Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kerrville Texas

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

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus instructs His disciples about the approaching fall of the city of Jerusalem. None of these twelve will be in Jerusalem when it happens. Judas will have hanged himself because he despaired of God’s mercy. Herod would have killed James the brother of John with the sword (Acts 12:2). Peter would have been crucified by the Emperor in Rome. The rest would have either been ministering in distant lands or already martyred for Christ’s name. Even though none of them would be there to witness it, Jesus tells the Twelve of Jerusalem’s impending fall for the sake of those who believe in Him because of their testimony. When these things take place, Christ’s Christians would take heed and obey His words to save their lives.

He tells them, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” This had happened before in Judea’s history. In 167 B.C.—during the days when the Jews were under the authority of the Syrians, the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV subdued a rebellion in Jerusalem, build a fortress overlooking the sanctuary, and put the city under military rule. Then he ordered his men to set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar (1 Macc 1:54). Scripture often calls idolatry and crass sin abominations, so it is most likely that Aniochus’ abomination of desolation was an idol of Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks. In those days, however, the Lord raised up Mattathias and his sons—the Maccabees—who would retake Jerusalem, cleanse, and rededicate the temple, and eventually establish Judea as a semi-independent state. The difference between that and the desolation Jesus foretells is that the temple will not only be defiled, but entirely destroyed, so that not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matt 24:2). The Lord would not raise up another Mattathias, another Judas Maccabeus, another savior of the Jews. In fact, this desolation was coming upon the Jews because they would reject the Savior sent by God, not only for the Jews but for all people. This time the Romans would siege Jerusalem and level it, with all its inhabitants, to the ground.

This is why, when those who believed in Christ saw the abomination of desolation in the Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant belonged, they were to flee. What the abomination was this time, we don’t entirely know. The abomination may have been during the reign of Tiberius, when Pilate images of the emperor into Jerusalem by night, though he removed them to quell the upheaval this caused. The abomination may have been a rebellious band of Jews who took control of the temple just before the Roman siege and desolated it by committing murder in it. But if these were not signs enough to convince Christians that the end was near, Jesus says in Luke 21:20, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.”

When they saw Jerusalem’s desolation approaching, those who were in Judea—not just Jerusalem and its environs—were to flee to the mountains, and there was to be no looking back. Jesus told them, “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.” The things of this life can be replaced, and God has promised to give daily bread. They are not to like Lot’s wife, who looked back in unbelief as Sodom was destroyed, and turned into a pillar salt. Jesus also says, “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” These would be deterrents to moving quickly and without hesitation, and there was no time for sluggishness or lethargy, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. So fast and hot would Roman fury come down on Judea, that unless the Lord had cut it short, the entire Jewish nation would have been destroyed, and Paul reminds us in Romans 11:5 that there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Even among these Jews there were some who would repent and believe in the Messiah God had promised to their forefathers.

As if this desolation were not enough, a far more dangerous trouble would come upon those who escaped. Jesus warns them: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” By fleeing Jerusalem, they would save their lives. But then they must flee false messiahs and false prophets who would lead them astray. These false christs and pseudoprophets would even do great signs and wonders, miracles and works of power, that would be so convincing that, if it were possible, even God’s elect would be deceived and fall away from true faith. But they are not to follow christs or pursue pseudoprohets. When He returns, it will be evident to all on the earth, as lighting lights up the entire sky, and as carrion birds are drawn to a carcass, all will be drawn to Christ when He returns.

Jesus’ words came true when the Roman army demolished Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. Many Christians fled across the Jordan River to a city by the name of Pella and saved their lives. And many false christs and false prophets arose in those days as well, leading many astray, and even bringing about the second Jewish revolt that brought about Judea’s end. We read in the histories how Christ’s words were fulfilled and how His Christians heeded His warning. But the question remains, “What does this have to do with us?” The answer is: “everything.” Jesus tells us of the coming destruction of the Jerusalem and the signs that would come before it as a prototype, or a microcosm, of the end of world. And what He wants us to take from it is this command: Flee.

