Ephesians 3,13-21. 16. Trinity

Ephesians 3,13-21   5320

16. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 061

Cyprian of Antioch, Turkey. Martyr in Nicomedia (Izmit), Turkey, 304 (Emperor Diocletian).

27. September 2020

1. O Gracious and Merciful God, the Giver of Life; comfort us in our times of trials and afflictions, so that refreshed by You our sadness is turned to joy.  Amen. (Starck 271 ¶ 3) 

2. »So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, length, height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.« 

3. Last week we heard Jesus’ exhortation to seek the reign of God. Today we hear Jesus command the dead to rise to life.  

4. The Apostle Paul reminds us in his Epistle this morning that Christ is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. Today’s Gospel pericope gives us a powerful example of this where Jesus said to the dead man: Young man, I say to you, arise (Luke 7,14). The people were filled with fear and a glorified God. They confessed that a great prophet had arisen among them. The Prophets spoke and acted for Yahweh, and 2 prophets, Elijah and Elisha, raised people from the dead (1. Kings 17,17-24; 2. Kings 4,18-37; 2. Kings 13,20-21). The Jews equate Jesus to be on par with Elijah and Elisha, 2 of the greatest Old Testament prophets. Yahweh had also spoken through the Prophet Malachi: »Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the great and awesome day of Yahweh arrives. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers« (Malachi 4,5-6). When Jesus asked His apostles: Who do the crowds say that I am? one of the responses from the crowds was that Jesus was the Prophet Elijah. High praise indeed for Jesus! 

5. Paul prayed that Christ may dwell in the hearts of Ephesian Christians through faith so that they would be grounded in love and have strength to comprehend the love of Christ, for Christ shows us the heart of our Heavenly Father. Martin Luther said it this way: „If you have a true faith that Christ as your Savior, then you see immediately that you have a Gracious God. For faith leads you up and opens up the heart and will of God for you. They are you see sheer, super abundant grace and love. That is exactly what it means to see God, not with physical eyes … but with faith, which sees His fatherly, friendly heart, where there is no anger or displeasure“ (WA I Sc 32,228.21-28 - 229.1-3; AE 21,37). 

6. In today’s Gospel pericope we see that Jesus, the Son of God, has the power and authority over life. The very God who created life has the ability to restore life to the dead. As Jesus raised this man from the dead, so too did Jesus raise Himself from His tomb.  

7. The fallen human condition is that man sinned and this sin brought death upon him. To resolve our fallen condition, sin and death must both be reckoned with. Jesus did this in His ministry: He absolved sinners and raised the dead, and this was just a preview of what He did on Good Friday and Easter Sunday – He died for us bearing our sin, thereby absolving us of our guilt and then raised Himself up from the dead. The Church proclaims Christ’s promise: Your sins are forgiven and on the last day He will resurrect you. It is as Paul writes to the Romans: »Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience all were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience all will be made righteous« Romans 5,18-19). 

8. And again in Ephesians, Paul writes: »But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God« (Ephesians 2,4-8). 

9. The love of the Heavenly Father is manifested in Jesus Christ, who shows us the fullness and completeness of this love on the cross and with the empty tomb. This Loving God has the power and authority to forgive sin and raise us up. Next week we will hear how this Loving God healed a man on the Sabbath.  Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Yahweh, who sends redemption to His people; send to us the Holy Spirit to strengthen our hope and trust in the new covenant established upon Your Son, Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord, so that we are certain of Your love and mercy upon us.  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. 

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.