Hebrews 12,12-18.22-25a 1124
2. Sonntag nach Epiphanias 16
Felix of Nola, Italy. Pastor, Confessor, ✠ 256
14. Januar 2024
1. ℣ All the earth shall worship Thee:
℟ And shall sing unto Thee, O God (Psalm 66,4).
O Lord, Lord, merciful, patient and of great faithfulness, You are from everlasting to everlasting, and with You there is no alteration nor change of light and darkness, behold, we have once again begun a new year under Your blessing. Lord, how great is Your goodness, that the children of men take refuge/trust under the shadow of Your wings; You give them drink from the riches of Your house; God’s fountain has water in abundance. Amen. (Stark 493-94; English transl. 71).
2. »Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no „root of bitterness“ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.«
3. »And to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant« is the cornerstone of the Epistle to the Hebrews; everything prior to the verse leads to it and everything following flows from it. The apostle calls Jesus the Mediator, and appears 3 times in the epistle: 8,6; 9,15 and 12,24. Let’s hear the three texts together. »But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old 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. In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away« (Hebrews 8,6-7.13). »For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the Living God. Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant« (Hebrews 9,13-15). »But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel« (Hebrews 12,22-24). [μεσίτης : mediator, go-between, reconciler, intercessor; mediator, mediatorem (12,24) vul; Mittler lut]
4. Fallen humanity needs a mediator who will intercede with God. In the Mosaic covenant the priests stand between God and the people. They brought the animal sacrifices and its blood before God to reconcile the sin of Israel. This covenant was to teach and prepare the people for the advent of the Messiah who would be the intercessor and mediator for all the world’s sinfulness. Jesus proclaimed with His epiphany: »The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel« (Mark 1,14). The Apostle Paul wrote: »For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time« (1. Timothy 2,5-6).
5. When Jesus had turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, the master of the feast declared: »Everyone serves the good wine first … but you have kept the good wine until now« (John 2,10). Moses and the Sinai covenant had served well as the mediator for people’s sin, but now God sent the Good Mediator to be the fulfillment of the covenant and an even better blessing. The Apostle John explains it this way: »For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Behold, Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!« (John 1,17.29b). [καλος : fitting, rightly ordered, according to God’s will, beauty.]
6. Jesus is this good wine, for He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Sinai testament; He is the Mediator of a new testament in which Christ Himself is the sacrifice and redemption for all sin. When our consciences are terror stricken, we rely on point solus Christus. Trust in Jesus and give Him your concerns, for He is our Savior who has redeemed us from all our sinfulness. This is the pure gospel that is liberating! Today we again receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. This is not merely a memorial meal of bread and wine wherein we only remember that Jesus died for our sins, but as the Words of Institution say: »This is the body of Jesus. This is the blood of Jesus shed for your forgiveness« (Matthew 26,26-28). Eat and drink it, for this is the good wine of Christ that He gives to you. He gives you forgiveness and salvation in this holy Sacrament. You have the new wine of the new testament. You have Jesus, His Word and His Sacraments. Take them and receive them with joy and be assured of your righteousness and forgiveness.
7. Thou Eternal Truth, Image of God,
You reveal the Father who is God,
You descended into the valley of earth
With Your ray of Divine worth (knowledge) (Du Morgenstern, du Licht vom Licht elkg 396,3 2021 Richard Adelbert Lipsius 1878).
This is most certainly true.
8. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
9. Let us pray. Almighty and Everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth, mercifully hear the supplications of Thy people, and grant us Thy peace all the days of our life. Amen. (The 2. Sunday after Epiphany, Vespers Collect 1. The Daily Office.)
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 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover.
Stark, Johann Friedrich. Tägliches Hand-Buch. Copyright © 1852 Verlag von Enßlin & Laiblin.
Starck, Johann. Starck’s Prayer Book. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House.
The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.
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