As we await the world’s end and Christ’s return in glory to judge the living and dead, we are to flee abominations that bring desolation—idolatry of every kind. There is the outward, crass idolatry of prostrating ourselves before false gods, but much more of a threat is the subtle idolatry which takes place in the heart. How often are we tempted to fear the things of this life—wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, civil unrest, cultural deterioration—more than we fear God? How often are we tempted to love and value the things of this world—our homes, our possessions, our achievements, our prestige—more than God? How often are we tempted to trust in all these things more than we trust in God, so that as long as we have them, we imagine we have a God who is good and gracious to us, but if they are taken from us, imagine we have God who is evil and vindictive? Every form idolatry takes, externally and internally, we must flee. To where do we flee? The mountains, to the Rock of our Salvation, our Lord Jesus, for in Christ Jesus we have a good and gracious God in spite of our sin and whatever happens to us in this life.

Just as we flee sin and temptation through repentance and vigilance, we also flee false christs and false prophets. The world is full of false christs who promise a better life, perfect health, or better society in this life or the life of the world to come in we place our trust in them. The world is full of false prophets who claim to speak for the Lord, but their teachings are contrary to the word of Lord—Scripture. They look and sound like true preachers of God, but instead of repentance they preach peace to those who live in sin, strengthening them in their sin and leading them to hell. Others turn Christ’s gospel of free forgiveness and new life for those who repent into a list of works—religious and social—to do to accomplish one’s own salvation. Many of them even claim to see visions, hear God’s voice, and do great works of power, so that many people go after them. But you, if you would endure unto the end and be saved, are to flee from these. False christs and false prophets only lead souls astray with false words about God. They lead away from repentance of sin and trust in Christ and His merits alone. They lead away from the sure and certain Word of God to the uncertain words of men and the evolving emotions of the heart as if they were God’s word. Christ tells us all this beforehand, so that we who live in these last days of the world may flee all this and flee to Christ each day in repentance and faith, so that no matter when the end comes, we endure until then. Amen.

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

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

This servant is in deep, over his head, in fact. The king wants to settle accounts with his servants and this man owes ten thousand talents. A talent is a lot of money. It’s six thousand denarii. You may remember from the parable of the workers in the vineyard that the original day laborers agreed to a denarius for a day’s work. A debt of one talent—six thousand days’ wages—would take just under sixteen and a half years of working seven days a week to repay. That’s for one talent. He owes the king ten thousand talents. If a talent is six thousand days’ wages, and he owes ten thousand talents, there is no way in the world he would be able to ever repay such a loan. The servant is brought to the king and when he doesn’t have the money, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. Payment must be made, even if it’s with this servant’s life, the life of his wife and children, and all his earthly possessions.

Confronted with this terrible judgment, the man does the only thing he can do. He falls before the king and cries out, “Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” He knows there is no way he can pay back this loan, not six thousand days’ wages ten thousand times over. The king knows this as well. But this is not a promise to repay the loan. It’s a plea for mercy.  His master is moved with compassion and has mercy on him. He releases the servant. No longer is he to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. His master forgives him the loan, the entire amount. He cancels the debt and absorbs enormous the loss himself. The servant, who had entered the king’s accounting burdened with an insurmountable debt. He leaves with a clean ledger, not owing part of the balance, not even a penny.

That servant leaves the king’s presence—much lighter on his feet than when he went in, —and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. This fellow servant owes him the equivalent of one hundred days’ wages. That’s no small sum. It wasn’t pocket change. But neither was anything like the ten thousand talents the first servant owed the king. He laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe!” His fellow servant falls down at his debtor’s feet and pleads for mercy, even using the exact same words as the first servant had done before the king, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” But the first servant would not have patience. He had no mercy for this fellow servant. He can only think of what is owed to him. He threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. The master’s mercy had not penetrated this man’s heart. He could thankfully accept the master’s pity and the complete forgiveness of all his debt, but as soon as he stepped back out into the world, he took it for granted. He refused to show the same mercy to his fellow servant who owed him far less.

This man’s behavior greatly troubled his fellow servants, and they report it to the king. He is summoned back into the king’s presence, where the king judges him according to his deed. “‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” Of course, he should have done that very thing. He should have had compassion for his fellow servant. Rejoicing in the forgiveness of his own debt—an enormous, unpayable amount—and moved by his master’s pity and generosity, he should have forgiven his fellow servant’s debt. But he could not. He had hardened his heart against both the master’s compassion and his neighbor. The fate that he had initially been spared, he then suffers. The master, angry at this man’s utter lack of appreciation and love, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

Then comes the explanation. It is a parable, after all, by which Jesus wants to teach us what the kingdom of heaven is like. He says: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” The point of the parable is straightforward. You, dear Christian, member of God’s kingdom, are to forgive your neighbor from the heart. If you do not forgive your neighbor from the heart, God the Father will do you as the king did to the servant.

Why do you forgive your neighbor when they trespass against you? Because God your heavenly Father has forgiven you. And not only has your heavenly Father forgiven you, but He has forgiven you an insurmountable, unpayable debt. When Jesus teaches us the Our Father in Matthew 6[:12] He teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts” because our sins are debts in God’s sight. We owe for them. They must be paid for, one way or another. We owe for each and every sin we commit. If we were tally our wicked thoughts which we entertain, our sinful, self-serving words by which we excuse ourselves and judge others, and every deed of ours which is not fully in line with God’s law, we would find the debt calculator adding up fast. When we consider that the sinful impulses, desires, and thoughts that arise from our flesh—even if we don’t let them linger or entertain them—are also sin, we the leger fill up even faster. We should say with David in Psalm 38[:4], “My iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” Who among us can know all his or her sins? Who among us can know every thought, word, and deed by which we have offended God and merited for ourselves everlasting punishment. It is impossible for us to repay any of what we owe. Our good works can’t be placed against our mounting debt because our good works are owed already!

We can only do what the king’s servant initially does; plead God’s mercy. This is more than simply saying, “I’m sorry,” with the mouth. This is true repentance which acknowledges our sin, that we have offended God, and deserve punishment—both in this life and in eternity, and that we genuinely want to be rid of the sin. The final part of repentance is to believe that God will be merciful to us, not for our own sakes, but for Jesus’ sake. Jesus paid the debt which we are unable to pay. He suffered greatly and gravely for our many sins and transgressions against God’s law. And He paid for all sins, for as you know, debt can be cancelled on the ledger, but someone somewhere always must pay for it. God the Father delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. And He does just that, for before He dies, Christ says, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Atonement is made. Forgiveness is won, so that all who repent and believe in Him receive all His finished work of atonement. By faith in Christ’s death and merits, God the Father releases us from our debt, forgiving the entire, insurmountable, uncalculatable, unfathomable amount.

Those who receive this by faith are fully forgiven and will freely forgive those who trespass against them. Not without repentance though. Just as God does not forgive our sins until we repent, so we do not forgive our neighbor when they sin against us until they repent. Jesus says in Luke 17:3, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” God does not forgive our sins apart from repentance, nor does He expect us to forgive our brother when he sins against us without repentance. To forgive without rebuking them only baffles them, so that they ask, “What did I do?” To forgive without repentance on their part only emboldens them to continue sinning against you. Just as God is ready to forgive us as soon as we repent and wants to forgive us as soon as we repent, so we are ready to forgive our neighbor as soon as they repent. We want to forgive them because we want their repentance and restoration. If, when our neighbor sins against us and repents, we refuse, then we must do some soul searching. We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Our forgiving of others when they sin against us and repent is a sign of consolation and assurance that we are truly forgiven, for when we joyfully receive God’s grace for Jesus’ sake, we gladly forgive our brother who sins against us and repents. If we do not, then we must examine ourselves to see whether we truly believe we are sinners in need of mercy each day.

Jesus is serious when He says, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” This is how seriously He wants you to acknowledge your sins and your sinfulness, so that you might also acknowledge His compassion, pity, and mercy, and live in them each day. God our Father forgives us daily and fully because we daily repent of our sins and believe the gospel that Christ has paid the debt we owe God, which is a debt far greater than ten thousand talents. Keeping this in mind each day, we forgive from the heart. Amen.

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

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

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This has been the case since the Garden of Eden. The Lord gave His word to Adam and as long as Adam remained in God’s word, Adam was free to live as the creature God had created him to be. But when Adam and Eve consented to the serpent’s temptation to set aside God’s command and step away from His word, they became enslaved to sin, death, and the power of the devil, for whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. But God gave Adam and Eve another word—the gospel that Eve’s Seed would crush the seed of the serpent—and if they remained in that word, they would be free sin’s guilt, God’s wrath, eternal death, and the power of the devil. This was the beginning of the church, the assembly of those who looked for the coming of the Promised Seed, the Messiah, the Savior. Every generation of the church, as the body of believers, is to remain in God’s Word; His word of law which shows us His holy, eternal will, and how far we fall short of His will because of our sinfulness, and His gospel, which shows us how he has loved the world by giving His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16). Beginning with Adam and Eve, then their children, then their children’s child and down the line to today, believers have forgiveness, life, and salvation through the gospel, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.

But we also see throughout human history—and our own family histories—that not everyone abides in God’s word. Adam and Eve’s firstborn son, Cain, allowed his sinful desires to rule over him instead of the other way around. He murdered his brother Abel, then went out from the presence of the LORD (Gen 4:16), leaving God’s church and word to forge his own church based on his own word that came, not from God, but the imagination of his sinful heart. So Lamech, five generations from Cain, could take God’s promise to Cain, “Whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Gen 4:15), and warp it. “If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold” (Gen 4:24). This is what the sinful flesh does. It says it remains in God’s word, but mutilates it so that it’s no longer God’s word, but their own word under the cloak of God’s word. The sinful flesh inherited from Adam and Eve’s fall is not contend with God’s law, so it makes up its own laws. It is not content with the gospel that that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, so it injects its own works, merits, and superstitions into the gospel. It wants the law to be a ladder to heaven and the gospel to be what puts one on the ladder so that he can climb to heaven himself, with perhaps a boost every now and then. Since the time of Cain, men have sought to add abide in their own word while imagining they are abiding in God’s word, even calling themselves ‘church,’ and persecuting the faithful remnant who, by faith, abide in God’s word.

But God, in His mercy, does not forsake His disciples who remain in His word. He preserves a faithful remnant and at times. He sends reformers to call the people to forsake their own word and return to the pure fountain of Israel—God’s word. He does this in the antediluvian—the pre-flood—world through the faithful patriarchs, Seth, Enoch, and with Noah he cleanses His church once again through a remnant of eight souls aboard an ark. Later, it’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, and all the prophets, calling Israel back to God’s word. The first lesson we heard read this morning tells us of one such reformation of the church. The church had languished under the apostasy of king Ahaz. He had led the church astray with idolatry so that people turned their backs on the Lord. They abided in the word of Ahaz, not the word of the Lord. But his son, Hezekiah, In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them (2 Chron 29:3). He gathers the Levites whose names we heard read, and tells them, “Sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place” (2 Chron 29:5). These men cleanse God’s house and His worship. They cast out the idolatrous superstitions Ahaz had introduced, superstitions which could save and works that obscured faith in the Promised Seed. This debris is cast out. The divinely instituted articles for worship they sanctified and restored to their proper place, so that Israel could once again hear God’s word purely taught, and by believing in it and remain it that word, be set free from their sins and have everlasting life.

You see where this is going, and more examples in both the Old and New Testament could be given. So could examples from the history of the church in the New Testament period. Falsehood is introduced, sometimes by otherwise faithful teachers who speak too carelessly about God’s word, something through false brethren who have entrenched themselves within the church. Yet God raises up men who would reform the church by casting out the debris of man-made doctrines and bad practices which obscure—and in some cases, destroy entirely—God’s word of law and gospel. Today we celebrate the Lutheran Reformation, not out of a misguided sense of triumphalism, not as a cultural relic for people of Northern European descent, but to give thanks to God that once again, He gave His church men who would reform it. Luther was not the first reformer of the church by any stretch of the imagination. Even in the century before he posted the Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church in the small town of Wittenberg, men called for reform of the Roman church. They inveighed against a corrupt curia, a fornicating priesthood, and a political papacy. While Luther shared these concerns, he was given grace to see that these were merely symptoms of the real issue. Where there is bad practice there is bad doctrine. If the church is acting like the world, it is because the church has ceased to abide in God’s word and chosen to abide in its own word instead.

That word does what man’s word wants to do to God’s word in every generation: It makes the law to be a ladder to heaven and the gospel to be what puts one on the ladder so that he can climb to heaven himself, with perhaps a boost every now and then. Rome taught—and sadly, still teaches—that man is justified by faith and good works. For Rome, “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man” (CCC 1989). From this word comes a host of beliefs and practices that do not set men free from sin’s guilt, but keep them in doubt as to their salvation, since it is a combination of historical knowledge and good works. But this is not the gospel that was given to Adam and Eve, preached by the Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The root of the Reformation—every single bit of it—is summarized in Paul’s words from today’s epistle: “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.” Man is not justified by faith in Jesus Christ and his own works, as if faith in Christ is insufficient. Man is not justified by faith in Jesus Christ and works of any law—mosaic law, moral law, or church law. God raised up the Reformer to call the church back to this word of God, that we are justified, not by works of law, but faith in Christ alone. Being justified by faith alone means that it is faith alone that apprehends Christ’s merits. Faith alone means that our sanctification, inner renewal, and good works don’t contribute to our justification. God forgives our sins freely for Jesus’ sake and imputes His perfect righteousness to us, so that we should no doubt that our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

What does this to good works? We are justified by faith alone, but faith is never alone. Love for others, good works, self-control, and the like, are the fruits which true faith produces. Faith produces good works of love because faith receives all that God promises in the gospel. Faith rejoices in the forgiveness of sins and wants avoid sinning. Faith rejoices in Christ’s work done out of love and so wants to do good works out of love for one’s neighbor. Faith rejoices to receive God the Holy Spirit and the new identity as a son of God, so that the old life of sin might daily be put away and a new life of purity and righteousness put on; not to earn God’s favor, but because we have received God’s favor for Jesus’ sake by faith. This is the truth that sets us free from the guilt of sin because it forgives sins to all who are truly penitent. It is the truth that sets us free from the slavery to doubt that we have done enough to merit everlasting life by our good works, because it gives us the complete righteousness of Jesus as our own by faith. This is the word of Jesus, the word in which His true disciples will abide and persevere. There will always be the temptation to abandon this word for our own, or the world’s word, rather than abide in it. There will always the false church in this life, tempting many with a false Christianity that appeals to the flesh’s desire for self-righteousness. By God’s grace, those who would be disciples of the Lord Jesus will avoid both temptations, and abide, remain, and persevere unto the end in His Word, the only word that sets us free from sin. Amen.

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

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

Jesus tells the parable of the wedding banquet during Holy Week. The chief priests and some pharisees have confronted Jesus about His authority to teach. Since this is the last conversation that Christ will have with these men, He doesn’t hold back. Even at this last hour, Jesus hammers at their hard hearts so that some of them might turn from their spiritual pride, repent, and be saved. He tells them three parables, telling them bluntly after the second, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matt 21:43). Their obstinate unbelief and their continual rejection of repentance and its fruits will lead only to judgment. The kingdom of God will be taken from the Jews and given to another nation, one that believes Jesus is the Christ, repents of its sins, and bears the fruits of repentance. The chief priests and pharisees are perceptive enough to know Jesus speaks of them. They want to seize Him right then and there but cannot because of the multitudes in the temple for Passover, multitudes that took Jesus for a prophet.

Having just told them that the kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to another nation, He tells the parable we hear today. The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. The marriage is the incarnation of the Son of God. God the Son unites with human flesh, becoming fully human, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, so that He can take a bride for Himself, the church. He washes His bride with water and His word, cleansing her of every sin, so that all who are members of His church are holy and without blemish in His sight. All that is His—His innocence, righteousness, and blessedness—He shares with His bride, because He gives Himself fully to her, so that the church says of Christ, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song 6:3). This is the marriage banquet to which God called Israel through Moses and the prophets. The ceremonies Moses gave Israel and the sermons the prophets preached all pointed to this marriage which God the Father would one day bring about. God the Father sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. It wasn’t that God wasn’t sincere in His invitation or that He harbored some secret will that they not enjoy the banquet. Israel was unwilling. So, God sent His servants again, saying, “Tell those who are invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.’” God’s call went out, promising Israel free grace, every mercy, and eternal life. They didn’t have to provide anything themselves.

But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. Many willfully rejected the promise of the gospel because they preferred earthly possessions. Others preferred earthly business to partaking in the wedding banquet prepared for God’s Son. They received the call with apathy. The rest received it with acrimony. They seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. These Israelites hated God and the wedding banquet for His Son so much that they treated the prophets with contempt, even to the point of murdering them so that they wouldn’t have to listen to the gospel call anymore. Why would anyone do such a thing? Who turns down an invitation to a banquet at which all things are freely given and generously provided? Israel rejected the invitation because it a call to acknowledge one’s sins, to sincerely repent of them, and receive forgiveness and righteousness as a gift. But Israel didn’t want to be given those things. Paul says in Romans 9:31-32, “Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.  Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.” Many in Israel were Epicureans and atheists, living only for earthly pleasure. Many more sought the kingdom of heaven and true righteousness, but they missed both because they the kingdom of God and true righteousness aren’t attainable by works of the law. They are attainable only by coming to the wedding banquet. Only at the wedding banquet would they receive all that God had promised them. But they rejected the call and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life. The king’s response to their rejection was fury. He sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city, which is precisely what happened nearly forty years after Jesus spoke this parable to the Jews, when the Romans besieged Jerusalem and razed it, and everyone in it, to the ground. The wedding was ready, but those who were invited were not worthy by their rejection.

God then told His servants, “Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.” God sent not only prophets, but apostles as well. Once the Jews considered themselves unworthy of everlasting life and rejected the call to the wedding feast—the gospel—the apostles invited the gentiles. And that call goes on this very day. God’s servants continue to invite all people to come to the wedding banquet. That includes the Jews. Paul tells the Roman Christians that even as there was a remnant of true believers during the days of Elijah, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Rom 11:5). In every age there are Jews who hear the gospel, believe it, and find eternal life through faith in Christ. The call includes those whom the world thinks of as good but it also includes those whom the world thinks of as bad. Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. St. Paul says something similar to the Corinthians, and his words are true in every age, “You see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Cor 1:26).  God the Father wants His banquet hall full with those who accept His invitation, who are called by the gospel, repent of their sins, and trust in God’s mercy for Jesus’ sake.

But it’s not enough to be in the building, the banquet hall, that is. When the king comes to see the guests, he sees a man who isn’t wearing the wedding garment that he had been provided upon entry. He had taken it off once he was admitted and changed back into his own clothes. This is the person who enters the Church and initially enjoys Christ’s blessings in true faith, but then willfully goes back to His sins. The wedding garment is Christ. Paul says in Galatians 3:27, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To put on Christ is to put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). The wedding garment is Christ. Having put on Christ, we know God’s will and we want to live in it. But this man has entered the wedding banquet and then put off Christ and put on the old sinful nature instead by living according the passions and desires of the sinful flesh instead of fight against them. The one, who outwardly is part of the church but inwardly lives for himself and his own desires, will, on the Last Day, be bound foot and hand and cast into the outer darkness of Hell where there is eternal weeping in sorrow and the gnashing of teeth in regret.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Israel imagined that since they had been called, they were chosen no matter how they responded to the gospel. Many in the visible church think the same. They imagine that they can make light of the gospel call—treating it as a small or insignificant thing—and go their own way of relishing in the possessions, business, or self-righteousness. The chosen—the elect of God—are those who not only hear the call, but heed it, and not only once, but daily, and persevere in faith unto the end. St. Peter tells us, “Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure” (2 Ptr 1:10). We make our calling and election sure—not to God but to ourselves—by hearing God’s Word as often as we’re able since God calls us to faith through His Word. We make our election sure by adhering to God’s word in faith, praying diligently, abiding in God’s goodness, and faithfully using the gifts we have received from Him (FC SD XI.21). Or, to put it another way, we make our calling and election sure by daily wearing the garment God has given us—Christ and His righteousness. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Rom 13:14). This is why Paul tells us in today’s appointed epistle, “Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming—or making good use of—the time. The days in which we live are evil because they are full of temptations to put off Christ and put on our sinful desires instead. In these evil days we walk circumspectly, we are careful as to how we live, since we “understand what the will of the Lord is.” We don’t have to search for it. Christ has told us in the parable. Come to the wedding and wear the wedding garment, so that we are meditating on God’s word and speaking it to one another, so that we are giving thanks to God for the forgiveness and righteousness He gives, so that we are submitting to one another, serving one another in love. Many are called, but few are chosen. Make your calling and election sure by attending the wedding banquet in the garment God has given you—Christ Jesus and His perfect righteousness. Amen.

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