"A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1-10)

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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:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from His roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1).

 

Today’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 11 pictures life rising from death and destruction. 

 

Through the Prophet Isaiah, God promised that He would deliver His people from all their enemies. Yet, as Isaiah proclaims this great news, the Assyrians are about to inflict God’s judgment upon God’s people for their wickedness. And over the centuries, God’s people would be cut down and reduced to virtually nothing. And over time, the Assyrian Empire would be cut down and reduced to nothing. Every enemy of God’s people, as well as God’s people themselves, would become stumps of their former greatness.

 

But in today’s reading, Isaiah tells of a difference, a great difference. You see, all the other stumps would remain dead and lifeless, but not this stump of Jesse. He says a shoot would come from the stump of Jesse. 

 

Yes, the house of David would be reduced to its humble beginnings in Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesse and of his son David, but from these humble beginnings would come a new King, who is not only of the lineage of David, but a new and greater David.

 

It was unexpected that a boy who tended his father’s sheep would become a great king. It was also from an unexpected source that the new and greater King would come.

 

Just as Immanuel would come from a virgin, so He also would come from the dead stump of Jesse. Here, we see a humble entrance of the Christ into the world – as a child, a shoot. He would come by the miracle of a virgin birth and would come from the dead stump of the royal line of David. The small green branch would shoot out and grow because God had given His promise. It would be so. The appearance of this shoot is a miracle of God’s grace and power.

How beautiful Isaiah pictures the coming Messiah. When the shoot becomes a branch at the appointed time, He was born in Bethlehem, the hometown of both Jesse and David. And although Mary and Joseph were both descendants of David, Jesus would not have His first bed in a palace but in a manger. 

 

At the time of Christ’s birth, Romans occupied Palestine. There was no descendant of David ruling Judah. Mary was just a humble woman. Joseph a carpenter. Nazareth, where Mary and Joseph lived was a forgotten town in Judea. What good could come from Nazareth, let alone Bethlehem? The royal line of David was a dead stump without power, influence or wealth.

 

Yet, from this seemingly insignificant beginning, great and wonderful blessings would come. This new and greater King would succeed where all other kings and leaders have failed. Really, all earthly rulers would ultimately fail. But where all other earthly rulers have failed, this Branch will succeed. You see, where all other earthly rulers have fallen, this Branch will not fail because He will be what God desires, and He will fully do what God desires.

 

Of this Branch, the Spirit of the Lord rests. Isaiah writes: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2).

 

Jesus, the shoot from the stump of Jesse, and the son of David, went forth “full of the Spirit” (Luke 4:1) and manifested Himself before all Israel. At His Baptism, the Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove and came to rest on Him.

 

Upon Jesus rests God’s own Spirit and this Spirit gives Him everything He needs to rule.

 

And what does this Spirit give Jesus? Isaiah here identifies three pairs of gifts. The first pair is wisdom and understanding. You see, during His earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated a wisdom which had been hidden from the beginning of the world and He spoke and gave insight into heavenly things which only He knows. With His wisdom, Jesus has the ability to look into the very essence of things. He has the understanding to distinguish and perceive differences. With wisdom and understanding, He gives insight into all things that His people will need to know and understand, including the depths of God’s nature and His grace.

 

Upon Jesus also rests the Spirit of counsel and might. These two gifts also echo the names given to the promised Messiah back in Isaiah chapter 9, where he wrote that the Christ Child’s name shall be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6). This means that He knows what His people need and gives them what they need. He gives His people His Word and in His Word, He shares with His people the plan for our redemption. By His suffering and death, the shoot from the stump of Jesse, loosed the bonds which held people captive and overcame our enemies: sin, death, and the devil.

 

Upon Jesus also rests the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. During His earthly ministry, Jesus was obedient to His Father’s will, even unto death, to lead us – His lost children – back to God. Now, through the Holy Spirit, the Lord plants the knowledge of God, true love and true fear of God, back into the hearts of men.

