"Lights" (Advent Midweek 2)

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

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:

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:5, 9).

 

We prepare for Christmas with decorations, such as candles and electric lights. Tonight, we are continuing our series on how common decorations used for Advent and Christmas also prepare us for the coming of Christ. Tonight, during this second midweek in Advent, we will focus on how lights help us prepare for the coming of Christ.

 

As you make your way around this Advent season, you likely see sparkling lights everywhere. Some strings of lights cover the spectrum of colors; others are clear white. Many of us decorate our homes with lights not just on the inside, but on the outside. Some neighborhoods hold competitions for the best exterior light display. Communities string lights on their streets and poles. Businesses decorate buildings with dazzling displays of lights. 

 

Here in the chancel, we see lights displayed for the season. During Advent, we display the Advent wreath, which holds five candles that we progressively light as we approach Christmas. The Christmas tree has been wrapped with strings of electric lights that shine.

 

Why do we decorate with lights for Advent and Christmas? What value is in the lights? Could there be a deeper significance to these lights? To answer these questions, let’s consider when lights were first used for Advent and Christmas and what their original meaning and purpose were.

 

Last Wednesday, we learned that the use of the Christmas tree began in Germany in the Middle Ages. And the practice of attaching candles to Christmas trees began in the 1500s. You also learned that the first Christmas tree placed in a church in America caused quite a stir. Leave it for a Lutheran to do such a thing! In fact, it is believed that it was Martin Luther himself who first placed an evergreen tree in a church.

 

Over time, the practice of including an evergreen tree caught on and it became more common. In time, candles were attached to the tree branches by pins, then holders, then by lanterns. These lights reminded Christians of the lights that accompanied Christ’s birth, including the Bethlehem star and the angels who lit up the night sky with the glory of God. Candles reminded people that Christ is the Light of the World.

 

And this tradition came by the way of German Lutheran immigrants in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. And again, over time, this practice of decorating evergreen trees with lights was culturally adopted by Americans.

 

Thanks be to God that He inspired Thomas Edison to invent the light bulb in 1880. For since the invention of the light bulb, the risk of fires has significantly decreased. At first lamps were extremely expensive, but by the 1930s, strings of lights have become more affordable, and by the 1950s, they became standard decorations at American homes.

 

Christmas lights are certainly beautiful. But for Christians, they hold a much deeper meaning. In the Bible, darkness is the symbol for sin and light is the symbol for righteousness. So, lights at Advent and Christmas point us to the purpose of Christ’s advent: to remove sin and restore us to righteousness.

 

The Fall into sin brought spiritual darkness to man. People lived in the darkness of evil and deception. But God promised a light to break the darkness of sin. That Light would appear with the advent of the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming Christ this way: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2). Isaiah went on to announce this Light breaking in through the birth of a child, the Son of God: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).

 

Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the advent of Christ into the world. Jesus’ birth was signaled by the light of a special star that guided the Magi (Matthew 2:1-2, 9-10); this brilliant astronomical beacon led them to the Christ Child. His birth was also heralded by the luminous glory of the Lord that shone around the shepherds (Luke 2:9).

 

John’s Gospel does not narrate the events of Jesus’ birth, but it does describe the impact of His birth. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, John wrote: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). You see, Jesus came to enlighten everyone with His own righteousness and glory. 

Later, Jesus announced: “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

 

By grace through faith in Christ alone, we, who were once caught in the darkness of sin and death, now receive Christ’s light of righteousness and glory.

 

Those candles of the Advent wreath and the lights on the Christmas tree celebrate the first coming of Christ “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).

 

These lights also point us to the final advent of Christ on the Last Day. You see, Jesus’ return will inaugurate a new creation in which the darkness of sin ends and the light of righteousness endures forever. We who are made righteous through faith in Christ will abide in that eternal righteous realm.

 

The Word of God uses the symbolism of light to reveal the brilliant future Christ will inaugurate for us at His final advent saying, “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk” (Revelation 21:23-24).

 

Tonight, we still see the darkness of sin in our fallen world and in our own sinful nature. But through the work of the Holy Spirit, we disavow that sin and repent of the darkness in us. Because of the righteousness of Christ given to us by faith in Him, we no longer fear a dark future. Instead, we anticipate His final advent in which Jesus will disperse the darkness forever and bring us to dwell in His glorious light forever.

 

Light decorations are visible everywhere we go this season and for us, they do convey a powerful message: the light of Christ’s righteousness has come to disperse the darkness of sin. That is what Advent is all about – the eternal glory that Jesus won for us at His first advent and that we will fully experience when He comes again. 

 

So, every time you look at Advent and Christmas decorations emanating light, remember their message: Jesus has come, and He will come again to bring you the light of His righteousness and His glory! Amen. Come Lord Jesus!

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Set Free" (John 8:31-36)

Listen to the Sounding the Scriptures POPcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

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 the Jews who had believe in Him, “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 8:31-32).

 

Today, the one holy Christian and apostolic Church observes Reformation Day. We set today apart, or in particular October 31, as we remember how the triune God inspired an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther to bring His Church back to its roots, the source – the very Word of God in teaching the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ so that we would be set free from sin, death and the devil.

 

But prior to the Lutheran Reformation, most people had no clue that anything was wrong with the Church. The people just did as the Church told them. Normally, this kind of faith would be admired, but not when the Church is corrupt. You see, at this time, the Roman Church had become hopelessly corrupt. It was so corrupt spiritually as hardly anyone was being taught or could even recite the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer and yet, the Roman Church still called them Christians. They didn’t know the basics of the faith. On top of this, the Roman Church was fiscally corrupt as it funded the construction of the new Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome through indulgences, which through the pope’s authority would “supposedly” shorten temporal punishment in purgatory still due for sins.

 

There were so many problems. The Roman Church was certainly corrupt. And the people were enslaved to this corruption. 

 

The people back then likely did not hear much about today’s text but they surely knew of the Church’s traditions.

 

Now, in today’s text, Jesus is addressing those who believe, and yet, they do not believe. To be sure, Jesus is speaking today to people who were willing to listen to Him, but they did not quite trust Him. You could say, they had a belief in Jesus that was superficial.

 

We hear about this elsewhere in the Gospels, of those many who desired to crown Jesus as their king, but very shortly, they just walked away. We hear about this vividly in the Parable of the Sower. There, Jesus described those on the rocky soil as those who, “when they hear the Word, [they] receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away” (Luke 8:13).

 

There is certainly some faith there, but it was superficial, so when any stress comes upon them from the world, they walk away. This was the fact of many who could confess Jesus as their Lord privately, but they wouldn’t dare confess Jesus as Lord publicly out of fear of being put out of the synagogue (John 9:22). 

 

So, why the fear? Well, it’s because they needed to be set free!

 

The problem is that the hearers don’t realize that they need to be set free. They think everything is just hunky dory. 

 

So, Jesus says to 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 8:31-32). To this, the hearers respond: “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (John 8:33).

 

Apparently, these Jews needed a lesson in their own history as a people. They have been enslaved by so many civilizations: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Syria. Even at that present time, they were subjects of Rome. So, from all outward appearances, they were far from being free. In fact, one of the ideas for the promised Messiah was to be a mighty warrior so the Jews would have control of their land. So, this idea that the Jewish people were never enslaved was very far-fetched.

 

Plus, just a relationship to Abraham will not save anyone. Abraham was saved by His faith in the one true God. He wasn’t saved by his blood type or by who he knew. He was saved purely by God’s grace through His faith in Him.

 

But Jesus goes deeper than just outward appearances. Jesus is never just at surface level. Jesus is never satisfied with just talking about the symptoms. You see, Jesus always gets to the root causes. He gets to the problem.

 

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).

All people need to be set free from slavery. And this slavery is the bondage to sin. Just before today’s text, Jesus said: “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). Jesus followed this up with: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).

 

Like the Jews then, we too, often believe that we are not enslaved. And what does it mean to be enslaved? Well, to be a slave is to be totally under the control of another and is not able to free oneself. Sin is akin to an addiction. We sin and keep on sinning. Sin entices us. It’s that forbidden fruit that feels so good to bite, but it leaves us with nothing. Sin causes us to lust at others who are not your spouse, but ends up with committing adultery with them in your heart. Sin causes us to lose our tempers; to hold grudges; to harbor resentment. Sin causes us to gossip and listen to rumors; to take pleasure in talking about the faults of your neighbor.

 

Today’s world does not like to admit that it is enslaved. Even, we Christians, God’s own dear children, can find ourselves living and acting as though we were still in chains – not free to be for God or for others what He has set us free to be.

 

So, what is going on here? What is this slavery?

 

Well, it’s a slavery of the ears. It is caused by listening. But listening to the wrong voices and to the wrong message. The Jews back then were listening to anything, anything other than Jesus’ own words. Jesus said, “Abide in My Word,” but they would have none of that. They didn’t want to accept all of His teaching and remain faithful to His Word. No way!

 

But it is Christ’s Word that sets us free! He sets us free from the slavery to other voices, so that we can listen to Him! 

 

Earlier in John 8, the Pharisees asked Jesus: “Who are you?” (John 8:25). Who is this Jesus? “Before Abraham was, I am,” He says (John 8:58). Jesus is the perfect Son of the Father, from eternity, fully and completely God and man.

 

As the perfect Son, Jesus obeys the Father. He carries out the Father’s will as no one else ever had, and as no one ever could. He completes the work. He even puts the stamp on completion by saying: “It is finished” (John 19:30).

 

The only way for sinners to be released from our bondage to sin and its penalty, which is eternal death, is to be united by faith in Jesus Christ, who in His death and bodily resurrection provides deliverance. Christ died so that we would live and live forever by faith in Him! 

 

Having died to sin in Christ, sin is no longer our master. Instead, we become free to be servants of God and of His righteousness. So, listen to the voice of Jesus and be set free! 

 

Back then, the Jews just would not listen. They stopped their ears. For you and me, on this Reformation Day, listen to Jesus’ voice and be set free from slavery to sin.

 

Jesus, who is Truth incarnate, set us free as He willingly laid down His life for you and me. Upon His crucifixion on the cross, Jesus set us free from our slavery to sin, so that we could live forever by repentance and faith in Him!

 

Despite our filthy sin, Jesus is greater than all sin. He died for you. He rose for you. He ascended for you. He declares that you are His. He died, so that all who cling to Him would live forever!

 

Jesus died and rose, so that we can always turn to Him in our times of need: when we lust, lose our tempers, hold grudges, gossip, or any other kind of sin. So, when the fallen world, our sinful nature, and the devil tell us to pursue sin that flows from our desires, listen to Jesus. Turn from that sin and turn to Him.

 

Jesus says you belong to Him. And since you belong to Him, He promises to always protect you, so that you are free to serve Him.

 

Here in the Divine Service, Jesus declares us free as He releases us from slavery to sin. Here, we listen to Jesus’ liberating words of our absolution. Here is where yours and my faith is strengthened through Christ’s body and blood given to us which forgives our sins as He leads us to resist slavery to sin.

 

Jesus has set us free! Through His death, we are free from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. Through His death, He declared us sons and daughters of God! So, let us abide in His Word! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Preach the Word" (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5)

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

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:

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:1-2a).

 

Today’s text seems pretty simple. It explains itself. What more could I even say to this fantastic text? Afterall, there is a reason this text is always proclaimed at pastoral ordinations and installations. This text appears to have everything we need to hear when it comes to the importance of the Bible and for what the Bible is used for.

 

So, what is the importance of the Bible? Well, it is a unique collection of books, because each book contained in the Bible is “God-breathed.” What makes the Holy Scriptures so important is that they and they alone reveal the way of salvation, which is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. No other book on earth so articulately proclaims the truth of yours and my salvation.

 

The Bible is also unique in that it was written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, when you read God’s Word, you are reading words that are divinely inspired. You are reading the very Word of God. So, if you ever wonder what God thinks, just open up your Bible and read.

 

You see, it is the Holy Spirit who brought about these writings. They were willed by God and determined by God. The Holy Spirit moved the writers to write in the way they did for these Scriptures are truly the very Word of God.

 

St. Peter wrote: “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was every produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

 

And since the Bible is the very Word of God, it contains not a single error. The words contained from Genesis to Revelation contain no errors, since God is incapable of ever making a single mistake.

Since God’s Word is true, it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that we would be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

The Holy Spirit forms us through God’s written Word. He gives us knowledge. He calls us to repentance over sin. He corrects us through the Word. He trains us through discipline and instruction as we live out the Christian life in repentance and faith. 

 

Each written word in the Scriptures was inspired by the Holy Spirit for our benefit. So may we so hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life through our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

But there’s a problem. Now, there’s no problem with the Bible. The problem is with you and me. 

 

St. Paul writes to Timothy: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

 

“For the time is coming.” Here, Paul is looking to the future, a future for which Paul wants to prepare Timothy. Paul is preparing Timothy for the bad times to come. A future in which is our reality today. 

 

For the time is coming when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but will listen to their itching ears for what they want to hear. This time is today.

 

Here, Paul is distinguishing between what people need to hear and what people want to hear. What people need to hear is “sound doctrine.” It is sound because it is what God wants said. “Sound doctrine” comes from God, and it produces spiritual health. 

 

But ever since the Fall of Adam, humanity has tried to usurp control over God’s Word. Satan inferred that God was lying to Adam and Eve, so they tried to take control to be “like God” even though they were already made in His image. All they did was lose God’s likeness when they ate of the forbidden fruit. Likewise, the children of Israel also complained, criticized and condemned the Lord. 

 

We are not too different from our ancestors who nagged and nitpicked God’s grace. Yours and my sinful nature would rather not put up with sound doctrine, because it does not say what we want to hear. It’s because sound doctrine exposes our sin and proclaims condemnation. Sound doctrine does not flatter us with a recital of what great things we have done. So much of God’s sound doctrine does not make sense to our human reason.

 

So, what does sinful humanity do? It does what sinful humanity has always done. It will look for teachers who “suit their own passions” by turning “away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4).

 

So, we look for teachers and preachers who will scratch our itching ears. We become cats or dogs looking for a good scratch. So, we look for teachers and preachers who flatter our egos, who gives credit to man, who satisfies our natural desires and lusts, who preaches to human reason, who reinterpret Scripture to correspond to human reason.

 

And whenever the Church blesses what God condemns, it stops being the voice of Christ. It becomes an echo chamber of the fallen world. You see, the Gospel calls sinners out of darkness, it does not hold the sinner’s hand in that darkness and encourage the sinner to remain in darkness.

 

But Jesus welcomed everyone, pastor! Yes, He did. But He never left anyone unchanged. And that’s the point. He welcomed an adulterous woman, but He said, “Go, and sin no more!” (John 8:11). He dined with tax collectors, but He called them to leave behind their thievery. You see, grace does not re-write sin. Grace redeems the sinner from sin. But sinful man cannot bear this tension. It wants acceptance without repentance; affirmation without transformation.

 

The message goes from take up your cross to drop the cross, because God wants you to be yourself because He made you that way. It goes from repent and believe to affirm and belong.

 

Actual compassion tells the sinner when he is sinning. Actual compassion admits the log in your own eye, because you want to remove the splinter in your neighbor’s eye.

 

Jesus did not die to validate all sinful desires. Jesus wasn’t crucified so that we could all remain in sin. Jesus died to crucify our sinful desires; those desires of the flesh. And Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we would not give in to the desires of the flesh.

Today, there are so many ear-scratching teachers and preachers at churches that once proclaimed sound doctrine, but are now teaching what God’s Word so plainly and repeatedly condemns, such as sexual immorality and women’s ordination.

 

God never gave His Church any authority to redefine sin. Christ is still the ruler of His Church. He doesn’t call on pastors to make new rules. His pastors are to simply be His servants as we go about doing what He has said. So, when you hear things like, “We must listen to the spirit of our age,” always remember that the Holy Spirit literally inspired men to write the very Word of God. The Bible was written by God. And He is not going to move in the spirit to our modern age, which is different from the way He wrote the Bible.

 

In short, these ear-scratching teachers and preachers preach anything except God’s revealed truth. So, they will never expose sin and never lead the sinner to any godly change.

 

Thanks be to God that you are here! So, you are like Timothy. Now, you are not a pastor, like me, but you are still like Timothy, because you have not given up. You are enduring. Paul writes to Timothy: “But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5).

 

Here, Paul is encouraging Timothy and us, so that we are able to continue in faith as we “continue in what [we] have learned and have firmly believed” – that is, “the sacred writings, which are able to make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15). Being encouraged, we do as Paul encouraged Timothy: we preach the Word.

 

You see, Jesus has commissioned all of us to make disciples of all nations by teaching all that He has commanded us. He has called us to speak of the hope we have in Christ Jesus to all who have ears to hear. 

 

Now, it is true that we have different emphases on this calling. For I have been given the authority to preach and teach through my calling as an ordained servant of the Word. But you, too, have a similar calling. Yes, I am to proclaim God’s Word publicly. But you have a role, too, as you proclaim your faith through your various God-given vocations in life as father or mother, brother or sister, educator or student, boss or employee, friend and neighbor.

 

But you may say? It’s not the right time. To that, God’s Word says: It’s always the right time. It’s always a good time to proclaim the Word. In season or out of season, because God’s Word is always in season.

 

We preach the Word, because His Word will not return to God empty. For He proclaims: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). 

 

This Word is Jesus Christ. He is the One who suffered, died, rose, and ascended to save us from our sinful self, the devil, and this fallen world. So, we preach Christ crucified. For the One who said, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34) forgave us.

 

We preach the Word, because Jesus Christ is that very human divine Word of salvation. Jesus is our foundation, our focus and our source of forgiveness. 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)

Listen on Spotify

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 +

"Standing Against Satan's Schemes" (Luke 4:1-13)

Listen on Spotify

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, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry” (Luke 4:1-2).

 

What first comes to your mind when you think of a cartoon character facing a moral dilemma? Odds are that you may be thinking of a comical figure wearing red tights carrying a pitchfork in his hand standing on one shoulder and an angel arrayed in white holding a harp standing on the other shoulder.

 

For many people, this is how they see Satan, as just a comical figure who shows up when you are facing a dilemma. Satan and the angel are just merely your conscience trying to figure out what action to do.

 

But here’s the thing: Satan is real, and Satan is dangerous. Satan is dedicated to dismantling God’s kingdom and God’s people. And one of Satan’s primary tactics is deception. In John 8, Jesus exposes Satan for who he truly is: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). 

 

Every time Satan appears in the Scriptures, he is lying, deceiving, and seeking the destruction of God’s people. Satan’s ultimate goal is to lead God’s people as far away from God as possible.

 

You see, Satan wants God’s people to abandon God’s Word and to break every instruction and commandment God has given us. In fact, many of Satan’s lies are directly in contrast to the Ten Commandments. Satan lies to everyone; no one is exempt from his lies. Satan lies to everyone, including Jesus.

 

Now, the first word out of Satan’s mouth as Jesus was tempted by him for 40 days may be his favorite word: “If.” Satan begins his temptation by saying, “If you are the Son of God …” (Luke 4:3a). 

So, why is Satan asking this? It’s because God the Father had just proclaimed this from heaven at Jesus’ Baptism, “You are My beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

 

Satan’s use of “If you are the Son of God …” is just another way of saying, “Did God actually say…?” (Genesis 3:1). Here, Satan is misusing God’s name by casting criticism on what God says. Satan is breaking the Second Commandment: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.” Here, Satan wants to test God, to prove God wrong, to seize for himself a level of power and control that only rightly belongs to God. Here, Satan is using his art of lying and deception.

 

Much like with Adam and Eve, Satan wants Jesus to distrust God’s Word. Satan here is trying to persuade Jesus to take the matter into his own hands. In effect, what Satan is saying to Jesus is this: “You cannot simply trust God’s Word that You are His Son. You should test that out. Prove it! Find assurance by using Your power, by testing God’s Word. Come on Jesus, turn this stone into bread and jump off the temple. You know, the actual Son of God could do just that. Prove it to me!”

 

Just as Satan attempts to seduce Jesus, he also wants you and me to question whether God’s promises are indeed trustworthy. Satan asks you:

§  “Did God actually say you should love your enemies?”

§  “Did God actually say that there are only two sexes?”

§  “Did God actually say that merely lusting at another is sin?”

§  “Did God really say your favorite sin is not ok?”

§  “Did Jesus actually claim to be divine?”

§  “Did Jesus really perform all those miracles?”

 

You see, Satan encourages us to place our trust somewhere else; anywhere else. Certainly, Satan wants us to place our trust in his deceptions and lies rather than in God’s Word of truth.

 

Satan tests you and me through interlinking related lies through a logical progression. If we cannot trust God, then we cannot trust God’s Word. If we cannot trust God’s Word, then we cannot trust His prophets and apostles. If we cannot trust His prophets and apostles, then we cannot trust the Scriptures. If we cannot trust all these things, then how can we be sure our sins are forgiven? How can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead? How can we be sure Jesus was real at all? This is Satan’s tactic. Satan wishes to carve us away at our trust so that we are no longer able to discern the true and trustworthy from the evil and manipulative. 

As true man, Jesus experienced hunger. He must eat, just as we must eat. So, Satan offers a simple solution: “Command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3b). In effect, what Satan is saying to Jesus is this: “Jesus, this is easy. I know how to solve your hunger problem. Show your power as the ‘supposed’ Son of God.”

 

What Satan is doing here is that he’s trying to lead Jesus to not want to suffer the inconveniences of being human. For example, hunger is not a necessary thing to endure for the divine Son of God, since one with divine power, like Jesus, is able to transform a stone to become bread. It’s all simple for Satan, just have Jesus create some bread to stop his hunger.

 

But what Satan is really attempting to do is to have Jesus not endure the inconvenience and limitations of being human. If Jesus is really the Son of God, as God the Father just proclaimed Him to be, then why not enjoy all the conveniences that has to offer? And if Jesus can be persuaded to use His power to overcome the inconvenience of hunger, perhaps Jesus can be persuaded to use His power to overcome the inconvenience of the cross?

 

Just as Satan attempted to manipulate Jesus, he is constantly working at manipulating you and me. Satan lies to us telling us that life would be so much better if we only seized more control. But what Satan means by taking more control is for us to usurp God’s authority for our own. And Satan tells us that nothing should get in our way of claiming power. Lies, threats, bribes, and murder are all fair game. For Satan, the ends justify the means.

 

In the case of the first man, Adam, he gave in to Satan’s seduction. After hearing that the tree would be good for food, he became hungry. He joined Eve and he ate from the tree in the midst of the garden. But, as for Jesus, the Second Adam, He did not succumb to the devil’s seduction.

 

You see, Jesus lives by the Word of God. He is the Man, the Son of God incarnate, who is the Word of God. Jesus is the Bread of Life from heaven who came to feed the people of Himself.

 

For you and me, we ought to be immersed in God’s Word and His Sacraments, so that we would be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Because, the thing is, Satan is also well-versed in Scripture. So, just as Jesus was refuting Satan with Scripture, Satan was refuting Jesus right back. But Satan has a major flaw. And Jesus exposes that flaw. Again, Jesus says of Satan, “There is no truth in him” (John 8:44).

You see, even though Satan claims to be speaking Scripture, he is also a liar. And liars tend to leave out important details when they speak. Satan says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9b-11).

 

If you immerse yourself in God’s Word, like the Bereans, in judging to see if these were so by examining the Scriptures, you would notice that Satan left out an important detail in his quote from Psalm 91: “in all Your ways.” To this lie, Jesus says to Satan: “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12). Satan then departed from Jesus until an opportune time.

 

Satan would return with a vengeance on Maundy Thursday, but even at that time, God would use that evil for good as Jesus would suffer and die for our sins on Good Friday and rise for our justification on Easter, which was His plan for our salvation from the very beginning.

 

God keeps His promises. Before God calls on the people of Israel to place their trust in Him as their God, in the First Commandment, He says: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). What God is saying is this: “You can trust Me. I am your God. I brought you out of that suffering. Here are My Words, Words you can trust and live by.”

 

Again, when Satan tempts Jesus, notice how Jesus responds: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus is sustained by that living and active Word of God through forty days of fasting and through the accusations and temptations of Satan.

 

While Satan desires our hopelessness and meaninglessness in our lives, God desires to instill us with sure and certain hope and to bring us into the fullness of abundant life through Jesus. Jesus entered into our humanity and endured the temptations of Satan without sin so that we would be saved ultimately through His sacrificial and atoning death for you and me. And now that Christ is risen and ascended, through His Word and Sacraments, He puts on us the whole armor of God, so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +