St. Matthew 9:18–26
While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district.
The lessons for this Trinity Season—(which comes to an end in a couple of weeks along with the church year) have been especially about your life as a believer in this world, about the unique perspective you have being one of those. You’re here, but really heading there—to the place God has prepared for you in His kingdom. The hymn writer states it so well:
Brief life is here our portion;
Brief sorrow, short-lived care [care meaning, worries];
The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life, is there.
There is eternal rest; There is a mansion with the blest—the hymn writer goes on to say.
This isn’t that place. It’s filled with struggles—physical ones among them, like for the woman in our text. It’s filled with death too, like for the daughter of the man who comes to Jesus in the text.
Who of us hasn’t seen our share of these struggles as well? The Last Sundays of the Trinity Season—the end of the church year—are about the end of the world, the end of our lives here. Fitting.
Speaking of our hymn, you might have been thinking to yourself, “What a strange title for a hymn—The World Is Very Evil! It’s not a happy sentiment, is it? But not every hymn we sing is called something like that. Through the hymns you express what it is to be a believer in this world. Sometimes, that’ll have you singing: Rejoice, Rejoice, this happy morn; other times: The world is very evil. And of course, we note that a hymn like this points out the great darkness of this fallen world—not as an end, but as a comparison to the joy that waits for us as believers in Christ (which the hymn goes on to do). St. Paul talked like this one time: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).
In our text, too, we see the darkness of this world. What else can we call it when a man comes to Jesus announcing, “My daughter has just died.” What could be sadder than that? What darker? What more likely to cause a person to say something like, the world is very evil? Reminds me of Jacob’s statement from the Old Testament book of Genesis, at the thought of losing his young son: If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol” (42:38). The world is very evil, The times are waxing late—that isn’t an overstatement of the way we might feel here in certain moments. And in between those moments it doesn’t do us good to pretend that it isn’t the case.
It also doesn’t do us good to forget our own contributions to this world’s evil. The nature that you’ve inherited is the same that your first parents took upon themselves when they disobeyed God in the Garden. The death sentence that you have isn’t an unjust one. What you, and the girl in our text who has died, and all others born of sinful human fathers and mothers in this corrupted world deserve is for God to abandon you to the eternal death, the eternal punishment you have earned by your sins.
But dear believers, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus in this text. Note how He responds to the cries of His people who are overcome with the darkness of this world. These are believers like you. They know Jesus. As far as the man is concerned, death isn’t even too big for Jesus. Even that isn’t too late to be asking HIs help. The man says, Come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. What a strong faith that is! And Jesus’ response is to get up and follow him. The woman doesn’t think Jesus even needs to be bothered to hear her story, go with her somewhere, or anything like that; she only need touch His garment to be healed of her condition. And of course, she’s right about it—it happens, and Jesus commends her faith.
But Jesus goes with the man, follows him to his house.
There’s a section of hymns in our book under the theme: Death: A Sleep [as if to say, death is merely a temporary situation; it’s an entrance to eternal life, no more lasting than a sleep]. These hymns come up in the Trinity Season (this season that is about our lives in this world). I Know of a Sleep in Jesus’ Name; I Fall Asleep in Jesus’ Wounds—these are some of the hymn titles in that section. It’s interesting here, this morning because of what Jesus says to the flute players and crowd making a commotion outside the man’s house. He says, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.”
Now, it’s important that we recognize what Jesus is doing here. He isn’t saying that it only seems like the girl is dead—maybe having some condition that causes a person to appear dead, even appearing to have stopped breathing. “There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation” is how a lot of Bible critics would speak about a text like this. Jesus doesn’t mean that when He says, the girl is not dead but sleeping.
The man had left his house and gone to find Jesus, after all, and announced to Him that his daughter had died, most likely after investigating in every possible way to determine whether or not it was the case. His great hope was that he would discover some sign of life in her, of course. But people know what death is. Nothing about the girl indicated in any way that she was still alive, because she was dead. Having gone and found Jesus, then, He and the man had gone back to his house to find that the mourners had already come (another very clear sign that she had certainly died). They found Jesus’ suggestion that the girl wasn’t dead to be laughable. Of course, she was dead.
Jesus’ statement, the girl is not dead but sleeping is an indication of what He is doing (or maybe has already done). He is there, now. It is His will that the girl be restored to life in this world. He is the almighty for Whom nothing is impossible. So, it is the case. The girl who had been dead is alive! Had it been Jesus’ will not to restore the girl to life in this world, His referring to her as sleeping would still apply, because to a believer in Christ, wearing the garment of His righteousness, death is a but a sleep from which the person wakes to eternal life.
And now we watch and struggle—Another one of the lines from the hymn. We struggle with things that happen to us in this world, and with things we do ourselves. We cry out to the Lord, Why are you letting this happen to me? Aren’t you going intervene? Won’t I have relief? And we cry out, Forgive my sins, O Lord! Take this guilt away from me that burdens me so. Strengthen me to do Your will instead of my own.
See God’s answer in our text. See it in the power and compassion of the Christ—the object of God’s merciful salvation for sinners. He hears the cries of His people, and He responds in loving care—not like we deserve, but according to incomparable mercy. He can help you, and He wants to help you—this One Who chose death for Himself in this world, chose to die a criminal’s death—having taken your crimes and everyone else’s on Himself (having taken them away from you). Fix your eyes on this Savior, Jesus. As you watch and struggle, know that the outcome is set: you have the victory over anything that happens to you in this world, and over the guilt that burdens you. He has seen to it for you. He invites you to keep bringing your burdens to Him. He has paid every debt. You are forgiven in Him.
O sweet and blessed country,
The home of God's elect!
O sweet and blessed country
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest,
Who art, with God the Father
And Spirit, ever blest. Amen.
