Matthew 11,2-10 0323
Gaudete 3. Sonntag im Advent 03
Daniel (Belteshazzar) the Prophet, Shadrach (Hananiah), Meshach (Mishael) & Abednego (Azariah) Daniel 1,7
Olympia, Widow, Deaconess, ✠ 410
17. December 2023
1. ℣ Rejoice in Yahweh always:
℟ And again I say, Rejoice (Philippians 4,4-5).
O Jesus, You arrived as a king and the Righteous One. Make us righteous and bestow on us the robe of Your perfect righteousness. Govern us from now on with Your Holy Spirit, so that we may remain Your dwelling and temple. Amen. (Starck 477-78; English transl. 51).
2. »Now when John the Baptizer heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him: „Are you the one who is to arrive, or shall we look for another?“ And Jesus answered them: „Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.“ [Isaiah 35,5; 61,1] As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: „What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.“ [Malachi 3,1]«
3. Gaudete! Rejoice! But it is a somber rejoicing, for John the Baptizer has met the fate of many of Israel’s prophets. In chapter 11, he has been languishing in Herod Antipas’ prison for about 1 year. This Herod was a son of Herod the Great and grandson of Antipater the Idumaean; he was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea (4 bc - ad 39), one-quarter of his father’s kingdom. Truthfully did Stephen say of his Jewish brethren: »Which of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute?« (Acts 7,52). Israel’s Prophets suffered and were killed by their Jewish brethren, and so it was for John the Baptizer as well.
4. The Gentiles do the same. The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates called Athens to a higher moral standard. He was a gadfly to its citizens. He taught ethics as the way to serve one’s neighbor. Socrates disturbed the status quo, and so he had to go. His fellow Athenians charged him with impiety and corrupting the youth. He was sentenced to death in 339 bc. Martin Niemöller opposed the creeping Nazi State control over the German Protestant churches. He was in concentration camps from 1938-45. He narrowly escaped execution, was elected president of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau from 1947-61 and became an ardent pacifist. Harikuran is a Christian evangelist in India who over the past couple of decades has been arrested three times, jailed for a week, beaten and harassed by a Hindu mob.
5. In spite of his imprisonment, John had not lost hope in Jesus whom he had baptized. He had prepared the way for the Christ, and he still has one more prophetic message to proclaim: He sent his disciples to Jesus so they could see and hear for themselves the Christ in their midst. John points people to Jesus. When trials, tribulations and persecution afflict us, our focus needs to be squarely on Jesus.
6. The world asks: how can we know who the Christ is; how can we be sure that Jesus is the Christ? Jesus answered this question by stating He is doing what the Prophets said He would be doing. »Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped« (Isaiah 35,5). »The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to bring the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound« (Isaiah 61,1). John prepared the way, and Jesus fulfilled what John had prepared. John’s preparation can be summarized as: the day of God’s vengeance is nigh; repent and turn unto God (Isaiah 61,2b). Jesus’ fulfillment can be summarized as: I proclaim to you the year of Yahweh’s favor; rejoice and receive His mercy and grace (Isaiah 61,2a.c).
7. Vengeance and favor converge in and upon Christ. The purpose of His advent and birth is to redeem fallen mankind by becoming the vicarious sacrifice; this occurs on the cross. There Jesus bore His Father’s vengeance upon sin and sinners; in doing so He merited His Father’s favor upon sinners by paying the redemptive price for our eternal salvation.
8. In this we rejoice! We rejoice that Jesus is the Christ who has saved us from sin, death and hell. We pray that the Holy Spirit would convict the unbelieving world of its sin and call it to repentance. We pray that to all unbelievers the Holy Spirit would create faith in Jesus. During this season of Advent we pray that the Holy Spirit would use us to proclaim the message of Christ Jesus who arrived to liberate people from their sin and the curse of that sin. We rejoice in the advent of Christ who is the Son of God and Mary’s Firstborn Son, for He is the Glory of the Jews and the Light unto the Gentiles.
9. »Rejoice in the Lord Jesus always; again, I will say, rejoice« (Philippians 4,4).
10. ℣ O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and
permeating all creation, mightily and sweetly ordering | all things: *
℟ Draw near and teach us the way of | prudence.
11. Whom the angels serve most dear,
now becomes a child and servant.
God Himself has appeared
to atone for His judgment.
Those guilty of transgression,
cover your head no more
you shall receive salvation,
through the Christ Child our Lord.
(Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen elkg 322,2 2021 Jochen Klepper (1937) 1938).
This is most certainly true.
14. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
15. Let us pray. O Thou who hast foretold that Thou wilt return again to judgement in an hour that we are not aware of, grant us grace to watch and pray always that whether Thou shalt come at even or at midnight or at the cock-crowing or in the morning, Thou mayest find us in the number of those servants who shall be blessed for watching for their Lord; for Thy Name’s sake. Amen. (3. Advent, 2. Vespers Collect. The Daily Office.)
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover.
The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.
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