Put to Death and Raised to Life in and with Christ Jesus

You’re fascinated by St. John the Baptist.  No surprise — he is a fascinating man.  But at the same time, you’re also scared to death of him and of his preaching.  Or, if you’re not, you should be.

Now, it may be that you like to hear his fiery preaching well enough, especially when he’s pointing the finger at somebody else, and especially when you assume that John the Baptist is long since dead and gone.  But you don’t like it at all when you find that he is still preaching repentance from the Holy Scriptures.  You don’t like it when he turns the Law of God on you and your sins, and he calls you to repent in both heart and life, to set aside your vices and actually change your behavior.

If you imagine that you do like to hear St. John call you to repentance, then you don’t understand repentance at all, and you sink that much further into your own self-righteousness, supposing that genuine repentance, faith, and life are something you can do for yourself.  I guarantee that your old Adam, who is no one other than yourself, does not like to hear the true preaching of the Law.

The preaching of St. John the Baptist does still call you to repent, and it’s a deadly serious matter.  Not only that, but your life depends upon it, because it is not lawful for you to think the things that you think; it is not lawful for you to say the things that you say; and it is not lawful for you to keep on doing the things that you are doing.  Your sins and your sinfulness are neither lawful nor safe.

It is not lawful for you to compete and fight with your brothers and sisters, nor to take their stuff away, whether it be Legos and action figures or books and video games, or whatever it might be.

And as you get older, it is equally wrong and sinful to lust after your neighbor’s wife, to crave her for yourself, and to devise ways of enticing her away from your neighbor.  So, too, it is not lawful for you to covet your neighbor’s children, his friends, his workers, or even his pets.

Nor is it lawful for you to covet the bodies and affections of young dancing girls, or any of the other provocative allurements of this world, which reign as idols in your heart and in your life.

All of your selfish, prideful kingdom building is wrong, as you arrogantly presume yourself to be a god and not a mortal man.  And yet, fearing the opinions of man more than you fear the one true God, you commit what amounts to murder in His eyes and in His righteous judgment — by the hatred and enmity in your heart toward those who are beyond your reach, and by the actual hurt and hostility that you inflict upon those who cannot protect or defend themselves from you.

It is not lawful for you to do any of these things, nor a thousand other similar sins that you commit.

But you add sin upon your sin, and you make things far worse for yourself, when you shut up the preaching of the Law, when you stop your ears to it and run away from it — when you presume to keep it on a leash, because you like to hear it “a little bit,” but you want to keep it at arm’s length, or locked up in a cage or a dungeon, and you insist that it may speak to you only when it is spoken to, and only to the extent that you permit.  You thus suppose yourself to be the master of your own domain, the king or queen of your own castle; but that’s a lie which ends in death.

Repent of your arrogance and of your sin, or you will lose more than half of your kingdom, and really far more than your head or your body in the end.

In your confrontation with St. John the Baptist, it’s kill or be killed, at least for the time being.  There’s no two ways around it.  Neither of you can live while the other one survives in this life.

And yet, here is the profound irony and the paradox of the Cross: Those who save their life in this world will lose it forever in the dungeon prepared for the devil and his wicked angels, while those who lose their life for the sake of Christ Jesus and His Gospel will save it for eternity with Him.  That is how things truly are.

To repent, as you are called to do, and to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus, is to put your own head on the chopping block, it is to bare your neck to the sword — to the Sword of the Spirit, at least, and, as needs may be, to the temporal sword of the king.

This isn’t fun and games.  It’s not make-believe or “let’s pretend.”  It is a fearful and deadly encounter.  No one gets out alive.  One way or the other, you are called upon to die, whether for the Resurrection and eternal Life in Christ Jesus, or for eternal death and damnation in hell.

But, now then, do not hear and see only St. John’s fearful preaching of the Law — though, by all means, do hear and heed that preaching, and repent.  But in repenting see him point and give way to Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away your sins, who submits Himself to death and the grave on your behalf, and who raises you up with Himself, in body and soul, unto newness of life.

St. John’s entire life and ministry, his preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, his suffering, and finally his death, are all a witness and a proclamation of this one Lord Jesus Christ, of His Cross and Passion, and of His Resurrection from the dead.

Everything about St. John — from his miraculous conception and birth, from the waters of the Jordan River to the depths of Herod’s dungeon and, finally, to the tomb in which he is buried — everything about St. John is wrapped up in Jesus.  It’s all about Jesus.  Every bit of it points to the Lord Jesus Christ.  For St. John is called and sent by God to be the Forerunner of the Christ, to go before the face of the Lord and prepare His Way.  And because the Way of the Lord is the way of the Cross, the way of suffering and death, that is where St. John the Baptist goes.

