Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Ephesians 5,15-21. 18. Sunday after Trinity

Monday, October 20, 2014

Ephesians 5,15-21. 18. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Ephesians 5,15-21 5214

18. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 063

Ptolemaeus and Lucius, Martyrs at Rome, 166 ✠

19. Oktober 2014

1. O Merciful God, the Giver of all good gifts, bless us with freedom and security so that we can live without fear and devote time to worship You, pray to You and meditate upon Your Word. (VELKD, Prayer for 18. Sunday after Trinity § 1). Amen.

2. »Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, humbly cooperating with one another out of reverence for Christ.

3. This morning’s Gospel pericope again presents us with the most important Commandment: »Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.« (Deuteronomy 6,4-5) The second is this: »You shall love your neighbor as yourself.« (Leviticus 19,18) The scribe who was speaking to Jesus agreed.

4. We often think that all the scribes and Pharisees in the Holy Gospels were hostile to Jesus, but it is important to remember that the scribes and Pharisees knew the Scriptures very well and made interpretations and commentaries upon them. In today’s Gospel pericope, we see a scribe in a positive light. We do not know if this scribe became a disciple of Jesus, but St. Matthew does tell us that the scribe used the honorific „teacher“ when speaking to Jesus, and that indicates that he acknowledged that Jesus was a wise teacher of the Scriptures and that His commentary on those Scriptures was to be heard and received. We are even told that there were some scribes and Pharisees who followed Jesus and were counted among His disciples. The New Testament tells us that Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and the Apostle Paul (John 3,1; 19,42; Mark 15,43; Acts 23,6) were Pharisees who were also disciples of Jesus; there may have been others who were secretly His disciples too. (Although the Gospels do not specifically state that Joseph of Arimathea was a Pharisee, his close relationship with Nicodemus and his membership in the Sanhedrin (like Nicodemus) lends to it being very probable that Joseph was also a Pharisee.)

5. What stands out in regards to this scribe in Mark 12 is that he confesses: »To love God with all the heart and with all understanding and with all strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.« This scribe knew that the Mosaic covenant was grounded upon offerings and sacrifices. The temple existed for these very things and many priests were on hand to handle the daily sacrifices made at the temple. The offerings and sacrifices were God ordained means of grace, but the scribe acknowledges that the Scriptures also exhort love before the sacrifices. The scribe has in mind three particular Scriptural passages:

1. »But Samuel replied: „Does Yahweh delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying Yahweh? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams“« (1. Samuel 15,22).

2. Yahweh says: »I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and I desire acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings« (Hosea 6,6).

3. »With what shall I come before Yahweh and bow down before the Exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Does Yahweh take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts or the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.« (Micah 6,6-8).

6. Jesus commends the scribe’s correct understanding of the Holy Scriptures and tells him: »You are not far from the reign of God.« This statement means two things: 1. You correctly understand the Holy Scriptures, and 2. I, Jesus, am standing in your midst and I am the Reign of God made flesh.

7. All the Scriptures point to Christ. The offerings, the sacrifices, the temple and everything Moses told Israel at Mt. Sinai were meant to prepare the people for Jesus and His arrival. When Jesus appeared and began teaching and doing miracles, the expected response was: Yes, this is what the Mosaic covenant prepared us for: Jesus is the fulfillment of our covenant! This scribe in Mark 12 was so close to understanding all this. Mark remains silent on whether he did or not. What is not silent is the New Testament witness to these very things. We have 27 books in the New Testament that explain how and why Jesus is the Reign of God and the fulfillment of the old testament. Jesus is God in the flesh and He is God the Father’s Yes to all His promises (2. Corinthians 1,19-20). From the first promise in Genesis 3,14-15: »Yahweh Elohim said to the serpent: „I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.“« to the last promise in Malachi 4,1-2: »For behold, the day is arriving when the Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.« Jesus is the one who bruised the head of the serpentine Satan, and Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness. Jesus has redeemed us, opened up the gates of everlasting life unto us and calls us to believe in Him for our salvation.

8. The Apostle Paul grounds his exhortation upon this and tells us: »Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in unconditional love and value, as Christ unconditionally loved and valued us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, ... and addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, humbly cooperating with one another out of reverence for Christ« (Ephesians 5,1-2.19-21).

9. Yes, you are not far from the Reign of God. Jesus is present here, for we have gathered together in His Name. His Word is preached. We will soon celebrate His Supper where He promises to unite His body and blood to the bread and the wine for us to eat, drink and receive the forgiveness of sins He has purchased on the cross. Receive and believe, for Jesus Christ is Your Lord and Savior; He is the Yes to all the Divine promises given to you. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord, You make known to us Your testament, help us to fear, love and trust You so that we bear testimony of Your mercy and grace unto our neighbors who need to hear Your gospel of forgiveness. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, October 20, 2014

Ephesians 5,15-21. 18. Sunday after Trinity

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