 

Now with His work finished, Jesus, the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the new and greater David, now sits on the throne of His Father. “And His delight shall be in fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins” (Isaiah 11:3-5).

 

With the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him, when Jesus makes decisions, He penetrates beyond what He can see and hear. And as careful as any human judge or ruler may be, appearances and rhetoric can still distort the truth and frustrate justice. But not for the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the new and greater David. For Jesus, He exercises absolute justice based on absolute knowledge.

 

Jesus bears the scepter of peace. Again, He doesn’t judge by what His eyes see or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but He judges with righteousness, deciding with equity the interests of the meek. To troubled sinners, Jesus gives justice. He makes us poor, miserable sinners right with God by covering our sin with His robe of righteousness and preserving us blameless to God the Father.

 

But at the very same time, those who reject the shoot from the stump of Jesse, those who reject His peace and His grace, those people are put to shame. Isaiah says: “He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall kill the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4).

 

Jesus has come as the Prince of Peace, but many reject His peace. Not everyone will believe. Not everyone will come to faith in Christ Jesus. As Simeon said to Mary, “This Child has been appointed for the fall … of many” (Luke 2:34). But, through the working of the Holy Spirit, many more will come and kneel before the crucified and risen Christ.

 

And for everyone who clings to Christ as their King, they will see the image of creation restored. Animals that were once prey – the lamb, young goat and fattened calf – will dwell safely together with their former predators – the wolf, leopard and lion – without fear. In fact, as believers in Christ, we already enjoy the benefits of His wise rule, having received His Spirit with wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and knowledge and fear of the Lord. 

 

You see, for those who are in the kingdom of God, there is no malice. For everyone who acknowledge Jesus as Lord also renounce the works of the devil. And although we are still sinners, in Christ, there remains an ever-flowing fountain of mercy. Day in and day out, we receive from Jesus His grace, as well as peace and strength in loving God and serving our neighbor.

 

Isaiah pictures paradise as the wolf dwells with the lamb, but this paradise isn’t just the future; this is the present reality. This is what the Church of Christ looks like now. This is the peace that the one true Christian Church has at this very moment.

 

As fellow redeemed in Christ, we are united with the One who alone is holy by nature but who shares His holiness with us. God has granted us new hearts that, while sin still clings to us, we truly want to please God and serve our neighbor. This is completely unnatural from the perspective of our old sinful and prideful selves. We have been transformed by Christ’s peace through His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension! We have been transformed by the Holy Spirit’s intervening in your life to be the kind of person you would never be without Him.

 

Yes, we are still not perfect, the Church does have her spots and wrinkles, but we are made clean through the blood of the Lamb, which makes us new. With the help of the Holy Spirit, may we grow in wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord, for we are all one in Christ Jesus, who is Peace and brings peace. 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)

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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, 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 +

"Gathered and Rejoicing in God's Word" (Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10)

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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:

“All the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel” … “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood” (Nehemiah 8:1, 5).

 

In today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings, God’s people heard the Word of the Lord. In both circumstances, God’s people wanted to hear the Word of the Lord spoken to them. But how the people reacted to God’s Word is what differs.

 

In our reading from Nehemiah 8, all the people of God are assembled and attentive as they hear the Book of the Law of Moses read to them. And oddly enough, God’s people wanted to hear God’s Word read to them. They urged Ezra the priest to bring the Book of the Law of Moses and read it to them.

 

As a parent of a toddler, Melissa and I get this request a lot from Elsie. “Daddy, read this to me!” “Mommy, read this to me!” Like Elsie who wants to be read to, God’s people desired Ezra to read to them the Scriptures.

 

So, standing on an elevated platform, Ezra reads the Law of Moses to God’s people. 

 

But before I go into what Ezra read, let’s get some context on what led to this moment. You see, God’s people had recently returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile. And like many people today, when we get back home, we want to get back to what makes home, feel like home. For God’s people, home meant getting reacquainted with God’s Word and His teaching, so God used Ezra the prophet and Nehemiah the governor to remind His people of His joy for them. God wanted to turn His people’s 70 years of repentance into lasting and ongoing joy.

