Around this time, out in the countryside of southern Illinois as it started to get warmer, on sunny days, my smaller kids had fun taking their fly swatters outside. Why? Because all the houseflies were coming up out of the soil from wherever they have been hiding during the winter. They were swarming and sunning themselves on the sun heated sides of the house, on the rails and concrete. I don’t think they made a huge dent in the fly population, but they had fun.

In this morning’s Gospel lesson Jesus healed a man who had a demon that would not let him talk. Some people immediately accused Jesus by saying “He casts out demons by Beelzebul”. Who is Beelzebul? He was the “Lord of the flies”. Beelzebul was a god demon worshiped by the Philistine Caananites: one of the gods related to Baal. He was the Lord of pests: flying bugs, those things that feed on human and animal dung and rotting bodies. The Philistines believed that if they worshiped this ba’al he could cast out the “flies” from within the person suffering from illnesses. So, when the people said that Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebul, they were accusing Jesus of using this specific Canaanite demonic power to cast out demonic possession.

Jesus refuted this immediately. He said the famous line that has been used in the course of history, especially during times of war, to stoke the fires of nationalism, even though it is not exclusively earthly kingdoms that Jesus is referencing, but also church bodies and denominations. He said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” 

The devil certainly was not going to operate so that he would be divided against himself, The Devil is all about causing division against and away from God. But Jesus was casting out demons and exposing their lies, releasing people from their bondage, by the preached power and true Word of the stronger one: God.

Let’s step back for a moment and look at what kind of demon it was that Jesus had cast out. What was the demon doing? This demon was keeping a man from speaking: “a demon that was mute”. As soon as Jesus cast out the demon, the man could speak. It is interesting to note how the devil works. Sometimes the devils and demons would cry out and declare who Jesus was and sometimes they were “dumb” and made the people that they possessed like wild beasts. But the Devil is always trying to attack speech in one way or another.

This time the demon had possessed the man’s capacity to talk, but when he left that man, it was almost as though the demon swept back around and entered the people gathered so that they spoke,spoke what? Wild accusations against Jesus. Why?

It is because the devil always seeks to silence, discredit, and humiliate those who speak God’s truth. He wants people to cling to the lies which the devil, the world, and the flesh whisper and “buzz” into your ears like pesky flies. “You do you. Instead of telling somebody something’s wrong, maybe you should try it. Don’t speak up when you see evil or something seems off, people will make fun of you. They will reject you. You don’t want that.” Or. “See nobody’s listening to you, see how they hate you. Why not break down and join in? Why go to church, why do devotions tonight, why talk to people about Jesus, they will hate you. You will be labeled. What if you lose your job? No, just do what’s easy; what’s safe.”

Satan knows that division against what is good and right is easy if he can get through to our fleshly desires to be liked, to get our way, to be jealous of the world. He also knows that what jars people awake from the hypnosis and possession of hearts and minds: is the voice of God’s Word. His Truth in rebuke of sin and in comfort for those in pain and repentance. God can and does use anyone to dispel and cut through the droning buzz of satanic, earthly voices: a pastor, a sister, brother, father, mother, daughter, son, neighbor, any Christian who cares enough to sound the alarm: “hey, that’s not good for you. That doesn’t build you up in Christ. Come back.”

We often think that people of today react so horribly and quickly because of the internet and social media. It may have emboldened people to a certain extent, but look at the people in the Gospel of Luke in their reaction to Jesus, look at the people’s reaction to Jeremiah in the Old testament lesson. They did not want to be told the warning to turn: that if they did not repent and return to the Lord, the disaster of captivity and slaughter would befall them. What did they do? They tried to hush Jeremiah by sentencing him to death, even though he spoke the truth…but he made them uncomfortable, you see. Did Jeremiah’s prophesying help? Perhaps. There must have been some who heard this voice and repented and retained faith and the confession of God’s truth and some were spared from the bloodshed and judgement of God, to take this Word even through the cruelties of Babylonian captivity. God’s Word does not return to Him empty. Sadly many did not heed the Word of God spoken by Jeremiah. They continued their evil, their idolatry, their worldly ways, that they received in fulfillment the very troubles which they were warned against. The devil, the flesh, the world, when it is in the wrong desire silence, from those who would rebuke them. They desire acceptance and approval, the truth they desire to bind, silence, and kill.

But Jesus is the answer. He sets free the mute and those held in demonic constraints to fear, worry, and temptation. As Jeremiah was a threat to the comfort and corruption in Israel, so Jesus was a more than a threat to the demonic presence of His Day and beyond. Jesus had come to bring judgement upon the earth in His ministry not by strength of armies, not by slaying many foes, but by judging the strong man: Satan himself and then taking Satan’s goods and setting them free.

Jesus bound the devil, overthrowing the Lord of the Flies by taking all the dung, the refuse, the deadness of our sins upon Himself. Jesus allowed Himself to be bound and taken to the cross to pay for our sins and the sins of the world, taking the shame, pain, anguish, and judgement of God’s wrath upon His human flesh, dying upon the cross. This was the judgement brought upon the earth at that time. Christ crucified crying out that “the judgement is complete; It is finished”. His voice is the voice which ultimately mutes and silences the Devil to free people from His captivity.

So, take heed. Repent of your sin, be returned to the Lord at the cross of Jesus Christ and remember His promise to you in baptism. You have been freed from the bondage to your sin and to your failures. You must not return to those sins, to be re-enslaved. Now in Him you have been given faith to believe and be saved. Jesus Christ died for you. Now be bold in His name.

Be warned: In this spiritual war, there is no middle ground, as Jesus said: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” In other words, if you are in Christ, there is no condemnation, but if you are not with Him, you are still in your sins. These are strong words of warning. Let us heed them. The devil would have us be against the Lord, against His truth, and be scattered from Him by our excuses, our shame, and our pride. He wishes us to be silenced by our being comfortable with the world or by our fear.

No, rather, let us be gathered, and gather all who would heed God’s Law and Gospel in Jesus Christ. Let us open our mouths to say, sing, and shout the praises of God, even as we speak as God’s instrument of warning to a lost and dying world. Let us not be silent but speak of God’s Word: pointing others to Jesus Christ crucified and raised. Speak out, hunt down, and swat the Lord of flies in the name of Jesus. Chase him away and scatter him, his plots, and his demons, as you sing and pray, speak, and read God’s Word.

Let us be gathered here each Sunday, and as often as we can around the cross of Jesus to hear Him speak words of forgiveness which casts out the demonic spirit which would silence us. Let us open our mouths and be fed upon the living bread of Jesus Christ. Here our victorious Lord having conquered the devil comes to us to eat of his crucified and living flesh and blood. The Lord gives us gladness taking away all our pain and sadness reminding us that He has prepared for us an eternal feast in heaven with Him forever. He will give us boldness and strengthen us when we feel weak and unsure. He leads the way to victory. He will carry you when you are faint. You are His children: redeemed to walk in His love. You are His treasures and God will guard your hearts and minds against the Devil and all that would try to deceive you as you gather to receive from Him all that is good and right for you through faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Let’s talk about crumbs. In our English language the word “crumb” is not generally used in a positive way. An exception might be a “crumb cake”, but crumb, crumbs, or crummy, usually bring up some negative images. If you feel badly, you might say you feel crummy or if something bad happened, we would say that that was “a crummy thing to happen”. The word “crumb-bum” is an insult for a person who is considered a “no-account, useless, worthless person” worthy only of contempt. Crumbs are leftovers, those annoying bits of food and bread that always find their way into cracks and crevices in and under tables, chairs and in between kitchen appliances. Crumbs are garbage, refuse, those bits that maybe the household pets will eat or worse, bugs of some sort will get at unless you sweep it, mop it, and get rid of it somehow.

