Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kerrville Texas

Luke 2:41-52

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

During the Christmas season we heard great things about the child who was born to Mary. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she will conceive and bear a son who will be called the Son of God (Lk 1:35). The angel appeared to her betrothed husband, Joseph, in a dream to tell him that that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and that He will save His people from their sins (Mt 1:20-21). On the night in which Jesus was born, angels appeared to shepherds and told them the child they would find wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger was the Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Lk 2:11). Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2:19). When Jesus was presented in the temple, Simeon calls the salvation that God has prepared for all people, a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of His people Israel. Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him (Lk 2:33). Simeon also told them that their child was destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (Lk 2:34). The prophetess Anna spoke of the child to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Lk 2:38). Many great things had been said of the child before and after His birth. Mary and Joseph heard them all, believed them, and treasured them.

But it was no until His twelfth year that Jesus showed any indication of any indication that He was no normal child. When He was twelve, He and His parents went up to Jerusalem from Nazareth for the Feast of Passover with their relatives and friends. They celebrated the yearly celebration of the exodus from Egypt. They ate the Passover lamb. They did all the Lord commanded in His law. After the feast was completed, they went home, back to Nazareth. At the end of the first day of travel, Joseph and Mary looked for him among their relatives and friends. When they don’t find Him, they return to Jerusalem to look for Him. Any parent can imagine not knowing where their child is. Imagine the frantic searching. Imagine what they were both feeling. God Himself had given them His only begotten Son to care for, raise, and protect. And they’ve lost Him. When they find Him three days later Mary gives us a glimpse into the terror she felt when she says, “Look, Your father and I have sought you anxiously.” She uses the same word the rich man in Hades uses when tells Abraham, “I am tormented in this flame” (Lk 16:24). Mary is in agony of conscience as she searches for her son.

They search for three days, and on the third day they find the boy. He was just fine. He’s in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. The Lord gave the priests the responsibility to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses in Leviticus 10:11. Jesus sits there listening to their teaching. He not only listens but asks them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. What sorts of questions did He ask? What sort of answers did He give? No doubt He spoke about the true meaning of the commandments, that they touched not just the outward act but the entire man, including his heart. He no doubt spoke about how the Passover lambs which had been sacrificed and eaten just over a week before prefigured the Messiah and the exodus He would lead from sin and death. When Joseph and Mary come to the temple on the third day of their search, His mother has words for Him. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” The twelve-year-old Jesus asks His mother, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Luke tells us that they didn’t understand this at the time, but that His mother kept all these things in her heart.

Today is the first Sunday after Epiphany. Epiphany was yesterday, January 6. Epiphany is a Greek word which means “manifestation.” Throughout the season of Epiphany, we hear in the appointed gospels how Jesus manifested His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Although He conceals His divinity under human weakness, although He lives a perfectly human life, during this season we will see Jesus manifest His divine glory and power in several different ways. Usually, He manifests His glory through miracles. But today He manifests His divine glory in a different way, so that we know Him as the only begotten of God the Father.

He manifests this first by staying behind in Jerusalem even as Joseph and His mother left for home. By staying behind, Jesus demonstrates that He is not under Mary and Joseph’s parental authority by nature. Our children, before they reach adulthood, are under our authority. This is God’s order, so that children are cared for, protected, and most of all, be brought up in the training and admonition of the Lord as Paul writes in Ephesians 6:4. And God commands children to be subject to their parents and to live respectfully under their parents’ authority. He tells says in the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother.” (Ex 20:12). Paul tells children, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord” (Eph 6:1), whenever they tell you do what pleasing to God. Parents have no authority to command their children to sin and act against God’s word. If they do, they aren’t to be obeyed. Mary and Joseph weren’t acting outside their office as Jesus’ parents. But Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem as a testimony to the fact that, although Mary was His mother and Joseph His God-assigned guardian, Jesus owes primary obedience to His heavenly Father as the only begotten Son of God the Father. He is more than man, more than Mary’s son. He is the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus also manifests His divine glory, His divine sonship, by His questions and answers to the priests. Jesus was respectful of their office as priests. He listens to them. But He also taught them the truth of God’s word in a childlike way, so that all who heard Him—even these priests who had spent their entire lives studying the law—were astonished at His understanding and answers. He manifests His divine glory to His parents finally when He responds to Mary’s exasperation and asks, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” God’s business is His word, His will, His law, and His promises. He is her son, but He is primarily God’s Son, about His Father’s business, and He will demonstrate this all the more during the days of His earthly ministry. He will teach those willing to learn. He will chide those who think they have need to learn from Him. He will heal the sick, give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, and raise the dead, each miracle manifesting His divine glory.  His divine glory will chiefly be seen in being delivered up because of our offenses, and being raised because of our justification (Rom 4:25). But for now, once this brief epiphany in the temple comes to an end, Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. He lived a regular childhood, subject to his parents’ authority, gladly and joyfully doing all that His mother and Joseph told Him to do.

In this first manifestation of His divine glory, He shows Himself to be the only begotten Son of God in human flesh. The Son of God becomes a son of man so that we all who believe in Him might receive received the adoption as sons (Gal 4:5) by faith and baptism. Through faith and baptism, God adopts us as His sons and daughters, forgives all our sins, promises us eternal salvation, and gives us His Holy Spirit so that we might live as our older brother in the flesh, Jesus, lived. He is our Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. He is also our example and pattern. This epiphany shows us that God establishes authority and wants it honored, for Jesus willingly subjects Himself to Mary and Joseph. This is an example for children, but for adults also who are under authority, that they may obediently live under the authorities God has established—except when them command us to sin. Jesus shows us that such obedience is God-pleasing by subjecting Himself to His parents’ authority.

In this first of Jesus’ epiphanies, as He manifests His divine glory as the son of God, He teaches us that as sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, we, too, should be about our heavenly Father’s business. Our Father’s business is His word, His will, His law, and His promises. God has given each us lots of business that needs attending each day. But in the midst of fulfilling the duties God has given us to one another, we mustn’t neglect our Father’s business; meditating on His Word so that in the joy of the gospel we live by His commandments for our good, for our neighbor’s benefit, and for God’s glory. All that we do, regardless of our business, should flow from the fact that we are about our heavenly Father’s business, and we are about His business because by faith He has made us His sons and daughters, forgives our sins, and raises us to new life each day to live even as Christ lives. Amen.

May the peace of God which surpassess all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Galatians 4:1-7 & Luke 2:33–40

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Even though today is the seventh day of Christmas, this Sunday’s gospel lesson takes us to the fortieth day of Jesus’ life. Mary and Joseph bring the child to the temple in Jerusalem for her purification. Moses wrote in Leviticus 12[:2-4], “If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.” Since Mary had given birth to a male child, she was ceremonially unclean for forty days. This taught Israel about original sin that was passed from parents to children, the necessity of having God forgive it, and the necessity of fighting against the flesh’s inborn lusts and temptations. Christ is born of a woman, born under the law, to show that He is the fulfillment of the law. In this case, that He is the purification for original sin that all people conceived in the natural way contact from sinful parents.

It was also the day in which Mary and Joseph would redeem their male child. The Lord said in Numbers 18:15-16, “Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver.” Luke tells us in verse 24 that they went to offer a pair of turtle doves, but he doesn’t mention the lamb, nor does the evangelist tell us that Mary and Joseph redeemed Jesus with five shekels. There was no need to bring a lamb, for they presented the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Nor was their need to redeem their Firstborn, rather, they presented their Firstborn as the redemption for Israel.

It was at this point that that an aged man by the name of Simeon entered the temple. Simeon was a just man—righteous by faith—and devout—living according to law of the Lord. Luke writes that Simeon was waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ “(Lk 2:25-26). He came to temple by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, took Mary’s child up in his arms, blessed God and said words which you ought to find very familiar. He says, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Lk 2:29-32). The Holy Spirit fulfilled His word to Simeon. He had seen the Lord’s Anointed One. Now He can depart this life in peace because the Lord has fulfilled His word not just to him, but to all Israel. These words—which words which we sing after receiving the same Christ’s body and blood— are the words that Mary and Joseph marveled over at the beginning of today’s gospel.

But Simeon isn’t finished. He blesses them and says to Mary, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” These words are quite different from his first words. Yes, this child is God’s salvation, which He prepared for all people. Yes, this child is a light to the Gentiles as the prophets foretold, for through faith in this child the Gentiles will enter the kingdom of God. Yes, this child is the glory of the people of Israel. But not all will see the child for who and what He is. The child is appointed for the fall of many in Israel. Many will stumble over Mary’s Son and fall into Hell. Those who stumble on account of Him will not only stumble, they will speak against Him so as to excuse their fall.

Some will be offended at His lowliness and humility. They’ll say, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works Is this not the carpenter’s son?” Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Mt 14:54-56). Others will be scandalized by His claim that God is His Father, and that by this He is making Himself equal with God (Jn 5:18). Stumbling over the Holy One of Israel in human flesh, they’ll call Him Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons (Mt 12:24). Still others will be scandalized by the fact that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mt 9:13), and that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before those who trust their own righteousness (Mt 21:31). While they pretend piety, their reaction to Mary’s Son will reveal the thoughts of their hearts to be self-righteous, self-centered, and self-worshiping. In their rejection of her Son, Mary’s heart would be pierced through as well, for she would have to watch as their fall brought about her Son’s bitter, innocent suffering and death.

But this child is also appointed for the rising of many in Israel. Those who are poor and lowly before God, those who hear Christ’s teaching and humble themselves in repentance, these will rise. They will rise from spiritual death to life by the forgiveness of their sins, for where there is forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation. They will rise from being outsiders to being sons of God by the adoption that comes through faith in the Firstborn who was presented in the temple as the world’s redemption price. They will rise from a life of dead works done by coercion to the new life of love by the Holy Spirit who will bear His fruit in all who believe. And even though they die, they will yet live, for they will rise again in the resurrection at the last day (Jn 11:24) since they heard His voice in His Word, believed Him while living, and by faith in His Word passed from death into life (Jn 5:24). This child is appointed for the rising of many in Israel: the first resurrection of faith and the second resurrection to life on the Last Day, and the resurrection to the life of godliness each day in between.

Simeon finishes prophesying as the prophetess Anna enters the Temple. She was a widow of great age, having lived as a widow for 84 after seven years of marriage. As an unmarried woman she cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, serving in fasting and prayer without distraction as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7[:34-35]. She enters the temple while Simeon is holding the child. She hears His words, believes them, and gives thanks to the Lord for the redemption of the Lord. She then speaks of the child to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. While many looked for redemption from Rome, Anna speaks to those who looked for true redemption, redemption from sin, death, and the devil. To all those who looked for God’s redemption, Anna speaks to them about this child, telling them that she, who has seen terrible things befall the Jews during her long life, has now seen God’s redemption with her own eyes.

There is much for us to marvel at, ponder, and meditate upon in this little gospel. Like Mary and Joseph, we can marvel over Simeon’s words that we sing as the Nunc Dimittis after receiving Christ bodily in the Lord’s Supper, so that we can—whenever the Lord beckons us—depart this life in peace according to His Word, since our eyes have seen, our lips have tasted, and our hearts experienced Christ’s salvation. We should ponder Simeon’s prophecy that this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and use it fortify ourselves, so that we aren’t scandalized when many fall on account of Christ and His doctrine and think that we should change our teaching to better suit what people want to hear. We should meditate each day upon the resurrection we experience by dying to sin through repentance and rising by faith in Christ to live before God in in righteousness and purity. We can ponder at the example of Anna, who accepts the vocation of widowhood as an invitation to serve the Lord by fastings and prayers without distraction, and apply that to ourselves, so that we accept the vocation God gives us—single, married, widowed, or widowered—and serve God and our neighbor in our vocations. We can marvel at the advanced age of both Simeon and Anna, and how in spite of their age, they were still serving the Lord as they were able and be encouraged so that even if all we can do is pray because of our age, we do that faithfully and fervently. But most of all, we must marvel at the child who is our redemption and consolation and give thanks for Him always. Amen.

May the peace of God which supasses understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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John 1:1-14

Grace to you and peace from God theFather and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In yesterday’s epistle, St. Paul exhorted us to , “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4).  While that is the will of God for us every day, we ought to rejoice all the more on this day of our Lord’s nativity. The child born of the Virgin Mary, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manager is God the Word, the one of whom St. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word is eternal, being with God from the beginning. The Word was God, John says. He does not say that the Word became God, or that the Word was created by God in the beginning to stand alongside God or next to God. The Word was not fashioned like the rest of creation. The Word simply was. He has always existed, being eternally generated from the God the Father in a way that is ineffable and indescribable and unfathomable to our finite minds. The Word is intrinsic to God’s nature. Paul describes Him in a similar fashion in this morning’s Epistle lesson. He is “the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). As light without brightness is not light, so God without the Word cannot be, for “the Word was God.” Nor could a created being ever suffice to be God’s radiance and brightness, nor could a creature ever faithfully reflect the invisible God as the “express image of His person.”

This is the One who is born in human flesh on this day. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The eternal Word of God, the brightness of the everlasting Light, the One by whom all things were made that were made, comes into the world through the womb of the Virgin Mary. In Him we see “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” So the One born of Mary is eternal Word of the Father, brightness of the Father’s light, and the Only-Begotten Son of God, begotten before all worlds, God from God, light from light, very God from very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. The Son born of Mary is therefore the Only-Begotten Son of God. This is why we ought to doubly rejoice on this day: The Son of God becomes a Son of Man. He does not become flesh by changing from God into man, so that He ceases to be God, nor does He become a third thing, a hybrid of God and Man. The Word became flesh, that is, the eternal Word wrapped Himself in human flesh and clothed Himself with our full humanity in the womb of Mary. The whole human existence. Human body. Human soul. He becomes like us in every aspect, except that He is without sin.

 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” He doesn’t do this out of necessity, as if His nature drove Him to become man. He doesn’t assume human flesh to be a tourist among us to see what its like to be man. Everything the eternal Word does is for us and our salvation. The Son of God becomes a Son of Man so that all men who believe in Him might become sons of God. Mankind rebelled against God the Lord in the Garden of Eden and that sin of Adam and Eve is passed on through every successive generation, so that all are sinners and therefore all continue in sin. Adam and Eve’s transgression brought corruption into their souls and death to their bodies. The corruption of sin infects everyone throughout human history who is born in the natural way, of the seed of woman and the seed of man. Death, which is the earned wage of sin, stalks all humanity, a fact which we are all too familiar with in our own lives. We die because we sin. We sin because we are born of the line of Adam and Eve. Without a gracious God to intervene, all humanity would be lost in sin, death, and remain forever in the thralldom of the devil. This is the reason for the incarnation, the enfleshment, of the eternal Son of God. In love for His creation, God the Father would not allow the creation to languish in sin and its corruption. In compassion for poor sinners, God the Father sends God the Son into world to redeem the world. In mercy, God the Father sends God the Son to become flesh so that through Him, all flesh might made incorruptible and taste everlasting life once again. “For God so love the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son” to become flesh, to become man, to redeem man from sin and death.