 

And so, standing on that elevated platform, Ezra reads the Law of Moses to God’s people. And no doubt that there were pauses as Ezra read, since the Levites would have translated and explained the sections of text read to God’s people.

 

But why the translating? Well, for any person who has moved away to a foreign country for a long period of time, you will likely get rusty with your first language. And for God’s people, many of them were rusty, and many of them never heard and never spoke Hebrew. You see, Aramaic was the language spoken when they were captive, so Aramaic became second nature as many lost Hebrew. 

 

For us, it would be like reading Shakespeare or Chaucer today. Yes, they wrote in English, but their English is not today’s English. So, sometimes, we may need to translate old English to modern English.

 

And finishing the reading, “Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground … [and] the people understood the reading” (Nehemiah 8:5-6, 8).

 

God’s people understood and delighted in hearing the Book of the Law of Moses! They immediately worshiped and confessed Yahweh as their God!

 

Can you imagine such a reaction in hearing God’s inerrant Word in 2025? When the Scriptures are read in the public square or in the Divine Service, how do people in our day typically respond? Is it with the same joy and the same reverence of God’s people then? And what is your response when you hear God’s Word rightly proclaimed?

 

As the Psalmist David wrote, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7). God’s Law is perfect because it is His perfect Word. And His Law completely recounts what the Lord has done to redeem His people.

 

Now, you may ask, what exactly did God’s people hear that day? Now, Ezra could have read in entirety the Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. But most likely, Ezra read passages from Exodus and Deuteronomy which describe Yahweh’s covenant with His people, Israel.

 

So, they would have heard about Israel’s release from slavery in Egypt, God’s deliverance in the Red Sea, God’s miracles to preserve His people in the wilderness, God’s Ten Commandments as His will for all time. They would have heard God’s command to teach their children to know, love, and obey the Lord. And they would have heard about the coming Messiah. Such beautiful words of God’s love through His Law and His Gospel! God’s people answered, “Amen, Amen” (Nehemiah 8:6).

 

But even in saying, “Amen, Amen,” God’s people also mourned and wept. They mourned and wept as God’s Law brought the conviction of sin to their hearts. God’s Law pierced them “for the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). They realized that they had not lived up to God’s commandments. But then they found peace as God turned their hearts to Him as they found their joy in Him.

 

In hearing God’s Word that day, God’s people learned once again that God had not abandoned them, His chosen nation. Even though sin came through Adam and Eve, and they had sinned against God, God still had not left them. Generation after generation, God continued to invite His people to return to Him.

 

God’s people heard afresh how God delivered their ancestors from Egyptian captivity and caused His glory to dwell with them in the tabernacle. Even the sacrificial system was instituted with its attendant priesthood to provide forgiveness for the people’s failings and sins. 

 

As they heard and took to heart God’s Word, they were surrounded by gracious signs of God’s abiding presence with them: the second temple, Zion’s restoration, and the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem. God had brought home His people after decades in exile. 

 

Then on another day, centuries later at the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus spoke God’s Word. Jesus was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and began speaking. As He finished, He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

 

Immediately, with all the eyes fixed on Jesus, they desired to hear God’s Word interpreted. Filled with anticipation in hearing their son of the congregation speak, Jesus then began speaking saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

 

Jesus is saying that this Word: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me…” has literally been fulfilled in their hearing. Those words of the prophet have now taken on flesh, stepped off the scroll, and now literally stands right in front of them.

 

And how did the people react? At first “all spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth” (Luke 4:22a). But then some said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”(Luke 4:22b).

 

After hearing Ezra, God’s people rejoiced in hearing God’s Word. But after hearing Jesus, God’s people eventually took to unbelief, as Jesus proved in saying they are like the people of Elijah’s and Elisha’s time. The people in the Nazareth synagogue became “filled with wrath” (Luke 4:28) as their hatred “flared up” at Jesus as they attempted to murder Jesus, but Jesus passes unharmed from their clutches and continues on His way.

 

When people hear God’s Word, there are often different reactions. To those who desire a Savior for their sins, they may rejoice in hearing God’s saving Word. But for others, who do not see any need for a Savior, God’s saving Word is often despised and rejected.

 

But no matter the reaction, Jesus has come to save. You see, Jesus was not just present in Nazareth. Jesus was also present in Jerusalem as Ezra spoke the Book of the Law of Moses. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, inspired Moses, Ezra and Nehemiah.

 

As Ezra spoke the Law of Moses, he spoke “the whole counsel of God,” both Law and Gospel, God’s condemnation of sin and His grace in forgiving sin. He spoke of the coming and promised Messiah. 

 

Likewise, when we hear God’s Word today, we should have much to repent of: false idolatry, lack of forgiveness, sexual immorality. The list goes on. But as we hear God’s Word, let us also turn our hearts to joy as we hear His Gospel, God’s Word of absolution. The Savior which Ezra, Nehemiah and their hearers looked forward to has come. Jesus has taken away sin’s power through His substitutionary atonement upon the cross, so that through His death and His bodily resurrection all who would trust in Him as their Lord and Savior would have life forever!

 

So, let us “eat the fat and drink sweet wine” (Nehemiah 8:10), the body and blood of Jesus broken and shed for us, for the forgiveness of our sins. Let us rejoice as we gather around God’s Word and His Sacraments as they point us to God’s saving gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation won for us as we receive through faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Scandal of the Gospel" (Luke 7:18-35)

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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:] “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” (Luke 7:23).

 

What does it take for someone or something to offend you? Can you recall the last time you were genuinely offended? What caused the offense? How did it make you feel? Angry? Shocked? Vengeful? What was your response? Was it something like, “How dare you!”? “How dare you question me!”? “How dare you accuse me!”?

 

Jesus was no stranger to “How dare you!” His earthly ministry may have lasted only three years, but it was enough time to offend all sorts of people in all sorts of ways. Some, like the Pharisees, were offended because He disappointed them with the way He demonstrated His messianic calling. The Gospels record how over and over again, people were scandalized or offended by something Jesus said or did, or even by something He did not do.

 

There were times when Jesus’ words were just too hard to swallow. In John 6, Jesus proclaims to the crowd of fellow Jews that He is The Bread of Life. The crowd grumbled about Jesus, because He said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:42). Later on, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Because of those words of Jesus, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. They took offense! They packed up their bags and left.

 

But Jesus didn’t stop there at offending the masses. Later in John 8, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Immediately, the crowd picked up stones to stone Jesus to death, but Jesus hid Himself. They took offense! This time they tried to eliminate Jesus for good!

 

In Luke 4, Jesus returned to Nazareth where He had been brought up. It was the Sabbath, so He came to synagogue. As a favorite son of the congregation, He was asked to read, so He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

 

“The Spirt of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Then Jesus sat down and began to say, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Then murmuring began, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22). The crowd was filled with wrath, and they rose up to drive Jesus out of Nazareth with intentions to throw Him off a cliff. Those synagogue worshipers took offense at Jesus! Again, they too wanted to eliminate Him.

 

But it wasn’t only Jesus’ speaking that caused offense. It was also what He was doing. On a Sabbath, Jesus had the audacity to give sight to a blind man. In response to this sign and miracle, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (John 8:16).

 

Jesus was also judged by the company He kept. And Jesus was well aware of what was being said about Him and His company.

 

After Jesus met with John’s disciples, He began preaching to the crowds concerning John the Baptist, saying, “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:33-34).

