To and From Emmaus with Jesus

Disciples of Emmaus, you all know what it is like to get your hopes up, only to have them dashed.  Whether it be at work, at home, or at school, in your friendships, in sports or politics, or in the plans that you have made for the future of your family.

Actually, in any and all of these areas of life, your hopes are either in the Lord Jesus Christ, or they are in the idols of this world.  That is to say, whatever you rely upon, whatever you are counting on, and whatever you are living for, that is your god — and it will either be the one true God, Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead, or one of the pantheon of false god alternatives.

The irony is that your idols may appear to be working for a while, right up until the time when they can’t and won’t, when they are exposed for the empty and perishing posers they are.  Whereas the Lord Jesus Christ, hidden under the Cross in this fallen world, appears to be helpless and hopeless and utterly useless — a huge disappointment — despite the promise He once showed.

But, now, what do you have to go on?  And what are you going to do about it?  You have heard the Word and promises of God, and now you know the rest of the story.  So, what say you?

Knowing what you know, and having heard what you have heard, you should understand and believe that the Glory of the Christ comes by the way of His Cross and suffering.  And that’s not just ancient history.  It is also your story as a disciple of Christ Jesus.  You also enter into the Glory of God in Christ — you share His Resurrection and His Life — by the way of His Cross and suffering.  Has He not told you ahead of time that it must be so, and what the outcome will be?

This is not about wishful thinking or hoping for the best, but about the faithfulness of the Lord your God, who loves you, and His redemption of you and all His people from sin and death.

It is the story of the Gospel, which you hear and receive in so many ways, because God is so exceedingly rich in His grace toward you.  And it is the story that you have been taught to confess with the whole Church in the Creed: The story of Christ Jesus, of His Cross and Resurrection; which is also the story of your Baptism into Christ, and of your daily dying and rising with Him.

So why do you seem so surprised by the Cross and suffering, and act as though something strange were happening to you, and as though the story were all over, with a very sad ending indeed?

And how is it, after the events of these past several days, that you could now return to your home and family, to your job and to your every day routines, as though the Lord Jesus Christ had been crucified for nothing, and as though He had not risen from the dead?  Even though everything has happened just as He said, and according to the Scriptures, which have always been all about Him.

In truth, your disappointments and discouragements are also part of the Cross that is now laid upon you, in order to put the old Adam in you to death.  Not to end in despair, but to raise you up by faith in the Gospel, as the Lord calls you to repentance and teaches you to fix your hope on Him, to find Him and rely on Him in the fruits of His Sacrifice.  So that, by the ways and means of His Cross, He would raise you up from death and the grave to share in His Resurrection and His Life.

The Cross is not a last-minute gamble or a last-ditch effort; it’s not even a change in the game plan, but the very thing that God the Lord has determined from the beginning, and even from before the foundation of the world.  He created all things in love, and He created Man in His Image and Likeness, fully aware that He would accomplish His purposes by the Cross and Passion of Christ.

Now, it is not for you to ferret out the unrevealed mysteries of God, nor for you to comprehend the mysteries of time and eternity in the mind of God.  But you are given simply to hear and believe, to comprehend and confess the revealed Mysteries of God in Christ Jesus, in the Holy Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles.  All things are fulfilled in Him for the forgiveness of your sins, for the comforting of your conscience, for the strengthening of your faith, and for the raising of your body at the last unto the life everlasting of your body and soul in fellowship with the Holy Trinity.

So, consider for now the story of Moses, whom the Lord called, ordained, and sent to redeem His people Israel from Egypt.  He also suffered with and for the people, not coincidentally, but as a participation in the sufferings of the Christ who was to come, the promised Seed of Abraham.

With Moses, too, there was so much promise, so much hope at first, only to be met with a series of disappointments and setbacks.  The oppression of Pharaoh and the sufferings of the people actually increased and got worse instead of better.  There were ups and downs, and back and forth, first a “yes,” then yet another “no.”  Until the final Plague seemed so decisive.  But even then, what did that require?  The death of the firstborn son, or the sacrifice of the Lamb in place of the son!  Always the Lord is preaching that the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus, would be the sacrificial Lamb.

As the people do come out of Egypt, so excited to be on their way to freedom, yet again there is an apparent setback, as Pharaoh and his army, his chariots and horsemen, begin to chase them down.  Then Israel is caught between the Egyptians and the Red Sea, with seemingly no way out; that they should learn to fear, love, and trust in God, to call upon His Name, and to rest in Him.  So, too, when you are caught between a rock and a hard place in your Exodus from death into life.

Well, you know, as we have heard over the past few days, that God brought them safely through the waters of the Red Sea, and that He utterly drowned and defeated the entire Egyptian army in those same waters.  Just as He has brought you through the waters of your Holy Baptism into His Holy Christian Church, so did He rescue His people and bring them out of slavery into freedom.

But of course, they ended up in a desert wilderness, with no water to drink and no food to eat, and they would sooner go back to slavery in Egypt than to waste away and die out there in the wild.  Back and forth the pendulum swings, raising their hopes and then dashing them into the ground.

It never is out of the Lord’s hands, who is always calling them to repentance and faith, and always pointing them to Christ.  Thus, in spite of their grumbling complaints, He fed them with miraculous water from the Rock and with miraculous Bread from heaven, anticipating the One who has now come, who has given Himself into death, who gives to you His Body to eat and His Blood to drink.

And so it goes.  Mt. Sinai is threatening, even deadly, and frightening.  And after God seals His Covenant with Israel through Moses — by way of more sacrifice, and more blood — the Prophet disappears into the thunder and lightning, fire and smoke at the top of the Mountain for forty days and forty nights.  So the people once more give up hope, and make a golden idol for themselves, and party themselves into utter debauchery.  Over and over again, they are tested and tried; they fall short and fail; they are disciplined unto repentance; they call upon the Lord and are saved; and before long they rebel against the Lord and against His servant Moses.  On and on and on it goes.

Was it not necessary, then, for the Christ to suffer all these things, and thus to enter into His Glory through suffering?  Because He suffers with and for His people, bearing their burdens and the assaults and accusations of their enemies.  But so does He also suffer their contempt and idolatry and their sins against Him.  He takes it all upon Himself and willingly suffers for their redemption.

He is both the Firstborn Son and the Passover Lamb who is given and sacrificed in place of all the other firstborn sons.  He is the Servant of the Lord who opens the way through the deadly waters by the wood of His Cross.  He is the Rock who is cleaved to pour out living water and cleansing blood from His side for the cleansing and refreshment of His people.  He is the true Manna from heaven, the Bread of immortality, who feeds His people with Himself from the Tree of the Cross.  He is the holy Sacrifice whose blood is the New Covenant of God with His people.  And He is the One who ascends the Mountain of God by way of His Cross and Passion, suffering the judgment of the Law against your sins, but also keeping and fulfilling the entire Law for your salvation.

All of this, and the entire Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled in the very events that His Church has remembered with thanksgiving and celebrated in solemn faith over these past eight days — by the atoning Sacrifice of His Cross and in His mighty Resurrection from the dead.

And it might seem easy enough, in retrospect, to affirm, to believe, and to confess all of that now, so far as He is concerned.  He has risen, just as He said.  He is not dead, but alive forevermore.

Well, good for Him!  Right?  But it is still so hard, if not impossible, for you to see and to believe the promise of His Resurrection in yourself, in your own family, and in the desert wilderness of your life on earth.  Here, it seems, all of your hopes are routinely being dashed on a daily basis.  And even though you do “know better,” your foolish and sinful heart still doubts and is so sad.

That is how it is with you.  And yet, your dear Lord Jesus is so patient and so kind, so that, even as He gently chides you, as He calls you to repentance and faith, He is already acting to help you.

One thing to note, dear Christian, is that your conversation and discussion of the Holy Gospel is not pointless or empty.  For in that story of Christ Jesus, He Himself draws near and goes with you; and then He actually takes the story into His own hands, and He leads you home by His Word.

He opens the Scriptures to you.  And He opens, not only your ears to hear, but also your mind and your heart to comprehend and to believe the Scriptures and all that His Prophets and Apostles have preached.  He does it by the forgiveness of all your sins, and by all that goes with His forgiveness.

He does use the Cross, for that is the very heart of His story.  So it is that your eyes are prevented from seeing Him, and He even acts as though He were going to continue on His way without you.

But remember that the Cross is a means of repentance, which not only crucifies the old Adam in you, but also raises you up as a New Creation in Christ Jesus — alive by faith and living in love.

The Cross of Christ that is laid upon you teaches you to acknowledge and confess your sins, but it also teaches you to hope in His mercy, and to pray.  It teaches you to ask the Lord Jesus to come and stay with you, which is of course the very thing that He has come to do for you in love.

You bring Him home with you, and you bring Him into your home and family, by the ongoing catechesis and confession of His Word.  And that journey of catechesis not only takes Jesus home with you, but it also brings you back “home” with Him.

Thus, by His Word, you live to and from Emmaus with Jesus.  And not only that, but you live to and from Jerusalem, as did those first disciples of Emmaus, who returned that very night to the city they had left behind.  Which is to say, in either case, that you live as a disciple from the Church and always back to the Church, to the gathering of disciples around the Apostolic doctrine and fellowship.  Just like St. Mary and St. Joseph, who returned to Jerusalem to find the Boy Jesus when He had been lost to them, way back at the beginning of St. Luke’s Holy Gospel.

Where, then, shall you find Him?  Have you not heard?  The One who is the true Passover, the true Manna, and the New Covenant, gives Himself to you, to eat and to drink, in the “Breaking of the Bread,” that is to say, in the Holy Communion.  You still can’t see Him with your eyes, but He reveals Himself and you recognize Him here in this Holy Supper at His Altar in His Church.

It is here that you find and receive His Body.  Not in the tomb, which is empty, but here at His Table in His House, where He is not your Guest, but you are His, and He is your gracious Host.  Not only that, but He is your Meat and Drink indeed, by which you live, now and forevermore.

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

Forgiveness of Sins, Life and Salvation

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has risen indeed on this Day, this Jesus who was crucified.  And because He is the One who was crucified for you, the One who suffered and died in your place, His Resurrection is also your resurrection, that you should live with Him in His place.

And these good things that we celebrate today, which you have heard and know concerning Jesus of Nazareth, are all rooted in Baptism.  There was St. John’s preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to which the Lord Jesus submitted Himself.  And there is the Baptism that you have received in His Name.  That is where the strange and dreadful strife of death and life is engaged, unto the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus.  And the victory remains with life.

It was in His Baptism that Jesus took your sins, and therefore your death, upon Himself.  It is in your Baptism that you receive His Resurrection and His Life through His forgiveness of your sins.  The very forgiveness that Christ Jesus has obtained for you and all by His Cross, He gives to you in Holy Baptism.  And as the consequence of sin is death, so the consequence of forgiveness is life.

It was sin that brought death into the world.  It was sin that brought Christ Jesus to death and the grave.  And His Resurrection is thus an open declaration that sin has been dealt with and forgiven.

In the meantime, the world has decided that death is just another stage in life; that death is natural.  The world preaches that death comes to all, so you just have to accept it and face it when it comes.  Live it up while you can.  Take care of yourself, or don’t; either way, you’re going to die.

That is true to a point.  But it is a lie that death is any part of life.  Not so.  Nor is death natural.  It is rather the curse and consequence of sin.  Sin has invaded and infected God’s good gift of life.  Sin has corrupted and twisted God’s good creation in this natural world.

But the violator has been violated by the voluntary sacrifice of Christ.  Sin has been atoned for, sinners redeemed, and death defeated by His death.  The world is reconciled to God and all things are made new in His Resurrection from the dead, in His crucified and risen Body.  It was a strange and dreadful strife, which went to the core of creation.  But it was finally no contest.  Death bit off more than it could chew and found its teeth and jaws broken and smashed into pieces by Christ.

So the stone is rolled away with a shuddering of the earth, because Christ cannot be held within the tomb.  And neither can you.

You cannot and will not be held in the tomb, because you belong to this Jesus who was crucified, who has risen, just as He said.  You are His disciple.  You are His brother.  You are His friend.  And all that He has done, he has done it for you.  So death doesn’t get to keep you either.

But that’s not yet what you experience in your life on this earth, is it?  The contending of death with life continues within your body and in the world all around you.  There is still the shaking and quaking of the earth beneath your feet, and of your heart and mind within you.

Your family and friends are dying, sometimes in old age, sometimes in youth, and sometimes even in the womb.  And you mourn with those who still remain, even as you are confronted with the fact of your own mortality — which is, at rock bottom, the daily accusation of your sin.  Suffering, sickness, sorrow, and death are all reminders that your life, your thoughts, your words, and your deeds are not what they should be.  You do not live as the faithful disciple, the beloved brother, or the faithful friend of Jesus that you are called to be, and that you ought to be.

You don’t love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with all your mind and all your strength.  You don’t hunger for His Word every day.  You don’t call upon His Name in every circumstance with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.  You do not worship Him as you ought.

And you do not love your neighbor as yourself.  You carry grudges, chips on your shoulder.  You allow bitterness and resentment to eat away at you, sometimes for years on end.  You turn a cold shoulder to those who need you.  You turn your back on those you could and should befriend.

You live in fear because, by and with your sins, you still live to that extent in unbelief.  You resort to your idols instead of your Lord.  For though Christ Jesus has risen from the dead, you act as though He has not.  Or as though it made no difference.

But His Cross and Resurrection do make all the difference in the world.  So does the way that you think and speak and act.  I won’t tell you that it finally doesn’t matter, because actually it does.

When you live in the fear of unbelief, then, just like those guards, you’re as good as dead.  And isn’t that ironic?  The dead Man they were supposed to be guarding gets up and walks away, while those guards become like dead men.  Yet, that is how it really is for those who persist in sin and unbelief.  You’re as good as dead, even while you’re walking around doing your thing.  You’re afraid.  You have no peace, within or without.  And you do not love your neighbor as you should.

Christ Jesus be praised that He has not left you without help or recourse.  Indeed, He Himself has become your Strength and your Song, because He has become your Salvation.  Although He has risen from the dead and ascended to the Right Hand of His Father, and though for now you cannot see Him, take heart that He has not forgotten you.  He has not abandoned you.

