Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Galatians 3,26-29. Trinity XVII

Galatians 3,26-29 5124

Trinity xvii 64

Jonah, Prophet, 838-797 bc

Emmeran, Bishop and Martyr, Apostle in Bavaria 652

Jobst Schöne, Bishop of selk 2021 ✠

22. September 2024

1. ℣ O Yahweh, You are righteous:

℟ And Your judgment is right (Psalm 188,137 vul lxx mas).

Iustus es Domine et rectum iudicium tuum. lxx mas

O All-loving God, Your mercy has no end and Your kindness is new each morning. Comfort our sorrowful soul, and show mercy and pity upon us in our distress. Amen. (Stark 238; English transl. 185-86 paraphrased).

2. »But now that faith has arrived, we are no longer under a pedagogue, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.«

3. In Paul’s day, Greek and Roman families sought to obtain a pedagogue for their young sons. These men would chaperone the boys to and from their academic lessons, teach them moral ethics and instill them with society’s virtues, such as discipline, duty and honor. The goal was to produce young men who would be fine citizens and respected members in the family. Once the boys reached adolescence, the pedagogue’s task was fulfilled.

4. Paul states that to prepare us for Christ, Israel and the Gentiles were given pedagogues by God. For Israel, their pedagogue was the Sinai covenant and the Scriptures. They were taught morality through the 10 Commandments and how to worship God. The covenant revealed how one is made righteous, what godly justice is and the nature of sin with its atonement. Sin was atoned for through animal sacrifice. All this was to prepare them for the advent of the Messiah, as Moses and the Prophets prophesied and taught. Thus, John the Baptizer proclaimed of Jesus: »Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world« (John 1,29b)! With the arrival of Jesus, Israel had no more need of their pedagogue.

5. For Gentiles, their pedagogue was the law written on their conscience by God. Paul told the Roman Christians: »For when Gentiles, who do not have the Jewish law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them« (Romans 2,14-15). This natural law functioned as an internal pedagogue. It reveals the Divine standard, even if dimly, that Israel had written in stone. The Gentile poets and philosophers also helped lay the preparation for the Christ. Paul used some of these authors when he preached to the Athenians, who had a limited knowledge of Judaism’s laws and Scriptures but did know the famous quotes of their renowned Greek authors and thinkers. As Paul preached the gospel to the Athenians, he quoted to them a line from their poet Aratus’ work, Phenomena. We know the stanza as it is recorded by Luke in Acts: »Του γάρ καί γένος έσμέν. For we indeed are His offspring« (Acts 17,28c). But lets hear the stanza in its context:

Let us begin with God, whom we mortals never leave unspoken.

For every street, every market-place is full of God.

Even the sea and the harbor are full of this Deity.

Everywhere everyone is indebted to God.

For we are indeed His offspring: and He in His kindness gives to man

Favorable signs and wakens the people to work,

Reminding them of livelihood. (G. R. Mair 1921, 1-8)

6. Paul points out to the Athenians that they are very religious; they have shrines to all the gods and goddesses in their pantheon. And lest they unknowingly forgot a god or goddess, they even had a shrine dedicated to the unknown god. Paul takes this as a pedagogical devotion that laid the groundwork for acknowledging the True God. Paul tells them that this unknown god they worship is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He reveals this unknown god as the revealed God in Jesus Christ who was crucified and risen for them and their redemption. So when Paul quotes Aratus’ poem, the God mentioned by Aratus is not Zeus, as the Athenians had presumed, but that God is Jesus.

7. The task of the Jewish and Gentile pedagogues is to bring the individual to the feet of Jesus. Once there, the pedagogue’s task is complete and an even greater understanding about Jesus continues through faith in Him. The preaching office in the Church is how the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith in Jesus. Paul says: preach Christ crucified and His resurrection. All sound doctrine is founded upon this gospel. Through faith in Jesus, you are a son of God, a daughter of God. In Christ, there are no ethnicities, no classes, no biological classifications that are excluded from His salvation. Christ died for all: Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, male and female. All people are heirs of Christ on account of faith in Him. The Church is one family in Christ, and we are brothers and sisters with Jesus as our elder Brother.

8. Faith is God’s great work in, and on behalf of, humanity; hominem iustificari fide; man is justified by faith. Men and women are justified sola fide (by faith alone), that is, by God alone (Bayer Martin Luther’s Theology 100). cf. Disputatio de homine (The Disputation concerning Man) of 1536; WA 39I,176.34f; AE 34,139 Th. 32. And it gets better: mundum iustificari fidei; the world is justified by faith. This faith … can be understood only as the trustworthy nature of what is given and what reaches all creatures by God’s word of address and promise, and faith is thus the work of God (Bayer Martin Luther’s Theology 100). The Holy Spirit creates, gives and sustains faith in Christ Jesus. By faith, men and women are made righteous. By faith, creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8,21).

9. „God gives only the one way to His favor, which is the way of His giving and our receiving. His giving what we do not deserve is His grace. Our receiving what He gives is faith. God’s way is the way of gracious giving and the only response to that is our receiving, our faith. That is what alone makes God happy; that is what alone makes us happy. The gift God gives is, above all, His Son. Here is the height of giving. For those who rebelled and refused His gifts, God gave His Son to die and rise again so to us He might give the forgiveness achieved by Christ’s atoning death and the risen triumphant life victorious over sin, death and hell. From all the wretched unrest of getting and wanting and getting and wanting again, we have been made free. We are God’s own, living from the gift of His hand. From our glad and grateful hearts we sing, ‘Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!’ There it is“ (Nagel 206 ¶ 12-13). It is yours through Christ! Receive it, and believe!!

10. Though you may seek, by other ways,

To find bliss and salvation;

My heart alone shall be built,

On Christ, my sure Foundation.

His words are true, His works are clear,

His holy voice has bedrock power,

To vanquish our every foe.

(Such, wer da will, ein ander Ziel elkg 647,1 2021 Georg Weißel (1623) 1642)

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. O Almighty God, who after the creation of the world didst rest from all Thy works and as an image of Thine own didst sanctify a day of rest for Thy creatures, grant us that, putting away all earthly cares and anxieties, we may be duly prepared for the services of Thy sanctuary and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal Sabbath promised to Thy people in heaven. Amen. (Trinity xvii, 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, September 22, 2024

Galatians 3,26-29. Trinity XVII

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