Isaiah 51:9-16
Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
“I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
And I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
Colossians 1:9–14
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Our text talks about being free. Martin Luther wanted that. I hope that the reason you leave your comfortable homes on Sunday mornings to come to this place, is because you want that too. I hope that it’s worth everything to you, in fact. Reformation Day is a good day to consider how gathering like this on these mornings relates to making you free.
To Luther, the desire to be free was worth closing himself away from 16th century Germany, becoming a monk in a monastery. There, with a heavily regimented and spiritually-directed life, maybe—he thought, he could escape the temptations of the world and avoid being sent to hell for his sins. Luther wasn’t imagining this need to be free from sin. He knew enough of the Bible to know that. Jesus says right in our text, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
But in the monastery, Luther found he couldn’t escape the world’s temptations. They were still there. The sin was inside him (Jesus says that too). It’s an inherited condition—a person’s guilt, his inability to stop sinning. The more Luther tried not to sin, the more burdened and guilty he felt. He would confess to his superior, “What if I do resist temptation? Am I not then proud of that resisting?” (Another sin). No matter what he did, Luther still felt imperfect before the perfect God who would surly send him to hell. Looking back on this time, Luther wrote: “I lived without reproach as a monk, but my conscience was disturbed to its very depths and all I knew about myself was that I was a sinner. I could not believe that anything that I thought or did or prayed satisfied God. I did not love, nay, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners.”
Again from our text:
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Again, that’s what Luther wanted; to be spiritually free. He didn’t want to feel guilty (or be guilty) anymore. He found that freedom; but it wasn’t because of any effort to live a better life.
Jesus had said, “If you hold to my teaching…the truth will set you free.” Jesus’ teaching was available in Bibles. Therein the Spirit could instruct a person. Very few had them though. Bibles. They were costly, and rarely (if ever) in the language regular people could understand. So people weren’t really reading the Bible. And the problem is that, spiritually, a person is always being instructed by someone—either by the Spirit through the Bible or by someone else (something for you to keep in mind this morning). The Bible not being available to people in Luther’s time was big problem.
To make matters worse, the church on earth on earth had lost its way in that time. Due to its earthly-minded teaching, what people generally believed is that you had to do enough good things to make up for the bad things you’ve done. Good things were acts of penance; pilgrimages; prayers to saints (who could potentially make you better with their goodness), viewing relics (religious junk the church had collected); even purchasing indulgences (papers that announced forgiveness to people living and dead). As a monk in the monastery, Martin Luther even abused his body, hoping it would make payment for his sins. He thought of Jesus as an angry judge (certainly not anyone to whom he could turn to be made free). It’s sad to say that in that day, the church’s way of making a person spiritually free didn’t work. It’s often said that the liturgy of the church is to be credited with a lot people’s salvation because God’s Word is the basis of it (it remains so today, by the way; that’s why we continue to hold to it today). The Scripturally-based Liturgy was reliable to make people free even though the church’s teachers were peddling worthless human doctrines.
By God’s grace, Luther’s superiors at the monastery ordered him to study the Bible.
But when he did so, he noticed that the church wasn’t teaching the message of the Bible. He hadn’t known the Biblical Jesus; He’d known someone else who was called that—someone that scared him. The Bible certainly taught that people need to be freed from the spiritual bondage of sin. But it wasn’t saying that that freedom comes from penance or pilgrimages, saints or relics, or indulgences. It wasn’t to be found by traveling to the “holy” city of Rome, or joining a monastery.
“If you hold to my teaching…the truth will set you free.” That’s what Jesus says in our text. In studying the Psalms, Luther learned that God is not merely an angry judge who wants to punish people for their sins, but rather a merciful God who wants to give people His righteousness. In studying Paul’s letter to the Romans, Luther found that salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith in Christ. God gives us faith through His Word and in baptism. He preserves that faith in us as we receive the Lord’s Supper.
Luther wrote these words in a letter after making this discovery: “Therefore, my sweet brother, learn Christ and him crucified: despairing of yourself, learn to pray to him. Saying, ‘You, Lord Jesus, are my righteousness, but I am your sin; you have taken on yourself what you were not and have given me what I was not.’ Beware of aspiring to such purity that you no longer wish to appear to yourself, or to be, a sinner.”
He meant, you’re never going to be perfect and sinless no matter how hard you try. God doesn’t want us to think of ourselves as being in a position to ever be deserving of good things from Him, or to somehow save ourselves. He wants us to do exactly as Luther advised his friend: “Pray to Jesus, saying, ‘You, Lord Jesus, are my righteousness, but I am your sin; you have taken on yourself what you were not and have given me what I was not.’”
In his commentary on the book of Romans, Luther wrote, “Note well that you will really be pious and free from sin if you believe that Christ makes you free by dying for you, shedding His blood, rising from the dead, and sitting at the right hand of God.” (vol.23,p.410)
Christ has made the payment for your sins. You need only believe that to be saved.
You know the truth, and the truth has set you free.
Martin Luther couldn’t keep this to himself. As the famous seller of indulgences, Johann Tetzel was approaching the town of Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther walked up to door of the Castle Church and posted 95 theses against the selling of indulgences. He wanted to discuss; to debate with theologians of the University and church. But it wasn’t meant to be. Before the Holy Roman Emperor, who demanded that Luther take back what he had said in opposition to the church, Luther said the famous words: Unless I am convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds and reasoning –and my conscience is captive to the Word of God – then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me! Amen.”
Martin Luther had wanted to be free. He’d found the means of attaining—through the blood of Christ as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Luther translated the Bible into German so that his people could know the truth, and compare the church’s teachings to the Word of God. They could hold to [Jesus’] teachings, and be his disciples, as it says in our text, knowing the truth that makes a person spiritually free.
