Cleansed Inside and Out by the Word of God in Christ Jesus

If you think back to Genesis and the story of the Fall into sin, there in the Garden of Eden, it might well strike you as odd for Jesus to say, here in this Holy Gospel, that what you eat does not effect the heart or defile you.  After all, wasn’t that the whole problem, to begin with, in the case of Adam and Eve?  And as you move through the Old Testament, it was the Lord Himself who differentiated between the clean and unclean animals and gave specific dietary laws for His people to follow.

But the key to understanding all of this — at ground level and from the inside-out — is the Word that God the Lord has spoken.  It is what He has said concerning this or that food that matters.

The truth is that sin and death are not caused or determined by food, leastwise not in itself.  Indeed, food belongs to God’s good creation and is basic among His good gifts to man.  Neither food nor drink of itself can defile or cleanse you, damn you or save you.  Neither fasting nor feasting make you righteous before God.  But the way that you receive and use His good creation — including the way that you consume the food and drink He gives to you — all of this is measured by His Word to you, whether you are acting in faith and love, or in disobedience, idolatry, and unbelief.

All things, St. Paul writes, are sanctified by the Word of God and prayer, and the Lord’s good creation is to be received from His open hand with thanksgiving (as in the Eucharist).  All things are lawful to those who trust in the Lord, and all foods are clean to the one who eats and drinks in such faith, as the gifts of God are regarded and used in accordance with His Commandments.

Faith is content, satisfied, and happy with whatever God has given to you, be it a lot or very little.  And faith is happy for your neighbor, too, with whatever God has given to him, even if it happens to be considerably more than He has given to you.  And you need not be afraid to enjoy and make use of whatever the Lord has entrusted to your stewardship in the freedom of faith in Christ Jesus.  Nor should you be angered by what you do not have, as though your life actually depended on that one thing — or those great many things — which the Lord your God has not given to you.

In faith you are neither angry nor afraid of anything, because you are at home and at peace in your Father’s world.  You are a beloved child living in His House, a free citizen of His Kingdom.

So, what has gone wrong?  And why is it that your life in the flesh is so precarious and difficult?

Well, flesh and blood are not your enemy.  Neither your neighbor’s flesh and blood, nor the flesh and blood of any creature.  Not food or drink but the devil is your enemy with his assaults and accusations.  He tempts you to sin, and then he drives you to despair when he has led you into sin.  And your sinful heart is not only vulnerable to his attacks; it is outright complicit with the devil and this sinful world.  You actually conspire with your worst enemy to your own hurt and harm.

Now, back in the Garden, Adam and Eve did not eat according to God’s Word in faith — that was the problem.  Instead, they disobeyed what He had spoken to them, beginning already with their doubt of His Word and His promises.  And you are their child and heir; you see the fruits of that in your life, in your heart and mind, in your thoughts and feelings, and in your words and actions.  You do not fear, love, and trust the Lord your God, and neither do you heed His Commandments.  Hence, you have no peace or rest, and you do not feel safe and secure in the world, because you do not believe Him.  You do not believe His promises, and you do not trust His providence.

Because your heart is not right with God, your life in the world is not righteous and holy, either.  Instead of receiving and using God’s good creation rightly, you either despise and demonize it with contempt, or you idolize and worship the creation as a false god.  You also sin against your neighbor in what you think and say and do.  You hurt him and speak ill of him.  You take his stuff, or you would if you could get away with it.  You covet his spouse and his children.  You burn with envy and jealousy, hatred and lust, because you lack the wisdom and understanding of God.

With such a sinful heart, you don’t even know how to live, not really.  You may think you do.  You may have many aspirations, and you may suppose that you’re hittin’ or missin’ the mark.  But the truth is, you don’t really know how to live.  Apart from faith in Christ, you are not able to “possess the land,” even though God gives you all good things by His grace.  You do not see or trust what He is doing for you, and so you stumble about from one sin to another, finally falling into death.

But now, listen to Christ Jesus.  Hear what He says, even before it begins to make sense to you.  For you won’t have the ears to hear until He has first of all opened your ears with His Word.

It is by His Word and by His Holy Spirit through the Gospel that He has called you into His House to catechize you here, to make you a disciple, a Christian, by His grace through faith in His Word.  By this catechesis, as by your Holy Baptism, He has made of you a new creation.  Indeed, all things are made brand new in the Body of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen.  And all things are cleansed and sanctified by the Word that He speaks to you.  So, then, listen to Him and hear what He says.

