Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Numbers 6,22-27. Holy Trinity

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Numbers 6,22-27. Holy Trinity

Numbers 6,22-27 3720

Trinitatis 045

Paul, Bishop of Constantinople, Martyr 350

Deocar, Abbot at Herrieden, ✠ 850

7. Juni 2020

1. O thrice Holy God, Thou hast manifested Yourself as 1 in Essence yet 3 distinct Persons; manifest Yourself to us as our God, so that we may be encouraged and prompted to show ourselves Your obedient creation. Amen. (Starck 107 ¶ 1)

2. »Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: „Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them: ‘Yahweh bless you and keep you. Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.’ So shall they put My Name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.“«

3. Last week we heard the fulfillment by Jesus to send us the Holy Spirit from the Father. Today we hear that those born of water and the Spirit enter the reign of God.

4. Paul emphasizes this rebirth at the end of Chapter 3 in his Epistle to the Galatians. He writes: »For y’all are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you were baptized in Christ, y’all put on for yourselves Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free man, neither male nor female: for y’all are one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise« (Galatians 3,26-29). Paul connects the new birth/rebirth in Jesus to the waters of Holy Baptism: we are connected to Christ and one another in that Baptism. No one is more holy or righteous on account of race, culture or skin color; we are all equally loved, redeemed and saved by Christ; we are born into God’s family – the Christian family – that manifests itself here on earth as the Church.

5. God blesses His people. Aaron and the priests were told to bless the people, saying: » Yahweh bless you and keep you. Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.« This is the benediction that concludes our Divine Service on Sundays. Notice the triple Yahweh and the triple response by the congregation with Amen, Amen, Amen. One Lord and one Amen for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Recall what the Athanasian Creed teaches us this morning: So the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there or not 3 gods, but 1 God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord and the Holy Spirit is Lord; and yet there are not 3 lords, but 1 Lord (Athanasian Creed § 15-18). The Psalms also speak this way: »Give thanks to Yahweh for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever« (Psalm 136,1-3).

6. Before His ascension, Jesus said to the 11 disciples: »Baptize all nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age« (Matthew 28,19-20). God blesses us in our Baptism, for in Baptism God forgives sin, rescues us from death and the Devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare (Small Catechism). And as the Apostle Paul tells us, our Baptism connects us to Christ, His crucifixion and His resurrection (Romans 6,1-6). The blessing of Jesus is that we walk in newness of life (Romans 6,4).

7. Martin Luther in his 1528 treatise Confession concerning Christ’s Supper writes how the Triune God blesses us: „These are the three Persons in one God, who has given Himself to us all wholly and completely, with all that He is and has. The Father gives Himself to us, with heaven and earth and all the creatures, in order that they may serve us and benefit us. But this gift has become obscured and useless through Adam’s fall. Therefore the Son Himself subsequently gave Himself and bestowed all His works, sufferings, wisdom and righteousness, and reconciled us to the Father, in order that restored to life and righteousness, we might also know and have the Father and His gifts. But because this grace would benefit no one if it remained so profoundly hidden and could not come to us, the Holy Spirit comes and gives Himself to us also, holy and completely. He teaches us to understand this deed of Christ which has been manifested to us, helps us receive and preserve it, use it to our advantage and impart it to others, increase and extend it. He does this … by means of faith and other spiritual gifts, … through the Gospel, Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar, through which as through three means or methods He comes to us and instills by persistent instruction the sufferings of Christ for the benefit of our salvation“ (Luther 366).

8. God’s blessing, justification, comes when God Himself enters the deadly dispute of justification, suffers from it and carries it out in Himself. He does this through the death of His Son, which is also God’s own death. In this way God takes the dispute into Himself and overcomes it on our behalf (Bayer 53). God brings His holy presence into His fallen world, so that He blesses us and makes us holy. Jesus died and rose again to redeem us. God’s Holy Triune Name is put upon us in our Baptism. We have these blessings every day for we are children of God.

9. Today we hear that those born of water and the Spirit enter the reign of God. Next week we will hear Jesus tell us about the rich man and Lazarus and the efficacy of the power of God’s Word to convert people to faith. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, we praise You for Your mighty deeds; pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, so that we see the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father revealed in You. 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. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Numbers 6,22-27. Holy Trinity

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