"Behold My Servant" (Isaiah 42:1-9)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen, in whom My Soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1).

 

“Behold My Servant.” With this announcement, Yahweh announces something special, something very important. Of course, Yahweh chose to call many servants. He called Abraham, Moses, David, Caleb, Job, and Isaiah His servants. And oddly enough, God even called heathen kings Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus His servants, since they carried out His judgment upon God’s unfaithful people. Also included as God’s “servant” are the ancient nation of Israel, whom God often called deaf and blind.

 

All of these servants had a special purpose in God’s plan of salvation. God certainly chose each one for His special task. They either were examples to God’s people, or they were to carry out judgment upon God’s unfaithful people.

 

But there is something different going on here in Isaiah 42. Here, Yahweh is making an announcement of special importance. Here, Yahweh announces this Servant boldly and dramatically: “Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen, in whom My Soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1).

 

It's like God is saying, “Here He is!” No other Servant of the Lord has received such an introduction, so this announcement signals something quite different and important about this Servant as compared to the others.

 

But who is this Servant? There is so much ambiguity in our text. But ambiguity can also enrich our reading. Ambiguity can cause us to meditate on God’s divine Word. So, who is this Servant who fulfills this prophecy?

 

If we were to place everyone whom God calls His servant together and look at them, Yahweh would direct our attention to just this One Servant. For example, if all these servants were placed on a table and spread out like rare coins, Yahweh would be pointing at One of them saying, “Behold My Servant! This is the One!”

In Isaiah 41, one chapter earlier, God provides a contrast to reveal the importance of this Servant. God pointed to the false gods saying, “Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind” (Isaiah 41:29). What a contrast to the very next verse in Chapter 42! The works of these false gods are nothing, because they are nothing. Now, the Servant introduced here will carry out the Lord’s work.

 

Now that Yahweh has our attention, He tells us why this Servant is so especially important. And certainly, God chose this Servant much like He had chosen other servants, including Abraham before Him. Each of the prophets were chosen for their special role, including David, who sought after God’s own heart, despite his many flaws.

 

But again, this Servant is different. To this Servant, Yahweh endows with special gifts and importance.  This Servant would “bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1d). This Servant would not only serve the single nation of Israel, but also serve the Gentiles – the entire world!

 

Now, this word “justice” is a judgment based on a legal decision. “Justice” is a term that defines the Gospel, which is God’s legal and judicial announcement that He has declared the entire world right, holy, and innocent. This “justice” is good news! This is good news to a world that stands before God’s court convicted of sin. This judgement exists because of the work of this Servant. And God would put His Spirit on this Servant so that He could accomplish His task.

 

But how would this Servant accomplish this task? Although Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and David are God’s servants, this Servant will not accomplish this task by force. This Servant would be meek, modest, and mild. This Servant “will not cry aloud or lift up His voice, or make it heard in the street” (Isaiah 42:2).

 

Even Abraham rescued Lot by force, and Moses sent the Levites out with swords drawn to restore order. But not this Servant. This Servant would come into Jerusalem “righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

 

Cyrus stomped his way to victory. His coming filled the coastlands with fear. This Servant would be gentle; the people would hope in the words of this Servant. “A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice” (Isaiah 42:3).

In Isaiah 11, the prophet wrote that this Servant would be a “shoot” from the stump of Jesse and that “the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him” (Isaiah 11:2). It would be the Holy Spirit who would anoint this Servant to accomplish His tasks. “He will not grow faint or be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for His law” (Isaiah 42:4). This Servant will accomplish His task of establishing justice on the earth.

 

God’s people longed for the appearance of this Servant. Then, at the appointed time, God removed all questions about this Servant’s identity. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13). John the Baptizer attempted to prevent Jesus from being baptized, but Jesus said to John, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

 

“Yes,” Jesus says, “It does seem odd to baptize the sinless Lamb of God, but this must be done, so all who will be baptized will receive My righteousness. For this must take place!”

 

You see, God demands righteousness. So, Yahweh had a special reason for choosing His Servant: it was in connection with righteousness. God demands that the entire human race be righteous, but every step the human race takes proves us to be unrighteous. We have even failed obedience to God’s Law in loving God and serving our neighbor that was intended to produce a righteous people.

 

But the triune God devised a plan, a plan from before time. The triune God would send the Second Person of the Trinity to be incarnate to make all people righteous. God Himself would rescue His people through this called Servant.

 

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul wrote in Romans 3: “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:22).

 

As Jesus came out of the water of the Jordan River, two important things happened. First, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, and second, God the Father’s voice rang out saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

 

At this moment in time, as Jesus came out of the water, it cannot be mistaken who Yahweh’s special Servant is: He is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is God’s Servant who came to carry out His righteousness to deliver righteousness to the people.

 

Now, this Servant’s task would be difficult. He would bring justice, justification, and salvation to the ends of the earth, but it would not be through brute force or by any show of might, but in the humility and shame of the cross.

 

Jesus, the Servant, came to bring atonement between God and man. And this could only be done through receiving a sinner’s baptism – a washing that was not necessary for Him, but surely necessary for us, so that through our baptism into Christ, we receive the fruits of His cross: forgiveness, life, and salvation, and all by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, the beloved Servant.

 

Throughout His earthly ministry, this Servant would open the eyes of the blind and free captives who sit in darkness. But these physical realities also refer to spiritual realities. 

 

You see, when you are spiritually imprisoned to sin, your flesh is calling all the shots. You are not in control. Your sin is in control, and you are a slave to it. Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, stealing, sexual immortality. Just name it.

 

When left to our own devises, we are always snared by sin. Because of sin, all humanity remains blind to the truths of God. Because of sin, all humanity remains in bondage. Because of sin, all humanity are slaves to sin and are doomed to eternal punishment.

 

Through Christ alone, the Servant, He would bring release from sin’s bondage and from the dungeon of judgment. Long ago, God destined His Servant to set us free from our evil foes: sin, death, and the devil. Because Christ died for your sins and rose again, triumphing over sin and death, He by faith in Him has set you free from bondage!

 

Today, we can look in awe of this Servant Yahweh foretold in Isaiah 42, because we are the recipients of this Servant’s work. We are among those who have our eyes opened to the light of His grace. We are among those freed from the prison of death. We are among those called out of darkness and into His marvelous light. We are God’s children whom He has chosen as His own. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"God's Obedient Son" (Luke 2:40-52)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: 

“[Jesus] said to [Mary and Joseph], ‘Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?’” (Luke 2:49).

 

If you are like me, when you heard today’s Gospel text, you may have thought about the 1990 movie “Home Alone.” In that movie, Peter and Kate McCallister accidently left their son Kevin at home as they traveled with their extended family to Florida for Christmas break. But, while in a hurry one morning to get out the door in order to get to O’Hare on time, they forgot to check upstairs for their son Kevin. It was only later, while flying the friendly skies that Kevin’s mother realizes that her son was missing. Frantically, Kevin’s parents – and especially his mom – immediately begin looking for ways to get back home to find their lost son.

 

In a similar fashion, Mary and Joseph search frantically for their lost Son. Except, their Son was not lost. For Jesus remained at the temple in Jerusalem for a purpose. 

 

“Now [Christ’s] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom” (Luke 2:41-42).

 

If you thought driving to the airport was stressful, the trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem was a grueling one of about 80 miles, which lasted three to four days. Thankfully, Mary, Joseph, and young Jesus did not travel alone, but with a large company of people in a caravan. And this caravan served multi-purposes. First, it offered an opportunity for fellowship among family and local townsfolk. Second, any large group provided for protection from the threat of highway robbers.

