Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Hebrews 4,14-16. Invocavit

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Hebrews 4,14-16. Invocavit

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Hebrews 4,14-16 1416

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

Valentine, Bishop of Iteramna (Terni, Italy), Martyr 269

Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, 9^th c.

14. Februar 2016

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life. Amen. (Veit Dietrich for Invocavit).

2. Since then we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

3. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us why The temptation of Jesus is important: »For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.« When Satan tempted Adam, it was to get him to sin by rebelling against God. Satan had the same intent when he tempted Jesus, the Second Adam, to rebel against His Father’s will.

4. His method of temptation is the same. To Eve: Did God really say? To Jesus: If you are the Son of God? This is a means to create doubt, and once doubt is present then the possibility is real yield to the tempting question and rebel against God. The Devil is shrewd and he knows how to cause rebellion. He got Adam to sin shortly after his creation so that his son will be passed down to all his ancestors. We are a now all born with original sin as part of our human nature. We are born sinners, and there is nothing we can do to change that. He tempted Jesus after His baptism, before He began His public ministry and after Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. His goal was to derail God’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) before it even got rolling.

5. Where the first Adam failed, the Second Adam succeeded. »In every respect Jesus has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.« The failure of the first Adam brought original sin; the victory of the Second Adam brought imputed righteousness. »Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.« Luther tells us how this is applied in our lives: „A Christian’s sin is the same sin and sin as great as that of the unbeliever. To the Christian, however, it is forgiven and not imputed, while to the unbeliever the sin is retained and imputed.... This is not because of a difference between the sins, as though the Christian’s sin were smaller and the unbeliever’s larger, but because of a difference between the persons. For the Christian knows that his sin is forgiven him on account of Christ, who has expiated it by His death. Even though the Christian has sin and commits sin, he remains godly. On the other hand, when the unbeliever commits sin, he remains ungodly. This is the wisdom and the comfort of those who are truly godly, that even if they have sins and commit sins, they know that because of their faith in Christ these sins are not imputed to them“ (Luther 27,76). Luther was expounding upon the Apostle Paul who wrote in his Epistle to the Romans: »There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death« (Romans 8,1-2). Paul declares it as a certainty that Christ is our principal, complete and perfect righteousness [1] (Luther 27,71), and Christ’s righteousness is given us by faith, for this reason righteousness is imputed in us through faith, i.e., it is that by which we are made acceptable to God on account of the imputation and ordinance of God, as Paul says, 187] Rom. 4, 3. 5: Faith is reckoned for righteousness. Although on account of certain persons who point out trivial faults we must say technically: Faith is truly righteousness, because it is obedience to the gospel (Apology ¶ 186-87).

6. Saint Matthew records for us the temptation of Jesus. He shows us that Jesus is obedient to His Heavenly Father. Matthew tells us that Jesus was tempted to:

1. use His own power to serve Himself in time of need,

2. force Him to prove that God will protect Him and

3. worship and serve someone (Gibbs 194-96).

Matthew furthermore tells us that Jesus was and is the Victor over Satan. Matthew proclaims that Jesus’ work rather than Jesus’ example (Gibbs 197). Matthew shows us that Jesus is Victor over Satan on behalf of Israel and ultimately on behalf of all people (Gibbs 198). The Devil tempted Jesus in regards to His identity and what His mission is as God’s Son. Satan wants Jesus to become His own master and serve Himself; Jesus instead remains true as His Father’s Only Begotten Son who obeys His Father’s will and conducts His public ministry to save fallen mankind.

7. Jesus teaches us to know from God’s Word who we are and how that identity as God’s baptized, adopted son or daughter is to be lived out (Gibbs 198). Just as God the Father sent angels to minister to His Son following His temptation, so will He also send us His angels to minister to us after the Devil has tempted and tormented us with his lies and slander. Jesus is victorious over Satan and that means our enemy may not prevail over us, but we evermore abide in His grace and are preserved unto everlasting life. For the Gullert’s Easter hymn Jesus Lives! The Victory’s Won beautifully uplifts us with this verse:

Jesus lives! I know full well

Nothing me from Him shall sever.

Neither death nor powers of hell

Part me now from Christ forever.

God will be my sure defense;

This shall be my confidence (LSB 490,4).

Jesus is our Sure Defense. He is our Victor. All that is His is now ours, for He is our Lord and Savior over sin, death and the Devil. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, Thou Son of God, You appeared to destroy the works of the Devil so that we may live our lives certain of our ultimate victory over his temptations and everlasting life in Your Divine presences. 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^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

[1] capitalis, rotundus et perfectus

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Hebrews 4,14-16. Invocavit

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