The Greek word which the Canaanite woman used in the text today is “psichion”. A word translated as crumb, but it is literally something that is “plucked off”. Something plucked off from the whole, to be discarded, and forgotten, like those unwanted crumbs under the table, wanted only by the dogs and pests.

Last week, the Gospel lesson had been the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness by the Devil. Today, the theme carries over as it applies to you, me, fellow believers, and all who have faced adversity, pain, loneliness, or trouble of any kind. In this life because of sin, there are no shortages of difficulties and disappointments. So sometimes we may feel “plucked off” and crumby. We may feel like we have become crumb-bums in that we have become worthy of contempt or that we are merely being treated with contempt by. Contempt from other people, contempt of ourselves, perhaps even contempt from God. It may even seem to us like God is ignoring us and our prayers.

It may feel like in the Old testament lesson when Jacob was wrestling against God in the person of the unnamed stranger. It may seem like God Himself is challenging, tempting, and wrestling against us; that is what it almost seems like Jesus was doing with the Canaanite woman: that He was challenging her, tempting her, ignoring her, and treating her with contempt.

First, it seemed like He was ignorant of her cries for help for her demon possessed daughter, and then He said to the disciples that He was only sent for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Implying that He wouldn’t help this non-Jew. Then she finally threw herself down before Him and said “Lord, help me”. But He still did not answer her in a positive way. Jesus said to her: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 

This Canaanite woman was not put off by this negative response, she was not turned off by what seemed like an insult, but instead she went with it. She admitted: “Yes Lord, indeed, you are right. Yet, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She was saying that even a small crumb of mercy, of salvation, would be enough to satisfy, because the power and strength is in the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, Himself. That which others may reject would be enough for her. Regardless of how big or how small the serving is, it is enough to save. And so, Jesus said to her, “Oh woman, your faith is great. Be it done for you as you desire.”

This woman knew that she was a sinner. And in addition to that, she was not a Jewess, but a Gentile and could appeal to her “bloodline” and the promise and privilege of “so-called chosen people”. She knew that she deserved nothing. She was by comparison, a dog, she was a crumb-bum beggar, yet she had faith: faith that was powerful and strong enough to admit her sinful unworthiness. This is actually the true attitude of faith: humble yet hopeful.

Jesus is the Bread of life. And as members of the Church, members of the body of Jesus Christ, believers are to be part of that unleavened and pure loaf. Serving one another in humility showing honor to one another as Christ has served us. We are to be united in humble purity and holiness in thought, word, and deed, in doctrine and confession of faith. That is part of what the Sacrament of the Altar is to represent: many people, many grains, from many languages, times, and places joined into one perfect loaf through Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, and His presence.

Who of us have lived up to that in all ways? None of us. As you know, sin is unbelief. It separates us from God. When we fall into temptation, and it is usually as a result of our pride, we allow that sin to pluck us off from the loaf of the Bread of Life. When we refuse to repent, and plan to go back to sinning; when we absent ourselves from God’s Word and Sacrament by our lack of attendance in the pews, we are in danger of being those crumbs that stubbornly fall, fall far away, broken away from the whole…Tumbling into cracks and crevices, there to dry out, to decompose, and be consumed. No longer bread but refuse and the food of demonic vermin destined for the scrap heap of eternal hell fire.

You and I are not worthy to be saved. Because of our sin and rebellion, we deserve to be left to destruction and swept away, but that is not how God in His mercy operates. This is the very reason why the Son of God descended from on High. So that in Himself, in His pure human flesh there would be and could be reconciliation with God. People who had been plucked off from God by their sin and unbelief, can be restored and rejoined by faith in the Reconciler.

But in order to reconcile and gather sinners to Himself, Jesus first had to humble Himself below all other crumbs, becoming sin even though He Himself was without fault or stain. He was rejected, scorned, and cast down and accounted with sinners, betrayed, and forsaken, spat upon, whipped, and crucified all to pay the price of your sin and mine. The Lamb of God poured forth His life blood to take the punishment that we deserved.

Are you contrite over your sin? Do you realize what a crummy Christian you have been, a dog really that deserves no mercy? But do you desire to change and be changed? Then take heart. Confess your sins, admit your fault and your need for forgiveness from the Lord. Cry out in in humble faith and hope to the Lord. “Have mercy on me, O Lord. Help me!”

The Lord hears and does not forsake. Jesus by the Holy Spirit continues to call and gather you and all those who have been broken off from Himself by sin and every trouble. As you confess your sins and your need for His help, He gives you forgiveness in His Word and purifies you once more in the benefits of His cross. He casts out the demons that would possess you, for He has not forgotten you, nor has He given up on you. Continue to pray to Him as you wrestle against the results of sin in this world with all its temptation, your flesh, and Satan’s lies. Through any troubling events in this life, the Lord grants you strength as your faith is being tested and purified.

As with the Canaanite woman, the way Jesus reacted, was less for her, and more for the disciples as an example of faith that “doesn’t give up”. Faith that is grateful, patient, and long suffering. This faith can only come from the Lord. In the confession of that faith of those who have gone through much, God works through that suffering as a witness and encouragement for others to point them to Jesus Christ and the strength that we mere mortals can receive by His grace and power through the Holy Spirit. We are reminded and pointed to His ultimate suffering for us. He knows what suffering is, and His sacrifice gives us hope to attain the joy of the resurrection by faith. It is only in Him and by Him and His power, that hope can be retained in the face of any danger or kept true during times of calm and success when the temptation to forget the Lord is at its strongest.

So, in all things, at all times seek to hear His voice. Come to where He is for you. Be gathered to the whole around the cross of Jesus Christ. Eat the Bread of Life, drink His Holy Blood outpoured for you. No longer be scattered or alone but be joined to Him and to each other in faith and hope. Be made strong and steadfast in Jesus Christ so that you will not easily be plucked off again. Pray to Him. Yes, Jesus is a friend to whom you can bring all your burdens and your cares. He is also your refuge, your Savior to whom you can and should pray, praise, and give thanks. He is with you and will give you wisdom in His Word. He will give you rest, forgiveness, and strength of faith in His sacramental presence, and deliverance and joy from all that you are wrestling against now or will in the future. He has not nor will He forget you. You are His child. The sheep of His pasture. And at the last day He will gather you, me, and all believers to Himself to live in joy and safety eating at His table in His honor and glory forevermore.

In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Fellow redeemed, the ongoing truths that we find in the Catechism are drawn from the passion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  It’s why our theme throughout these midweek Lent Services is, “The Passion of Christ and the Catechism.”  As we consider the catechism this night, specifically, the Ten Commandments, let us confess together the words of the Ten Commandments.  This can be found on page 264 in your hymnals:
1.     You shall have no other gods.
2.     You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
3.     Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
4.     Honor your father and your mother.
5.     You shall not murder.
6.     You shall not commit adultery.
7.     You shall not steal.
8.     You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
9.     You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
10.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
These words of Jesus to His disciples set the tone as we begin the first of our midweek Lenten series. Many events, words, and actions during the Passion of Christ during Holy Week fit the themes and truths of the 6 chief parts in Luther’s Small Catechism. So often, our “Spirits” too are willing: to study, to be faithful Christians, to think and do what we know to be right and pleasing to God which also would have blessings for us and our neighbors. Yet, we fail. We start our day, our week, or the year with grand resolutions, but we get distracted, disinterested, or otherwise detoured. Perhaps, we don’t even think about it. Maybe we don’t care to even try. What is the matter with us, what can wake and rouse us from a sleep of spiritual death?

As we recited the 10 commandments tonight, we are made aware how much we have failed, and how we as the disciples have fallen again and again into temptation, despite the words and voice of our Lord to “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Instead of being watchful and using God’s Word as a defense, when the tempter comes whispering using the glories of the world or the desires of our flesh, we quickly follow the voice of the tempter forsaking the what is right. We rebel against and abandon God and His will for us.

