Psalm 67,1-3.7; Psalm 117. 3. Sunday after Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Psalm 67,1-3.7; Psalm 117 1017

3. Sonntag nach Epiphanias  016

Vincentius, Deacon at Saragossa, Spain. Martyr 304 

22. Januar 2017 

1. O Almighty God, whose Name the nations fear; build up Your Church, so that the nations trust in Your mercy and their rulers praise Your glory.  Amen. (Gradual). 

2. Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast mercy toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, so that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! God will bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him! 

3. The Psalmist exhorts us in today’s Introit to: Praise and extol the Lord. This is no mere exhortation to praise God with blind faith, for the Psalmist gives us a reason why God deserves our worship: »Great is His steadfast mercy toward us.« This loving grace is manifested time and again unto generation after generation in the pages of Holy Scripture, and the Epistle to the Hebrews proclaims: »And now in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son« (Hebrews 1,2).  

4. The Psalmist continues: »The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.« Also the Apostle Peter: »The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but He is patient toward us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance« (2. Peter 3,9). The Lord promised Eve a redeemer; He began to bring that promise to fulfillment when Sarah gave birth to Isaac. The Lord promised Abraham that the messianic line would descend through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. This promise was then given to Jacob’s son Judah; and from Judah it eventually passed to his descendants David and Solomon. Finally, the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus descends from David both through Mary (via Nathan) and Joseph (via Solomon). 

5. Jesus then called from among His disciples twelve men whom He elected to be His apostles. These 12 Apostles became the New Testament 12 Tribes of Israel from the Old Testament. Jesus passed on His promise of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life through the gospel these apostles preached as eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus. Thus St. Paul boldly proclaimed: »We preach Christ« (1. Corinthians 1,23). This gospel spread throughout the Judea, Samaria, the Roman Empire and eventually unto every corner of the world. God promised to save the world. He did so through Jesus, and this message has been preached upon all the face of the Earth. We are here this morning because God was faithful. The Psalmist continues in the Introit: »God is gracious to us, blesses us and makes His face to shine upon us, so that His way may be known on earth, His saving power among all nations.« Thus, our Divine Service (Gottesdienst) concludes with the Aaronic blessing: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace (Numbers 6,24-26). 

6. This priestly blessing is found in Numbers 6. The Psalmist writes something similar in the Introit: »God is gracious to us, blesses us and makes His face to shine upon us, so that His way may be known on earth, His saving power among all nations.« There are many events recorded in the Holy Scriptures that speak of this saving power. The Lord saved Noah and his family from the Flood via the ark. The Lord lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery through Moses. The Lord returned the Jewish captives to Judea after a 70-year exile in Babylon. All these Divine acts of saving power were types of the great antitype revealed in Jesus whose saving activity on the cross saved us from sin, death and Hades (the Devil). 

7. Behold, Hades trembled when Christ knocked upon his gates. Jesus had promised: »The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the confession of the Name of Jesus« (Matthew 16,18). Hades is now in fear. St. John Chrysostom in his famous Paschal homily proclaims: „Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions (Isaiah 14,9). [1] Hades was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, but crumbled before what it had not seen!“ Fear not Death nor Hades, for our Savior has conquered His foes. Again the blessed Chrysostom: „O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory? [2] Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept. To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages.“ Lift up your heads, for your Sleeper has awakened (Isaiah 60,1-3; Ephesians 5,14)! [3] 

8. The Psalmist concludes: »Let us praise God! God will bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear, love and trust Him!« This is our humble response to Jesus and His Divine act of salvation of the fallen human race. Let us rejoice with the Psalmist: »With You, O Lord, is the Fountain of Life; in Your Light do we see light« (Psalm 36,9).  Amen. 

12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You reign at the right hand of Your Father, let us on earth rejoice and let us be glad, so that we do not fear death but rather rejoice for You have torn asunder the gates of hades and in doing so set us free.  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]  Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations (esv). 

[2]  Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? (Hosea 13,14). 

[3]  Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isaiah). This is why it is said: Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Paul).