"Numbered with the Transgressors" (Luke 22:35-38)

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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: “For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about Me has its fulfillment” (Luke 22:37).

 

This is Jesus’ final passion prediction before He would be handed over by Judas Iscariot to the Jewish authorities. This is also a direct quote from Isaiah 53:12, which describes the necessity of the death of Jesus. So why did Jesus have to die? Couldn’t there have been another way?

 

Before man’s Fall into sin, God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would name them. Adam personally named each creature he met. He was naked and unashamed. But when Adam and Eve fell into sin as they ate of the forbidden fruit, they noticed their nakedness. They were ashamed. So, God in His love clothed them with garments of skins. These skins were to remind Adam and Eve of the result of sin, which is death. 

 

As time went on, the offerings of animals to God became the way of cleansing man of their sins. We see this in Genesis 4 as Abel offered the firstborn of his flock to God. But the sacrificial system did not officially become doctrine until God rescued His chosen people from slavery in Egypt. It was through a complex sacrificial system that an animal’s life was offered as atonement before God through the blood. The Lord said to Moses, “The life of the flesh is the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls” (Leviticus 17:11).

 

So, what is atonement? Atonement is when an innocent life is offered as a substitute for a guilty life. Atonement brings cleansing. Atonement brings redemption.

 

Our God is just. He is perfect. He demands perfection. So, in perfect justice, atonement for sin demands a blood covering. The animal’s blood was a substitute for the life of the person – as a blood covering for the people’s sins. 

 

With His words to His disciples, Jesus is saying that He must be the blood covering for the whole world’s sins. 

Those animal sacrifices all foreshadowed the sacrifice of the perfect High Priest, Jesus Christ, who would not offer the blood of animals, but His own precious blood and carry it into the heavenly Most Holy Place as a blood covering for our sin.

 

All those Old Testament sacrifices pointed to the one all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God and the perfect High Priest. As fully God and fully man with His ordinary human frame, Jesus lived a perfect life under the Law and then died the death that we all deserve, because of our sins. Through the shedding of His own blood, He would offer His life as the Great Exchange for the life of the world.

 

You see, Jesus became man so that He could take our sin, our guilt, and our punishment. In return, He gives us His righteousness, His perfection. It could only be this way. Sins must be atoned for. Blood must be spilled from the perfect Lamb.

 

Through Christ’s death on a cross as He hung between two transgressors, God puts the righteousness of Christ upon us. There, God reconciled the world to Himself. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In this Great Exchange, our filthy rags of guilt and shame, iniquity and transgression, our bondage to death and the devil is all taken off us and put on Christ. And Jesus gives us His righteousness, His perfection, His life. He gives us everything!

 

So just as the high priest took the animal’s blood into God’s presence in the Most Holy Place and brought the most holy blood out to cleanse the altar, Jesus offered His own blood, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and entered into the heavenly sanctuary with His blood and flesh. Now, in Holy Baptism, Jesus sprinkles us with His most holy blood. He sprinkles us on the outside to cleanse us and to pardon our sin, to set us apart as His Holy people to serve God in our holy callings. Then in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus sprinkles us internally to set us apart to serve in the heavenly sanctuary with the angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven, praising God for our Blood Covering.

 

It had to be this way. There was no other way. Jesus had to die a shameful death between two criminals. He had to identify Himself with sinful humanity, place Himself in solidarity with sinners, and die on behalf of all, so that He would make atonement for all people. So, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

Sermon for Easter 7: "Unified, Restored, and Sent" (Acts 1:12-26)

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

“You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). With those words, Jesus encouraged His apostles as He was bodily ascending triumphantly into heaven as Emmanuel – God with us.

 

Today on this Seventh Sunday of Easter, these witnesses are no longer hiding behind locked doors for the fear of the Jewish authorities. No, this joyous assurance of the Ascension of our Lord knowing that He will return again filled their hearts and drove out all fear. From the moment they left the Mount of Olives, they worshiped the Father and His Son, Jesus, in full public view.

 

But as how unified the Eleven were as they were with one accord devoting themselves to prayer, they were not complete. Jesus called Twelve men, not eleven. The outward appearance of unity and completeness might be maintained, but what was broken cannot make itself whole again. Sin cannot be undone, except if God Himself should do it. So, how shall the apostles be made one again?

 

During the days that followed the ascension of Jesus, the Eleven and the other disciples, about 120 in number, awaited the coming of the promised Holy Spirit by devoting themselves to prayer. Their prayer arose out of their study together of the prophets – who had pointed to the incarnation of Christ, His ministry, sufferings, death, and resurrection – and of the Psalms, the prayer book of the twelve tribes of Israel, of the whole people of God, of Christ Jesus, and of the Church in all ages.

 

In the course of their prayers from God’s Word, Psalm 69 and Psalm 109 came to Peter’s attention. Here, was the Word from the Lord to direct their action. As the de facto leader, Peter took the initiative in doing something. Since Jesus had chosen Twelve men, Peter and the others believed that a replacement for Judas should be selected. As Israel had been broken and scattered because of sin, so, too, the apostolic circle had been broken by the sin of Judas Iscariot. The Twelve were now only the Eleven. The full number of the Twelve must be restored.

 

After citing Scripture, Peter concludes that someone must be chosen to take Judas’ place. But who? Well, it would be a man who has the same qualifications as the other apostles. That is, he must have been with Jesus from the beginning of the Savior’s ministry – His righteous fulfilling Baptism by John – to the day of His ascension. Like the others, the man who is chosen must be one who had seen and heard and touched and eaten and been instructed by the risen Christ.

 

So, the group of believers nominated two men who met these qualifications: Joseph called Barsabbas who was also called Justus – and Matthias. But why one witness more? Why not both? Well, if this were simply a matter of adding witnesses, certainly 13 would be better than 12. And in the coming years, the number of those who proclaim the resurrection would swell, as Barnabas, Paul, and Apollos joined in.

 

But remember, at the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, He chose 12 men – the living picture of Israel made one in Him and in their call to follow Him faithfully. Their unity, too, was broken by unfaithfulness by Judas Iscariot. This time there is no possibility of maintaining the illusion of fullness. The fellowship has been broken. This is what sin does. It drives us away from God and away from one another.

 

The restoration of the Twelve is the very picture of the Lord’s saving work. His death breaks the power of sin and His resurrection proclaims healing for the broken and reconciliation of those driven apart by sin. You see, filling the place that Judas deserted and restoring the full number of the Twelve not only brought an additional witness to the resurrection, but it was also a witness to the power of Christ’s resurrection to reconcile the estranged and make His people, His new Israel, whole.

 

The man who would complete the number of the Twelve would be like the Eleven with respect to His faithful following of the Lord, a witness to all He said and did in the days of His earthly ministry. As with the Eleven, this man would have followed the Lord, not by chance, or by his own decision, or by his own act of commitment, but by the calling of His Lord.

 

Again, two men met these qualifications: Joseph called Barsabbas who was also called Justus – and Matthias. So, the group of about 120 prayed to Jesus saying: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place” (Acts 1:24-25).

 

Through prayer, they were confident that Jesus had made His choice and that He would indicate His choice. They trusted that Jesus would name the new apostle through them. So, as it was custom when there was a tie, they cast lots, where they would write names on pebbles or pieces of broken pottery, shake the container with the lots, and the name that flew out first would be the choice. The lot fell on Matthias.

 

The Eleven and the nearly 120 disciples were confident that the Lord made His choice, since this was in accord with Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”

 

Sometimes it still happens when two men are equally qualified for a position in leadership in the church. When an election results in a tie, it is proper to draw lots in some way to determine the Lord’s choice.

 

But you can’t help but feel bad for Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. Every one of us is at times the “unchosen one.” Unchosen ones exist everywhere. The ones who didn’t make the team, get the promotion, get the job. Even though the lot did not fall upon him, he would still be a witness.

 

It is likely that this man continued his discipleship to His Lord Jesus, likewise to the nearly 120 that day.

 

Jesus said: “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus, here, is not commanding them to be His witnesses, but He promises that, as a result of receiving the Holy Spirit, they would just naturally be His witnesses. They would feel no outward compulsion to bring their testimony of the redemption won by their Lord through His death on the cross and sealed and ratified by His resurrection and His ascension. They would do it with great joy and zeal that would never tire. The Holy Spirit would make them witnesses who say: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

 

With the Apostles now unified as Twelve, plus the other disciples, the events of the Ascension and the upcoming events at Pentecost give them the encouragement to spread the good news of Christ to all nations. This they did through the exalted Lord who gave the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit continues to operate with power through His Word. The Word of the Lord proved its creative power: how it was preached, brought forth faith and sustained it in the hearts of many, was embattled, and went on from victory to victory.

 

Due to the Ascension, the Twelve were content to be witnesses. Gone were their dreams of power connected with personal prestige. No one would argue who would be the greatest (Luke 22:24) or sit at Christ’s right or left hand (Mark 10:37). No one again would speak about an earthly kingdom.

 

But how would they be able to proclaim the divine truth of salvation in Jesus Christ without making a mistake? Well, the Holy Spirit would empower them to bring testimony that would be in perfect accord. The promise Jesus had made would come true: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

 

And so, it would be. At Pentecost, the Apostles would be filled with the Holy Spirit so they would remember all that Jesus had taught them. Peter would preach nothing but the purest divine truth with no human additions, such as hopes and dreams that Jesus would bring in a glorious earthly kingdom, or promote social justice, or approval of sins. Paul and the other apostles would do the same. The apostles were plainly inspired by the Holy Spirit. So, to accomplish Jesus’ prophecy of “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8), Jesus gave His Holy Spirit to endow the apostles with the gift of divine inspiration. Through the inspired Gospels and the Epistles, the eternally true, infallible testimony their Lord entrusted them was spread to the very ends of the earth. Through the Scriptures, the apostles to this day bring the glorious gospel witness to the end of time.

 

But what was the response the apostles received when they witnessed to a hostile world? They were mocked and ridiculed. They suffered. They died a martyr’s death. But they were never intimidated by any opposition, by danger as the price for telling the truth. You see, the Holy Spirit filled the apostles with a great boldness and courage, so that under persecution they not only remained steadfast and unflinching, but considered the sufferings they often received from their witnessing to Christ to be badges of honor. They could not help but tell of the good news of Christ.

 

This Good News of salvation would be proclaimed for all nations and peoples as the Twelve and all disciples would go into all the world, inviting all to the Baptism that incorporates us into Christ and makes us members of His Body the Church, announcing forgiveness to the penitent and unbelieving, and calling us to oneness in Him and with all believers, through our eating His Body and drinking His Blood in His Supper. 

 

Since, we too, have seen, heard, tasted, and touched Jesus in His Means of Grace – His Word and Sacrament – we are also His witnesses. By grace through faith in Christ alone, we are all unified and restored and sent to proclaim the good news of salvation in Christ alone! Amen.

 

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

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Easter 7: "Unified, Restored, and Sent as Christ's Witnesses" (Acts 1:12-26)

 

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

[Intro]

“You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). With those words, Jesus encouraged His apostles as He was bodily ascending triumphantly into heaven as Emmanuel – God with us.

Today on this Seventh Sunday of Easter, these witnesses are no longer hiding behind locked doors for the fear of the Jewish authorities. No, this joyous assurance of the Ascension of our Lord knowing that He will return again filled their hearts and drove out all fear. From the moment they left the Mount of Olives, they worshiped the Father and His Son, Jesus, in full public view.