From out of your own sinful heart — Jesus has clearly told you — out of your own sinful heart proceed all kinds of evil things.  He gives you a fair number of examples, but there’s even more than you could ever realize.  It is the Spirit who searches your heart and tries your mind.  Only God can show you the full extent and depths of your sin — which is what comes out of your heart.

But out of His great heart of love, in striking contrast, grace and mercy and peace spring forth, unto forgiveness and Life and Salvation.  That is what proceeds from His heart — for you and for all.

The Son of God has come forth from the Father, and He has become flesh and blood for you and your salvation, indeed, for all the world.  In divine and holy love, He has entered into and become a part of His own Creation by His conception and birth of St. Mary.  And that too was by His Word and Holy Spirit, for everything the Lord your God does, He does by His Word and Holy Spirit; and as the Angel Gabriel said to the Blessed Virgin Mary, “With God, no Word shall be powerless.”

So this is what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.  And not only that.  He has redeemed and sanctified all flesh and all of creation in His own Body by way of His Cross and in His Resurrection.

Not only has He atoned for all of your sins by His sacrificial death and by the shedding of His holy and precious Blood, but in Himself — by His own life in His Body of flesh and blood like yours, and by His bodily Resurrection from the dead — He has established the righteousness of faith and love for you and for all the sons and daughters of Adam & Eve.  As the true Man, He has set things right between God and man, not just abstractly, not just in general, but also for you.  Both inwardly and outwardly, now and forever, Jesus has made everything right.

And all of this that He has done for you (and for all) is what He also now gives to you (and to His whole Church on earth), as He gives you Himself and all the fruits and benefits of His Cross and Resurrection by His Word of the Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins, and by and with His own Body and Blood, given and poured out for you, Christian, to eat and to drink in His Holy Supper.

This Word that He speaks to you — the Word of the Gospel that is preached to you, and the Word of the same Gospel in the Holy Sacrament — “Take, eat, this is My Body; drink, this is My Blood, for you, for the forgiveness of sins” — this Word of Christ Jesus which He speaks to you, into your ears and your body, declares you to be clean.  He speaks, and it is so.  You are holy and righteous before Him and in Him, in the presence of His God and Father in heaven, because Jesus says so.

He cleanses and sanctifies your heart, mind, body, and soul by the free and full forgiveness of all your sins.  So has He done by the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism; and so does He continue to do by the catechesis of His Word and by the preaching of the Holy Gospel.

That is the Truth with which you are girded: All of your sins are forgiven.  You are holy, innocent, and pure.  Your body, soul, and spirit are blameless in Christ Jesus, your Savior.

That is the Truth, and that is your righteousness — the righteousness of Christ which is credited to you by faith in His Word — the righteousness by which your heart and conscience are guarded from attack, so that the flaming darts of the devil cannot pierce you and bring you to utter ruin.

Such is your perfect peace with God in Christ, in which you now live in love for your neighbor within your own station in life, and by which you do “possess the land” that God has given you.

So, take up this shield of faith by giving heed to the Word of Christ, by listening to Him, and then by confessing what He has spoken.  And wear the helmet of salvation by filling your head with your Savior’s Voice.  Let Him permeate your inward thoughts and your outward conversations.

Don’t suppose that you can shut out the devil and his lies by sticking your fingers in your ears and wagging your tongue at him.  Rather, fill your ears with the Truth of Christ Jesus.  Give attention to the preaching of His Word.  Listen to it, read it, repeat it, and sing it for yourself and others.

And then take up the Sword of the Spirit by confessing what you have heard and, as St. Paul has instructed you, by the prayer and intercession of the Word of God.  Pray.  Pray for the mercies of the Lord.  Pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  And pray for the heart and mind of Christ Jesus.  Pray in this way, knowing and believing that your Father in heaven hears and answers your prayer according to the Word and promise that He has spoken to you by His beloved Son.

And pray also for the ministry and preaching of the Holy Gospel.  Pray specifically for your pastors in Christ Jesus — and for the pastors of our sister congregations and of the Church around the world — that the Ministers of Christ in every place would be enabled to wield the Sword of the Spirit for the benefit of the Church on earth, for your own sake and for the good of your neighbors.

That ministry and preaching of Christ Jesus come from outside of you, from the Lord your God who loves you.  They come to you from Him, in order to set you free from sin and every evil, and to feed you with a consecrated Food and Drink, which are the Body and Blood of Christ Himself.