When you are burdened by sins, robbed by Satan of the freedom that Christ has secured for you and wants you to experience for yourself, then consider Martin Luther’s strong statement on the subject:
“For if some complaint should be registered against a heart that believes in Christ, and testify against it concerning some evil deed, then the heart turns itself away, and turns to Christ, and says, ‘But he made satisfaction. He is the righteous One, and this is my defense. He died for me, He made my sin His own; and if He made my sin His own, then I do not have it, and I am free.’”
You are free. AMEN.
St. Matthew 18:23-35
[Jesus says] “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
In our epistle lesson, St. Paul prays that his readers’ love abound more and more. He’s talking about something that God brings about in us, you know. It’s a product of Baptism, this love that we have toward Him and toward others. The Spirit is increasing through the Supper, through the Word what He has begun in us—this love that is natural to God but not to us in our corrupted form with which we come into this world since the Fall Into Sin.
Our text demonstrates that love is natural to God, and not to us. A certain man in Jesus’ parable—a king is conducting business. On his docket for that day is to call in debts from certain men. The first comes in who owes a large debt. Procedurally, the king asks for the money the man owes. He says he can’t pay. Apparently without any emotion at all, the man is ordered to be sold, with his wife and children and everything he has, and payment be made. Could be the end of the story. This happened. So then, this happened. Period.
But in this case, an additional thing happens: the man begs on his knees for mercy. This could still have been the end of the story. The king could have refused him, and gotten on to the other things in his daily planner (wouldn’t have been much point in Jesus telling a story like that though).
His parable begins with the words: the kingdom of heaven may be compared to… In one of those stories, we are always going to hear about things being a little different than we would expect them to be. We’re going to hear about the fact that God is different. His motivations are different from the corrupted people of this world.
When the man begs for mercy, this king grants it. He releases the man, forgiving his debt. In that, you have seen God. That’s what He does.
What had been the case initially—the man being held entirely accountable for the debt he owed, made to pay in full, accurately shows what the Law is. It shows the position every sinner holds in relation to the Law. Sin amounts to a debt that is owed. It’s a debt of guilt. The simple equation of what happens to a sinner in the face of the Law is like the king’s initial emotionless sentencing of the man. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand (Psalm 130:3)? No one who is born in the corruption of this world could stand, owing that debt of guilt.
But God is like the king in the parable. He makes Himself available to those who humble themselves before Him. He has arranged that sinners can appeal to a certain Name to which He has affixed His mercy—the name of His eternal Son, Jesus Christ. A sinner appealing to that Name is like the man begging on his knees to have the king’s mercy in the parable. You appeal to the Name each Sunday, here. We all do it to together in the Confession of Sin.
And God’s reaction to that appeal is the same as the king’s in the parable; He releases the sinner from his sentence, forgiving the debt entirely. Remember that St. Paul’s prayer for his readers was that their love abound more and more. Forgiveness is emblematic of God’s love as it comes to be demonstrated in people. When people forgive, they look like God, is another way to say that. What demonstrates God’s love more clearly? When Jesus was teaching his followers how to be godly, He told them to forgive. He told St. Peter just prior to our text, to forgive his brother’s sin—not just seven times (as he had suggested), but seventy-seven times [apparently meaning: an unlimited number of times].
But we said that loving forgiveness that is natural to God, is not natural to us. We see that in what happens next in the parable. Having been set free, forgiven of his large debt, the servant goes out and finds someone who owes him a much smaller debt. As those who are cut from the same cloth as this man, having inherited a sinful nature, we nevertheless wish we could say the story continues that he had mercy on his fellow man as he had been shown. Instead, we read in Jesus’ parable what we have often seen in ourselves. He has forgotten the mercy that was shown him. He has diminished in his mind the significance of his own debt. He will exact from his neighbor every last cent, and he will do it right now. He will do it without mercy. He even chokes him and says, ‘Pay what you owe.’ And when the man does what he himself had done recently, pleading on his knees, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you…’ —Well, again, as those who are cut from the same cloth as this man, having inherited a sinful nature, we nevertheless wish we could say the story continues that he remembered the mercy that had just before this been shown him, and had pity for the man who owed him, released him, forgave the debt, removed his hands from around the man’s throat. But in this portion of Jesus’ parable, He’s showing us ourselves. He’s showing us what it looks like when we stew about some wrong our neighbor has done to us, what it looks like when we go over it and over it in our minds like this man has evidently done, when we become obsessed with making our neighbor (our spouse, our co-worker, our sibling) pay a price for what he or she has said or done to us. It has looked at those times, of us, like we have forgotten entirely the debt of guilt we owe for our sins, and the mercy God has shown us.
And it isn’t just a bad look, an unfortunate display from someone who should know better. In the parable, it has a really terrifying result: the king who’d been so merciful gets wind of what has gone down between this forgiven servant and his fellow debtor. He isn’t happy about it. ‘You wicked servant! —he says. I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
Now, that servant is back where he had been in the beginning. He is outside the realm of grace; he is back under the law—under the debt he owes that will now be paid without any mercy. Him showing mercy toward his neighbor would have demonstrated a humility, an understanding, a comprehension of the generosity that had been shown him (if we’re talking in spiritual terms, we would say it would have shown faith—the kind the Holy Spirit works in those who are truly God’s people). Him treating his fellow man that way indicates it doesn’t mean anything to him.
What’s even more terrifying is that Jesus is offering this as a picture of what happens to sinners who aren’t humble before God, who don’t consider God’s generosity toward them to be valuable (again, their forgiveness of their neighbor shows they value it, shows they appeal for God’s mercy in the Name of His eternal Son). The alternative to having God’s generosity is to be back in the realm of the Law—responsible for the full penalty of sin.
You have seen yourself in the unmerciful servant, haven’t you? The truth is, you’ve forgotten yourself at times—forgotten how you begged God for His mercy (knowing your situation under the law) and that God forgave you your entire debt. You haven’t been merciful like that toward others who’ve wronged you. You’ve been petty with them, refusing them. It hasn’t been reflective of God or godliness; it’s been reflective of the fallen nature you’ve inherited. You’ve deserved from God what happens in the parable, that He call you wicked servant, that He confront you with your unwillingness to have mercy on your neighbor, that He turn you over to the place where people go to pay their eternal debts.
But this isn’t what God wants. He is still available to you. He hears your heartfelt confession of sin, your pleading in the Name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness. He hears and He forgives. That’s Who He is. You plead in the Name of the one Who was punished as the greatest tyrant—the world’s most unmerciful person, so that your story plays out as if it were that imagined one we talked about earlier, the one in which the servant has mercy on his debtor—forgiving him, freeing him. It’s as if you’ve always done it perfectly. Nothing is held against you. The Law is no longer an issue; you are under the perfect grace of God. He’s the One Who made you His own in Baptism, held you close to Himself all these years as you have heard His Word here, received His Supper. He is the one Who has prepared a place for you in His kingdom. He has forgiven your sins in Christ. Go now in the peace of that loving forgiveness letting it spill out of you onto your neighbor. Amen.
Deuteronomy 7:9-11
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Philippians 1:3–11
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
St. John 4:46-54
[Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
A couple of things stand out in this text (and other lessons this morning); one is death, and the other is the power of God’s Word.
Death
The man in our text is very anxious to avoid death coming to his house. No wonder. Nothing is more of an affront to us than that. We prolong death’s coming to us—exercise, diet, doctors, medicine. “Sir [the man says to Jesus—again, very urgently], come down before my child dies.”
Our brief Old Testament lesson talks about death in the way all of us think of it, as a plague, as a sting (we aren’t bad Christians to think of it that way—to think of it as the curse that God pronounced it to be when the first people sinned [Gen. 3]). They were no longer going to go on living in the paradise of the Garden of Eden. They would struggle now. They would age (becoming more and more frail year by year). Finally…they would die—their bodies decomposing in the earth. It’s a fact of life in this corrupted world that death is coming to all of us; but we don’t want it to come. Yes, I know, of course, we’re aware of the Gospel, aware that even death has been overcome, and has a solution; that gives us joy even in the midst of death’s sorrow. It’s real, and that’s what we can talk about to comfort ourselves when someone has died in Christ. But there is sorrow, isn’t there? There is loss. Remaining temporal death, and Christ’s overcoming for us of eternal death have to stand side by side in this world. After all, it took Jesus’ innocent death to overcome eternal death for us.
If there would be any question whether the man in our text has reason to view the prospect of his child dying as tragic and to be avoided, the answer (OF COURSE!) is yes. It is every bit as sad as it seems that someone would die (It isn’t wrong for us to cry tears at funerals, either, by the way; death isn’t part of God’s good creation; it’s what happens because the good creation was corrupted with sin—our’s too). So, a man approaches Jesus, quite understandably, wanting him to prevent death coming to his house.
Jesus is the one Who recently turned water into wine; He has already been talked about in this way, in that area, even among Gentiles like this official in Cana. Remember, in that account it says that the master of the wedding feast didn’t know where the wine had come from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew—John 2:9). No doubt those servants had been telling people about Jesus.
But it was important that people not think of Him as a magic man. They needed to believe in Him as their Savior from sin and death. He wasn’t here to do simple tricks (or even primarily to feed people as came to be thought on another occasion); He was here to humbly lay down His life so that sinners could have an eternal place in God’s kingdom. There were times when He refused to do any miracles when this misunderstanding seemed to be present.
On this occasion, a man comes to him with a genuine need; but Jesus comments to those who are gathered there, saying, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” This was a problem to be dealt with if they were to ever be able to find themselves in God’s kingdom. It would certainly prove true of many people (remember that Jesus told the parable about the rich man in hell who insisted Lazarus be sent back from the dead, because that miracle would convince his unbelieving brothers to believe and avoid hell); but actually, even when they saw signs and wonders many didn’t believe. Something else had to convince them—with the signs and wonders merely confirming it in their minds.
God’s Word
So, what would cause people to believe for forgiveness and eternal life? Jesus challenges the man in our text. He says, “Go; your son will live.” Well, there it is. God’s Word is there to bring joy to his heart.
But the man hadn’t really asked for God’s Word, had he? He’d said, Come down. He’d said it twice: come down. Be in the physical space with my son, he meant. If he’s thinking of Jesus like others apparently are (not believing unless they see signs and wonders), then certainly, in his mind, Jesus would have to come down to his house for this to happen. He’d have to…lift his hands and do some sort of…something, right?
St. Paul talks in our epistle lesson, about being able to stand against the schemes of the devil. He talks about the flaming darts of the evil one. Getting people to put their trust in signs and wonders apart from God’s Word, getting them to think of Jesus—not as Savior from sin, but as practitioner of simple magic tricks in this world—is certainly to be included among the schemes and flaming darts Paul is talking about. It’s the devil’s work to draw people away from the means God has provided to enliven and sustain their faith, and toward external things that don’t do that.
Instead, St. Paul directs his readers to the armor of God. This armor will make a person able to stand against the schemes of the devil. This armor will make a person able to withstand in the evil day, to stand firm, to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And this armor of God isn’t signs and wonders; it is the Spirit-filled Word of God—the very same that Jesus speaks to the man in our text, saying, “Go; your son will live”—the same that’s available to you, too. Jesus speaks it with authority as God Himself.