Why should God keep forgiving us? Why should God love us and rescue us, if and when we are moved to realize the mess we have made in our lives. If and when we “wake up” to realize how the promises of the glories of this world and the desires of the flesh leave us empty even as it demands our attention and devotion more and more until we are enslaved to it. We deserve damnation and eternal death. We deserve to have God destroy us along with the world in the heat of His righteous wrath.

The Word of God, the begotton Son of the Father had descended from on high to do what we could not. He came to redeem the world, including you and me by keeping all the demands of the commandments according to its letter and its spirit.

Was it easy? We may poo-poo or refuse to truly think about what God went through for us. Do you ever? You should. It is not as though, Jesus, the Son of God, was just wearing a costume of human flesh, that He was just pretending to be human. He did not create a barrier between His Divinity and the humanity of His flesh as though it were only a mask and dead unfeeling flesh. He could have, but He did not. He did not cut off His nerves in order to protect Himself from the sensation of pain. He did not keep at arms length the temptations of the devil, the world, and the flesh. Jesus was truly and fully man even as He was truly Divine. Jesus knew what awaited Him as the Christ. He was going to be attacked harder with the temptation to break the commandments, to fall into sin by the devil, acting upon His very real flesh. According to His humanity, the temptation to “save Himself” rather than save others had to be strong. There are no shortages of events within the dramatic battles and strife which Jesus faced during the 48 hours before His crucifixion which show the battle of Christ against the temptation to abandon His task. And at any point, He could have, but that would have ruined all hope. It would have led to our sure condemnation, and the triumph of the Devil over God.

Yet that is precisely the struggle going on in the Garden of Gethsemane in the heart, mind, and soul of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. In addition to the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark tells us that Jesus said: “”My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” And Luke tells us that He was “in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” This was the greatness of the strife in the Jesus.

Surely as He prayed, He thought of the pain and anguish that awaited Him upon the cross, He thought about how the world’s sin and chastisement for it would be placed upon Himself. The suffering that awaited Him was greater than any He had experienced and greater than any suffering of any man had ever yet known. Perhaps, the tempting question as asked earlier arose in His mind. Why? Why does it have to be this way? Not only might this cup be removed from me according to my Father’s will, but maybe I shouldn’t go through with it? Why should I? Why shouldn’t I, and the Father with the Spirit abandon these ingrates? Those who say that they believe in us, yet fail constantly, they don’t appreciate our love. Are they worth all that I am to offer? Look yonder at my disciples. They follow me, but they are clueless. They only care about the glory that they might get through me. They don’t see or care about my suffering. I tell them to watch and pray and they immediately fall asleep. Why not abandon all of them as they have abandoned us?

Yet, in the face of this overwhelming temptation and its overwhelming pain and agony, Jesus does not fall into sin, nor abandon His purpose. Luke tells us, that the Father also does not abandon His Son while His flesh was tormented, but “there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.”

Dear friends, Jesus continued on, obedient to His Father, and faithful in His promise to redeem the world from its sin. So keeping the Law perfectly, He offered Himself up to the slaughter of the cross and died taking our sin and breaking of the Law upon Himself as our substitute. Risen from the dead, He testifies that what He endured upon the cross was an acceptable sacrifice for you and me.

Now as those who have been awakened from the curse of sin and death through Holy Baptism and God’s Word, you are given power from on high by the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit upholds and uplifts your spirit, so that your flesh which is fallen because of the curse of Adam and Eve is now strengthened by the flesh of Jesus Christ who has conquered sin, death, and the devil in your place. God’s love which has in the flesh and ministry of Jesus Christ kept the 10 commandments and its demands in your place comes to you. His love is made manifest in the forgiveness of sins from the cross of Christ delivered to you.

Temptation to sin in this world is sure to come as Jesus says elsewhere, but God continues to send His angels of comfort to you. Not in weird spiritual signs that you must look for in Crystals, odd prophecies or mysterious things… He sends this comfort to you in baptism, in the hearing of Christ’s absolution, and in body and blood of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine of the Sacrament of the Altar. These are the means through which God delivers His love to you and by that love His comfort. This comfort is also given and shown through the faithful ministrations of me, your pastor, through the sanctified life and love of your faithful Christian brothers and sisters here in the congregation and community. This is also you calling and joy as you live and receive God’s love in His Divine Service growing in the wisdom of His Word, that you also share that love to your family, your fellow congregation member, neighbor, and pastor. That you are given a spirit of empathy and care as God has cared and continues to care for you. In this way, by His Spirit, living and working in you for you, you are able to follow the Law completed in Christ, for your blessing and the blessing of your neighbor. All this to the glory of God who has fulfilled the Law for you through the work of salvation and forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ.

Now you may continue to “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” by God’s grace and Spirit through Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

The Gospel text for today begins even as Jesus had just stepped from the waters of the Jordan. His hair still wet from the baptism He had received from John the Baptist and His ears ringing with the words of His Father, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”, He stepped onto dry land. Immediately the same Spirit of God who had descended upon Him, led Jesus away out further into the wilderness to do battle and wage war. This battle pit Jesus against the devil who had in the guise of the serpent tempted the first Adam and His wife to sin and won. Now we may be tempted to read this text and see this battle as onlookers and cheer Jesus from afar, but dear friends, this is your battle too. You are in Christ. In Jesus, all of you go toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champion of hell. When this one man enters the ring with the tempter, all of you step in with Him. Just as in Adam all humanity fell through temptation into sin and death, so in Christ all humanity will rise through obedience into righteousness and life. You are not in the audience; you are in the desert, for you are in Christ.

The Father had said, This is My beloved Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.” Now Jesus had fasted 40 days and 40 nights and was hungry. The devil came to tempt Him and to say, “Well, if your Father loves you and is well pleased with you, why did He leave you to suffer hunger? Why has He not given you something to fill your empty belly? Has He abandoned you? Why not help yourself? You are the Son of God, are you not? Would it be so wrong to make for yourself some bread from these stones?” But Jesus answered this vile tempter trying to plant seeds of doubt not with argument but with the Word of God. Jesus answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God,'”. And the word that had proceeded from the mouth of God was this: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Do you see? The temptation was not simply to turn rocks into food; Satan lured Jesus to turn from the trustworthy words of His Father to the fickle feelings of the human heart. But instead of turning stones into bread, Christ stuffed the stone of His Father’s Word into the devil’s open, tempting mouth.

That same satanic mouth has dropped such doubting thoughts into your suffering heart, hasn’t it? At your baptism, too, the Father said, “You are my son or daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” But it doesn’t always seem so, does it? When the bills pile up, have you wondered what use is the Father’s rich grace if you haven’t money to pay what you owe? If you are so loved by Him, why did He allow you to be injured, to become ill, to be widowed or divorced, to spend hour upon hour in pain or misery or heartache or loneliness? If God is good, why is my life so bad? So goes the temptation to despair.

But as it was with Jesus, so it is with you. Satan is luring you to turn from the trustworthy words of your Father to the fickle feelings of your human heart. Do not trust yourself; trust your Father. In this sin-cursed world, there is no end of crosses, sufferings, and pains. But know and believe that behind these masks of suffering is the smiling face of your beloved Father. In love He is bringing you, cross by cross, suffering by suffering, beyond the tempter’s power into conformity with His beloved Son, and finally, to the glory of the resurrection.

In the next temptation, the Devil attacked the assurance of God’s Word this time misusing Scripture. “If you really are the precious Son of God, surely He will save you and do anything to protect you. Does it not say, He will command his angels concerning you?” Yet the devil omitted the words “in all your ways” from Psalm 91. The Father had not commanded Jesus to throw Himself down, so to do so would have been to “walk in a way outside God’s Word and command.” This really was a temptation to abandon the Lord’s clear Word. With this same temptation to abandon God’s Word the devil has shattered the outward unity of the Church into thousands of sectarian shards. Men and women, walking not in the clear way of God’s Word but in their own muddled emotions and opinions, have jumped from the pinnacle of truth and struck their feet upon the stone of heresy. The only solution is as Jesus said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” instead inscribe the Word of God to your hearts and minds, that the words of the tempter, the world and our flesh might be deflected by the power of that Word of truth.