We rejoice in this incarnation of the eternal Son of God because by it, He becomes our brother in this life, made like us every way, excepting sin. And as our brother in the flesh He does what Adam and all sons of Adam are unable to do. He becomes like us in every way, excepting sin, so that He might suffer and die in your place to atone for our sin. Paul says again that “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9). God the Son was made a little lower than the angels, meaning He was made man so that He might suffer and “taste death for everyone.” He tastes death upon the cross for all mankind to atone for the sins of the all mankind. For “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). The sacrifice of a mere man could never suffice to pay the debt of even that man’s sin. The death of a creature, someone created by God, would never suffice as the propitiation for the sins of the entire world. Therefore it must be God’s blood that is spilled and God’s death as payment for men’s sins. This is why He becomes flesh, so that He might suffer in the flesh for all your sins, die in the flesh for all your transgressions, and atone for the corruption which sin has brought about in your flesh to do away with all of it.

That atonement which the incarnate God wins upon the cross He then gives to all who believe in His Gospel. This atonement acquired by God the Son through His innocent, bitter sufferings and death, is presented to you in the Gospel and is received by faith. St. John writes, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” There will always be men who reject the Gospel and cast it aside in unbelief. Those who do not believe the Gospel will not be justified before God. Their sins are not forgiven because they disbelieve the Gospel. But all who receive the Him in the Gospel and believe that in Christ God is gracious to them and desires to forgive their sins, they have as they believe.

Faith is what grabs hold of the gifts Christ wins for us in the flesh. Faith is how we receive the promise of the Gospel that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By faith we receive the forgiveness of all of our sins, eternal life, and the adoption as sons, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26). This is what St. John means when he writes, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” Through faith in Christ and His atonement – that His work is for me and my salvation – that is what makes one a child of God. This means that the Son of God became man so that all who believe in Him might become sons of God and enjoy all the blessings of divine sonship. Faith makes you into a Son of God, not in the same way that Christ is the Son of God. He is the Son of God by nature and essence. But you are sons of God through faith, adopted into the heavenly family. In this adoption Christ gives you the forgiveness of all your sins. By faith He gives you a new, incorruptible heart in which the Triune God dwells. Because you are a son of God by faith, you share in all the divine blessings which Christ has by nature, so that you are a joint-heir with Christ of His heavenly innocence, righteousness and blessedness.

This is why rejoice at the incarnation of the Son of God. God the Son takes on our flesh to purify human flesh from the corruption of sin. He tastes death for us so that all who believe His Gospel will have life even though they die. This is the reason we join with angel choirs and praise God for His great work of salvation. God the Word becomes man to suffer and die to atone for our sins so that when we believe that our sins are forgiven, they are no more. God the Son becomes man so that all who believe in Him might become sons of God by faith, sons that enjoy all the eternal inheritance of Christ for our salvation and His eternal glory. “Rejoice in the Lord always.” For the Son of God has assumed our flesh and made us, by faith, into Sons of God. Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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Luke 2.1-20

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, nearly five-hundred years before Christ’s birth, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream. In his dream he saw an image of a man. The man’s head was fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver. Its belly and thighs were made of bronze. Its legs were iron, its feet partly iron and partly clay. Then Nebuchadnezzar sees a stone being cut, except the stone isn’t cut by human hands. The stone strikes the image at its feet. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan 2:31-35).

God gives knowledge of the dream and its interpretation to His servant, Daniel, and Daniel interprets the dream for Nebuchadnezzar. He is head of gold. After him, a kingdom will arise which will be inferior to his kingdom. This is the image’s silver chest and arms. Then another kingdom will follow the silver kingdom, inferior to it as bronze is inferior to silver. A fourth kingdom will arise which will be as strong as iron, and it will break in pieces and crush all the others (Dan 2:40), but it will also be partly fragile, as iron and clay do not adhere to one another. It is the days of the fourth kingdom that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan 2:44).

The first kingdom was Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, Babylon. The second kingdom, inferior to Babylon as silver is inferior to gold, was the Medes and Persians, who conquered Babylon. The third kingdom, inferior to the Medes and Persians as bronze is inferior to silver, was Alexander the Great and the Greeks who ruled after him. The fourth kingdom, with the strength of iron, yet the fragility of clay, was the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar began the process of changing the republic into an empire, but that was interrupted by his assignation. His grand-nephew and heir, Gaius Octavius, finished the job in 29 BC and two years later was given the title Augustus. He established peace throughout the empire and economic prosperity for all the peoples under rule.

As Augustus establishes his kingdom among men, God goes about establishing another kingdom. This kingdom is not of gold, silver, bronze, or iron. It is of stone, specifically a stone which Nebuchadnezzar saw cut from mountain not by human hands. It is an everlasting kingdom that will break all earthly kingdoms, outlasting them all. The stone, which is cut from the mountain but not by human hands, is our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father begets a Son from eternity that is of the same substance, so that the Son is stone from stone, God from God, light from light, true God from true God. God the Son becomes man without human involvement, either. He becomes flesh by being conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the power of God the Holy Spirit. As true God and true man, He will build a kingdom Himself, not relying upon the shoulders of slaves and servants, tax revenue and machines of war. “The government will be upon His shoulder.” He will establish it Himself. He will maintain it Himself by His divine power. “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.” The kingdoms of this earth may be gold, silver, bronze, and iron, but this stone—cut from the mountain without human hands—will strike all of them down and become a great mountain which fills the whole earth.

And how is He brought forth? How does He enter the world to establish His reign over all kingdoms of the world? Like this: “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Christ enters the world in humility, poverty, and insignificance. Everything the world despises, thinks little of, and works to avoid, He embraces. He is king of kings and Lord of lords, yet his mother and guardian are subservient to Caesar. The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein (Ps 24:1), yet there is no room for them in town of Bethlehem, so that Mary must give birth where the animals are kept, and Christ’s first bed is a feeding trough. Even though in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9), He conceals His divine power under human frailty and weakness. He gives a glimpse of it when He is twelve years old, and during His ministry in His miracles, but otherwise, He lives a completely human life, except without sin.

From a worldly perspective this is not how you establish a kingdom, a reign, a rule over people. But His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is not a tract of land, a sovereign state, or even a millennial reign on earth. Jesus says in Luke 17[:20-21], “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” St. Paul says that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking—meaning, the things of this life like bodily sustenance and government—but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). Christ reigns over men—in men’s hearts—by His gospel, the good news that He has come to call sinners to repentance, so that they may daily enjoy the forgiveness He earns for all mankind by His death on the cross. He reigns in the hearts of believers through His Holy Spirit so that they have peace of conscience, for they believe their sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. He reigns in the hearts of believers through His Holy Spirit so that they have joy of heart which no one or no thing in this life—even suffering and death—can take from them.