And in this case, the thing happens that brings joy to the hosts of heaven as well as to God Himself: St. John tells us, The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. His belief in that Word of Christ doesn’t require any sign or wonder to be attached to it, though if Jesus had chosen to include one, it would have come as an added blessing. The Spirit has been present in God’s Word, spoken to convince this suffering person of His power and love (and to bring about the result that the man has sought).
For our benefit, St. John includes what the man does after leaving Jesus, believing His Words. Hearing from servants who meet him on the way home, that his son is recovering, he asks—probably smiling as he does so, because he knows what the answer will be—he asks when his son started to improve. Of course, the answer is that it happened when Jesus said the words. On that other occasion we talked about, it said the master of the wedding feast didn’t know where the wine had come from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew—John 2:9). Similarly in this case, we could say that the servants meeting the man on his way home didn’t know Jesus had spoken those words and healed his son, but the man himself knew. We can imagine that he and his household, who, it says believed, had a lot to say about this to a lot of people in their community.
This business of needing signs and wonders in order to believe: Jesus brings it up because He knows it’s going to be problem for His listeners. And it has been a problem for us any time we have expected some sort of extra sign from God beyond His promises in Scripture. It’s been a problem when we’ve said to ourselves, Yeah, I know that God says in the Bible that He’s with me, that He loves me, that He forgives my sins, that He provides for my needs, that He protects me from harm and danger. But…even from this particular danger? Even for this need? Even this sin? He’s still with me, even after what I’ve done? The devil is an expert marksman, whose flaming darts often hit their mark with us. He is a strong persuader whose schemes often confuse us and trouble us, and make us feel so helpless.
But Christ’s Word is sure. Even as He said to the official in our text, “Go; your son will live” so He says to you this morning, Go in peace; I am with you always, your sins are forgiven, your every need is met, there is no danger from which God cannot protect you. Jesus was punished as the world’s greatest doubter of God’s love, and forgiveness, and faithfulness—taking your sins upon Himself, and trading you His perfect righteousness. Before God, it’s as if you have never doubted His Word. You stand before Him forgiven of every sin.
Why would you ever need any sign or wonder when you have God’s ever-faithful Word that declares you righteous before Him in Christ Jesus? He is the One Who ransoms you from the power of Sheol (those words from our Old Testament lesson), Who redeems you from death. God has declared you righteous in Christ. He’s said, Go; in Him, you will live. That Word is sure. Nothing more is needed. Amen.
Hosea 13:14
I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?
Ephesians 6:10–17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
St. Matthew 22:1-14
Again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Jesus is warning in the parable, not to reject the salvation that God has graciously offered in His Son.
It’s throughout Matthew’s previous chapter as well. People have recognized Jesus as the Messiah (the Savior) as He rode into Jerusalem. That enthusiasm has carried over in the mouths of children crying in the Temple those same words, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”—but the chief priests and scribes (the church leader guys) are indignant. Their complaint to Jesus: “Do you hear what these are saying?
Then, there is the account of the fruitless fig tree that Jesus curses. The chief priests and scribes (and all who think like them) are this fig tree, He’s saying.
Those same ones come up next in Matthew’s Gospel, and question Jesus’ authority as He teaches in the Temple.
He tells the Parable of the Two Sons, in which He concludes by saying to the chief priests and scribes, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you (21:31). They’re the ones who, hearing the Gospel, changed their minds and believed. They received for themselves God’s mercy in the Christ instead of rejecting Him.
Finally, just before our text, Jesus speaks so pointedly and clearly about the chief priests and Pharisees, that they’re racking their brains to try to find a way to arrest Him that won’t rile up the crowds too badly. His parable has been about tenants who refuse to give the Master what is due him, and who mistreat and kill the servants—and even His own Son, who come to collect.
Look how we’re seeing the same sort of thing in our Old Testament lesson today. God is urgently calling sinners to repentance (the thing that needs to happen if they’re to be with Him in His kingdom). I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me [He says in Isaiah 65:1-2]; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices.
And then, we have Jesus’ parable for this morning, in which He compares God’s kingdom to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Like a man ready to be sought by those who did not ask for [him], ready to found by those who did not seek [him], this certain king sends out his invitation to individuals. He spreads out his hands—it’s like we might say, “He’s really putting himself out there.” He isn’t holding anything back; he’s wanting these people to join him. He wants them to take part in what he has that no one else has. It’s the best possible thing for them.
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to…(those first words of our text). Jesus says them to people who are interested in being in that kingdom. He says them so that they might know how to get there. You are among them too, aren’t you? We’ve been talking about a simple message thus far; God has sent His Son as the one who gets you to the kingdom. Don’t reject Him. And you might say, Why would anyone want to do that? You are here this morning to hear of this kingdom, after all. You relate to Jesus’ disciple who said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68).”
But what about that man at the end of the text, the one who’s there with all the others at the banquet (like you are with everyone here), but suddenly has a spotlight on him. He’s singled out, and questioned there, in front of everyone. The way the question is asked presumes he doesn’t belong with all the others there, even though he seems to think he does. He isn’t one of them. Jesus wants His hearers to think to themselves, that person couldn’t be me, could it? How do I avoid being that one who is singled out like that when it comes to God’s kingdom—told I don’t belong?
The others in the parable, the ones the king says were not worthy, have clearly chosen to put themselves outside of the king’s event. They know it’s important. They know they’re invited. They have chosen other things (some even violently mistreating and killing the servants sent to invite them). Considering those portions of Matthew’s Gospel leading up to ours this morning, it isn’t hard to see the similarity between those rejectors of the invitation in the parable, and the Chief Priests and scribes invited to be baptized into the Name of the Son of Man, but opting rather to mistreat and kill Him. They have no interest in humbling themselves before God, putting themselves at His mercy, receiving the rescue that He’s offering them in their sins. It’s easy enough to see why they’re not included in the banquet; they’ve removed themselves, right?