The last recorded temptation has the devil holding prosperity and delight before Jesus. The devil knew that Jesus also knew that greater sufferings awaited Him if He followed His Father’s will. Therefore, the devil tempted Him with the easy way out. “You are better than this, Jesus. You who claim to be God’s Son are not worthy of this miserable life; see the riches, view the honor, covet the glory I would bestow upon you! All, yes, all this and more I will give if only you will get on your knees before me.” But our Lord came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, as a ransom for you. And if He came not to be served, certainly He came not to pursue wealth, fame, and glory. He came to fear, love, and trust in God above all things, and in so doing, to fulfill the law for you. So He said, “Begone, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'”

In this battle in the wilderness, Jesus was showing that He came to reverse the results of that first battle between Satan and Adam. The first battle took place in the lush garden of paradise where the first and well-fed Adam was defeated by slick words of the tempter and forced to leave. But in the wasteland of the Judean wilderness, Jesus as the new Adam, as the one in place of Adam weakened by fasting defeated the temptations of the devil. Jesus kept the whole Law, served His Father, and served His neighbor even to the point of taking the punishment which all sinful descendants of Adam deserved. Jesus died on the cross to take the curse of sin upon Himself, to grant forgiveness to those who repent and believe, and to destroy the power of Satan to accuse those who have been redeemed and have been recreated through faith. Therefore, as you have been baptized into Christ, you too have been baptized into His death and His resurrection. You are a new creation created in Christ Jesus to walk in newness of His life. This battle fought and won by Jesus Christ is your battle and through faith in Him you are more than conquerors. He fought Satan and won so that paradise might be restored for you and for all believers in Him.  

When you fall prey to the temptations of Satan and sin again, flee to the One by whom Satan has already been defeated. As in Adam you died in sin, so also in the obedient Christ you live. Repent and return to Him. Leave the old Adam with his death and come to the new Adam with all His life. He will again receive and embrace you as His very own. He who was tempted for you is never tempted to turn you away. As you confess your sins, He points you again to His cross, to His empty tomb, and to your baptism as the pastor speaks the clear Word of truth, “I forgive you your sins in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” You are restored to the promise of sonship and heirs of your baptism when the Father declared, “you are my beloved son or daughter.”

He has inscribed His Word upon you in faith as Jesus Christ the Word made flesh now lives in you. You are able by His Holy Spirit to live by every Word that comes from the mouth of God, to remain in His ways, walking in His path. He gives you courage and strength even when the wilderness suffering of this life seems to be pressing you from all sides. Do not despair or give up hope. Whatever you do, do not take a fast from God’s Word, for there is the bread of life that sustains you during such times. Satan wants you to take the easy way of the world to pry you from the Father’s grasp, but rebuke Him, “Begone, Satan!” Pray, fast from the things that this world prioritizes, and fill yourself with God’s Word. Come to Bible Class, come to the extra opportunities to hear His Word during this Lenten season during the Midweek services. Come and be served by the One who came to this earth not to be served but to serve. Jesus will continue inscribe His name and His Word upon you so that nothing can separate you from His love. He promises to feed you with the true bread of His body and quench your thirst with His blood in the wine. Here you are able to see a glimpse into the future, to see paradise regained. You do not need to go spiritually hungry ever again.
As St. Paul says: “those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

Therefore, you are able to live this life as victors in Christ. In thanksgiving to Him, you are able to love and serve your neighbor and deliver this message of Christ to others so that they too may be rescued from falsehood and damnation. Let us then with confidence ever draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We have been freed from the tyranny of the tempter, and brought into the One who conquered the tempter for us, even Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Pastor Aaron Kangas

As Christians, we are to see with our ears. What do I mean? Anyone can tell you that eyes are for seeing and ears are for hearing. Yet, consider the Gospel for today. In many ways it follows in line with last week’s Gospel parable of the sower and the seed which represents the Word of God, especially when Jesus said: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

For roughly three years, Jesus’ disciples had walked with Him. They saw with their eyes the miracles which Jesus worked. They saw Him teaching the truths of Scripture to the crowds and to them. And now, as His crucifixion is drawing near, Jesus tells His disciples what they would witness next. “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.

Through His words, Jesus would have the disciples see the necessity of His crucifixion and resurrection. He would have them see with their ears the things that were going to take place in Jerusalem were not by chance, but were divinely ordained and executed. Everything that He has been teaching the people and to them was leading to this Holy week. It was God’s idea and plan, which the prophets through the centuries had been prophesying and hoping for: the passion of God’s Messiah, the conquering of God’s kingdom over death by death: a perfect death to pay for sin. Yet, we are told upon hearing Jesus’ word, “…[the disciples] understood none of these things.” They couldn’t see the necessity of Jesus’ passion. They couldn’t see why He would be treated in such a shameful, offensive way. While the disciples could see with their physical eyes, their ears were blind to the Word of God. They heard but did not listen nor perceive, because they were only focused on what they wanted: for Jesus and themselves.

Now compare the disciples to the blind beggar. Being physically blind, the man must have suffered greatly throughout His life. He couldn’t see the world around him. As a result, he couldn’t provide for himself. He was completely and utterly dependent upon others.

Yet, as is common for those who lose one of their senses, the other senses are heightened. His ears were attuned to everything going on around him. And so, “Hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by'” (Luke 18:36-37). And upon hearing these words, the man gets excited because he had heard of Jesus. He knew who Jesus was. He cries out, “‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!'” He could not physically see, but his “sight by His ears” was better than the disciples, because this man saw with his ears that Jesus was the Messiah.

He was not able to see on account of his own power or strength, as we confess, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my or come to Him…” He was able to truly see on account of the Word of God. Hearing the accounts of Jesus’ preaching and teaching and miracles, he has been given the ability to see what is most important– to know and believe who Jesus is. In crying out, “Jesus, Son of David…” This blind man sees Jesus as more than a rabbi or prophet. He sees Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Son of David, through whom God will bring forgiveness and eternal salvation.

In crying out, “…have mercy on me!”, he sees Jesus as the source of God’s mercy, a mercy that passes over sins and reconciles man to God, a mercy that endures forever. He sees Jesus as the hope of Israel, the consolation of the sorrowful, the redemption of mankind. The man now formerly blind sees with his ears, and then is saved by his faith.

Fellow redeemed, God would have us see with our ears. Yet, how easily we’re misled by what our eyes see. So much of what we see distracts us from what we should hear from the Lord. We see a world at war. We see economic hardship. We see broken families and relationships. We see sickness and death. The devil says, “See everything that’s going on around you. God doesn’t love you. He can’t save you from this. Why bother Him with your cries for mercy?” We are tempted to think that we must fear for ourselves, our goals, and seek out the voices of the world. So often we do fall into the devil’s trap using our flesh as bait. We do not trust the Lord, we turn to other idols, to other voices apart from the Lord which sadly lead to sin and eternal death.

That is why the devil is seeking to silence the Word of God. You heard this last week in the Parable of the Sower. Satan knows that, through the Word of God, ears can be opened to see the truth of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. And so, the devil will try to use our eyes to lead us away from seeing and perceiving with our ears, what we need to hear.

Stop looking with your eyes in order to see God’s love for you. Repent of the times that you have sinned by following what you “see to be good for you” outside of Christ. Repent for looking to anyone or anything outside of Christ for your fulfillment. Repent of the times that you have heard God’s Word but haven’t listened. St. Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). How does this faith in Christ Jesus come to you? The Word of God! We walk by the faith that has been put into our ears by God’s Word (See Rom. 10:17). We walk by hearing, not by sight.