 

Just think about how many of the Jewish authorities took offense as Jesus ate and drank and even associated with sinners. The truth is, Jesus ate and drank and associated with these people, because He was always around sinners. He could never escape that fact, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But Jesus never gave tax collectors permission to collect more taxes than authorized to do. Jesus never gave permission to prostitutes to continue selling themselves. Jesus never gave permission to Samaritans to continue worshipping falsely. What Jesus did do was show them their sins so they would repent of those sins and receive God’s forgiveness.

 

But it wasn’t only what Jesus said and did that caused so many to reject Him. For many others, it was what Jesus failed to do that caused the greatest offense. Think back to the First Sunday in Advent when we heard how the people greeted Jesus on that Palm Sunday spreading their cloaks on the road and laying down palm branches as they shouted their “Hosannas”! “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). 

Most on that Palm Sunday believed that Jesus was the conquering hero who would lead them to political and military victory against the Romans. But how disappointed they must have been to see Him riding in on a donkey instead of a warhorse. How disappointed, discouraged, and offended they were when Jesus turned out to be a compassionate and forgiving Messiah, full of mercy and not vengeance. He wasn’t what the crowd was expecting. By Friday, many in that Palm Sunday crowd changed their shout to “Crucify Him!”

 

With so many expectations not fulfilled. With Jesus appearing to be involved in scandal after scandal, John the Baptist, while in prison, sends two of his disciples to Jesus with the question, “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:20).

 

From the man who attempted to prevent Jesus’ baptism saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14) and later witnessed the Spirit of God descend like a dove and rest on Jesus and heard God the Father proclaim from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) – is this man having doubts? How could he have any doubts?

 

So, why this question of doubt? Is John really wavering in his faith? Or could it be that John desires that his disciples be certain of who Jesus truly is? Jesus wasn’t really living up the expectations of the promised Messiah.

 

So, to clear up any doubts, Jesus directs John’s disciples to His miracles: “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (Luke 7:22). Then Jesus concludes saying, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” (Luke 7:23).

 

Those words, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” certainly do ring loud and clear. We certainly do live in a time where many are scandalized by Jesus Christ. Even with the coming Christmas holiday, many people are scandalized today by saying, “Merry Christmas” or even setting foot in a church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but they will make sure that they have all their gifts in good order.

 

Even for us today, there are many exclusive claims of Jesus that may even cause you to be offended by Him. Jesus says, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). 

Well, what about devout Jews? What about those good and sincere people who do many good works in the community, but do not trust in Jesus? Are they bound to hell because they don’t happen to believe and trust in Jesus as their Savior?

 

For many of us, we get caught off guard. We would rather try to rationalize those words of Jesus. Or we can say, “It’s not for me to judge.” Or, “That’s up to God.” Well, it is up to God, but it’s deeper than that. We may be tempted to be too squeamish to defend the Christian truth. But the truth is the truth. Jesus is the only way to salvation! Even now, Jesus doesn’t live up to our expectations.

 

So, why do we often fail to let our Christian light shine? Why do we become so easily discouraged when it comes to matters of Christian faith and Christian hope? Why are we afraid? Are we worried what other people may think of us? 

 

For all the doubts and worries we may have, Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). So, repent and confess your sins to God, hand them over to Jesus, and then receive forgiveness by God’s grace.

 

Jesus redeemed you and I when we were lost and condemned. He purchased and won us from all sin, from eternal death, and from the power of the devil with His holy and precious blood and by His innocent suffering and death.

 

Jesus called us by the Gospel. He sent the Holy Spirit to enlighten us with His gifts. He has sanctified and kept us in the one true Christian faith. All this He did out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness on our part.

 

So, blessed are those who are not offended by Jesus! May we always be reminded of His blessings of forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation for which He won for you and me upon the cross !

 

On this Third Sunday in Advent, let us rejoice in Christ’s Means of Grace! Rejoice in your Baptism into Christ! Rejoice in absolution as Christ forgives our troubled consciences! Rejoice in Christ’s body and blood under bread and wine as our medicine for immortality! Rejoice in the Lord always! Blessed is the one who is not offended by Jesus! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +