John 8,26-30. Remeniscere

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

John 8,[21-26a] 26b-30   1513

Reminiszere (2. Sonntag der Passionszeit)  025  „Remember“ 

Matthias, Apostle. Martyr at Jerusalem or Colchis, Georgia 80

24. February 2013

1.  O Heavenly Father, You gave us Your Holy Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, Your only and beloved Son, who paid for our sins on the cross. Your Church is tempted to usurp the vineyard from You and plant her own doctrine and practice that is centered on man rather than the Triune God. Send forth pastors to be prophets in Your Church who will call to repentance the Church and all Christians who have strayed from Your word and will. Bring them again with penitent hearts to be steadfast in the faith and to embrace the unchangeable truth of Jesus Christ, Your Son.  Amen. 

2. So Jesus again said to the scribes and the Pharisees: „I am going away, and  you will seek Me, and  you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.“ So the Jews said: „Will he kill himself, since he says: „Where I am going, you cannot come“?“ He said to them: „You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins.“ So they said to Him: „Who are you?“ Jesus said to them: „Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but He who sent Me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from Him.“ They did not understand that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them: „When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.“ As He was saying these things, many believed in Him.  

3. The Apostle Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans: »So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ« (Romans 10,17). As John tells us in his Gospel: the word of Christ comes from the Father, for Jesus heard His word in heaven. Jesus spoke to the scribes and Pharisees the word of the Father. The Jews should have heard these words, recognized that these words were in conformity with the Sinai covenant and thus believed Jesus to be the very Word of the Father who was sent by the Father. 

4. On the contrary, the scribes and Pharisees were the most vehement of Jesus’ foes. Most of them refused to accept Jesus as the Christ. This refusal was also a rejection of God the Father and the Holy Scriptures. 

5. The Law and the Prophets prepared Israel for their Christ. The Epistle to the Hebrews explains how the old testament foreshadows the Christ. »They serve a copy and  shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was instructed by God, saying: »See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.« But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the testament He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. In speaking of a new testament, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away« (Hebrews 8,5-6.13). »For since the Law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near« (Hebrews 10,1). 

6. Jesus furthermore says that there is a sign that bespeaks of all this: the crucified Christ is the wondrous sign that the old has been fulfilled by the new testament. Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees: »When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me.« The Apostle Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Corinthians that: »Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God« (1. Corinthians 1,22-24). If you demand a sign, if you seek wisdom, then the crucified Christ is both your sign and your wisdom. 

7. The cross is the sign of Yahweh’s love, mercy and grace upon His fallen, sinful creation. »There is no greater love than that of a man laying down his life for his friends« (John 15,13). This is why Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and a cross of ashes marked upon our foreheads. God the Father’s love is manifested in the act of sending His Only Son to this earth to suffer and die for you and me who are rebellious sinners. The ash cross on our foreheads reminds us that we are marked by the Triune God in our Holy Baptism. We are marked as those redeemed in the waters of Baptismal life, and those waters are efficacious by Jesus’ meritorious sacrifice upon the cross. 

8. Jesus paid the price for all the world. He died to save the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees who rejected their very Holy Scriptures, the Greeks proud of their philosophical wisdom, the Romans who took solace in their laws and orderly society and in us with whatever attitude we exaggerate to sinful proportions. The world has been saved. All sinners have been ransomed. The devil, the grave and hell have been defeated. The sign for all this is the cross, and this cross is the wisdom that leads unto everlasting life. Faith receives this sign and believes this wisdom. 

9. Jesus reminded the scribes and the Pharisees: »I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins.« Jesus speaks these words to each of us, too. If you refuse to receive Jesus and thereby believe His words, then you will likewise die in your sins. These are harsh words to hear. These are politically incorrect words. These are words that grate against our postmodern ideal of multiculturalism. But Jesus has spoken these words, put them out there as the Truth, and each man and woman either receives them or refuses them. The Church proclaims that there is only one path that leads unto the open gates of eternal life in heaven. The Church preaches that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to God the Father except through Jesus who is crucified and risen for our salvation (John 14,6). 

10. The Apostle Paul proclaims: »God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us« (Romans 5,8). The scribes and Pharisees believed that if they lived a righteous life under the law, then Yahweh would send His Christ. They had developed a meritorious system based on works-righteousness. As such, we are no different from the Pharisees. Christians also wrongly establish merit based on works-righteousness, too. We think if we live a better moral life, try to obey the commandments better or some other works-based system of righteousness by which we hope to merit Yahweh’s good favor and blessings. 

11. Jesus says: »Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: »I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.« For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners« (Matthew 9,12-13). We do not come into Jesus’ presence as healthy righteous people but as dying sinners. Jesus gathers those who are sick and dying, those who are depressed and in despair, those who are cast aside by the world, those who have nothing to offer Him of any value. To such a pitiful lot, Jesus cleans away our sin, binds up our wounds of body and soul, gives us the medicine of His Word and Sacraments, takes us into His presence and declares us righteous on His account. 

12. Now that Jesus has made us righteous by His meritorious sacrifice upon the cross, He sends the Holy Spirit to work in us the good works that are the result of declared righteousness. The Spirit uses the gospel to create in us love for God and neighbor. From this love springs forth all sorts of fruits that benefit our church and our community. So we proclaim the sacrificial love of Christ; we work and support our church with liberal offerings and time. Such sanctified activities flow forth from faith in our Merciful Christ Jesus who is the sinner’s friend and the sinner’s deliverer, now and always.  Amen. 

13. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, You show His love for us in that Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners, may we never stumble over this proclamation nor reject this great gift of grace so that we may remain in the Christian faith unto eternal life.  Amen.

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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

Luke 22,31-34. Invocavit

✠ In the Name of Jesus ✠

Luke 22,31-34   1413

Invokavit (1. Sonntag der Passionszeit)  024 „He will call“ 

Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, Martyr 449 

17. February 2013

1.  O Lord, our Refuge and Fortress, we live in a world twisted by sin and corrupted by wickedness. We can only blame our own sinful selves for this pathetic state. We are daily in sore need of You to rescue us, and we trust in You alone for You are our Shield and Defender against sin, death and the devil.  Amen.  

2. Jesus said to his apostle: „Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, so that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you so that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.“ Peter answered Him: „Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.“ Jesus replied: „I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know Me.“   

3. What Jesus tells Simon Peter is nothing new: Satan desires to sift men and women like wheat. Such a desire is Satan’s modus operandi: he convinced one-third of the heavenly angels to join him in rebellion against the Triune God and he swept them down with him in his fall. Then Satan cast his eyes upon the crown of creation: Adam and Eve. He tempted Eve to rebel against Yahweh by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve then convinced Adam to do the same, and Yahweh punished fallen mankind with curses that still afflict us to this very day. 

4. The Apostle Peter made a bold claim to stand fast with Jesus even unto imprisonment and death. Adam and Eve likewise had made bold claims to resist the devil’s temptation, but they failed and yielded to the devil just as Peter would do. How many times a day do we make bold proclamations to stand fast on the Word of God, to sweep Satan aside when he comes a calling but when the hour arrives our strength fails us and we easily fall prey to his wily temptations. 

5. The Apostle Peter is most renowned for his betrayal of his rabbi and friend in the hour of His temptation. Fallen human nature is quick to remember the unfortunate events in people’s lives rather than the good. Benedict Arnold is infamous not as a strategic military commander but as someone who betrayed the Continental Congress and switched his allegiance to the British in the midst of the War for Independence. Peter is known as the apostle who denied knowing Jesus three times in one night. Judas is known as the apostle who betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin. Thomas is remembered as Doubting Thomas because he did not immediately believe that Jesus had risen from the grave. Nevertheless, Peter preached the gospel and was instrumental in establishing the Church in Rome, and Thomas went as far east as India and China to preach the gospel. When the time came, Jesus kept them steadfast as Peter was crucified in Rome and Thomas was stabbed to death with spears in India for preaching Christ crucified. Both apostles died as martyrs in the faith. 

6. The curse of the fall has substantially weakened our human nature. Thus Peter in weakness denied Jesus, and we daily fail to live according to God’s will. Our wisdom and judgment have been impaired to such an extent that we might make foolish or catastrophic decisions. Moses tells us that as a result of their sin, Yahweh banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and furthermore place powerful angels, the cherubim, to guard the tree of life from intrepid human beings seeking for immortality. 

7. Yahweh took such actions to protect men and women. He cannot even finish the thought of what would happen should Adam and Eve or their descendants attempt to now eat from the tree of life and live forever in their sinful state. Peter was going to be sifted by Satan. He would utterly fail to resist him and horribly deny Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus granted him the strength to repent and strengthen the disciples in the wake of Jesus suffering and death. 

8. In this fallen world we are besieged on all sides with temptations from the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. Even our own mind, heart and spirit desire to do what is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh. The Apostle Paul rightly diagnoses our condition: as it is written: »None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. There is no fear of God before their eyes. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in God’s sight, since the knowledge of sin comes through the law« (Romans 3,10-12.18.20). The Commandments stand before our eyes, but we fail to keep them. The devil sifts us daily. 

9. Jesus began His ministry by being baptized and thrown into the wilderness among the ravenous devil. Jesus was a lamb among a wolf. But this lamb has horns and Jesus took the struggle of temptation straight at the devil. Time and again the devil did his best to get Jesus to sin, and each time Jesus bested him until the devil finally tucked his tail between his legs and ran off. Jesus did for us what we can never do ourselves: He lived a sinless life, He kept all the Commandments and He resisted the devil. Jesus did this vicariously in our place and He gives us the benefits of His victory. 

10. Jesus desires His fallen creation to once again have access to the tree of life so that we may live forever in blessed righteousness. Jesus is our Righteousness and our Tree of life. His death and resurrection open the way to everlasting life, and He gives us this gift freely and graciously. 

11. The Psalmist reminds us of the mercy of our Triune God, writing: »You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. You will say to Yahweh: „My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.“ He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Yahweh says: When you call to Me, I will answer you; I will be with you in trouble; I will rescue you and honor you. I will satisfy you with long life and show you My salvation« (Psalm 91,1-2.4.11-12.15-16).

12. In the Garden of Eden, Jesus had to bar our access to the tree of life lest we attempt to partake of its fruit to obtain eternal life ... a life in perpetual sinfulness for all eternity, but now Jesus has opened the way to the tree of life. He Himself embraced the tree limbs, stretched out His hands and feet and let the Romans nail Him to the cross. By His crucifixion, Jesus made the cross our tree of life. His shed blood on the cross watered the buds of life so that they blossomed into a glorious tree of life. When Jesus hung lifeless upon the cross, that very same cross shone with the glory of everlasting life for Jesus had accomplished the redemption of every single man, woman and child in the world. 

13. Lent takes us filthy sinners to the foot of the cross where Jesus paid for our sins in full. Easter takes us purified saints from the foot of the cross to the empty tomb and beyond where Jesus rose and promises to raise us up too on the last day in righteousness and eternal life. Jesus beseeches His Father so that our faith will remain steadfast unto the end, whereupon we will see Him with our eyes and rejoice for all He has done to save us and see us through to the end, which is everlasting life with the Triune God, the angels and archangels and the entire host of Christian believers who have gone on before us.  Amen. 

14. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, You appeared to destroy the works of the devil; send us the Holy Spirit to guide us along Your holy path during Lent so that by traveling with You to the cross we see the joy of eternal life that is Your pure gift to us.  Amen.  

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you! 

✠

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

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Luke 18,31-43. Estomihi Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Luke 18,31-43 (Matthew 20,17-19.29-34; Mark 10,32-34.46-52)   1213

Estomihi 022 (Psalm 31,3)

Silas, Fellow worker of St. Peter and St. Paul, Bishop of Corinth, Martyr 50 

Scholastica, Virgin, sister of Benedict of Nursia, Italy. Abbess, † 543

10. February 2013

1.  O Lord, who has taught us that all our doings without charity are worth nothing: Send Your Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever lives is counted dead before You:  Grant this for Your Only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. 

2. And taking the Twelve, Jesus said to them: „Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the Prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles, will be mocked, shamefully treated and spit upon. After flogging Him, they will kill Him and on the third day He will rise.“ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. As He drew near to Jericho, a blind man was seated by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him: „Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.“ And he cried out: „Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!“ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more: „Son of David, have mercy on me!“ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he came near, He asked him: „What do you want Me to do for you?“ He said: „Lord, let me recover my sight.“ And Jesus said to him: „Recover your sight; your faith has saved you well.“ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And  all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. 

3. The Gospel according to Luke tells us of the healing of  a blind man by the name of Bartimaeus bar-Timaeus. We may not normally think of blind people, or others with disabilities, to be cursed by God, but such was how 1. century Jews understood illness and disease. Bartimaeus is blind, therefore he must be cursed by Yahweh. To be cursed means to be punished by Yahweh for some heinous sin. Our 21. century culture does not perceive handicapped people as cursed or punished people. In fact, people with disabilities often lead normal lives. I had a great uncle who was blind, but he nevertheless taught music and was a Lutheran organist in a Baltimore City church. 

4. The Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke place the healing of Bartimaeus in the context of Jesus’ 3. Passion prediction. In this 3. prediction, Jesus told His Twelve Apostles that He will go up to Jerusalem to be delivered over to the Gentiles, specifically the Roman Pontius Pilate, where He will be mocked, shamefully treated and spit upon. The Romans will whip Him and crucify Him, but He will rise up in new life on the third day. Jesus says all this is written in the Prophets and that He will accomplish, complete and fulfill the Prophets. 

5. These were harsh and difficult words for the apostles to hear, and this for the 3. time. Such a description of the Messiah was at odds with their popular understanding of the mission and the ministry of their Messiah, for Jesus describes His ministry as that of the Suffering Servant which the Prophet Isaiah so meticulously detailed. 

6. Immediately following Jesus’ 3. Suffering Servant prediction, He is approached by another suffering servant, the blind Bartimaeus. Yahweh’s grace through His Christ is not easily understood. In Jesus’ day, the blind suffered the stigma of being cursed by Yahweh. Their healing and restoration into the community did not often happen. The question was not: „Could Yahweh heal a blind man?“, for as the Omnipotent God He certainly had the power to heal the sick. The pertinent question, therefore, was: „Would Yahweh heal a blind man?“ Since such healings were not commonplace, it was understood that Yahweh was punishing the infirm. The law is harsh in its condemnation, but the old testament also provided grace for those oppressed by the law. Moses told the Israelites on the eve of their entry into the Promised Land: »The poor will not cease to be in the midst of the land; therefore I command you, saying: „You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your poor and needy in your land“« (Deuteronomy 15,11). Yahweh’s grace and providence were shown to Bartimaeus each day as he collected shekels and Roman coins to pay for his food and other necessities that day. 

7. Luke is particular to point out that Bartimaeus addressed Jesus twice as „Son of David“ and once as „Lord“. These are specific and deliberate Christological titles that indicate the popular Jewish belief that the Christ is the Son of David and the Lord (Matthew 22,42-45). For Bartimaeus to address Jesus as both Son of David and Lord is to address Him as the Christ. Such an address is to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Such a confession is a proclamation of faith. 

8. Jesus healed Bartimaeus of his blindness, and Bartimaeus was saved through faith. His eyes were opened to behold the God and Savior in whom he believed. God was praised.

9. Jesus bar-David has shown mercy upon us. We were blinded in our sinfulness, but with His suffering and death Jesus saved us and healed us, with His resurrection He gives us everlasting life. We understand this through faith, and through faith we receive all that Jesus promises us, which includes life, health, forgiveness and salvation.

10. God be praised! We worship Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He is our Rabbi and Redeemer. We confess Him as the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, yes our sin. Jesus has made us righteous. 

11. The Holy Scriptures tell us that »the righteous person will live through faith« (Habakkuk 2,4; Romans 1,17; Galatians 3,11; Hebrews 10,38). Martin Luther commented on this verse, saying: „We want to retain and to extol this faith which God has called faith, that is, a true and certain faith that has no doubts about God or the divine promises or the forgiveness of sins through Christ. Then we can remain safe and sure in Christ, the object of faith, and keep before our eyes the suffering and the blood of the Mediator and all His blessings. Faith alone, which takes hold of Christ, is the only means to keep us from permitting this to be removed from our sight“ (Luther 270). 

12. Jesus has made us righteous and has given us the faith to receive this righteousness. God be praised! Jesus be praised!  Amen. 

13. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Fulfillment of the Prophets, help us to understand that everything is written about You in the Holy Scriptures so that we take comfort that all the Scriptures have been accomplished by You.  Amen.

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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

Cynewulf, Crist. Copyright © 2000 In parentheses Publications. Translation © 2000 Charles W. Kennedy

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand. 

Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, Vol. 26:  Lectures on Galatians, 1535 Chapters 1-4. (Jaroslav Pelikan, Ed). Copyright © 1963 Concordia Publishing House.

Isaiah 55,10-12. Sexagesima

✠ In the Name of Jesus ✠

Isaiah 55,[6-9]10-12a   1113

Sexagesimä  021 

Blasius, Bishop of Sebaste, Turkey. Martyr 316.
Ansgar, Bishop of Bremen, Archbishop of Hamburg, Apostle to Denmark & Sweden, Patron of Denmark, † 865 

3. February 2013

1. O Most Loving Father, who wills us to give thanks for all things, to dread no thing except the loss of You, and to cast all our cares on You who cares for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which You have manifested unto us in Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord (Book of Common Prayer 165).  Amen. 

2. Seek Yahweh while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to Yahweh, so that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. 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 is My Word that goes out from My mouth; it does not return to Me empty, but it accomplishes that which I purpose, and succeeds in the thing for which I sent it. For you go out in joy and are led forth in peace.   

3. Yahweh promises us that His Word goes out and does not return empty, for His Word succeeds in which He sent it. Nevertheless, sinful men and women think they must add to this Word to make it successful. Preachers are especially susceptible to this way of thinking. In the seminary we are taught how to write a sermon and preach it. We had all sorts of minutiae to go through in this learning process: make audio recordings, video recordings, preaching before our classmates, preaching alone in a room and many other such things. Part of this was to make us comfortable standing in a pulpit and preaching, the other aspect was to make our presentation more effective. Some preachers like to tell a bunch of jokes or stories in their sermons. Others like to use object lessons and visual aids. Some preach for 45 minutes and others a mere five minutes. Twenty years ago, one of the common preaching methods was goal, malady and means. One Lutheran pastor took this preaching method so seriously that he demanded that all his associate pastors under him had to preach this way. 

4. All these preparations and techniques have their place in the realm of good communication. Nevertheless, Yahweh tells us through His Prophet Isaiah that what ultimately matters is the Word that is preached. Q: What Word is it that Yahweh wants preached? A: Lutherans highlight the preaching of the law and the gospel. We preach sin and salvation. We point out that all people are sinners in need of a savior and that this savior is Jesus Christ. One wise seminary professor taught us that what we should preach each Sunday is Jesus; give Jesus to your people. Jesus is the Word of God and He is to be preached. 

5. Many Christians in America, however, do not want to hear about Jesus but themselves. The tens of thousands that attend Joel Osteen’s church and the millions who watch him do not tune in to hear about sin and Jesus but how to live a moral life. What Olsteen preaches can be found in your local bookstore in the self-help section or by just following good common sense. His preaching is nothing revolutionary or spectacular. There is certainly nothing scandalous about his preaching. Now, good law preaching is important but the goal of preaching the law is to lead us to the feet of our savior Jesus. 

6. The Apostle Paul, like all the apostles, was a scandalous preacher. He preached about the crucified Christ. »For Christ sent me to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men« (1. Corinthians 1,17-18.22-25). The Apostle Paul preaches against all popular human techniques: he refused to preach with eloquent wisdom, he preached about the crucified Christ as the sign and wisdom of God and he preached God’s foolishness as strength. 

7. Look at who Jesus chose to preach the Word: ordinary men. David was a humble shepherd boy before he was anointed king and a psalmist. John was a priest who dressed like an old-time wilderness prophet. The apostles were fishermen, a tax collector and other ordinary folk. None of them were priests or scribes. Jesus chose women to proclaim His resurrection on Easter. What utter human foolishness to choose women: they were considered unreliable eyewitnesses in 1. century Judea. And yet that is what Jesus did, and what He still does today. He uses human weakness and folly to proclaim His Word. 

8. Paul told the Corinthians: »Now when I arrived in your midst, brothers and sisters, I did not arrive proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God« (1. Corinthians 2,1-5). 

  9. The apostle says the gospel is simply this: Jesus Christ crucified. To the Galatians, Paul said: »I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the Holy Spirit who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel﹣not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one of Christ crucified that we preached to you, let him be damned to hell. For I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel of Christ crucified that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive the gospel from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received the gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ« (Galatians 1,6-8.11-12). 

10. This Divinely-revealed gospel is this: »Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for »The righteous shall live by faith.«« [Habakkuk 2,4] (Galatians 3,11). Paul told the Ephesians: »For by grace you have been saved through faith alone. And this grace is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them« (Ephesians 2,8-10). Finally to the Corinthians, Paul said: »Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love« (1. Corinthians 16,13-14). 

11. This gospel of Christ crucified is the the very Word of Yahweh that is preached and does not return void. This Word has Divine power to take filthy sinners, convert them unto faith in Jesus and make them Christians. This Word is a preaching of law to secure sinners, convicting them of their sin, and this Word is a preaching of the gospel that absolves sinners of their sin. This Word has the power to create righteous people from unholy sinners. This Word has the power to created law abiders from law breakers. This Word has the power to make weak men and women stalwart defenders of the faith who base their speech and actions on love, the love of Christ shown to them and reciprocated to their neighbors in many diverse ways. The preached Word has the power to turn a few stingy, partisan Christians into a mighty host of giving, united Christians who are true stewards of Jesus and His Church. The preached Word does this to us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit His Word does not return from this place, from our lives, void.  Amen. 

12. Let us pray. O Holy Spirit, today we have heard Christ’s voice; help us to have hearts wide open to receive the comfort You bring so that whatever we face in this life we know that we face it with Christ beside us who will see us through for His glory.  Amen. 

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you! 

✠

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

Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 1771 Oxford University Press. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Matthew 9,9-13. Septuagesima

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Matthew 9,9-13   1013

Septuagesimä  020 

John Chrysostom, Preacher and Patriarch of Constantinople, Martyr 407

27. January 2013

1. O Heavenly Father, gracious in mercy and justice, You sent Your Only-begotten Son to redeem us from sin and the curse of sin. We are prideful. We are demanding. We fail to fully comprehend Your good will. Pour out upon us God the Holy Spirit and give us the same mind as Your Beloved Son, Christ Jesus, for as He teaches us in today’s parable, You give eternal life equally to all people regardless of who they are. Help us to spread the joy of this parable to our borough and neighbors for in doing so we are pointing them to Jesus who brings the good gift of life everlasting.  Amen. 

2. As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax office, and He said to him: „Follow Me.“ And he rose and followed Him. And as Jesus reclined for a meal in the house, and behold, many tax collectors and sinners arrived and were reclining with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they were saying to His disciples: „Why does your rabbi eat with tax collectors and sinners?“ But when He heard it, He said: „Those who are healthy have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick do. Go and learn what this means: »I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.« [Hosea 6,6] For I did not come not to call the righteous, but I came to call sinners to repentance.“

3. Jesus quoted the Prophet Hosea when He declared: »I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.« Hosea accused Israel of being fickle in their love, of breaking the covenant, of being evildoers, robbers lying in wait for victims, murderers and idolaters (4, 7-10). Such accusations fit our sinful lives too. 

4. The Pharisees held themselves, and their fellow Jews, to a high moral standard. They would only eat with people of their class level and those who were pure. Tax collectors and other sinners were denied their table fellowship. They held it as unacceptable that a rabbi would dine with such filth. We do not normally think of the Apostle Matthew as a sinner, but according to the Pharisees he was. Matthew was a tax collector. He worked for the Romans and collected taxes from his fellow Jews for the Roman emperor. The Pharisees saw this as treason. Matthew was also a wealthy man, as tax collectors were wont to be, but his wealth was from ill-gotten gains. The Pharisees would not eat with him, but Jesus would.  Not only would Jesus eat with Matthew, but He called Him to be one of His disciples and shortly thereafter one of His twelve apostles. 

5. The Pharisees were strong on obedience to the laws of Moses and the traditions of the elders, but weak on mercy and grace. Their zeal was fierce and their morality impeccable, but they had completely misunderstood the covenant and the laws of Moses. Again, we do the same. We hold others to a high standard as regards the commandments and our particular traditions in the church, often being more concerned when the traditions are ignored as opposed to the commandments broken. When sinners repent and seek repentance, we can often withhold or refuse such mercy to them. It is who we are as sinners. 

6. Thankfully, Jesus is our physician. Jesus came to this earth for sinners and to call them to repentance and salvation. Jesus called the Pharisees, too, and even dined with them, but many of the Pharisees refused to see themselves in the mirror of the law as sinners equally condemned like the tax collectors. That is all Jesus can do. He extended the call to salvation, but human beings can refuse the hand of fellowship that Jesus extends. Many of the Pharisees refused the call of Jesus, but you have not. You heard the Word of Yahweh go forth, and by the working of the Holy Spirit you received Jesus and believed upon Him for your forgiveness and salvation. In calling sinners unto repentance, Jesus has made those sinners righteous. Yes, Jesus gives us poor, miserable sinners His very own righteousness. 

7. Their are plenty of sinners out there in the world, and we have pews to spare for them. Your task is to call sinners unto Jesus. You need to fill this church up to capacity each Sunday. It begins by bringing someone with you each Sunday. If each one here brings another person with you each week, then our attendance doubles from 20 to 40. And if that 40 can double to 80 and then 160, then these empty, dusty pews will be occupied with sinners needing to hear about Jesus. I do not just exhort you to do this because we need more people here to survive as a church, but more importantly because there are people right now, not in any church, who when they die are going to end up in hell unless Jesus gets into their hearts. As Christians you have a duty and a responsibility to save your neighbors. You have a church with plenty of room for such neighbors. Make it a weekly goal to invite someone to join your for church. Do not get discouraged and do not give up; keep inviting and keep bringing. Give people an opportunity to hear the gospel, repent and receive the salvation Jesus freely offers. 

8. The Prophet Hosea declared: »For I, Yahweh, desire mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings« (Hosea 6,6). Jesus the fulfillment of this Divine Word. Jesus is Yahweh’s mercy made flesh, and the knowledge of God for human beings. The Apostle John speaks of Jesus this way: »And the Word became flesh and  dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him, and cried out: This was he of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me. And from His fullness we have all received,  grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses;  grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God;  the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known« (John 1,14-18). 

9. Jesus is the mercy and knowledge of God, and He gives us Godly mercy with His death on the cross and He gives us Godly knowledge that those who die in Christ will live forever in His holy presence.  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, we present our pleas before You because of Your great mercy; hear our petitions and graciously answer them so that we may remain steadfast on You when the tribulations of this world would drive us from You.  Amen.

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand. 

John 12,34-36. The Transfiguration of our Lord

✠ In the Name of Jesus ✠

John 12,34-36 [37-41]   913

Letzter Sonntag nach Epiphanias  019 weiß  

The Transfiguration of our Lord 

Fabian, Bishop of Rome, Martyr 249
Sebastian, captain, Martyr at Rome, c. 288

20. January 2013

1. O GOD, whose Blessed Son was manifested so that He might destroy the works of the devil, and make us the sons of God, and heirs of eternal life: Grant us, we beseech You, that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves, even as Jesus is pure; so that, when He shall appear again with power and great glory, we may be made like unto Him in His eternal and glorious reign.  Amen. 

2. So the crowd answered Him: „We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?“ So Jesus said to them: „The Light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of Light.“ When Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid Himself from them. Though He had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in Him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: »O Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?« [Isaiah 53,1] Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said: »He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes,and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.« [Isaiah 6,10] Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.  

3. The Jews asked two questions of Jesus that pertain to this, our Transfiguration of our Lord Sunday. 1. Who is this Son of Man? 2. Jesus, how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? 

4. To be fair, the Jews got it right with their statement: Moses tells us in the Law that the Christ remains forever. We have to, however, understand what they meant by the Law. The Jews were not referring to the commandments or other legal precepts when they speak of the Law. The Law for 1. century Jews referred to the Bible, specifically the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. So the Jews rightly declared: The Bible tells us that the Christ remains forever. They were admitting that this eternalness of the Christ is the core, the very cornerstone, of the covenant given at Sinai. 

5. Since this is true, who then is this Christ? Jesus rarely referred to Himself as the Christ, preferring instead the less loaded term Son of Man. Both the Christ and the Son of Man refer to the same person. So, the Jews want to know who this man is. The Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that when asked, the apostles confessed that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus affirmed this confession by stating He is the Son of Man, the Messiah. 

6. Many of Jesus’ peers got jittery over His bold profession. Many of the Pharisees and the scribes really got upset when Jesus said He was the Christ and the Son of Man. This confession was, essentially and deliberately, a claim to Divinity. When Jesus claimed to be the Christ and the Son of Man He was claiming to be God Himself. That was a hard statement for many Jews to swallow. Jesus made it even more difficult, for He not only claimed to be God but He claimed to be the Son of God. This confession made an untidy mess for the Jews who held that there is only one God, and that is God the Father. They were thoroughly monotheistic in their beliefs: There is only one God, and there is only one Person in this Divine Godhead. Jesus, now, has made it a binary God: there is one God comprised of two Persons, the Father and the Son. But Jesus did not stop there, for He added that God is properly a Triune God: one God comprised of three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These Three we saw at Jesus’ baptism where Jesus is baptized, the Father speaks from heaven and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus. It would not be far-fetched to pictured the heads of the Jews spinning in response to this Divine revelation that most surely struck their conservative Judaism like a lightning bolt from the storm clouds. 

7. Q: Who is the Son of Man? A: Jesus is the Son of Man and He is the Second Person of the Triune God. Conventional wisdom says lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. Ah, but Jesus is about to make it happen. He tells them that the Son of Man will be lifted up. The Jews cannot believe their ears. No, they demand, the Son of Man cannot be lifted up! What is the problem here? The lifted up that Jesus proclaims and that the Jews understood is that to be lifted up is a reference to crucifixion. Jesus says that the Son of Man, the Christ, yes, Jesus the Son of God, is going to be crucified by the Romans. This declaration is not just a tree being struck by lightning but is more akin to whole towns being wiped out by a hurricane. This declaration is devastating to the ears and minds of the Jews, including Jesus’s very own apostles and disciples. The apostles confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16,13-20). Jesus then explains that as the Christ He must suffer, die and rise again (Matthew 16,21). Do you remember Peter’s response to Jesus? No, Jesus, that must not ever happen! Jesus then rebuked His chief apostle, saying: „Get behind me, Satan! You are  a hindrance  to me. For you  are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man“ (Matthew 16,22-23). 

8. Q: Why must the Son of Man be lifted up and crucified? A: The crucified Christ is the redemption plan of the Triune God that is to save fallen men and women. The will of God is to save fallen men and women, and this salvation is merited by Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. Jesus proclaims: »The will of My Father is that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him shall have everlasting life and I will raise Him up on the last day« (John 6,40). 

9. The crucifixion of the Son of Man was offensive to the Jews. They could not or would not accept a Suffering Servant as their Messiah. They wanted a Warrior Christ, something akin to a rampaging Viking who would sweep down upon the unsuspecting Roman legions and utterly crush them. The Son of Man, however, was not some Warrior King who would liberate the Jews from Roman occupation. Jesus was, for mankind, a Suffering Servant, humbled Himself, was humiliated by the Romans government and the Jewish religious leaders, suffered the ignominy of scourging, slander and defamation, bore the brunt of the cross with all its shame and agony, was rejected by His Heavenly Father and submitted to His holy wrath and punishment upon sin and sinner, died and was buried in a tomb. The Jews saw no glory or redemption in such a Suffering Servant, and honestly not many people today do either. And yet, that is the very Christ we got in Jesus, a Christ who gives us what we need and not what we want. 

10. Mankind got the Suffering Servant Jesus. The devil got the Warrior Christ. Hear how Cynewulf describes this Victorious Jesus: „Now hath the Holy One harrowed hell of tribute, of all that in the days of yore swallowed up unrighteously into that house of torment. Now are these devil-champions all undone, cast into everlasting torture, bound in the pit of hell, despoiled of might. Nor in that battle might these foes of Hell, in that clash of weapons, know success, when by His might alone the King of Glory, the Helm of Heaven, waged battle on His olden enemies; when He led forth from thraldom, from the city of His foes, exceeding spoil, a countless train of folk, this very multitude whereon ye gaze. Now will the Savior of souls, the Very Son of God, depart unto the mercy seat of spirits after the battle play. Now do ye know aright who is that Lord who leads this array. Unto your friends go boldly glad in heart: Open, O Gates! For with no little train the All-ruling King, the Author of creation, leads unto you, into the joy of joys, within the city, that folk which He in triumph wrested from the foes of hell. From this time forth forever shall be peace to men and angels, covenant of God and man, spiritual faith, and love and hope of life and gladness in all light“ (Crist 11-12). 

11. This, dear Christians, is the glory of the transfigured Christ. Men and women, who are lost in their sin and depravity, receive a glorious Suffering Savior who wins and redeems them from death, hell and the grave. Satan and his devils, who are wicked tempters of mankind, receive a vengeful Warrior King who punishes them and confines them to the prison of hell. This is the exodus that Jesus spoke of with Moses and Elijah: an exodus from sin and damnation unto eternal life for men and women, but an exodus from power and might unto defeat and desolation for Satan and the devils. And so, the Jewish questions are answered: Jesus is the Son of Man and He was lifted up and crucified to redeem you and punish the devil. What a loving and gracious Christ we have! We have received His salvific gospel in the words of preaching, and soon we will receive His merciful gospel in His body and blood that is really present in the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper, all for us and our redemption.  Amen. 

13. O Christ Jesus, the Fountain of Eternal Life and the Everlasting Light of Divinity, pour upon us the Holy Spirit so that we are emboldened to proclaim the wonders of Your loving-kindness unto our neighbors and support them with our love.  Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you! 

✠

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

Cynewulf, Crist. Copyright © 2000 In parentheses Publications. Translation © 2000 Charles W. Kennedy

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.