 

And when the Holy Family arrived in Jerusalem, they would have found the city teeming with hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims, who would have been trying to find lodging and a place to celebrate the Passover meal, along with purchasing their sacrificial animals. The Holy Family would have witnessed a city filled with the noise of hundreds of thousands of sheep, which the priests would have been busy butchering. Beggars would have been in full force. Roman soldiers would have been on patrol, jostlying the crowds and trying to keep some semblance of order. 

Joseph, too, would have taken their family’s lamb to be sacrificed, and one can only guess what was going through his mind. The scene in Jerusalem would have been frantic. 

 

And although the Holy Family traveled to Jerusalem every year for the Passover festival – to celebrate the redemption of the people of Israel from Egypt, this year would mark something different. Luke tells us that Jesus was 12 years old. Being a boy at 12 or 13 years of age was especially significant, for this would be when Jesus would be considered a man at His Bar Mitzvah ceremony. At the Bar Mitzvah, Jesus would now be under the full obligation of the Law.

 

“And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing Him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances” (Luke 2:43-44).

 

At first, being in a large caravan, Mary and Joseph never suspected that Jesus was not among the group. But when they stopped at nightfall, they noticed that Jesus was nowhere to be found. Like the McCallister parents in search for Kevin, Mary and Joseph began their search. They searched everywhere! Until as it often is, they found Jesus at the last place they looked, the place that should have been obvious from the start: the temple in Jerusalem.

 

And when Mary and Joseph located Jesus at the temple courts, they were astonished at what they witnessed. Jesus wasn’t battling home invaders. Jesus was not playing with the boys. Instead, He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. There was twelve-year-old Jesus, sitting cross-legged on the floor sitting among the rabbis. “And all who heard [Jesus] were amazed at His understanding and His answers” (Luke 2:47).

 

Jesus, who is fully and completely God, was being filled with human wisdom. He was not only asking questions, but He was listening to their answers. And Jesus’ questions displayed the depth of His understanding of Scripture truth. And His answers to the teachers’ questions likewise revealed how far advanced Jesus was in His grasp of divine truth. Now, Jesus wasn’t a child prodigy. He wasn’t a “Doogie Howser.” This was the divine wisdom which was imparted to His human nature. Jesus through these conversations was receiving more confirmation on why He took upon human flesh.

You see, God demands perfect obedience to the Law. And all of the descendants of Adam share in Adam’s disobedience to the Word of God. Our sinful nature that we inherited from Adam manifests itself in our daily lives and in our daily vocations: Instead of using God’s name to pray and give thanks, sinful man is more inclined to use God’s name to curse and lie. Instead of holding God’s Word sacred and gladly hearing and learning it, sinful man would rather grumble and complain if the sermon or Divine Service goes too long, or if I would preach a truth of God that sinful man does not want to hear. Instead of speaking well of our neighbor, sinful man would rather tell lies about our neighbor.

 

All the descendants of Adam share in Adam’s condemnation and judgment. And what was Adam’s condemnation and judgment? It’s death. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). And “For as in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22a). All we can do is beg God for mercy as we confess our sins to Him.

 

But Jesus is the perfectly obedient Son of God.

 

On that day in the temple, as Jesus was listening to the teachers and asking them questions, He knew His mission. He, along with the thousands in attendance at the Passover festival were there to remember God’s grace as the angel of death killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians, but “passed over” the firstborn of the Israelites, because of the blood of a lamb on their lintels and door posts.

 

And now, God the Father has shown even more grace and mercy in giving us His Son, His only-begotten Son, who is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, … who for us men and for our salvation has come down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. 

 

The Word became flesh, our own flesh, by taking the form of a servant, so that He could keep the Law of God in the place of sinful man. The Son of God obeyed His Father’s will for us!

 

Now, what Jesus did that day in the temple was not an act of rebellion against His parents. For Jesus remained perfectly obedient to His parents as demonstrated on their return to Nazareth. But there could be more here. Luke tells us that Mary “treasured up all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51b). What could this be?