The same is true for anyone else who preaches and baptizes in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is no less the case for those who are baptized into Him, who are given His Cross to bear and are called to follow after Him, even to the point of death and the grave.  It is to that Cross of Christ, and to that death with Him, that each and all of you are called by His Word and Holy Spirit.

The Lord’s people, His saints, are so wrapped up in Christ Jesus, so identified with Him, and so also named by Him and for Him as Christians, that the world sees Christ Jesus in them.  And that is true for you, as well; for it is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you, and you in Him.

And so it was that Herod could not shake the impression that Jesus the Christ really was St. John the Baptist risen from the dead.  And in a way, Herod was exactly right about that!

In the Word and works of Christ Jesus are the first fruits of His Cross and Resurrection.  For His gracious miracles of healing and new life are a blessed foretaste of the neverending Feast that has come to fruition in His Resurrection and is manifest around the world in the Liturgy of His Gospel.

For those who die with Christ Jesus, like St. John and all the baptized, Jesus’ Resurrection is their Resurrection and their imperishable Life.  His Resurrection is your Resurrection and your Life.

So also, it is in Christ Jesus that St. John and all the baptized are righteous and holy.  It is in Jesus that you are righteous and holy, blameless, innocent, and pure before God the Father in heaven.

It is in that sure and certain hope, in that confidence of Christ and His Gospel, that the disciples of St. John, with tender affection and Christian love, laid his poor mistreated body to rest in the tomb, there to await the resurrection of all flesh on the Last Day.

And already, the souls of those, including St. John the Baptist, who have been slain for the sake of the Word of God — as well as those who have departed from this mortal life in the faith of Christ Jesus — find their Peace and Sabbath Rest in Him, under His Altar, in heaven as on earth.

What does this mean?  You have died with Christ in your Baptism, and so your life also is now hidden with Christ in God.

In life and in death, in body and in soul — even as you carry the Cross in your callings and stations on earth, and even when your body shall in due season be laid to rest in the dust of the ground — you are safe and secure in the Body and Blood of your crucified and risen Lord Jesus.

This true and everlasting King, who is both God and Man, prepares a Table before you in the presence of your enemies, each and all of whom He has defeated for you by His own Cross.  It is a Banquet, not for His own benefit — not to be served, but to serve you in love — to forgive you all your sins, to give you His own Life, and to save both your body and your soul forever and ever.

So, then, as your mortal body is here fed with His Life-giving Body and Blood, it is enlivened, honored, and glorified by Jesus, in preparation for and anticipation of the resurrection of your body at the last, when it shall be no longer mortal and perishable, no longer subject to sickness, infirmity, and pain, nor any more susceptible to weakness, tiredness, and fear, but immortal, and imperishable, and glorious, like unto His own glorious Body.

Your soul, as well, both now and forever, has Peace and Sabbath Rest in Christ Jesus, who has given Himself for you, who gives you His Body to eat and pours out His holy and precious Blood for you to drink in this Holy Communion.  Whether for the first time, or for the millionth time, it is for all time; it is forever.  For with this Feast He gives you, not simply half His Kingdom, but Himself with all His gifts and benefits, in whom the Kingdom of God is truly at hand.  Therefore, you are His, and He is yours, forever and ever, world without end.

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

Put to Death, Buried, and Risen with Christ Jesus

St. John the Baptist has risen from the dead in Christ Jesus, in His Word and miraculous works.  For both the baptizer and all the baptized have died and risen with Him who is our Head.

So it is that the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Word and His works, testify to your resurrection.  And your life, in turn, now testifies to His fulfillment of the Law in faith and love, and to His completion of Holy Baptism by His Cross and Resurrection from the dead.

St. John’s preaching and his baptizing, his life and his death, all confess and point ahead to Christ the Crucified.  His beheading is not simply an injustice on the part of Herod; nor is it an accident of fate, a punishment of God, or a failure of the divine will.  It is the culmination of St. John’s holy and righteous work, according to the plan and foreknowledge of the Lord.  As the Forerunner of the Christ, his suffering and his death precede and point to the Cross and Passion of the Lamb.

And as the baptizer is maligned and put to death, so are all those who are baptized into Christ Jesus.  But such a death is one of repentance, unto the Resurrection and the Life that are in Him.

To that end, St. John the Baptist — in the spirit and power of Elijah — still goes before the Lord to prepare His way by the preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Therefore, whatever is not lawful in your life, put that sin to death, and die to that idolatry in you.  Repent of all your sinful thoughts, words, and deeds, and begin to bear the fruits of repentance.

Where you are harboring grudges, whether against the Lord, His servants, or your neighbors in the world, repent of your hardness of heart, humble yourself under the Lord your God, and forgive as you are forgiven.  Be reconciled to God and man in Christ Jesus, lest the sin that is crouching at the door of your heart devour your body and soul in death and damnation.

If you are sorry for what you have said or done, do not be afraid to apologize, to make amends, and to do better.  Submit to the Word of the Lord, and trust Him to preserve your life, and even to raise you up from death and the grave.  Whether you suffer the consequences of your own sins, or suffer the sins of others against you, do not doubt the faithfulness of the Lord who loves you and who saves you by His grace, by His own innocent suffering and death, by His holy and precious blood, and by His catechesis and His preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of all your sins.

Do not simply listen to His Word as though to some kind of passing entertainment or amusement, but hear it and heed it as divine and certain Truth, and live by it in faith and love, patiently bearing the Cross in life and death.  To be sure, the Cross of Christ is perplexing.  But do not be afraid.

Is it not amazing that Herod was afraid of John, though he was held in Herod’s prison and subject to his whims?  Whereas St. John, however fearful or discouraged his mortal flesh may have been, had the courage, peace, and confidence to continue preaching, even in prison, even unto death.

St. John sets a good and faithful example for you, as well, even if it does end in a gruesome death.

“But, how long, O Lord?  How long?”  Is that not the cry and prayer of your heart?

And are you not also sorely tried and tested in your own place — whether in a prison or a palace?

Yet, the Lord has given you a white robe in Holy Baptism, as He has done for Fredrick, Violet, Ruth, Benedict, and Philippa already this year.  So has your Father clothed you in the righteousness of Christ, His beloved and well-pleasing Son.  And He invites you to rest yourself here, to find your perfect peace and joy under the Holy Altar of the same Lord Jesus Christ.

This is where your heart and soul recline in safety, even while your body labors in love, and suffers for the sake of love, for the sake of the truth, for the sake of the Gospel.  For here your body also finds its Sabbath Rest, reclines, and eats and drinks in peace, in the forgiveness, life, and salvation of Christ Jesus, your Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away your sins.

It is to and from His Altar that you live — by the grace of God through faith in His Word.

Your life in Christ is truly a Sacramental and Eucharistic life.  It is rooted in your Holy Baptism.  It rests and resides at the Lord’s Table in the Holy Communion.  It abounds in gratitude and gives thanks for the grace of God in the Liturgy of the Gospel.  And all of this is eminently practical.

Just think of it!  You have already died and risen with Christ Jesus by the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism.  So, then, what could Herod or anyone else really do to you?

And as your life is hidden with Christ in God under His Altar, your whole body and life are freely offered as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the One who feeds you with His Body and His Blood.

These gifts of God in Christ are your confidence and courage in the face of all harm and danger.

And know this, that your life, your death, and your resurrection are precious to the Lord your God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth.  You are precious and pleasing to Him, because you are robed in Christ, and you are in Christ, and Christ Himself is in you, and with you, and for you.

He is your Head, truly, as He is the Head of His Body the Church.  And as your Head has gone before you — through death and the grave into Life everlasting — you can even “lose your head” for Him and for His Gospel.  That is no pun, it is the Truth.  And so shall you rise in your body to live forever in glory with Him, immortal and imperishable, like unto Christ’s own glorious body.

In that same confidence, and with that same courage, love and serve and care for your neighbor’s body — in both life and death — in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body!  Just as the disciples of St. John lovingly buried his body in the hope and promise of the Resurrection.

Bear in mind that, when you love and serve your neighbor in his or her body, you are loving and serving the Body of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead for your salvation.

In such faith and love, the life that you live from your Baptism to and from the Altar is a proper and beautiful dance for the one true King.  And He is pleased with you, not by sensual seduction, but because He regards you by His grace, according to the mercy and forgiveness of His Gospel.

Living your life as a long, slow, beautiful dance for your King, the Lord’s Anointed, Jesus Christ, take to heart His solemn oath and gracious promise, that He gives to you His Father’s Kingdom.

Even now, as a gift, guarantee, and pledge of that promised Kingdom, He who is the Head of St. John the Baptist gives to you His Body on a silver platter and pours out for you His Blood from a silver chalice, that you might live and abide in Him, even as He thus lives and abides in you.