He has gone on ahead of you, that is true, but He has not left you behind in the dust to languish on your own, to make it on your own.  Though you cannot see Him with your eyes, He’s really not far away from you.  In fact, He is not absent from you at all.  Lo, He is with you always.  He is a very present help in trouble — especially within His holy Christian Church.

Have you heard how the women took hold of His feet?  Maybe that seems odd to you.  That’s not how you would normally greet someone.  But the precious feet of Jesus are beautiful feet.  It is with those feet that He has trod death and the devil into the dirt; that He has crushed the serpent’s head once and for all.  And it is with those feet that Jesus comes to preach the Gospel to you.

Wherever in the world He causes that Gospel to be preached, there He plants His feet.  There He is with you, and there you can lay hold of Him.  As God once promised to Joshua, that wherever he put his feet, the Lord would give that Land to Israel, so wherever in the world Jesus plants His feet, there the Lord establishes His Church, on earth as it is in heaven.

He plants His feet wherever His Gospel is preached.  Where disciples are made through Baptism and catechesis in His Name.  Where sins are forgiven in His stead.  Where His Body and Blood are given and received in remembrance of Him.  That is the Mountain where Jesus meets you, where you lay hold of Him and worship Him by laying hold of His means of grace in His Church.

And everything depends upon His Word.  Just as everything has happened according to His Word, just as He said, so do His Word and promises remain sure and certain here and now for you.

It is by His Word that Jesus befriends you, even though you haven’t been so friendly.  It is by His Word of the Gospel that Jesus makes of you His disciple, and by His Word that He makes of you His brother, a son of God in Him.  It is by His Word that He keeps you steadfast in the true faith, in spite of your doubts and fears.  So that, even in the midst of death, you live and abide in Him.

It is by His Word, therefore, and not by your own experience, insight, or ingenuity, that you find Jesus — right where He has promised to be with you.  And it is by His Word that you take hold of Him in faith.  And it is by His Word that you worship Him.  For as He preaches to you and calls you to faith, so do you speak.  You confess His Name.  You pray, praise, and give thanks.  And it is by His Word that you speak the Gospel of His Resurrection to your neighbors in the world.

You testify that Christ has forgiven your sins; that He has given you life by His Ministry of the Gospel; and that He has made for you a home and family within His Church.  And you call your neighbor to come and receive all of this, as well, by inviting him or her to come along with you.

Not only with your words, but with your life, in all of your actions, and in all of your relationships, you confess the Gospel of the Resurrection, which is the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation.  You forgive your neighbor his trespasses against you, just as you are forgiven by Christ Jesus.

Friends, there is no place in Easter for any refusal to forgive any of your neighbors.  There is no place in Easter for any refusal to be reconciled to one another.  It simply won’t fit.  It won’t work.  For where there is life and salvation in Christ Jesus, there is also the forgiveness of sins.

Christ was crucified for the sins of the world.  They’ve already been put to death and buried with Him, and in His Resurrection all of those sins are forgiven.  Your neighbor’s trespasses, along with your own, have all been put to death and buried with Jesus, and all are forgiven by His holy and precious blood.  This Jesus is risen indeed, and He lives.  Therefore, sin is forgiven, both yours and your neighbor’s.  And that forgiveness is the safe place in which you now live by God’s grace.

Little children have their hidey-holes and treasure troves, their little boxes and special places, where they keep their precious possessions.  Grown-ups do the same thing, too, whether it be in a bank vault, or in lock boxes impervious to fire and flood.  But now consider that Christ Jesus — by His own Cross and Resurrection, in flesh and blood like yours, and by your Baptism into Him — He has hidden your life with Himself in God.  That is where He keeps you safe and sound, now and forever.  Death and the devil can’t touch you there.  They certainly can touch your body, harass your body and life in this world, and even bring you down to the grave — as we have had plenty of examples even in the past couple of weeks.  But they cannot touch your life with Christ in God, nor can they keep your body from rising with Him to the life everlasting in Paradise.

You and your life are safe with Jesus.  You are hidden with Christ in God.  Which means that you are free and clear to love and serve and to forgive your neighbor, no matter what he does to you.

And so shall your crucified and risen Lord Jesus keep you steadfast and secure in His Word and faith, in His Love and His forgiveness, until that day when He calls up your body from this mortal life, from this vale of tears, from the dust of the earth, to live with Him in His Kingdom, both body and soul, forever and ever.  And then your eyes will be able to see Him, your great Redeemer, who died for you and rose again and lives forever.  Your eyes can’t see Him now, but that yet more glorious Day will come when they do.  Then you shall see Him as He is, and you shall be like Him.

Already now you have your Jesus through your ears, in your heart, mind, and body, by His Word.  Hear then what He says to you, and know that His Word to you is true.  As true as He Himself is true — as true as His Cross and Resurrection are true — so are these Words true and for real:

“This Is My Body.  It is given for you.  This Is My Blood.  It is poured out for you.  Take and eat.  Drink.”  These gifts I freely give for the forgiveness of all your sins, so that you should not perish but be saved.  For as I live, so shall you also live, in body and soul, both now and forevermore.

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

"Woman, Behold Thy Son!" "Behold Thy Mother"

Aside from this Word of Jesus from the Cross, there is only one other time when the Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned in the Gospel According to St. John — namely, at the familiar Wedding in Cana.  There, as you know, the Mother of Jesus requested that He supply the wine that was lacking for the feast.  Indeed, He did so, changing water into wine as the first Sign of His Glory.

But that was not yet His “Hour,” when His Glory would be fully manifested and all that He had come to do and accomplish for us and our salvation would be finished and fulfilled in His flesh.

Today, however, that Hour has come.  Behold the Glory of God in Christ the Crucified!

Again the Blessed Virgin Mary is there.  Once more, as before, St. John has not identified her by name, but only as “the Mother of Jesus.”  And Jesus addresses her in each case as “Woman.”

It might seem rude or impolite, or perhaps too casual and crass.  Or we might assume that it stems from the customs of a different time and culture than our own.  But our dear Lord Jesus Christ could hardly have used a more exalted word for His dear Mother than to call her “Woman.”

In doing so, He recalls that first promise of the Gospel — given to Adam and Eve in the Garden following their Fall into Sin.  You remember the story.  To the serpent, that old dragon, the devil or Satan, God declared: “I will put enmity between you and the Woman, between your seed and her Seed.  He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Now, here on the Cross, the Seed of the Woman is doing what He has come to do.  He crushes the head of the serpent under His feet, at the cost of His life.  And there is “the Woman,” watching, beholding all the Words and promises of God fulfilled in the Cross and Passion of her Son.

For St. John to describe this holy, faithful Woman, not by name, but only as “the Mother of Jesus,” also indicates that she does not stand there at the foot of the Cross only for herself.  But — as also, for example, in St. John’s Book of the Revelation — St. Mary is here a living icon of the Church.

By the Word and Spirit of God she conceived and gave birth to the Son of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ; not by her own merits, but according to His mercies.  So also, by the Word and Spirit of God, the Church on earth gives birth to the children of God — who are the “sons of God” in Christ Jesus — because they die and rise with Him through Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection.

So it is from the Cross, from the depths of His Passion, that this same Lord, Jesus Christ, gives His own dear Mother to be the Mother of His disciple.  He gives the Church to care for His children, and He gives the Ministers of His Word to care for His holy Bride, the Church, in His Name.

This “disciple whom Jesus loved” is universally thought to be St. John himself, the Apostle and Evangelist.  Yet, just as he does not refer to St. Mary by name, neither does he refer to himself by name at any point in his Gospel.  He is always described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

St. John’s use of this description for himself is neither a pat on the back, nor a case of modesty, but rather an invitation for all the disciples of Jesus — for all of His Christians, including each of you — to recognize themselves in this description: “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  And so you are!

Of the various places in the Gospel where this “disciple whom Jesus loved” is mentioned, there are a number of cases with particular significance.  He reclined at Jesus’ breast at the Lord’s Supper.  He witnessed the trial, the suffering and death of Jesus, as in this Word of the Gospel that we consider here.  And he witnessed both the empty tomb and the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

In each of these cases, you also are with Jesus.  In each of these cases, you also are His beloved disciple: In His Cross and Resurrection, and in His Body and Blood in the Holy Communion.

So also does your dear Lord Jesus Christ give you to His Church — who is your Mother in Him.

By the same token, St. John is not only a disciple of Jesus, like yourself; he is also one of the chosen eyewitnesses of the Cross and Resurrection.  He is one of the Apostles of the Lamb.

Therefore, not only is this disciple, St. John, given as a son to the Mother of Jesus, but she also — again representing the Church — is given to St. John.  For the Church on earth is cared for and provided for by way of the Apostolic Holy Ministry of the Gospel–Word and Sacraments.

This Apostolic Ministry by which the Church lives, derives from — and it draws all of its power and authority from — the Cross and Passion of Christ Jesus, which is the sacrifice of His Body and Blood as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world.  The Crucifixion of Christ Jesus is “the Hour” of His Glory, the point on which the entire Gospel hinges and depends, even to the end of time.

So it is from “this Hour” of the Cross that the “Woman,” “the Mother of Jesus,” and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” are given to each other as Church and Christian, as pastor and people of God.

Thus does St. Mary behold the Glory that she anticipated and glimpsed at the Wedding of Cana, when her Son, the Son of God, manifested the Glory of His Cross by changing water into wine.  Even as He would use the water of Holy Baptism to change poor, miserable sinners like you into His beloved disciples and the children of His God and Father; and even as He would change and give wine to be poured out for you and for the many as His holy and precious Blood.

So also was the word of St. Simeon to St. Mary fulfilled, that a sword would pierce her own heart and soul over her dear Son, Jesus, who is here given for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign to be spoken against.

That is the great irony and paradox of Christianity: The Glory of Christ, and His victory over sin, death, the devil, and hell; His forgiveness, life, and salvation, and even His rising from the dead — all derive from His Cross and Passion, from His death by crucifixion for the sins of the world.

Apart from faith in Christ, His Cross appears to be the very opposite of what it actually is.  Instead of divine Glory, it looks like nothing else but mortal humiliation.  Instead of victory, it sure looks like an absolute and utter defeat.  Instead of forgiveness and life, it seems to be no more nor less than the curse and judgment of death.  Instead of the rising, it appears to be nothing but the falling.

“But I, when I am lifted up,” says Jesus, “I will draw all people to Myself.”  I will call them by the Gospel; I will enlighten them with My gifts; and I will sanctify and keep them in the true faith unto life everlasting — “When I am lifted up” in death upon the Cross.

Therefore, set appearances aside.  Hear and heed what your Lord says.  From the Cross He gives life and health and strength and protection to His beloved Church by the Ministry of His Gospel.

From the Cross He makes disciples out of sinners from all the nations.  In doing so, He shares with them both His Cross and His Resurrection from the dead — through Holy Baptism in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He grants them faith by His Word of forgiveness and life, and He entrusts them to the loving care of Holy Mother Church, the Mother of all His Christians.

As a member of His Church, as a disciple whom Jesus loves, by faith you see and confess that the Crucified One is the very Lamb of God, who takes away your sins and the sins of the whole world; who gives you that forgiveness — and with it, His life and salvation — by granting you to recline on His breast at His Holy Supper, to be fed by His holy Body and quenched by His precious Blood.

So then, “dear Woman, behold your sons,” the children of God in Christ Jesus.

And you, dear children, “behold your Mother,” the Church of God in Christ.

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

The Gifts Christ Freely Gives in Love for Us

Little children, see what love the Father has for you, that He has given His only-begotten Son for you, and handed Him over to His death upon the Cross.  And see how the Son of God loves you, by giving Himself for you, and by serving you at His own expense.

But no, of course you cannot see it, can you?  Not with your eyes.  It is with your ears, first of all, that you are a disciple of Christ Jesus.  You seek Him, but you are not able to find or follow Him, except by the hearing of His Word to you.  Even at that, it is a hard Word to understand, and it is harder still to bear it and believe it, to trust what Jesus says, and to live according to it in this life.

Nevertheless, it is with His Word that He has cleansed you in the waters of your Holy Baptism.  And it is with His Word that He gives to you His Bread to eat, which is His Body, here at His Table.  So, then, receive what He gives to you here, but do not take it lightly or for granted.

It is indeed a risky business to eat bread with Jesus.  Not only because the world will hate you for it, and it will seek to kill you, as it seeks to kill Him, and as our brothers and sisters in Egypt have suffered earlier this week.  And not only because Satan will rage the more fiercely against you and press you that much harder.  But it is risky to break bread and to drink with Jesus at His Table, especially because you are thus presented with God Himself, His Glory and His Life, in such a way that you may actually receive Him to yourself, into your mortal hands and mouth and body.

As the Lord your God entrusts Himself to you, and as He gives Himself to you in this way, take care that you do not betray Him.  Do not lift up your heel against the One who kneels down to wash your dirty feet, this Servant of the Lord who humbles Himself to serve you with such love.

Do not deny this dear Lord Jesus Christ with the same mouth that has received the Bread from His hand, which is His Body given for you.  Do not curse, swear, lie, or deceive, neither against Him, nor against your neighbor, with the same lips and tongue that have received His Cup of Salvation.

Do not seek a greater glory for yourself, nor strive for any other greatness in your body and life, but bear and carry His Cross in faith toward God and in love for your neighbor.

If you would compete with your fellow disciples, then outdo one another in such love, as God in Christ has loved you.  Live to the glory of His Holy Name, as He has lived for you, and died for you, and ever lives to make intercession for you before the throne of God.  And if you must boast, then boast of this dear Lord Jesus Christ, who has given and poured Himself out for the many.

What would you buy or sell, or spend or give — what would you do or sacrifice — in order to be with this Lord Jesus where He is?  To follow Him, wherever He goes, into eternal life with God?

It is not for you to purchase or to achieve by any machinations or efforts of your own.  It is for you to hear His Word, to receive His gifts, and to follow Him by faith in His Cross, reconciled to God the Father by His Blood.  It is for you to live by His grace, and to love your neighbor graciously.

Are you afraid that you will falter or fail, as Simon Peter did?  Or, what is worse, do you fear that you will be enticed by the devil and fall from grace altogether, like Judas Iscariot?

Child of God, examine your heart and confess your sin, but do not look to yourself.  Look rather to Christ Jesus by listening to Him, to the teaching of His Word and the preaching of His Gospel.  Hear what love He has for you!  Not because you are so good or so faithful; for you are neither of those things.  But He is good, and He is faithful, and in His love for you He does not falter or fail.

Even when you were estranged from Him — at enmity with Him in your unbelief, idolatry, and sin — He handed Himself over to death, and gave Himself for you on the Cross, and shed His holy, precious Blood for you, in order to redeem you from sin and death, and to reconcile you to God.

You are forgiven by His Sacrifice.  Your doubts and denials are healed in His wounds.  If you have even gone so far as to betray Him, to sell Him out for cash, to question His sanity or wisdom, or to deny that you know Him — Repent, and believe the Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins.

Dear friend of God in Christ, recline here at His Table in peace.  For the Bread that Jesus gives you is not given to be a threat, but as a promise and as the most sacred Gift.  Receiving it, you receive Christ Jesus Himself, that you should follow Him, even through death, into the life everlasting.  Reclining here at His breast, you rest in the bosom of the Father who loves you for Jesus’ sake.

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

To Live and Love by Faith in the Forgiveness of Sins

At the heart and center of your sinfulness, you want to be free of God.  You want to be a god unto yourself, free to live your own life and do your own thing — and you want to look good doing it!

Thus, your greatest sin is also your greatest pride, which you guard zealously along with you ego.

But attempting to hide and protect yourself from the exposure of your guilt and shame drives your sin inward, where it continues to work its deadly curse within you and upon you.  So you end up hiding and protecting yourself from the one and only cure: the healing medicine of the Gospel.

Thanks be to God that He does not leave you to your sin, but He disciplines and chastens you, because He loves you.  As a father disciplines and chastens the son whom he loves, the Lord addresses your sins; He corrects your errors; He calls you to repentance; and He trains you in the way of righteousness and truth, that you should live in faith toward Him and in love for others.

In particular, He does allow the curse of the fall and the consequences of your own sins to hinder and impede your relentless pursuit of sin and death, so that even the calamities of life and death are bent and constrained to serve His good and gracious will for you and your salvation.

Now, when you are subjected to sickness or some other kind of suffering, when you face trials and tribulations in this body and life, and when you bear the penalties and punishments of the wrong that you have done — whatever the case may be — your sinful inclination is to search for some remedy of the superficial symptoms, so that you can simply get on with your habits and routines.

But the Lord is really aiming at your heart.  Like a surgeon, He would open you up to address the deeply rooted evil of your sinful heart, which is the underlying cause of all your sin and death.

The particular sins of thought, word, and deed that you commit on a daily basis, as well as the outward consequences of sin in your mortal flesh and blood, all point to the heart of the problem.  They expose the unbelief and idolatry of your heart, out of which every other sin of mind, mouth, and body proceeds, driving you away from God and further into death and damnation.

The Lord, therefore, would bring you, not simply to some kind of rehabilitation, but to actual repentance, that is, to contrition and to faith in the Gospel.  To sorrow for your sins, but also to rely upon His grace and mercy and forgiveness of your sins.  Such repentance is entirely the work of God, who acts upon you with His Word — with His Law that kills you, and with His Gospel that gives you life.  And this Word of the Law and the Gospel is neither abstract nor generic.  It is not simply aimed at everyone.  The Lord addresses His Word quite personally and specifically to you.

The Lord’s goal in all of this is not finally punitive.  It is not punishment for its own sake.  He has in fact already put the entire penalty and punishment for all of your sins upon Christ Jesus, His own dear Son.  There is therefore now no condemnation for you in Christ Jesus.

So, then, the discipline and chastening of your God and Father in Christ are not at all intended to harm you or destroy you.  It is rather the case, paradoxically, that He puts you to death and kills you with His preaching of the Law, in order to raise you up to newness of life with His Word and preaching of the Gospel.  It is painful, yes, but it is all for the purpose of help and healing.

No pain, no gain.  But the Lord is not out to break you.  The truth is that you are already broken, and He seeks to make you healthy and whole, a brand new creature in body and soul.

It is again like the surgeon who cuts into your body, who does real violence to your body — and puts you to sleep for a while, like a little death — in order to heal you and wake you up to a new and better life.  Like the mechanic who takes your car apart and makes it useless for awhile, in order to remove what is broken and replace those parts, so that your car will drive safely and well.

The correction and healing that God works in you is not to bring about self-righteousness in you, but the righteousness of faith in His free and full forgiveness of your sins through the grace of His Gospel in Christ Jesus.  He does not make you new so that you can save yourself by your own good works.  Instead, He makes you new by saving you with His good works on your behalf.

The Lord your God does not wait for you to get your act together and come to Him on your own.  You know that, of yourself, you could not and would not ever do so.  And even now, as a child of God, though you do live by His grace through faith in His Word, you also remain a poor child of Adam, and you so often find yourself paralyzed by guilt and shame, by dark regrets and deadly fears, which hinder you and hold you back from seeking the Lord where He may be found.

So it is that, when you cannot bring yourself to Jesus — or you simply won’t, because you are more and more ensnared by your sins and vices and the idolatry of this fallen and perishing world — then the Lord often brings you to Himself by the agency of your Christian family and friends, your parents and teachers who speak and act in love for you, even when you may resent their help.  Or, again, He might come to you, and confront you with His Word, and call you to repentance through His called and ordained servants, who speak in His Name and act with His authority.

As a Christian, however, you should understand that a healthy spiritual life will involve regularly going to the Lord Jesus by way of contrition and repentance, by confession of your sins, and by faith in His forgiveness of sins.  You lay hold of that forgiveness by laying hold of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word and promises of the Gospel — by making active use of His means of grace.

Really, the entire Christian life is lived by such faith in the forgiveness of the Gospel.  Everything depends upon that forgiveness.  So the entire life of the Church is arranged for that forgiveness.

To be a Christian, and to live as a Christian, first and foremost, is to live constantly immersed in the forgiveness of sins.  To revel in the Gospel of forgiveness, and always to rely upon it.  That is the very essence of faith:  Every day.  All the time.  But so also in particular ways, at specific times and in specific places.  Not only in your head and in your heart, with your intellect and emotions, but in your body, also, with your words and actions.

As your sinful unbelief and idolatry are manifest in your sinful words and actions, so is your faith in the Gospel manifest in the confession of Christ and in the right worship of the Lord your God, which is to say, by hearing His Word, by calling on His Name, and by living within His Liturgy.

Repentance, again, involves a recognition of your sins, and regret for your sins, but also a reliance on the forgiveness of your sins in the Name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Savior.

It is in such forgiveness, and for such forgiveness, that you daily pray in the Our Father, as the Lord Himself has taught you and invited you to pray.  And it is likewise with such forgiveness that you live in love for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and for all of your neighbors in the world.

As you depend upon the Lord’s forgiveness of your sins for everything that you need in this body and life, and for the life everlasting, so do you forgive your neighbor his trespasses against you.

What does that look like in practice?  It is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.  Or, to say it even better, it is to love your neighbor as the Lord Jesus loves you.  It is to be humble and kind, knowing your own unworthiness and need and the Lord’s grace and mercy toward you. It is to be gentle, compassionate, generous, and charitable in your thoughts, words, actions, and assistance.  It is to give as you have received, not stingily or grumpily, but gladly and abundantly, even to those who have sinned against you; for the Lord your God has given Himself for you and to you.

To live by faith in the forgiveness of sins also looks and sounds like Confession and Absolution, which the Lord has provided by and with His own authority for the comforting of your conscience, for the strengthening of your faith, and for the salvation of your body and soul in His Name.

As you pray in the Our Father, and as you deal with your neighbors in faith and love and with the forgiveness of sins, so do you go to the Lord Jesus Christ by going to your pastor for the help and healing care of the Gospel, which your pastor has been called and sent to speak and administer.

This means of grace, that is, the practice of Confession and Absolution — the Fifth Chief Part of the Christian faith and life, which some Lutherans have appropriately called the Third Sacrament — it is at the very heart and center of all pastoral care.  To forgive sins in the Name and stead of Christ is the definitive essence of the pastoral office.  Everything else a pastor is given to do takes its cues from the Office of the Keys, because everything aims at the forgiveness of sins.  Whatever else a pastor does, and whatever else may happen in the Church, depends on that forgiveness.

The hearing of confession with the ears of Christ, and the speaking of Holy Absolution with the mouth of Christ, is how a pastors administers the significance of Holy Baptism.  It is the fountain from which his preaching and catechesis of the Law and the Gospel emerge and arise, and to which they return.  It is the pastoral care with which the Lord brings you to His Supper in repentant faith, relying not upon yourself, nor hiding away to protect your ego, but boldly resting in Christ Jesus.

To examine yourself as the Word of the Lord and the Catechism have taught you, to confess your sins in the light of the Ten Commandments, and to hear and receive the Holy Absolution that is spoken to you — that is to live as a Christian by faith in the forgiveness of the Gospel, and to make use of the means that Christ has instituted and provided for your good and for the glory of God.

Is it humbling and embarrassing?  It sure can be.  But this humility is good, and the embarrassment is not that bad.  And these emotions, colored as they are by your sin, are not the whole story in any case.  They are certainly not the main point or purpose of Confession and Absolution.  You bring these emotions to your Lord, along with your sins, to seek and receive His mercy and compassion.

The spiritual care that you thus receive from your pastor is similar, in this respect, to the bodily care that you ask for and receive from your medical doctor.  You reveal things to your doctor, and even expose yourself to your doctor, in ways that you would not do with anyone else.  You make yourself vulnerable, and you acknowledge your weaknesses, in the interest of getting help, and with the hope and expectation that your doctor can address and do something about your illness.

So does the practice of confession allow your pastor the opportunity to be a good physician of your soul.  To know you well.  To know and understand your weaknesses and struggles.  And to address your sins and heal you with the life-giving medicine of the Gospel.

When it’s all said and done, no medical doctor on earth will be able to keep you from dying; far less will any doctor on earth be able to save your body and soul from your sins, from the assaults and accusations of the devil, or from the damnation of hell.  But your dear Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted your pastor with this medicine of immortality, with His own Word of forgiveness, which does what it says and gives what it promises.  From your pastor’s mouth in the Name and stead of Christ, it is just as valid and certain on earth as it is in heaven.

The Holy Absolution that Christ Jesus speaks by the mouth of His servant does forgive your sins.  It does deliver your soul and body from eternal death and damnation.  And as such, it does indeed armor you and arm you against the assaults and accusations of the devil, who simply cannot stand against this Word of the Lord.  For the Lord would have you live with Him in safety and peace.  And to that end He has come to be your Champion, to fight for you and protect you; not only by His dying and rising once upon a time, but now also by and with this Word of Absolution that He speaks to you from the sacrifice of His Cross and in the righteousness of His Resurrection.

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

The Resurrection and the Life of the Crucified

I expect that every one of you, whether young or old, has been touched by sickness and death within your family, among your loved ones.  Even little children have to say goodbye to grandparents, sometimes to siblings and friends, maybe even to their Mom and Dad.  And as you get older, you know well enough that your body isn’t what it used to be.  Falls can break your bones so easily.  Aches and pains become the norm as you wear out.  And diseases that you never knew existed can suddenly become your daily occupation and personal expertise.

The threat of death is all around you.  It is not so hard to feel like Ezekiel, that son of man, who was put by the Spirit of God into that valley of dry bones.  Endless bones, wherever you look.  Death on every hand, in front of you, behind you, and within you.  It claws at your flesh and scars the flesh of your loved ones in a thousand different ways which only get worse as time goes by.

Believe it or not, those frailties and ailments are merely the symptoms of a deeper and far more deadly disease.  The sickness and death that you experience in yourself and in your loved ones is only the outward consequence of sin.  Sin is the sickness that infects your heart by your inheritance from Adam & Eve.  Sin is the illness that permeates your flesh and blood from the moment you are conceived.  And that cancer of sin, from deep within, is killing you, not just once but forever.

So, what can you do?  Where should you look for any help or any hope against this sin and death?

Because you are a Christian, like Mary and Martha, you look for Jesus to help you.  And you believe that He can.  Not only that, but you believe that He wants to and He will.  You go to Him in prayer.  You bring your burdens to Him with hope and expectation that He will answer; that He will do something; that He will prevent calamity from striking; that He will fix what has gone bad.

And here is the glorious truth: Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.  Wherever Jesus enters in, death must take a hike.  It cannot hang around when He who is the Resurrection and the Life is at hand.  He comes with healing for every disease, inside and out.  He comes with forgiveness for your every sin.  And where there is forgiveness, there is life and salvation for both body and soul.

He does all of this, for you and for all people, in His own flesh, with His own blood, by taking the whole burden and consequence of sin and death upon Himself.  He bears it in His Body to the Cross.  He feels it all in His flesh, well beyond the deadliest cancer.  He suffers it all in His bones, a terrible kind of arthritis.  He gives His life and sheds His blood to atone for your sins, and for the sins of the whole world, in order to conquer death and the power of the grave once and for all.

He does it all for the sake of His love.  He knows you, and He knows your sins, but He chooses to forgive your sins and save you at the greatest possible cost to Himself, because He loves you.

He loves you, notwithstanding the hurts and hardships that you bear and feel in your life.  It is true that He could take away all of your sickness and suffering, all of your disappointments, all of your hurts and heartaches.  He could take all of it away.  But for His own reasons, and precisely in His love for you, according to His good and gracious will, He does not.  Not for now, not yet.

What He has done — by His Word and Holy Spirit, by His preaching and Baptism of repentance — what He has done is take you to be His very own.  He has become your Brother in the flesh, and He has borne your sins in His own Body, and He has befriended you to Himself in love.

He has made of you His friend; He has bound Himself to you, and you to Him.  Indeed, He shares His Life with you in body and soul, for now and forever.  But He does so by sharing His Cross and Passion with you.  You share His Resurrection and His Life, because you share His suffering and death as a member of His Body through faith in His Word and Sacraments of the Gospel.

It is from His Cross that He gives to you His Holy Spirit, and by His Cross that He brings you to His God and Father as your own God and Father in Him; not as a guest, nor even simply as a friend, but as a beloved member of the household and family of God.

Therefore, even though you die, yet shall you live, as surely as Christ Jesus Himself has risen from death and the grave to the life everlasting at the Right Hand of His God and Father in heaven.

Do you believe this?

And, if so, what then is your hope?  What is your prayer and expectation?  Would you desperately pray for Jesus to bring back those you have lost to this poor life of labor?  Would you have Him simply preserve and prolong their lives and yours in this valley of sorrow under the Cross?

Now, certainly you should receive your life in this world as God’s good and gracious gift.  Your life here on earth, no matter how difficult, is to be treasured as God’s gift and received and lived with thanksgiving.  It is not to be despised.  So, do not despair, but live by faith in this world.

Only do not regard this body and life on earth as your greatest good and as your highest and best hope.  Do not cling so voraciously to your life in this world, nor to your loved ones in this world.  Do not despise or demonize the life that God has given to you here, but do not idolize it, either.

For the present time, creation itself is burdened under the curse and consequences of sin — but in the hope and promise, in the eager longing and expectation of the Resurrection, the glorious revealing of the sons of God in Christ, and the coming of new heavens and new earth, the home where righteousness abides forever.  Here on earth you are a stranger in a strange land of sin and death.  But your true home and family are with the God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, when the Cross is laid upon you and your life in this world, know that God is not out to get you or destroy you.  Nor is it the case that He does not care or understand.  He surely does. But your God and Father lays the Cross upon you in Christ Jesus in order to work His good works in you.  To bring you to repentance and to strengthen your faith in Him alone.  To benefit your neighbor, often in ways that you do not understand and may never realize.  And to bring forth in you the fruits of faith and love to the praise and glory of your Lord Jesus Christ.

The crosses that you bear are not pointless and empty.  They strengthen your faith, and they serve your neighbor, and they glorify the Lord Jesus, because your God and Father in Christ has you and your life, and all of those crosses, and all of your loved ones, in His care and keeping.  So it is that your friends and your foes are somehow served by the Cross that you bear as a child of God.

One of my favorite examples is that of the great Lutheran hymnwriter, Paul Gerhardt.  The story of his life is enough to bring anyone to tears, the suffering he endured, the death that surrounded him in his family from his childhood until his own death.  The Lord surely could have spared him from all of that suffering and sorrow, but He did not.  Yet, the Cross that was laid upon him did not destroy him.  It strengthened his faith in such a way that, in his hymns, he was able to confess so beautifully his hope and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.

Thus did the Cross of Christ bear good fruits after its own kind in the life of Paul Gerhardt.  So that, not only were those in his own day served and benefitted by his confession of Christ and His Gospel, but even we and many others, four hundred years later and on the other side of the world, are strengthened in our faith and life by that sung confession of the Cross and Resurrection.

The Cross that you bear would likewise bear good fruits of faith and love for your neighbor.  And for you, also, that Cross does not finally end in death, but in life with God.  For even as you are crucified with Christ Jesus, so are you raised to live with Him forever.

Nevertheless, you may still be tempted to say that, “If only the Lord were here, then I would not have to go through all of this pain and suffering.  If only Jesus were here, then I would not have to endure this disappointment, this heartache, or this fear.”  As if He were not already at hand!

But in fact, the Lord Jesus comes to your tomb by the way of the Cross.  And He is with you by the way of the Cross.  It is by His death that His divine Glory is manifested to the eyes of faith.

Has He not told you that, if you believe, you will see the Glory of God?  Where?  In His Cross.  That is the Hour of His Glory.  That is the Victory of Christ over sin, death, the devil, and hell.

Consider the Cross that you bear from that perspective — and from that same viewpoint of Christ the Crucified — in the Light of His Resurrection and His forgiveness of all of your sins.

Consider, too, the Cross that was laid upon Lazarus, whom Jesus loved.  And by that I mean, not so much that he got sick and died, but that he was called back from his peace and rest to the trials and tribulations of this life.  He was called back from his Sabbath Rest to be conspired against.  For those who conspired to crucify Christ Jesus also plotted to put Lazarus to death.  Why?  Because many of the people were believing in Jesus on account of Lazarus.  So that’s what he was called back to be and do: To be a sign and testimony of Jesus, and to suffer on account of Jesus.

It was for the benefit of others that Lazarus was raised.  He no longer needed anything, but to await in peace the final resurrection of his body in glory at the last.  But he was restored to this poor life of labor for his sisters’ sake.  And not only for Mary and Martha, but for the disciples, and the Jews, and the nation, and the world — and for you — Lazarus was raised from the dead for the repentance and faith of those who receive the witness of this story to the glory of God in Christ.

Lazarus could not do any of this by himself, and he did not.  It was by the Voice and Spirit of Christ Jesus, who called Lazarus out of the tomb by the power of His Word.

Lazarus couldn’t even move.  He was all wrapped up in grave clothes, so he didn’t walk himself out of the tomb.  The Voice of Christ called him forth.  He could not free himself.  He could not blow the stone off its hinges, nor could he remove the bindings that held him.  It was Christ who raised him, and his neighbors who unbound him at the Word of the same Lord Jesus Christ.

The Voice of Christ Jesus calls you, as well.  Not necessarily out of hurt and hardship; these you may well have to bear in this body and life.  Sometimes the Voice of Jesus calls you into hurt and hardship for the glory of His Name and the good of your neighbors.  But in every case, He calls you from sin and death to repentance and faith in His forgiveness of sins.  And by this preaching He brings you out of the grave into newness of life; though for now it is by faith and not by sight.

His Gospel, His forgiveness of your sins, His Holy Absolution.  These are His Voice, His Word, by which He removes the stone that otherwise traps you inside of the tomb.  His Gospel unbinds your body and releases you from the sin and unbelief that constrain you and prevent you from living.  His preaching of forgiveness removes the bandages from around your head and face, your eyes and mouth, so that you are able to see and believe in Him and to confess His holy Name.

It is His Word and Spirit that breathe life into your dried-up, dead old bones, so that you now live.  It is His Word and Spirit that cover you with flesh — with His Flesh — and cause His Blood to pump through your veins.  It is His Word and Spirit that give you life with God in Christ.

See here, even now, the Son of God puts His own Body and Blood into you.  Into your hand.  Into your mouth.  Into your flesh.  He gives to you the same Body and Blood that were put to death in your place and raised again for your justification.  He gives His flesh into your mortal body with His forgiveness and His life.  So shall you rise, as He has risen from the dead, never to die again.

Listen to His Voice.  He is calling you by name.  Come forth, and eat, drink.  He is here for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins, for the life and salvation of your body and soul forevermore.

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

Through the Waters of the Jordan with the New and Greater Joshua

You are caught up in a river of sin and death, in rapids flowing down from Adam to all his sons and daughters, even to the bitter end.  You are up to your neck in that raging river, deep and wide and flooding its banks, and well on its way to washing you out to the deep waters of eternal death.

And you’ll not escape from that deadly river.  You’ll not be able to swim your way out of it.  But neither will you survive at all without crossing through the waters of the Red Sea out of Egypt; nor will you find true peace and Sabbath Rest and the safety of eternal life with the Lord your God, until you have crossed through the waters of the Jordan into the Land that He has promised you.

But, again, you cannot accomplish any of this by your own power.  And you will not survive either of those crossings — not the crossing of the Red Sea, nor the crossing of the Jordan — not apart from Christ Jesus, your new and greater Joshua.  For He alone has fulfilled the Law of Moses for your salvation, and in doing so has surpassed even that faithful servant in all the House of God.

There you are, caught in the river, in way over your head, and the current is far too strong; it is washing you away, dragging you along with debris and dead bodies all around you in the water.  You’re drowning and not going to make it.  But into that current strides this Champion, Jesus, your great High Priest.  He enters the water ahead of you, in fact, and He takes His stand there in the middle of that deadly raging river.  He plants His feet firmly right there in the water, in order to be with you and to open the way for you.  To bring you through that water of death into life.

He strides into the river to be baptized, and in this way He cuts off the raging rapids that are flowing down from Adam.  He soaks up that river of sin and death into His own Body of flesh and blood.  He bears in His Body the sins of the world and dies the death of all.  By one man, Adam, all men sinned, and all men die.  By this one Man, Jesus, who dies for all, the many shall now live.

He takes His stand there, in the middle of the river, and He will not be moved until everything has been completed.  This is the Baptism that He undergoes, even unto death on the Cross.  He does not flinch, and He will not budge until He accomplishes what He has come to do.  For He has so established Himself in the midst of the river, and planted Himself so firmly, that He shall there remain until all the people of God have crossed the Jordan out of the desert into Canaan, into safety, peace, and Sabbath Rest.  He stands there for you, until you have passed through death and the grave into the life everlasting with Him through your Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection.

By His own Baptism in the Jordan River, He has made of this Sacrament the foundation of His Church on earth, and so also the entry into His Church on earth.  Holy Baptism is both the floor and the front door of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, here on earth as it is in heaven.  For so has this new Joshua chosen His twelve men and sent them out to preach, to catechize, to baptize, and to forgive sins in His Name, in order to make disciples who follow Him into Life.

It is right there in the middle of the Jordan River — right there in the middle of sin and death — that the true Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat of the Lord your God have been established for you in the Body of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, your merciful and great High Priest.

His God and Father has also testified to that fact.  Indeed, He has left no doubt as to where His grace and favor remain.  For there in the waters of the Jordan the Holy Spirit has come upon Christ Jesus in bodily form as a dove.  And the same Spirit rests and remains on Him, so that all those who are baptized into Christ are likewise anointed with the Holy Spirit.  And by the anointing of that Spirit, you are given life with God through the forgiveness of all your sins.  That’s what the Holy Spirit does with the Gospel of Jesus.  Everything that Jesus did for you is given to you by the Ministry of His Gospel, and so also right there in the waters of your Holy Baptism in His Name.

It’s also there in the Jordan River that the Voice from heaven, the blessing of God the Father, is spoken to Christ Jesus: “You are My beloved Son. With You I am well pleased.”  That Voice of God, that blessing of the Father, is spoken to and for all those who follow this Joshua through the Jordan into the Land that God has promised; who lodge there with Joshua in His holy Church.

So, then, establish your body and life and make your dwelling here on earth, firmly set upon this solid foundation of your Baptism into Christ Jesus.  There is no stronger foundation than that.

Which means what?  Return daily to the significance of your Holy Baptism.  Born like a little fish in the water, live your whole life in that same water.  That is to say, as Dr. Luther has taught you in the Catechism, return daily to the dying and rising of your Baptism by way of contrition and repentance, by the confession of your sins, and by faith in the Holy Absolution of your sins in the Name of Jesus Christ.  Baptized into Him, live as a disciple by the ongoing catechesis of His Word.

And take the stones from the middle of the Jordan into your own stations in life, wherever they may be, whether you are a husband or wife, a father or mother, a son or daughter; whether you’re a student still in school (grade school, high school, college, or graduate studies); whether you’re a worker in a factory or an office; whether you do your job on a computer or at a sink.

Wherever God has stationed you on earth, live there as a citizen of His Kingdom, as a member of His household and family, and establish your home and dwelling on those stones from the river of your Baptism.  Go about your life as a child of God, bearing His Name, confessing His Name, in all that you say and do.  Forgive your neighbor, as God has forgiven you.  Cover your neighbor with the mercies of God in Christ, as you have been clothed with Christ in your Holy Baptism.

The place where those stones are to be found is the place of the font, the Church on earth.  Live to and from there, that you may dwell with Joshua and the people of God all the days of your life.

Yes, that is what you ought to do.  But most of you know what happened to Israel after they got into the Promised Land, after all of God’s good promises had been fulfilled.  Their life was a seemingly endless cycle of falling away from the Lord; being called to repentance, brought back and rescued from their enemies; and falling away again.  And how often isn’t your life like that?

How often do you go about your days of the week and your life in this world as though you had never been baptized?  As though you were not a child of God, but dead and dying with old Adam?  As though the Name and Spirit of Christ which you received from His God and Father, and the Word of the Gospel that the Father has spoken to you by His Son, were of no consequence at all?

Well, as often as you stumble and fall; as often as you run away, or fall away, or simply forget the salvation and significance of your Baptism — repent, and return to the Lord your God by returning to those stones from the river, and to that merciful and great High Priest who remains in the midst of the Jordan.  He is the Rock who followed Israel through the wilderness, from which they drank the Spiritual water in the desert.  And He has planted Himself in the midst of the River Jordan, in the waters of Holy Baptism, in order to bring His people into Canaan forever.  So shall He remain for you and all, until your own Baptism has finally been completed in your death and resurrection.

What Jesus has accomplished once and for all — beginning with His Baptism when all the people were baptized, and culminating in His death upon the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead — that great salvation of God has been firmly established in the waters of Baptism forevermore.  So those waters, though deadly to your old Adam, to all your sinful lusts and wicked desires, are also living and life giving for your body and soul in Christ Jesus, the new and better Adam, the new and greater Joshua.  Instead of sweeping you away and washing you out to sea, they continue to cleanse you, and forgive you, and anoint you with the Holy Spirit.  As often as you fail, Christ does not fail.  He stands there with His forgiveness and His love, with life and salvation for you.

Therefore, enter through those waters of the Jordan into safety, into the peace of Christ.  Enter daily through those waters of the Jordan into the Sabbath Rest that remains for the people of God in Jesus Christ.  The Old Testament Joshua did not give that final rest, but this new Joshua does.

All of your enemies — all of those chasing at your heals, and all of those surrounding you on the right hand and on the left — all of them have been silenced; their mouths have been shut.  All of their accusations against you, and all of their threats and violence have been stilled and stopped and shut down.  For Christ the Lord has done it all to save you.  So, then, fix your eyes on Him.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.  Fix your eyes on Jesus, right there standing in the middle of the Jordan, right there in the waters of your Baptism.  He’s there for you.  His feet have been firmly planted, and He shall not move.  He is your Savior, and He will bring you safely through those waters, even through death and the grave, into the resurrection of your body and the life everlasting with Him.

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