 

 

This event could have served as a further reminder that Jesus was not just an ordinary son, but the Son of God. For the last time Luke used that phrase, Mary was reminded what the shepherds said concerning her Child from the angel that her very Son is the Christ, the One who has come to save His people from their sins.

 

Jesus would remain obedient to His parents just as the Fourth Commandment requires. And Jesus would identify Himself fully and completely with sinners. Finally, Jesus, as the always obedient Son, would suffer an agonizing death as He would drink the cup of His Father’s wrath for us as He would be crucified to bring atonement for yours and my sins.

 

Jesus, who at twelve years old upheld His Bar Mitzvah as He perfectly kept the Law for us.

 

So, through Christ’s obedience, by repentance and faith in Him, our disobedience is forgiven through His blood and merit. For “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). By faith in Christ alone, we now stand before God the Father as righteous and obedient children, covered by the robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness and obedience.

 

Through our adoption through Christ in Holy Baptism, we now put off the old man, the old sinful Adam, with His disobedience and have now put on Christ. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ’s example of humility before God and our neighbor as we keep His Word and obey His commandments.

 

Instead of fearing, loving, and trusting in other things, we begin in faith to fear, love and trust in God above all things. We learn to trust Him as our only hope and refuge. We resist the temptation to use God’s name to lie and deceive and instead call upon His name in every trouble as we pray, praise, and give thanks. We begin to hold God’s Word sacred as we gladly hear and learn it. And we resist the sinful urge tell lies and instead defend and speak well of our neighbor.

 

We do all of this out of love for God, and not out of fear of punishment or condemnation, but joyfully and gladly because of Christ’s perfect obedience that has been credited to us. In Christ alone, we are counted as righteous and obedient before God through our faith in His obedient Son. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"How Majestic is Your Name" (Psalm 8)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: 

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1).

 

The year 2025 has ended. Welcome to 2026! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

With a new year, often comes renewed hope and positive thinking. Fitness clubs thrive on hope and positive thinking these first days and weeks of January. They advertise deals in their hope that you would join their club, pay the fees, and maybe actually exercise.

 

There is something about a new year. It is a renewal. It feels like a fresh start. And each newly arrived year reminds us that we have arrived to another year of our Lord. And that “Year of Our Lord” – that A.D. “Anno Domini – comes with peace, hope, certainty and joy. The Year of Our Lord 2026 is truly in the hands of our Lord!

 

You see, your future is not in the hands of fate, or chance, or any random occurrence. Your future is in the hands of the Lord! You know, the One who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who was placed in a manger, who was nailed to a cross for you, who died and rose for you to give you forgiveness, life and salvation! He reigns for you as everything is under His feet!

 

Today’s reading from Psalm 8 is fitting for a New Year as it speaks how majestic God’s Name is in all the earth. The triune God is certainly majestic! He showed “His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

 

We spoke together earlier: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). As we spoke those words, we are calling on Yahweh, the very personal name of God as our King, our Ruler. We are confessing the name of the only true God as our Ruler.

 

And His Name is majestic! Yahweh alone is, and always has been, and always will be the One who exists and, by extension, is always present to act on our behalf for us and for our salvation!

 

God’s majesty is also found all throughout the created order. Yahweh is praised by huge galaxies and by tiny babies. The sun, the moon, and the stars testify to the majesty, power, and wisdom of God. But their testimony is without words. Their testimony is without love. But more precious than the testimony of huge galaxies are the simple prayers and songs of a little child. Even infants, who cannot communicate without crying, can praise God in ways that we do not understand.

 

The Psalmist writes: “When I look at your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the Son of Man that you care for Him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).

 

For our majestic God, His work of creating galaxies was detailed handiwork, like fine needlepoint. But man? What is man compared to the sun, moon, and stars? Man is but a speck compared to just one of God’s stars!

 

Yet, God created Adam and Eve to have dominion over the universe. He created the sun, moon, and stars to serve them.

