Readings: Isaiah 29:17-24; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11; Mark 7:31-37

12th Sunday after Trinity A.D. 2021
Pr. Neal Blanke

In Jesus’ name.
All 3 of our Scripture readings this morning speak of Divine restoration. The Old Testament Reading foretells Christ’s Ministry of restoration. The Gospel Reading gives us one example from Christ’s Ministry of restoration, and the Epistle Reading describes how Christ’s Ministry of restoration continues, in the Church unto this day.

The 1st verse of our Old Testament Reading is a little hard to understand. In the 1st 29 chapters of Isaiah, God through his prophet has spoken of judgment against a variety of nations and cities. Namely Isaiah has spoken against Judah and Jerusalem, Babylon, Moab, Syria and Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tyre, and Ephraim. Our Old Testament Reading begins, “Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?” (Isaiah 29:17 ESV) In the context of the 1st 29 chapters, this verse sounds like the prophet is returning to his rebuke of Tyre, the most prominent city of Lebanon in ancient days, but then in the middle of this verse, Isaiah turns to something much larger than the nation of Lebanon. It is helpful to remember that the vast majority of fruitful farmland is found in valleys, where silt and rich nutrients are naturally gathered by rain and rivers.

Thus good commentary on the 1st verse of our Old Testament Reading is found later in Isaiah. Isaiah, chapter 40, beginning with verse 3:

We are familiar with this passage, because all 4 Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all Isaiah, chapter 40 as referring to the Ministry of Saint John the Baptist. Therefore the New Testament fulfillment of Isaiah 40 makes it clear that the filling of the valleys and the lowering of the hills has nothing to do with earth moving, nor physical roads. Rather the valleys are humble people, and the hills are the proud.

With this in mind, we can now turn back to Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 17, and see that the prophet is talking about the same thing. It is helpful to remember that Lebanon is a mountainous nation, famous for its trees, the cedars of Lebanon. Mountains and tall trees in the Bible are a picture of kings and their rule, probably because they tower over us, and because human governments are full of pride. The prophet Isaiah may have started verse 17 thinking of the pride of the nation of Lebanon, of their mountains and cedars as symbols of their pride, and of how God would humble them via the Assyrians and Babylonians, but in middle of the verse Isaiah’s mind turns to the New Testament Ministry of Saint John the Baptist, and of Jesus. Verse 17 again, “Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?” (Isaiah 29:17 ESV) Thus this verse is also talking about the exalted mountains and low valleys of humanity. The Ministry of John the Baptizer, and of Jesus, was a Ministry of Law and Gospel. The Law humbles the proud. Humanity in its vain glory believes that it is basically good. The Law of God slays such pride and humbles the exalted. Sinful humanity believes it can keep the 10 Commandments, but Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount makes it clear that the keeping of the 10 Commandments is just as much a matter of the heart, as it is a matter of our outward behavior. Matthew, chapter 5, beginning at verse 20, Jesus said:

Martin Luther, when he explained the 10 Commandments in the Small Catechism, clearly understood that the keeping of the 10 Commandments is a matter of thought, word and deed.

Who does this? None of us. We all break all of the 10 Commandments every day in thought, word and deed. We don’t put God 1st. We don’t give Him the prayer, praise and thanksgiving He deserves. We are not always happy about hearing God’s Word. We don’t always honor the civil, ecclesiastical, and familial authorities in our life. We certainly do not always love and cherish them. We are careless when driving. We lust. We steal. We lie. We fail to put the best construction on our neighbors behavior. We covet. We are sinners. Listen to Saint John the Baptizer preach the Law. Luke, chapter 3, beginning with verse 7:

The Law slays. The Law finds us all guilty, but John the Baptizer also preached the Gospel, the good news about Jesus. On the day after the Baptism of our Lord, “…John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of the God who takes away the sin of the world!'” (John 1:29 NKJV) John understood that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is the Sacrifice that would bear and take away all the sin of all the world. The Law slays us in our sin, but the Gospel brings us back to life. The Gospel raises the dead. The Gospel tells us that God took Flesh, lived the perfect life, and went to the cross to suffer and die for all your sin. The resurrection of Christ is our Absolution. It proves that God the Father has accepted Jesus’ suffering and death, as the full payment for all our sins. All your sins of thought, word and deed are forgiven. Christ’s resurrection gives us new life here and now, and forever in heaven! The Law lowers every proud mountain, and the Gospel raises up every humble valley. Thus we see that our Old Testament Reading foretells the Ministry of Saint John the Baptizer, and Christ’s Ministry of restoration. Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 17 foretells the Law humbling all the proud and the Gospel lifting up the humble.

