The coming of Christ, the Son of God, is at once the most wonderful and the most terrible thing.
He comes as the true Light in the midst of deep darkness, in order to lead you out of Egypt by His mighty outstretched arm, to save you from sin and death, and to bring you into the Promised Land.
But how shall you receive Him?
The sad fact is that you cannot; not by any wisdom, power, strength, or ability of your own. Your sin, which cuts you off and separates you from God, likewise prevents you from receiving Him and His salvation in faith. What is more, by your sins what you deserve from the Lord your God is condemnation, punishment, and death. For you are sinful and unclean, unrighteous, and unholy. Therefore, you cannot abide or survive in His presence, nor can you stand in His judgment.
And yet, for all of that, it is with tender mercy and divine compassion that He comes. It is by and with grace that He takes every initiative in coming to you with life and light and love and peace.
So then, in order to prepare you for His coming, the Lord raises up, calls, and sends a messenger before His face. He sends a preacher to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. And in sending such a man to preach His Word, He sends one who is like Himself. For the Lord Jesus Christ is the very Word of God in human Flesh; He has become true Man for us men and our salvation.
Already ahead of the Lord’s own miraculous conception and birth, you see the grace, mercy, and peace of God in the way that St. John the Baptist is conceived and born and given his name. It is not by the reason or strength of his old man and his barren old mother, but by the grace of God.
St. John’s entire life, from even before his conception, and even while yet in the womb, is bound up with the coming of Christ Jesus and proclaims that. That’s especially true of his preaching and his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; but it’s all about Jesus, it all point to Him.
Indeed, it is only by such preaching of the Word that you are prepared for Christ Jesus. It is only by such preaching that you or anyone else can receive Him and respond to Him in faith and love.
Praise God for His preachers, for His messengers who go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way — who are sent to prepare you for His coming. You would be lost without them.
But there is still a problem. You can no more receive or respond to the preaching of the Word than you could receive the Word-made-Flesh Himself. Your sin still gets in the way and prevents you. The Law of God — by whomever it is preached — still condemns you and puts you to death.
You cannot live without Him. But left in your sin, you could not live with Him, either. Damned if you, and damned if you don’t, so long as you remain in yourself, in your own heart and mind.
The solution and salvation are not from within you, but from without. The preaching of the Word of Christ accomplishes His purposes and saves you from sin, death, and hell; not by any power, response, understanding, or effort of yours, but only because Christ Jesus submits Himself to that preaching and fulfills that Word of God in His own Body and Life in your stead, on your behalf.
So it is that the Lord Jesus will hear and heed and respond to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, in order to accomplish and establish the righteousness of God for you and for all people.
It is especially in this way that St. John prepares the Way of the Lord. He preaches the Law to which Jesus submits Himself in order to redeem you and all those who were conceived and born under the Law. St. John preaches the repentance which Jesus undergoes by His voluntary death upon the Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead — whereby He opens the way of repentance to you. St. John preaches and administers the Baptism of repentance, to which the Lord Jesus submits Himself in faith and love, so that, by the Lord’s own death on your behalf, your Baptism is for you the forgiveness of all your sins and a participation in His Resurrection from the dead.
The Word of Christ Jesus that is preached and given to you is a living and active and powerful Word, because it is a Word that has already been fulfilled and established forever in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, the preaching of repentance not only puts you to death, but it also raises you to life in body and soul, in heart, mind, and spirit. It causes the Light to shine upon you, where previously you walked in darkness. It grants you the new birth of the Holy Spirit, and it bestows upon you the Name of God by His grace. It gives you that perfect peace which far surpasses all human understanding and achievement, because it is the Word of Christ who has reconciled you to God.
That is how and why the preaching of repentance is the preaching of forgiveness in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And such preaching does and gives exactly what it proclaims! Which is to say that it calls you and brings you to faith and to life through the forgiveness of all your sins.
It is by this preaching of the Word of Christ Jesus that you are prepared for His coming and made ready to receive Him in faith and love. But what is more, it is precisely by the preaching of His Word that Christ Jesus comes to you in love and visits you with tender mercy and compassion.
He remembers you with this preaching — not just with thoughts in His head and feelings in His heart, but with His whole Body and Life, His Flesh and Blood, His Words and His Actions. So it is that He raises you up from death to life, and He brings you into His House, in order to feed you at His Table and to unite you with Himself in the New Covenant of His Body given and His Blood poured out for you and for the many, for the free and full forgiveness of sins.
This is a most precious Feast — though it may sometimes taste like locusts and wild honey in your mouth. It sustains you in the wilderness of this world unto life in the Promised Land forever. So do you continue to live and grow and become strong, by grace through faith in this Word of Christ.
It is this peaching of the Word of Christ which has opened your ears and your heart to receive Him, and has released you from all your sins, which also now opens your lips to show forth His praise, and looses your tongue to confess His holy Name, that His great mercy may be displayed in you.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Showing posts with label Nativity of John the Baptist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nativity of John the Baptist. Show all posts
24 June 2016
The Mouth of the Lord Has Spoken
Zacharias has been catechized, and he has learned to believe and confess the Word of the Lord: concerning things only barely unfolding, and concerning things not yet seen. In the confidence and certainty of faith, he confesses these things as already accomplished before God in heaven.
After ten months of silence — which were the sign and the discipline given to Zacharaias when he doubted the Word of the Archangel Gabriel — now, in retrospect, when that Word concerning a son born to him and his formerly barren old wife, Elizabeth, has been fulfilled — he confesses the grace of God by naming his son “John,” according to the Word that he received from the Lord through the Angel. And with that confession of God’s Word — by that very Word, and by the Spirit of God at work through that very Word — his lips are opened, and his tongue is set free, so that he speaks rightly and well, and his mouth shows forth the praises of God.
Though the occasion is the nativity and circumcision of his own son, John, he first of all gives thanks for the Infant Jesus, the Horn of Salvation that God has raised up in the House of His Servant David. Zacharias gives thanks for the Infant Lord Jesus, who is there present in the womb of His Mother Mary, and for the Redemption and Salvation which are in the same Christ Jesus.
Everything is always about Jesus. Everything from start to finish is centered in Him, the Lamb of God. And everything else derives its meaning and significance from Him. That is true of your life, as well. It is true of your body and soul, your eyes and ears, your reason, and all your members. It is true of your vocation, and your stations in life, your job, and your family.
It’s all about Jesus. It all depends on Him and finds it real value and true purpose in Him, in His Body crucified and risen from the dead. And in all things, in all that you do and say, you are called to confess Him and His Holy Name, which you also bear and carry by your Baptism into Him.
So also is it true in the case of St. John the Baptist, in a special and particular way, that everything is all about Jesus. His whole life points to Jesus, already from the womb. Remember how, when St. Mary first came to the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth, as soon as her greeting reached the ears of her relative, Elizabeth, even then baby John, in the womb of his mother, leaped for joy at the presence of his Savior.
St. John’s whole life points to Jesus. So do his nativity and circumcision point to the coming Nativity and Circumcision of the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, his life in the desert wilderness, his preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and finally his martyrdom, his beheading — it all points to Jesus, to His Cross, to His Atonement, to His forgiveness of sins, and to His free gift of Life and Salvation in His flesh and blood.
St. John’s whole body and life are about Christ Jesus, but his mouth, in particular, is the focal point: The mouth with which he speaks the Word of God, as the Lord’s Voice in the wilderness, whereby St. John’s mouth is actually the Mouth of the Lord, which has spoken salvation in Christ.
As his father Zacharias’ mouth is opened by the gracious Word and promise of the Lord, so will St. John’s mouth also pray, praise, confess, and prophecy: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
It is precisely by that Word spoken by St. John, by that preaching, by that mouth and voice, that St. John the Forerunner, the Lord’s Messenger, goes before the Lord Jesus and prepares His Way.
This is how God speaks, also now to you, by the mouth and preaching of His servants. And it is by His speaking that God works and does all that He has promised.
He speaks both Law and Gospel. He instructs you in the way that you should go. He calls you to live within your own place in life, trusting that He will also provide the necessary means by which to carry out the work that He has given you to do.
He lowers your mountains and raises your valleys, so that both your pride and your despair are done away with and removed. He smooths your rough places, and He straightens what is crooked in your life. He calls you daily to repentance, to die to your sins, and to live unto righteousness by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has been crucified and is risen from the dead for you and all.
By the mouth of His servants, the same Lord speaks forgiveness, salvation, and Peace into your ears, into your body and life, unto the life everlasting. Just think of that. He speaks and bestows real Peace for your troubled heart and your troubled mind and your troubled life on earth.
God speaks Peace, and His Mouth, His Voice, and His Word do what He says, what He speaks. For by and with that speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the Father, visits you with His Redemption, even while yet hidden in the womb of His Mother.
He speaks to your heart, tenderly, and by that preaching the Holy Spirit lays Christ Jesus on your heart to comfort you with His forgiveness of all your sins.
Have you done wrong? You are forgiven. Have you spoken harshly? You are forgiven. Have you been lazy? You are forgiven. Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm? You are forgiven. Have you failed to love? You are forgiven by the Love of God in Christ.
He speaks such comfort to you, daily and richly, through the Gospel. And by that Gospel He calls you to faith, and He lays you upon Christ Jesus, who is your Sabbath Rest.
Listen, therefore, to what the Mouth of the Lord speaks. Listen to His Mouth, to your pastor and his preaching. Listen with your ears, and listen with your heart and your mind, and listen with your whole body, soul, and spirit.
It is for the sake of such preaching and hearing that the Lord God formed your pastor’s mouth and your ears, even in the womb, before you were ever born. And both mouth and ears are sanctified and consecrated for this purpose by the Word of the Lord that is spoken and heard in His Name.
It is not simply the word of man, but the Lord’s own Word on the lips and in the ears of His own people. It is by and with His Word that He opens the preacher’s mouth to speak, and by and with His Word that He opens your ears to hear; and He opens your heart and mind to believe and trust; and He opens your mouth to pray, praise, confess, and sing.
You, no less than David, are a man or a woman after God’s own heart, when you are a man or a woman after God’s own mouth. When you hear His Word, and pray and confess as He has taught you. When you pray and confess, not only for yourself, but with and for your children, even from the womb; and with and for your spouse, your friends and neighbors; for your brothers and sisters, including your brothers and sisters in Christ; and for your pastor, that he also be upheld in Peace.
Do not suppose that such a Word, even upon your lips and from your mouth, is ever a pointless or powerless noise. Do not suppose that, because you are not eloquent or confident, or as articulate as you would like to be, that you cannot speak the Word of the Lord, or by that Word bring comfort to your neighbor. For it is the Voice of the Lord, the very Voice by which He rends the heavens and moves mountains; by which He wounds and heals, kills and makes alive; by which He gives life to all of creation; by which He forgives sins and rescues from death and the devil; by which He reveals Himself and His glory to all flesh; by which He cleanses your lips and does great things.
To be sure, you are not the Savior and Redeemer of God’s people. You are not the Mother of God, as St. Mary was, nor the Forerunner of the Lord, as St. John was. But you are a Christian, baptized into Christ Jesus, anointed by His Holy Spirit, and adopted by His Holy Father.
And, dearly beloved, you are spoken to by the Lord. As your preacher is His Mouth, so do your ears become the cradle into which His Word is placed, that your heart, mind, and body might also receive and treasure Him. And as you thus hear and receive the Word of the Lord, so do you also speak, and pray, and confess. So do you praise, give thanks, and sing the New Song of Christ.
No, you are not the Savior and Redeemer. Nor of yourself are you worthy even to untie His sandals; for He alone is able to redeem His people. But by His grace you do speak His Word with His Voice. And the same forgiveness, life, and salvation that are surely given to you and are yours by His Mouth of the Gospel, are given to your neighbor, also, by the Lord’s speaking through you.
So does the Lord, by the Voice of His preaching, come down from heaven and come to His Temple, and rise among us with tender mercy, the knowledge of salvation, and the way of peace. So does He visit you here and now, and give you life, by the forgiveness of all your sins. For the Mouth of the Lord has thus spoken, and so is it done.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
After ten months of silence — which were the sign and the discipline given to Zacharaias when he doubted the Word of the Archangel Gabriel — now, in retrospect, when that Word concerning a son born to him and his formerly barren old wife, Elizabeth, has been fulfilled — he confesses the grace of God by naming his son “John,” according to the Word that he received from the Lord through the Angel. And with that confession of God’s Word — by that very Word, and by the Spirit of God at work through that very Word — his lips are opened, and his tongue is set free, so that he speaks rightly and well, and his mouth shows forth the praises of God.
Though the occasion is the nativity and circumcision of his own son, John, he first of all gives thanks for the Infant Jesus, the Horn of Salvation that God has raised up in the House of His Servant David. Zacharias gives thanks for the Infant Lord Jesus, who is there present in the womb of His Mother Mary, and for the Redemption and Salvation which are in the same Christ Jesus.
Everything is always about Jesus. Everything from start to finish is centered in Him, the Lamb of God. And everything else derives its meaning and significance from Him. That is true of your life, as well. It is true of your body and soul, your eyes and ears, your reason, and all your members. It is true of your vocation, and your stations in life, your job, and your family.
It’s all about Jesus. It all depends on Him and finds it real value and true purpose in Him, in His Body crucified and risen from the dead. And in all things, in all that you do and say, you are called to confess Him and His Holy Name, which you also bear and carry by your Baptism into Him.
So also is it true in the case of St. John the Baptist, in a special and particular way, that everything is all about Jesus. His whole life points to Jesus, already from the womb. Remember how, when St. Mary first came to the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth, as soon as her greeting reached the ears of her relative, Elizabeth, even then baby John, in the womb of his mother, leaped for joy at the presence of his Savior.
St. John’s whole life points to Jesus. So do his nativity and circumcision point to the coming Nativity and Circumcision of the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, his life in the desert wilderness, his preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and finally his martyrdom, his beheading — it all points to Jesus, to His Cross, to His Atonement, to His forgiveness of sins, and to His free gift of Life and Salvation in His flesh and blood.
St. John’s whole body and life are about Christ Jesus, but his mouth, in particular, is the focal point: The mouth with which he speaks the Word of God, as the Lord’s Voice in the wilderness, whereby St. John’s mouth is actually the Mouth of the Lord, which has spoken salvation in Christ.
As his father Zacharias’ mouth is opened by the gracious Word and promise of the Lord, so will St. John’s mouth also pray, praise, confess, and prophecy: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
It is precisely by that Word spoken by St. John, by that preaching, by that mouth and voice, that St. John the Forerunner, the Lord’s Messenger, goes before the Lord Jesus and prepares His Way.
This is how God speaks, also now to you, by the mouth and preaching of His servants. And it is by His speaking that God works and does all that He has promised.
He speaks both Law and Gospel. He instructs you in the way that you should go. He calls you to live within your own place in life, trusting that He will also provide the necessary means by which to carry out the work that He has given you to do.
He lowers your mountains and raises your valleys, so that both your pride and your despair are done away with and removed. He smooths your rough places, and He straightens what is crooked in your life. He calls you daily to repentance, to die to your sins, and to live unto righteousness by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has been crucified and is risen from the dead for you and all.
By the mouth of His servants, the same Lord speaks forgiveness, salvation, and Peace into your ears, into your body and life, unto the life everlasting. Just think of that. He speaks and bestows real Peace for your troubled heart and your troubled mind and your troubled life on earth.
God speaks Peace, and His Mouth, His Voice, and His Word do what He says, what He speaks. For by and with that speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the Father, visits you with His Redemption, even while yet hidden in the womb of His Mother.
He speaks to your heart, tenderly, and by that preaching the Holy Spirit lays Christ Jesus on your heart to comfort you with His forgiveness of all your sins.
Have you done wrong? You are forgiven. Have you spoken harshly? You are forgiven. Have you been lazy? You are forgiven. Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm? You are forgiven. Have you failed to love? You are forgiven by the Love of God in Christ.
He speaks such comfort to you, daily and richly, through the Gospel. And by that Gospel He calls you to faith, and He lays you upon Christ Jesus, who is your Sabbath Rest.
Listen, therefore, to what the Mouth of the Lord speaks. Listen to His Mouth, to your pastor and his preaching. Listen with your ears, and listen with your heart and your mind, and listen with your whole body, soul, and spirit.
It is for the sake of such preaching and hearing that the Lord God formed your pastor’s mouth and your ears, even in the womb, before you were ever born. And both mouth and ears are sanctified and consecrated for this purpose by the Word of the Lord that is spoken and heard in His Name.
It is not simply the word of man, but the Lord’s own Word on the lips and in the ears of His own people. It is by and with His Word that He opens the preacher’s mouth to speak, and by and with His Word that He opens your ears to hear; and He opens your heart and mind to believe and trust; and He opens your mouth to pray, praise, confess, and sing.
You, no less than David, are a man or a woman after God’s own heart, when you are a man or a woman after God’s own mouth. When you hear His Word, and pray and confess as He has taught you. When you pray and confess, not only for yourself, but with and for your children, even from the womb; and with and for your spouse, your friends and neighbors; for your brothers and sisters, including your brothers and sisters in Christ; and for your pastor, that he also be upheld in Peace.
Do not suppose that such a Word, even upon your lips and from your mouth, is ever a pointless or powerless noise. Do not suppose that, because you are not eloquent or confident, or as articulate as you would like to be, that you cannot speak the Word of the Lord, or by that Word bring comfort to your neighbor. For it is the Voice of the Lord, the very Voice by which He rends the heavens and moves mountains; by which He wounds and heals, kills and makes alive; by which He gives life to all of creation; by which He forgives sins and rescues from death and the devil; by which He reveals Himself and His glory to all flesh; by which He cleanses your lips and does great things.
To be sure, you are not the Savior and Redeemer of God’s people. You are not the Mother of God, as St. Mary was, nor the Forerunner of the Lord, as St. John was. But you are a Christian, baptized into Christ Jesus, anointed by His Holy Spirit, and adopted by His Holy Father.
And, dearly beloved, you are spoken to by the Lord. As your preacher is His Mouth, so do your ears become the cradle into which His Word is placed, that your heart, mind, and body might also receive and treasure Him. And as you thus hear and receive the Word of the Lord, so do you also speak, and pray, and confess. So do you praise, give thanks, and sing the New Song of Christ.
No, you are not the Savior and Redeemer. Nor of yourself are you worthy even to untie His sandals; for He alone is able to redeem His people. But by His grace you do speak His Word with His Voice. And the same forgiveness, life, and salvation that are surely given to you and are yours by His Mouth of the Gospel, are given to your neighbor, also, by the Lord’s speaking through you.
So does the Lord, by the Voice of His preaching, come down from heaven and come to His Temple, and rise among us with tender mercy, the knowledge of salvation, and the way of peace. So does He visit you here and now, and give you life, by the forgiveness of all your sins. For the Mouth of the Lord has thus spoken, and so is it done.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
24 June 2013
The Preaching of Repentance in Christ
The coming of Christ, the Son of God, is most wonderful and terrible.
He comes as Light in the darkness to lead you out of Egypt by His uplifted arms; to save you from the bitter slavery of sin and death; to bring you into the promised land.
But how shall you receive Him?
You cannot. Your sin that cuts you off and separates you from God, prevents you from receiving Him and His salvation in faith. Indeed, not only that, but for your sin you deserve condemnation from the Lord who comes, and punishment and death. You are sinful and unclean, unrighteous and unholy. Thus, you cannot abide nor survive in His presence, nor can you stand in His judgment.
Still, for all of that, it is with tender mercy and divine compassion that He comes. It is by and with grace that He takes every initiative in coming to you with life and light and love.
So it is that, in order to prepare you for His coming, the Lord raises up and calls and sends a messenger before His face — a preacher — to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. In sending such a man to preach His Word, He sends one who is like Himself; for the Lord Jesus Christ is the very Word of God who has become flesh; He has become true Man (for us men and our salvation).
Before the Lord’s own miraculous conception and birth, you see the grace, mercy and peace of God already revealed in the way that St. John the Baptist is conceived and born and named: not by the reason or strength of his old man and his barren mother — he is the gift of God.
St. John’s entire life, from even before his conception, and even while yet in the womb, is bound up with and a proclamation of the coming of Christ. So, too, especially, his preaching and his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It’s all about Jesus; it’s all pointing to Him.
It is only by such preaching of the Word that you are prepared for Christ Jesus. It is only by such preaching that you or anyone can receive Him and respond to Him in faith, unto life.
Praise God for His preachers, for His messengers who go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way, and to prepare you for Him. You would be lost and gone without them.
But there is still a problem.
You can no more receive or respond to this preaching of the Word than you can or could receive the Word-made-Flesh Himself. Your sin still gets in the way and prevents you. His Law, by whomever it is preached, still condemns you and puts you to death.
You cannot live without Him; but you can’t live with Him in your sin, either.
No, the preaching of the Word of Christ accomplishes His purposes and saves you from sin and death, not by any power or response of yours, but only because Christ Jesus Himself submits to that Word and fulfills it first of all.
Jesus receives and responds to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, and thereby He fulfills all righteousness for you.
Really, it is in this way, in particular, that St. John prepares the Way of the Lord. He preaches the Law to which Christ submits Himself (in order to redeem you and all who were under the Law). St. John preaches the repentance which Christ undergoes by His death and resurrection, in order to open the way of repentance for you. St. John preaches and administers the Baptism of repentance, to which Christ Jesus submits Himself (in faith and love), so that, by the Lord’s own death on your behalf, your Baptism is for you the forgiveness of all your sins and a participation in His Resurrection from the dead.
The preaching of the Word of Christ that is granted to you is a living and active and powerful Word, because it is a Word already fulfilled in Christ.
The preaching of repentance not only puts you to death, but raises you to life. It causes the Light to shine upon you, where previously you walked in darkness. It gives you the new birth of the Holy Spirit, and bestows upon you the Name of God by His grace. It grants you the peace that passes all human understanding and achievement, because it is the Word of Christ who has reconciled you to God.
Thus, the preaching of repentance is the preaching of forgiveness — and it does and gives exactly what it proclaims! — and it calls you and brings you to faith and life through that forgiveness of all your sins.
By this preaching of the Word of Christ, not only are you prepared for His coming, but it is precisely by this way and means that He comes to you in love and visits you with tender mercy and compassion.
He remembers you with this preaching, and He raises you up to feast with Him at His Table, to eat and drink the New Covenant of His Body and Blood. This is a most precious feast (though it may taste like locusts and wild honey); it sustains you in the desert of this world unto life in the promised land forever. So do you continue to live and grow and become strong, by grace through faith in this Word of Christ.
It is this peaching of the Word of Christ which has opened your ears and your heart to receive Him, and has released you from all your sins; which also now opens your lips to show forth His praise, and looses your tongue to confess His holy Name, that His great mercy may be displayed in you.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
He comes as Light in the darkness to lead you out of Egypt by His uplifted arms; to save you from the bitter slavery of sin and death; to bring you into the promised land.
But how shall you receive Him?
You cannot. Your sin that cuts you off and separates you from God, prevents you from receiving Him and His salvation in faith. Indeed, not only that, but for your sin you deserve condemnation from the Lord who comes, and punishment and death. You are sinful and unclean, unrighteous and unholy. Thus, you cannot abide nor survive in His presence, nor can you stand in His judgment.
Still, for all of that, it is with tender mercy and divine compassion that He comes. It is by and with grace that He takes every initiative in coming to you with life and light and love.
So it is that, in order to prepare you for His coming, the Lord raises up and calls and sends a messenger before His face — a preacher — to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. In sending such a man to preach His Word, He sends one who is like Himself; for the Lord Jesus Christ is the very Word of God who has become flesh; He has become true Man (for us men and our salvation).
Before the Lord’s own miraculous conception and birth, you see the grace, mercy and peace of God already revealed in the way that St. John the Baptist is conceived and born and named: not by the reason or strength of his old man and his barren mother — he is the gift of God.
St. John’s entire life, from even before his conception, and even while yet in the womb, is bound up with and a proclamation of the coming of Christ. So, too, especially, his preaching and his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It’s all about Jesus; it’s all pointing to Him.
It is only by such preaching of the Word that you are prepared for Christ Jesus. It is only by such preaching that you or anyone can receive Him and respond to Him in faith, unto life.
Praise God for His preachers, for His messengers who go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way, and to prepare you for Him. You would be lost and gone without them.
But there is still a problem.
You can no more receive or respond to this preaching of the Word than you can or could receive the Word-made-Flesh Himself. Your sin still gets in the way and prevents you. His Law, by whomever it is preached, still condemns you and puts you to death.
You cannot live without Him; but you can’t live with Him in your sin, either.
No, the preaching of the Word of Christ accomplishes His purposes and saves you from sin and death, not by any power or response of yours, but only because Christ Jesus Himself submits to that Word and fulfills it first of all.
Jesus receives and responds to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, and thereby He fulfills all righteousness for you.
Really, it is in this way, in particular, that St. John prepares the Way of the Lord. He preaches the Law to which Christ submits Himself (in order to redeem you and all who were under the Law). St. John preaches the repentance which Christ undergoes by His death and resurrection, in order to open the way of repentance for you. St. John preaches and administers the Baptism of repentance, to which Christ Jesus submits Himself (in faith and love), so that, by the Lord’s own death on your behalf, your Baptism is for you the forgiveness of all your sins and a participation in His Resurrection from the dead.
The preaching of the Word of Christ that is granted to you is a living and active and powerful Word, because it is a Word already fulfilled in Christ.
The preaching of repentance not only puts you to death, but raises you to life. It causes the Light to shine upon you, where previously you walked in darkness. It gives you the new birth of the Holy Spirit, and bestows upon you the Name of God by His grace. It grants you the peace that passes all human understanding and achievement, because it is the Word of Christ who has reconciled you to God.
Thus, the preaching of repentance is the preaching of forgiveness — and it does and gives exactly what it proclaims! — and it calls you and brings you to faith and life through that forgiveness of all your sins.
By this preaching of the Word of Christ, not only are you prepared for His coming, but it is precisely by this way and means that He comes to you in love and visits you with tender mercy and compassion.
He remembers you with this preaching, and He raises you up to feast with Him at His Table, to eat and drink the New Covenant of His Body and Blood. This is a most precious feast (though it may taste like locusts and wild honey); it sustains you in the desert of this world unto life in the promised land forever. So do you continue to live and grow and become strong, by grace through faith in this Word of Christ.
It is this peaching of the Word of Christ which has opened your ears and your heart to receive Him, and has released you from all your sins; which also now opens your lips to show forth His praise, and looses your tongue to confess His holy Name, that His great mercy may be displayed in you.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)