 

God created man and woman in His very image, so that humanity could be righteous and holy and live in happy fellowship with Him. In the grand scheme of created things, man appears to be insignificant, but God created everything for you and me.

 

But through Adam’s Fall into sin, humanity’s fellowship with God was broken – it was completely split apart. And because of the Fall, man’s dominion over the universe was gone. Now, we can still use our intelligence that God has given us to maintain partial control of things, but in the grand scheme of things, we no longer have uncontested dominion over the world God gave us to steward.

 

Now animals kill human beings. Human beings kill animals. Human beings slaughter other human beings. Earthquakes, floods, tornados, hurricanes can wipe us out. Even the tiniest of viruses can kill us. We now live in a hostile environment. And one day, unless Christ returns first, we must return to the ground from which we were all created.

 

The Psalmist writes: “Yet You have made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor. You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under His feet” (Psalm 8:5-6).

 

 

Psalm 8 is quoted twice in the New Testament as a messianic prophecy that was fulfilled when Jesus Christ came and regained dominion over the world for us.

 

Certainly, as true God, Jesus already had dominion over the whole universe. But when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, He took on a human nature like ours, though without sin. In this state, the Second Person of the Trinity undertook the work of regaining our lost dominion for us.

 

As how puny humanity may seem in the grand scheme of things of the entire universe, God created humanity in His image. God created the sun, moon, and stars, and all of creation for us humans. God loves humanity so much that He took upon Himself our flesh to save us.

 

As God became man for us, Jesus made Himself lower than the heavenly beings – the angels. (Hebrews 2:6-8)

 

And during His ministry on earth, Jesus did not appear to look like God or even an angel, but like an ordinary man.

 

Psalm 8 was fulfilled throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth when He assumed the form of a humble servant. Jesus was “made a little lower than the heavenly beings” when He was helped by angels at the time of His temptation and in Gethsemane. Psalm 8 was fulfilled when Jesus’ enemies refused to recognize Him as God and instead ridiculed Him as a lowly carpenter and when they mocked Him while crucified on the cross. Psalm 8 was fulfilled at Calvary when Jesus cried out: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

 

But Jesus would not stay in this humble condition. You see, when He had finished His work of defeating sin, death and the power of the devil, He ascended to heaven and was seated at the right hand of God. He now has all power in heaven and on earth. He is crowned with honor and glory. St. Paul quotes Psalm 8 in 1 Corinthians 15:27 saying: “For God has put all things in subjection under His feet.” Paul writes this to remind us that Jesus rules over all things – in heaven and on earth – for us!

 

So, just as Adam brought death to all people, so Christ, the second Adam, won life for all people. Adam lost the dominion that had been entrusted to him, but Christ is now ruling the world for the benefit of His people. And by faith in Him, we are given the reward of Christ’s victory as we are now heirs of His kingdom, including the new heaven and new earth.

On this New Year’s Day – the eighth day of Christmas, the day we remember the circumcision and naming of our Lord, the Second Person of the Trinity received His name: “Jesus,” which means “the Lord saves.” 

 

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is the name of Jesus, who has come to save us! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Grieving in Hope and Faith" (Matthew 2:13-18) - The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: 

“And [Joseph] rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son’” (Matthew 2:14-15).

 

The days on our Church calendar following Christmas Day can leave us wondering: where has the joy of Christmas gone?

 

What happened to “Joy to the World”? What happened to “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled”?

 

These days following Christmas are very strange. Just one day after Christmas was the Festival of St. Stephen, Martyr. Two days after Christmas was the Festival of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. And that leads us to today: the Festival of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs. It has been said St. Stephen was a martyr for Christ in both will and deed. St. John was Christ’s martyr in will, but not in deed. And the Holy Innocents, to which we observe today, were Christ’s martyrs not in will, but in deed.