Those whose hearts are set on the things of this world cannot receive this kingdom. Those who imagine that if they have the things of this life in abundance, then they have a God who is good and gracious, cannot enter into it. Those whose concern is for eating and drinking—the things of this life like bodily sustenance, wealth, and government—will only be disappointed at the kingdom Christ establishes. For in this life, His kingdom looks small, insignificant, and despised, just as it did during the days of His earthly life. This is why the angel did not appear to the rulers or the rich, but shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night, some of the lowest people on the pecking order. Only the humble before God can receive Him rightly and enjoy the blessings of His kingdom. Only the spiritually poor can appreciate that the government is on His shoulders, that He bears their burden and gives them all things because they have nothing to offer. It is also why after they see the child, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them, for they received the kingdom through faith in God’s word, were given righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Many will have none of this, their hearts set on the kingdom of this world. But the words of the psalmist are true: “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23). Christ is the stone that struck the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Though He came in lowliness, He is the rock of our salvation, and His kingdom goes forth whenever His Word is purely preached and His sacraments administered as He commanded, because through these He enters men’s hearts and establishes His reign in them. The kingdoms of this world will come, and they will go. But blessed is the one in whom Christ reigns daily for repentance from sin, for forgiveness, for righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Philippians 4.4–7 & John 1.19–28

Grace to you and peace from God our Father the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We’re looking forward to Christmas. It’s the main event at this point. And that being the case, it’s very easy to overlook John. Afterall, there’s nothing splendid about him. He isn’t the Christ himself. He isn’t Elijah the Tishbite come back down from heaven in a whirlwind and chariots of fire. He isn’t the Prophet promised by Moses. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” That’s all. It would be easy to disregard him, to overlook him, and not pay any attention to his testimony.

That’s what the Jews send from Jerusalem end up doing, after all. The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” This was a big deal. Jerusalem was the religious center of Judaism. The temple and priesthood were there. The Sanhedrin—the council of the elders of Israel—was there. It was probably the Sanhedrin who sent this delegation to Bethabara where John was baptizing. This delegation of priests and Levites from Jerusalem were sent out into the wilderness for one purpose: To find out who John thinks he is to preaching and baptizing as he is.

There must have been rumors circulating that John was the Messiah, because John confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” He lays that rumor to rest immediately. The delegation presses further, “What then? Are you Elijah?” This is a legitimate question. The Lord had said through the prophet Malachi, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Mal 4:5-6). Based on this prophecy, the Jews imagined that Elijah the Tishbite himself would return before the coming of the Messiah. John simply confesses, “I am not.” Then they ask, “Are you the Prophet?” They may have been asking him if he was a prophet, but it seems more likely that they were asking him if he was the prophet, the one whom the Lord foretold through Moses. He said in Deuteronomy 18:18-19, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” John simply replies, “No.”

With that confession, John pushes aside every bit of speculation as to who he is and every vain conceit that would come with it. But he will not be mistaken for the Messiah who comes to save Israel. He will not speak evasively so that people may still think he’s Elijah, come back from heaven. He won’t let anyone postulate that he is the Prophet. Nor will He allow anyone to give him an ounce of glory that belongs to another. But the delegation has a job to do, and we can almost hear the exasperation as they ask him again, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” So, John answers and confesses: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

John has nothing more to say about himself than what the prophet Isaiah said centuries before. Isaiah said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’” John is this voice, crying out—preaching—that all people must prepare the way of the Lord. He speaks of people’s hearts. The valleys are the lower things in the human heart—sin, lust, covetousness, and the like—these are to be repented of and leveled out.  The mountains and hills are pride, spiritual arrogance, and the conceit which causes men to think more highly of themselves than they ought. These sins are hard and unyielding, so they must be demolished just as earthly mountains and hills are demolished in preparation for a highway to be built. The crooked places and rough places are sin as well, and these must be reconfigured through repentance.

This answer doesn’t suit the delegation from Jerusalem though. “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” It wasn’t that they had a problem with the idea of baptism for repentance and the remission of sins (Luke 3:3). The Lord prophesied in Ezekiel 36[:25-26] that when the Messiah came, He would sprinkle clean water on His people and cleanse them from the filthiness of idolatry and give them new hearts which loved His law. He prophesied in Zechariah 13[:1] that in the days of the Messiah a fountain would be opened for His people “for sin and for uncleanness.” Their problem wasn’t with the idea that John was baptizing for the forgiveness of sin. Their problem was that if John wasn’t the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet, he had no business baptizing for the forgiveness of sin. They’re effectively saying, “Where is your call to do this?”

John replies by telling them precisely who called him to preach repentance and baptize for the remission of sins. He says, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” The One who stands among them is the Christ. He is a man. He stands among the Jews. He is among them even now. But although he comes after John in time—born after John, began His ministry after John—He is before John, because He is the eternal Son of God. John knows this because he had already baptized Him, seen the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend and remain upon Him, and testified that this one is the Son of God. People want to think John is the Christ, but John confesses that he isn’t worthy even to loosen the sandal strap of the one who comes after Him because He is before him, being the eternal Son of God, the Lord Himself.

That is why everyone must prepare the way of the LORD and make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The One whom he heralds is the Lord God in human flesh. And the Lord God comes with to bring comfort, pardon, and peace to those oppressed by sin and its guilt. But for the Christ to enter the heart and bestow these blessings, the way must be prepared through penitence. Christ wants to come with forgiveness, peace for the conscience, and the Holy Spirit for living a new life. Unrepented sin—sin that we hold onto because our flesh likes it, sin that we protect because it comforts us—makes highway crooked and rough so that the Christ cannot enter with His forgiveness, peace, and the Holy Spirit. To those who do not prepare their hearts through repentance, Christ brings judgment, wrath, and condemnation. At the heart of impenitence is pride, which does not want to be wrong, does not want to humble itself, because it wants some of the glory for itself.

The answer is humility. Humility is always the first step of preparing the royal highway within one’s heart: acknowledging the sin, confessing that by that sin we have angered God, deserved His wrath, hurt ourselves, and others; and the humbling looking to Christ for forgiveness, not for any reason or cause within ourselves, but for the sake of His merits and death alone. The humility of penitence prepares our hearts, so that the gospel truly is good news to our heart and joy to our conscience. John’s testimony and example teaches us to prepare our hearts so that, believing the gospel, we may rejoice in the Lord always, with gentleness toward others, and prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving toward God.

The humility of repentance and the joy the gospel gives leads to more humility, and in this, John is our example.  John could have puffed himself up at the fact that such an important delegation from Jerusalem had come to see him of all people. He could have gloried in the fact that the crowds were flocking to hear him and be baptized by him. But for John it isn’t about John. It’s about the one coming after him, whose sandal strap he was not worthy to loose.  It is about Jesus and preparing His way. He is not the Christ. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD,’ as the prophet Isaiah said. God called him to prepare a penitent people who would receive the Christ in humility and joy. Do not pass over John on the way to Christmas, but let His testimony prepare your hearts to receive Christ in the right way. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Matthew 11:2-10

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

From prison, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus and puts this question to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” It seems that Jesus’ ministry clashed with John’s expectations. John had preached that the Coming One would have His winnowing fan in hand to thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12). He would sift between repentant believers and the wicked. He would gather repentant believers to Himself, much as a farmer gathers wheat into his barn. But the impenitent and wicked He would burn up as chaff. Except that wasn’t happening. Jesus wasn’t separating the believing from the unbelieving. The righteous were not thriving. The impenitent weren’t experiencing the fiery condemnation of God’s wrath. In fact, the entire reason John was in prison was that he rebuked the ruler, Herod, for his evil works, especially for taking his brother Philip’s wife as his own. Thus the question: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

Jesus responds, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Jesus points John to the very ministry which seems to clash with his expectations. What do John’s disciples see? The blind receiving their sight; the lame walking, lepers cleansed of their leprosy, the ears of the deaf opened, the dead raised to life, and most importantly, the poor have the gospel preached to them. By poor, He doesn’t mean the financially poor. He means the spiritually poor, as He says in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” To be spiritually poor is to be a spiritual beggar, to be emptyhanded before God, and desire only to receive His merciful help and consolation. To the spiritually poor the gospel is good news because it offers them forgiveness of every sin, new life, and the promise of eternal salvation and blessedness with a merciful God. But to the spiritually arrogant who think they need nothing from God, or need just a little bit from God, the gospel is not good news, but something to be despised, thought little of, and passed by. They stumble at Jesus’ humility and the fact that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt 9:13).

