"The Paradox: The Word of the Cross" (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

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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:

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:22-25).

 

Throughout this Epiphany season, Jesus is revealing His glory. Through inspiration, Peter said of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus turned a persecutor of the faith into the greatest defender of the faith. And Christ’s ultimate glory is Him crucified onto a cross as He died for our sins. This is what Lutheran pastors preach. We preach the Word of the Cross: Christ crucified for sinners. It is by this Word of the Cross is how God saves.

 

Now, back in October, Kurt, Willie and I were working on how to get a portion of our church parking lot lit. As you know, it tends to get dark at night, and when it is October, it gets darker earlier each night until the winter solstice each December 21^st. 

 

So, here we are, trying to figure out how to make the parking lot brighter until we noticed something off the end of the church’s canopy. It was a light! But the light didn’t work and hasn’t worked for years. So, we all tried to learn more about this light. Then Willie climbed the ladder and found out that the power to that dead light was still live. The next question was how to replace that light with a new light and not shock Willie in the process. So, Kurt and myself made our way to the circuit breaker boxes and began flipping switches: Canopy – nope; Emergency Lights – nope; Entry/office – nope; Narthex – nope; Barn – nope. We were at whit’s end. We were puzzled.

 

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. You know that phrase “Christ crucified,” that phrase too, sounds like utter nonsense. How is that a good thing? That sounds more like defeat than a victory!

 

“Christ crucified” is a paradox. That seems so contrary to anything good! That word “Christ” also means “Messiah” and a messiah is someone who is of royal dignity. And the word “crucified” tells of an executed criminal, who has lost any and all claims to human dignity or any positive status at all!

 

But “Christ crucified” is what we preach. “Christ crucified” is certainly a stumbling block.

 

To Jews, a crucified Messiah was certainly an obstacle in coming to faith in Jesus. In fact, as Deuteronomy 21 tells us, anyone who has been crucified was seen as repugnant, unacceptable, and cursed by God. So, for Jews, crucifixion on a cross was the most shameful death imaginable.

 

To Greeks, who are entangled in a culture enamored by power and success, “Christ crucified” also made no sense. How could a crucified criminal ever be considered as the Savior of the world? Now, Greeks were known for their worldly wisdom, but they were not alone. Romans, too, also thought any worship of a crucified Messiah as ridiculous. In fact, Romans spoke of Christians as “worshipping a dead man” – which was utterly absurd!

 

For all nonbelievers, mankind is the measure of all things. For nonbelievers, they demand evidence that falls within the parameters of their own lived experience. 

 

Even with the differences between Jews and Greeks of yesteryear, St. Paul says that they are very much alike. He says that both Jews and Greeks have much in common. For they both have a common quest for impressive signs of outward success, whether that be a display of power, such as the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, or ejecting the Romans from Palestine, to today’s modern demands for health and wealth. 

 

The Jews demanded signs. They demanded Jesus give them a powerful sign to prove His Messianic claims. And Jesus gave them many signs. He healed the sick; He opened the eyes of the blind; He raised the dead; He preached good news to the poor in spirit. But they wanted different signs.

 

These Jews of Jesus’ earthly ministry demanded Jesus to do signs according to their own demands. You see, they wanted to be in control. They wanted Jesus to do their bidding. They wanted a Disney Genie-kind of Jesus who just grants their wishes.

 

So, in response to their demands, Jesus said: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39-40).

 

In other words, if you really want a sign, look to what will soon happen. He says, “Look to My death and resurrection!” Look to the word of the cross!

 

For the Greeks, they have demands too. Now, not signs, but they demand wisdom. They wish to hear from a great teacher. They wish to learn pithy sayings. But, what wisdom is there from a dead Messiah? Again, “Christ crucified” is just foolishness. “Christ crucified” is just silly. “Christ crucified” is just a waste of time.

 

On top of this, the Greeks weren’t that interested in learning from a dead man about the problems of sin and guilt. You see, the Greeks and Romans believed they had sin and guilt all figured out. They believed they had all the answers.

 

The Word of the Cross is certainly foolishness to the worldly wise who are perishing, but to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God.

 

For the Jews and Greeks of yesteryear, they were seeking what is known today as the Theology of Glory. This Theology of Glory emphasizes human achievement and worldly success as paths to God’s favor and His glory. It’s all about personal glory, easy answers, self-improvement, wealth and comfort. It downplays sin and suffering. In John 14, Philip spoke to Jesus with this Theology of Glory saying: “Show us the Father” (John 14:8). Jesus then set Philip aside and said, “How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”(John 14:9b-10). Philip was looking for signs and wisdom, but Jesus said to just look to Him saying, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). What Jesus is saying to Philip and us is that God can only be found through suffering and the cross.

 

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. We preach the Theology of the Cross. True signs and true wisdom is only found in Christ the crucified.

 

For sure, the power of God through the Theology of Glory is certainly visible in creation, but the Theology of the Cross, which is the grace of God is only found through His cross and His Means of Grace: His Word and Sacraments. For, the grace of God certainly appears weak and foolish to unbelievers. But for us, it is the true power of God.

 

Jesus preached the Theology of the Cross. He preached that suffering is central to understanding God and the human condition. He preached that He must die to atone for the sins of the world – yours and my sins of all of human history. Jesus preached that through His atoning death that He would put an end to eternal death. He preached that through His death and bodily resurrection He would give us forgiveness, life, and salvation. So, it is only through the Word of the Cross that we receive the forgiveness of yours and my sins.

 

By the Word of the Cross, God outsmarted and overpowered all human wisdom and all human power. And it was from those Jews and Greeks of yesteryear that God would grow His Church as a new race, a royal priesthood. He made us all one in Christ Jesus!

 

So, if you are looking for signs and wonders as a display of God’s power, you will find that power displayed in Christ the crucified. And if you are on a quest for wisdom, you will find God’s wisdom perfectly revealed in the Word of the Cross.

 

For as God’s Word proclaims in Isaiah 55: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

 

So, did we ever figure out which circuit breaker switch was connected to that canopy light? Well, after flipping the breakers for the canopy, the emergency lights, the narthex, the barn, we came to another switch, a switch that just seemed that it couldn’t possibly work, it said “Cross.” So, we flipped it. It was the one. Always look to the cross. It seemed like folly, but it was the wisdom of God. We have light and salvation through the Word of the Cross! We preach Christ crucified and risen for sinners, because for us who are being saved, it is the power of God! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Delivered, Transferred and Redeemed" (Colossians 1:14-20)

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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:

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

 

Last Sunday during the children’s message, we were reminded that it is getting darker these days. There is less light these days. And until December 21, the light grows more dim each day. Darkness is powerful. Darkness has an undeniable authority. Darkness forces you to do certain things and darkness prevents you from doing other things.

 

In today’s age, we can live out our lives without ever actually experiencing total, complete darkness. We can do this through artificial light, through things such as light bulbs and flashlights. So, it is easy for us to lose sight of darkness’ authority. But darkness does have real power. Darkness forces us to drive slower at night. Darkness causes us to put on the brights in hopes that a deer will still not jump out in your way. 

 

In complete darkness, you will get lost and never know where to go. Darkness certainly forces us to be cautious and sometimes that darkness causes fear, because darkness can hurt you.

 

Darkness can actually kill, because all living things need light to stay alive. In parts of the world where darkness lingers, people have to take steps to fight off depression and other maladies. In total darkness, people can become insane and become sick and die. And all because of darkness. That is authority. That is power.

 

Spiritual darkness has power too. This “domain of darkness” is a place where darkness has its way. This “domain of darkness” is dark because people cannot see their way to the truth; they cannot perceive what they should perceive about the Lord and about themselves. They grope, they stumble, they are the “blind leading the blind” to destruction because they do not have better advice or example to offer than their own impaired stumbling. Sin is dark because we live in it thoughtlessly, carelessly, recklessly, stumbling and tumbling to our own and others’ destruction.

 

This “domain of darkness” is also dark because it is precisely where Satan holds sway. He relies on darkness, both the darkness of night, when sin crouches at our door so close to us, and the darkness of the heart, where we do not even understand the things we say and do as wrong. Satan likes darkness because it affords him room to work. He can work when you don’t confess your sin. He can work when you spend your time and energy hiding your sin. He can work when you have no one else with you and you assume that no one else sees or cares what you are doing. Darkness is a favorite place for Satan. Darkness is where Satan works his hardest on you and me. 

 

In today’s epistle reading, many of the Colossians were choosing to live in spiritual darkness and because of this darkness, the Colossian church was in serious jeopardy. It was so bad that Epaphras made a 1,300-mile trip to Rome to visit St. Paul while he was in prison. 

 

So, what was the issue? Well, the city of Colossae included a mixture of both Greeks and Jews and among them were elements of Gnosticism. This Gnostic heresy taught that Jesus alone was not adequate for salvation. They taught of a secret knowledge that threatened the salvation of these Colossians. This heresy centered on the Person of Christ as they denied Christ’s humanity as they viewed Jesus as a mere spirit being who came from God. They taught a form of philosophical dualism where the spirit is good, and matter was evil. So, they said that Christ could never be man, because flesh was evil.

 

But by far, the most serious aspect of this Colossian heresy was its rejection of Christ’s deity. This is why St. Paul wrote this letter to the Colossian church. He wrote this letter because their salvation was at stake.

 

The Bible is supremely a book about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament records the preparation for His coming. The Gospels present Him as God in human flesh, come into the world to save sinners. The Epistles detail the theology of Christ’s work and personification of Christ in His Body, the Church. And Revelation presents Christ on the throne, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

Every part of Scripture testifies about Jesus Christ. In Luke 24, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to [the Emmaus disciples] in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). In John 5, Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me” (John 5:39). And Philip, too, preached Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch by using only the book of Isaiah (Acts 8:35).

But of all the Bible’s teachings about Jesus Christ, our text today may be the most significant. Today’s text is dramatic and powerful and removes any doubt or confusion over who Jesus truly is.

 

So, who is Jesus? “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation” (Colossians 1:15). Jesus is the absolute image of God. Now, He did not become the image of God at the incarnation, but He has been the image of God from all eternity. Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature. He is the exact likeness of God. He is in His very form God. This is why Jesus could say: “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In Christ, the invisible God became visible, “and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

 

Jesus is the full and final and complete revelation of God. He is God taken upon Himself human flesh. 

 

Not only is Jesus the image of the invisible God for “by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). Jesus is the Creator. He is not a creation of God. Jesus created all things. “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing that was made”(John 1:3).

 

The entire universe exists and continues to operate only through the power and will of Jesus Christ. For, if He would for a moment cease to sustain creation, then the stars, the planets, and atoms would all spin out of control until they would disappear into oblivion. It’s Jesus who holds all things together. Jesus is God.

 

This, “in Him all things hold together” also teaches us something else. You see, on Judgment Day, everyone must pass through Him. So, those who in life knew Him in name only, or only knew Him as an inconvenience, or those who did not know Him at all, will now face Him entirely unprepared, dressed in the dirtiness of their sins and will hear Him say: “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you”(Matthew 25:12).

 

Jesus does not know those who live in darkness. For everyone who does not live by faith in Christ is among Satan’s fallen world. Without faith in Christ, the sinner stands before God guilty and condemned; the sinner stands before God as a debtor, an enemy, a stranger.

 

But we, who have been delivered from the domain of darkness by faith in Jesus will see Jesus standing before us as a familiar friend and brother. In Him, “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).

 

Despite our sins, Jesus has reconciled us back to Himself. He undertook the Great Exchange. He willingly suffered all things for you. He willingly faced mockery for you. He willingly died for you. In Christ, the sinner now stands before God as righteous. In Christ, the sinner is granted freedom. In Christ, the sinner’s debt is paid. In Christ, the sinner stands before God as friend. In Christ, the sinner stands before God as His son or daughter.

 

In Christ alone, we are at peace with God. In Christ alone, we are reconciled to God. In Christ alone, we are restored to a right relationship between God and man.

 

We are at peace with God because Jesus shed His blood on the cross and by rising again the third day from the dead to make sure that you are His.

 

In Christ, we have been delivered from the domain of darkness and have been transferred to His kingdom!

 

You were created by Christ and He has redeemed you to be His forever. Christ is the Head of the body, the Church. And since you are in Christ, you are no longer captive to sin, you are no longer of the domain of darkness. You are redeemed. You are delivered. You are forgiven. You are set free. You are cleansed. You are healed. This was accomplished because of the power of His shed blood. His blood brings peace. His shed blood brings peace between you and God. His blood cancels your sin, your idolatry, your rebellion you once owed Him.

 

Jesus has won for you peace by His blood and by His cross and by His resurrected life. Christ is all in all. By faith, Christ, your Creator and Redeemer has delivered you out of the domain of darkness by giving you redemption, the forgiveness of your sin. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"If Anyone Keeps My Word" (John 8:48-59)

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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: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death” (John 8:51).

 

Today’s Gospel reading picks up in mid-conversation between the Jewish religious authorities and Jesus. These Jewish religious authorities have been bombarding Jesus with question after question as to catch Jesus in a lie. But the problem for them is, Jesus only speaks the truth.

 

Earlier in John 8, Jesus was telling these Jewish authorities things that did not fit into their self-made notions of religion. So, Jesus told them that they were of the world, but He was not of this world (John 8:23). Jesus also told them, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free” (John 8:21).

 

Now, in today’s Gospel text, Jesus tells them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death” (John 8:51). To His hearers, they were likely thinking, “Who does Jesus think he is?! Our Father Abraham died! The prophets died! Everyone dies!”

 

So, who does this Man think He is? Well, since the question has been asked, Jesus is the Son of God, the eternal Son of the Father, the One who was with the Father before all things were made. He is the One who became incarnate, who came into our world, who took on our flesh. He is the One who came so that He could sympathize with our weaknesses, our fears, our illnesses. He is the timeless One, the One who existed before Abraham, and yet He also became Abraham’s descendant. He is the One, the only One who can say, “If anyone keeps My word, He will never see death.”

 

Jesus goes on saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). So, what exactly did Abraham believe about Jesus?

 

Well, Scripture gives no record of Abraham saying anything about Jesus, but Abraham certainly believed in this very word of promise. Abraham believed it. He kept it. He held on to it. 

Remember how Abraham saddled his donkey and took his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, to the mountain as the Lord had directed him? Remember how he took the wood and laid it on the back of his son, his only son, Isaac? Remember how he built an altar and then tied up his son, his only son Issac on the top of that altar?

 

Abraham held onto the Word of the Lord. Abraham believed and kept the Word of the Lord, and on that day, his son, his only son Isaac did not see death.

 

God did all of this to test Abraham. God did all of this to test Abraham’s faith. And this test of Abraham served as a preview of another son of Abraham, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself.

 

Jesus is the promised Son who carries the wood of His cross upon His back. He goes up Mount Calvary to make the great sacrifice to rescue us from the infection of our sin. He is the beloved Son who willingly bound Himself and laid upon the altar of the cross to deliver us from death. Jesus is the Lamb provided for the burnt offering. Jesus is the Lamb who is offered for us, who willingly caught Himself in the thicket of our sin and wears the crown of thorns upon His head. 

 

So, on Mount Calvary, it is Jesus who provided our deliverance from everything that infects us: sin and death.

 

So, how can Jesus say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death”? He can say that because He came to see death for us and to give us His life. He came to drink the cup of suffering in order that we may be released from death’s grasp. He came to be our Great High Priest to sacrifice not a sheep or a goat, but His holy precious blood, so that He would purify our consciences.  

 

So, if we keep His Word, by clinging to His Word, we are rescued from the power of sin, which is eternal death.

 

We have His Word. You hear His Word each Lord’s Day. You read His Word through Bible study and devotion. You sing His Word through hymnody and liturgy. Since we have His Word, let us keep His Word. Since we have His Word, let us hold onto His Word with our dear life. Remember, it is Jesus who also proclaims: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though He die, yet shall he live, and everyone who believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26) and “I am the way, and the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

So, if you cling to Jesus as your Lord, you will live forever. For St. Paul proclaims, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). So, nothing ever can take away eternal life away from you as long as you cling to Jesus and His Word!

 

But as poor, miserable sinners, how do we keep His Word? For we are so much better at not keeping His Word as we ignore Him, and listen to false voices and our own hearts. We are so much better at dishonoring Jesus. We so often fear, love and trust in created things rather than in God, the Creator. We so often do not fear God’s wrath by avoiding every sin. We often hold grudges and harbor resentment against our neighbor. We have all lied, cheated, and stole what did not belong to us. We have all sinned in thought, word, and deed by our own fault, our own grievous fault. So, we are all not too good at keeping Christ’s Word.

 

So, if we can’t keep His Word, Christ will keep it for us. Jesus is the One who promises: “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-55). So, that is the answer. That is how we keep His Word so that we will never see death. We keep His Word through the reception of His Means of Grace, His Word and His Sacrament. So, if you are united to Jesus in His Holy Supper of His true Body and His true Blood under bread and wine, you already have the victory over death, because His risen and glorified Body and Blood gives you His life, now and forever.

 

Jesus gave you faith in His Word through the holy waters mixed with His Word in Holy Baptism. There, you were born of water and the Spirit. There, you were united to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. There, you were “united with Him in a death like His” so that you would be “united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Romans 6:5). 

 

Again, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”Jesus is also the One who sends His called and ordained servants to “forgive the sins of any,” and those sins “are forgiven them” (John 20:23). 

 

 

So, when you hear those sweet words, “As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” your sins are removed from you. When you hear those words, you are at peace for Christ has blotted those sins away through His death.

 

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, Jesus also puts the icing on the cake for us. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). You see, through Jesus, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit is recognized in its fullness. The very Son of God enables us to see the Holy Trinity by Him becoming flesh. So, when we see Jesus and hear Jesus and touch Jesus, we also see, hear and touch the fullness of God. In Jesus, we have the Holy Trinity. And so, we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity (Athanasian Creed).

 

As we confessed the Athanasian Creed earlier, some of you may be thinking about the ending of that creed with its anathemas, its curses. We spoke, “And those who have done good will enter into eternal life” – you may like that. But what did you think about: “And those who have done evil into eternal fire”? What are we to make of that?

 

Well, what does Jesus say? He says to cling to Him. He says to trust in Him. He calls on us to grow in faith. And how do we grow in faith? By keeping His Word. And we can only keep His Word through receiving His gift of forgiveness through His Means of Grace, His Word and Sacrament.

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.” You have His Word. So, keep it and hold onto it. For He who promises is faithful: “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life … Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:54, 56).

 

So, keep His Word as Christ unites Himself with the Father and the Holy Spirit with you in His Supper! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"United to God Through the Word" (Revelation 22:1-20)

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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:

“He said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 22:6a).

 

The inspired Psalmist David writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity” (Psalm 133:1). God desires unity with us, but we have such disunity.

 

Instead of being united with God, we are more like those outside the holy city: those “dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15).

 

So, why is there such disunity? Well, obviously, we are not living in the Garden of Eden. So, that is a clue.

 

We have disunity, tension, strife, and conflict because we have always had disunity, tension, strife, and conflict since Adam and Eve declared war against God. And we – you and me – are sinful descendants of Adam and Eve. We were all conceived with their sinful nature. So, it is our natural state to be at war with God. And if we are at war with God, then naturally, we are at disunity with each other. 

 

We all deserve God’s eternal wrath because of our sin, which separates us from God and separates us from our neighbor. So, left to us, there could only be disunity.

 

But God intended for us to be united with Him. God intended for us to gather with Him in unity: around the tree of life.

 

We have such disunity because we have fallen for a lie. Adam and Eve fell for the devil’s lie. They went their own way. And what did it get them? They gave up on the image of God, to be “like” God. They gave up the true worship of God.

 

Adam rejected God’s command for him and his wife to not eat of the tree. They turned away from God’s face. They feared God’s presence because they feared His wrath.

 

You see, our first parents thought they could be independent of God. They believed they didn’t need Him or His Word. They embraced the devil’s lie and the death that came with it.

 

“Did God really say?” The fallen world is captive to that lie. The fallen world says you can handle life on your own without God. The fallen world says we need to be independent from God.

 

We have fallen for that same lie. We have become slaves and victims of the devil’s wicked schemes.

 

May I ask: How often do you actually examine the Scriptures? How often do you take the word of a preacher as gospel truth no matter what he says? Yes, we should respect pastors. They are called and ordained servants of Christ. Pastors are to take the Scriptures reverently and seriously. 

 

But both God-fearing pastors and wolves in sheep’s clothing have something in common. For they both say, “Thus says the Lord.” But in the case of the sham pastors the claim is a lie. Those who claim to have received a revelation apart from Scripture utter only a falsehood, a lie, for with the completion of the New Testament Jesus has the last word, a word that redeems us from sin and death.

 

For God’s Word says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).

 

So, God doesn’t take monkeying around with His Holy Word lightly. So, the warning here not to add to what He has said and the equal warning not to take away. Add to God’s Word and God will add to you the plagues described in this Book. Take away by cutting from God’s Word and God will take away your share in the tree of life.

 

Now, these false pastors and false theologians will not come to you and say, “We are frauds, and we aim to lead people away from the Savior and His Word.” By doing so, they would defeat their purpose in misleading Christ’s disciples.

 

And what about just a minor error? For Jesus, any false teaching – no matter how big or how small – can undermine and finally destroy saving faith. Every error is dangerous! This is why Jesus gives us this warning, so that we would repent and trust in Christ!

 

For if we keep adding to God’s Word or subtracting from God’s Word, eventually we could lose all of God’s saving Word. We could eventually lose the point of God’s Word as St. John writes in John 20: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

 

Remember, God desires unity. In this Holy Bible, He speaks of His love for unity from Genesis to Revelation. He speaks of our need to forgive each other. He speaks of our need of repentance and faith. He speaks of our redemption in Jesus Christ alone. Every word in His Word, the Bible, is “trustworthy and true” (Revelation 22:6) because He “never lies” (Titus 1:2).

 

And because God never lies by keeping all His promises, He unites us with the truth of His Word. He unites us in faith in the Divine Service and He serves us His grace, mercy and peace.

 

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. It’s the Holy Spirit who brings us to Jesus, who is our “bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). It’s the Holy Spirit who brings us to Jesus, who is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).

 

The Holy Spirit calls, gathers and “teaches us all things” (John 14:26) through the Scriptures. And through the Bible, His Word is a lamp of truth (Psalm 119:105), which banishes the darkness of sin and unbelief and lies.

 

God unites us to Him as we are united in the flesh of Christ. Jesus is fully God. Jesus is fully man. God became man through the incarnation. So, Jesus understands all that we go through each day of our lives. He knows our pains and our struggles. And that is why God became man, so that through His atoning death, we would be reconciled and united to God the Father.

 

Today, God sustains us with the river of the water of life. In this water of life, He gave us faith when united with His Word in Holy Baptism.

Today, God sustains us with the tree of life. Instead of a tree with branches and roots, God sustains us through a tree cut into a wooden cross, with nails pounded into Jesus’ flesh and bone. And we receive this fruit from this tree in the Lord’s Supper under simple bread and wine, which begets forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation!

 

Each Lord’s Day, we are gathered in the unity of true worship of Almighty God. Here, Jesus gives us unity in His promises. By grace through faith in Christ alone, we receive His promises from the fruits of His cross, the new tree of life: forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

 

And He says, “Surely I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20). His promise, which was given nearly 2,000 years ago, is still as true today. The risen and ascended Lord is coming soon! And yet, He is here with us now through His Word and Sacraments. He is never far away. Soon is not a matter of chronological time, but of “nearness” of time.

 

It seemed so long in human time from the promise of Adam and Eve of one to crush the head of the serpent until Jesus was born. But it was a blink of an eye in God’s time until Jesus came in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4). He is coming! His words are trustworthy and true! And when He comes, all the faithful will see Him face to face in the holy city and will possess the image of God as they worship Him day and night in His temple. Until that day, let us proclaim God’s Word faithfully and join St. John in saying, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Greatest Gift" (Hebrews 1:1-6)

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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:

Merry Christmas!

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

 

Long ago and at many times, God spoke to His people. He spoke to His people in a partial nature through the prophets.

 

We can think of Moses and the burning bush when an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame out of the midst of the bush.

 

We can point to visions and dreams like Joseph and Daniel. We can point to the calling of Samuel.

 

“But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2a). The word “but” has a tendency to wipe out what came before it. We say things like, “I’d like to do what you’re asking, but…”

 

However, the “but” here is not set against the sureness of God’s speaking in the Old Testament times, but it is set against its partialness and the variety of its ways: law, history, poetry, prophecy. What the Old Testament believers received from God was only partial and the message of the prophets was incomplete. More was to come, but this more to come did not cancel out what had been divinely recorded but only completes it.

 

Those prophets of old were certainly inspired by God to write and proclaim God’s Word. Through those prophets, God was speaking. Those prophets spoke God’s Word as they clung to God’s Word for their hope of salvation – for they as we, shared in that first sin and needed a Savior. We need a savior from our sin of unbelief and selfish ambition. For “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Every word in Holy Scripture is God’s Word, not just words of sinful man. The Holy Spirit inspired the prophets to write them down for us, so that we can always cling to them.

But now – “in these last days” – Jesus has the Last Word, a word that redeems us from sin and death. Today, God is no longer speaking partially through His prophets. Today, He is now speaking fully through Jesus Christ.

 

So, now that we have the Son of God, God has no more to say, since the Redeemer to whom the Old Testament pointed is the ultimate Word and the perfect revelation of God. Today, we have the Final Word of God, which is revealed in His Word, the Bible.

 

Now, some may say today: “If only if I could hear the very Word of God like Moses and Elijah and Isaiah!” Yes, that would have been awesome to hear, but what we have is so much better! They only received snippets, pieces and parts of the various ways God revealed Himself. Today, “in these last days” – God speaks to us through His Son!

 

So, what God spoke through the prophets from Moses to Malachi, we have complete through our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

And Jesus is not just a prophet of prophets. Jesus is God. This Jesus who was born of the virgin Mary is the Creator of the world. This Jesus existed before time existed. This Jesus spoke the world into existence.

 

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Here, we have a reference to God the Father. “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Here, we have a reference to the Holy Spirit. But where is Jesus? Then God said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:3-4). Jesus is the One who spoke.

 

St. John affirms this in our Christmas Gospel this morning: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him” (John 1:1-3a). 

 

Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God” (Hebrews 1:3). You see, the whole array of God’s divine attributes radiates forth in Jesus. Radiance is an inner brightness that shines out like the sun in the sky with its streaming light. To see that light is to see the sun; to see Jesus is to see the God of glory.

 

Jesus is “the exact imprint of [God’s] nature” (Hebrews 1:3). You see, Jesus is an exact image of the invisible God made visible in Jesus. Jesus exactly represents God the Father. So, to know Jesus is to know God’s nature and God’s glory. For as Jesus said, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) and “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30).

 

Not only was Jesus active in Creation, but He “upholds the universe by the Word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). You see, we exist today because of Jesus. He keeps everything going. The sun rises each day because of Jesus. “[Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

 

Jesus is “the purification for sins” (Hebrews 1:3). Sin stains. Sin defiles. Sin damns. Only One could purify and that is God. And only once would God do this. At Calvary’s cross, the Creator and Sustainer became the Sin-bearer. God took upon Himself human flesh for that moment. He was born on this day with the purpose of being the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.

 

Then, with the work of redemption done, Jesus “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). Today, Jesus is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:21a). He has all power and all honor. The ascended Lord holds the scepter in His nail-scarred hands, ruling over all in heaven and on earth.

 

“For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’? Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son’? (Hebrews 1:5). You see, no one has ever been saved by the name of an angel. But there is a name that saves. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”(Acts 4:12).

 

Jesus is superior to the angels, because He was “begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father” (Nicene Creed). Jesus is superior because from all eternity He is God’s Son, the Second Person of the Triune God, true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is Emmanuel. He is fully God become fully man – for us.

 

But what about that second phrase: “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? Those words were spoken originally about Solomon, but these words also have a deeper meaning. You see, they pointed ahead to David’s greater Son, the eternal One whose kingdom would have no end. It is not enough to call Jesus “Son,” but He also calls God “Father.” Never has there been such a divine sonship claimed for the angels.

 

“And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him” (Hebrews 1:6). On that Last Day, that great day of judgment, He will stand as “the firstborn,” first in rank and position, as all the angels bow down before Him in worship.

 

Today, “in these last days” God continues to speak to us by His Son through apostolic ministry and through His priesthood of all believers. Jesus sent out His apostles to speak His Word. Pastors are called and ordained to speak what Jesus says. You are called to speak the Christmas message to your friends, your family, your neighbor “for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Jesus has come to save you and me from the power of sin, death, and the devil. He has come to undertake the Great Exchange as He put on our human frame, and in return He gives us redemption, His glory, and His name. “For while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In Christ alone, we are reconciled to God through His death.

 

When God speaks in Holy Baptism, we receive His name and with it everything that belongs to Jesus, including His life that conquers death. When God speaks through pastors and yourselves who say what Jesus says, forgiving one another in His name, we are forgiven. When God speaks “this is My body; this is My blood,” the incarnate Christ’s body and blood are truly present in the Lord’s Supper. When you hear, “The peace of the Lord be with you always,” the Lord’s peace rests upon you. This is the same peace the angels proclaimed at His birth.

 

On this Christmas Day, we see the supremacy of Jesus. We see the radiance of His glory as the exact imprint of God. Through His coming, we have received the Greatest Gift – which is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. For there is no greater gift than 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 +