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Mark 10:13-16

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Dear Fellow Redeemed:

In our Sunday morning Bible class we have just finished studying the book of Exodus. One of the things that happens in that book (in that Old Testament period) is that God makes such a ruckus on Mt. Sinai in the sight and hearing of the people, that they become terrified. They ask that Moses speak to them from now on on the LORD’s behalf, and that they not hear from God Himself in that way anymore. There has been a point to all of it. God has sent a message to sinners, that they are in a serious situation with Him. They don’t belong in His presence (one of the instructions Moses has been charged with telling the people is that they’re not to even approach the foot of the mountain where God is present; if they touch it they’ll die).

Just hearing something like that might cause you to ask yourself, should I be afraid of God? After all, I’m a sinner too.

Today’s epistle lesson works in an interesting way with our text. St. Paul is telling the Christians in Rome that they shouldn’t do like the people of this world do. As an example of this, he says, Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Look what’s happening in our text. People want to bring their children to Jesus to have Him interact with them because they recognize that He is at the very least a good and wise and loving teacher (but many probably recognize Him as the one talked about in our Old Testament lesson—the anointed One sent to preach the good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and all the rest of it—the MESSIAH). They love their children. They want them to have whatever Jesus has to give.

One might think this would be all good with everyone in Jesus’ camp. But His disciples jump in front of these parents’ effort to bring their children to Jesus. They rebuke them, it says.

As far as they seem to be concerned, Jesus is as unapproachable to these children as the LORD was to the people at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

It isn’t as much about sinners in the presence of the perfect God in this case, as it is silly, undisciplined children in the presence of the One Who is trying to make a big impression on as many people as possible, for Pete’s sake(!).

One might wonder if the teachers in the Temple in our Gospel lesson were getting over a similar hurdle when it came to the twelve-year-old Jesus. How could this young person be worthy of the time and attention of serious-minded Temple teachers?! Of course, Jesus was an extraordinary child, and a big part of the point of the whole episode was that his hearers be amazed at His understanding and His answers, and that we see it too (we are looking at the eternal Son of God, after all, albeit a youthful version of Him).

The episode of Jesus welcoming the children in our text is the ultimate demonstration of the difference Jesus makes in the relationship between sinners and God.

Mt. Sinai demonstrates the distance that sin has caused. Terror in God’s presence is part of it (you recall, that, post-sin Adam and Eve had hidden from God among the trees of the garden). What could close the gap, heal the divide? How could sinners approach the perfect God in confidence…again?

When God’s people of a certain time were sorrowful, regretful over their sins that caused them to be taken captive to Babylon (physically apart from His special presence for them in the Jerusalem Temple), the prophet’s words in our Old Testament lesson spoke of the One Who was coming in the future, Who would bring God’s comfort to them. His coming would be good news to the poor in spirit (those who recognized their sinfulness and their need). His coming would bring peace to their hearts. It would bring their redemption from Satan, who was holding them as prisoners, apart from their God (“to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray,” we’ve just been singing). It would bring a hope out of despair, an eternal restoration of their relationship with God (“Peace on earth, good will toward men”).

The One Who brings all of that is the one the parents are coming to in our text. Notice something? They aren’t afraid of Him. Their children aren’t either. That divide that had been so prominent at the foot of Sinai, that prohibition that kept sinners away for fear of death; it isn’t there for those who are approaching Jesus. He preaches the good news with words like this: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). He shows it in words like in our text: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”

The vibe couldn’t be any different than it was at Sinai. It’s because in this One Who welcomes and blesses the children (and all others who come to Him), the sins that brought separation are done away with, paid for entirely.

Think about what it means in our Gospel lesson when Jesus says: “Didn’t you know I had to be carrying out My Father’s business?” That was part of the lesson in that whole thing for Jesus’ parents. Yes, God had put His eternal Son in their household, and them over Him as parents in this world (and we see in the last part of the text that He obeyed them perfectly; He was the best child any child could be); but at a certain point He had other business to attend to. In addition to His perfect obedience, He was heading willingly in the direction of a cross and grave so that He could be to sinners the God Who is approachable to them in confidence, in joy, in peace.