This Meal of the Lord is a holy and Spiritual Food, which not only enters your mouth and your stomach, but into your very heart and soul, into your mind and spirit and your whole body, in order to cleanse you within and without, to heal you, and to give you Life with God forever and ever.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Trusting the Divine Doctrine of the Gospel

For the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing the preaching of Jesus following His Feeding of the Five Thousand, in which He declares Himself to be the Bread of Life.  The consequence of that Sermon was that many of His disciples went away, because it was simply too hard for them to believe what Jesus said about eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood.  The Twelve Apostles were a notable exception to this mass exodus; for by the grace of God they were able to confess, in the words of St. Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal Life?”

Still, the vast majority did not believe as Peter and the other Apostles did.  In fact, rumors about Jesus were evidently spreading far and wide; and in the Holy Gospel this morning from St. Mark, Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem have come to investigate this “religious trouble-maker.”

Sure enough, after watching Jesus awhile, they observe His Disciples breaking one of their many traditions; and so they accuse and criticize.  It is a mark of those who place their own traditions on par with the Word of God, that they must attack anyone else who does not follow the same path.

It is still the case that confessing and abiding by the Word of the Lord over against popular opinion and trendy behavior angers those who rely upon their own wisdom, reason, and strength.

In the case at hand, the “traditions” of the Pharisees were a special collection of teachings and opinions, rules and regulations, passed on by the rabbis in addition to the Law of Moses.  Over the course of six-hundred years, these traditions were gathered together into the “Talmud.”  And by and large, they were pious attempts to apply the Law of God to specific situations of everyday life.

At other times, sadly, the traditions were really man-made loopholes, whereby people attempted to circumvent the Will of God.  And to be sure, people are still prone to do the same thing today.

Even so, tradition in itself is certainly not a bad thing.  Indeed, traditions are generally quite good and practical — customs that have developed over the course of time via trial and error, embodying the collective wisdom of many generations — practices that most people would do well to follow.  But whenever human customs and traditions are made equal to the Word of the Lord — or, what is worse, when they are maintained in opposition to His Word — that is a serious problem.  And the fact is, the traditions mentioned in this case were held to be on par with the Holy Scriptures.

Most important of all, it would seem, were traditions that dealt with keeping things clean, such as the one about washing your hands before eating.  So seriously was this taken, by way of example, that one rabbi, after he was thrown into prison and given only enough water to drink, is said to have chosen to die of thirst rather than eating with unwashed hands.  Another rabbi taught that eating without washing was just as sinful as committing adultery.

And so it is that the Pharisees and Scribes try to condemn Jesus and His Disciples in this Holy Gospel, because the Disciples were eating without washing their hands as expected.

Now, especially after this past year or two, I imagine you would all agree that washing your hands before you eat is a good and sensible thing to do, and there’s no reason to suppose that our Lord would take exception to that.  But I dare say the Pharisees and Scribes were not really concerned about the Disciples’ health or personal hygiene.  Rather, they were themselves attempting to earn God’s favor by following this custom — and they condemned as sinful anyone else who did not.

It is this self-righteous attitude that contradicts and violates the Word of the Lord.  For the Lord requires that you be clean on the inside — that you must be spiritually clean in all your thoughts, words, and actions.  But all the soap and hot water in the world won’t wash the dirt of your sin from your heart, mind, and soul.  No, you are clean and pleasing to God only by the suffering and death of His Son.  As St. John writes, “the Blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from sin.”

To be clear, the sins for which Christ Jesus died are not the neglecting of human traditions, but rather the breaking of God’s own holy Law — which you and all people are guilty of doing, whether you wash your hands or not.  But, because Christ Jesus was crucified for all of your sins and iniquities, the Law of God no longer condemns you.  And as the Lord your God no longer condemns you, no one else has any right to condemn you for the sake of their human traditions.

Again, it is not wrong to follow the traditions inherited from your fathers, especially in the case of those pious traditions that have been handed down from your spiritual fathers in Christ Jesus.  Many of those traditions are actually good and helpful, meet, right, and salutary, no less so than washing your hands before eating is a good and healthy habit to maintain.  And it is often the case that letting go of one tradition simply means adopting another, which may well be less beneficial.

But the way the Pharisees and Scribes were following and insisting on their traditions was not a healthy respect for the wisdom of the past.  Their traditions had actually become a rigid set of laws and by-laws, which were regarded and treated as equal to, or even superior to, the Law of God.  The Lord Jesus points this out, and He sternly condemns it.  For the fact remains that where you stand before the Lord your God is determined solely by His Word — by faith in His Word alone.