 

This is so very strange. Again, just a few short days ago, we were gathered in unbridled joy. But now? Today, we heard of the death of children. Now we are gathered in deep sorrow. Instead of singing “Joy to the World,” we are crying out to God about rescuing us from “the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 71:1, today’s Gradual), and from the strangers who “have risen against me; [the] ruthless men [who] seek my life” (Psalm 54:3)

 

Then in today’s Gospel lesson, we heard of crying and deep sorrow. For the mothers in Bethlehem, they are like Rachel before them as they refuse to be comforted because their children are no more.

 

The pendulum of our life together in the Church has swung drastically since Christmas Day. But this is what life is like out there as we live in a fallen and sinful world. One minute you are living your life in joy, and then the next minute is filled with sorrow.

 

Just look at Bethlehem. At the announcement of the birth of the Christ Child, there were angels singing in the fields: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). Upon hearing this, the shepherds run to see the promised Savior of the world. 

 

Sometime later, wise men came from afar to Bethlehem to see the one “who has been born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). 

 

Then Joseph, as solid and reliable as a husband and father could be, is warned by an angel in a dream that his family is in immediate danger, and he doesn’t waste a minute. He, Mary, and the Christ Child depart before morning to Egypt.

 

To be sure, there was so much joy happening in Bethlehem! But then, in the blink of an eye, there is sudden and unexpected death.

 

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him …” (Matthew 2:1-3).

 

Herod the Great was well known for his social concern and at the same time being cruel and merciless. Herod during a time of severe economic hardship gave back tax money collected from the people. And during a great famine, Herod melted down various gold objects in the palace to buy food for the poor. He built theaters, racetracks, and other structures to provide entertainment for the people. And he began the reconstruction project of the Temple in Jerusalem.

 

But as I said, Herod was also cruel and merciless. Herod was known for being incredibly jealous, suspicious, and afraid for his own position and power. For Herod, any potential threat would be dealt with. He had his wife’s brother drowned. He had his wife Mariamne killed. He had her mother killed. He had three of his own sons killed. And shortly before he would die, Herod had the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and imprisoned to be executed the very moment he would die and just to guarantee that there would be mourning in Jerusalem. If not for him, it would be for those men. But there would still be mourning.

 

So, it is not far-fetched that when Herod was troubled, then all of Jerusalem would be troubled right along with him.

As the magi wandered around Jerusalem attempting to locate “he who has been born king of the Jews,” the people began to be concerned.

 

Knowing the past, anyone even suspected of doing Herod harm or threatening his position or power was in considerable danger. In Herod’s sweeping carnage many innocent people were often destroyed. Although Herod’s anger was not vented this time against Jerusalem, it would soon be vented against the nearby town of Bethlehem.

 

I wish I could say that sorrow is only unique to Bethlehem, but I can’t. The slaughter of children two years old and younger by Herod is unique. But not the deep sorrow. That’s what makes this time of year so hard for many.

 

Yes, just days ago, we sang “Joy to the World,” but what happened when that service ended? You either went home or spent time with loved ones, your family and friends. But some of us had people missing from this year’s gatherings – and not because they couldn’t make it because of other gatherings or travel distance – it was because they died.

 

Last Christmas, or some Christmas before, you were spending time with those whom you love: opening presents, talking and eating, singing, and going to church with them. But then, something sudden happened. Something unexpected happened. Something happened to take them away from you: a car accident, a fall, a heart attack, a stroke, cancer. You name it. It happens. Suddenly and unexpectedly, death happens. And now, this Christmas season, you join yourself with those grieving parents in Bethlehem.

 

Now, deep sorrow is bad enough, but when you are shaken to the core, it’s the questions that drive us nuts. It’s those questions that hurt the most. They range from the simple “why?” to the more complex “Why did this happen? Why did God allow this to happen? Why doesn’t God hear my prayer? Why does God allow suffering? Has God abandoned me?”