He is approachable like that for you too, you know. It isn’t outrageous to ask the question, Should I be afraid of God? To do so recognizes the seriousness of your sins. God wasn’t being overly dramatic at Sinai. Things really are that dire.

The distance our sins had caused between us and God was real. In fact, it was so real, that God couldn’t just declare it to be okay. It took blood—perfect, sacrificial blood.

It took charging with your sin of thinking more highly of yourself sometimes than you should (and all your other sins)—charging it to the One Who humbled Himself even to the point of death on a cross. He was made the one Who thought of Himself more highly than He should. He was the one who paid for your sin. It was held against Him. It was considered as if He had done it and not you.

That’s the good news that He preaches to the poor. It’s good because God has forgiven you for every sin. It’s good because there is no more Sinai for those who are in Him. The terror of the Law is gone. He has kept it in your place. He has died to pay your price. You approach God now, in confidence like the parents bringing their children to Jesus to receive from Him the mercy and blessing that He rejoices to give.

When you come up for communion today, think of yourself as approaching that gracious God that you see in our text. He says, Let this person come to me—this child— who has been baptized into My death, who names him or herself among my followers, who proclaims to the world in receiving this Sacrament, that I am his or her Lord and Savior. Hear Him saying, The kingdom of God belongs to this sinner who in Baptism was covered in My righteousness, so that he or she is one of the citizens of heaven. You receive His kingdom like a child because you simply, trustingly believe His Words.

You believe Him in what He says in the Sacrament as well. This is My body, which is given for you. This is My blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins. Nothing to be afraid of in those words. There is no barrier anymore, that prevents you from coming into God’s presence with all boldness and confidence. He is your Savior. You are His own dear child. You are forgiven of your sins. He has made peace with you in the blood of Christ. Amen.

Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.

Romans 12:1-5

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

St. Luke 2:41-52

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while His parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking He was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers. When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

“Why were you searching for Me?” He asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be carrying out My Father’s business?” But they did not understand what He was saying to them.

Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

St. Luke 4:14-24

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

You are here this morning because you want to hear the Word of the Lord. You want to know and understand Him better. You want the Holy Spirit, as promised, to continue to fan the flame of your faith begun in Baptism (or through hearing the Word), so that that faith doesn’t die out over time, but endures unto eternal life (Maybe all that hadn’t occurred to you as your reason for being here, but I think generally it’s the case).

But you listen to God’s Words as preached and spoken to you by someone who isn’t God. In fact, you’re being told in various ways every week, that you aren’t what you’re required to be; and you’re being told it by someone who isn’t what he is required to be. You might even have had conflicts with this person who tells you these things (these sometimes infuriating things—charging you with sin, and so forth). You might bristle at the way he tells you that you aren’t what you’re required to be. You might be thinking to yourself, Who are you to tell me that?!

This text immediately follows Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness (the one in which He demonstrates that He is what we’re required to be). It’s shortly after His Baptism in which He has been anointed for the mission that He begins in this world—the mission that will include a cross and grave, Him dying for people who aren’t what they’re required to be. So, when it says that He returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, it’s reminding us that He is about this business now.

And He returns to begin the business in the area where He’s from—in Galilee. We’re reminded along the way in Luke’s narrative, that it’s Jesus’ custom to go to the Synagogue on the Sabbath day (He would have to if it’s true that He obeyed the Law perfectly in our place, right? He keeps perfectly the First and Third Commandments with that custom.). And He reads there, publicly, which probably wouldn’t be unusual for even a younger Jewish man.

What He has in mind with what He is reading is unusual though. He reads Isaiah’s words that talk specifically about the Messiah, about the Anointed One Whom God is sending to make sinners able to be what God requires them to be, to make sinners righteous before God. He reads the words for the purpose of saying, I am the One this text is talking about. I’m the one Who is anointed to proclaim good news to the poor. I’m the one Who proclaims liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind. I’m the one Who sets at liberty those who are oppressed, proclaims the year of the LORD’s favor.

He’s saying He’s the one Who is talked about in our Old Testament lesson. He’s the one about Whom it says in Deuteronomy 18, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen….I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. Jesus is this one Who had been talked about in those Old Testament prophesies. This one Who reads to them from the book of Isaiah is that One.

And Luke says of Him, And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. In fact, it says, all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. Initially, they’re impressed at the return of this local boy. It’s even said (maybe with some enthusiasm), Is this not Joseph’s son?

But Jesus knows all things. He knows that, going forward, as He speaks His message during the next few years, it will become clear to the people that He isn’t there to say flattering things to them. And the significance of who He’s going to be telling them He is, is going to become very offensive to them.

Isn’t it true, that we sometimes become disheartened when we see empty seats in our sanctuary on Sunday mornings, while we know that in some other churches the seats are filled (and there are a lot more of them than in ours). In fact, in those other churches there might even be many filled services during the week. Why not us?—we think to ourselves. What would we need to do in order to flip the script? In a way we’re seeing in our text this morning what stands between us and that. They like Jesus’ message initially. Nothing He’s read from Isaiah, nothing He’s said to them has charged them with anything. Nothing has made them squirm in their seats. He hasn’t told them yet, You’re in the worst trouble with God, and that I’m the only one who can get you out of it.

Some other churches’ message never gets to that part of the Bible’s message. The listeners are never confronted with their own sin, really. They’re never told they must repent and put away their sin that separates them from God. They hear flattering things about themselves, about how much potential they have to remove any obstacles to happiness, to live their best life. That’s the sort of message Jesus’ listeners wanted from Him (thought they were getting from Him initially).

Eventually (Jesus predicts) they will say to Him, “Physician, heal yourself.” Now, they’re interested that this young man whose family they’ve known all these years is comporting Himself impressively in the Synagogue. But when the Law’s bright spotlight is put on a sinner, he doesn’t much like it. John writes, The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him (John 1:9-11). Jesus would go on to say, the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed (John 3:19-20).

You are here this morning because you want to hear the Word of the Lord. But you haven’t always wanted to hear…all of it. You’ve gotten a furrowed brow when hearing some things in the Bible’s message. You’ve started looking at the messenger, and thinking, Who are you to tell me something like that?! Sometimes you’ve heard that Word spoken by the Lord’s messenger, and you have thought, That isn’t true of me. Other people—yes. Not me. Maybe you have even, as you sat in church, run through it in your mind, making a case for why you were justified in doing whatever wrong of which God’s Word has accused you. Someone else was at fault. You were put in an impossible situation. God couldn’t possibly hold that against you under the circumstances. The preacher kept telling you God’s Word, and inwardly you were responding, “Physician, heal yourself.” You worry about you; I’ll do me.

The people in the text even challenge Jesus. If He does something amazing in front of them like they’ve heard He’s done other places, maybe He will have earned the right to tell them about their sins. What an ugly place this can go sometimes amongst us sinners.

But you are here this morning because you want to hear the Word of the Lord. And there is so much joy to be found in that. The one Who reads Isaiah’s words in the Synagogue in our text, reads them for the most gracious purpose. He comes in the power of the Spirit with good news for the poor in spirit—all who recognize their inherited sinful nature, and the need for God to remake them in His image. He proclaims liberty to the captives because His mission is to put Himself in their place, taking their guilt upon Himself—and their punishment. By covering them in His righteousness He makes them what they’re required to be. For you, God’s Son became the one who was guilty and then resisted God’s Word that pointed out the guilt. In the exchange, you became the innocent one. Having once been oppressed in this guilt and sin, He has set you at liberty. Having once been apart from God, you enjoy now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, the Lord’s favor.

The Lord has raised up a prophet from among His brothers to save them from their sins. It’s His saving Word that His servants preach to you on Sunday mornings. It proclaims the Savior. It proclaims His sacrifice that has made you what you’re required to be. It’s accomplished in the forgiveness of your sins in the blood of Christ. God be praised. Amen.

Other lessons this Sunday:

Deuteronomy 18:15-19

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

Romans 12:6-16

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

St. John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.