There are those who have claimed that we Lutherans follow human traditions in much the same way as the Pharisees and Scribes were doing.  And it is true that the Lutheran Church has made an effort to retain the ancient customs of the Christian faith.  We’re not a sect or a cult, huddled off in a corner by ourselves somewhere; we stand together with worshiping Christians from the time of Jesus onward.  And so we confess the Creeds of the Church, now many hundreds of years old; and we follow an order of Service similar in many respects to that which even the Lord and His Apostles used.  Granted, the particular details that we use are not commanded by God, and so should never be regarded as the basis of our faith.  But it is hardly fair to describe our Lutheran heritage as the “vain babbling of the heathen,” as I have heard from time to time over the years.

Consider this: The basic order and form of the Divine Service and many of the other traditions of the Lutheran Church, though not commanded per se in the Word of the Lord, are almost entirely derived from and based upon His Word.  And they have been knit together over the centuries in such a way that they focus your attention — not upon these various traditions for their own sake — but rather upon Christ Jesus and His gracious Gifts.  “Human traditions” they may be, but they direct you to the “doctrines of God,” to the Lord Jesus, and to His forgiveness, Life, and Salvation.

Although the Church on earth is free in respect to many of the forms of worship that she uses — so long as all things are done with integrity and in good order, with due reverence for the holy things of Christ Jesus, in love for all His people, and in harmony with the Holy Scriptures — the question should certainly be considered, “With what would this or that practice be replaced?”

Should the Lutheran Church, like so many others, let go of its clear focus on Christ and His Word in exchange for human feelings, flashy gimmicks, and current fads?  Or should we rather follow the steady example of our Lutheran fathers and mothers in Christ Jesus, who rejected only those traditions which detracted from the Word of God and His Gospel, and gladly kept those traditions which served and supported the Word and Sacraments of Christ in the unity of His holy Church?

Ironically, the Lutheran Church has also been criticized for its historic insistence on “orthodoxy” and “right doctrine.”  The word doctrine simply means official teaching; and here, of course, we mean specifically the teaching of the Lord God Himself, as He has revealed to us in His Word.  Significantly, genuine orthodoxy properly involves, not only this right teaching of God’s Word, but also the right worship or glorification of God — not only right doctrine, but right doxology.

It has always been true to some extent, and no less so now, that many ostensibly Christian churches have downplayed the Word of God in favor of social programming and humanistic philosophies.  Such churches have thereby minimized the Word of God to the point of obscurity, while treating the theories of man as doctrine.  Increasingly, there are those who would brazenly acknowledge that approach and boast of it as being more advanced, more up-to-date, and more sophisticated.  God forbid that we should go down that path, whether together or alone.  It will not end well.

But what exactly is the doctrine of God?  Certainly it includes His righteous Law — summarized in the Ten Commandments, which show you how to live and thereby also bring your sins to light.  But even more glorious is the Gospel, that most precious doctrine of God, by which He forgives your sins, justifies you in His sight, sanctifies you in Christ Jesus, and gives you His own Life.

The Lord your God speaks that marvelous Gospel to you, not only in His written Word, but also by the preaching of that Word, and by those Means of Grace which He Himself has established.  Thus, in Holy Baptism, you are united with Christ Jesus in His Cross and Resurrection, adopted as a beloved and well-pleasing child of God in Him, and anointed by His Holy Spirit.  In His Word of forgiveness your faith is strengthened and sustained.  And in the Holy Communion, you are fed with the Lord’s own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins and for Life and Salvation in Him.

These precious Means of Grace and the entire Ministry of the Gospel in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ are not the “traditions of man” but are truly the “doctrines of God,” whereby He does exactly what He says and gives to you all that He has promised.  These gifts and graces of God in Christ Jesus are divine traditions, which He has handed over to His Church on earth for the sake of Salvation, and which He has preserved within His Church from generation to generation, from His pastors to His people in each place where He causes His Name and His Glory to dwell in love.

While we dare not allow human rules and traditions to contradict or undermine God’s holy Law, it is far worse to let them contradict His holy Gospel.  Beware of would-be “Christian traditions” which dictate a particular manner of life apart from the Word of the Lord.  Moralistic crusades against drinking and smoking and dancing and rock music, for example, may (or may not) be grounded in wisdom, reason, and healthy self-discipline; but such things are not the measure of Christian faith and life — else the Pharisees and Scribes were the very best “Christians” around!

Your faith and Life and Salvation do not depend or rest upon an avoidance of human vices in your life, but upon Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.  “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved!”  Thus says the Lord.  Any human tradition that adds or subtracts from this doctrine of God should be condemned for what it is: damnable works righteousness.  Avoid vices because they are bad, and practice good habits because they are good and right — but not as though to save yourself.

There is nothing in or of yourself that can obtain the righteousness of God.  Even your own best works are no better than filthy rags in His sight, utterly unworthy of His holiness.  Yet, for the sake of His own holy Love, the Holy Triune God has freely and graciously given You Himself and His own divine Life in Christ Jesus, by and with His forgiveness of your sins.  Thus are you holy and righteous in His sight by faith in Him, by His Ministry of the Gospel and the Gifts of His Spirit.

In place of your own works (good or bad), you are credited with the works and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, your Savior and Redeemer.  And all the punishment that you have deserved — for placing your own traditions ahead of God’s Word, and for trusting and worshiping yourself instead of Him — all the punishment which you have thereby deserved, the Lord your God has taken away from you, taken upon Himself, and taken care of permanently.

By His Cross and Resurrection Christ Jesus has obtained eternal Life and Salvation for you and for all people.  That is what He so freely and graciously bestows upon you by the Divine Doctrine of His Word and the Holy Ministry of His Gospel.  Nothing else in heaven or on earth is sure and certain.  Nothing else is righteous.  Nothing else can save you.  And nothing else will ever do.

So it is that your strength and comfort are ever and always in the Word and Spirit of God and in the Holy Sacraments of Christ Jesus, which He here gives to you by His grace and in His mercy.  Thus do you receive what only He can give — the forgiveness of sins and Life with God in Him.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Life of God for You in the Flesh and Blood of Christ Jesus

Throughout His Sermon on the Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus teaches you not to labor for the food which perishes, nor to go chasing after bread for your stomach at the cost of your soul.  Not that such temporal food is bad; it is not; it is given from the open hand of God to preserve your body and life in this world, to nourish your flesh and blood for a time.  But it is not forever.  And there is a better Food, an everlasting Food, to which your Savior calls you.  That is the true and Living Bread from Heaven, Christ Jesus Himself.  He is your Meat and Drink indeed, and those who feast on Him shall never die, but they shall live with Him in righteousness and purity forever.

Of course it is true that you must work for a living.  The curse of sin requires that you eat by the sweat of your brow and by the labor of your hands.  “And whoever will not work,” says the Lord, “let him not eat.”  But even such temporal food is still received by the grace of God, as a divine charity, without any merit or worthiness in you.  For He gives daily bread to you and to all, even to the wicked, with or without prayer; just as He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the evil and the good.  All of these gifts of creation are for your flesh-and-blood life in this world.

Regrettably, the Lord’s good gift of Creation has been spoiled by sin.  Indeed, all “flesh” has been cursed by sin and death.  As Jesus says, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and “the flesh profits nothing.”  Thus, by the fallen nature that you inherit from your parents and pass on to your children, you are sinful and mortal, with no hope for life in your flesh and blood, but only death.

To be sure, God’s gracious and merciful gift of temporal food does nurture and sustain your bodily life in the world, but only for a while.  You know that no amount or quality of food will keep you healthy and alive or prevent you from dying.  And the same inadequacy pertains to all your earthly projects and pursuits.  All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of the grass; for just as the grass withers and its flower dies, so do you.  Only the Word of the Lord endures forever.

Consider how significant it is, then, that the very Word of the Lord which endures forever — the Word who was in the beginning with God; the Word who is God Himself, by whom all things are made — that very Word has become Flesh and dwells among us.  Everything that “flesh” has inherited, including the curse of sin and death, He has made His own and taken on Himself, so that He might live His Life in our flesh, and thereby make it possible for all flesh to live in Him.

The Living and Eternal Word — the one Lord, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary — He has brought His own divine Life and vitality into our mortal and perishing flesh and blood, thus enabling you and all sinners (otherwise destined for eternal death and damnation) to rise and live with Him, in both soul and body, forever and ever.

He comes down to raise you up.  He dies to give you Life.  He gives His Flesh to save you.

There is first of all the Incarnation itself, whereby the almighty and eternal Son of the Living God has taken our flesh and blood to be His very own from the womb of the Woman, St. Mary, and has lived a fully human life, just as you must live, from His humble manger to His Cross and tomb.

It is by way of His Cross that He has offered His own Body of flesh and blood as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the entire world, for all the children of Adam & Eve, for the forgiveness of sins, for reconciliation and peace with God, and for the everlasting Life of all who believe and trust in Him.

In order to obtain such faith and bestow such Life, to the ends of the earth and the close of the age Christ Jesus distributes those fruits and benefits of His Cross by the Ministry of His Word.  His forgiveness of sins, His Life and Salvation, indeed, His very Flesh and Blood, are given to you in the Liturgy of His Gospel.  So is He still “coming down” out of heaven, in order to feed you with His living and Life-giving Bread — with His Word and Flesh — that you should not die but live.

Such are the ways and means of salvation, by which the Lord Jesus Christ “comes down” from His God and Father in heaven to you.  Apart from these ways and means of His divine grace, there is no Church on earth, no Christianity, no faith, and no salvation.  But in these Means there is Life.

“Life.”  That is the key Word that permeates this Holy Gospel, as well as the purpose for which the Lord Jesus comes to you.  He is the Life, and He lives forever as the Son of the Living God.  But He comes to give you His own Life, that you might live in Him.  In contrast to the death and decay that surround you in this sinful and perishing world, in the Body of Christ Jesus there is Life that abides forever.  As you have faith and life in Him, even though you die, yet shall you live.

It’s common enough to hear people talk about the “real world out there,” in contrast to the life that you experience in school — or in the Church.  But Jesus teaches you today that the real world and real Life are not whatever you might find “out there,” but only what is found in Him right here, in the Food that He provides, His Flesh and Blood for you in the Church and Liturgy of His Gospel.

Sadly, your fallen flesh resists this Life-giving Food of Christ Jesus.  Like the crowds in this Holy Gospel you pose the question, “How can this Man give us His Flesh to eat?”  Instead of taking Him at His Word and receiving His gifts with thanksgiving, you doubt and deny what He says to you.

You might well remember that our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not ask such questions of the serpent when he tempted them to take and eat the forbidden fruit, which God had not given.  They saw that it looked good, and so they ate it.  And you have inherited their sin.  You take and eat the food of Satan without a second thought, but cringe and complain about the Bread from Heaven.

Consider how often you look for something more and different, presumably better, beyond and apart from the Word of the Gospel and the Holy Sacraments of Christ Jesus — something more practical and productive — something to fill your belly or satisfy some other craving of your flesh.  Indeed, you’re even willing and eager to work for it, to do whatever it takes to get what you want.

But that right there is already at the heart of your problem.  Because the Flesh and Blood of God are not a Food and Drink you could ever acquire for yourself by the sweat of your brow or the labor of your hands, nor with cash or credit.  They are given to you only by the grace and charity of the Lord, and thus received in faith and with thanksgiving (and not at all by work or worry).

So, your dear Lord Jesus continues to come down out of heaven to deal with you in mercy and bring you from death to life.  He comes with His Law to reveal your sins and your need for His grace and salvation.  He even allows you to hunger at times, that you might feel your need for His Life-giving Food and receive it with thanksgiving.  And then, above all, He continues to feed you, to nourish you with His own Flesh and Blood, that you might live forever in and with Him.

Several times over in this Holy Gospel, the Lord refers to “the one who eats.”  Ironically, the next (and only other) time this phrase is used in St. John’s Gospel, it refers to Judas, who went from eating the Bread of Life from the hand of his Savior to the betrayal of the same Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  The Lord would offer and give to His betrayer all the blessings of His forgiveness and salvation; but apart from faith they were rejected and despised.

For “the one who eats” with faith, however, the Body and Blood of Jesus in His Supper bestow all that He is, and all that He has done for you, as your Savior.

You feast on Him with faith as you gladly hear and learn His Word and the preaching of it.  And you feast on Him by faith when you confess your sins and receive His Word of Holy Absolution.

And then, “eating Him” by faith in His mercy and forgiveness, you are also given to eat His very Body and to drink His very Blood with your own mouth, and thereby to receive the Life-giving Flesh and Blood of God Himself into your own body — not for judgment, but for Life with Him.

Your mortal and perishing flesh is thus united with the Lord’s divine and living Flesh, whereby you are made to be like Him and share the Life that belongs to the Holy Triune God.  Just as the temporal food that you eat becomes a part of your body and is transformed into your flesh and blood, so do the Meat and Drink of Jesus Christ become a part of you — but you are the one who is transformed by this true Bread of Life, by this Flesh and Blood of the incarnate Son of God, so that your flesh and blood will be raised up into Paradise by the Son of Man at the Last Day.

As the Lord Jesus says and promises, “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal Life.”  And again, “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him.”

“Abiding in Christ Jesus,” and “Christ Jesus abiding in you,” these few simple words describe, first of all, the most intimate and personal union that you have with your dear Lord Jesus — like that of a Bride with her Bridegroom (as St. Paul describes, for example, in Ephesians).  But “abiding” also implies the need for a constant return to Christ Jesus and His embrace, whereby you remain close to Him, and cling to Him, and seek and find your life in and with Him — just as a bride and groom do not go their separate ways after the wedding, but live together in love as one flesh.

So, too, it’s not enough to get the ball rolling in your relationship with Jesus, so to speak, and then to coast through life on your own.  That won’t work, in any case.  The intimate union with Christ Jesus that began with your Holy Baptism in His Name is one that needs to be constantly nurtured and strengthened throughout your life on earth, unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.  Not only because you are still sinful in your heart and mind, in your thoughts, words, and deeds, and subject to the constant threat of death within and without, but precisely because your only real Life and your relationship with God are in Christ Jesus, in His Word and His Body of flesh and blood.

Cling to the Word of your Lord, therefore.  Listen to what He says.  Hear and heed His preaching.  Remember your Holy Baptism and return each day to its significance by contrition and repentance, by confessing your sins and receiving His gift of Absolution from the pastors He provides for you.  And do feed upon His Body and His Blood in holy faith and with thanksgiving, that you may abide in Him, and He in you, according to His Word and promise.

These gifts Christ freely gives are not simply means to some other end, but they are your Life and your Salvation in Him, because they are His own Word, His own good work, and His own Flesh and Blood.  It is in the Liturgy of His Gospel — in the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His Name, and in the celebration of His Holy Supper in remembrance of Him — that He lives with you, gives Himself to you, loves you, bestows His Spirit upon you, and gives you Life.

When I go to visit the homebound or hospitalized, there’s nothing I can do to heal their bodies or restore their health and strength.  I pray with them and for them, of course, and I entrust them to their Father in heaven.  But as their Pastor, I am privileged to bring them something more powerful than sickness and death, a Medicine of Immortality like nothing else in heaven or on earth.  When I care for them in the Name of the Lord, according to His Word, I am able to serve them with the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of divine Life in the very Body and Blood of Christ Jesus.

Now, just think, you don’t have to wait until you’re homebound, hospitalized, or on your deathbed to receive those priceless gifts!  They are offered to you here, free for the asking.  If there is some sin that weighs heavy upon you, then I am here for you as your Pastor to hear your confession and grant you the Absolution of Christ Jesus Himself with no strings attached.  And here at this Altar is offered to you, week after week throughout the year, the Life-giving Body and Blood of Jesus.

As Dr. Luther writes in his Large Catechism: “In this Sacrament of the Altar the Lord offers us all the treasures that He brought from heaven for us, to which He most graciously invites us in other places, as when He says in Matthew, ‘Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’  So we must never regard the Sacrament as a harmful thing from which we ought to flee, but as a pure, wholesome, soothing Medicine which aids and quickens us in both soul and body.  For where the soul is healed, the body has benefitted also.  So, if you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, go joyfully to the Sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength.”

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Bread of Life in the Desert of Death

“I Am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will not thirst.”  So says and promises your Savior, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the living God.  He has come down from the Father in heaven, and He has become flesh of your flesh and blood of your blood by His conception and birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in order to give you Life.

And you have come to Him — you are a Christian, and you are here in the Lord’s House on this Lord’s Day — because the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has called you and drawn you to Him.  So do you believe and trust in Him, because the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel and opened your heart and mind with His gifts, whereby He also sanctifies and keeps you in Christ.

By no means shall you be cast out.  You shall not hunger or thirst, nor lack for any good thing in body or soul.  You shall not perish but live.  For Christ Jesus, your Lord, to whom the Father has given you in love, shall raise you up on the last day to live with Him forever in His Righteousness.

In the meantime, though, on your sojourn to the Promised Land of Paradise, from the waters of your Holy Baptism in His Name He has led you into this desert wilderness.  And in this present case and circumstance there is rather a lot of hunger and thirst, sickness, suffering, and death.  Indeed, you are hungry and thirsty, not only in your body, but in your heart, mind, and spirit.

What is more, you suffer such afflictions, wants, and needs in this body and life, not only because of your sins and failings and foolish mistakes, but in some respects precisely because of your faith and faithfulness, because of the fair and holy Name with which you have been named, because you are a Christian, a disciple of Christ Jesus.  Instead of sparing you from all the hurts and sorrows in this life, His Word first lays the Cross upon you, putting you to death before it raises you up.

Nevertheless, it is also the case that you are not so faithful and righteous in your heart and mind, in all your words and actions.  Instead of steadfast faith and confident trust in the Lord your God, you harbor doubts and fears, frustrations, and discouragements.  You nurture bitter resentments, you toy with cynical despair, and you blame God and your neighbor for all your troubles, instead of seeking how best to love and serve those whom the Lord has entrusted to your care.  Against those who have sinned against you, instead of the forgiveness and peace that you should exercise in Jesus’ Name, you maintain animosity, you accuse and condemn.  Instead of speaking with the grace of the Gospel, you grumble and complain and utter harsh and spiteful words.  Thus do you harden your heart against even your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus; whereby you also harden your heart against the Lord Himself, against the Father of all mercies and the God of all comforts.