 

Sometimes, there are clear answers to the “why” questions. Like in our Old Testament lesson. There, God told them directly to love and worship Him only. What did Israel do? They refused. They turned their hearts away from God. They worshipped other gods. And for their idolatry, for their sin of unbelief, they received and suffered a consequence: 70 years of slavery, suffering, pain, and death at the hands of the Babylonians. 

Also, in our Gospel lesson. There, the “why” is answered because Herod feared losing his power. He was also furious that the magi did not return.

 

However, other times, there is no clear answer to our “whys.” Sometimes, there is not a clear cause and effect that we can easily point to. All we can point to is that we are poor, miserable sinners who live in a fallen world, which gives suffering, pain, evil and death. This is the world we live in thanks to Adam and Eve’s disobedience. “Sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

 

And for those “whys” that lack an answer, Jesus teaches us this: “In the world, you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). So, trouble is to be expected. Trouble is now considered normal.

 

Sadly, as we live in this fallen world of sin, suffering, pain, and death happen all the time. And in just a blink of an eye. One moment you are driving down the road and the next moment a truck turns right out in front of you.

 

Sometimes, we just don’t have the answer to the why question. We still wonder. We wonder where God is in all of this?

 

On this day of the Festival of the Holy Innocents, God gives us real hope for real people in the midst of sorrow.

 

Remember: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is why “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He came down into this fallen world to bear our sin and be our Savior. He came to save those Holy Innocents and He came to save you!

 

And nothing can stop Jesus from accomplishing that goal! Herod certainly tried. He tried to kill Jesus, but Joseph followed the command of the angel. And some years later, a son of Herod – one who lived – would attempt to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. But nothing can stop Jesus from accomplishing His goal! Jesus would finish His course. Jesus would cry out: “It is finished” (John 19:30). 

 

Then, in the blink of an eye, Jesus would bodily resurrect from the dead! And because Christ lives, we – by faith in Him – will live also! For everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him has eternal life, and God will raise him up on the Last Day! In Christ alone there is truly joy to the world!

 

Until that day of Christ’s final coming, you and I will grieve, but our grieving is mixed with hope as our tears are mixed with faith and our sadness is mixed with joy knowing that in the twinkle of an eye, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed as our bodies become immortal (1 Corinthians 15)! In Christ alone, there is true joy! Merry Christmas! Amen!

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Word Became Flesh - for You!" (John 1:1-14)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Christmas Day is certainly different from Christmas Eve. Last night, we heard about the nativity scene, the creche. We heard about Mary and Joseph. We heard about angels and shepherds. We heard about the Christ Child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. This morning, we hear what that all means. This morning, we hear about the theology hiding behind the nativity scene – the creche: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a).

 

Theologically, verse 14 of our Gospel text presents to us the most concise Biblical statement of the Incarnation. Those first four words “the Word became flesh” expresses the reality that in the Incarnation God took upon Himself our humanity. It expresses that the infinite became finite. It expresses eternity entering time. It expresses the invisible became visible. It expresses the Creator entering His creation.

 

Before there was a world, a universe, there was God. And this very Person – the Second Person of the Trinity – was active to create all this. The very Creator of all things now puts on our flesh – our human flesh. God became one of us. At the same time, God does not change. God can’t change. This is so much to ponder. This is beyond our own thoughts and imagination. Just ponder this fact: God became a human being and yet, He never ceases to be God.

 

1    Of the Father’s love begotten
    Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
    He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
    And that future years shall see
        Evermore and evermore. (Of the Father’s Love Begotten, LSB 384, stanza 1)

The Divinity took upon our humanity. The Second Person of the Trinity, who is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. Wow! God dwelt among us!

 

2    Christ, by highest heav’n adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
    Late in time behold Him come,
    Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the_incarnate Deity!
Pleased as Man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel! (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, LSB 380, stanza 2)

 

God with us!

 

Of course, God had been with His people throughout their history, but this was different. Very different. 