But as how unified the Eleven were as they were with one accord devoting themselves to prayer, they were not complete. Jesus called Twelve men, not eleven. The outward appearance of unity and completeness might be maintained, but what was broken cannot make itself whole again. Sin cannot be undone, except if God Himself should do it. So, how shall the apostles be made one again?

[The Calling of Matthias]

During the days that followed the ascension of Jesus, the Eleven and the other disciples, about 120 in number, awaited the coming of the promised Holy Spirit by devoting themselves to prayer. Their prayer arose out of their study together of the prophets – who had pointed to the incarnation of Christ, His ministry, sufferings, death, and resurrection – and of the Psalms, the prayer book of the twelve tribes of Israel, of the whole people of God, of Christ Jesus, and of the Church in all ages.

In the course of their prayers from God’s Word, Psalm 69 and Psalm 109 came to Peter’s attention. Here, was the Word from the Lord to direct their action. As the de facto leader, Peter took the initiative in doing something. Since Jesus had chosen Twelve men, Peter and the others believed that a replacement for Judas should be selected. As Israel had been broken and scattered because of sin, so, too, the apostolic circle had been broken by the sin of Judas Iscariot. The Twelve were now only the Eleven. The full number of the Twelve must be restored.

After citing Scripture, Peter concludes that someone must be chosen to take Judas’ place. But who? Well, it would be a man who has the same qualifications as the other apostles. That is, he must have been with Jesus from the beginning of the Savior’s ministry – His righteous fulfilling Baptism by John – to the day of His ascension. Like the others, the man who is chosen must be one who had seen and heard and touched and eaten and been instructed by the risen Christ.

So, the group of believers nominated two men who met these qualifications: Joseph called Barsabbas who was also called Justus and Matthias. But why one witness more? Why not both? Well, if this were simply a matter of adding witnesses, certainly 13 would be better than 12. And in the coming years, the number of those who proclaim the resurrection would swell, as Barnabas, Paul, and Apollos joined in.

But remember, at the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, He chose 12 men – the living picture of Israel made one in Him and in their call to follow Him faithfully. Their unity, too, was broken by unfaithfulness by Judas Iscariot. This time there is no possibility of maintaining the illusion of fullness. The fellowship has been broken. This is what sin does. It drives us away from God and away from one another.

The restoration of the Twelve is the very picture of the Lord’s saving work. His death breaks the power of sin and His resurrection proclaims healing for the broken and reconciliation of those driven apart by sin. You see, filling the place that Judas deserted and restoring the full number of the Twelve not only brought an additional witness to the resurrection, but it was also a witness to the power of Christ’s resurrection to reconcile the estranged and make His people, His new Israel, whole.

The man who would complete the number of the Twelve would be like the Eleven with respect to His faithful following of the Lord, a witness to all He said and did in the days of His earthly ministry. As with the Eleven, this man would have followed the Lord, not by chance, or by his own decision, or by his own act of commitment, but by the calling of His Lord.

Again, two men met these qualifications: Joseph called Barsabbas who was also called Justus and Matthias. So, the group of about 120 prayed to Jesus saying: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place” (Acts 1:24-25).

Through prayer, they were confident that Jesus had made His choice and that He would indicate His choice. They trusted that Jesus would name the new apostle through them. So, as it was custom when there was a tie, they cast lots, where they would write names on pebbles or pieces of broken pottery, shake the container with the lots, and the name that flew out first would be the choice. The lot fell on Matthias.

The Eleven and the nearly 120 disciples were confident that the Lord made His choice, since this was in accord with Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”

Sometimes it still happens when two men are equally qualified for a position in leadership in the church. When an election results in a tie, it is proper to draw lots in some way to determine the Lord’s choice.

But you can’t help but feel bad for Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. Every one of us is at times the “unchosen one.” Unchosen ones exist everywhere. The ones who didn’t make the team, get the promotion, get the job. Even though the lot did not fall upon him, he would still be a witness.

It is likely that this man continued his discipleship to His Lord Jesus, likewise to the nearly 120 that day.

