Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: January 2019

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Isaiah 45,18-25. 3. Sunday after Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Isaiah 45,18-25 1019

3. Sonntag nach Epiphanius 016

John Chrysostom, Preacher and Patriarch of Constantinople, Martyr 407

27. Januar 2019

1. O Jesus Christ, Thou King of Heaven, cause us to confess Your Holy Name before friend and foe, and govern us by Your Holy Spirit, so that the Christian joy kindled in our hearts may ever increase. Amen. (Löhe 457)

2. »For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, He is God!, who formed the earth and made it, He established it; He did not create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited!: I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob: ‘Seek me in vain.^’I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. Assemble yourselves and go; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; from My mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that will not return: ‘Every knee will bow to Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.’ Only in the Lord, it will be said of Me, are righteousness and strength; to Him will go and be ashamed all who were incensed against Him. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory.«

3. The Prophet Isaiah comforts God’s chosen one by reminding him that the Lord alone is God and He is the God who saves people. The Lord is not speaking to His chosen people, Judah, in chapter 45, but to Cyrus, the King of Persia who created the 1. Persian Empire by conquering several other smaller empires in his region, including the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Lord calls Cyrus, who was a Gentile, His anointed one [χριστω] (45,1) and promised that He will go before him and secure his military victories (45,2). The Lord wants Cyrus to know the Lord, the God of Israel, has called him by name (45,3). It should therefore not surprise Jews or Gentiles that the Lord desires to reveal His Glory to the Gentile Magi and graft Gentiles onto the tree of Israel because 600 years earlier He was doing this very thing among the pagan Persians.

4. The Lord chose Cyrus, and made him the Great, in order to redeem Judah who was still under Babylonian Captivity. Cyrus’ genius in leadership was that he respected the customs and religions of the lands he had conquered; when he triumphed over Babylon he decreed the liberation of the Jews, encouraged them to return to Israel and issued an edict authorizing the rebuilding of their temple in Jerusalem (2. Chronicles 36,22-23). It is not surprising then that the Old Testament mentions Cyrus by name 23 times.

5. The Lord tells everyone that those who worship wooden idols made by their hands have no spiritual knowledge; their idols they pray to cannot save. The Lord Himself declares: »There is no other God besides Me, Yahweh, a Righteous God and the Savior; there is none besides Me. Turn to Me and to be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.« 600 years later Jesus arrived and claimed to be the Lord, the God who saves (John 5,17-18). Jesus told the Jews: »I and the Father are one. I am the Son of God« (John 10,30.36). The Apostle Peter proclaimed at Pentecost: »Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself« (Acts 2,36.38-39). »Faith will be counted to us as righteousness who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification« (Romans 4,24-25).

6. Holy Scripture commands us to only worship the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that Lord is revealed to be the Triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul proclaims: »And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says: Let all God’s angels worship Him.« [Deuteronomy 32,43 LXX] (Hebrews 1,6). »So that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father« (Philippians 2,10-11). The New Testament begins with the Magi falling down and worshiping Jesus (Matthew 2,11) and ends with Christians worshiping Jesus in the new heaven (Revelation 23,3). We praise and worship the Triune God, for our Church prayer is addressed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, for „the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding“ (Athanasian Creed 6.22). „God the Father has made us and all creatures; He has given us our body and soul, our reason, all our senses and still takes care of them. Jesus Christ has redeemed us, lost and condemned people, purchased and won us from all sins, from death and from the power of the Devil; with his holy, precious blood, His innocent suffering and death. The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps her with Jesus Christ in the one true faith“ (LSB 322–23).

7. The Triune God creates, redeems and sanctifies; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the Lord, and there is no other. Turn to the Triune God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and be saved for in Christ the world, yes, you, are saved and justified. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the earth rejoices for You reign over all creation; let us be glad and give praise to You, so that all the nations hears that You are the God who saves. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

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

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Romans 12,9-16. 2. Sunday after Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Romans 12,9-16 0919

2. Sonntag nach Epiphanius 015

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

20. Januar 2019

1. O Jesus Christ, King of heaven, keep us in that heavenly wisdom which You have revealed unto the wise, so that we may reverently seek You and Your reign (Löhe 456-57). Amen.