But then there’s this other guy in the parable, sitting amongst the ones who have (even if late in the game) accepted the king’s invitation—those gathered in from the main roads. This other guy: What’s his deal? What makes him so different from them, that he is interrogated, bound, and cast into the outer darkness?
When the king comes in to look at the guests in the parable, he immediately sees this one because he has refused the special garment prepared for him, that suits him to be in that place. He has refused, in actuality, then, the invitation itself, hasn’t he? He isn’t really any different from those others at the beginning of the text, not being willing to be there on the terms of the one who has invited him.
When we think about the Chief Priests and scribes, mentioned earlier, it’s the case when it comes to God’s kingdom, that they have conducted themselves in this way. They have wanted to choose for themselves other terms for getting into God’s kingdom than He has offered. He has offered His Son; they have rejected Him in favor of their own righteousness. In a way, we might say (in the language of the parable), they have chosen to wear their own garment to the king’s banquet whether He likes it or not. We see from the parable how this turns out. A person who tries this finds himself out of God’s kingdom.
That garment is awfully important. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27)—Paul’s words to the Galatians. He’s saying, we wear Christ. When we appear in God’s kingdom like those in the parable are appearing in the king’s banquet, the garment provided for us (making us able to be there) is Christ. It’s His righteousness to cover our guilt.
The guilt it covers includes our tendency to be rejectors of God’s invitation to his kingdom. I know, we said, why would anyone want to do that? But if you think about it, you can see yourself in the ones in the earlier part of the parable, and the later. Doesn’t this world grab ahold of you, like it does them? We receive (or accept) God’s invitation by allowing Him speak to us in His Word, allowing Him impact our lives so meaningfully, so significantly that nothing else is more important to us. Haven’t you at times given that sort of meaning, that sort of significance to things other than God and His Word? And haven’t you even been resentful of the all-encompassing commitment that God is asking from you—like those who lash out at the servants sent with the invitation?
And, hasn’t it occurred to you—like to that other guy in the parable, that the garment of your own righteousness might just be significant enough, substantial enough for you to appear before God in His kingdom, that maybe you aren’t as lost and as hopeless as God’s Word makes you out to be? The world is always preaching that message at you, encouraging you to be your own Savior apart from Christ. Isn’t just the passing sort of interest you’ve sometimes had in hearing God’s Word an indication that that message of you being your own savior has made an impact (otherwise, wouldn’t you have been more devoted to God’s Word; wouldn’t it have been way more important to you than anything else—if it’s really what preserves your faith unto salvation)?
If you’re thinking, Oh no! I’ve been those guys in the earlier part of the text, choosing this world over God’s invitation. And that other guy at the end could be me, sitting in the assembly of God’s people without a humble heart before God, without the garment He has provided for me, that I might truly belong there; if you’re thinking that, then lift up your heart, God’s mercy is still available for you. You are covered in the garment of Christ’s righteousness. He humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross to be your perfect humility before God. No one who wears this garment of Christ’s righteousness (given you in Baptism, given you in God’s Word) will be singled out as not belonging in God’s kingdom. To wear this garment is to recognize God’s grace that covers every sin. It is to truly answer His invitation, to avail oneself of what He has provided so that sinners might enter His kingdom washed clean of all guilt—forgiven entirely. You wear the garment of salvation through this faith in Christ.
Everything is prepared. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast! Amen.
Other Lessons this week:
OT lesson demonstrates God’s urgency in calling sinners to salvation (and their rejection of the calling). EP lesson urges those who have been invited, to be careful with the invitation.
The man at the end of the text was just like the ones in the beginning, even though he was present in the wedding hall. He too, was rejecting the invitation by trying to attend on his own terms. He wasn’t really there with the rest of the guests who had truly accepted the invitation.
Isaiah 65:1–2
I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices.
Ephesians 5:15–21
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Choir Sings on 9/11/22
St. Luke 10:23–37
Turning to the disciples [Jesus] said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” — Jesus says that to His disciples. And then there’s this little episode with a certain lawyer asking Him how to inherit eternal life (and ensuing conversation thereabouts). And then, Jesus tells this parable of the Good Samaritan. We’re going to talk about how it’s all connected.
Jesus says they’re blessed at seeing a certain thing; it’s Him they’re seeing (or, they’re blessed that they’re seeing Who God truly is). Jesus had just been talking about it before our text. He had said, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus has revealed Himself (to many, actually), and these disciples are among those who have believed in Him. That's the incredible thing they’ve known that is so much the envy of the important people of the world. They’ve known how to inherit eternal life. They have believed that it is God’s merciful gift that comes through the person of Jesus Christ—the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus’ answer to the lawyer is kind of confusing, though, isn’t it? He isn’t talking about God’s grace, but rather about the Law. The man asks, What must I do to inherit eternal life? In turn, Jesus asks, What is written in the Law? The man gives a summary of the law that comes from the Old Testament. You recognize it as what God requires from you (loving Him and your neighbor perfectly), but that we’re always saying you’re incapable of fulfilling. We’re always saying you can’t keep the Law as God requires for eternal life; you have an inherited sinful nature that prevents it. So, why does Jesus let stand this answer to the man’s question about how to inherit eternal life? Why does He say, Do this and you will live?— Why talk about the Law here (about doing), and not the Gospel (not God’s grace that enables the Law to be fulfilled)? It seems strange, doesn’t it?
The Bible says we have to be prepared first, if we’re going to be able to see what Jesus commends of the disciples in our text. We have to be able to see ourselves as we truly are; we have to see our sin. It’s painful, but it has to be the case. The lawyer doesn’t see his sin yet, so he won’t see his Savior. If you don’t think you have any need, you aren’t looking for a solution. We need to see our sin, to see our Savior. That’s why Jesus answers him in the way He does. For the moment, He’ll play along with the man’s confusion, his thought of doing enough to be saved. He will direct him to take a close look into God’s Law, and into his own heart. He aims to prepare him to see what those see who can inherit eternal life. He hopes to get him to see his savior.
That’s where the parable of the Good Samaritan comes in. The man has been operating under the conviction that he has suitably loved his neighbor as the Law requires. Most people would think the same, wouldn’t they? They’d say they don’t go out of their way to cause anybody any trouble. In fact, they even go out of their way to do kind things sometimes. It’s true of you, isn’t it?
Our love isn’t really tested in the easiest of situations, though, is it? It’s in the hardest situations that it’s tested. That’s why in wedding ceremonies it often talks about being together in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health. It would seem easy to love our neighbor if there was never any difficulty in it.
The parable sets out a hard situation. A man has been beaten by robbers and left to die along the roadside. A priest and then a Levite happen by (separately) a little while later (religious folk—leaders even, in the Jewish faith). Each passes by on the other side of the road. Well, it’s a hard situation, like we said. Could be further danger in the area. Certainly, it’s an interruption in whatever they’ve had planned. Whatever is their reasoning, they have determined that it will not be their problem. And in the end, Jesus and the lawyer agree that mens’ decision has been a failure in neighborliness—a failure in fulfilling that law of loving the neighbor.
Earlier, the lawyer had asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” We might guess that his preference would have been to only have his love of neighbor tested in the easiest of situations. He wouldn’t have wanted to be considered a poor neighbor because he didn’t help in a situation like that in the parable. As far as he’s concerned, that’s too much to expect. For him to put himself in peril for a stranger? The Law can’t be asking that, can it?
We talked about Jesus pointing out to his disciples the blessing they have of seeing what others haven’t seen. We said that it’s Jesus they’re seeing. They know how to get to heaven. They know that God will be merciful to them because of His Son.
It makes sense that Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan here, because it’s that Savior we’re seeing in the parable too. Another comes along the road. There isn’t anything that prevents Him helping when He sees someone who is in need. Jesus even makes the man a Samaritan to emphasize that this is one of those hard situations (Jews and Samaritans didn’t mix). This is one of those situations from which the lawyer would certainly have excused himself. It’s too much, he would think. But for this third man nothing is too much. Think of how this compares to what St. Paul writes about our need in our relationship with God: God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Talk about a difficult situation. Jesus is showing Himself in the Good Samaritan. He’s the One Who doesn’t hesitate to come to the rescue of the man who is as good as dead. He bandages him up. He brings him to safety. He sees to the man’s care even as He will be absent for a while. He makes plans to return to see it through.
The lawyer might well have seen his own shortcomings in the priest and the Levite in Jesus’ story—the ones who passed by their needy neighbor without helping. But Jesus also meant for him to see himself in the beaten man—the needy man, the one who is helpless unless a savior comes to his rescue.
Do you see yourself there, too? You’ve seen the things too, that many prophets and kings desired to see but did not see. You know the Savior. You know how a person inherits eternal life. You are to be considered blessed in the same way. Often times, when we stop and talk about being blessed in a certain situation, we are reminding ourselves not to forget about the blessing, not to be neglectful of it. We’re sort of saying, We really should recognize the blessing of this, though often we have failed in recognizing it.
No doubt, Jesus had this in mind in his statement to the disciples. Isn’t He saying it to you, too? Don’t neglect this. Don’t forget it, or treat lightly this blessing that you have of knowing God’s grace toward you in Christ. Don’t forget the need you have of a Savior. You have tended to forget at times, prioritizing God’s Word out of your every day life—choosing other things over it. You have even tried to justify yourself like the lawyer, as if you didn’t really have this need of a savior from sin, as if you might just be able to stand before God and be good enough on your own steam. It was a deception from Satan. Of course, it was a lie. Not only didn’t it provide some new way of inheriting eternal life; it robbed you of the blessing of what you have already known and possessed for yourself in Christ.
But He is the Savior you have needed. He lived in this world the absolute devotion to God and His Word that you have neglected. He didn’t hesitate to come to your rescue when you were dead in your trespasses and sins. He bandaged you in Baptism, and through the healing Word of God. He brought you into the safety of His Church, made a citizen of His kingdom. He saw to your care in a place like this—strengthening you through preaching and through the Supper that is the food of immortality. He has given you His body and blood to sustain you in His temporary absence. You anticipate His return in glory to take you to be with Him in the kingdom.
Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, hear what you hear. You have seen the Savior, and the way to inherit eternal life. You know that forgiveness is God’s merciful gift that comes through the person of Jesus Christ—the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. You are forgiven in Him. You are truly blessed. Amen.
Leviticus 18:1-5
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.
Galatians 3:15–22
To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his Offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your Offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the Law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the Law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Why then the Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the Offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the Law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
St. Mark 7:31–37
Then [Jesus] returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
There are videos on YouTube, that show babies or young children who, through a hearing aid, are hearing their parents’ voices for the first time. Maybe you’ve seen these before; there are many of them, and they’re all very similar to each other. The hearing aid is applied, the parent starts to speak, and the child looks in a way we might describe as “astonished”—that word from our text. The astonishment is followed in most cases with what could never be mistaken as anything but pure joy. A giant smile comes across the little face of that little person who has had her ears opened to hear the happy sound of her parent’s voice.
Hearing is so important to us. God’s gift of our ears gives us great joy in life, the ability to hear music, and laughter, the sounds of nature, the voices of loved ones. If we have hearing, it’s hard to imagine life without it (though, sadly, some are unable to hear).
