1. Corinthians 12,1-11 4720
10. Trinitatis 055
Isaac, Patriarch.
Rochus of Montpellier, Confessor, ✠ end of the 14th c.
16. August 2020
1. O Gracious God, who has shown great mercy to us; help us to place all our hope and confidence in Your Word and Sacraments, so that our faith and trust in Christ is strengthened. Amen. (Starck 138 ¶ 2)
2. »Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says „Jesus is accursed!“ and no one can say „Jesus is Lord“ except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.«
3. Last week we heard that Jesus has canceled the debt we owe to our Heavenly Father. Today we hear Jesus exhorting us to know the things that make for peace.
4. In today’s Gospel lection, Jesus tells us why Jerusalem will be destroyed. Jerusalem was destroyed because of Jews did not know the time of their visitation (Luke 19,44). In Holy Scripture, when the Lord visits His people it is a gospel event for the faithful but a law event for the apostate (Just 741). Jesus speaks this lament over Jerusalem as He is riding up on the donkey on Palm Sunday in ad 30/33; the Romans destroy Jerusalem 40 years later in ad 70. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, some received Him as the Messiah but others reject Him. Jesus’ disciples and the crowd receive Him, but the Pharisees and chief priests reject Him; in rejecting Jesus they reject the fulfillment of Y gracious visitation set forth in the Messianic promises of their scriptures (Just 748). The things that have to do with peace are completely tied to God’s visitation in His Son (Just 750).
5. We find this peace in the destruction of Yahweh's temple. Jesus had said: »I will destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up« (John 2,19). Jesus was speaking about Himself: He would give up His spirit, die upon the cross and 3 days later He would rise from the dead. The peace Jesus brrings is reconciliation to God the Father, the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation. He fulfilled what the temple building in Jerusalem had done.
6. With redemption secured, Jesus then sent the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us the gift of peace. The first gift is the gift of faith. The Apostle Paul tells us that no one can believe in Jesus, and say Jesus is Lord, except in/through the Holy Spirit. Why did most of the Jewish crowds believe in Jesus but most of the Pharisees and priests reject Him? A: by the working of the Holy Spirit. Those who receive Jesus as the Messiah did so because the Holy Spirit worked within their heart. Those who cursed Jesus did so because they fought against the working of the Holy Spirit within them. Luther succinctly described it this way in his Small Catechism: „I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith“ (Small Catechism).
7. Paul tells us that to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to the Church according to the need at a given time and place. We thus us the gifts and talents the Spirit has given us to glorify Jesus and to benefit others in the Church. Next week we will hear Jesus teach us that those who are humbled shall be exalted. Amen.
8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, God of our salvation; watch over us and protect us, both physically and spiritually, so that we remain safe and secure as the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand. 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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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