2. »Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.«

3. The Apostle Paul begins the 13. chapter of Romans by writing: »I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.« He then gives some exhortation into Christian living, and the centerpiece of such living is love that is genuine, hold fast to what is good and abhor what is evil. One only need watch the news, read a newspaper or follow people on Facebook or Twitter to see how desperate such exhortation is needed as our culture continues to become more and more polarized: Right – Left, Republican – Democrat, my way – your way. Pundits and politicians on both sides stoke the coals of polarization and paint the other as hopelessly wrong or immoral. Our culture cries out for relief and Christians can be, should be, the salve of healing.

4. Paul tells us: love one another with brotherly affection. Philadelphia, PA is nicknamed the City of Brotherly Love and for good reason because Philadelphia is a Greek word that translates as city of brotherly love. That is the love Paul exhorts from us in chapter 12: love each other as brothers and sisters. Paul is speaking to Christians and his first emphasis is that Christians should love each other as family. Paul’s point is that Christians are family because we are all have God as our Father and believe in His Son Jesus; we are brothers and sisters in the faith, and that is a bond that transcends culture, ethnicity and language because Christianity has its own culture and vocabulary that brings together many diverse people and makes them a family. Paul’s the next emphasis is that Christians should love everyone as family. This is simply a biological reality that the Bible explains: not only are we a family because we ultimately trace our genealogy back to Adam and Eve, but we are all descendants of Noah through one of his sons: Shem, Ham or Japheth; we are all distant cousins, and thus we are to love all people who dwell upon this Earth.

5. Close on the heels of loving one another, Paul exhorts us to honor each other. Love naturally leads to honor, for that which we love we treat with respect and appreciation. We love God and we honor Him by believing in His Son. We love our parents and we honor them by helping them and obey them. We love each other and we honor each other by looking out for one another. St. John Chrysostom commented on this verse saying: „There is nothing which makes friends so much as the earnest endeavor to win over ones neighbor by honoring him“ (Chrysostom, Homily XXI).

6. Paul continues: »Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Bless those who persecute you. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.« Love leads to honor and honor leads to bearing the triumphs and tribulation that Christians experience. The Apostle covers the entire life of a Christian: sometimes we rejoice, but other times we weep; sometimes we are blessed with good fortune, but other times we suffer persecution. „God’s mercy does not abandon us in these circumstances, but we are constantly and everywhere helped by Him in all things“ (Gennadius 305).

7. Paul gives us a succinct theological summary of all this in chapter 13: »Owe no one anything, except to love each other. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the Commandments ... are summed up in this phrase: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law« (Romans 13,8-10). What sort of love is Paul talking about here? He later writes: »Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walking love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God« ( Ephesians 5,1-2). Paul brings it all full circle back to Christ.

8. »Christ loves the Church and gave Himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word« (Ephesians 5,25-26). Jesus says it this way: »God so loves the world, that He gave His Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life« (John 3,16). Christ, His apostles, the New Testament and bishops ground love and honor upon the crucified Christ. Here we see the Son of God loving the lovable, saving the sinners and redeeming the rebels by paying the costly ransom price with His own precious blood. With the crucified Christ we see God loving and honoring all the men and women of this world by liberating the world from sin, death and the Devil. From this great act of love and honor we too love and honor first our fellow Christian brothers and sisters and second all men and women no matter their ethnicity or creed. For being a beacon of love and honor we show the world how people should live and treat others, and that God Himself loves them and has redeemed them. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Christ, our life makes its boast in You; let the humble hear and be glad, so that love and honor may blossom from us toward each other as fruits of our Christian faith. 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. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

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

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Joshua 3,5-11.17. 1. Sunday after Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Joshua 3,5-11.17 0819