A man is brought to Jesus in our text. He has this disability. He can’t hear, and can’t speak clearly for that reason. Whoever is bringing him to Jesus has in mind what must be done; they must beg Jesus to lay His hand on him. But, how have they known to do this? Well, in Mark’s previous chapter he has discussed Jesus’ feeding the five thousand, walking on water, healing the sick at Gennesaret. Following the last of those miracles, Mark writes: And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well (6:56). So, it makes sense that the companions of this man knew that he might well be helped by Jesus.
Jesus, indeed, helps Him. He heals his ears so they can hear. Also, as part of the miracle, the man is able to speak clearly now. The way Jesus goes about this healing is to say, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
Effortlessly, Jesus fixes what’s broken—even with our bodies. He’s the maker of them; so it isn’t any problem for Him to fix them, if He so chooses (if it’s best for us that it happen). There isn’t anything He can’t do to help us. And, He wants to fix what’s broken. That’s why He’s here. Our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah is talking about the time when this Messiah will come, and about the fact that He’ll be bringing relief to those who are suffering. All of this was fulfilled when Jesus came and ministered to the people.
Ephphatha—Be opened. A couple of chapters back in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus had told the Parable of the Sower, about God’s Word being proclaimed to various kinds of listeners (including, also, those who aren’t listening at all). And He told a parable about a lamp put under a basket (about the light of the Word being hidden so it can’t benefit people). At the end of these parables, He says, If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear (Mark 4:23).”
That word Ephphatha is historically associated with Baptisms in the Church. It’s not hard to see why when we think about what Baptism is. The Spirit comes to a person through the water and Word, and opens what has been closed off. He opens the person’s ears spiritually-speaking. By nature they haven’t been able to receive the message that would save them—the Gospel message, the message of God’s grace in Christ. Their old nature has resisted it. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God (Romans 8:7)—The Bible says. St. Paul writes that, actually. In another of his letters, he says to his readers similarly, You once were alienated and hostile in mind (Colossians 1:21). It’s been like ears that are deaf. Human hearts, since the Fall Into Sin, are naturally closed to God. In Baptism, it’s as if the Spirit comes to the person and says, Ephphatha—Be opened.
And faith is begun in that person. And there is a palpable result. Remember what we said about those videos of young children who have heard their parents’ voices for the first time. We said, The hearing aid is applied, the parent starts to speak, and the child looks in a way we might describe as “astonished”. The astonishment is followed with the look of pure joy.
Similarly, when Baptism is applied—when the pastor says, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and the Word is proclaimed to the person (now believing through the Spirit’s work) the person’s reaction might be described, if we were able to see it, as astonished. What follows is pure joy, because the guilt of sin that divided him from God has been removed. God’s merciful forgiveness has taken its place. The forgiveness is in the blood of Jesus, the righteous One Who died on a cross for the world’s sins.
The companions of the man in our text knew that the solution for their friend’s problem was to go to Jesus, go to the One Who does amazing things—things no one else can do. Go to Him and ask for His help, knowing that He wants to help. We’ve seen all of it on display in this text. He doesn’t hesitate to meet the man’s need. He demonstrates His divine power. He demonstrates the compassion of God. That going to Jesus with our concerns is our best move goes without saying from what we see in this text. The man’s companions were right.
And yet, so much of the time going to Jesus with our concerns hasn’t been our first move, has it? Our first move has been more like the move of those who haven’t had their spiritual hearing restored in Baptism, and through faith that comes from hearing Christ’s Word. Our first move has been to do a lot of fretting, worrying that our needs won’t have any solution. It has been to panic. It has been to act like those who don’t know Christ, who don’t know the One Who opens ears that haven’t worked, so that they work again! “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith (Matthew 8:26)?”—Jesus said one time to His disciples. He was there with them, after all!
Couldn’t He say it to you, too? Couldn’t He say to you, Why haven’t you more often come to me like the companions of that man who couldn’t hear? Haven’t you seen the result in the Scriptures? Haven’t you seen that there isn’t anything that I can’t do for you? Haven’t seen My desire to help you in even the littlest things in life? But if He were to say something like that to you, He wouldn’t be saying it to create distance between you and Him, but rather to draw you close to Him with a merciful invitation.
He is the righteous One Who has humbled Himself so that you might be exalted. He has obeyed perfectly so that you could be considered to have done so. He has suffered and bled so that the punishment you deserved could be accomplished and put on your account as paid. There isn’t anything you needed in your relationship with God that He hasn’t provided. You are forgiven and restored to God in Him.
Now, He invites you to come to Him like the companions of the man in our text, with any concern. To whom else is there to go? No doubt the people in our text had gone to doctors who weren’t able to be of help. Were they to have put their faith in some other sort of God nothing would have happened. There wasn’t any other solution that they were going to come up with for themselves. Jesus was their solution.
He is yours, too. God be praised that He has opened your spiritual ears to hear and receive His gracious message of salvation. God be praised that you have Him to turn to in any trouble, the One Whose ability and compassion are so clearly presented in Scriptural texts like ours for this morning. He invites you to come to Him so that He can help you.
You indeed have come to Him this morning in a place like this so that He might help you. He gives you the things no one else can give. He gives you the Word of Truth in which the Spirit works to nourish the faith begun in you long ago. He gives you at His Table, the very body and blood shed for the remission of your sins. You have known, like the deaf man’s companions, what must be done so that you might have the help you need. You have come to beg of Jesus, that He might lay His hand on you, that He might give you comfort in response to your confession, strengthening in your weakness, hope in your longing.
Ephphatha—Be opened. The most important phrase for you to hear with the opened ears of faith is, your sins are forgiven. The astonishment you might feel at hearing those words is in the realization that it could really be true—that even your sins are truly forgiven. The pure joy that follows is in anticipating the inheritance that awaits you in God’s kingdom—opened for you by His grace. God be praised. Amen.