 

Before, God “tabernacled” among His people in the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and then its more permanent replacement, the temple in Jerusalem. That was too, a remarkable thing. It was remarkable how God dwelt among unclean people to cleanse them and dwell among them. Yet, there at the temple, God assured His people of His glory. God assured His people of His holy presence. There, He atoned for their sins. There, He shared His holiness with them that they might be the holy people He called them to be.

 

But all that time, King Solomon, who was responsible in building the temple, believed that God could not be contained in the temple (1 Kings 8:27). Solomon believed that the temple, nor heaven, nor earth, could contain God.

 

Solomon was right. His temple could not contain God. So, God pitched His tent among us. Here in flesh and blood, the Word, the very Second Person of the Trinity, the very Son of God, dwells among us. A new temple, not made of stone or wood, but of His flesh. Now the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily in the flesh of Christ Jesus.

 

This is a Divine Mystery! The Word did not simply inhabit the flesh of Jesus, like a tent or a vehicle you step into and then step out of. The Word has become flesh in this mysterious union of true God and true man we call the Incarnation. This is a mystery we may not fully understand, but it’s a mystery to be confessed.

 

But have you ever thought: Why would God exchange a permanent, lasting home for a fragile human body? 

 

We do certainly live in a fallen world where things do not last. Just look all around. Everything dies or decays. Or it lasts long enough to be bulldozed for a “better” structure. Just look at sports stadiums and Las Vegas hotels. They are here one day and gone the next. Ironically, even Solomon’s and Herod’s temples – that were one day seemingly indestructible – were leveled.

 

You and I will die. The Psalmist writes: “You [God] sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. … For all our days pass away under Your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:5-6, 9-10).

 

The sentence of death lies heavy on our fallen human race as generations come and generations go, for we are by nature estranged from God by our sin, as we are corrupted to the core of our being ever since the Fall of Adam.

 

But then something changes. The sinless Son of God becomes Man. The Word became flesh – a weak, mortal flesh and blood, who three decades later would be hung lifeless on a cross. The Word became flesh so that He might bear our griefs, carry our sorrows, and be crushed under the weight of yours and my guilt. The sinless would die for the sinful. The Holy One would die for the unclean. The very Son of God would bear the full, divine wrath against your sin and mine, so that we – by faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior – would never face God’s wrath ourselves!

 

For three days, the Word become flesh would be dead. But on that third day, that same Word become flesh rose to life – indestructible and immortal.

 

Certainly, heaven and earth would pass away, but not the Word made flesh for you!

 

All earthly temples, including Solomon’s temple and Herod’s after it would pass away. But not this Temple! The resurrected, glorified, Word made flesh Christ Jesus will not pass away. Jesus is more lasting than the strongest stone. There, in the Word become flesh Jesus Christ, our Lord, we see the only true and enduring sanctuary of God. Jesus is the place where God’s glory dwells!

 

But here we are, some two thousand years later. Yes, the apostles and disciples then saw Jesus and His glory. What about us? Where is God’s glory on this Christmas in 2025?

 

God is still with us. God still dwells with us. God is still tabernacling with us. But where is He?

 

Today, the Word become flesh’s glory is veiled. He is hidden. But His glory, which is full of grace and truth comes to you and me still as the Word become flesh tabernacles among us – eternal and indestructible. For it was He who incorporated you into His body, the Church. By grace through faith in Christ alone, He has given you His own resurrection life!

 

And while God’s glory is hidden, Jesus is very present with us. You see, it was His voice you heard forgiving your sins. You heard His proclaimed Word in the Scriptures and in this sermon. And in moments, He will again reveal Himself to you through His very Body and Blood under bread and wine. Through these Means of Grace – His Word and His Sacraments – the very Word become flesh Christ Jesus forgives and restores you, His beloved child.

 

On this Nativity of Our Lord, let us confess this Divine Mystery of the Word become flesh, God becoming man, so that we – by faith in Him – would have the gift of forgiveness, life and salvation. Merry Christmas! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +