Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: February 2024

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Matthew 4,1-11. Invocavit

Matthew 4,1-11 1624

Invocavit 25

Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, relative of the Lord, Martyr 107
Martin Luther, Doctor and Confessor, ✠ 1546

18. Februar 2024

1. ℣ He will call to Me and I will listen to him:

℟ I will be delivered when I will glorify Him (Psalm 90,15 vul mas).

О Jesus, You loved us before we even knew You. You gave Yourself up for us when we didn’t yet know anything about You. You have endured shame, ridicule, disgrace and manifold afflictions to make us happy. All this You did for us, for our benefit. Amen. (Pieper 129; English 75).

2. »Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. ²And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. ³And the Tempter arrived and said to Him: „If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.“ ⁴But He answered: „It is written: »Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.«“ [Deuteronomy 8,3] ⁵Then the Devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶and said to Him: „If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: »He will command His angels concerning you,« and »On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.«“[Psalm 91,11-12] ⁷Jesus said to him: „Again it is written: »You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.«“ [Deuteronomy 6,16] ⁸Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹And he said to Him: „All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.“ ¹⁰Then Jesus said to him: „Be gone, Satan! For it is written: »You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.«“ [Deuteronomy 6,13-14] ¹¹Then the Devil left Him, and behold, angels arrived and were ministering to Him.«

3. In his Gospel, the Apostle Matthew presents to the readers and hearers Jesus’ work. With his genealogy, Matthew has informed us of Jesus’ human and Messianic pedigree as God man and God.

4. It is no coincidence in the Western Church that Lent is 40 days in duration. The number 40 appears throughout the Bible: the Flood rains lasted 40 days and nights (Genesis 7,4), Moses was on Sinai twice for 40 days where He received the law (Exodus 24,18) and Goliath taunted the Israelites for 40 days before David defeated him (1. Samuel 17,16). Let’s hear some of the encounter recorded by the Prophet Samuel on David and Goliath.

5. »And the Philistine said: „I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.“ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. For 40 days the Philistine went forward and took his stand, morning and evening. And David said to the men who stood by him: „Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God?“ Then David said to the Philistine: „You approach me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I approach you in the Name of the Yahweh sebaoth, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hand.“« (1. Samuel17,10-11.16.26b.45-47).

6. We often think of Jesus’ time of wilderness as His time of preparation to begin His ministry. We might picture Him as simply minding His own business and the Devil shows up to divert and defeat Him. We should also contemplate it from the perspective of David and Goliath. David did not tolerate Goliath’s mockery of Yahweh and His people. David aimed to confront Goliath and defeat him. This was Jesus’ intent as well in Matthew 4. This is the same Devil whom Job described as: afflicting Job so that he would curse God and die (Job 2,4-9). The Devil afflicts and torments people to despair and doubt God’s love for them. The Apostle Peter tells us: »Our adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour« (1. Peter 5,8).

7. Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God, yet they succumbed to the Devil’s wiles and fell into sin. As descendants of Adam and Eve, we fare no better against the Devil’s temptations. Daily we yield to sin. Lent is a penitential season that reminds us of this reality.

8. In the wilderness Jesus confronted the Devil, fought him and overcame him. Jesus is Christus Victor over the devil on behalf of Israel, the nations and us as well (Gibbs 198). As Jesus’ disciples, we can learn to recognize the devil’s temptations as attacks on our identity as God’s children, and on what it means to live out that identity in the world and in our vocations (Gibbs 198). From Jesus’ temptation we learn this: Know from God’s Word who we are and how that identity as God’s baptized, adopted child is to be lived out (Gibbs 198). Jesus is our Victor. No matter how many times we fall to the Devil’s temptations, Jesus has overcome the Devil. Christ’s victory is our victory. We have it by our Baptism in God’s Triune Name. We have it by faith in Jesus. We have it by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus has justified us.

9. Jesus also sanctifies us. As we journey through Lent: „Let this be the pattern for all when they practice mercy: show mercy to others, in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you. Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor“ (Peter Chrysologus Sermon 43. Oremus 349. cf. The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 17 90-91).

10. O let Your Word with us remain

That – both, here and there –

Worthy Savior, true and plain,

Goodness and salvation You will spare. (Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade elkg 276,2 2021 Josua Stegmann 1627).

This is most certainly true.

11. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

12. Let us pray. Grant, O Lord, that when we are tempted, we may resist the devil; that when we are worried, we may cast all our care upon Thee; that when we are weary, we may seek Thy rest; and that in all things we may live this day to Thy glory. Amen. (Invocavit, Matins Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)

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.

https://archive.org/details/saintpeterchryso0017pete/page/90/mode/2up?view=theater

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Amos 5,21-24. Quinquagesima

Amos 5,21-24 1524

Quinquagesima 23

Euphrosyne, Virgin, ✠ 470

11. Februar 2024

1. ℣ Be Thou my strong Rock:

℟ For an house of defense to save me (Psalm 31,2).

O Jesus, without You we can do nothing; enlighten our understanding that in Your Light we may behold the greatness of Your love and compassion. Amen. (Pieper 128-29; English transl. 75).

2. »Therefore thus says Yahweh, the Elohe Sabaoth, Adona: „I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.“« (Amos 5,16.21-24)

3. »The Prophet Amos calls both Judah and Israel to repentance. When Jeroboam I founded the nation of Israel after the death of Solomon, Jeroboam lead the 10 Tribes into idolatry. He forbade the people from worshipping Yahweh at the temple in Jerusalem. In place of Jerusalem, he had shrines to Yahweh built at Dan and Beth-el. These sites idolized Yahweh with statues of calves and bulls. Jeroboam had re-instituted the idolatry the people engaged in at Sinai. »When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him: „Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.“ And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said: „These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!“ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said: „Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.“« (Exodus 32,1.4-5). What Aaron did was syncretize Israelite and Canaanite deities, blurring the distinction between Yahweh and Baal. Jeroboam II continued this practice in Israel.

4. Amos reprimanded Israel for using images of Baal for Yahweh. Amos says Yahweh rejects their worship and sacrifices because they have created a new god to worship: Yahweh with attributes of Baal added. This was the same idolatry Aaron and the Israelites created at Sinai; this new god is not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Psalmist laments: »If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart.« (Psalm 44,20-21). Indeed, Israel had, and God sent Amos to reprimand them.

5. Israel did not understand Yahweh’s grace, for the people had broken their covenant relationship with God. Such syncretism of Yahweh and Baal effected the social morality of the people. Under Jeroboam II, the 13^th king, Israel had become its most prosperous since its founding, but idolatry, a corrupt justice system and oppression of the poor were common occurrences. Haughtiness, overconfidence, oppression and exploitation of the poor, luxurious splendor and a craving for amusement typified Israel und Jeroboam II. We are arrogant and naive if we think a rejection of the Triune God in our nation will not have similar consequences; for indeed, the increased immorality and vice that afflict our culture results from a rejection of God.

6. Yet in spite of such apparent and gross unrepentant sin, Israel thought everything was fine. They had the Scriptures; they had temples and priests; they had the animal sacrifices; and they had their god. They were the chosen race of God. They felt they could do no wrong in God’s sight, and even if they did, what of it? They had the sacrifices to bring forgiveness. They believed that their offerings and sacrifices pleased God. But Amos condemns them for not having Yahweh but some other god.

7. Yahweh’s justice is dependent upon Yahweh. For Judah and Israel, Yahweh’s justice were found in Jerusalem at His temple, not in the other temples they built at Dan, Beth-el and elsewhere, for it was at Solomon’s temple that the sacrifices were offered and through those sacrifices Yahweh’s absolution was spoken by the priests. Today, God’s justice is found in His Church. „The ‘justice’ which it is the church’s work to proclaim is that vicarious ‘justice’ we have in the covenant with Christ, namely the Gospel, by which alone we escape condemnation, no matter how fine a moral code we pursue“ (Hummel 308).

8. Christ crucified is the manifestation of God’s love in the flesh. Christ loves you, therefore He suffered to save you. Christ brings the righteousness and justification of the reign of God into our midst. At Calvary the gospel was poured out with Christ’s shed blood »like an ever-flowing stream.« In Christ, all our sins are washed away and forgiven. Christ’s blood justifies us and makes us righteous; then sanctification and holy living spring forth in our words and deeds.

9. Through the Word and the Sacraments the Holy Spirit now redeems us into the image of the Triune God. The Apostle Paul describes this holy likeness, writing: »Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends« (1. Corinthians 13,4-8). Each day the Holy Spirit uses the gospel to remake us into a man or woman of faith, a person who fears, loves and trusts in Christ Jesus just as He originally created you. Jesus has promised it, and He will see it through to completion. Esto mihi in lapidem fortissimum, et in domum munitam, ut salves me facias : Be a Rock of refuge for me, a Strong Fortress to save me! (Psalm 30,3b mas).

10. O Lord Christ, cover up our sin

And to us kindle love within,

That with delight we to our neighbor do,

As O Son of God, Thou do to us too (Ein wahrer Glaube Gotts Zorn stillt elkg 646,8 2021 Nikolaus Herman (1560) 1562).

This is most certainly true.

11. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Lord, give us more charity, more self-denial, more likeness to Thee; teach us to sacrifice our comforts to others and our likings for the sake of doing good; make us kindly in thought, gentle in word, generous in deed; teach us that it is better to give than to receive, better to forget ourselves than to put ourselves forward, better to minister than to be ministered unto. Amen. (Quinquagesima, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Mark 4,26-29. Sexagesima

Mark 4,26-29 1424

Sexagesima 22

Rhabaus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz, ✠ 856

Manche Masemola. Ga-Marishane, South Africa. Martyr 1928

4. Februar 2024

1. ℣ Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Yahweh?:

℟ Arise, cast us not off forever (Psalm 44,23).

О Jesus, You took pity on those whose flesh and blood You assumed in the fullness of time, and through Your bloody atonement You have restored for us the peace that we had broken and lost by our sins. Amen. (Pieper 128; English 75).

2. »And Jesus said: „The reign of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has arrived.“«

3. Many of Jesus’ parables have Old Testament connections, and His parable in Mark 4 has parallels in the Prophets Isaiah and Joel. Isaiah records Yahweh’s words: »For as the rain and snow descend from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it« (Isaiah 55,10-11). Joel records more somber words from Yahweh: »Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great« (Joel 3,13).

4. We live in a time of wide-spread wickedness. It seems like the days of Noah have returned where every intention of the thoughts of men and women are only evil continually (Genesis 6,5) and the earth is filled with violence (Genesis 6,11b). Vice and moral decay are the symptoms of a sickness and effects of a worse cause. When people cease to worship God, then the sinful effects cascade to afflict men and women. Spiritual degeneracy leads to physical degeneracy. Such is the utter corrupt, fallen nature of sinful men and women,

5. The state of the fallen world in 2024 is no better than the state of the world in Noah’s lifetime. The True God is rejected, sin abounds and virtues are threatened to be suffocated by the darkness of unrestrained vices. Truly, the world’s evil is great (Joel 3,13c), and we suffer for it and from it. »For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Yahweh roars from Zion« (Joel 3,14b-16a). Yahweh’s judgment is nigh!

6. ℣ Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, (John 8,12)

℟ The Light no darkness can overcome, (John 1,5)

℣ Let Your light scatter the darkness (1. Corinthians 4,5)

℟ And illumine Your Church. (2. Corinthians 4,6)

7. To a world lost in the darkness of sin, God the Father sent His Son. God proclaims through the Prophet Joel: »Yahweh is a Refuge to His people, a Stronghold to the people of Israel« (Joel 3,16b). Of Him the Prophet Isaiah exhorts us to: »Incline your ear, and draw near to Yahweh; hear, that your soul may live; seek Yahweh while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way; let him return to Yahweh, that He may have compassion on him for He will abundantly pardon< (Isaiah 55,3a.6-7ac).

8. Jesus describes the reign of God as a man scatters seed on the ground, the seed germinates and grows, then when the grain is ripe the harvest occurs (Mark 4,26-29). Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10,17), and this Word of God is Jesus Christ the Son of God. Jesus dwelt among us as the Light in the darkness; He is the New Noah who saves us from His Father’s wrath by bringing us into His Ark – the Church.

9. In this parable, Jesus teaches and assures us that God acts at the proper time and reaches His goal with regard to His people (Voelz 317). Jesus Himself fulfills what He taught in this parable: He is the Seed that is sown, dies and rises in a bountiful harvest. „The final judgment, the final harvest, … can be said to occur proleptically [is anticipated] and in principle at the cross in the Gospel of Mark. In Jesus Himself … we see an instantiation [embodiment] of the parable“ (Voelz 318). Jesus is the First-fruits of the harvest of believers who are gathered in, both now and in its fullness when Jesus returns on the last day. Seek Jesus and call upon Him; He will have compassion and abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55,6-7).

10. Let Your Word, O Lord, shine eternally

As the Lamp unto our feet;

That we receive it pure and clearly;

Help us enjoy its

Strength, advice and comfort in every need,

That in life and death we heed

And constantly trust in it. (Herr, für dein Wort sei hock gepreist elkg 200,5 2021 David Denicke 1659).

This is most certainly true.

11. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

12. Let us pray. Arm us, O Yahweh, with the whole armor of God, with the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, that we may be able to stand in the evil day and let our feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace that, having done all, we may stand in the same, now and forever. Amen. (Sexagesima, Matinss Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Matthew 4,1-11. Invocavit

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Amos 5,21-24. Quinquagesima

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Mark 4,26-29. Sexagesima