Psalm 107,1.5-6.8-9; Psalm 22,27a. 7. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Psalm 107,1.5-6.8-9; Psalm 22,27a  4017

7. Sonntag nach Trinitatis  052 

Abdon and Sennen, Martyrs at Rome 250. 

Robert Barnes, English Lutheran Reformer, Martyr † 1540 

30. Juli 2017 

1. О Lord Jesus Christ, who listens to those who draw near to You; teach us the fear of the Lord, so that we will never be ashamed.  Amen. (Gradual) 

2. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.

  3. The feeding of the 5000 in John 6 is an example of Jesus fulfilling today’s Introit: »All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.« Our Lord fed thousands of people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. At the end of the meal, the disciples collected more leftovers, 12 baskets full of bread, than what they had originally started with. 

  4. A day after miraculously feeding the crowd, Jesus told them: »Do not work for the food that perishes, but seek the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. My Father gives you the True Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He who descends from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the Bread of Life; whoever draw nears to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. I am the Living Bread that descended from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh« (John 6,27.32-33.35.40.51). 

5. The Psalmist tells us in our Introit: »For the Lord satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.« The Lord fills both our physical and spiritual hunger. The Psalmist declares: »O Lord, the eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing« (Psalm 145,15-16). Christ our Lord teaches us to pray: »Give us this day our daily bread« (Matthew 6,11). He furthermore assures us: »Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?« (Matthew 6,26). Yes, our Heavenly Father provides our physical, temporal needs. 

6. Jesus then teaches: »Therefore do not be anxious, saying: ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you« (Matthew 6,31-33). 

7. The reign of God/heaven is a common theme and teaching in Jesus’ ministry. The reign of heaven is manifested in the person of Jesus and is at hand in His midst (Matthew 3,1-3; 4,17). The reign of heaven is centered upon Jesus giving His life as a ransom for everyone (Matthew 20,20-28) whereby righteousness and eternal life are given out (Matthew 25,46). This then shows us the intent of the Lord’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history): God desires to make sinners righteous and insure eternal life for them in His presence. 

8. The reign of heaven then centers upon Jesus for He is the One sent by His Father to make sinners righteous and merit their eternal life. We gather each Sunday to thank Jesus for His steadfast love and wondrous work shown to us in His passion, death and resurrection. Through this act of vicarious sacrifice and resurrection, Jesus has pardoned those in rebellion against Him, delivered those in distress and brought those in darkness into the light of His truth and grace (Psalm 107,11.13-14). The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, for in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith (Romans 1,16-17). The righteous shall live by faith in Jesus (Romans 1,17), and so you are righteous on account of your faith in Jesus. Go in peace; your sins are forgiven; live lives dedicated to God’s will as taught in His Ten Commandments.  Amen. 

9. Let us pray. O Lord, from the rising of the sun to its setting Your Name is to be praised; help us to weekly praise You in the Divine Service, so that all glory be given to You.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.