Jesus said: “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus, here, is not commanding them to be His witnesses, but He promises that, as a result of receiving the Holy Spirit, they would just naturally be His witnesses. They would feel no outward compulsion to bring their testimony of the redemption won by their Lord through His death on the cross and sealed and ratified by His resurrection and His ascension. They would do it with great joy and zeal that would never tire. The Holy Spirit would make them witnesses who say: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

[Sent as Christ’s Witnesses]

With the Apostles now unified as Twelve, plus the other disciples, the events of the Ascension and the upcoming events at Pentecost give them the encouragement to spread the good news of Christ to all nations. This they did through the exalted Lord who gave the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit continues to operate with power through His Word. The Word of the Lord proved its creative power: how it was preached, brought forth faith and sustained it in the hearts of many, was embattled, and went on from victory to victory.

Due to the Ascension, the Twelve were content to be witnesses. Gone were their dreams of power connected with personal prestige. No one would argue who would be the greatest (Luke 22:24) or sit at Christ’s right or left hand (Mark 10:37). No one again would speak about an earthly kingdom.

But how would they be able to proclaim the divine truth of salvation in Jesus Christ without making a mistake? Well, the Holy Spirit would empower them to bring testimony that would be in perfect accord. The promise Jesus had made would come true: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

And so, it would be. At Pentecost, the Apostles would be filled with the Holy Spirit so they would remember all that Jesus had taught them. Peter would preach nothing but the purest divine truth with no human additives, such as hopes and dreams that Jesus would bring in a glorious earthly kingdom, or promote social justice, or approval of sins. Paul and the other apostles would do the same. The apostles were plainly inspired by the Holy Spirit. So, to accomplish Jesus’ prophecy of “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8), Jesus gave His Holy Spirit to endow the apostles with the gift of divine inspiration. Through the inspired Gospels and the Epistles, the eternally true, infallible testimony their Lord entrusted them was spread to the very ends of the earth. Through the Scriptures, the apostles to this day bring the glorious gospel witness to the end of time.

But what was the response the apostles received when they witnessed to a hostile world? They were mocked and ridiculed. They suffered. They died a martyr’s death. But they were never intimidated by any opposition, by danger as the price for telling the truth. You see, the Holy Spirit filled the apostles with a great boldness and courage, so that under persecution they not only remained steadfast and unflinching, but considered the sufferings they often received from their witnessing to Christ to be badges of honor. They could not help but tell of the good news of Christ.

This Good News of salvation would be proclaimed for all nations and peoples as the Twelve and all disciples would go into all the world, inviting all to the Baptism that incorporates us into Christ and makes us members of His Body the Church, announcing forgiveness to the penitent and unbelieving and calling us to oneness in Him and with all believers, through our eating His Body and drinking His Blood in His Supper.

Since, we too, have seen, heard, tasted, and touched Jesus in His Means of Grace – His Word and Sacrament – we are also His witnesses. By grace through faith in Christ alone, we are all unified and restored and sent to proclaim the good news of salvation in Christ alone! Amen.

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 11: "Feed on the Bread of Life" (John 6:35-51)

 

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:

[Intro]

Jesus said to them: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

To the hearers that day, they must have thought: “This makes no sense at all! This guy must be a fool!”

It is very likely that when the Jews first heard Jesus say, “I am the bread of life,” they must have just stared at Jesus and envisioned their storehouses filled with food. “Surely this Man is possessed!” they thought, “He claims to have the ability to provide sufficient nourishment – food and drink – to sustain life forever! Come on! Who is He kidding?!”

This is also the reaction by many who claim to be worldly-wise today. When they hear Christ say, “I am the bread of life,” the worldly-wise would likely say, “You don’t say! Aren’t you special?!”

This is certainly a strange manner of speech to say to someone to eat of a person who stands before him and says, “I am the bread of life.”

Christ’s Bread of Life discourse was certainly offensive to many. Christ’s speech offended the Jews back then. Christ’s speech continues to offend many today.

On this 11^th Sunday after Pentecost, Jesus comes to us today and says, “I am the bread of life, depend on Me alone, for I give eternal life.”

[Reason]

For the hearers that day, they must have thought Jesus was crazy. This Jesus, the son of Joseph, claiming to be bread come down from heaven. Really?! Well, if we were in that crowd that day, we may have had the same thoughts. This guy has gone off his rocker!

As crazy as Jesus may sound, He is actually teaching them and us to silence the voice of reason and just believe.

Instead of trusting reason, we must look and grab onto nothing, but the Word spoken by Christ. For Christian doctrine certainly sounds ridiculous and nonsensical to reason. To the judgment of reason, Christian doctrine appears so far from the truth that it is impossible to believe it. Reason never comes to grasp with the truth that God is God and I am not. Reason leads us to go astray thinking, “This doesn’t make any sense to me, so I won’t believe it.” Thus, the Jews that day found it impossible to accommodate themselves to these words of Christ.

Through reason, the Jews are offended. They murmur and grumble. Using pure reason, they find it impossible for Christ to feed the whole world with His body.

As the Reformation was spreading across Europe, many people thought that they had the right ideas in reforming the Christian Church. For Martin Luther who sparked the Reformation, his reformation was based in getting back to the Scripture alone. The Lutheran Reformation was a conservative reformation as Luther and his allies wanted to get back to the basics of the Christian faith as found in the Scriptures: we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.

But not everyone felt the same way. Other reformers popped up here and there and many had other ideas for where the Reformation should go. One of those men was Ulrich Zwingli. Although Zwingli was formerly a Roman priest – like Luther – he wanted a reformation that was not entirely based in Scripture. He wanted a reformation that used man’s reason. Zwingli certainly appealed to Scripture, but he used his own reason in applying it to the Christian life.

Just as the Jews grumbled at Jesus saying, “I am the bread of life,” Zwingli, too, would grumble the same. At a time when these two reformations could have become one, Luther and Zwingli would not budge. Luther held to Scripture. Zwingli held to reason.

To settle this dispute and possibly unite the two reformations, a meeting was attempted with Luther and Zwingli known as the Marburg Colloquy in October of 1529. The two found agreement on every theological point, except for one. They could not find agreement on the Lord’s Supper.

The disagreement was over a single word: “is”. What is the meaning of “is”? The fight was over these words of Christ: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you” and “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

Luther argued that “is” means “is.” Zwingli argued that “is” means “represents” or “signifies.”

Zwingli said, “For if the ‘is’ is to be taken literally, then we must eat the body of Christ with its flesh, bones, veins, nerves, marrow and other members which I will forbear to mention.”[1] To which Luther would respond saying, “Every time I hope they will produce Scripture, they pronounce their own dreams. [Zwingli] says, if one teaches that the physical or bodily eating of Christ’s body forgives sin, that is contrary to faith. I testify on my part that I regard Zwingli as un-Christian, with all his teaching, for he holds and teaches no part of the Christian faith rightly.”[2]

Zwingli was too focused on human reason to the point that he could not believe Christ’s very words.

For Luther, the Lord’s Supper was a doctrine he would never waver. Since Christ said it, he believed it. That was that. No more thinking. Christ said it, and that was good enough for Luther.

Luther would go on to write in his Large Catechism: We shall learn the [Sacrament of the Altar] and its greatest importance, namely, that the chief thing is God’s Word and command. It was not dreamed up or invented by some mere human being but was instituted by Christ without anyone’s counsel or deliberation. This Sacrament of the Altar is not a mere memorial meal, it is the true body and blood of the Lord Christ, in and under the bread and wine, which Christians are commanded by Christ’s word to eat and drink.

For if the Lord’s Supper is only a memorial meal, then there is no benefit to this meal. It is only temporal food that perishes. Not eternal food that endures forever. There is no Means of Grace, thus there is no forgiveness of sins given in eating and drinking. There is no faith being strengthened. If there is no Means of Grace in the Lord’s Supper, what’s the point? This was Luther’s argument!

[Faith]

Again, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

If a physician or pharmacist were to tell you: “I can give you a medicine that will save you from death. And with this medicine, you will no longer live in fear of death, since you would be immune from death.” Would you take this medicine? This is what Jesus is offering to you and me!

So, what is this medicine and how do I take it? This medicine is in fact – faith. Jesus – the Bread of Life – is the preservative against eternal death. To come to Christ means the same as to believe in Christ. This is what it means to have the Bread of Life and to eat it. For to eat – to come to Christ – and to believe in Christ are all one and the same thing.

Christ says to us, “To eat Me means to come to Me and believe in Me.” We all come to Christ in no other way. We only come to Christ by means of faith in Him. All we have to do is just believe in Him, and then we have eaten Him and come to Him.

So, if you do not want to die and be condemned, come to Christ, believe in Him, cling to Him, and eat Him. When we think this way, this old prayer makes more sense: “Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

We, too, must say to Christ, “Give us this bread always” (John 6:34) to which He will reply, “Yes, with all My heart I will give it: for that is why I came from heaven. Believe only Me. Let Me be your food. Do not pin your hope on another food. Beware of that. For I am the bread, not any other man on earth. No one except Me will help you. And if you cling to Me, no devil will do you any harm; for here is the bread which will not let you go hungry.”

So, are you always clinging to Christ? For many of us, we are being fed moldy bread. We seem to trust false idols more than Jesus. Many of us trust the “so-called experts” on the evening and cable news more than we trust Jesus. Yes, we should be informed, but not to the point that we end up living in fear for ourselves and live in fear of our neighbor.

For many people, unholy fear has become their false religion. Instead of having your mind molded by the news and culture, open up your Bible, thumb through those pages, and read God’s Word, which is always relevant and newsworthy – after all our salvation through Christ’s body and blood is always newsworthy! And, come to the Divine Service weekly, because this is the place where we always receive the Bread of Life!

The Jewish hearers back then used human reason to the point that they believed they were entitled to not depend upon Jesus as their Bread of Life. They believed that they did not have to believe in Christ for salvation. They believed they were entitled to free lunches and handouts without faith, as they received at the feeding of the 5,000. Today, not much has changed.

Apart from Christ we are indeed helpless. We can’t save ourselves. We need a savior. Thus, Christ took upon Himself our flesh as He came down from heaven to be the Bread of Life that we may eat and never die.

For those who do not hold onto Christ’s flesh and blood by faith, they are lost, they are doomed. So, believe in Christ’s flesh and blood! Christ is the very Bread of Life. So, eat Him, that is, trust in Him. For when we “eat of this bread, [we] will live forever” (John 6:51).

This bread – Christ’s flesh – gave life to the world when He suffered and died for our sins. It is only through His death, that we have life! By faith in Him, we receive the fruits of His death upon the cross: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation!

Although Christ’s words today refer primarily to His coming sacrificial death, within these words we anticipate the blessings of the Sacrament of our Lord’s Body and Blood.

With that being the case, Jesus must have knowingly formed His following words, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. … I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:35, 51). He said those words in such a way that they would correspond to what He would later say at the Last Supper: “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” And: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:19-20).

Our Lord Jesus Christ has prepared the foretaste of the feast to come at the Lord’s Table to which He invites us to receive the medicine of immortality – His very Body and Blood under the bread and wine – as the antidote to eternal death, so we live forever in Jesus Christ!

So, trust in Jesus, depend on Him, for He alone is the Bread of Life who feeds us with His own flesh, so that we will live forever! Amen.

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

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[1] Zwingli and Bullinger (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1953), 199.

[2] Luther’s Works, Volume 37: Word and Sacrament III (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1961), 189, 191, 231.