Psalm 91,1-2.4.11-12; 91,15. Invocavit

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Psalm 91,1-2.4.11-12; 91,15 1617

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

Eusebius of Cremona, Abbot at Bethlehem, 5^th century 

5. März 2017 

1. O Christ Jesus, He Thou First-born of all creation, command Your angels to guard us in all our ways, so that they will bear us up and protect us from the evil one.  Amen. (Gradual). 

2. When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the Shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord: „My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.“ He will cover you with His pinions, 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.

3. The Gospel pericope for Invocavit is the temptation of Jesus by Satan. After fasting for  40 days, Jesus was tempted three times. The devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, to test His Father’s Divine Providence and offered Him worldly power and glory. Jesus overcame these temptations by relying upon the Holy Scriptures as the Psalmist proclaims: »When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.« 

4. The first temptation by the devil is the most appropriate one: Jesus had just finished a 40-day fast in the wilderness, and He was hungry. An article in a 1997 volume of the British Medical Journal stated that humans can safely fast 30-40 days as long as they keep themselves hydrated by drinking water. Between the 35. and 40. day, though, severe symptoms of starvation begin to manifest in the body. Death can occur between the 45. and 61. day of fasting. It was imperative that Jesus eat soon, but the devil wants to Force Jesus to do so on his terms: why wait? Your fast is over; prove to me that you are the Son of God by turning these stones into bread and eat. »He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.« for man doesn’t live by bread alone but also by every word spoken by the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8,3). We live on the very words of Holy Scripture, and they exhort us to abide in God. 

5. next the devil tempted Jesus to put His Father to the test. Surely He will protect you if you jump from the heights of the temple.the devil even quotes Psalm 91: »He will command His angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.« (Psalm 91,11-12) While the words he quotes are true, the intention behind the words is at the heart of the matter. It is one thing to trust in God and place one’s well-being in His hands, but it is another to test God by forcing Him to prove Himself to you. Satan wanted to force the issue, but Jesus was content with His Father’s Providence: »God will cover you with His pinions, 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.« 

6. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that the angels also help us: »They are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation« (Hebrews 1,14). The Scriptures contain many stories where angels ministered to people. Angels protect, provide for and proclaim God’s Word. Two angels protected Lot and his daughters from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; provided bread and water for Elijah (1. Kings 19,5-6) and told Mary that she would be Θεοτόκος (God-bearer). There are many other instances in the Bible of angels ministering to men and women. Thus the Psalmist exults: »I will say to the Lord: „My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.“« 

7. The Epistle to the Hebrews then tells us that Christ is above the angels (Hebrews 1,4). »Christ’s throne is forever and ever,  the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of His reign. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness; God has anointed Him with the oil of gladness beyond His companions« (Hebrews 1,8-9). Thus, all heaven and earth is Christ’s; He is the Son of God and the Crown Prince of all creation. Satan is a mere usurper of the earth. His claim rests upon his success in tempting Adam to rebel against God. The devil certainly exercises a degree of control over this world; he influences the wickedness that man inflicts upon man. But in the end, Satan is merely an angel and not the Only-begotten Son of God. It should be the devil falling down in worship to Jesus his Creator, not Jesus bowing to the devil. But the devil hoped to divert Jesus from His passion by offering Him worldly power and comfort. 

8. Jesus’ temptation at the hands of the devil is the beginning of His ministry to free us from the bondage of the devil. Jesus refused to use His Divine power to prove His Divinity to Satan. Jesus refused to put His Father’s Providence to the test. Jesus refused to acknowledge Satan as the  prince of this world; He would not receive from him temporal wealth and power nor would He bow before him. Satan is a self-proclaimed god, but Jesus is the Son of God in the flesh, as His Father and the Holy Spirit attested to at His baptism 40 days earlier in the Jordan River at the hands of John the Baptizer. 

9. »When we call to Jesus, He will answer us; He will be with us in trouble; He will rescue us and honor us.« Jesus was tempted and remained sinless. He contested with the devil and won. He went to the cross to die and pay for our sins. He rose from the grave to be the First-fruits of the resurrection. He sends His angels to minister to us.  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Incarnate Word; help us to draw encouragement from Your temptation so that we see in that time of struggle Your destruction of the works of the devil.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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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.