1. Sonntag nach Epiphanius 014

Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, France ✠ 368

13. Januar 2019

1. O God, Father of all grace and mercy, we praise You that You have also revealed the Redeemer of the world unto us and have enlightened us to realize that Jesus is the Light of the Gentiles and our salvation unto the ends of the earth. Grant us Divine grace to walk worthily of our heavenly calling (Löhe 455-56), receiving Him by faith whom You verbally declared to be Your beloved Son with whom You are well pleased, Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

2. »Then Joshua said to the people: „Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." And Joshua said to the priests: „Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. The Lord said to Joshua: „Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant: ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan’“ And Joshua said to the people of Israel: „Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.“ And Joshua said: „Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan.“ Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.«

3. The epiphany of Christ to the Magi is nothing new. God has been manifesting his presence among us since the opening chapters of Genesis. God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; God visited Abraham, spoke with him and ate with him. Another epiphany of God is found in Joshua 3. Joshua said Israel: »Here is how you will know that the Living God is among you.… Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan.«

4. At Mount Sinai, the Lord told Moses to build this ark; it was a 4.33‘ x 2.58‘ x 2.58‘ rectangle or box made of wood and covered with gold. The lid of the ark had 2 cherubim facing each other with their wings pointed forward. This lid was called the mercy seat. The stone tablets of the 10 Commandments resided inside the ark, along with some manna and Aaron‘s rod. The ark represented the Lord’s presence among Israel. When the temple was built, the ark resided in the Holy of Holies and only the high priest could enter that room on Yom Kippur (the day of atonement). The ark also represented the Lord’s forgiveness of Israel’s sins.

5. In Jesus’ day, the ark was not in the temple and its whereabouts unknown. The common theory is that the ark was hidden before Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, but no one several centuries later knew exactly what had happened to the ark. As such, festivals that involved the temple and the ark underwent significant changes in how they were observed, particularly Yom Kippur.

6. The ark represented God’s presence among His people. With that visible relic absent from Israel for 500 years, God slowly prepared His people for a new ark of the covenant. The apostle explains this to us in the Epistle to the Hebrews: »Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent then the old covenant as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second covenant. For He finds fault with Israel when He says: »Behold , the days are approaching, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt.… I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more« [Jeremiah 31,3-32.34] (Hebrews 8,6-9.12).

7. The ark of the covenant contained Aaron’s rod. Of particular note is the event when Aaron’s rod budded as a sign from God that Aaron and his family were chosen to be priests for Israel and Levi as the priestly tribe. The chief ministry of the priests was to offer the sacrifices at the temple for the forgiveness of the people. Jesus is the better and greater Rod of Aaron for He offered Himself up as the sacrificial lamb that has forgiven all the world of all its sin. The ark also contained some of the manna that fed Israel during their 40 years of wandering. Jesus taught the Jews: »Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal. It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but 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 draws near to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall not thirst. Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day« (John 6,27.32-33.35.49). Jesus is the better and greater Manna from heaven for He gives everlasting life. Finally, the ark contained the 10 Commandments, the very tablets of the covenant, known as the law. Jesus taught in His beatitudes: »Do not think I have arrived to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not arrived to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished« (Matthew 5,17-18). „This notion of fulfillment, however, also contains a nuance of discontinuity. For the one who fulfills what was promised inevitably brings a new situation into the world. He stands in line with the Law and the Prophets. Yet he also, once he has accomplished his work of fulfillment, alters the relationship that God’s people will have with that OT revelation“ (Gibbs 267). Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Scriptures, that is, the Law and the Prophets. He fulfilled the Scriptures in His suffering, death and resurrection (Matthew 26,54.56). Christ Himself affirms this when He is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane: »All this has taken place so that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled« (Matthew 26,56). „With the death and resurrection of the Lord, then, all things have taken place, and the new heavens and new earth have begun to manifest themselves in Jesus. And with accomplishing of all things in Jesus‘s ministry, which culminates in his death and resurrection, now the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled. The time when God’s Torah Commandments had unchanging significance for Jesus’ disciples has passed. To be sure, even after Jesus’ resurrection there is continuity between Jesus’ teaching and calling to his disciples and God’s teaching and calling to his people Israel in the Torah. Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets; he did not abolish them. Nevertheless, a change has taken place. Now the disciples of Jesus must hold fast to what Jesus has revealed and commended“ (Gibbs 270). Jesus has become the Law and the Prophets; He is the Word of God made flesh. He fulfilled the old testament and instituted the new testament. We see this in Jesus’ baptism where »the Spirit of God descending like a dove and arriving to rest on Him; and behold, a Voice from heaven said: „This is My beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased“« (Matthew 3,16-17). God is also well pleased with us in Christ Jesus. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Justifier of the unjust; teach us to do Your will, for You are our God, so that Your Good Spirit leads us on level ground to be a rich blessing to our neighbor. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Matthew 2,1-12. Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Matthew 2,1-12 0719

Fest der Erscheinung des Herrn (Epiphanias) 013

The Epiphany of our Lord

6. Januar 2019

1. O Well-beloved Lord God, Heavenly Father, who by the leading of a star did manifest Your Only-begotten Son to the nations: Mercifully grant, that we, who know You now by faith, may also be led to behold Your Divine majesty and glory (Löhe 455). Amen.

2. »Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magifrom the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying: „Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it roseand have arrived to worship Him.“ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him: „In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the Prophet: And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you will be a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.“ [Micah 5,2] Then Herod secretly summoned the magi and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying: „Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, so that I too may go and worship him.“ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it went to rest over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.«

3. Saint Matthew tells us that when Jesus was around 2 years old magi arrived in Jerusalem from the East. In the 1. century AD, magi (wise men) were advisors to the kings and rulers of Mesopotamia and Babylon. They were similar to the men and women who make up the president’s staff and advise him on many different issues. The magi were well-versed in several academic studies akin to the Renaissance men who mastered different disciplines in the fields of religion, astronomy and other scholarly pursuits. We find such magi in the Prophet Daniel. During the Babylonian Captivity, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon added the young Jewish men who showed an aptitude in learning arcane knowledge and wisdom to His caste of advisors. Among the young Jewish captives initiated into the Magi Caste were Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Daniel 1,3-7). The Magi who visited Jesus may have received their information about the star from the Prophet Daniel, who had become the Chief of the Magi before the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity (Daniel 5,11). In this capacity, Daniel may have passed on to the magi a knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and the prophecies of the Jewish messiah. This new knowledge would then be studied and passed on to succeeding generations of magi.

4. Simeon proclaimed when Jesus was 8 days old that this Holy Child is »a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of Thy people Israel« (Luke 2,32). The shepherds had been the first in Israel to worship Jesus on the night of His birth. Two years later the Magi were the first Gentiles to worship Jesus. They had told King Herod the Great that they had seen the Child’s star rise in the heavens to herald His birth. Starlight had alerted the magi of the arrival of a Royal Light, for stargazing was one of the vocations performed by the Mesopotamian magi. The heavenly signs told the magi that a majestic prince had been born in Judah who was destined for great things.

5. The Torah tells us that a star is one of the symbols of the Messiah: »A Star will arrive from Jacob. A Scepter will arise from Israel« (Numbers 24,17). King David wrote this psalm: »The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge« (Psalm 19,1-2). Thus, Jewish tradition preserves a belief that the advent of the Messiah would be connected with some special star or heavenly sign like a comet or a planetary conjunction. This is how the magi and other ancients read the meaning of the star that appeared three times right before Jesus’ birth. Jerusalem is a mere 5.52 miles/8.89 km north of Bethlehem, and that is where the Magi went after this star appeared in the heavens, and they began their trek to Jerusalem, the capital of King Herod the Great, rightly presuming that this new prince was Herod’s son.

