Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: January 2020

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Acts 10,21-33. 3. Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Acts 10,21-33 1020

3. Sonntag nach Ephiphanias 016 weiß

Titus, St. Paul’s disciple, Bishop of Gortyn, Crete, Martyr in Gortyn 96 or 107. W

26. Januar 2020

1. O Lord, You are greater than our thinking and understanding, pour upon us You mercy, so that we overcome our human frailties like doubt and instead trust in Your Providence in our lives. Amen. (VELKD Weekly Prayer for 3. Sunday after Epiphany 2020, § 1)

2. »And Peter, having descended, said to the man: „Behold I am the one you seek: what is the reason for you being present? And they replied: „Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and a God-feared, being testified by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by an holy holy angel to send for you to go to his house and hear the your words. Having then invited them in he received them as a guest. On the next day having risen he went with them and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. Then on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them having called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet and worshipped.«

3. Today’s Gospel pericope tells us one of Jesus’ healing miracles. A centurion’s servant had become paralyzed and was in terrible suffering. Jesus extended mercy and healed that servant by merely speaking the word. Last week we heard how Jesus miraculously turned water into wine; this miracle manifested itself when Jesus told the servants to fill the jars of water and to then draw some out and bring it to the steward of the wedding feast.

4. Acts 10 presents us with another centurion; he is named Cornelius. Saint Luke tells us that Cornelius is a righteous and God-fearing man. He had been praying at 3 pm when an angel appeared before him and told him to send for the Apostle Peter. Cornelius was a Gentile – probably Roman – and a citizen of the empire. He was either wealthy or had wealthy patrons. He was literate. He was a soldier who worked his way up from the ranks of the legionnaires to become an officer who commanded 100 legionnaires. Luke also tells us 2 important things about Cornelius: he was righteous and a God-fearer. Cornelius worshipped the God of Israel. The Jews considered Gentiles to be unclean idolaters, but those who rejected their idols, in Cornelius’ case the Roman pantheon ruled by Jupiter, and worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were called God-fearing; he was not a Jewish convert, because God-fearing did not normally follow the dietary laws nor become circumcised, but they worship the Lord, and in Cornelius’ case he was diligent with his alms to help the poor. Such God-fearers were considered righteous and they had a place set aside for them in the temple courtyard where they could gather to worship and pray. By all accounts, Cornelius was well respected by the Jewish community in Caesarea.

5. Jesus has sent an angel to Cornelius so he would send for Peter and thus hear the this gospel he preached to them: »Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. As for the word that He sent to Israel, preaching the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the 3. day and made Him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the Prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name« (Acts 10,34-43). After the sermon, Cornelius and those in his house were baptized; they are the first Gentile Christians (Acts 10,48).

6. Cornelius typified how the apostles would treat the Gentiles for they too would have the gospel preached to them and all who believed it would be baptized and welcomed into the Church alongside the Jewish Christians. We see Jesus preparing the groundwork for this in Matthew 8 where He healed a Gentile slave and proclaimed that even a Roman centurion can have faith in the God of Israel (Matthew 8,10-13). And not only can a Gentile have faith in the God of Abraham, but said Gentile, much to the dismay of the pious Jews, can have faith that outshines that the Jews!

7. Yes, we are here, drawn together by the Holy Spirit, Gentiles from various nations confessing and believing in the God of Abraham thereby testifying that Jesus is the promised Messiah and Christ who is the Savior of Jews and Gentiles.

8. Last week we heard how Jesus performed His first miracle. He turned water into wine for the Jews and in their midst. Today Jesus performs another miracle. He heals a Gentile servant of a Gentile centurion thus showing that God’s love and mercy is poured out upon the Gentiles too. Next week we will hear how Jesus was transfigured in His Divine Glory and discussed His impending death as His Father’s Suffering Servant. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You reign over all Your creation; let the earth rejoice and the coastlands be glad, so that we join in their joy and happiness as we praise and confess You as the Glory of Your Heavenly Father. 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.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Jeremiah 14,1.3-4.7-9. 2. Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Jeremiah 14,1.3-4.7-9 0920

2. Sn. n. Epiphanias 015

Sarah

19. Januar 2020

1. O Lord, God of life, in our adversities and tribulations reassure us with Your presence, so that through Your means of grace we are comforted that You are in our midst manifesting Your love and mercy upon us. Amen. (VELKD Weekly Prayer for 2. Epiphany 2020 § 2)

2. »And the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning the drought. And Jerusalem’s great men/nobles sent their younger ones/servants for water; they went to the wells and did not find water, and they returned confounded and ashamed with their vessels empty and their heads covered. And the works of the earth ceased/disheartened, for there was no rain on the land; the farmers were ashamed, they covered their heads. Since our sins stand against us, O Lord, act for us on account of Your Name for our sins are numerous before You and against You we have sinned. Do not forget us! O Lord, You are the hopeful endurance «

3. Today’s liturgical Gospel pericope from John 2 tells us about Jesus’ first miracle. Last week we heard how at 12 years old Jesus exhibited a vast knowledge and wisdom of the Scriptures by the questions He asked and the answers He gave to the rabbis at the temple. Today, when Jesus turned water into wine it was not initially known to many people but its impact was immediate.

4. The Prophet Jeremiah sets the background for why Jesus’ first miracle is such a monumental revealing of Jesus’ ministry. Jeremiah 14 takes place in 627 bc in the midst of a drought. The Prophet tells us: »Judah mourns and her gates languish; Jerusalem’s great men sent their younger ones for water; they went to the wells and did not find water; they return confounded and ashamed with their water jars empty« (Jeremiah 14,2-3). The Jews were suffering at the hands of the Lord’s punishment for their decades of idolatry. The Prophet uses the imagery of lack of wine and drought of water as visual elements condemning Judah’s sinfulness (Jeremiah 13,12-14; 14,3). The Lord was about to punish Judah for their sins with exile into Babylon (Jeremiah 13,19; 14,10).

5. The sins of God’s people in the 21. century are likewise egregious to our Lord. Some in His Church twist the Scriptures to accommodate their own vices; others deliver false promises of gospel which are nothing but a watered down proclamation of the proper gospel; the sins of the unbelieving world manifest in Christ-confessing Christians. Our sinful state is just as horrible as that among the Jews and Jeremiah’s time. We have wicked preachers offering false hope that is devoid of God’s mercy; but we also have righteous preachers calling Christians to repent and trusting in Christ mercy. Thus, as Christians serious in confessing Christ, we begin each Sunday by confessing our sins. These are not merely words we recite by memory but words that are spoken from the depth of our hearts and souls. We cry out with Jeremiah and the faithful Jewish residents of his day: »Since our sins stand against us, O Lord, act for us on account of Your Name for our sins are numerous before You and against You we have sinned. Do not forget us!«

6. We are tempted to perceive God’s patience as Him forgetting about us. So it was Jesus’ day. Judah had been without a prophet for nigh 400 years. Dynasties rose and fell around Judah and within the nation. Where is Messiah? Has the Lord forgotten us? There is John preaching in the wilderness, but he says he is not the Messiah. John says he is the herald of the Messiah, but Messiah has not manifested himself in our midst.

7. Thus we find Jesus, His first disciples (James, John, Peter and Andrew) and His mother Mary attending a wedding of perhaps friends or family, we do not know, and it is a time of celebration. The cares of the world are forgotten for a few days; questions about the Messiah are silenced for a time. A wedding is at hand and that is a joyous event … until the wine runs out too soon. A drought of wine has descended upon the festivities that threatens the honor of both the bridegroom and his trusted steward who manages these important details. Into this embarrassing situation, Jesus steps up and resolves the drought of wine. The best wine has been saved for the end.

8. Those astute in the Scriptures will see what Jesus has done here in His first miracle: He has reversed the misfortunes of Jeremiah 14. Where the Lord removed Himself from among His people and caused a drought of water throughout the land, now Jesus is in the midst of His people and takes an abundance of water, turns it into wine and showcases God’s loving kindness upon fallen human beings. Melchizedek blessed and refreshed Abraham and his army with bread and wine after they had rescued Lot (Genesis 14,18-20). The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110,4; Hebrews 5,6). In John 2 Jesus exhibits His priestly authority by creating wine; this wine was the best and saved for last. With the wine restored, the joyous wedding celebration can continue. St Augustine comments on this miracle, saying: „For the bridegroom in that marriage, to whom it was said: ‘You have kept the good wine until now’; represents the Person of the Lord. For the good news – namely, the gospel – Christ has kept until now“ (Augustine 60,IX,2).

9. Jesus later teaches and says: »New wine is not put into old wine skins. If it is, then the skins burst, the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wine skins, and so both are preserved« (Matthew 9,17). Jesus teaches that the new wine of His testament cannot be put into the old wine skins of the Mosaic covenant. Christ’s gospel needs new wine skins and He has supplied such with His teachings that do not destroy the Mosaic covenant but rather fulfills that covenant in the person and work of Himself, Jesus the Christ.

10. Later in John’s Gospel Jesus proclaims: »I am the Living Bread that descends from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in them. Whoever eat My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day« (John 6,51.55-56.54). Jesus gives us this new, good wine in the Lord’s Supper. He tells us: »Take this bread and eat; this is My body. Drink of this wine, all of you, for this is My blood of the testament, which is poured out for everyone for the forgiveness of sins« (Matthew 26,26-28). The Apostle Paul also tells us: »For as often as you eat this bread and drink the wine, then you proclaim the Lord’s death until He returns« (1. Corinthians 11,26). Truly Christ has saved the good wine for last!

11. Last week we heard how the Boy Jesus was in the temple teaching and preparing people for the great salvation deliverance He was born to bring. Today we hear how Jesus brings this deliverance through the good wine that is His blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins and given out in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Next week we will hear about Jesus healing a Gentile whereby He further manifests His Divine Glory as the Messiah of the Jews and the Christ of the Gentiles, thus showing that salvation is for all nations. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, whose life of perfect obedience to the law makes its boast in the Lord; let us hear Your proclamation of the gospel with humbleness, so that we receive Your Word with gladness and joy. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

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

Monday, January 13, 2020

Luke 2,41-52. 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

Luke 2,41-52 0820

1. Sonntag nach Ephiphanias 014 weiß

Arcadius, Martyr at Caesarea in Mauretania, 3. century

12. Januar 2020

1. O Christ Jesus, the Morning Star, shine Your Light where fear makes death seem invincible, so that in Your Light we see the light of eternal life that triumphs over Death and the curse of sin. Amen. (VELKD Weekly Prayer for 1. Sunday after Epiphany 2020, § 1-2)

2. »And His parents were traveling for themselves every year to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. And when He Himself was 12 years, they going up according to the custom of the feast and having finished the feast, as they were returning the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it. But supposing Him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find Him they returned to Jerusalem searching for Him. And after 3 days they found Him seated in the temple in the middle of the teachers listening to them and asking them questions: all those who were heard Him were being amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when His parents saw Him they were astonished. And His mother said to Him: „Son, why have You treated us so? Behold, Your father and I have been searching for You in great distress.“ And He said to them: „Why were you looking for Me? Have y’all not known that I must be be tending to the things of My Father?“ And they did not understand the words that He spoke to them. And He went down with them to Nazareth and submitted to them. And His mother treasured up all these words in her heart. And Jesus was progressing in wisdom, years and grace/favor according to God and man.«

3. The Holy Gospels focus on just a few years of Jesus’ adult life – those years of His public ministry. Both Matthew and Luke give us a story from His childhood. We heard Matthew’s story last week about the Magi visiting Jesus. Today we hear Luke’s story. In modern Judaism a boy celebrates his bar mitzvah at 13 and is considered an adult. The celebration is simply one in a line of accomplishments. Rabbi say at five years old one should study the Scriptures, at 10 the Mishnah (the oral traditions) and at 13 the Commandments. What the Jews practiced in Jesus’ day, we do not know; but hearing Jesus at 12 learning from the rabbis should not strike us as extraordinary.

4. Luke tells us that Joseph, Mary and Jesus were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover; this is one of the three holy feasts in Judaism and Passover commemorates the deliverance from Egypt by the very hand of the Lord. Jesus stayed behind where He listened to the rabbis teaching the Scriptures. The outer court of the temple served as a space for people to gather for prayer; rabbis and Pharisees would often occupy a spot and speak on the Scriptures. About 20 years later Jesus Himself would stand as a rabbi in the temple teaching the Scriptures.

5. Luke tells us that »all heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.« After Jesus spoke in His hometown synagogue at Nazareth, we are told: »All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were proceeding from His mouth. And they asked: „Is not this Joseph’s son?“« (Luke 4,22). Even Joseph and Mary did not understand what Jesus meant when He asked them: »How do you not known that it is necessary that I am tending to the things of My Father?«

6. All who seek Jesus fail, at some point, to truly understand Him. We are tempted to understand Jesus by our standards without considering that His standards are different from ours. We hear the story from His childhood and simply comprehend it as a nice story about a precocious boy who wanted to learn from the rabbis. But there is more to this event if we will let our minds ponder what Luke records for us.

7. Jesus tells His parents that it is necessary that He be in Jerusalem and the temple. It helps if we hear His words translated with more authority: I must be about the things of My Father. The Feast of Passover and the temple are concerned with deliverance, forgiveness and salvation. These are the things of the Father and they are the focus of what is done in the Father’s house. Jesus says that He is here for the business of deliverance, forgiveness and salvation. Jesus, therefore, has a destiny that revolves around Jerusalem, Passover and the temple. When you read Luke’s Gospel, there are only two Passovers mentioned: this one in Luke 2 and another one in Luke 22. Jesus’ life is bookended by the Passover, and He spends His ministry building upon the first and setting His eyes upon the second. The second Passover and Luke 22 is Jesus’s final one, for on the next day He is lifted up on the cross; this is the act of deliverance, forgiveness and salvation that the Passover in Egypt typified the Passover of Calvary. Upon seeing the blood of the lamb on the door posts in Egypt, the angel passed over that household and spared that family; upon seeing the blood of the lamb of God on the cross, the Father’s wrath on sin is passed over and His righteousness is satisfied. In His mercy, the Father has forgiven us to Christ His Son.

8. Last week on Epiphany Eve we heard how the Magi visited the Baby Jesus, brought Him gifts and worshiped Him as the Glory of Israel and the Light of the Gentiles. Today were hear how the Boy Jesus was in the temple teaching and preparing people for the great salvation and deliverance He was born to bring. Today it is Jesus bringing us gifts. Next week we will hear about His first miracle: another gift turning water into wine at a Cana wedding feast. Our Lord continues to manifest His Divine Glory among us. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, our Great Rabbi; teach us to see You as the Word of God made flesh for us and our redemption; so that we understand Your great love and mercy for us. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Ephesians 3,1-7. Epiphany Eve

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Ephesians 3,1-7 0720

Epiphanias 013

Simeon, Prophet

5. Januar 2020

1. O Christ Jesus, the Glory of Israel and Light of the Gentiles, appear to all people who are searching for You, so that they also may be gathered together with all the nations into Your Church. Amen. (VELKD Weekly Prayer for Epiphany 2020 § 1)

2. »For this reason I Paul the prisoner of Christ on behalf of you Gentiles. Surely you heard of the stewardship of the grace of God that having been given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, just as I wrote before in brief, when you are reading this, to perceived my understanding in the mystery of Christ, not revealed to the other generations of the sons of men as now was revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, namely the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs, members of the same body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, I was made a deacon according to the gift of God’s grace having been given to me according to the working of His power.«

3. The liturgical season of Christmas draws to a close today, for 6. January is the Feast of the Epiphany. Last Sunday we heard how Joseph and Mary brought the eight day old Jesus to the temple for His circumcision; Simeon praised Him as the Glory of Israel and the Light of the Gentiles. Today, on Epiphany Eve, we hear about some Gentiles traveling from the East with gifts for Jesus.

4. The Apostle Paul makes a connection between Jesus’ circumcision and Jesus’ epiphany. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, he writes: »Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by those called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. So then you’re no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God« (Ephesians 2,11-13.19). The appearing of the Christ draws both circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles together in one family of faith.

5. This gospel telling all mankind of God’s love, acceptance and salvation was met with hostility. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle writes: »For this reason I Paul the prisoner of Christ on behalf of you Gentiles.« The Apostle Paul suffered many things as a result of preaching the gospel; he tells the Corinthians: »Five times I received 39 lashes at the hands of the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. On frequent journeys I was in danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger from false brothers« (2. Corinthians 11,24-26). As Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians, many of the hostilities he faced were from his own Jewish brethren. The same happens today. When a Jew believes that Jesus is the Messiah, they are shunned and ostracized by their Jewish friends and family. When a Muslim converts to Christianity, they are ostracized and physically assaulted by other Muslims. Religious strife occurs among us often. When Jesus sent out His 12 apostles to preach the gospel, He warned them: »Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to court and flog you in their synagogues. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for My Names’ sake« (Matthew 10,16-17.21-22). Joseph had to take his family to Egypt to flee the murderous wrath of King Herod the Great (Matthew 2,13-15).

6. In spite of persecution, people believe the gospel. The Magi traveled from the East to bring gifts to the newborn King Jesus, and when they saw Him they kneel down with their faces to the ground and worshiped Him (Matthew 2,11). Jews searched their Scriptures and realized that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Gentiles had the gospel proclaimed to them and rejoice that Jesus is also their Christ. As Jesus promised His apostles, He promises us: »The one who endures to the end will be saved« (Matthew 10,22). Paul likewise wrote to the Ephesians, saying: »How the mystery was made known to me by revelation. When you are reading this, to perceived my understanding in the mystery of Christ, as now was revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, namely the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs, members of the same body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel« Here we are, 2025 years after the Magi, fellow Gentiles believing and worshiping Christ Jesus.

7. Eight days after His birth we heard how Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the temple for His circumcision into the covenant as a son of Israel. On this Epiphany Eve we hear how Gentile Magi arrive with gifts and worship Jesus, the newborn King. Next week we will hear how 12 years later Jesus is again in the temple among the rabbis, listening to them and asking them questions; all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and his answers (Luke 2,46-47). Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, praised by all the nations; may we always see the rising of Your star in the Holy Scriptures, so that we learn how You are the fulfillment of those Scriptures. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

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 2, 2020

Job 42,1-6. 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

Job 42,1-6 0620

1. Sonntag nach dem Christfest 09 weiß

Jonathan, David’s friend

29. Dezember 2019

1. O Christ, our Christmas Joy, transform the world with Your love and justice, so that peace on earth and goodwill to all manifest in our lives. Amen. (VELKD Weekly Prayer for 1. Sunday after Christmas 2019, § 1-2)

2. »Then Job answered the Lord and said: „I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question You, and You make it known to me.’ I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.“«

3. The Season of Advent prepares us for the birth of Jesus the Christ. On Christmas Eve we hear the angels pointing the shepherds to a manger in Bethlehem where they will find the newborn Messiah. Today’s Gospel pericope points us to Jesus circumcised at the temple. The covenant the Lord had made with Abraham stated that every male born was to be circumcised on the 8. day (Genesis 17,9-13). Mary and Joseph had brought Jesus to the temple to be fulfill the law and that is where Simeon praised Him as the Christ with his Nunc Dimittis. Simeon declared Jesus to be God’s salvation for the world. As Job heard and then saw the Lord, so Simeon had heard the Messianic promises read every year, now He sees that promised Messiah with his own eyes.

4. Simeon praises Jesus as the Glory of Thy people Israel whose history traces back to Abraham who is the forefather of Israel and through Him the line of the Messiah descends. The Glory of the Lord is the Divine presence (the Shekhinah Glory) that lead Israel as a Pillar of cloud by day and a Pillar of fire at night (Exodus 13,21). When the temple was built, the Glory of the Lord dwelt in the Most Holy Place (1. King 8,10-13). Jesus is this Incarnate Glory of the Lord. »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. For from His Fullness we have all received, grace upon grace« (John 1,14.16). The Glory of the Lord appears to deliver, redeem and save. The Glory of the Lord ransoms captive Israel.

5. Jesus is also a Light to lighten the Gentiles. One of the Advent O Antiphons speaks to this Divine Light: ℣ O Morning Star, Splendor of Light Eternal and Sun of Right- | eousness:* ℟ Draw near and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shad- | ow of death. [1] The Prophet Isaiah describes our Gentile condition: »The people who walked in darkness have seen a Great Light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them Light has shined« (Isaiah 9,2). The newborn Jesus is our Light who shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome Him (John 1,4-5). In the darkest of our nights, when all hope is extinguished, when death seems unconquerable and when despair is all around us, Christ the Light of the world burns brightly and illuminates the darkness. Hope is restored. Death is conquered. Despair becomes joy. This Light took up human flesh and bone and became man. Jesus did this to redeem us and to be the Light of our salvation. The Light was extinguished for a time, but the Light rekindled Himself. Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and He rose on the third day. He is the Morning Star who heralds the dawning of a new day, a day full of hope, life and joy.

6. On Christmas Eve, Luke tells us the story of the birth of Jesus: Behold and marvel at the mercy of God who sent His Only Son into our world to redeem us back to Himself. Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart; the shepherds glorified and praised God (Luke 2,19-20). Today we see the Baby Jesus at the temple where He is circumcised into the covenant as a son of Israel. Next week we see the Epiphany of our Lord and the arrival of the Magi with their gifts and worship of the Christ Child. Amen.

7. Let us pray. O Lord, who remembers Your steadfast love and faithfulness to Your people; send forth the proclamation of Jesus our newborn Christ, so that all the ends of the earth see the salvation from You our God. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2019 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.

1 O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Acts 10,21-33. 3. Epiphany

Monday, January 20, 2020

Jeremiah 14,1.3-4.7-9. 2. Epiphany

Monday, January 13, 2020

Luke 2,41-52. 1. Sunday after Epiphany

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Ephesians 3,1-7. Epiphany Eve

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Job 42,1-6. 1. Sunday after Christmas