As we repent, and cry out: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus speaks the words which gives our ears life, so that we can see. See God’s mercy, hope, and victory even in the crosses of this world. Jesus Christ was crucified and raised to pay for your sin so that you would not remain spiritually blind, but see Him as your loving Savior. He has overcome the world, the devil, death, and even your own weakness and sin. See now by faith how He continues to come to you in the midst of trouble and heart ache, He says: “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” (Isaiah 35:4) And so He does.

His strength and comfort is here in Baptism, even if Satan will say that Baptism is just water and it can’t really save you. Yet, God would have you see with your ears that those baptismal waters are red as blood, for all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death (Rom. 6:3). It’s God’s power of salvation which continues to save and comfort by bringing us into Christ.

He comes to you here to save you even if Satan says, “See this wafer and wine are nothing but bread and wine.” God would have you see with your ears that it’s Jesus’ very body and His very blood, crucified and raised for you. He gives it to you to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of all your sins, and to strengthen you in body and soul against Satan and all misfortune.

Look by faith to the cross of Jesus Christ, where Satan says of Jesus, “See, it just a man nailed to the cross.” God would have you see with your ears, “Father forgive them”. While Jesus had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him, on the cross, Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for your transgressions. He was crushed for your iniquity. Upon Him was the chastisement, the wrath that brought you peace with God. Through His wounds, you’re healed – forgiven of every sin.

Risen from the dead, everything that was written about the Son of Man by the prophets has been accomplished for you. It’s been laid forth in the pages of Holy Scripture, so that you may see with your ears that, through His Word and Sacraments, you’ve been saved from sin and the blind fear, anxiety, and unbelief that follows it.

In the face of suffering and temptation, the blind man saw with his ears, he trusted and believed in Jesus as the promise Messiah. And having seen Jesus with His ears, Jesus not only brought physical healing to Bartimaeus but spoke words of life. “Your faith has made you well.” Literally, “Your faith has saved you.”

You have this same promise too. Your faith from the Lord which clings to Christ and His promises of forgiveness, has saved you. Proven by His precious blood and innocent suffering and death on the cross. And while you only can see Jesus with your ears by faith now, the day is coming where the vale will be removed. The things unseen with physical eyes will be seen. And when the mortal body has put on immortality, you will no longer see Jesus with your ears alone but with your eyes for all eternity. God be praised. Alleluia! Amen!

Pr. Aaron Kangas

We may wonder at the method of the sower in the parable that Jesus told in the Gospel lesson this morning. “Why does the sower scatter seed where he does?” Doesn’t he know that there are some places where the seed surely won’t grow? However, the point that Jesus is making in the parable is not about the method of sowing. When explaining it to the disciples later he does not talk about the sower at all, nor does He discuss why the seed was sown where it was.

Instead Jesus turns the attention of the disciples to the “why” the seed doesn’t grow. As the seed represents the Word of God, Jesus explains why the Word of God does not always produce faith. Why some who had faith, fall away and whatever faith they had shrivels and dies. Also, why some people come to faith and remain in it.

Explanation:
The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Faith and belief are the result of that Word of God germinating and sprouting. How is the Word of God sown and planted? Jesus says it Himself: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”. Faith comes by hearing, and that by the Word of God as St. Paul writes in Romans 10. He also wrote: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 

Jesus was sowing the Word of God among the crowds, sowing it to the disciples, and as they were being prepared to take the mantles of preachers and teachers in the Church, it was important for the disciples to know that not everyone will receive this Word and preaching with joy and thanksgiving: not everyone will remain in the Church.

This is a difficult truth. It is difficult for me as a pastor who preaches this Word, to see and know that not everyone who hears this word is listening, not everyone who is in a Divine Service is necessarily a believer. That try as I might, there are some who remain on the church rolls who have been absent in body from our fellowship and will never return to fellowship and their faith continues to wither and may already be dead. This is not just the pain of the pastor, but also for all of you who also can and do sow the seed of God’s Word as you witness to people in your families, communities, and vocations. Ultimately, Jesus is the sower. Secondly, his apostles and ministers, thirdly those who also bear the harvest in their hearts and minds, actions and words.

That is why we do not give up. We do not stop witnessing, telling, and proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ in both Law and Gospel. We cannot tell nor can we see the work of the Holy Spirit working through that Word. The Word does bring life. It does not return to the Lord void. The seed may not spring forth to life and faith in a person’s ear immediately, but we sow the seed praying that God would use that Word to prepare the soil, and grant the growth when and where He wills despite all the obstacles to faith.
As we heard, the obstacles to the Word of God being planted home are many. There are even distractions and choking hazards after the seed has been received and has begun to grow.

The real problem is the ground itself. The ground is mankind. In fact, the name Adam in the Hebrew literally means “the earth”, “the ground”, or “soil”. For God made Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed in Adam the breath of life. In this way, humanity is all like Adam. “We are dust and to dust we shall return” as we will soon be reminded on Ash Wednesday. We all must return to the earth when we die.

Why must we die, even as the plants die? Because of our sin which we have inherited. But also because of our own performed and active sin, our own hardness of hearts, we resist the Holy Spirit. We resist the Word of God. We repel the Word of God, with our well trampled excuses. “That’s old fashioned. Society has changed. It feels good. I am my own person”… and so many others. So, when we sin, we have forgotten the Word of God as though it never penetrated us and it were trampled or stolen away. How often do we allow the weeds and distractions of the world to plant their roots into our hearts, making anything and everything a priority over coming to hear God’s Word? Over studying it and talking about it?

Let us all be aware that each sin, each god that we follow and worship that is not the True God, can and will lead us astray. Left unattended it will strangle, dry out, devour, and kill faith. At some point when we talk to inactive members, perhaps it would be good to ask them if they even care whether or not their faith is dying? Where is the growth? Where is the fruit? But let us who are here consider the same questions: Where is the fruit? Where is the growth and the life of faith? Do I believe what I just confessed in confession: that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness? Do we examine ourselves and allow God’s Word to weed out all that is distracting and that is not of faith? It hurts to admit our sin, our weakness, our unbelief. Lord have mercy!

But that is why Jesus came: to have mercy. He is the Word of God. The seed of the Father who implanted Himself and joined Himself to His own earthen creation in the flesh. The same flesh as the sons and daughters of Adam. He kept all of His Father’s Law, so that He would be a perfect substitute for the sins of the world in His own death upon the cross and burial into the ground. This was necessary because “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit”. Jesus is the first fruit of our life, our hope, our resurrection. His death and resurrection forgives our sins and makes it possible for you and me to be saved; to have the Word of God planted into our hearts and minds. By His death, death is undone, by His obedience, disobedience is forgiven as the transgressions of the world were placed upon Him as He was crucified. So you, likewise are forgiven and by faith in Him you are saved from eternal punishment.

Jesus Christ has worked faith into you as He has been planted in you through your ears in the Words of Baptism and preaching. He has watered you so that faith may come to life growing and flourishing in joy, faith, and good works, rooted in Jesus Christ. It is His body and blood which is planted in your mouths in the receiving of this consecrated bread and wine. It is He who plants you in the faith and hope of His forgiveness.

So feed your ears and that faith. Be nourished by His Word. Here and at home. Read out loud the Bible, look at and sing songs from our hymnal. Confess the faith you have been given to express from the creeds, but also in your own Words, sowing Jesus Christ to all whom God sends along our way.

By continuing to return to the cross, here to the place of forgiveness, here where He quenches you His little plants with the rainfall of living water in Word and Sacrament, your Lord and Savior will continue to keep you in that faith and protect you from your enemies. He will continue to give you His Holy Spirit to weed out your sins and remove their strangle hold in the confession of your sins and the receiving His forgiveness. He gives you ears to hear His Word and by His body and blood, He enables you to grow up into His fullness and bear His good fruit: Fruit of repentance, of love for your neighbor, of joy for this life and the life to come.

God bless and keep us and all believers till the day when Jesus will call our bodies forth and gather the harvest to Himself rejoicing in hearing and listening to His voice to live with Him forever.

Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you in Jesus Christ.

Today we are observing the “Transfiguration of Our Lord”. This is a very important event in the earthly life and ministry of our Lord and Savior for the disciples and for all believers. It is also an excellent text to use as the basis for my first sermon among you as your pastor and Christ’s undershepherd. Why? Hopefully, I can explain why as I go along in this sermon.

The usage of this Transfiguration text by the Church at this point and time of the Church Year shows a transition from the light and shining joy of the Epiphany season to the more somber, sober, and darker observation of Lent as we meditate upon the suffering of Jesus upon the cross.

Epiphany begins with the star pointing the Wise Men to where the Christ child was so that they could be led to Him in order to worship Him in reverence and awe while bringing this Christ: gifts fitting for Him who is the king and God over all. This radiant light of the star pointed to the greater light and glory of God which had come down to earth, true God and true man joined in one flesh, Jesus Christ. He who descended to bring an end to the darkness and ignorance of sin and unbelief which is the natural state of mankind. Jesus came to redeem and reconcile sinners to the Father through His own loving keeping of the Law’s demands and then sacrificing Himself.

Epiphany, the season of light pointing to God’s glory, finds its peak of radiance in the Transfiguration of Jesus. For all other appearances, Jesus was just a man like any other. Sure He preached and taught with authority, unlike the scribes. Yes, He was able to perform miracles of all kinds, He showed that He knew the hearts and minds of people, yet He, Himself, except for the voice and dove at His Baptism, had not revealed the glory that was due Him as the Son of God. Jesus in His earthly life and ministry had covered and set aside this glory but because until the cross, His task was to humble Himself under the Law, under the obedience to His Heavenly Father in service to Him and His creation. His preaching and teaching was pointing the people to the understanding of the will of God, the Father, along with the Son, and Holy Spirit, of course. But here in His humility, Jesus did not point to Himself and say, here look at me. He didn’t have to. All of Scripture pointed to Him. All the prophecies, all the psalms, the Laws, everything pointed to and were affirmed by the teaching, preaching, and miracles of Jesus, that this was the Christ, whom God would send.

There were times when the Father chose to reveal the glory of His Son as His Son pointed to the Father, but now in this transfiguration, there was no doubt. If the disciples thought Jesus was special before, Peter, James, and John bore witness to a greater revelation. Jesus was not just a great prophet. Jesus was not just a powerful force of personality, He was more, much more. They saw with their eyes the brightness of Christ’s glory as His clothes and skin seemed to be as white and radiant as the light coming from the sun.

This blinding light and the attendance of Moses and Elijah in conversation with Jesus did not clarify in their hearts and minds as to who Jesus was, nor clue them in on the fact that they were in the presence of God. Peter instead basks in pleasantness of the moment, and makes a comment and suggestion which can be examined further in the future. It is always natural to want to remain in place of glory and joy, yet the terror of the Lord’s justice and wrath had not yet been appeased. Until then, all joy, all glory, all peace is but temporary. The seriousness of the situation and what yet had to be done, and who it was that would accomplish it, was revealed by the Father. He didn’t say look at my son, He didn’t say, be like my Son by your own efforts and you can receive this glory. Instead, He said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” Don’t just look at Him and be amazed by this temporary glory. Listen to Him. Take heed. Take heart. Receive His wisdom and assurance. This Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God as Peter had confessed only a few short verses before, but Jesus also must do what Peter did not want for Jesus and that was “He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Matthew 16:21

Peter at the time of Christ’s arrest denied Jesus and fled. Jesus restored Him and the rest of the apostles after His death and resurrection. This restoring to life, to righteousness and peace, to service, this reconciling to God by the forgiveness of sins, is what Jesus came to do as He died and rose again. This He continues to do for you and me as He brought us to the waters of Holy Baptism, as He calls us back to those same waters to confess our sins at the beginning of the Divine Service. Then I as your pastor and undershepherd and under His authority point not to me, but to your Savior, and speak His forgiveness for you. God’s Holy Spirit even now as your fallen flesh clings to you, transforms you inside out by the declaration of His righteousness in Jesus Christ, and creates and strengthens faith within your heart and mind. He comes to you and feeds you the precious crucified and raised glorious body and blood of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine.

We do not have to fall on our face in fear and terror as the disciples did in the presence of God, but in awe, wonder, and joy we bow and bend the knee, that God in His love and forgiveness comes to encourage us here in this life, in the darkness of this world, to bring life to our bodies and minds which would be lifeless and without direction or hope without Him. He loves you and desires your salvation. This grace is His glory. The glory of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit is forgiveness for you. The glimpses of God’s glory and grace that we see and hear now, in His Word, in the liturgy, in the sacraments which we experience now are experienced only for short moments, but when Christ returns at the last day, and we are called out, all believers will in soul and body transfigured in Christ’s likeness will experience His glory and joy without end.

This is the Good news that I have been called among you to declare and to encourage and teach you. The news that we all need. I, like you, am a sinner and fellow redeemed. I, though not an apostle, like Peter, may not always know the things to say nor to say them in the best way possible. I may even fail you as your pastor in my task from time to time, even as you may fail as God’s sheep. Yet though we, sheep and shepherd are imperfect, I shall point you and you shall in turn point me, to Him who is greater than us all.

As many of you heard last week at my installation and many of you answered to the questions presented, we are called to work together while we wait for our master’s full appearing. In the meantime, as I am called here, do not look to me as your savior. Do not look to me to be perfect at all times. Yes, look and listen as I as your pastor teach and exhort you and lead you, but do it as I point you to Jesus, as I speak for Him. For His sake, listen, be transfigured and transformed by the messages and ministrations rightly done in His name. Be comforted in peace and joy for service as God’s sons and daughters who have been forgiven, redeemed, and justified, for the sake of Jesus Christ, crucified and raised for you, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In the Holy Gospel appointed for today, we’re blessed to hear the portion of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount that we call the Beatitudes.

Christ proclaims true blessings to us in the Beatitudes, but do we receive those blessings only if we’re able to be perfectly meek, merciful, and pure in heart? If we take the wrong approach to answering that question – understanding the Beatitudes as a collection of conditional statements … sort of a spiritual to-do list – then we’re more likely to find ourselves terrified over our spiritual condition when we read the Beatitudes … instead seeing them as the blessing that they actually are. I mean, really … if us seeing God is dependent on how pure in heart we can be by our own doing, then I guess we’re all in big trouble. So, just what is it that the Savior of the World is saying to us? How can we possibly take comfort in Jesus’ words?

Our fallen nature really wants to mess this one up. It wants to turn the Good News of Christ into some kind of law. It wants to believe that if we do all the right things, we’ll have a right standing with God and will have earned all the resulting blessings. We see this tendency of our fallen nature in all of the self-help books, motivational speakers, and life-coaches who tell you that if you follow their steps, you’ll gain control of your life, accomplish your dreams, and have all the money and happiness you could ever ask for.

As much as this kind of thinking appeals to our old, sinful nature, it’s simply not true. In fact, it’s actually rather sad to talk to Christians who’ve been influenced by this line of thinking because it’s led them to rely on their obviously insufficient works of holiness rather than on Christ’s perfect holiness on their behalf. How disheartening would it be to think that you’d hungered and thirsted for righteousness ever so much, but at the end of the day you knew you really hadn’t made yourself any more righteous?

Taking this approach to turns the Gospel blessings of Christ into a misguided sort of law that makes you responsible for your forgiveness, life, and salvation instead of Christ … and the burden of that false Gospel will only lead to despair, unbelief, or both.

Instead, let us understand the Beatitudes to be what they actually are: declarations of truth about who we are in Christ … pronouncements from the incarnate Son of God of present and future blessings for us as heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

In the first Beatitude, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven“, and in the eighth Beatitude, He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Now, the kingdom of heaven is more than just a place. It’s also the work of God performed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why, after His Baptism and temptation, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand'” (Mk 1:14-15). The kingdom of heaven includes everything that Jesus has done and continues to do to bring us eternal life and salvation with Him. In fact, we’d be right to say that the kingdom of heaven is Christ Himself.

In that first Beatitude, Jesus refers to the “Poor in spirit”. That’s us. We have no spiritual goodness in and of ourselves. There’s nothing we can do to merit salvation and eternal life. We’re conceived and born in original sin and continue to commit actual sins throughout our lives.

And those who are the worst off are those who imagine that they’re not really so bad and think that they can live their own lives of righteousness. Such people don’t realize the seriousness of their spiritual condition. Like Jesus said to the Pharisees: “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Lk 16:15).

So, when Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” He was teaching us that His divine presence – as the incarnate Son of God – is a true and lasting blessing for us.

Of course, the disciples who first heard Jesus proclaim this blessing hadn’t seen or heard it’s great fulfillment by Jesus … in His crucifixion and resurrection … but we look back and see the cross and the empty tomb. We know that Christ is our true and eternal blessing because he paid for the sins of the world by the shedding of His blood. And we know that His sacrifice was acceptable to God the Father as payment for our sins because He rose again from the dead.

In the eighth Beatitude, Jesus refers to those who are “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” That’s also us. But that righteousness isn’t something we just conjure up on our own. Rather, it’s Christ’s own righteousness – the righteousness the He accomplished for us by His sinless life and His innocent suffering and death. And He gives it to us freely in His Gospel Word and Sacraments.

The unbelieving world rejects Christ, and it rejects those who Have Christ’s righteousness through God-given faith. They despise Christ because “there is no other name under heaven … by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) and because there’s no way that they can ever be good enough of themselves to find favor in God’s eyes.

So, the world persecutes Christians. But when this happens, we’re reminded that Christ has promised us His blessings. Christ is, even now, ruling and reigning in His Church – in us – and has promised to be with us when faced with the burden of the world’s persecution. And it will be that way throughout our lives because such persecution is simply part of this fallen world.

Christ’s rule and reign in the present age is a hidden reality. He doesn’t rule from any sort of visible worldly power as the first-century Jews were expecting, rather, He rules from the seeming weakness of the cross. Right now, only those who believe in Christ know His true power and authority. But on the Last day, all will know when Christ returns again in glory to judge both the living and the dead, even as all believers in Christ will look upon their Savior with their own eyes as He ushers them into His eternal kingdom.

These two Beatitudes – the first and the eighth – reveal that the true blessings that are promised to us are entirely dependent upon Christ. We are spiritually poor and there’s nothing we must – or even can – do to merit the blessings that our Savior has promised us.

As Christians, we see the sin in the world and in ourselves and we mourn over it. But Christ gives us the blessing of His comfort and on the Last Day will dry our tears and put an end to our pain and sorrow.

As Christians, we see our meekness. Not because we’ve sought it out and found it at the end of some sort of spiritual journey, but because in Christ, meek is all that we can be. We know our transgressions and our sin is ever before us, but because of Christ’s saving work on the cross, we who are meek in the knowledge of our sin will inherit the new earth that is free from sin.

As Christians, we know that Jesus is our righteousness. We know that we’re helpless apart from Christ and only His righteousness is our salvation.

Only Christians have a pure heart because we’ve received the forgiveness of all our sins through Christ alone. When the Holy Spirit works faith in us through the means of God’s grace – through the Gospel Word and Sacraments – we’re given that pure heart, and blessed with the promise that we will indeed see God. It’s just what God said through the Prophet Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ez 36:25-26).

And those who thus have Christ also become peacemakers since, by the shedding of Christ’s blood we now have peace with God as St. Paul writes: “For in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:19-20) … the peace that we – as the people of God – now joyfully share with others.

Lastly, Jesus gives us a final blessing: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Yes … you heard that right. When the individual and collective anti-Christian powers rail against you and beat you down for confessing Christ, you have the sure and certain promise from the incarnate Son of God that you will be blessed … and how could you not be. Christ died for your sins. He confirmed His victory over sin, death, and the devil by rising again and appearing to many. You are baptized in His name. Your sins are forgiven. And you’re strengthened for the fight by Christ’s body and blood.
So, “rejoice and be glad”, in Jesus’ promised blessing to you … because in Christ “your reward is great in heaven.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Whether it’s day or night – winter or summer – we live with darkness in our daily lives: darkness brought on by illness and pain … by tragedy and loss … by anger, bitterness, and resentment. And no matter how many literal or figurative lights we try to turn on ourselves to dispel that darkness, we can never make our lives bright enough to get rid of it because it’s too deep-seeded in us. That’s our human condition and none of us is immune to it. Sin came into this world. It brought spiritual darkness and death into our lives. And it afflicts us all throughout our lives.

But there’s hope. The Epiphany season is all about the Light that’s come into the world to defeat the darkness of sin and its effects on our lives … the Light that no darkness can overcome (Jn 1:5). In the Readings from God’s Word that we just heard, Christ is revealed to us as our true and only Light.

At the time that Isaiah was inspired to write, Naphtali, Zebulun, and all of the Northern Kingdom had been overtaken by the Assyrians. It was truly a dark time. The pagan Assyrians were renowned for their cruelty.

Many people of the Northern Kingdom were hauled off to Assyria and the Assyrians themselves were an occupying force in Israel. Things seemed hopeless. Yet through the Prophet Isaiah, God shone the light of His promised hope:
“There will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time [God] brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a Great Light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has Light shined.” (Is 9:1-2).

The darkness of suffering and false worship would ultimately be overcome when the Light of Christ shone upon them.

Like the occupied Northern Kingdom of old, much of our darkness is apparent to us. We experience first-hand the gloom and affliction that is poured out by the unbelieving rulers of this world on those who confess Christ.

And we know all too well the words and deeds of those people who “forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil” (Prov 2:12-14). We’re surrounded by such evil people every day. They not only do evil to us, but they also try and draw us into their own perverseness … that we too might “forsake the paths of uprightness.”

Then there’s the darkness that we don’t even recognize. In Psalm 82, Asaph prays: “‘Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’ They have neither knowledge nor understanding they walk about in darkness” (Ps 82:4-5). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve broken a toe while walking through a dark house at night. And it’s even easier for our sinful flesh to stumble in the darkness of our ignorance … not having knowledge or understanding, as the psalm puts it. If we live in ignorance of God’s Word and will, then we’re walking about in just such ignorant darkness. That’s what was going on with the Christians in Corinth that we heard about. Their wrong understanding of God’s Word and will became a division in Christ’s Church. Some said they followed Paul, others Apollos, and others Cephas … even though Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas had all pointed them to Christ alone. The darkness of our sinful flesh is always getting something wrong … doing something against God’s will. And when it does, our sinful pride tends to keep us in the dark … preventing us from even seeing it.

St. Paul shined the light of God’s Holy Law on the sins of the Corinthian Christians, but how do we react when that same light is shined on our own sins. Do we try to block out that light through self-deceptions … so that we don’t see the ugliness of our sins? If so, then we’re just fooling ourselves. None of us enjoys seeing our sins and fessing up to them. But whether we like it or not, all of us will eventually stand in the brightness of God’s truth … and all of our sins will be clearly revealed.

That’s why Jesus, the true Light that has come into the world, repeats what John had already been preaching to prepare the way: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). Jesus calls us out of the darkness of our sin. And not only does the light of Christ reveal our sin, but it also reveals to us the One who frees us from the darkness and anguish of our sin … and it also takes away the contempt that we’ve earned for ourselves on account of our sins. Christ comes to shine the light of His mercy and forgiveness on our sin-darkened lives.

