Category: Sermons

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)

The basis for God’s Word to us today is our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah.

Let us pray…Speak O Lord your words of life to us and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Have you ever walked into a situation where everyone seems mad or upset and you wondered, “What did I miss?”

Our Old Testament reading begins this way…
8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die!

Upon reading that I immediately thought, “What did I miss?” What happened to motivate these leaders and members of the congregation of God’s people to not just ask Jeremiah to resign, but to pronounce a death sentence upon him?

In the first seven verses of Jeremiah 26, which we didn’t hear today, we learn about what led to this reaction. The Lord had given the following message to Jeremiah:

Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

Like any good Lutheran sermon, this message from the Lord proclaimed both Law and Gospel. The Law was the Lord’s call to repent of their evil ways, and to turn back to the Lord’s ways. The Law was also the threat that they would be destroyed like the city of Shiloh had been and that their disobedience would become negatively famous, a curse word among other nations, if they did not repent.

In contrast, the Gospel in this message from the Lord, is really that fact that God is taking the time to warn them, to call them to repentance and that He is willing to relent of the disaster He intended to bring upon these people.

So there it is, Law-Gospel. We sin. God judges. We repent. God relents. We confess. God forgives. That’s the work of the Law – showing us our sin, and the Gospel, turning us around and graciously placing us again under the forgiveness and love of God in Christ Jesus.

Unfortunately, this is not what happened back then. You see, few people like to be called up on the carpet, as the saying goes, criticized, judged, called to repent. Even though it was God who was doing the criticizing, judging and calling people to repentance, the only one the people saw was Jeremiah, the man, even though he was the Lord’s ordained messenger, God’s representative.

Just as their ancestors had complained against Moses and were thinking of stoning him, and just as later on, the apostles would be targeted for what they had said, God’s people in this reading, could not see their Lord who was standing right there behind the message of Jeremiah, and if we think forward to Jesus, neither could God’s people see their God who had come in the flesh for them.

I’m sure it’s hard to imagine ever saying to your pastor, You shall die! What would it take for you to even think that or to ask your pastor to get out of town? But we all know that in the heat of some moments, when our emotions take over, we can quickly lose sight of God, and only see the man up here, rather than the vessel of God’s work, or even see our brother or sister in Christ as the enemy.

As we move on in this text to hear what happens next to Jeremiah, we cannot but also be drawn forward to what happened to Jesus many centuries later. But let’s begin with Jerremiah’s situation…

10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

Now I want you to listen to what occurs to Jesus (Matthew 26), a text we will hear during Holy Week…

57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

Back to Jeremiah…despite the sentence of death hanging over him, Jeremiah continued to proclaim the opportunity for good news and salvation for the people. We read…

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.

Our God wants to relent if we but repent. Our God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love in the midst of all our sin. It is as the Lord says in the book of Joel (2):

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.

God’s desire to relent is shown most clearly as Jesus goes to the cross for our sins and dies for us while we were yet enemies of God, and then rises in victory over the consequence of sin, that is, death. God is prepared to receive us as sinners even before we make the first move. Jesus has died for all so that all may turn to him in repentance and be saved: you, me, everyone.

However, I’ve found in my own life, as well as in the lives of others, that we often love our sin more than our Lord. Like many alcoholics, we would rather drink the poison of our own sinful selves leading to death, destroying our lives, our families, sometimes even our congregations, than to turn in confession and contrition and in faith to the Lord of life who can transform us.

I said at our voters’ meeting recently that it was easier for me being a trustee than a pastor and what I meant by that is that as a trustee I can fix many things that are broken, but as pastor I can’t even fix myself or any of my parishioners, no matter how hard I may try or want to.

Only Jesus has the fix to our sinful condition, and this is why Jeremiah implied at the end of his message that he was only the messenger, not the healer or fixer. Jeremiah said……

14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

This is the position of every pastor. I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you even though your response to the Word that I or any other pastor proclaims, will mean either life or death for you, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

And in truth, the pastor stands as one of our absolutions declare…in the stead of Christ, who on the cross said (Luke 23:34), “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And later on, he would then say (Luke 23:46), “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” – the real hands any faithful pastor or baptized member are truly in.

It may also be true as Pastor Fritsche said at that same voter’s meeting, that you are an easy congregation, by which I think he meant that he enjoyed being your pastor and that is good.

However, that doesn’t mean that the sin each of us struggles with is any less a problem or that we are any less sensitive when God through his messengers poke us where we are most sin-sore, calling us to repent in order that we might come to the One who can heal us, who wants to relent of the disaster that will come upon us apart from that saving work of Christ.

The call to repentance is not God’s way of rubbing salt in our wounds or some pastor’s attempt to make you look bad or feel guilty. The call to repentance is the expression of God’s desire to save you and everyone, to draw you into the arms of the crucified Christ who seeks to wash you clean, clothe you in his righteousness, and then feed you with His own life-giving body and blood.

Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

■

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)

The basis for God’s Word to us today is our Gospel reading.

Let us pray…Speak O Lord your words of life to us and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Beth and I were married in May and our honeymoon not only involved a couple of weeks out on the West Coast, but also a couple of months up in Whitehorse where I filled in for a pastor who had gone south on vacation.

Now if you’ve never been to Whitehorse, it is a sprawling city covering more than 400 square kilometers and straddling the Alaska Highway for some 27 kilometers. It is made up of little pockets of populated areas nestled in the hills and we lived in one of those neighbourhoods.

One day we decided to hike up a hill in our neighbourhood, leading to the CBC tower. We wondered what was on the other side and when we got to the top we discovered the reality of our lives, that we were living on the edge of a vast wilderness. From there we could see for miles and there was nothing but bush and lakes.

Perhaps that’s not the exact image of the wilderness Jesus was immediately pushed out into by the Holy Spirit after he was baptized but like any Canadian wilderness, the wilderness of Judea was not a friendly place.

Now each year, on the first Sunday in Lent, we read of this wilderness event early in Jesus’ ministry. For forty days he is fasting in that harsh and lonely terrain.

You may be aware that Jesus’ time in the wilderness parallels the experience of ancient Israel, when they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In one sense Jesus is Isreal in a nutshell, Israel personified and yet unlike Israel, Jesus is the one true Israelite – the one who gets it right.

I’m sure you can probably recall how many times Israel got it wrong in wilderness of Sinai, and if there was one common temptation Israel faced as they wandered those forty years, that temptation was to grumble and complain about almost everything. And as you know, they gave in to that temptation all too often.

You can almost hear them expressing the same sentiments over and over again: “Why is God making this journey so difficult for us?” “Why is God giving us the same food every day!”

Now fast forward to Jesus’ situation in the wilderness and what is his response? Just imagine, he literally had nothing to eat during those forty days, and it was within that growing hunger that Satan came to tempt him. However, unlike Israel Jesus would be faithful. He would not grumble or complain.

It’s pretty easy to think of Jesus as some superhero, some Marvel comic character who never has to eat or go to the bathroom, who isn’t like us with all our neediness. But when we confess that Jesus is both truly God and truly man, this means that he had a very real body, with the same needs and desires that you and I have. So naturally this prolonged fast made Jesus very hungry. And this is exactly when the devil strikes, just as he strikes us when we’re vulnerable.

The devil said to Jesus,
“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Let’s pause here for just a moment because there’s a lot here to consider. Starting with that little word, “if.” What does the devil mean by, “If you are the Son of God?” Is the devil denying that Jesus is the Son of God?

In our English translation it might sound like: “If you were the Son of God–which you aren’t–then. . . .” I understand that in the original Greek there is a way to say that kind of “if”, but this is not it. No, the devil is not that in your face. He’s far more subtle and likes to more often, come in the back door or the side door.

When the devil says “if” he is not denying that Jesus is God’s Son. Instead, it’s quite the opposite. The devil knows full well that Jesus is God’s Son and so this “if” is more like our “since”: “Since you are the Son of God,” then. . . .” And this sets Jesus up for what follows.

You see, the devil’s temptation is not in proving or disproving that Jesus is the Son of God, but in doing something about it. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Notice the subtleness of the temptation: “So God says you’re his Son, does he? That’s what he said at your baptism, wasn’t it? ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’ Well, if you’re so beloved, then why has God sent you out here into this God-forsaken wilderness? Why is he letting you go hungry like this? What kind of ‘loving Father does this? Doesn’t God’s Son deserve better than this?”

That’s how the devil operates, kind of from the side, usually not head-on. The devil wants you to doubt that God really cares about you. He wants you to get the wrong idea about God. He wants you to believe that God is some mean old grouch who’s holding out on you and wanting to spoil your fun. Isn’t that how the devil worked on Adam and Eve.

Perhaps like the similarities between Jesus forty days in the wilderness and Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, now there’s a kind replaying of that original temptation. In fact, in Luke’s record of Jesus ancestry, he traces it all the way back to Adam. So maybe he wants us to have that episode in mind and make the comparison between Adam and Jesus. Jesus as the one true man, the second Adam, the one who overcomes the devil and gets it right.

Again, just think of the similarities between these two accounts. Adam was in a garden. Jesus is in a wilderness. The devil comes at Adam and Eve somewhat indirectly, wanting them to doubt God’s goodness. And he comes at them through–guess what–food, something to eat. “You know that tree there, the one God told you not to eat from? Why would he do that? Why would he tell you not to eat from it? I mean, it looks like a perfectly good tree. And, hey, didn’t God put you in charge of this place?

Then why would he not let you eat from this one tree? Is God is holding out on you. Does God really care about you. Now look at that fruit there. Doesn’t it look good? Go on, you know you want it. Come on, take matters into your own hands. Go for it!”

Hasn’t Satan come at you sometimes that way? Does the devil whisper in your ear like this? I bet he does because this is his standard M.O. – modus operandi. He wants to get you to doubt God’s goodness, to doubt God’s word, to be your own God, to make your own decisions about what’s right for you, because you deserve it. It’s what you want, isn’t it?

The temptation is always to be your own God, to be independent of that mean old guy in the sky who wants to spoil your fun.

And I guess you can take some comfort in knowing that you’re not the first to fall for it. Adam and Eve fell for that temptation–and that was a big fall! Upon them fell the curse, and death came into the world so that we hear those words: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” That’s our destiny because of sin.

Death comes down to us. But Jesus came to reverse that curse, to do something about the sin and the death and all the misery that comes in its wake.

So, this is the devil’s play out there in the wilderness. He wants to stop Jesus before he gets started saving people. And he tries to use the same slippery approach on Jesus that seemed to work so well on Adam. You can almost hear him…“God doesn’t care about you. You’re hungry. You’re entitled. You can do something about it. Go for it. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

And it all starts with that one little word, “if.” It’s the little word that sets up the big trap to follow. If God cares about you, then why is he letting you suffer like this? If God loves you, then why is your life so miserable? Maybe he doesn’t love you.

Or what about all those other “ifs.” If God forgives sins, then why not go ahead and sin some more, since God will forgive you anyway?

It’s such a deception because there’s always a little grain of truth in the devil’s set-up. But then he twists it and uses it to lead you off in the wrong direction. It only takes a deception of leading you one degree off course to take you down a path, a hundred miles away from God.

Well, to the devil’s little word, “if,” Jesus has some little words of his own: “It is written.”
You see, Jesus doesn’t even stop to consider the devil’s temptation; rather, he stops it cold in its tracks. “It is written.” It stands written, and you can take your stand on what is written. And what is this written thing that Jesus is referring to?

Well, it is God’s Word. God’s word is a sure thing, a solid footing. God has spoken. His word is true. Don’t listen to the devil’s lies and half-truths. Instead, shut him up and shoot him down. And the way you do that is through that reliable and trustworthy word of God. “It is written.”

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,’” Jesus says. You see, there’s more to life than just feeding your belly and satisfying your own desires. To do that apart from God’s word and will would be to fall into the devil’s trap. But Jesus doesn’t fall for it.

On the other hand, we too often do. But you know what, that is why Jesus came. To do what we don’t do, what we so often fail at.

You see, Jesus is our representative, our stand-in, our Champion going out to do battle for us. Jesus does what we don’t. He refuses temptation, stops it cold in its tracks. He is the man who will say no to the devil! Adam didn’t. We don’t. But Jesus does for us.

And here is why it is so absolutely vital and necessary that Jesus does this. Remember how we so easily get distracted by all those temptations so that we end up on the path to hell rather than the path to salvation. Jesus, on the other hand, does not get diverted from what he came to do.

You see, Jesus came to reverse the curse of sin and death, to change our course and the devil wants to keep him from doing that. Jesus came to save you. The devil doesn’t want that to happen. He’ll do anything to keep Jesus from accomplishing his mission for us.

So, the devil plays on Jesus’ status as God’s Son, in order to get him to use his sonship to serve his own desires. The devil tempts Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world–which Jesus is entitled to and will end up getting eventually, but the devil wants to offer him a much easier path to get them than the hard road of the cross.

Thanks be to God, that temptation doesn’t work. Jesus answers him, “It is written.” The devil tempts Jesus with the offer of quick success and power and popularity. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself off the temple where everybody can see you, and they will surely acclaim you as the Messiah–which is what you want, isn’t it? God will surely protect you. After all, you are his Son.” “If you are the Son of God.”

But Jesus has his own little words: “It is written.”

Jesus will not be deterred or diverted from the road he has taken, the way of the cross. For that is the only way Jesus could accomplish his mission and save sinful mankind; to save you and me.

Jesus took no shortcuts or sidesteps or easy ways out. It was straight ahead, full speed ahead–that was the way for Jesus. He went to battle with the devil as your divine Champion. And he won! And he gives you a share in his victory. Jesus would let nothing stop him from doing what he set out to do, which is to go to the cross, to carry your sins on his back—that sinless back that would endure flogging and beating for your sake.

Through thick and thin Jesus remained faithful to his Father’s mission. And this is the good news of God’s Word for you today. Nothing can stop our Savior from reaching his goal – from reaching his goal for you!

And reach it he did! On that cross all of your sins were paid for; and because God’s own Son died for them in your place. The curse of death that comes from sin has been reversed, as Jesus’ resurrection proves. Your enemy, the devil, has been defeated.

That doesn’t mean that Satan has stopped tempting us. Indeed, he continues to work, day and night, luring us away from the truth.

However, when he comes at you with his temptations, you can say like Luther, “ I am baptized.” I am saved! “Take it up with Jesus, devil! He is my Champion because I know he stopped you in the wilderness, he defeated you on the cross, and he will stop you–and stomp on you–here and now and forever.”

At the same time, we can also cry out to Jesus: “Help me, Lord! You are stronger than I am! Lead me to the Rock that is higher than me. Help me to stand on your completed work; to trust Your Word, your promises. Help me to say with you, Lord, ‘It is written.’”

The devil comes at us with his little word, “if,” twisting and turning the truth, planting doubt and leading us astray. But Jesus comes out on the field of battle as our Champion, and he comes with those little words of his own, “It is written.”

I end with words from that great Lutheran anthem we sang at the beginning of the service …

This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.

Jesus!

It is written…

Amen.

■

Today we see Jesus and three of His disciples on the top of a mountain. From here on out, it’s all downhill — in more ways than one. Peter, James and John went up this mountain with Jesus to pray. Waking from a sound sleep, they are astonished at what they see. Jesus is transfigured, shining: Not like a spotlight from above that throws Him into sharp relief. No, He’s shining from the inside out. His clothes are white as a lightning flash. Elijah and Moses have appeared and are speaking with Him about events to come. And then, to top it all off, a cloud envelops them and the Father’s voice declares, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!

Now, take a moment to review what happens there; for if this does not convince the disciples of Jesus’ identity, one wonders what will.

Jesus radiates white, lightning-like light. This is not something that an ordinary man can do. In fact, this is something that Almighty God does, as He appears in white with fire on His throne in Daniel 7. This is exhibit A that Jesus is the Son of God.

Exhibit B: Moses and Elijah, who died so many centuries before, are alive and present and speaking with Jesus. They aren’t instructing Him as if He’s in need of their counsel and advice. No, they’re talking about Him and what He is about to do. Our text says they speak of His “departure,” — the literal word is “exodus;” they are speaking of His departure by which He will set His people free. They are bowing to Him, not vice versa. So what? Consider this: It was to Moses that God gave the Law and Mt. Sinai, and it was Elijah who defeated the 450 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt. Carmel, cementing his place in history as the foremost of the prophets after Moses. These two mountain men came to represent the Law and the Prophets; and the “Law and the Prophets” was a name for the Old Testament scriptures. Therefore, as Moses and Elijah defer to Jesus on this mountaintop, they declare that the Old Testament scriptures-the Law and the Prophets-point to Jesus, too. Therefore, Jesus is the Messiah they’ve been waiting for. That’s a pretty good exhibit B.

But exhibit C is even more convincing: A cloud appears and overshadows the disoriented and fearful disciples, enveloping them. It’s not your average cloud, but a very Old Testament type cloud — the kind of cloud that led the people of Israel out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and through the wilderness. The kind of cloud that descended on Mt. Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. The kind of cloud that filled the tabernacle and the temple, driving out the priests because of its glory. No, this is no ordinary cloud; rather, it indicates that God the Father has come on the scene, to make clear who Jesus is. And so the Father declares, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to him!”

Peter, James and John should have no doubt: Their teacher Jesus is most certainly the Son of God, fully human and fully divine, the long-awaited Savior promised by God. On this mountain, the Lord makes this plain and apparent to their eyes and their ears. No matter what happens from here on out, they can look back at this mountain, this Transfiguration of Our Lord, and be sure that He is the Savior.

Such memories are important because, just like that, things are back to normal. No glistening white, no Moses, no Elijah, no cloud, no voice. Just three dazed disciples and Jesus. For an all-too-brief moment, they had a hint of His glory. Now He looks like just plain Jesus again.

And from here, it’s all downhill. Jesus will never look like that again before His ascension into a cloud. Now, He’s going to go back down this mountain, do some more miracles and teach more about the kingdom of God. And as He goes along, people are going to start to reject Him even more. The disciples have already heard one ominous statement; just eight days before the Transfiguration, Jesus told them that He would be crucified. If it was hard to believe eight days ago, it must be impossible to fathom during the Transfiguration. But it will happen soon enough, because that is why the Savior has come.

Before the cross and its shame, though, the Lord gives Peter, James and John a hint of His glory on the mountain that day. And along with exhibits A, B and C, they will do well to remember the last two words spoken by God the Father: “Listen to Him.” Listen to what Jesus has to say, for the Transfiguration certainly shows that He speaks with authority. The Lord has no credibility gap: What He says is to be believed.

“Listen to Him” because He speaks His powerful, faith-giving Word. No matter how glorious the display of His majesty, God doesn’t save by His glory apart from His Word. His glory may convince man of His existence and power; but He uses His Word to give them faith to believe that He is also gracious and merciful.

And finally, “Listen to Him” and the Word He declares, because the faith He gives can enable the disciples to believe in what they can’t see — in spite of what they do see. It’s only a matter of time until Jesus goes up one more mountain — a little hill, really, but one that He’ll barely be able to climb. The hill is called Calvary, and Jesus will be crucified at its summit. He won’t look very glorious when the Roman palace guard is done scourging and beating Him. He won’t look very powerful when He’s too weak and battered to carry His cross up the hill. He won’t look like the King of kings with a crown of thorns jammed down on His brow. And He sure won’t look like the Son of God when He’s up there between two thieves instead of Moses and Elijah.

So the Father cautions and admonishes these three, “Listen to Him.” Appearances change, but the Word of the Lord remains the same. Before the Transfiguration, Jesus has told them that He’s going to be crucified and raised from the dead, and that Word will be fulfilled. And while the appearance of the Word made flesh looks far different up on the cross, He remains the same Savior that He was on the mountaintop, doing exactly what He came to do: redeem mankind by dying his death and suffering God’s judgment for our sin.

The Lord tells Peter, James and John to focus on the Word because appearances are powerful things, and will often seem to contradict God’s Word. Peter will see Jesus betrayed and arrested, and that will lead him to deny Jesus three times that night. When Jesus is raised from the dead, it may well appear that Peter has proven too much of a coward to be a disciple, but the Lord restores him. How? With His Word: “Feed My sheep,” and “Follow Me” (Jn 21:17-19). Listen to Him, Peter, for thereby you are restored.

All of this lies in the near future for Peter, James and John; so on this mountain of Transfiguration, the Lord does two things for them. First, He proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is, in fact, the Son of God, fully divine as well as fully human. Second, because the immediate glory will not last, He points them back to His Word; for no matter how things will appear, His Word remains forever.

On that mountain of Transfiguration, He is doing the same for you. He is transfigured there to show His glory, that you may know that He is the Son of God, your Savior. And since you and I could not be there to witness it with our eyes, He witnesses of it by His Word to our ears. He tells us, too, of the bright light, the presence of Moses and Elijah, and the Father’s testimony; and because He tells us about these things in His holy Word, we can be even more sure than if we had seen them with our own eyes.

So, as we hear this Sunday of the Transfiguration of our Lord, remember the Word and remember the glory. First, as the Father instructs from the cloud, “Listen to Him.” Listen to the Son of God and His Word to you. Listen to His Law and know that not one jot or tittle has passed away (Matt. 5:18). Hear His declaration of the Gospel and know that He who has died on the cross in your place still forgives you for all of your sins.

Listen to Him, and hear Him no matter what appearances may lead you to believe, for the devil will use appearances to make you doubt the Word of God. After the Transfiguration, the disciples had to witness Jesus’ rejection, betrayal, crucifixion and death. Three days later, they saw the glory of His Resurrection, then witnessed His ascension forty days after that. Afterwards, they would see persecution, exile and death. In such times, all they would have is the Word.

The last thing the devil wants to do is have you hear the Lord speak, so he comes up with many tactics to prevent it. He will make sin appear to be permissible, enjoyable, maybe beneficial in the short-term. The Word of the Lord — which you are commanded to hear — declares that enjoyable and recurring sin of yours is still an offense to God that seeks to destroy your faith; so expect the evil one to bombard you with appearances and events to distract you away from God’s Word and make that sin look all the more attractive. In other words, we are tempted to believe that “If it feels right for me, then it must be okay;” hearing the Word, we respond, “No matter how it feels, it’s wrong if God says it’s wrong.” Similarly, we might find ourselves saying, “I kind of liked that sin, and don’t really feel that sorry for it.” Hearing the Word, we must firmly say, “Even if I don’t feel like confessing it, by faith I believe the Word that it was a sin that I must confess.”

At the same time, the devil may make use of sins you’ve committed to make it seem that the Lord could never forgive the likes of you. Guilt can bring on a despair from which there seems to be no relief. But far more certain than that crushing load is that Christ has died for your sins. Hearing the Word, we battle back and say, “Even if I do not feel forgiven, Christ promises that He forgives me.”

Furthermore, the devil will do his best to make it appear that the Lord has forgotten you. As the world continues to creep closer and closer to destruction, the devil will do his best to convince the Church that the Lord isn’t going to return. You see, when terribly afflicted, the people of God cry out, “How long, O Lord?” If they look for the answer in what they see, the answer is a horrible silence. But if they continue to hear the Word, they know that the Lord will faithfully return in His time.

So the devil and your own sinful flesh seek to do the same to you, personally and carefully selecting whatever afflictions will most effectively make you miserable. It may be a matter of ill health, because chronic pain and medicinal side effects will seek to shout louder than God’s Word. It may be a matter of loneliness, and your Old Adam will use that isolation from other people is to make you feel isolated from the Lord. It may be a matter of unbearable stress, tempting you to wonder if the Lord were indeed powerful, why would you have to suffer so?

Now, all of these things are more than just appearances-the pains and hurts are real enough. But what is not true is the appearance that these are more powerful than the Lord’s Word; and so the Lord calls you to continue to hear Him, no matter your circumstance. Illness and loneliness and stress will claim that God is out to get you, but don’t expect the wages of sin to preach a good sermon. Instead, hear the Word of the Lord. So much does the Lord care for you that He has already gone to the cross to redeem you. He promises that He will relieve you from all your afflictions in a little while; in the meantime, He has already relieved you of your sin and given you everlasting life.

The Lord looked glorious at the Transfiguration, and anything but glorious on Calvary. You and I must endure dark times, at times, when the Lord seems neither glorious nor near nor merciful. But you have His Word that He forgives you, is with you, and will not forsake you. Hear Him. And especially hear Him when He speaks His Word of grace and forgiveness to you. Cling to His promise that He has made you His own in Baptism. Hold fast to His Absolution and His Word, “I forgive you.” Do not let go of the promise He makes when He says, “Take and eat, this is My body…take and drink, this is My blood…for the forgiveness of sins.” For by these words, the same Lord who was transfigured in glory, crucified for your sin and raised for eternal life, is with you.

Listen to Him, for by His Word He remains with you. He remains with you, and you have His Word on it. So you can say with St. Paul: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro. 8:38-39)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

Today’s Gospel lesson is a continuation of last Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke 6. Last Sunday we heard some of Jesus’ beatitudes or blessings, followed by a series of woes. This is very similar to His Sermon on the Mount that is recorded in Matthew’s Gospel – except that we are told that this sermon took place on a level place, so it’s called the Sermon on the Plain.

Here Jesus is speaking to His disciples – both then and now – about what we refer to as the third use of the Law. If you remember your Catechism instruction, you were taught that God’s Law functions in 3 ways: First, as a curb to restrain lawlessness; second, as a mirror to show us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior; and third, as a rule or guide for the Christian life in this world,

Jesus Himself speaking to us… And what a message it is! Jesus tells us what it means to be a Christian, a child of God, how we should lead our lives. And these are not some sort of vague suggestions. This is how He expects us to live.

But before we begin reflecting of what demands Jesus places of His followers, we need to step back so that we can see these demands in their proper light and place. We need to remember that our God never demands us to act first.

God’s abundant blessings come before His demands. And even more so in our lives. He is our Creator. He bestows upon us and sustains the gift of live.

And even before we are born, He prepares a place for us, this wonderful planet Earth. Even before we know the need for Savior, He sends His Son to become one of us, to take upon Him all our sins and death, and in exchange to give us forgiveness and life with Him forever.

The Holy Spirit comes to us and does what we can’t do ourselves. He changes our wicked hearts, He creates in us the trust in true God and He gently and patently leads us to Jesus, so that we can know the loving heart of our God.

All of this happens by sheer grace of our Heavenly Father. He makes us members of His own family. And only then, only then does He teache us how to live as His children. It makes sense, when we think about it.

Whatever we do, whichever way we behave, none of that could make us members of, let’s say, the royal family. But, if by God’s grace we are made members of such family, then that inevitably puts new responsibilities on us – responsibility to live in such a way that would reflect the nature of the family that we represent. In today’s reading we hear Jesus’ teaching exactly that. How to live out our identity as God’s children so that we truthfully represent what our divine family is about. Let’s hear what Jesus says.

And what He says first is “but I say to you who hear…”. What is going on? He is not addressing those who listen to Him, but those who actually hear Him. That is, those who take His words to their hearts, who continue to think about them and most importantly, who try to live them out in their lives.

The same is true for us. Many listen to the readings we read. Many listen to what pastors preach. But how many actually hear what God Himself speaks to us in His Word and how many take it to the heart and strive to live accordingly?

Perhaps it is not the easiest thing to lead a decent life even in the eyes of this world. But probably it isn’t the hardest thing either. Jesus reflects on it as well. He says what we all know and have experienced.

That people tend to love those who love them, and that they tend to do good to those who do good to them, and that they often lend to those who will pay them back. Or we can say that we love and do good to people who respond to us in like manner. Jesus puts it in these words: “Even sinners do the same.”

At the same time, we can treat with contempt and distain those whom we don’t consider our people. I am sure that most of you would have seen and perhaps also experienced this in your lives.

It happens in schools, it happens in workplaces, it happens in society. And unfortunately, it happens also in the Church. When we are nice and welcoming to our people… but at the same time can show a very different attitude, or no attitude at all, to those who are not our people.

The bottom line is – it is not a big deal to be nice to your own people. That is just a common sense, something necessary for our survival in this world and life in society. We all need a support network. Even sinners do the same.

This is where Jesus’ demands to His people, to Christians kick in. This is where we can see how radical Jesus’ demands are. In fact, we could say how unreasonable in the eyes of this world and how humanly impossible they are.

Just listen once more. To those who hear: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. […] But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return…”.

What Jesus expects from His followers, from us, is neither reasonable nor doable. It is impossible for us in our own power, living in this world and daily fighting for our survival. Why would anyone live that way?
But… we know the answer. What Jesus demands is impossible for mere man. But nothing is impossible for God. Nothing is impossible for those who are united with the true God. For those who have received the Holy Spirit.
For when our Creator and Redeemer comes to us and speaks to us, He also unites us with Himself by means of the indwelling of His Spirit. And the Holy Spirit turns our little and “reasonable” worlds upside down.

He brings us in this infinitely greater divine reality where we are not alone anymore. Where the Triune God is the source of every good gift, where Jesus Christ has received all authority in heavens and on earth, and reigns victorious.

The Holy Spirit expands our little world that we inhabit and brings us to the reality where this age is just a ‘prelude to the age to come. Where the true life, eternal life in God’s presence, adventurous and joyful, is what matters the most.

Where this life and this world, as important as they are, will perish giving place to the imperishable, the New Heavens, New Earth and new bodies. Once we begin to inhabit that much larger world, our God Himself enables us to live out our identity as God’s children. We are enabled to love our enemies.

It doesn’t mean that we would somehow like those people who hate us, or curse us, or abuse us. Of course, not. But as God’s children, we are able to see that they too are created in God’s Image and Likeness.

That they are enslaved to their sins. That Jesus has died to free them from their sins and that by God’s grace one day they may become our brothers and sisters in Christ. And if that is so, then it really isn’t that hard to care about our brothers and sisters in Christ, is it?

Once we see everyone this way, not only our people, but everyone, we are enabled to love them, to care for them, to pray for them. This is what we do as congregation and as individual Christians, when we pray for those who persecute us, for those who are hostile to us, for those abuse us. For we hope that one day we will rejoice together with them in God’s Kingdom.

We may still wonder what the purpose of living such life is, where you are patient when injustice is done to you, when you don’t fight when something is unfairly taken from you, when you don’t scream from the bottom of your lungs that “my rights are being violated!”

For one, everything that we have in this world is … yes, given to us by our gracious Father. Whatever we have we have received it as underserved gifts. And if we can use these gifts, that belong to God, to witness about our Father and our Lord Jesus, that’s great. But the main point is this, that we already belong to a world much greater than this, and that is God’s promise to us that as we live as Jesus Himself did and as He instructs us, our reward will be great in heavens, in the life to comes.

And by living so we will be children of our Father, for He, too “is kind to the ungrateful and the evil”. “Be, therefore, merciful, even as your Father is merciful”. See, this is our opportunity to show that this age will pass, and that something much greater is to come. And that is where our hearts belong.

We are not afraid to suffer injustice, or lose some of our materials possession in this age, for we know that so much more is to come, especially if we remain faithful to our Lord. Thus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can live as Jesus’ disciples, which may seem weak and foolish to the world. But for us it is the very opposite, God’s wisdom and true manifestation of God’s power in us.

Jesus also mentions what people often call “The Golden Rule”. “As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” This is so often misunderstood as pleasing the desires of our sinful flesh. Just do for people what they want.

Jesus doesn’t say this to everybody. He says this to His disciples, to those who hear Him, and who value eternal life with Jesus above everything else. And such people don’t just desire anything.

They desire everything that brings them closer to Jesus, that helps them to fight the good fight and to keep the faith. Therefore, we could say that the proper meaning of this phrase is – do to others whatever you can to bring them closer to Jesus and to lead them to eternal life.

A few more words on “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you”. Again this is one of these misused sayings of Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t prohibit us from speaking the truth, or proclaiming God’s will for our lives, or calling our brothers or sisters to repentance, none of these. For by doing so we can save them. What Jesus is speaking against is our arrogant and hypocritical attitude.

When we imagine that we are better than others and therefore can look down to them. When we don’t see that we ourselves are sinners, perhaps even in much worse state, than those whom we want to judge.

This command invites us to be humble and gentle when we speak with our brothers and sisters. And when we need to speak the words of rebuke, and that happens, we do it caring for their salvation, and not to elevate ourselves.
Summarizing we could say that we need to be conscious that whatever we do as Christians, it bears witness about our God. People can’t erase the knowledge of God from their hearts. But when they don’t know Jesus, they naturally perceive God as the Judge. We should do whatever we can, so that our lives would help them to see merciful and forgiving God, the Father of our Lord Jesus and our Father. And for us, chosen by God, called by the Gospel, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, this is not as burdensome a task as it may appear.

For Jesus doesn’t instruct us to do anything that He Himself hadn’t done. Besides, He doesn’t instruct us to do it on our own, instead He Himself walks with us and His Spirit continually shapes us to be more like Jesus.
And finally, as we respond to God’s love and try to obey Him, these words should accompany us. “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.” From what I can recall this is one of the most abundant illustrations of God’s blessings in the Bible.

How will God deal with you, you, faithful servant? This is how! The measure of God’s blessings will be pressed down, and shaken, for there is so much, and even then it will be running over… in abundance of God’s grace.
It is so good to be children of God. We are free to love our enemies, free to be unreasonably patient and forgiving, we are free to be extravagantly generous and humble, for we do not belong to this age, but to a much greater world. And it is coming soon. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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I. Three Gifts for Peter
It had been a long night for Peter, longer still because there was no reward for his efforts. It can’t be easy moving a boat around and hauling nets through the darkness; and now that the sun is up, there’s not a fish to be found in the boat. They won’t be biting now that day’s begun. Some nights are like that: The fish don’t always cooperate. Time to beach the boat and clean the nets.

Close by along the shoreline, a man is teaching a crowd that’s pressing upon Him. If things go the way they are, they’ll press Him right into the lake. So it only makes sense when Jesus asks to sit in a boat and teach, and Peter does the Man a favor.

We don’t know exactly what Jesus says. However, His constant message includes warnings against sin and false teaching that makes one unholy before God; and it also includes the message that grace and salvation are found in Him. As the man keeping the boat in place, Peter has the front row seat to hear every Word.

It’s after Jesus stops speaking that He issues an unusual directive in order to give an unusual gift: “Launch out into the deep and let down your down your nets for a catch.” It’s not the most sensible idea: You catch fish in the shallows during the night, not in the deep and not during the day. It sounds illogical to Peter, so he says, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” But Peter isn’t working on logic. He’s acting on faith, trusting the Word that He’s just heard.

You know what happens. They catch so many fish that the nets begin to burst and they need help to pull them to shore. It’s a miracle, and with this wonder Jesus shows how much He desires to help Peter. Fishermen need fish to make a living; Jesus gives him a boatload plus. The Lord helps out Peter with his daily bread. That’s the first gift.

One would expect Peter to be joyful at the gift, but that’s hardly the reaction. Between the teaching and the miracle, Peter’s come to realize something-something important. He’s in the presence of more than just a teacher, and more than just a man. Peter is in the presence of the Messiah, the one anointed by God to be the Savior. Peter is in the presence of His ETERNAL Lord, astonishing enough for a hard-working fisherman to comprehend. But more than that, Peter is in the presence of his HOLY Lord; and Jesus’ holiness suddenly makes Peter see how holy he is not. It is a terrifying thing for an unforgiven sinner to come face to face with God, for then he must confront how truly sinful he is and understand how righteous is his impending doom. In comparison to the purity and righteousness of God, it’s a terrible discovery.

Which is why Peter exclaims, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” No big surprise for Peter, but he’s half right. He’s also half wrong.

Peter’s right when he makes his confession that he is a sinful man. With his iniquity thrown into sharp relief by the holiness of Jesus, he acknowledges that he is in fact a poor miserable sinner who justly deserves the Lord’s temporal and eternal punishment. There is no merit or worthiness in him that deserves the Lord’s gracious gift of all those fish or anything else. No, for his sin, Peter only
deserves to have the Lord depart from Him.

But this is where Peter is wrong-when he tells Jesus to go away. He’s got the whole situation wrong. It’s not that Jesus accidentally got on the boat with Peter and didn’t realize He was helping out a sinner. It’s not that Jesus has thought that Peter was holy until Peter says otherwise.

Jesus knows all about Peter and his sin–and that’s precisely why He’s gotten on the boat. Rather than leave the man with his sin, Jesus is going to stay with him and take his sin away. And that’s exactly what He does when He says, “Do not be afraid.” The only reason that Peter need not be afraid is if he is forgiven; and so, by these words the Lord absolves him.

So, Jesus has now given him two gifts: A boatload of fish for his livelihood, and the forgiveness of sins for eternal life.

He gives one more gift that day. He says, “From now on you will catch men.” Jesus hasn’t just stopped by for the day. Now that He’s given Peter forgiveness and made him holy, He’s going to make Peter’s life holy, too. Peter will now be His disciple, later an apostle, a fisher of men. The Lord will be with him always, even to the end of his age.

As a sinful man, Peter had none of these gifts. But because Jesus came to him, he now has the kingdom of heaven. He doesn’t deserve it, but Peter doesn’t get these things because of who Peter is. He receives these gifts solely because of who Jesus is.

II. Three Gifts for You
The Lord still gives all these gifts today. The Lord delights to give all these gifts today, and He delights to give all of these gifts to all people.

Obviously, as He gave Peter that boatload of fish, the Lord still gives daily bread to all people: As the Small Catechism says, He gives “clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, fields, cattle and all of my goods.” Now, ponder for a moment how much the Lord delights to give these things: He does not just give all of these blessings to those who believe in Him or thank Him. He offers these gifts to all people, whether they believe in Him or not. Whether they give thanks to Him or not. Even if they give the credit to other gods, He still gives daily bread. All that we have in this life is a gift from Him, and all people seem quite happy to receive it. I know of no one who says, “Since I don’t believe in God, I will not make use of the bread and clothing that He provides.”

Now, the obvious surface sin at play here is the sin of ingratitude. God gives and we fail to thank Him properly. But I would propose to you that your old sinful nature is working hard for a far more dangerous goal than thanklessness. Old Adam is going to use these gifts, one way or another, to try to get you to say with Peter, “Depart from me!” to the Lord. His tactic is this: he wants to get you to dwell on the 1st gift, daily bread, so much that you care nothing for the 2nd gift, the forgiveness of
sins.

If the Lord blesses you with great abundance, it is reason for you to give abundant thanks. Old Adam, however, will twist things to get you to say, “I have so much, what need do I have of God?

God provides this stuff with no strings attached. I don’t have to worship or serve or thank Him or repent, so I like these gifts. And if I have them, I don’t need His other gifts.”

Or, Old Adam will seek to persuade you to reason, “God must approve of all that I do to give me so much. Therefore, I must not need that other gift-the gift of forgiveness.” Do you see the trick? Old Adam uses God’s
generosity for this life to tempt you to say, “I’m quite happy with all this daily bread, and don’t want more. Lord, You can go now-just keep sending the good stuff for this life.”

In other words, “Depart from me, Lord. I have what I want from You.”

If the Lord blesses you with not so much, you still have cause for abundant thanksgiving. He has made you, preserves you, and provides you with all that you need. Furthermore, He shields you from the temptations that always accompany wealth. But Old Adam makes use of this, too; he turns on the taps of jealousy and covetousness so that he might lead you to say, “God must not love me so much if I do not have so much as others. I’m just as well off without Him.” In other words, “Since You don’t give me as much as I want for this life, I’ve no interest in forgiveness and eternal life. Depart from me, O Lord.”

And among a few, Old Adam will pull the trick he pulled on Peter. He will lead some to understand their sinfulness and God’s holiness so that they feel too sinful to accept God’s gifts. He’ll lead some to say, “I hate myself so much that I do not want God to love me,” or “There’s no way that God could forgive or help me.” It sounds pious, but it’s unbelief: It accuses God of not having enough grace, which is contrary to His promise. This is just fine with Old Adam. It’s okay with him if he gets you to despair, as long as you don’t trust in Christ; it certainly worked on Judas.

No matter what, your old sinful nature will take God’s gifts for this life and try to get you to fixate on them — fixate on them so that you forget that the Lord has other gifts to offer. This is a real and present danger– especially in a land of prosperity like ours. An article on Foxnews.com (“Religion Gets Supersized at Megachurches”) reported on one of the biggest church in the United States, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. 52,000 people come each week to hear a sermon by Pastor Joel Osteen, who purposely omits talk of sin from his sermons. He sees his task as giving people “a boost for the week” and says, “I think for years there’s been a lot of hellfire and damnation. You go to church to figure out what you’re doing wrong and you leave feeling bad like you’re not going to make it. We believe in focusing on the goodness of God.” In keeping with theme, Osteen also notes that the front of the church auditorium contains no crosses. “We believe in focusing on the goodness of God.” It sounds good, but do you see the glaring error?

As he preaches on Christian weight loss and basketball, the pastor speaks of gifts that God gives for this life — gifts that He gives to believers and unbelievers alike. But in refusing to speak of sin and grace, he denies people the Good News of God’s greater goodness — the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christ, who died on the cross in their place. Such an approach says, “We’ll talk about the
stuff God gives for this life, since we don’t have to talk about sin and repentance. But when it comes to the gift of forgiveness won by Jesus’ blood and death…well, Lord, you can go now.”

Put it another way: You don’t need Jesus to have daily bread. The Lord has provided things for this life to all people, believers or not, and always will. This also means that one can rejoice in the daily bread God gives but isn’t necessarily a Christian. So why did Jesus become flesh and go to the cross? To redeem us from our sin. To suffer God’s judgment in our place and credit us with His righteousness, so that we might be pardoned for our sin and have eternal life. Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Redeem me from sin and I live forever. This is the far better gift.

This gift is also just as free for all. Old Adam will try to convince you that God gives food for free, but forgiveness comes with all sorts of requirements like repentance. The Old Adam lies like that a lot. Think of it this way: The Lord declares, “You have a body and a soul, and both need to be alive. If you don’t eat food, your body will be dead. If you don’t receive forgiveness, your soul will be dead. I give you food for both. I give you daily bread for your body and I give forgiveness for your soul. When you eat food, you have turned from hunger to life. When you receive forgiveness, you have turned from death to life. I give both in the same way: Absolutely free to you.”

And look! Not only is the gift better, but look at how the Giver gives. Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. On the way to the cross, He did not avoid sinners. He ate with them. He spoke with them. He got on Peter’s boat to take away his fear. He hauled their burden of sin to the cross and suffered for it there. Today, likewise, He does not require that you somehow work your way to Him. He comes to you. He makes you His own precious child in Baptism, cleansing you of your sin. He speaks His Word to you as He did to Peter, saying, “Do not be afraid. Your sins are forgiven; and if your sins are forgiven, then you are My beloved child and nothing can separate you from Me.” He feeds you with His Supper, bring Himself to you for the forgiveness of sins.

The gifts of God for this life are great. These gifts of the Lord for eternal life are far, far better. He does not call you to pick one or the other, but showers both upon you. Do not stop with the gifts for this life alone, for the Lord desires to give you so much more. Daily bread is a great blessing; but to focus solely on it and reject forgiveness is to say, for whatever reason, “Depart from me, Lord.”

Those who persist in this error will stand before Him on Judgment Day only to hear Him say, “Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity” (Lk. 13:27).

No, how blessed and honored are you. The Lord honors you with His presence, coming to you-and the almighty God comes to you to give gifts to you! What joy you and I have as the people of God, who showers upon us such gifts for this life and for eternity.

Of course, dear people of God, there is one more gift that He gives you: He gives you a holy life. For Peter, it was a career change; he started the day as a catcher of fish and ended the day as a catcher of people. But what made his life holy was that, as one forgiven, his works were now good in the sight of God. As the Lord has called you by the Gospel into His family, He has also called you into various vocations — parent, child, husband, wife, grandparent, employer, employee, etc. Whatever your vocations might be, you have the assurance the Lord delights in what you do, because He has made you His own and sanctified your life.

What joy you have this day, dear friends. The Lord gives you daily bread for this life, living bread for eternal life, and sanctifies your life along the way. Where your sin once cried out to the Lord, “Depart from me!”, He now says, “Lo, I am with you always.” And if the Lord does not depart, then heaven is yours; for you are forgiven for all of your sin in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Word of the Lord from Luke 4: “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

Dear Friends in Christ,

I. Four More Puzzle Pieces
As we’ve noted before, the season of Epiphany is about Jesus making Himself known, about people discovering who He is. In our Gospel lesson for today, when Jesus visits Capernaum, we find four more important puzzle pieces that teach us much about our Savior.

The first is that He teaches, and that He teaches with authority. When Jesus taught in the synagogue of His hometown in Nazareth, He read the words from Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then He began to teach about the text. But unlike the rabbis who might say, “This is a prophecy of the Messiah who will come someday,” Jesus declares, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” He’s not another teacher saying that the Christ will come—He says that He is the Christ, standing before them. He claims that authority, and rightly so. In Nazareth, though, they didn’t believe it. To them, He’s just Mary and Joseph’s little boy all-grown-up, and they let their familiarity rob them of faith in Him. They didn’t see Him performing any miracles, and so they reject His authority: in fact, they try to throw Him off a cliff, so He moved on to Capernaum. Here, in today’s Gospel lesson, the people are more receptive. They’re astonished at His teaching, for His Word possesses authority. That’s the first puzzle piece. Jesus Word has authority!

So what are His Word and authority good for? Here’s the second puzzle piece to fit into place: by His Word, Jesus shows He has authority over demons. A man with the spirit of an unclean demon cries out, “Ha! What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God.”

Demon-possession is a terrifying thing, but Jesus is far from frightened. What does He do? He speaks. He speaks His Word which has authority. He simply says, “Be silent and come out of him!” The demon departs. It has no choice. There’s no great battle, no back-and-forth where the outcome is in doubt. Jesus speaks. The demon departs. The man is unharmed. The people are astonished: “What is this Word?” they ask. “For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” The news spreads across the region.

The Lord isn’t done: His Word does more than cast out demons, as if that weren’t enough of a demonstration of power and authority. He leaves the synagogue and goes to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law. She is ill with a high fever—a serious condition that can still kill today, despite all of our medical technology. Jesus treats the fever the way He treated the demon: He rebukes it. We don’t have the words recorded, but He tells it to go away. Again, there’s no epic struggle, no need for Jesus to repeat Himself. He speaks. The fever is gone. Peter’s mother-in-law gets up and begins to serve them: she’s not just getting better, but she’s fully healed. This, by the way, is the third puzzle piece as to Jesus’ identity: by His Word, He shows that He has authority over sickness, too.

Meanwhile, the Word has spread like wildfire; and by sunset, people have brought any who are sick or demon-possessed to Jesus. He lays His hands on them and heals them. There isn’t virus or evil spirit that can resist this Savior. It’s no contest: He wins every time. When it comes to the demons, they can’t even speak without His permission. When they cry out, “You are the Son of God!”, He shuts them up. It’s not that they’re wrong, but that they haven’t been given permission to reveal His identity.

When it’s day, Jesus departs to a desolate place—likely to pray in solitude, as He does elsewhere in the Gospels. The people track Him down, which only makes sense: when you’ve got a miracle-working physician, you want to keep Him around. That’s their plan: they want to keep Him from leaving. But He isn’t going to stay. He speaks His authoritative Word to say, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” There’s the fourth piece that we can fit into the puzzle of who Jesus is: as astonishing as the miracles are, that isn’t why Jesus has come. He’s come to preach the good news of the kingdom of God—not just in Capernaum, but to the other towns, too. The “Good News” is the word for “Gospel.” Jesus is going to go from town to town, calling people to believe in Him for salvation—and by His authoritative Word, He’s going to give them faith to believe in Him. As He continues to preach His Word, He’s going to continue to fulfill the Word He preaches. He’s going to keep performing miracles, because the Old Testament said that the people would know the Savior in part by the miracles He performed. But most important of all is that He is going to go to the cross to die for their sins; because, from the very beginning, God declared in His Word that that was what the Messiah would do.

So our text gives us four clues, four more puzzle pieces that reveal who Jesus is. He speaks His Word with authority. He demonstrates His authority over demons. He has authority over sickness. And He has come to proclaim the Gospel.

That was then. What about now? Unlike the people who were hearing and watching and wondering who this new Teacher might be, you know the answer. But those four clues about Jesus hold wonderful comfort for you, too.

2. Four Great Comforts for You Today
First, it is still true that Jesus speaks with authority. He does so by means of His Word. He is not one more advice columnist or motivational speaker or politician who has come to tell you “somebody else” is coming who will solve all your problems. Usually, that “somebody else” that they talk about ends up being you. As long as you work hard enough or meditate seriously enough or help other people enough, then you’re on the road to reconciliation with God. But you already know you, and you don’t need any more of you. When you hear God’s Word, you discover that you’re the very problem in need of salvation. So Jesus isn’t one more eternal life-coach who says, “You have to do more to be saved.” Instead, He says, “I’ve already done it all. I’ve gone to the cross and died for your sins. I am risen again. Salvation is yours.” Jesus doesn’t point to someone else. He points to Himself and says, “I am your Savior. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Not only is this good news, but it is His Word, spoken with His authority. In other words, when Jesus declares to you in His Word that He is your Savior, He’s not just giving news for you to believe: He is, in fact, giving you the faith by which you can believe the news He speaks. His Word is like no other: He gives what He says by speaking it. That is speaking with authority.

Second, it is still true that Jesus has authority over demons. It’s rather unfashionable to speak of demons and possession these days—the world will tell you that it’s all a bunch of superstitious nonsense, that primitive people were misled to believe that illness was actually a manifestation of the devil. The Lord, however, disagrees: His authoritative Word in Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Those spiritual forces of evil haven’t gone away. They just wear disguises. After all, one of the greatest tricks the devil can play is to make you believe that he doesn’t exist at all.

So why are there so many demons in the Gospels? It sounds like Jesus is rebuking them left and right, and so He is. There’s little doubt that there are a ton of evil spirits making themselves known during the time of Jesus’ ministry. It may well be that His very presence in the flesh ticked them off so much that they felt compelled to raise a fuss; or it may be that the Lord drew them out in order to show how powerless they were against His Word. But the relative absence of such events today does not mean that demons and the devil have ceased to operate, nor does it mean that demon-possession has ended. Every temptation you encounter is hurled at you by the evil one, and he is far too powerful for you. He is no match, however, for your Savior who still sends Satan packing by means of His authoritative Word. You’ve witnessed it yourself, surely, for you have seen the Lord’s Word added to water and spoken over an infant at the font: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And with those words, Jesus takes possession of His beloved child and sends the devil packing. The evil one doesn’t put up much of a fuss like the demons in our Gospel lesson, for the last thing he’d want to do is provide evidence to you that Baptism actually does something. The Absolution does him similar damage: your sins give Satan a claw-hold by which to hang on as he whispers in your ear that you’re condemned. But Holy Absolution exposes his accusation as a lie as it declares Jesus’ authoritative Word that you’re forgiven for all of your sins. This, too, sends the devil scurrying away into the cowardly darkness away from the light of Christ.

Third, it is also true that Jesus has authority over sickness—even death. He has, after all, borne all our sins and infirmities to the cross and died with them there before rising again on the third day. Sickness and death are no match for His powerful Word. So why aren’t Christians miraculously healed left and right today? Why so many more miracles in the Gospels than now? The miracles in the Gospels took place for a specific reason—to prove that Jesus was the Savior. Old Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah 35, declared that miracles would accompany the Messiah. When Jesus came, He worked miracles—proving Himself to be the Christ. He’s made the case—there’s no more proof needed. To believe in Him, we don’t need to witness such miracles ourselves, because we hear about them in His Word—His Word that He still speaks with authority.

Nevertheless, it is true that Jesus has authority over sickness and death. The problem is that you will be tempted to believe that He must exercise that authority right now, on your schedule, to prove that He is the Savior. But the Lord often works through weakness to save—there is no better example of that than the cross; and so He will also permit sickness in your life, too—and He will permit it to stay for a while. But this does not mean He is powerless or faithless. He did not heal everyone who was sick during His ministry, yet those He healed fulfilled the prophecies. Those whom He did heal had been afflicted for a long time, some since birth; the fact that they were sick for a long time does not negate that the Lord spoke His Word to heal them. You’ll be tempted to doubt your Savior when He doesn’t work on your schedule, but do not despair: though He permit suffering and affliction in this life for a while according to His wisdom and will, He will still demonstrate His authority over sickness and even death itself. He will do so on the Last Day, when He raises you up from the dead, fully healed and never to be afflicted again.

The fourth comfort is this: the purpose of Jesus remains the preaching of the Good News of the kingdom of God. He sent out His disciples to preach, and it is true that He gave them authority to heal the sick and cast out demons like He did, at least for a while; but most of all, He sent His disciples out to preach the Good News of the kingdom of God. Those who were healed of their sicknesses would eventually grow weak and sick again, and those who had demons cast out still had to confront death and grave. But the Good News of the kingdom of God is better news than that: by the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified, it gives forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. For where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. The Church is always tempted to stray away from this message, for the Good News of the kingdom of God appears so humble and weak and useless against the temptations and afflictions of this life; but once again, so did the cross appear humble and weak and useless. The Church does well to remember this, because she will always be tempted to give up on the Gospel in favor of things that people consider more important and glorious—be it faith-healing, emotional experience or whatever.

Yet Jesus came to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God, humble though it may sound—and humble though it may appear at the font and the altar. Familiarity breeds contempt in a sinful world, so you’ll be tempted as well to look past this Good News. But you must remember, Jesus Christ became flesh to be your Savior. He has died for all of your sins. He is risen from the dead and sits at God’s right hand, interceding for you. He will deliver you from every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and He promises to you eternal life. That is why He came—to be Your Savior. And that is what He continues to proclaim in His authoritative Word.

Dear friends, this is the Good News of the kingdom of God. Your Savior is not far away. He is as near to you as His Word and His Sacraments. And by that Word which He proclaims with authority, He says this to you: “I forgive you all of your sins.” In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

We continue working our way through the season of Epiphany and the Epiphany theme continues in today’s Gospel. Jesus is still showing Himself to people. He is still beginning His ministry. Nevertheless, there is something very different in the Gospel chosen for today.

So far in Epiphany, everything has been very positive. The Wise Men have come to worship the newborn king. The people who gathered at the Jordan saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus in the form of a dove and heard the voice of the Father from heaven. The disciples went to a wedding in Cana and drank wine that had been water just a little bit earlier in the day. So far, people see Jesus as the authentic Messiah. They do not understand the full implications of Jesus’ authenticity, but they trust Jesus. They believe in Him.

That changes in today’s Gospel. Jesus has established Himself as a rabbi and has been teaching in the synagogues of Galilee. He came to His own home town, Nazareth. He revealed Himself in the synagogue on the Sabbath as He had been doing throughout Galilee. You would think that the city fathers in Nazareth would want to present the key to the city to Jesus, but they didn’t. Instead of welcoming Jesus, His own people rejected Him. Jesus presented His Epiphany in the synagogue in Nazareth and the people tried to kill Him.

The account begins as Jesus read the scripture of the day. The reading for the day was a prophecy from Isaiah concerning the signs and activities of someone who had been anointed for God’s special work. This is part of a longer reading that describes all the blessings that God’s people will receive through this Anointed One. In Hebrew, the word for Anointed One is Messiah, in Greek it is Christ. Thus, this passage in Isaiah tells of the coming Messiah, the future Christ. The person who fulfilled this prophecy would be the promised one of Israel.

The topic of the sermon that Jesus preached after He read from Isaiah was the fulfillment of the prophecy. Anyone who had been at the Jordan would have seen the Holy Spirit rest on Jesus. They would have heard the voice from heaven, [Luke 3:22] “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” At His baptism, Jesus took up our sins in order to carry them to the cross. It would make sense that He was the Lord’s Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus is now bringing this good news to the people in the synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus simply told them that He was the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The people reacted strongly to His words. After all, they remembered seeing Jesus grow up. They remembered that, when Jesus was old enough, He labored along with Joseph in the building trade. He hadn’t seemed like anything special then. He was exceptionally bright and precocious, but to say He was the Anointed One couldn’t possibly be right. Besides, if He was the Messiah, wouldn’t He at least perform the same signs in His hometown that He had performed elsewhere? In fact, shouldn’t the signs in His hometown be even better? Ultimately these people decided that Jesus preached beautifully and graciously, but His actual message was too bizarre. They just couldn’t take Him seriously.

Jesus perceived their thoughts. He diagnosed their problem:
“and he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

It wasn’t just that they wanted Jesus to do some miracles. They were guilty of wanting Jesus on their own terms. They wanted Jesus to proclaim that there was something special about them because they were from His hometown. They wanted Jesus to declare them especially worthy of His gifts because of who they were.

Then Jesus explained the truth of the situation. God’s acceptance does not depend on merit or worthiness, but on grace alone. Jesus demonstrated this using the example of a pagan widow and a pagan general. God miraculously supplied the Widow of Zarephath with oil and flour so that she could feed Elijah and her family during a famine. Naaman the Syrian was the commanding general of the Syrian army, an enemy of Israel. Never the less, God worked through His prophet Elisha to cure Naaman’s leprosy. Both of these events demonstrate the sheer grace of God’s care.

For some people, though, God’s grace is a very divisive topic. When God says that we already have all His gifts by grace that means that there is nothing we can do to earn those gifts. Some people don’t like it when someone tells them there is nothing they can do to earn God’s favor. Instead of rejoicing in the grace God freely gives to us, they complain. They feel insulted. Their own pride prohibits them from receiving the grace that God wants to give to them. They turn God’s grace inside out and see it as condemnation.
The crowds in the synagogue in Nazareth were such people. Instead of receiving the grace that Jesus offered to them, they became angry. They were so angry that they wanted to throw Jesus over a cliff and then rain stones down on Him until He was dead. Jesus finally gave them a sign. When they tried to throw Him from the cliff, He simply walked away and no one was able to stop Him. How sad that the only sign they received was the sign of God leaving their presence.

We still come to God with our agendas. We still come to God with our preconceived notions of how He should deal with us. Everyone does this. After all, we are all conceived in sin. We are all enemies of God until He rescues us from sin. So we all think we know the “who, what, when, where, and why” of our relationship with God. We have it all figured out until Jesus comes to us and explains how things really are.

Jesus wants to give us the gifts that He purchased for us with His holy life, His suffering, and His death. He wants to give the gifts that He secured with His resurrection from the dead. He wants to tell us how His death on the cross has freed us from our captivity, opened our eyes to His salvation, and liberated us from sin’s oppression.

He comes to us as He came to the people of Nazareth in their synagogue. He has given us His teachings in the words of the Bible. He has promised that when we hear His words, the Holy Spirit will work in us to establish and strengthen our belief in Him. The gifts that Jesus offered to the people in Nazareth will be ours.

Sadly, Jesus’ offer is still divisive. There are some who reject His gifts and label them oppressive. There are some whose pride will not allow them to admit that they are sinners who need God’s grace. There are some who reject the Anointed One’s agenda rather than change the sinful agenda with which they were born. Such people would rather go to hell than surrender the plans they have for themselves. They follow the example of the people of Nazareth.

Those who have the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith are like the people in today’s Old Testament reading. They had returned from exile in Babylon. They had re-built Jerusalem. Now, they heard the Word of the Lord from the Law of Moses, the Torah. It was a special day when scribes once again proclaimed and explained the Torah in the city of Jerusalem.

But as the people heard the Word of the Lord, they began to realize the magnitude of the sins they had committed against God. They understood how wrong their plans had been. Their sin brought them to tears. As the people repented in tears, those who were doing the reading and explaining were able to proclaim the Gospel, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep. Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” It was not too long after this day that the priests once again began the sacrifices that pointed forward to the Messiah who would save His people from their sins. It was not long after this day, that Jerusalem was once again the living object lesson that pointed forward to the Messiah, the Anointed One.

These people had not only been captive in Babylon, but they had also been captives of sin. The Persians had given them the freedom to return home, but, more importantly, these people experienced the tears of repentance followed by the joy of the forgiveness of sins. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah for them just as much as He did for the people of Nazareth. He has also fulfilled that prophecy for you and for me. The people in Nazareth rejected the fulfillment and the only sign they received was Jesus walking away. The people who heard the words of the Torah from the mouth of Ezra wept over their sin and received the joy of forgiveness for that sin.

What is it that Jesus continues to do through His pastors that He has given and continues to give to His Church? The answer is this: nothing more and nothing less than what He began to do Himself and has continued to do ever since that day in Nazareth. The pastor is called to preach the Good News to the poor by telling them of this Gospel of God – called to proclaim release to the captives by absolving the penitent of their sins – called to give sight to the blind by showing them Christ crucified for the sins of the world – called to set at liberty those who are oppressed by taking them to the empty Easter tomb – and called to read the Word to the people of God. What Word? Well, today, on this day, it is this Word of God …

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
because He has anointed Me to preach Good News to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

The eyes of all in the sanctuary were fixed on Him, and because the Word made flesh was present with His people by His Word that day, He continued to forgive, to release, to give sight, to set at liberty, and to proclaim Jubilee to them, right there. And thus faithful pastors in Christendom joyfully state what has continued since the Word began: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus truly is the fulfillment of God’s promises. He is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah. He has preached the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He has shown us the light of His salvation. With His life, suffering, and death on the cross, He has freed those oppressed by sin. With His resurrection, He offers the Lord’s favor to us. He gives these things to us through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith. God has promised all these things to us and today they are fulfilled in our hearing. Let us not respond not like the people of Nazareth, but rather, like the people of Jerusalem, who wept over their sins and then received with joy God’s gift of forgiveness, life and salvation. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dear Friends in Christ,

The season of Epiphany is all about Jesus becoming manifest, becoming known as the Messiah. At Christmas, He arrives; during Epiphany, He makes it known that He has come to save. In last week’s Gospel, we heard about Jesus’ baptism, and a lot happened there. Jesus was baptized to demonstrate that He came to take the place of sinners. Then, God the Father declared Jesus to be His beloved Son, even as the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. A lot was made known about Jesus there: namely, that the Son of God—the second person of the Holy Trinity—had become flesh to redeem the world from sin.

This week, Jesus goes to a wedding and turns water into wine. But there’s a lot more going on in this text, too.

Here’s what we know from the text: Jesus and His disciples attend a wedding at Cana, where His mother Mary is also present. In fact, some pretty reliable theologians have suggested that Mary isn’t just a guest; this might well be a wedding involving some blood relatives, so she might have a personal stake in making sure that the wedding party isn’t embarrassed. Wedding feasts can go on for days, involving a lot of food and a lot of wine. In this case, the wine runs out while the feast is far from over. Mary tells Jesus to do something about it; and although He has some curt words for her, He also tells the servants to fill six large barrels full of water, then to take some water to the master of the feast. When the master of the feast tastes the water, he finds that it has become wine. In fact, it’s become good wine—far better than the stuff they’ve been serving up to now. Our text concludes that this is the first of Jesus’ signs in order to manifest His glory, and His disciples believe in Him.

So Jesus turns water into wine. That’s a miracle, a supernatural feat. But there’s a lot more going on. There’s a lot that Jesus is making manifest about Himself.

I. Five Aspects of Jesus’ First Sign
First, take that exchange between the Lord and His mother. She tells Him, “They have no wine,” a nudge that He should do something about it. Jesus’ response seems a little strange: “Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” For all the honor Mary rightly deserves, we remember that she’s also a human being in need of redemption. Here, it seems, she’s decided to use her position as Jesus’ mother to get Him to use His divine authority for her will. Jesus puts a quick stop to that. Although He is the Author of the commandment to “Honor your father and your mother,” He is also the Son of God with godly wisdom and a divine will that Mary can’t comprehend. He’s not here to do Mary’s will, even when her selfish requests are with the best of intentions. He’s come to do the will of His Father in heaven: that means going to the cross to die for the sins of the world, not backing up unprepared caterers at wedding feasts. He is going to do the miracle here, but for a different purpose: He’s going to do so to make His glory known. In the meantime, though, there’s a valuable lesson of Law in this: one of the biggest temptations you face, when faced with crisis, is to try to influence the Lord to do what you want. If the Lord didn’t let His own mother influence Him, He’s not going to let you alter His holy will, either. Instead, faith prays, “Thy will be done.” But there’s more to this miracle than mother-son relationships.

The Second Aspect: way back in Deuteronomy 18:18, it was prophesied that the Messiah would be a second Moses—God would put His words in His mouth, and all who listened to Him would be saved. As the Messiah, Jesus was the second Moses. At the start of his public ministry, Moses turned water into blood before Pharaoh: it was an announcement of judgment for the king’s unbelief, a warning that he should let God’s people go. That first plague brought death to the food supply as the fish of the Nile were killed: Moses’ miracle made the water worse. At the start of His public ministry, Jesus turns water into wine. It is not an announcement of judgment, but a proclamation of joy. Abundant wine is a symbol of redemption and restoration. In Amos 9:13-14 the Lord declares:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,    “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;the mountains shall drip sweet wine,    and all the hills shall flow with it.14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,    and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus will restore man to the Paradise of heaven. Eternity will be called the wedding feast of the Lamb. Thus, in this way, Jesus—the “second Moses”—is not like the first. The first warned Pharaoh of judgment, while the second came to declare redemption. Jesus is not at the wedding for blood and death: He brings wine and life, by shedding His own blood. He didn’t come to pile on the guilt and shame. He came to die in your place so that you could be delivered from sin to everlasting life, to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

There’s still more going on here: The Third Aspect is that Jesus uses the big stone water jars—the ones that are normally set aside for the Jewish rites of purification. You might recall the practice of the Pharisees from elsewhere in the Gospels (cf. Mark 7:3-4), how they insist on washing hands, utensils, cups and even couches before they eat a meal; it’s a law they’ve made up, one that they said you had to follow in order to be clean. They’re big on laws—in fact, they believe that you earn God’s favor and work your way into heaven by keeping lots of laws. But washing hands and silverware doesn’t get rid of sin, so Jesus has a better use for these pots: He has them filled with water, and it’s this water that He turns into wine by His Word. It’s another facet to the miracle: Jesus replaces man’s water with His wine, a visual statement that He is the One who cleanses, who purifies. He replaces man’s rules, which could never save, with Himself, who will die for the sins of the world.

Fourth, on a much less grand or consequential note: it’s wine, wine with all of the properties that wine has. There are some Christians who declare that the consumption of all alcohol is sinful; and I’ve heard it said that when Jesus turned water into wine at Cana, it was non-alcoholic wine or was really just water that people called “wine” in a good-natured way. It had to be, they say, because consumption of alcohol is sinful. But that isn’t what God’s Word says. It’s wine. Thus, the teaching that all consumption of alcohol is sinful is a false doctrine. The lesson I wish to draw here is certainly not that everyone should drink and get blasted. Certainly not! Alcohol is not for all, and should be consumed only in moderation by those who partake. The far greater lesson is this: let us not make up laws which God does not make up, and bind people’s consciences to them. Doing so creates false guilt and false pride; it turns the Gospel back into Law, and turns people back into slaves rather than those set free by grace.

Finally there’s one last facet to this first of Jesus’ signs that I’d like to point out: except for Mary, His disciples and a few servants, we have no proof that anyone knows that a miracle has taken place. To those who know, and to you, the glory of Jesus is manifested. But to the casual wedding guest, how would he know that anything has happened? The master of the feast himself thinks that the bridegroom has opened up a new supply that he’s had on hand the whole time, because all he knows is that the servants brought him some wine to taste. There’s been no lightning flash, thunderclap, rushing wind or blinding light. Nothing supernatural appears to have happened. In fact, if you were there to watch the whole miracle take place, here is what you’d see: Jesus tells the servants to fill some jars with water. He tells them to take some of the water to the master of the feast. When the master of the feast tastes it, it’s wine.

It’s a miracle, one by which Jesus manifests His glory. But it doesn’t look glorious at all. Kind of like the manger. Kind of like the cross. Kind of like how Jesus normally works to save, manifesting His glory behind the scenes.

2. Behind the Scenes
That’s why I think this text would be a great one for an ordination sermon, and also why this miracle is a comforting one for you.

I think it would be a great text for an ordination sermon for this reason: Jesus is present there at the wedding, and He’s performing the miracle. But while He speaks His Word to get it done, He’s using the servants as His instruments. The servants don’t do anything miraculous; and the Lord Jesus may not even move from His chair the entire time this miracle was taking place. And yet, it was by this miracle that Jesus manifests His glory. It is by this miracle that His disciples believe in Him.

So if I were to preach an ordination sermon, this is what I would tell the new pastor: you’re the servant at the feast. You’re the instrument of God. You’re not a miracle worker, but the hands and the mouth. As you preach the Word and administer the Sacraments, the Lord is present to give forgiveness, life and salvation. You won’t see Him, you won’t feel Him; and there will be times when you’re ministering to people in dire situations when you’ll feel completely helpless and ineffective. But it’s not up to you: you’re the servant who’s doing what the Lord has told you to do. Be faithful to that calling, and leave the miracles up to Him. He will work the wonders and manifest His glory as He sees fit.

This is comfort. You don’t see your glorious Savior with your eyes, either; and there will be times that you’ll really be wishing for a miracle—to heal, to set things right, to make things the way they used to be, to get you out of a tough situation you’re in. You and I don’t like fear, pain, or uncertainty; and when confronted by affliction, we’re tempted to impatience as we pray that the Lord would deliver us now—right now. We know He can if He so chooses: there are plenty of miracles in Scripture where the Lord worked some spectacular wonder for all to see. But when it’s your turn to suffer and that time drags on, the devil will tempt you to be impatient with God, to grow weary of waiting for Him to work miracles.

Do not forget that faith trusts in what it does not see. Do not forget that faith means trusting in what you do not see, often in spite of what you do. Do not forget, in the words of Romans 8:24-25, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” The Lord is faithful, even when you do not see miracles. Your proof is the cross: for if God has already sacrificed His Son for you, He will not forsake you now.

But the message of the wedding of Cana is not patience, of waiting for a miracle at a later date. When told that the wine was running out, Jesus didn’t say, “Be patient! And don’t worry: in heaven there will be enough wine!” He worked a miracle then and there, even though many didn’t notice the miracle.

That’s the lesson of the wedding at Cana: the Lord is present here, with you. And where the Lord is present, He is working miracles. And the miracles He works here are far greater than turning water into wine: He’s turning dead sinners into living children of God.

After the service today, you depart from this place—and the Lord goes with you. You’ll go back to family life, school, work, whatever your callings entail. Some of the things you have to do will be frustrating and seem to border on futility as you beat your head against the wall. But you are a child of God, living a sanctified life; and as you deal with those around you, you are God’s voice and God’s hands to care for them. The Lord used servants to fill the water jars at the wedding. He will use you in service to others, too.

That’s the lesson from the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed His first sign and manifested His glory, and no one seemed to notice, except his disciples. The same Lord is with you, present to save, working to give you the miracle of eternal life: and He manifests His glory in the miraculous truth that for His sake, you are forgiven for all of your sins. In the Name…

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I. Jesus, Once with Sinners Numbered

He’s everything they’re not. And more.

They’re that crowd on the banks of the Jordan River, listening to John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-17). They’re the kind of grubby sinners that the world just doesn’t get. Just look around and you’ll see what I mean. If you’re a sinner, what are you supposed to do about it? The old-school notion is that you pick up the pieces, ignore the past and get on with the future. In terms of psychology and sanity, that may be a pretty good way to live. The popular option today, of course, is to parade your sin as blatantly as you can. You can boast in it, daring others to call it wrong. You can use it for personal gain, claiming that you’re a victim who needs others to lift you up. If you play your cards right, you might even become the star of a cable reality-TV show. If you choose the right sins to be enslaved to, iniquity can pay quite well these days.

Those are the kinds of sinners that the world gets—those who are models of recovery, and those who dwell on it for their own personal comfort or financial gain. But these sinners by the Jordan River are a different bunch entirely. They’re not bluffing or trying to profit. They’re—believe it or not—they’re sorrowful, contrite about their sins. They’re humbly confessing their weaknesses, their failures and their sins. Each one is saying in effect, “I do not do what I should do, and I am not who I should be. I need to be forgiven. My sin is killing me, and I need God to take My sin away.” One by one, they’re baptized by John in the river—a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

You’re not going to see them on the red carpet or Entertainment Tonight anytime soon. Don’t waste your time on the likes of them. Losers, the world says.

But He’s everything they’re not. They’re weak—He’s all-powerful. They’re failing—He’s eternal. They’re mortal—He’s not. They’re unrighteous—He’s holy. Their sin is offensive to God—He is God. He’s the ultimate winner, completely unlike all those loser-sinners on the banks of the Jordan River. This is like night and day, apples and oranges, AM-FM. One of these is not like the others, and His name is Jesus.

But Jesus doesn’t stay away. He walks down among them, brushing shoulders as He works His way through the jostling crowd. He’s not slumming or on a joyride to show how much better He is. He goes to John and asks to be baptized. John objects. Of course he does. Baptism is for sinners, those grubby losers in need of forgiveness. The Son of God has no need to be baptized—He has no need for repentance or forgiveness because He is without sin.

So why is He there? He’s there to be one of them. He’s there to be numbered with them. He’s become flesh—He’s been born of Mary to do this. At the Jordan, Jesus declares to sinners, “You are indeed sinful and you do need forgiveness. You can’t save yourselves. But I can. I’ve become man like you to save you. I’m numbered among you today because I’m taking your place. As your sins are washed off of you, I’m washing them onto Me. I’m going to haul them all to the cross, and I’m going to die for them there. I’m going to take your place and be judged by My Father for your sin. And because I’m going to die your death, you’re going to have My life— My eternal life.”

So Jesus is baptized by John. His Father approves: He declares from heaven, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” This is the plan of salvation: not that God should stay far away and hold His nose at the stench of sinners. He becomes man to be numbered with man, to stand with man, and to die in his place.

2. Joined in Death and Resurrection

Jesus stands with you, and more. In fact, He stands you with Him—that where He is, you may be also. That’s the Good News of our epistle.

There’s Law in this text to set the stage: namely, you were enslaved in sin. It’s important to study what that means. Last Sunday we talked about what it means to be dead in sin, which is how we were born into this world. To be dead in sin is to be completely dead, unable to give yourself life. Remember: it does not mean “mostly dead, but alive enough to kick a little.” It means dead. It means that the only way you can be alive is if Jesus does all the work to make you alive.

To complement the image of being dead in sin, our text adds the image of being a slave to sin. Don’t underestimate the extent: it means to be fully enslaved. It is not that one has to try very hard to do God-pleasing things or say God-pleasing things: it means that apart from Jesus and His grace, no one can do or say anything that is God-pleasing. In fact, if one is enslaved to sin in thought, he cannot think anything that is God-pleasing apart from Christ. Thus, in Romans 3 we hear, “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God” (Romans 3:10-11). That’s slavery to sin.

American Christianity is full of the idea that you’re born as a slave to sin—but with plans to escape. Sure, you think sinful thoughts and do sinful things—but there’s a part of you yearning to be free, to do and say and think the right thing. You’re considered to be stuck as a slave for now, willing to be holy but not strong enough to do it on your own—but if you decide to heed Jesus’ call for your emancipation, then you’ll make your escape and be free.

The Bible doesn’t give you that much credit. You’re fully enslaved to sin, it says—“there is none who seeks after God.” You may be appalled by some facets of evil, some varieties of sin, and you may want to be free from them; but by your own reason and strength, you’ll only run from one sin to another. You will not escape to holiness. See, that’s what the crowds in the Gospel lesson have figured out: they can’t make themselves alive, and they can’t make themselves free. They need a Savior. The same is true of you—you need a Savior to make you alive, to set you free. That is precisely what Jesus has done for you.

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” This is why you rejoice: even as Jesus went to the Jordan to be baptized and to be numbered with those sinners, He has come to be numbered with you. In fact, in Holy Baptism, He has visited you just as really and truly as He visited those people at the Jordan, in order to number you among His people.

This is a truth worthy of long meditation: in Holy Baptism, Jesus has joined you to His death—His death for your sin. He takes the forgiveness He won at the cross and gives it to you by water and the Word. In Holy Baptism, He declares, “The wages of sin is death, and apart from Me you would suffer God’s judgment—eternal death—for your sin. But I have died that death for you, and I join you to that death in your Baptism. At the cross, I made your sin My sin, your death My death. Here at the font, I make My death your death. I felt the scourge, the nails, the wrath of My Father. You feel a splash of water, nothing more, because all the wrath is done and gone. Don’t be deceived by the ease of the gift. You are baptized at the cost of My body sacrificed, My blood shed—so that you did not have to pay that price for your sin.”

In Holy Baptism, you have died with Christ. You have been crucified with Him. You have been buried with Him already. The judgment for your sin has already been carried out. That is why death has no claim on you. That’s why hell has no claim on you. Jesus hasn’t just died for your sin: He’s come to you—to you!—and joined you to that death, so that you don’t have to die it for yourself.

There’s more: Jesus has joined you to His resurrection. He declares, “Although I died and was buried, I rose from the dead. My time in the grave was short, and I live again. I join you to that new life: the grave is a resting place, not the end. Death is a sleep and a shadow, nothing more. Sin causes death—those who are holy live forever. And because I have died your death and risen again, I give My holiness and eternal life to you. Rejoice, dear friends. Jesus hasn’t just saved you from: He has brought you to. He hasn’t saved you from hell so that you remain unconscious in the grave for eternity. He has saved you from hell to heaven. From death to life. From a slave of sin to a child and heir of God. And how can you be sure that He has given this to you? He promises that He’s given it to you in your Baptism. He’s joined you to His death and resurrection.

This new life has begun now. Although your body still faces death before it is raised to perfection, even now you already have eternal life in Christ. Even now you are set free from sin. Even now you are set free to live the life of one redeemed. In the words of our text, you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

That is why you do good works. That is why you say good words. That is why, although you are constantly tempted, you strive—by God’s grace and strength—to avoid sin and do what is right. You’ve been made alive in Christ by Baptism—to return willfully to sin is to say, “I’d rather be dead.” You’ve been set free from sin by Jesus in Holy Baptism—to return willfully to sin is to say, “I’d rather be back in chains.” It is a frequent error for people to say, “I have been baptized and forgiven. Therefore, I can still cling to this sin or that one and be a Christian.” It simply isn’t so. It is the equivalent of saying, “Since I have been born, I can stop living and still be alive.” It is not so. If you are dead again, you are no longer alive. If you return to be a slave of sin, you are no longer freed child of God. That is why our text begins, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1-2).

Daily, though, you’ll still sin. Daily, Old Adam will rear his ugly dead head and coax you back towards slavery and grave. That is why, daily, you remember your Baptism. Daily, you confess your sins before God and rejoice in His forgiveness. Daily, you say, “I’ve acted once again like a dead, sinful slave. I’ve proven once again my complete unworthiness for God’s mercy. But that is not who I am anymore. Jesus has joined me to His death and resurrection, made me alive in Him. Therefore, I confess those sins which would enslave me again—and I rejoice that I live by the grace of God, because Jesus has joined me to His death and resurrection.

Perhaps it is because we are baptized only once, often in infancy, that we do not give Holy Baptism the credit it deserves. Or perhaps it is the devil and our Old Adam that despise it and numb us to its wonder. For this, too, we should repent. Remember the sinful crowds along the banks of the Jordan in our Gospel lesson: Jesus does not shun sinners, but comes to be numbered among them. In your Baptism, Jesus has come to you, to number you with Him. He has declared, “I do not shun you for your sin. I have died to take your sin away, and I am risen again. I have joined you to My death and resurrection, and so you have eternal life. I do not shun you. I am not ashamed of you. You are Mine.”

And because you are His, His Father delights to add of you, “This is My beloved child, in whom I am well-pleased.”

All of this is yours, because Jesus has joined you to Himself, to His death and resurrection. All of this remains yours, now and forever, because you are forgiven for all of your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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