You do not yet see what your eyes long to see, neither in yourself, in your own body and life, nor in the world and people around you.  And you struggle to watch and wait patiently on the Lord.  Your belly may be filled and satisfied for awhile, but it’s not long before it growls and rumbles once again; and even when your body is full, your heart and mind still hunger for peace and rest.

So, then, why not just give up and die?  That is the question of your fallen flesh, when you’re not striving to make a god out of yourself, to obtain and preserve a life for yourself.  You can go from towering pride to the pits of despair in a heartbeat.  After all, what’s the use or point in trying?

Your fathers ate their daily bread.  Whatever they were like, whether they prayed or not, whether they were evil or good, God the Father almighty opened His hand to feed them, to shower them with sunshine and rain, to give them everything they needed for this body and life.  To be sure, your fathers ate their bread, thanks be to God, day by day, year after year.  And then they died!

How, then, shall you survive and live?  Eat, drink, and be merry; and tomorrow you still die.  Or stop eating altogether and starve yourself to death.  What difference does it make?  Whether you live twenty years or seventy, forty-five or ninety, what does it even matter?  No amount of daily food and drink will preserve your life forever.  It’s easy to become cynical and despondent, to slip into self-pity and despair, as even the Prophet Elijah did when all seemed hopeless and pointless.

But now, then, rest yourself under the Tree here.  For this is where you live and die and rise again.  It shelters you and shades you, in any case, even when you’re ready to give up and die in disgust.

Here consider that your dear Lord Jesus has suffered and died for you in tender-hearted kindness, in divine mercy and compassion, and with great love for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins.

His Cross and Passion, His innocent suffering and death were not meaningless or pointless, nor without hope.  Rather, these voluntary works of His are a sweet-smelling sacrifice and offering, whereby you are beloved and well-pleasing to His God and Father.  You know that’s true, because God has raised this same Jesus from the dead, never to die again.  This same Jesus — the Lamb of God who came down from heaven and became flesh, who took your sins upon Himself and died in your place — He is risen from the dead.  So, then, you also are raised up to live with Him.

What is more, even in your suffering you are not cast aside.  You are not abandoned or forgotten.  What you may suffer as a consequence of your sins is a discipline for your good, unto repentance and new life in the free and full forgiveness of all your sins.  And what you suffer as a Christian in faith and love resounds to the glory of God and for the benefit of your neighbors in His Name.

In every and all cases, the bottom line remains that, baptized into Christ Jesus, you do not suffer for yourself, nor by yourself, and you do not die alone.  In Christ you live, even though you die.

He who for your sake died and was raised now strengthens and sustains you here under this Tree of His Cross.  Even here in the wilderness of this world, even in the valley of the shadow of death.

He loves you.  He has compassion for you, as well as sympathy for all your trials and temptations.  He is kind and merciful.  He daily and richly forgives all your sins by the Ministry of His Gospel; and as your sins are forgiven, death and the grave are defeated, and life and salvation are yours.

The Father has given His Son from heaven for you, in the flesh, to save you.  To give you life.  That is His good and gracious will!  That is the very thing that God most desires, and He does it.

In the Liturgy of preaching and the Sacrament, the Lord Jesus stretches out His hand to lay hold of you in love, to raise you up from death to life, to enliven your body and soul, to strengthen your heart, mind, and spirit in faith and love, unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.

The one Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, here feeds you with His Flesh and Blood, which He has given into death upon the Cross for you and for all people.  These He now gives to you and pours out for you and for the many, for the forgiveness of your sins, just as He says, and so also for Life and Salvation in and with Him, in both your body and your soul, forever and ever.

Arise, therefore.  And here, under the Tree of His Cross, eat His Body from His opened hand, and take up His Chalice of Salvation.  The journey that stretches out before you is too much for you to travel on your own, but with this Food and Drink He travels with you every step of the way, by night as by day, through good times and bad.  He shall not abandon you in the heat of the desert, but He shall strengthen and sustain you in the one true faith and raise you up in Glory at the last.

So it is that you live and die in peace and confidence.  And so shall you also be raised from death and the grave and the dust of the earth to endless joy and bliss and gladness in His presence.

Again I say, arise and eat, as Christ Jesus stretches out His hand to feed you.  For on the strength and vitality of this Food, the very Bread of Life, you are brought to the Mountain of God in peace.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.