In today’s Gospel Reading, we see Christ’s saving light shining brighter and brighter. Jesus continues calling people to repentance and faith. He leaves Nazareth and moves to Capernaum which was a busier town where He could preach repentance and faith to more people and from which the light of the Gospel in Christ’s Word and work would spread to the surrounding countries. Jesus begins, continues, and fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy that: “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned”.

He tells us to continually repent of our many sins because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17), that is, the salvation that comes through faith in Christ has come. He calls the first disciples – Peter, Andrew, James, and John – to preach the Gospel … establishing the Apostolic Ministry through which Christ continues to come to us in the preaching and teaching of the Word and the right administration of the Sacraments. Then Jesus:
“went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people … and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.” (Mt 4:23-24)

Christ our Savior is made manifest to us. He who is the true Light – the Light of our salvation – has dispelled the darkness and revealed God’s love and mercy to us. We couldn’t seek it out. We couldn’t find if for ourselves.

We were in darkness … dead in our trespasses and sins. And in spite of that, God came to save us in the person of His Son. We brought sin upon ourselves, yet Christ took on human flesh, lived in our gloom and anguish with us, and even permitted the shadow of death to overtake Him on the tree of the cross … by which He accomplished our salvation and won for us eternal life.

Christ, our true and only Light, has defeated the darkness. He’s broken the oppressive rod of sin, death, and the devil. And He’s always here for us with His saving gifts where He’s promised to be: in His healing Word of Absolution … and in His Supper where we eat His body and drink His blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

And, having been brought into the Light by His grace and mercy, “let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12) as we’re guided into the light of His truth by His Word and Spirit – continually repenting of our sins and receiving His forgiveness.

“I am the Light of the world,” says Jesus, “Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life” (Jn 8:12). That’s a promise to you from the very Son of God. And even now, the Light of Life shines on you by means of His Gospel gifts … to keep you in His saving light until that day when you behold the fulness of His radiant glory in the life of the world to come.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Pr. Jon Holst

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Our Scripture Readings today speak of the blessed truth that Christ’s saving mission is for all people … both Jew and Gentile. In the Gospel Reading, we hear it in John the Baptist’s witness to the fact that Jesus is truly the promised Messiah … “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). By saying this, John makes it clear that Christ’s saving mission isn’t just for God’s Old Testament people, but for the world … for all people.

By divine inspiration, the Prophet Isaiah also describes this universal aspect of Christ’s saving mission.

He makes clear that the Messiah’s saving work goes beyond Jacob’s descendants to all the peoples of the earth, saying, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth“ (Is 49:6).

Likewise, in today’s Epistle Reading, St. Paul refers to Christ’s holy Church as “all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord” (1 Cor 1:2).

Christ our Lord came to accomplish His saving mission for all people as the once-for-all sacrifice for our sins. So, on this Second Sunday after Epiphany, let us consider, hold fast to, and rejoice in the blessed reality of John’s proclamation that Jesus is – beyond all doubt – “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

John is making a connection for his hearers by proclaiming that Christ is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” … a connection to the Old Testament and the Temple sacrifices. Because they lived before the birth of our Savior, God’s Old Testament people would have understood the Temple to be the place where God met with them … the place where God’s Mercy Seat was set atop the Ark of the Covenant. Moses describes it for us:
“And he made a mercy seat of pure gold … And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end … The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.” (Ex 37:6-9).

In that place, God promised to meet with His people. So, the people came. They made their pilgrimage to that holy ground … to the place where God was present with His grace and mercy. Why did they go? They went because their souls were troubled … restless … uneasy. As with us, God’s holy Law drove them to seek the help they needed … the help that only comes from outside ourselves. And that help was only offered at the Temple from the Mercy Seat of God.

But also like us, the sins that made their souls troubled, restless, and uneasy prevented them from being able to pass behind the veil … to enter into the Holy of Holies. It’s our sins that hold the veil in place and prevent us from being able to enter into God’s presence … from approaching His Mercy Seat. As God said to Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Ex 33:20). We are sinful, and, as the Prophet Habakkuk describes it, God is “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab 1:13).

Sin separates us from God and its wages is death. But often we don’t even recognize our sins. They’ve been with us for so long that we’ve become comfortable with them … even becoming dismissive of them with the many excuses we come up with in our hearts that are corrupted by original sin. But every sin … the outward ones, the secret ones, the ones against our neighbors … all sins are sins against God no matter how much we try to trivialize them, dismiss them, or excuse them.

God’s Old Testament people went to the Temple, but their sins kept them from entering behind the veil to the place of God’s mercy. But God also placed His priest in the Temple … to go behind the veil … to pour out the blood of the sacrificial lamb in our place. Just as Abraham said to Isaac, “God Himself will provide the lamb” (Gen 22:8). Abraham believed this … he had faith in this … “and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3).

The blood of the sacrificial lamb was a promise from God of the greater sacrifice … the perfect sacrifice … the once-for-all sacrifice that was yet to come. That’s why we read in Hebrews that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb 10:4). So why did God institute the sacrifices of old? He did so as a constant reminder of the promise that He would “provide for Himself the Lamb.” And the Old Testament saints received God’s mercy … received forgiveness and salvation … in the same way we receive those gifts: by grace, through faith … faith in the promised once-for-all sacrifice.

Enter John the Baptizer: the last of the Old Testament Prophets and the Forerunner of Christ. He lifts his finger and points us to Him who is that once-for-all sacrifice and the fulfillment of our salvation: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Behold Christ: the One in whom our weary hearts find peace … the One in whom our troubled consciences find rest … the One who comes to bear your sin and the sin of the whole world.

In Hebrews we read that “when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb 9:11-12). Behold Jesus who is both Priest and Sacrifice. On the altar of the cross, He offered up Himself … pouring out His atoning blood for the sins of the world.

We know that, as Scripture says, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). But, out of God’s abundant grace and mercy, it is the death of Jesus – the only-begotten Son of God – that satisfies this payment. And His death satisfies the payment for your salvation in full. Jesus is the promised Lamb that God has provided … the final Sacrifice. And since Jesus accomplished this once-for-all sacrifice, the Old Testament sacrificial system has come to an end … the veil of the Temple has been torn in two.

And having offered Himself up as the once-for-all Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Christ now intercedes for us as our Great High Priest and comes to us in His very Body and Blood from the Mercy Seat of His altar. In this place, God has promised to meet with His people. Why do we come? We come because our souls are troubled … restless … and uneasy on account of our many sins. In Christ’s Word our weary hearts find peace. In Christ’s Sacraments our sin-troubled consciences find rest. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Behold Jesus.

I leave you this day with a passage from the 19th century Norwegian Lutheran Bishop Nils Laache whose devotional book has been a comfort to me for many years:
“[Christ] takes away the sin of the world, which is laid on Him at Baptism and since that time weighs heavy upon Him so that He feels the weight more and more. The wrath and judgment of the Righteous One for our unrighteousness, all our weakness, all our sickness of body and soul unto the pain of death and condemnation, lies upon Him. He bears it and carries it away, takes away the punishment and takes away the power of ungodliness, so that sin should neither condemn us nor rule over us. He bears the sin of the world, of Jews and Gentiles, from the first soul on earth to the last. What a burden! But what grace for us! This is for us! Praise to the Lamb: now God does not see my sin on me anymore, for my sin too is taken away, the many and the great sins which otherwise should press me down into hell!

“Now we know where our sins are laid; the Law lays them on our conscience and sticks them in our chest, but God takes them from us and lays them on the shoulder of the Lamb. ‘I know your sins are too hard for you to bear,’ God says, ‘so look, I lay them on My Lamb and take them away from you.’ This you should believe; for when you do, you are free from sin … (Luther)”. (Laache, Book of Family Prayer, 188-189).

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst