Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Luke 13,10-17. Tinity XII

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Luke 13,10-17. Tinity XII

Luke 13,10-17 4624

12. Trinitatis. Trinity XII 59

Agapitus, Martyr 273 in Palestrina, Lazio, Italy

18. August 2024

1. ℣O God, help me:

℟ O Yahweh, make haste to help me (Psalm 69,2 vul lxx).

Deus in adiutorium meum intende: Domine ad adiuvandum me festina. lxx

Deus ut liberes me: Domine ut auxilieris mihi festina. mas

O Faithful God, we fervently ask You, abide with us and do not forsake us. We trust Your promise: „Fear not, for I am with you; I will uphold you with My righteous hand [Isaiah 41,10]. Amen. (Stark 303; English 226).

2. »Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her: „Woman, you are freed from your disability.“ And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people: „There are 6 days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.“ Then the Lord answered him: „You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?“ As He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by Him.«

3. Sinfulness causes infirmity. We are utterly incapable of understanding spiritual matters, the things that have to do with obtaining God’s grace and salvation (Pieper I,543-44). Our mind still retains a certain amount of intelligence in natural things (Pieper I,543) and has a measure of free will to live according to civil righteousness and choose among the things that reason comprehends (AC XVIII) although it is diminished from what was created in Adam and Eve. Bodily, death is the final effect of sin; prior to death, our bodies weaken and are subject to illness and infirmities.

4. The woman in Luke 13 had a state of weakness for 18 years that bent her over. One consequence of the Fall into sin is that demons can afflict people. This woman’s physical infirmity was caused by Satan. We see examples of this in the Scriptures, and Job is perhaps the most well-known story.

5. We were all spiritually bent over by our sinful nature. We lack the power to overcome it, for it is a spiritual affliction from the Devil’s handiwork. „The Devil deceived Adam and plunged him into sin, and with him the entire human race. … Indeed, the Devil is so powerful for many, that because of their inborn deafness and bondage of the tongue, they themselves stubbornly stop up the ear ears of their hearts. … They also strive against theHoly Spirit … refusing to hear God’s Word, but also cast it away and blaspheme it. All these things are of the Devil, who is so mighty in the children unbelief (Gerhard 132).

6. The Son of God arrived to deliver us from the physical and spiritual infirmity of sin and Satan. Christ came to earth for the purpose of undoing Satan’s work. (Gerhard 135). The woman in Luke 13 received a double blessing that Sabbath 2000 years ago. She heard the Messiah teaching in her synagogue, worshiped with Him and was healed of her infirmity. She responded by glorifying God.

7. In our Baptism, God has blessed us physically and spiritually. He has made each of us one of His precious children and heirs of His kingdom. He has forgiven us, rescued us from death and the Devil and has given us eternal salvation. In the Lord’s Supper, the Sacrament gives us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In Confession, we hear God’s words of absolution: your sin is forgiven. Certitudo enim omnis nobis in verbo tuo est posita, quo revelastotius orbis peccata tuo sacrificio, morte et resurrectione tua expiata et deleta esse. For we have every certainty in [Christ’s] Word, in which it is revealed that the sins of the world have been atoned for and deleted by [His] sacrifice, death and resurrection (WA 40II,413.24-26; AE 12,371).

8. Let us glorify God for all His blessings He bestows upon us. Let us acknowledge and proclaim the mercy of God so that others might learn to acknowledge it, too. (WA 40II,434.24-25; AE 12,385). „Let us praise God and always accept His Providence and Order. Regardless of what may befall us, good or evil, we should confess with our mouths and our hearts: [Christ] has done all things well.“ (Gerhard 136). We are sons and daughters of Abraham with whom we share the faith in the Messiah (Romans 4,16-17). »Righteousness is being credited to us believing in God having raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification« (Romans 4,24-25).

9. I was lost in sin

And sinfully my deeds are done

Now I am born again

In Christ, God’s Son.

My salvation he has acquired

By His bitter death thoroughly

Because on the cross He expired

For mine iniquity.

(Ich frei mich in dem Herren elkg 566,2 2021 Bartolomäus Helder (vor 1635) 1646/1648).

This is most certainly true.

12. 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.

13. Let us pray. O Lord, who dost not willingly afflict the children of men, behold from Thy holy habitation of heaven the multitude of miserable souls and lives among us, and have mercy upon us; have mercy on all ignorant souls, and instruct them; on broken hearts, and heal them; all struggling with temptation, and rescue them; all that are fallen from Thee, and raise them; all that stand with Thee, and confirm them; O blessed Jesus, that didst shed Thy blood for our souls to save them, shed Thy Holy Spirit on all, and heal them; for Thy pity’s sake. Amen. (Trinity XII, 2^nd Vespers Collect. 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.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Luke 13,10-17. Tinity XII

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