Jesus’ ministry fulfills much of what the prophets—and John himself—foretold about Him. There are a few things left to fulfill at His second advent. When Christ returns in glory He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12), as John and the prophets preached. For now, though, He encourages John and leaves him with this word: “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” “Do not stumble over the fact that at this time I come in mercy. This was foretold by the prophets. Do not be scandalized by the fact that the fiery judgment is not yet. It will come, but now I come in blessing to call sinners to repentance, so that all who believe will be spared from the wrath to come. Do not stumble because of what you see and hear in Me, but keep to the course, even to death.”

As John’s disciples leave to take Jesus’ word back John, Jesus turns to the multitude that was present and teaches them what He had just taught John’s disciples: that He is the Coming One, and they should check their expectations against Scripture as well. He asks them about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” Of course not. John was not a reed shaken by the wind. He wasn’t a man who told people what they wanted to hear, blowing back and forth in his answer depending on who was asking. John was the opposite. He was unwavering and had the same message for everyone: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt 3:2). Jesus continues, “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.” John wasn’t dressed in royal style. He was clothed in camel’s hair, course clothing, with a leather belt around his waist, as the prophet Elijah had worn (Matt 3:4; 2 Kings 1:8). They did not go out to see someone who would speak softly and offer them luxurious living. They went out to see this course and severe preacher who preached a course and severe message of repent and bear the fruit of repentance in your lives.

Christ continues, “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’” John was indeed a prophet, but far greater than a prophet. All the prophets before God pointed to the future and said, “He is Coming!” John, however, stands on the banks of the Jordan and proclaims, “He is here!” even pointing at Jesus with his finger as He says, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). John is more than a prophet. He is whom the Lord promised to send to before the Lord and make people ready to receive Him. John comes as a preacher of repentance. He condemns everyone in their sins so that they recognize their spiritual poverty. This, then, is how John goes before the Lord to prepare His way. If Jesus is going to preach the gospel to the poor, the poor have to know that they’re poor. If they think they are spiritually wealthy they will be offended at Christ’s gospel. If they think they are righteous as they are, by themselves, they will stumble at the Christ who did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt 9:13).

As it was then, so it is now, and shall be until Christ returns in glory. Many are offended because of Him. They have certain expectations of Him that, when they are unmet, they stumble and begin looking for another to come in His place. Some, recognizing that He is the Coming One, try to recast Him in their own image, in the image of their expectations. Jesus’ questions to the crowd about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” show us the false expectations that many have of Christ. Many today expect Jesus to be a reed shaken by the wind. They want Him to be pliable and yielding so that nobody is being condemned for their choices. They want Jesus to be flexible about fornication, to ignore people’s idolatry, to wink at their worship of other gods, to divert His eyes from their drunkenness, and pass over their perversions. But their expectations are dashed against the rocks when Jesus’ begins His ministry with the same message John preached, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). So, they stumble and either fall away, or must ignore Jesus’ words He preaches against sin to show people their true need for Him.

Others expect Him to be a man clothed in soft garments. They expect Jesus to offer believers a luxurious, soft life that is easy. They anticipate that Jesus will avert all affliction. They expect Him to engineer a hedge of protection around them that no evil can penetrate. They suppose that Jesus will shoo away all suffering of this life. But Jesus dashes this expectation to the ground when He calls the believer to deny himself daily and take up the cross of suffering in this life for the sake of the gospel and living a godly life. “For whoever desires to save his life—this earthly way of life—will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). Others expect Him to be a prophet and nothing more. If Jesus is just a prophet, a good teacher, then He is not the Coming One, and they can look for someone else who suits their tastes and preferences better.

 But Jesus arrives on His own terms, and He must be accepted on these terms. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Him. For if we cannot accept Jesus as He is, we stumble from Him and He will not accept us. Jesus comes to preach good news to the poor. Admit your spiritual poverty—your sins,  your sinful nature, and your great need—so that He may preach the good news to you. The good news is that He comes to earn perfect forgiveness for every sin, so that all who believe in Him have the forgiveness of sins and His perfect righteousness. The good news is that He gives the Holy Spirit to all who ask so that they may be up to the task of fighting their sinful nature in its lusts and temptations. The good news is that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor 8:9), not in the things of this life, but in heavenly treasures and eternal blessedness with the Triune God. Be on guard, lest you become offended at what you see and hear from Jesus. Watch, lest you stumble because you expect something different from Jesus than the kind of Jesus He is. And daily receive Him as the Coming One on His terms, confessing your sins, believing His good news, and receiving the Holy Spirit to live holy lives. Blessed is the one who is not offended because of Him, but hears the good news, believes it, and rejoices. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Romans 15:4–13 and Luke 21:25–36

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

If there is one question that I have been asked repeatedly in past few years, it is, “Do you think we’re living in the end times?” The answer, of course, is yes. We are living in the end times. Look at the signs Jesus foretells in today’s gospel lesson. They show us clearly that we are most certainly in the last days of the world. Jesus says, “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars.” We experience these signs regularly. How often do we hear of comets, meteor showers, blood moons, and things like that? Kerrville was right in the path of the annular eclipse nearly two months ago. On April 8 of next year, Kerrville will be in the path of the solar eclipse. They’re forecasting that we’ll experience 4 minutes and 25 seconds of the moon’s disk completely covering the sun. Those eclipses—every eclipse and movement in the heavens—are signs that Christ will return.

Along with these signs there will be “On the earth distress of nations, with perplexity.” We see this regularly as well. There are wars and rumors of wars, economic uncertainty and social unrest in different places and different times. But this distress is anguish of the heart and agony conscience that comes from bearing one’s sin and guilt. To this Jesus adds another natural phenomena we experience regularly—the sea and the waves roaring—floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, and the like. Those who know that there will be an end for this world but love the things of this world and don’t want it end, their hearts will faint from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then, at the time appointed by God the Father, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

The world sees these signs and dismisses them as natural phenomena. How many people will descend upon Kerrville and other cities in the path of the 2024 eclipses’ totality, see it only as a natural phenomenon, then back to their lives? How many people hear of wars and rumors of wars, economic uncertainty and social unrest around the country and globe, and are unmoved in the slightest bit? How many experience the distress of conscience and try to remove their guilt by their works, by comparing themselves to others whom they think are worse, or using some substance or the things of this life to dull their distress and pacify their perplexity? How many will see the flooding of rivers, the devastation of hurricanes, and other things like this and dismiss them natural phenomena, which, with a bit of human ingenuity and engineering, we can eventually overcome? It isn’t that these aren’t natural phenomena. It is that Christ has taught us to view these natural phenomena as signs of His coming. What Christians are taught to see as signs of Christ’s return, unbelievers and hypocrites see as ‘business as usual,’ and go about their lives as if there is no end, no reward for the righteousness of faith, and no punishment for wickedness and unbelief.