6. Saint Matthew tells us about the importance of the star heralding Jesus’ advent. Furthermore, the Apostle John writes in his Gospel that: »The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome the Light. The True Light, which gives light to everyone, was entering the world. 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 1,1-5.9.14). The Holy Gospels all affirm that Jesus is the Light of the world.

7. Starlight heralded the True Light’s arrival in the world. This Light is Jesus. He is the promised Messiah of Israel and the Christ of the Gentiles. His Light shines and gives Life to all lifeon this earth and furthermore gives Eternal Life to all who believe in Him as their Savior. The Serpent had tricked Adam to supplant the True Light with his own human light. This devilish trick plunged Adam and his descendants into darkness with the fellowship between God and man sundered. The Light upon mankind had waned, but not forever, for God had promised that the Light would wax again upon mankind.

8. The Advent antiphon for 21. December heralds this approaching Divine Light that was waxing upon fallen mankind:

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

℣ O Morning Star, splendor of Light Everlasting and Sun of Righteous- | ness: *

℟ Draw near and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shad- | ow of death.

Christ is the Morning Star, who, when the night of this world is past, gives to His saints the promise of the light of life, and opens everlasting day (The Venerable Bede).

O Christ, our Morning Star, Splendor of Light Eternal, shining with the glory of the rainbow, draw near and waken us from the grayness of our apathy, and renew in us Your gift of hope. Amen. (The Venerable Bede)

Christ is the morning star who, alleluia

when the night of this world is past, alleluia

brings to his saints the promise of the light of life, alleluia;

and opens everlasting day, alleluia.

Christus est stella matutina, Alleluia

Qui nocte saeculi transacta, Alleluia

Lucem vitae sanctis promittit, Alleluia;

Et pandit aeternam, Alleluia. (The Venerable Bede)

9. The darkness, however, never yields willingly. King Herod reacted to the Magi’s declaration with paranoia. He was Herod the Great for good reason, and he refused to yield his throne to the Greater King that the star heralded. So it is with us, for every human heart revels in its own pride, hubris and enlightenment. My light will shine forth and no other light shall outshine me. Adam’s temptation to be like God is that his light should shine as brightly as God’s. Such is our fallen state we have inherited from Adam.

10. The words of woe that the Prophet Isaiah spoke to the King of Babylon also humble us: »How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star,, son of the Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground. You have said in your heart: „I will ascend to heaven; I will make myself like the Most High.“ But you are brought down to Sheol« (Isaiah 14,12-15). To us narcissistically enamored with our own light, the True Morning Star has arrived. Jesus dwells in our midst and tells us: »I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star« (Revelation 22,16). »I will destroy this temple and in three days raise it up« (John 2,19). The True Light was covered in darkness for 3 hours, and then Jesus died. For a brief time our human light shined supreme and unchallenged. Until the Morning Star arose from the darkness of death and the grave; then His light shined even more brilliantly and He extinguished our lights, for Jesus has triumphed over all other lights.

11. Jesus proclaimed: »The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, then your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, then your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, then how great is that darkness« (Matthew 6,22-23). »You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven« (Matthew 5,14-16). Our faith in Jesus makes us sons of the Light (John 12,36), and thus we walk in the light as He is in the light (1. John 1,7).

12. At Epiphany, the star leads us to Bethlehem and shines down upon the Infant Jesus. The Holy Scriptures enlighten us about the Light He brings to the world, the Light of salvation that only God can bring. And bring it He did, in all His Brilliant Glory, Jesus Christ, our Light who shines now and always driving the darkness of death and grave into the abyss. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Christ, Thou Eternal Light who is praised by the all nations and lauded by all peoples; be the Lamp for our feet and the Light on our path, so that we always remain in Your presence. 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. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

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

Matthew 2,13-18. 1. Sunday after Christmas

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Matthew 2,13-18(19-23) 0619

1. Sonntag nach dem Christfest 09

David, King of Israel, 1050 bc

30. Dezember 2018

1. O Almighty God, who has given us Your Only-begotten Son to take our nature upon Him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made Your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. »Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: „Rise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son (Hosea 11,1). Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the magi, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.« (Jeremiah 31,15)

3. Today’s Gospel pericope recounts the Day of the Holy Innocents that is commemorated on 28. December. The joy of Christmas yields to the harsh realities of our fallen world. It is common for people to become depressed after the Christmas holidays, fall ill or die. Herod the Great was jealous and fearful at the end of his life, which is unfortunate because most of his reign was successful and fair-minded as he balanced the interests of both the Jews and the Romans. He was afraid of being usurped as King of Judea, and the attempt to kill the newborn Jesus stemmed from his fear that Jesus would one day replace him as king. So his decree to kill the newborns in and around Bethlehem is consistent with his paranoia as he also killed 3 of his sons (both Aristobulos IV and Alexander in 7 bc and Antipater II in 4 bc) during the last 4 years of his life.

4. Herod’s paranoia lead to an attempt to end God’s plan to save mankind. St. John the Apostle hearkens back to this in his apocalypse where he writes: »And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red Dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the Dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her Child he might devour Him. She gave birth to a male Child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her Child was caught up to God and to His throne« (Revelation 12,1-5).

5. Since Jesus had escaped to Egypt, Herod’s wrath fell upon the young infant boys born at the time when Jesus was born. St. Luke the Evangelist explained this horrible event by writing: »Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.« (Jeremiah 31,15). God did not abandon these martyred baby boys. Again St. John: »When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice: „O Sovereign Lord, Holy and True, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?“ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been« (Revelation 6,9-11). »Then one of the elders addressed me, saying: „Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they arrived?“ I said to him: „Sir, you know.“ And he said to me: „These are the ones arriving from the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes« (Revelation 7,13-17).

6. The Lord works good from man’s evil intentions. Luke tells us: »This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son« (Hosea 11,1). Jesus’ family fled to Egypt in response to Herod’s wicked and murderous decree; by going to Egypt and then returning to Galilee after Herod has died, the Prophet Hosea is fulfilled. This is one of many Old Testament prophecies that Jesus would fulfill, and in fulfilling them He is proven to be the one, true Messiah went by the Lord. In the Old Testament Israel was brought out of Egypt and led into the promised land of Canaan in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would dwell in the land of Canaan. In doing so, the Israelites were to be the light to the nations, that is, they were to be a blessing to the nations, meaning that through them and their covenant with the Lord, the Lord would bring salvation not only to his chosen people the Israelites but also to the Gentiles, that is to all the nations of the world. St. Luke tells us that the Infant Jesus fulfills that prophecy. And by fulfilling that prophecy, Jesus is the Glorious Messiah promised to Israel and the Light to the nations.

7. The 1. Sunday after Christmas further explains why Jesus had been born in Bethlehem. The world’s Savior has been born and that is a joyous event to be celebrated. This Sunday also reminds us that not everyone is overjoyed at Jesus’ birth and that they might attempt to turn a happy day into a mournful day. But St. Matthew is very clear on this point: God wins the victory for those who suffer on account of His Son’s birth. God remembers those who suffer for the Name of Jesus and He will reward them with heavenly blessings that far outweigh the earthly tribulations they may suffer. The Psalmist assures us that: »For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy arrives in the morning. O Lord, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, so that my glory may sing Your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!« (Psalm 30,5.11-12). May this be on our hearts, minds and lips as we remember the good times and the bad from 2018 and look ahead to the new year 2019 where Jesus will be with us no matter the circumstance bringing good for us in every situation. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Amighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying; put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will, so that our lives may bear witness to the faith in Jesus we profess with our lips. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Isaiah 45,18-25. 3. Sunday after Epiphany

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Romans 12,9-16. 2. Sunday after Epiphany

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Joshua 3,5-11.17. 1. Sunday after Epiphany

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Matthew 2,1-12. Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

Matthew 2,13-18. 1. Sunday after Christmas