Dear baptized child of God, not only St. John but you also are risen from the dead in and with Christ the Crucified.  And as He lives and reigns forever, so shall you live in both body and soul.

Even now, find your rest and be at peace here under His Altar, until you are vindicated in the final judgment when the full number of the baptized shall be completed, openly declared before all of creation, and glorified in the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness abides forever.

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

Baptized into the Death and Life of Christ Jesus

Herod celebrates his birthday with a grand party, but he’s a dead man: dead in his trespasses and sin.

St. John the Baptist goes from the frying pan into the fire — from the dungeon to the chopping block and martyrdom — but he is raised from death to life, and he lives with Christ Jesus forever.

Those are your options, as well.  It really is a life or death matter.  You have no true or lasting life apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is only in His Resurrection from the dead that you are raised.  So it is only by His Cross that you have life.  It is by the sharing of His death and the losing of your own life in the world that you share His Resurrection and His life everlasting in body and soul.

That is the life that your Holy Baptism has granted, and that is what your Baptism still means for you, each and every day throughout your life.  You are put to death in order to be raised.  Your own head is removed, that Christ may be your Head, your Bridegroom and Lord.  Your body is buried with Him through Baptism into His death, in order that you may belong to His Body, the Church.

That’s what discipleship looks like.  Whether by crucifixion or beheading, it brings death and burial.  Those who baptize — and those who are baptized — are put to death for the Name of Christ.  Those who are sent to Minister in His Name, and those who receive that Ministry, live under His Cross.

And it is precisely by the Cross of Christ that you are raised with Him and live with Him forever.

As you bear and suffer that Cross, therefore, do not despair, but fix your faith and hope on Him.

As you are shut up in prison, or shut out from the crowd, or otherwise left alone and lonely, lift up your head, your heart, and your mind to Christ Jesus.  Not by your own reason or emotion, but by hearing and heeding His Word of the Gospel.  For He is the One who delivers you from death.

As you have your head chopped off — whether metaphorically or in actual fact — find your peace and rest in the crucified and risen Body of Christ Jesus.  Though you are despised and rejected by this fallen and perishing world, you are righteous and holy in the presence of God by faith in Him.

Live, then, in the righteousness and holiness of Christ.  Live by faith, by the hearing of His Word.

Do not seek to silence or shut down the Word of the Lord, and do not suppose that you will protect yourself by keeping it at arm’s length, as though it were in your power.  If you are perplexed by the preaching of repentance, do not harden your heart, but repent.  Confess your sins, and be forgiven.

Do not continue in your sins, which are a living death.  It is neither lawful nor safe to go on sinning.  And do not suppose that you shall escape the consequences; they will come back to haunt you.

Do not harbor envy and jealousy, nor bitterness and resentment, in your heart against your neighbor.  And do not let the sun go down on your anger.  But for Christ’s sake be reconciled to your neighbor by the way of mutual repentance and forgiveness.  For anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and the life and love of God do not abide in him.

Do not entertain the lust of the flesh, whether with your eyes, with your imagination, or with your body.  Whoever looks upon a woman or a man with lust in his heart is already an adulterer.  Such covetous lust conceives and gives birth to sin, which grows fully into death.

For all such hatred and adultery in your heart and mind, repent.

Turn away from evil, and do what is lawful.  Begin to practice what is good and right.

Do not be afraid to do the right thing, as though, if you did not line your own pockets and pad your own treasure chest, the Lord would let you die.  The fact is that you have already died, and yet your life is hidden with Christ in God forever.  But if you live in sin, then only death shall be your lot.

Do what you are given to do with confidence in Christ and in the promise of His Gospel.  Be strong and courageous.  The Lord your God is with you like a dread Champion.  If you share His death, so shall you also share His Resurrection and His life.  Whether you live or die, you are the Lord’s.

If you are sorry for what you have done or left undone, do not despair, but repent, and do better.  Not as though you will save yourself or set things right by your own righteousness and holiness, but because Christ has died for your transgressions and He is risen for your justification.  He has saved you by giving Himself for you.  His righteousness and holiness are yours.  He so identifies Himself with you, that He now rises and lives in you; He manifests Himself in your body and life on earth.

You need not dance for this true King, nor suppose that you would be able to seduce Him.  It is in love for you that He has redeemed you with His holy and precious blood, by His innocent suffering and death; that you should be an heir with Him of His Kingdom, not by half, but the whole thing.