Since all these things are signs that Christ is returning, the Christian should use them strengthen his faith. Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Look up! Don’t allow yourself to filled with fear at as you recognize these signs. Be cheerful. Rejoice! Why? Because your redemption draws near. The very thing for which you pray every day when you pray, “Lead us not into temptation” and “Deliver us from evil,” that is what Christ brings with Him. On that Day we will experience our final redemption from the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, so that these enemies no longer harass us.  On that Day Christ will say to all who believe, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34). On that Day, the door to the wedding feast will be opened to all who have persevered in faith unto the end. On the day of our Lord’s glorious appearing, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn 3:2), and we shall experience the blessedness of eternal life with the Triune God, the holy angels, and all the saints. This is why when these things begin to happen—when we see these signs in the sun, moon, stars, seas, nations, and people—we look up and recall that our redemption draws near, or as Paul said in last week’s epistle from Romans 13[:11], “Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Just as the budding of the trees tells us summer approaches, every sign tells us that the kingdom of God, which we pray would come, is close at hand.

Then He says something curious. Truly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” What does He mean, “This generation will be no means pass away till all things take place?” It doesn’t mean that all these things—including His return in glory—will happen during the lifetime of the apostles. That would mean that Christ’s word wasn’t fulfilled, that it passed away. No, the generation which will by no means pass away till all things take place is more than likely the unbelieving Jews. Think about it. How many nations and peoples have survived from antiquity? Only one. And why? Not because they are God’s people regardless of faith of in Christ. St. Paul casts such thinking to the ground when he says, “They are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Rom 9:6), but only those who are children of the promise, that is, those who believe God’s promise. Since most of the Jews reject God’s promise to Abraham about his Seed—who is Christ—they are not the Populus Zion, the people of Zion, the Israel of God. Paul writes in Romans 11:28, “Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.” Because of God’s promise to the Patriarchs, the Jewish nation continues and will continue to the Last Day, so the elect among them will be converted, and so that those who refuse to believe in the promised Messiah may serve as testimony to the truth of the words Christ speaks here.

That is why Christ tells His disciples—then and now—“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” If even Israel according to the flesh can fall way by putting their trust in their genealogy instead of the promise, how much more can we fall away by letting our hearts be weighed down by sin? Carousing and drunkenness weigh the heart down with pleasure. They dull the senses and the mind so that the sinful flesh has free reign to sin and gratify its wicked desires. This is why the Scriptures repeatedly warn against drunkenness and the apostle says bluntly that drunkards will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:10). But just as Carousing and drunkenness weigh down the heart, so can cares of this life. These way down the heart, not with pleasure, but with anxiety and perplexity so that the mind is no longer directed toward God’s promises and living in them by faith. All three—carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life—weigh down our hearts so that we do not lift them up unto the Lord. They drag our eyes to the earthly rather than the heavenly, so that we come to think of the earthly as more important than God’s promises, and do not see the signs of Christ’s imminent return and look for our redemption that draws near. “For [that day] will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. For the Christian it will be a day of joy and rejoicing. But for those who ensnare themselves with sin so that they are not watching and praying, it will be a day of wrath and eternal punishment.

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Watch the signs and see them for what they are. Interpret them correctly, not just as natural phenomena, but as signs and tokens that Christ gives us so that we may be ready for His return. Seeing these signs leads us to pray that Christ preserve us in the true faith until He returns, so that we may stand before Him and receive our redemption. Too many people get wrapped up in trying to decipher in the signs how close Christ may be to returning. The purpose of the signs Jesus gives isn’t so that we can estimate His time of arrival. Since they are always happening around the world, their purpose is to put us in constant prayer that we be faithful and live pious lives. Too many recognize the signs and fear. But this is only their purpose for the unbelieving, that they repent, believe the gospel, and bear fruit worthy of repentance. The purpose of the signs is the remind us that Christ is near. And if Christ is near, so is our final redemption from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Sin, because our sinful flesh will be destroyed and we will be entirely animated by the Holy Spirit; Death, for where there is no sin, there is no death; the power of the devil, for He will thrown into the lake of fire for eternity.  So interpret the signs correctly. Look up and lift up your hearts. Live always as if your redemption is drawing near, because it is. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Romans 13:11-14 and Matthew 21:1-9

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

As the church’s year begins anew, we hear a familiar gospel lesson. Jesus and His disciples are drawing near Jerusalem. When they come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sends two of his disciples into the village opposite Bethphage. He tells them that they will find a donkey tied, and a colt with the donkey. These two disciples are to loose both animals and bring them to Jesus. If anyone says anything about what they’re doing, they’re to simply say, “The Lord has need of them.” Mark and Luke tell us in their accounts that someone did indeed ask them what they were doing, and that the reply the Lord had given them was enough. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. Jesus doesn’t ride on both the donkey and the colt at the same time. When Matthew says the disciples sat Jesus on them he’s using a figure of speech called synecdoche, in which a part can refer to the whole, or a whole can refer to a part. Mark and Luke both tell us that Jesus rode only the colt. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the colt, the foal of the donkey, following a royal highway of palm branches and garments, while shorts of “Hosanna to the Son of David” fill the air.

This gospel lesson is familiar as all the gospel lessons are. We hear the same lessons on the same Sundays each year, and this is meant to teach us the entire Christian faith over the course on an entire year. But we hear this text—St. Matthew’s account of Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem—even more often. We hear this text every year on this Sunday. We also hear this very same text each year on Palm Sunday—the beginning of Holy Week. Why do we hear this text so often, twice a year every year? The answer lies in the interpretation of Jesus’ actions. Why does Jesus tell these two disciples to go to the village opposite Bethphage, loose someone’s donkey and her colt, and bring them to Him? Why does Jesus ride the colt into Jerusalem the way He does? St. Matthew interprets Jesus’ actions: “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” Jesus’ action shows His care for God’s Word. He fulfills prophecy, and not just one prophecy, but all the Scriptures since the Scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39). But more so, Jesus fulfills this prophecy because by this He would be identified as the king of Zion, the ruler of Israel, the Messiah. Riding on the colt marks Jesus as the arriving king. It also tells us what kind of king arrives.

What king enters His city on a colt, the foal of a donkey? Chariots and armies with heralds running before him are more like it, for the ancient world, at least. Motorcades of black limousines filing to the capital is what we’re used to seeing. For all their differences, modern rulers are no different than ancient ones. When they arrive, they arrive in fanfare and formality, splendor and solemnity. It’s a show of strength, might, prestige, and honor. But the prophet says that this is not now Zion’s king will arrive. He is coming in lowliness, and nothing says lowliness, humility, and gentleness, like riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. But this is the point. Jesus does not come to Jerusalem to be an earthly king. He will even tell a group of Pharisees during Holy Week, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt 22:21). He will tell Pilate the governor of Judea appointed by Caesar, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus doesn’t arrive in Jerusalem as king of the earthly Zion, the Jerusalem which now is (Gal 4:25). He arrives as the lowly king of the true Zion, the Jerusalem above (Gal 4:26), the Israel of God, which is the body of believers­—Jew and Gentile alike.

He arrives in such a lowly, gentle fashion because His advent is not one of judgment, but mercy. He says in John 3:17, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” This is the purpose of His advent. This is why the eternal Son of God assumes human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and lives as man. This lowliness and gentleness is how He conducts His ministry precisely because He comes to call sinners to Himself so that they repent of their sins, believe in Him, and so live under Him in His kingdom of grace. He tells the multitude in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” This king seeks those who labor under the heavy burden of sin. He offers rest to the conscience burdened by guilt and sorrow. He offers His yoke and burden instead, a yoke and burden that are easy and light. His yoke is not like sin’s yoke. His yoke frees because it is perfect forgiveness for every sin. His burden unburdens because it is His perfect righteousness in God’s sight. His yoke, His burden, is the gospel, for in the gospel alone do sinners find rest for souls wearied by sin, the temptations of the devil, and the oppression of this evil world in which we live. We sang this very thing a moment ago in the sermon hymn, “Once He came in blessing, All our ills redressing; Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy; Bore the cross to save us, Hope and freedom gave us” (TLH 74:1). All who receive this king in faith receive His yoke and His burden, and He, as their gracious king, takes away their sin and guilt. This is the purpose of Jesus’ advent in humility, which continues even now through His true ministers. He continues to invite sinners to Himself through the preaching of repentance and faith.

The day will come, however, when this time of grace is completed. During the days of His lowliness Christ promised that He would return in glory, with all the holy angels with Him. He will return to judge all mankind. The dead will be raised so that they might be judged. The sea will give up its dead, so that every one of Adam and Eve’s descendants will stand before His glorious throne to be judged. Those who did good in their life—good that flowed from faith in Christ—will enter everlasting life. Those who did evil in their life—evil because, no matter how good they appeared before man, in God’s sight whatever is not from faith is sin (Rom 14:23)—those will enter everlasting punishment. Jesus says in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  All who refuse Christ’s invitation to come to Him in repentance and faith stand condemned already. God’s wrath remains on all who reject repentance and cling to their sins, defend them, and excuse them. For many confess Christ with their lips but deny Him with their life, imagining that Christ can be their king while they live as their own ruler.

This sort of fleshly security can happen to any Christian because we all have the sinful flesh with its lusts and desires. This is why St. Paul warns us in today’s epistle that it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The sleep of security imagines we cannot fall away from faith. The lethargy of the flesh is to be shaken off because with the passing of each day we are one day closer to Christ’s second advent. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. If we believe that Christ fulfilled all the Scriptures that pertained to His first advent, we believe that He will fulfill the Scriptures and return to judge the living and the dead. Christ wants His Christians to watch for His coming, not by gluing their eyes to the skies or their television screens watching for signs, but by daily casting of the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light. He wants us to put off the Old Man each day, our sinful nature, and put on the New man, our spirit renewed by the gospel. We put aside debauchery and drunkenness,  sexual immorality and indecency, discord and jealousy, and any other work of darkness—sin—which may tempt us. We make no provision, no allowance for the flesh, for the wickedness it wants. We do this for several reasons, one of which is thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation, another is that we do not want to go back to our sins, for if we give in to them and live in them, we deny our king and His rule in our hearts.

For now, there is forgiveness. Christ still advents among us, in our hearts each day, inviting us to repentance and faith. Christ still advents among us as our lowly and gentle King, desiring to rule our hearts and minds, not with force and coercion, but with His gospel and Holy Spirit. This is why we hear this text twice a year, every year. For as many days as God grants us, He desires to come to us with His gospel and rule our hearts with it, so that when He returns in glory to judge the living and dead, He may recognize us as His own, and welcome us into everlasting glory and blessedness. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

St. Paul writes, “Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” The Thessalonians had been made aware of the signs that would precede Christ’s return. Until Christ’s return in glory there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places (Matt 24:6-7). They understood that a standard feature of the end times was that false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt 24:24). They understood that the world would slide deeper into degeneracy, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (Matt 24:12). They also understood that immediately before Christ’s return the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (Matt 24:29-30). The Thessalonians also understood how Christ’s return couldn’t be predicted or forecasted.  They knew perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

There were scoffers and mockers—unbelievers—who imagined that since all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation, there would be no return of Christ, no resurrection of the body, no final judgment, no eternal punishment for the wicked or eternal blessedness for the faithful. These people are darkness itself and the live in darkness. They ignore Christ’s promise to return and believe their own word instead. They tell themselves and others, “peace and safety,” so that they can continue to live in their sins, deliberately transgress God’s commands, and willfully pursue their own pleasure and happiness as the highest good in life. But disbelieving the truth doesn’t make it any less true. When Christ returns as a thief in the night, at an hour no one expects, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. Nor is it enough to have the outward appearance of faith and godliness, confessing Christ with the lips, attending church, and the like, but continuing to live in in darkness, continuing in fornication, uncleanness, filthiness, or covetousness. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Eph 5:5).  

Paul draws a sharp distinction between the Thessalonian Christians are these scoffers, mockers, and hypocrites though. He tells them, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.  You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” When Paul says that because they are not in darkness this Day should overtake you as a thief he doesn’t mean that they have a secret knowledge of Christ’s return. The day of Christ’s return will still happen at an hour which no one expects it. But it will not come upon them suddenly so that they have no escape. They will be prepared for Christ’s return whenever it happens. Their preparedness is the true and living faith that God the Holy Ghost has planted in their hearts. Their preparation is their heartfelt trust in Christ’s promise of forgiveness and righteousness to believers. But you know as well as the Thessalonians did, that faith can grow lethargic and slothful. And when it does, we become less attentive to hearing, reading, and meditating on God’s Word, the very instrument God has provided to strengthen and renew the faith He gives us. When faith grows cold, our hearts grow cold to those around us, too, so that our love for them becomes less warm and vibrant, and eventually degenerates into resentment or apathy. So that this doesn’t happen, St. Paul urges the Thessalonians to wakefulness. “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.”  Watch yourself, dear Christian brethren, that you do not slacken regarding your Old Adam, the sinful nature, that daily tries to lead you into temptation. Watch against the world, son of light, lest it tempt you to its way of thinking, so that you speak its words and live after its ways. Watch. Be sober, clear headed, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Ptr 5:8). The drunkard, drunk with actual alcohol or head filled with the world’s thinking, cannot resist the devil, but can only stumble and fall headlong into more sin.

What does this sobriety look like? It’s far more than avoidance of sin and temptation. For the Christian, the son of light, to be sober means putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. Faith acts as a breastplate. It serves as an armor protecting our hearts. We say with the Psalmist in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!” We hide His word in our heart—both words, law and gospel—and thinking on His word is how we use it in temptation. We hide His word of law in our hearts, and it tells us to avoid sinning. It reminds us of the consequences of our sins, especially that sin incurs God’s wrath. The gospel that is hidden in our heart reminds us of His promise to be with us always, that Christ lives in us, and that His victory is ours in real time, so that as we resist the devil, he flees from us (James 4:7).

And while faith alone justifies the sinner, we know that faith is never alone, but produces the fruit of love. This is why our armor is the breastplate of faith and love. Love, as the fruit of faith in God’s promise, directs our eyes away from the battle, away from the contest, away from the fiery darts, towards our neighbor. Looking at our neighbor in love, we look to their interests, what they need, what they want, and how to best love them in any given moment. When our hearts are directed toward God’s word in faith and our actions are directed to our neighbor’s wellbeing, we have an armor strong that is not easily penetrated. Upon our heads we place as a helmet the hope of salvation, that is, the certainty of our salvation. We know the final victory is ours, and that on the day in which Christ returns, our enemies—sin, the world, death, and the devil—will be vanquished and our battle finished. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep—that is, whether we are alive or asleep in our graves when He returns—we should live together with Him.

You can see, dear saints, how this fits with, or rather, flows from, the parable Jesus speaks in today’s gospel lesson. He speaks of the visible church when He describes it as five wise and five foolish virgins who await the coming of the bridegroom. All of them have the lamp, the outward appearance of being in the Faith. But only five have oil for their lamps. Oil, in this parable, signifies the true and lively faith which St. Paul speaks of in the epistle as wakefulness and watchfulness, as putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. When at midnight a cry was heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him,” destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they couldn’t escape. Although they professed to be children of light and even outward appeared so, they continued to live in darkness. There wasn’t time left to buy oil for themselves and join the wedding procession to the bridegroom’s home. They find the door to the nuptial hall shut. They are barred from the blessedness prepared by the Bridegroom. When they knock, crying out to their Lord, they receive their judgment from the Lord Himself, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” He had prepared the wedding feast to be enjoyed by those who watched for Him in true faith. The foolish virgins, however, had disqualified themselves from the feast.

Jesus explains the parable, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Or, as Paul writes, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. We do not know the day of our Lord’s return, nor can we. The day and hour of his return cannot be calendarized by us, only by the Father in heaven. God wills it this say so that we don’t focus upon how soon it will happen, but that we focus upon being prepared. That way, whether Christ returns in glory to judge the quick and the dead while we yet live, or the angels come to take us to Him upon death, He will find a faithful people, watching for His coming, lamp burning with the oil of faith, the brightness of love emanating from that faith, and a sober mind living in the sure and certain hope of His salvation. We know perfectly well that that Day will come as thief in the night, as a bridegroom at midnight, and at an hour which we do not expect. For the unbelieving and the hypocrites, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But for those who live each day in repentance, true faith, and the newness of life, it is not the day of destruction, but the beginning of the everlasting feast. Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Revelation 20[:11-15] St. John vividly sees the final judgment of all mankind that takes place after the resurrection of the body. He writes: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” The books that are opened are the record of every thought, word, and deed of every person who has ever lived, because every person who has ever lived will stand before the throne. On that day everyone—including you and me—will be judged according to their works.

The thought of this should terrify us. How often have we sinned in our thoughts—thinking ourselves better than others; objectifying others in lust for our own pleasure; cursing God when things don’t go our way; discontent with what God is giving, or taking from us in in any moment? No one else hears our thoughts. Yet when Christ returns to judge the quick and the dead, he will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:5. How often do we sin in our words? Do we curse others? Do we use obscene language? Are our words coarse and vulgar? James calls the tongue “a fire, a world of iniquity” (Jam 3:6). But do we speak idle, careless words, too, which betray the thoughts of our hearts? Jesus says in Matthew 12[:36-37], “I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” How often do we sin in our deeds and behavior, doing that which God forbids in His commandments? How often do we know the right thing to do but do not do it? James reminds us, “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jam 4:17).

But aren’t we justified by faith in Christ and not by works of law? Doesn’t Christ tell us in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life?” He did. He said right after that, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Christ’s apostle writes in Ephesians 2:8 that it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” That is why in the vision John sees another book opened, which is the Book of Life (Rev 20:12). The book is not a record of sin. It is a record of those who repented on their sins and believed in Christ for their forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. In the Book of Life is written all who were in Christ by faith during their life, and persevered in that faith unto the end. This is why we confess that Christ “is the Book life, in whom all are written and elected that are to be saved in eternity, as it is written Eph. 1:4: He hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (FC Ep XI:7). The book life is God’s eternal election of those whom He foresaw would persevere in faith unto the end by the power of His Holy Spirit.

That is why, in the parable Christ tells His disciples in today’s gospel lesson, after dividing humanity into two groups, He says to those on His right, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The sheep are those whose names are written in the Book of Life. These are God’s elect. During their lives they heard the voice of their Good Shepherd in the Gospel. While living this life they adhered to His Word, prayed diligently, abided in God’s goodness, faithfully used the gifts God gave them. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life are called to inherit the kingdom of God which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world. It was not prepared for them to earn, merit, or win by their works. It was prepared for them to receive by God’s grace for the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rm 6:23).

But they are judged by their works, nonetheless. Why? Because works are witnesses to what is in the heart. They are testimonies to true faith. Jesus says to those on His right, “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” The righteous respond, ““Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” Christ calls them the righteous, not because they did righteous works but because they believed in Him, because faith is accounted for righteousness as Paul says in Romans 4:5. The sheep don’t even realize they had done these works for Christ. Their faith in Christ was active in love towards their neighbors, not for the sake meriting the kingdom, but because they believed Christ’s promise to give the kingdom to believers. Their works for the brethren—their fellow Christians—were testimonies to the true faith in their hearts. Their works witnessed to the fact that they were righteous by faith, the people of Christ’s pasture, God’s elect.

To those on His left, Christ says, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” God did not elect them to everlasting fire. That was prepared the devil and his angels. But the goats, since they refused repentance and rejected God’s will that they be saved, God consigned them punishment prepared for the devil. Jesus says in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” They condemn themselves by their rejection of Christ, and their works witness to the unbelieving state of their hearts. Christ was hungry and they gave Him no food; He was thirsty and they gave Him no drink; He was a stranger and they did not take Him in, naked and they did not clothe Him, sick and in prison and they did not visit Him. Unbelievers do none of these works of mercy—or any good work—for Christ’s brothers, His Christians, because they do not love Christ or believe in Him for their forgiveness, new life, and salvation. Their works toward the brethren—or rather, the lack of works done in faith for the brethren—testify that there is no true faith in their hearts. Their works witness that they are not righteous by faith in Christ, for if they were righteous by faith, their faith would be active in love. These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Dear saints of God, the final judgment which Scripture teaches and which we confess each Sunday will come to pass. How then ought we to live in light of this? We’re not to live in fear of our sins which deserve God’s righteous wrath and punishment. We aren’t to fear our sins being exposed on that day, for God tells us in Holy Scripture, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). To those who confess their sins in true repentance He says, “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins” (Is 44:22). He promises to all who repent and believe, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). We have no reason to fear the final judgment, for on that day all believers will be judged as righteous and welcomed into the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. If we willfully, deliberately, and knowingly sin, then the thought of the final judgment should terrify us. Not, however, so that we run from the Judge, but so that we run to the Judge in true repentance. For the Judge on that day is, in this time of grace, our Good Shepherd who graciously forgives the sins of the penitent and who graciously gives His Holy Spirit so that we amend our lives.

This faith is also encouraged by the final judgment to be more active in love toward our neighbor, especially those who are brothers in Christ. It spurs on to the look for opportunities to provide mercy, encouragement, generosity, and help to our brethren in need. Since our works will be testimonies and witnesses to this faith which accounted as righteousness, let the thought of the final judgment spur you on to love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere, persevering faith each day. Amen.  

May the peace of God which passes all understading guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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