Verses 20 and 21 speak of the Law and of God’s judgment. Verses 20 and 21:

The wicked shall be judged. The ruthless, the scoffers, the false witnesses, those who are eager to do evil, those who try to catch people in their own words, and those who are offended by reproof, they shall all die and go to hell.

Our Old Testament Reading ends with the Gospel. Verses 22 through 24:

God’s people will rejoice in God, when they see God raise up the next generation of believers. The Law and Gospel will instruct those who go astray and correct those who murmur and complain. Thus our Old Testament Reading foretells Christ’s Ministry of restoration.

Our Gospel Reading gives us one example from Christ’s Ministry of restoration. In our Gospel Reading Jesus is in Gentile territory. Immediately before our Gospel Reading Jesus was in the region of Tyre and Sidon, and there He healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, whose great faith Jesus commended. Now Jesus has returned the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Decapolis, which was also Gentile territory. Jesus heals the deaf man, who has a speech impediment, in a similar way to the way He has healed us in our Baptism. Privately Jesus “put his fingers into [the man’s] 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.” (Mark 7:33b-35 ESV) This is hands on Ministry. Jesus uses both of His hands. He touches both of the man’s ears, spits and touches the man’s tongue, probably with one or both of his thumbs. In our Baptism Jesus put His spit on us. He has laid His hands on us. He has opened our ears to be able to hear God’s Word with understanding, and He has touched our tongue, so that we could rightly speak His praises. Ephphatha is the Aramaic imperative, “Be opened.” Jesus healed people physically and spiritually, and He still does. The Gospel Reading gives us one example from Christ’s Ministry of restoration, but Christ’s Ministry of restoration continues to this day!

The Epistle Reading describes how Christ’s Ministry of restoration continues, in the Church unto this day. The context of our Epistle Reading is Paul’s messed up congregation at Corinth. If you want to know the major problems in the congregation, just read 1st Corinthians. In 2nd Corinthians, Saint Paul is having to defend his apostleship. In chapter 3 Paul is talking about letters of recommendation. I read the 1st 3 verses of 2nd Corinthians, chapter 3:

Thus Saint Paul begins our Epistle Reading talking about the confidence he has, because of the Gospel work that the Holy Spirit has done in the hearts of the Corinthians, through Paul’s Ministry of Word and Sacrament. The faith in the hearts of the Corinthians has made them living letters of recommendation, which testify of the apostleship of Saint Paul, because they came to faith by the preaching and teaching of Paul. Our Epistle Reading begins with 2nd Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 4:

Here Paul is saying that, in and of himself, he would not be sufficient nor competent for the Ministry of the Gospel, but God has also worked faith in his heart and equipped him for the Ministry of Word and Sacrament. He speaks of the Ministry of Gospel as “the Spirit,” and the Ministry of the Law as “the letter,” as he makes clear in verse 7, “Now the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end…” Our translation is not as clear as it could be. In verse 7 the Greek is clear that Paul is talking about the glowing of Moses’ face after he had been in the Presence of God on Mount Sanai and that this glow of his face faded and disappeared with the passage of time. Verse 7 again:

In others words the Covenant of the Law came with the Burning Bush, the Ten Plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the Manna and quail, the cloudy fiery Pillar, the thunderings, lightnings, the trumpet blast and the Voice of God from Mount Sinai, but none of that compares to the glory we have now in the New Covenant. Here in this church we hear the Voice of the Incarnate God. Here we eat His Body and drink His Blood for the forgiveness of sins, and in heaven we will see God Face-to-face in all His glory. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1st Corinthians chapter 2, verse 9. (NKJV)

Our Epistle Reading describes how Christ’s Ministry of restoration continues, in the Church unto this day. Through Paul and the apostles, through our pastors, through the Law and the Gospel, through the Word and the Sacraments, Christ’s Ministry of restoration continues. All 3 of our Scripture readings this morning speak of Divine restoration. The Old Testament Reading foretells Christ’s Ministry of restoration. The Gospel Reading gives us one example from Christ’s Ministry of restoration, and the Epistle Reading describes how Christ’s Ministry of restoration continues, in the Church unto this day. The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.