Here, then, is the Supper that He hosts, in proclamation of His death until He comes.  Not for the high and mighty of the world, but for the weak and lowly and despised, whom He calls to Himself.

Recline here at His Table with Him, and receive from His hand His Body given, His Blood poured out for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins, and for the life everlasting of your body and soul.

Where there is such forgiveness, death cannot hurt you, not really, and not for long.

Rest here under His altar, until all things come to pass and all His promises are fully realized, just as He has spoken.  You shall not die, but live.  Just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, so are you raised from death to life in Him, here and now, and hereafter forever.

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

Crucified and Risen with Christ Jesus

Even in death — especially in death! — St. John is still preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  He is still proclaiming Christ, the Lamb of God, and always pointing to Him.  He is still preaching the Resurrection.

To preach this Baptism of Christ is dangerous and deadly; and to receive this Baptism and submit to it is likewise dangerous and deadly.  First of all because it crucifies you, and cuts off your head, and buries you in the dust of the earth whence you were taken.

It exposes, accuses, and punishes your sin: your lust, your greed, your selfishness, your pride, your fear and doubt; the hardness of your heart; the grudges that you bear and harbor; the grasping of your hands, and the dark confusion of your head.

When St. John calls you to repentance, he isn’t playing games or offering “advice.”  There is no hidden strategy or secret agenda.  Wherever in your life there is sin, whether in your heart or hands or mouth — wherever you are sinning in thought, word or deed — Repent.  Fear God.  Turn away from evil.  Do good.

Is it hard?  Will it hurt?

That isn’t yet the half of it!

It is impossible, and it will kill you.

When St. John calls you to repent and points you to Christ Jesus, he bids you come and die.

The waters of your Holy Baptism are your grave, wherein you are buried with Christ the Crucified.

To share His Baptism is to share His Cross.  So in this way, also, your Baptism is dangerous and deadly.  The world will not love you, but hates you because of it.  The powers of this world will not protect you, but will persecute you and put you in prison; they will put you to death, if and when they can, for the Name of Christ.

But if your Baptism crucifies you and puts you to death by way of repentance, it also lays the Cross of Christ upon your neck for the sake of faith and love.

What you suffer under His Cross is not pointless or meaningless, even if it all seems hopeless.

St. John could have supposed that his work was done, and that it had all been for nothing, when he was locked up in prison; when his beautiful feet were shackled and chained in a dungeon.  But by the grace of God, through faith in Christ — did you hear it? — he kept on preaching.

Herod heard but did not heed the preaching of St. John.  Nevertheless, despite the fact that Herod finally cut off his head and shut up his beautiful lips, St. John’s innocent suffering and death still preach Christ and Him Crucified, also here and now to you.

Do not shut your ears to St. John’s witness, and do not despair of your own vocation under the Cross.

Suffer patiently, as you are called to suffer (and to die), and serve faithfully, wherever you are called to serve, even if it be in a deep dark dungeon.

Do not despair, but believe the words and promises of God. For he who believes and is baptized shall be saved.

Love and trust in Him who has lived and died and risen again for you; who died, and yet, behold, He lives; who was baptized for you, and crucified, dead, and buried for you, and who has risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity for you.

But, O Lord, how long?  How long?

How long must you suffer and die, before you shall be vindicated and live?

In truth, It is finished.  All has been accomplished and fulfilled in Christ Jesus, in His Baptism by St. John in the Jordan, in His Cross and Resurrection.  Those who live and die by faith in Him, shall never die, but live with Him in His Kingdom in His everlasting righteousness and holiness, in His innocence and blessedness.

Your suffering and your death find their place, their meaning, their purpose, and their fulfillment in the Cup of Christ, the Cup of Blessing which we bless.

And you find your rest here under His Altar, under the shelter of His wings, in the Body of your Savior, in the Bosom of your dear God and Father.

Rest here, and be at peace, whether you live or die.  You are the Lord’s.  Your real life is hidden in Him and with Him, safe and secure forever and always.

Even now, His miraculous powers are at work in you: to cast out all your demons, to heal all your iniquities, to forgive all your trespasses, and to raise you from the death of your sin to life with Him.

It is all by the way of His Cross.  Which also means, no less, that it is in the sure and certain hope of His Resurrection from the dead, established for you by the power of His indestructible life.

For He has so identified Himself with you, and bound Himself to you in Holy Baptism, and here at His Altar with His own holy Body and precious Blood, that as He lives, so shall you live forever.

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