service and instead of destroying our sinful mouths, He places His true Body and true Blood in them, fulfilling His promise to us.

Mordecai of course is praying for the Messiah to come and do His work that He promised to do. Of ruling in mercy, saving by grace, justifying by faith, all of which are only found in the cross of Christ. There is no other way to interpret his prayer or any other part of the Bible or books in it that claim to talk about God.

So read and enjoy the Additions to Esther, the Book of Wisdom, and the Maccabees. Enjoy the non-biblical snippets of wisdom God grants to all people in Aesop, poetry, and other classics. And hear in them the rest and relief of having a God that is near and not far off, not just sharing in wisdom, but sharing in life and Body and Blood.