Category: Sermon Page

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 2021

“Binding the Strong Man, Plundering His House” (Mark 3:20-35)

When you were baptized, what did you get? Yeah, you got wet, sure. You had water poured on your head. But I mean, when you were baptized, what did you get, in the sense of what did you acquire? I’ll tell you what you acquired: You got an enemy for life. Did you know that? That when you were baptized, you gained a strong and powerful enemy who’s out to get you! You did! And his name is Satan, the devil. He is the “old evil foe” who “now means deadly woe.” He is your arch-enemy. He wants to destroy your faith, destroy you, and take you down to hell with him. And he is very strong.

Satan. The devil. We minimize his threat at our peril. But the Bible certainly does not. And Jesus does not dismiss the reality of Satan and the damage that he does to people. Jesus compares Satan to a “strong man” who has a bunch of goods stored in his house that he doesn’t want to let go of. Satan is strong; he’s hard to overcome. But the good news is that there is someone stronger, someone able to overcome the strong man. And his name is Jesus. For Jesus came “Binding the Strong Man, Plundering His House.”

As I say, we minimize the devil’s threat at our own peril. But that does happen, especially in our culture. In our supposedly enlightened age, people tend to think of the devil as an antiquated old wives’ tale with no basis in reality. Belief in the existence of Satan is seen as a silly, outmoded superstition, held by those of a gullible mind. The idea of the devil is used for comic effect. “Satan?” became a punch line in the “Church Lady” skits. People laugh at anyone who believes that the demonic realm is real. But all that does is to play into one of Satan’s best strategies: To dismiss his existence is to let down our guard.

In his book, “The Screwtape Letters,” author C. S. Lewis imaginatively relates a series of letters from a senior devil, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior devil named Wormwood. Screwtape gives Wormwood advice on how best to deceive and lead astray the human that has been assigned to him as his “patient.” Uncle Screwtape writes to Wormwood and says: “I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that . . . he therefore cannot believe in you.”

But denying the devil’s existence does not agree with the biblical perspective. The Bible throughout, from Genesis to Revelation, presents Satan as a real being–a fallen angel, bent on evil. The Bible teaches that Satan’s power, while limited, poses a real danger to human beings. The devil is out to tempt, accuse, and deceive people. He is the enemy of our souls. He will assail us, attack us, and assault our minds and our bodies. Satan hates God, and therefore he hates God’s people.

Martin Luther took the devil seriously. He took it seriously when a little child was baptized, knowing what was in store for that new Christian for the rest of his or her life. Luther writes: “Remember, therefore, that it is no joke to take sides against the devil and not only to drive him away from this little child, but to burden the child with such a mighty and lifelong enemy.”

Dear Christian, when you were baptized, you took on an enemy for life. The sign of the cross that was placed on you on your forehead and your heart? That was like a target being painted on you, and the devil is aiming for it. He wants to dispirit you and demoralize you. He wants to cause you to doubt and to pull you away from Christ your Savior. So you and I need to be deadly serious about the devil, because he is seriously deadly toward us.

The existence and power of Satan, the enemy of our souls, is real. In the Bible, we find demons assailing and assaulting people in their souls and their bodies. Repeatedly in the four gospels, we see Jesus confronting and casting out demons. Those unclean spirits were doing real harm to people: attacking them in their minds, causing them to do self-harm to their bodies. Satan and his demons were out in full force during Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus saw this happening to the people who were being demonized, he had compassion on them. Jesus got angry with the devil, he cast out the demons, and he healed the people in both body and soul.

In the gospels, there seems to be an increased occurrence of demonic activity–a spike of it, in very dramatic form–at the time of Jesus’ ministry. This makes sense, since the one who came to destroy the devil and his works was coming on the scene. Jesus obviously was able to discern when the various afflictions he encountered were due to demonic activity. You and I, however, are not able to know that for certain. It may be, also in our day, that various phenomena–self-mutilation, criminal insanity, drug-fueled bizarre behavior–these spectacularly bad things could have a link to demonic activity. But we can’t be sure.

In any case, it’s not just in the spectacular stuff that Satan does his work. There are a lot of normal-looking, normal-acting, respectable people who are equally in the thrall of Satan and under his sway. Remember, the main thing that Satan cares about is keeping you away from Jesus and destroying your faith. And he can do that quite well in quieter ways.

How might the devil work on you? The devil can allure you with temptations, or he can crush you with disappointments. Either way, he wins. If you are drawn off into living for pleasure, living for self, so that you become satisfied with your life in this world–then you will no longer feel your need for God, and you will lose your faith in Christ. Satan wins. On the other hand, if you are so crushed with disappointment that you despair of God’s goodness and lose all hope, you may likewise lose your faith in Christ. Satan wins again. When doubt assails you, when bitterness begins to take root in your heart, realize that the devil is trying to undermine your faith. Take that very seriously.

And realize that you are not strong enough in yourself to overcome the devil’s schemes. There’s a reason Jesus calls Satan a “strong man.” He is a formidable foe. Luther was right when he wrote: “Deep guile and great might are his dread arms in fight; on earth is not his equal.” “With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected.” “But,” the hymn goes on, “But for us fights the valiant one.” “Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is.” Yes, Jesus Christ is our divine champion, the one stronger than the strong man Satan. Satan is strong. Jesus is stronger. “He holds the field forever.”

In our text from Mark 3, Jesus says, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Binding the strong man, plundering his house. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ came to bind the strong man, enter his house, and plunder his goods. This, Jesus has done. We were captives of the devil, prisoners in his house of sin and death, unable to free ourselves. But Jesus came down from heaven, God’s own Son in the flesh. He came to seek and to save us and to pull us out of Satan’s grasp. When Jesus cast out of demons, he showed his compassion for people and his authority over Satan. Jesus was binding the strong man, entering his house, and plundering his goods.

But the strange thing is, Jesus would demonstrate his superior strength by way of weakness. He allowed himself to be bound and nailed to a cross. But this was God’s plan to beat the devil at his own game. The devil would strike Jesus in the heel, but in so doing, Christ would deal a death blow to Satan’s head. By taking on himself the curse laid on sinners–death under God’s judgment–Jesus would take away that card from the devil’s hand. The devil can’t play the sin card against us anymore. No more accusation, no condemnation. All our sins have been forgiven by the blood of Christ. The devil’s taunts and threats go nowhere. The serpent has been defanged. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” the devil’s reign was ended. Then Christ descended into hell to proclaim his victory even there.

And so now our ascended, exalted Lord comes to us in our fears and says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Do you see? Jesus has bound the strong man, entered his house, and plundered his goods. Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hell. He has stripped Satan bare. And this is good news for us. It means that no matter how much the devil tries, he cannot overpower us. Jesus wins. He holds the field forever.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what did you get when you were baptized? You got wet, sure. And you acquired a lifelong enemy, a strong one. But Satan is a defeated foe. He has been bound, and his house has been plundered. What did you get when you were baptized? You got Jesus fighting on your side. And with Jesus, you get all of his goods: forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. Satan may be strong. But Jesus is stronger. And it’s not even close.

The Holy Trinity
Sunday, May 30, 2021

“Born of Water and the Spirit” (John 3:1-17)

On this Trinity Sunday, our Gospel reading, from John chapter 3, tells us of the work of the Holy Trinity–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–in bringing us to a new birth and the new life that flows from it. And this is where Jesus goes in his conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be “Born of Water and the Spirit.”

This Nicodemus was a prominent Jewish religious leader. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Jesus even calls him “the teacher of Israel,” showing how highly respected Nicodemus was among his people. Yet Nicodemus doesn’t “get it.” Not yet. He needs to be born again. He needs a spiritual rebirth to open his eyes and to give him a right understanding and a whole new life.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, presumably so as not to be seen. It might not look so good for a member of the Sanhedrin to visit this controversial Jesus of Nazareth. He tells Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Well, Nicodemus, that’s good as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Jesus is far more than a mere rabbi, even an exceptionally insightful one who can also do some miracles. Nicodemus is “low-balling” who Jesus is. He’ll need to see far more in Jesus than that, if he is to come into the kingdom of God.

So Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Friends, there are lots of people who say some nice things about Jesus–what a good teacher he was, what a fine example. But if that’s as far as they can go, then they have reached the limit of what human flesh and reason can discern. And that is not enough. You must be born again if you are to recognize who Jesus really is and trust in him and thus see God’s kingdom in the way you need to see it. You must be born from above. “Born from above,” “born again”–the Greek here could be translated either way. The point is, you need a heavenly rebirth, in order to recognize the kingdom of heaven coming in the person of Jesus.

Jesus’ response about being born again puzzles Nicodemus. He doesn’t know where Jesus is going with this, this riddle. “Born again”? Is Jesus joking around? Nicodemus replies: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” This stuff sounds like crazy talk to Nicodemus.

But no, Jesus really meant what he said. Now Jesus explains what he meant by being born again: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Thus, to be born again, born from above, is to be born of water and the Spirit. It is a heavenly rebirth that involves the use of water, in connection with the Spirit. And that is baptism.

Water and the Spirit, together. That’s what happened in the beginning, at creation. “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’” etc. Water, the Spirit, and the Word–creation. Same with the new creation, the spiritual rebirth in baptism: Water, the Spirit, and the Word. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

Holy Baptism, instituted by Christ, is the spiritual rebirth of water and the Spirit. St. Paul speaks of it in Titus 3: “[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Did you catch that phrase? “The washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” “Washing,” water. “Regeneration,” rebirth. “Renewal,” new life. “The Holy Spirit” . . . well, the Holy Spirit. In other words, to be born again, of water and the Spirit. Just like in John. And this rebirth of water and the Spirit is what happens in Holy Baptism.

“Born of water and the Spirit.” We need this new birth in order to see clearly, to see the kingdom of God having come in Christ. Otherwise, our spiritual blindness would keep us in the dark. We need this new birth in order both to see and to enter the kingdom of God. Otherwise, without faith in Christ, our sins and our spiritual deadness would keep us out of God’s kingdom. We need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to see the light, to have the scales fall from our eyes. We need to receive the righteousness of Christ, the life he has won for us, to raise us from death to life. This is why Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

“Flesh,” in this sense, means our fallen sinful nature, which is inherited and passed down to us from generation to generation. We all share in this sinful nature and are doomed to death. Flesh gives birth to flesh. And flesh can only take you so far. You cannot rise above that level. To be born only of the flesh is a dead end.

That’s how the Bible describes our natural state. Ephesians 2 says: “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” So, according to the flesh, we were by nature children of wrath, God’s wrath. That’s not good. As Jesus says, flesh gives birth to flesh. That’s as far as you can go, that’s as high as you can rise, born only according to the flesh. You and I need a different kind of birth.

And you don’t give birth to yourself. No, this is about being born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you this new birth. You don’t do it, he does. John 1 says, “To all who did receive him,” that is, Christ, “who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” God gives you the new birth. It’s not your decision or your will that does it. It’s God giving you a new birth, making you his child, giving you the gift of faith.

Faith in Christ. Faith is to receive Christ, to believe in his name. For Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. Here’s where we can talk about the Father and the Son on this Trinity Sunday. As we heard in our text: “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Yes, God the Father sent his Son into the world out of his great love for us. God the Son, Christ Jesus, then was lifted up on the cross, so that you and I would not perish in our sins, but rather, that through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, our sins would be forgiven. Believing in Christ, trusting in him, then, we receive that forgiveness, and so we have eternal life.

Now what the Holy Spirit does is to bring you those benefits that Christ won for you on the cross–forgiveness, life, eternal salvation–the Spirit gives you the faith to receive and take hold of those benefits. The Holy Spirit quickens you, makes you alive, brings you from death to life, through the gospel. The gospel, the word of God in and with the water, is the power source in Holy Baptism. It makes baptism the life-giving sacrament that it is. The Holy Spirit uses this sacrament to bring you to faith and raise you to new life. This is how baptism is the new birth, your real spiritual birthday.

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Well, Nicodemus, it doesn’t matter if someone is eight days old, eighteen years old, or eighty years old, when someone is baptized, that is God at work to give that person the new birth. If you have been baptized, you have been born of the water and the Spirit. You are now part of God’s family, the church. You are God’s child, and Father welcomes all his children. Christ Jesus is the Savior you know and trust in. All your sins have been washed away. You have been joined to Jesus and his resurrection. You have a new life and an eternal life! The Holy Spirit has given you the gift of faith, through the Word. And the Spirit will keep you in the faith and keep you growing as you continue in the Word.

Born of water and the Spirit: That’s Holy Baptism, in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism, your spiritual rebirth into the new and eternal life of the kingdom of God. Baptized believers in Christ, in your baptism you have been born from above, born of water and the Spirit. And what a joyous, blessed thing that is!

The Day of Pentecost
Sunday, May 23, 2021

“The Day of Pentecost: What Does This Mean?” (Acts 2:1-21)

You know those people we heard about in Acts 2, the ones in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost? I think they must have been Lutheran. I mean, it says in our text, “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” That’s the Lutheran question, isn’t it? “What does this mean?” We’d almost expect the answer to begin, “We should fear and love God so that. . . .” Well, even if it isn’t right out of the catechism, this is still a good question to ask: “The Day of Pentecost: What Does This Mean?”

Let’s start by asking about that word “Pentecost.” What does this mean? Literally, it means, “fiftieth.” For it was on the fiftieth day after Passover that thousands of Jews from around the world were gathered in Jerusalem for one of the great pilgrimage festivals in the Jewish religious year. In Hebrew, this festival is called “Shavuot” or “Weeks.” The Feast of Weeks came seven weeks, seven sevens, after the Passover. That’s why all these Jews were in Jerusalem. They were there for the Feast of Weeks, “Shavuot” in the Hebrew or in the Greek, “Pentecost,” the “fiftieth day.”

But in this particular year, Pentecost came seven weeks after a most unusual Passover. For it was right around Passover that year that some truly amazing things took place. You see, there was this fellow Jesus of Nazareth who had gotten the crowds all worked up. The Jewish religious leaders called for his crucifixion, and the Roman governor Pilate gave it to them. Since then, his disciples had laid pretty low. They had been hanging out in Jerusalem, and now, on the day of Pentecost, “they were all together in one place.”

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” The sound of a rushing wind. Tongues of fire resting on each one. What in the world does this mean? Well, actually, something not of this world. These were signs from heaven. The sound came from heaven, the sound of a mighty wind. The word for “wind,” whether in Hebrew or in Greek–the same word is used for “Spirit” or “wind” or “breath.” So the sound of the wind was a sign of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This was the breath of God blowing on them, filling and empowering these disciples of Christ. And then fire. John the Baptist had said of Christ, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” A holy fire, purifying the people of God. And “tongues” of fire, at that. Tongues are for speaking. And that’s just what they do: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

But why? Just to make a confusing babel of sounds? No. Again, this is a sign from God, a sign from heaven. It served a purpose. What happened was, when that sound occurred, the sound of the mighty rushing wind, it gathered a crowd. Remember those thousands of Jews in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost? When they heard this unusual sound, people were curious and went to see what was going on. And that’s where the disciples were.

When the crowd gets there, they hear something else just as unusual. It’s the believers speaking in a variety of languages. But aren’t they just Galileans? How come they’re able to speak in these different tongues? They couldn’t have learned those foreign languages, this bunch of uneducated fishermen. But the people in the crowd, the Jewish pilgrims from around the world, are able to understand what is being said in the languages of the nations they come from. Amazed, they ask, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and so on. “We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God!”

And so this is what all the speaking in tongues is about. What does this mean? It means that God is going to have himself a people from all the nations of the earth. The gospel is going to go forth in many languages, to all peoples. “Every tribe and language and people and nation.” It’s starting here in Jerusalem, on this first day of Pentecost, the beginning of the church’s ministry out into the world. Jesus had told his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And this is it. Now it is starting.

It starts especially when Peter gets up and addresses the crowd. The sound of the wind and the speaking in tongues had gotten the attention of the crowd and drawn an audience. Now Peter is going to get to preaching. He will be that witness for Jesus in Jerusalem. First, Peter explains the phenomena that people had just witnessed–the wind, the fire, the languages. This, he says, was a fulfillment of a Scripture from the prophet Joel. God had promised to pour out his Spirit on all flesh. Now that promise has been fulfilled. “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” the Scripture said. And so here are these disciples of Jesus, telling forth the great things God has done in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a sign: We are now in the end times, the last days. Judgment Day is coming, the day of the Lord, “the great and magnificent day.” Therefore, people, be ready. Take refuge in the mercy of the Lord. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If that was true then, how much more is it true today! If those people back then were in the last days, how much more are we, in these days, in the end times. Judgment Day is coming. We don’t know when or how soon, but it is coming. Therefore, we need to be ready. We need to be saved from the coming judgment, from death and hell and eternal damnation.

That’s how Peter begins his sermon, with the need for salvation. From there he goes on to tell how that salvation happens. He explains what calling on the name of the Lord involves. Peter tells this crowd of Jews that the Jesus whose death they had called for, just weeks earlier–Jesus of Nazareth, divinely attested to be the Messiah–this same Jesus, God has raised from the dead. His death was no accident. It wasn’t even your doing. His death was according to God’s set purpose and foreknowledge. But death could not hold him. God has raised this Jesus to life, Peter says, and we are witnesses of this fact. Exalted now to the right hand of God, Jesus has poured out the promised Holy Spirit, as you now see and hear. Be assured, God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

What does this mean? What does this mean for you and me? It means that God’s plan and purpose was to send his Son to be our Savior. Jesus willingly, knowingly, went into death for our sake. We had sinned against God, blindly, ignorantly, not knowing how much we were actually enemies of God. Nevertheless, God has had mercy upon us. The death of God’s own Son paid for our sins. Jesus paid the whole debt of sin and death. He took the punishment we deserve. Therefore, rest assured, God is not punishing you. Jesus then rose from the dead, showing that death has had the sting taken out of it. And even though he has been taken from our sight, Jesus now is our ascended and exalted Lord.

What does this mean? It means that our Lord Jesus Christ gives us also the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we may know him and have faith in him and thus be saved. The Holy Spirit is Christ’s gift to the church, empowering our witness here at home and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter and Counselor, the one who comes alongside of us, to guide us into all the truth and to empower our witness to Christ. The Spirit strengthens our faith in Christ through the church’s ministry of Word and Sacrament.

So what does all of this mean? It means that Pentecost is still happening. It is ongoing. It continues today. The gospel is going out to all peoples: Bonne Terrians and De Sotans, residents of St. Francois County and Jefferson County, Missourians and Chicagoans, Germans and Swedes–and if there are any Parthians or Medes or Elamites in the building, well, you’re getting the gospel, too. The Holy Spirit continues to work saving faith in the hearts of all kinds of people, through the ministry of the gospel. Christ’s Spirit-filled disciples–people just like us–we Pentecost people will tell forth the mighty works of God with our tongues to the people we meet. Yes, Pentecost is still happening today, as God’s baptized children speak forth their faith, and the Holy Spirit empowers their witness.

The day of Pentecost: What does this mean? It means that you who call on the name of the Lord–you shall be saved! And it means that the Lord will use our tongues, he will use our Spirit-empowered witness, to share the good news with others.

Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 16, 2021

“Filling the Office” (Acts 1:12-26)

Let’s see, where are we on the calendar? On the church-year calendar, I mean. This past Thursday was Ascension Day, forty days after Easter. Fifty days after Easter–that’s next Sunday–will be the Day of Pentecost. So now we’re in the ten-day period between Ascension and Pentecost. Our reading for today from Acts puts us into that time frame. We’re with the apostles and other believers in Jerusalem in the days immediately following Christ’s ascension. And we’re waiting for the ascended Lord to pour out the Holy Spirit, which he promised would happen soon. So we’re in that in-between time.

But during this in-between time, there is some important business to conduct. Because a vacancy has occurred in the pastoral office. One of the twelve apostles has fallen by the wayside, and his spot needs to be filled. Our text, from Acts 1, is the story of the filling of that office. And so our theme this morning: “Filling the Office.”

But this story has meaning for us beyond what happened way back then. Indeed, it tells us of our Lord’s ongoing care for his people. It tells us of our Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done and continues to do for us. It tells of how Christ continues to fill the Office of the Holy Ministry, which he has given to his church. And it tells us that he will equip all of us to fulfill the various offices we have in our lives. May our ears be open, then, to hear the word that God has for us today.

As I say, a pastoral vacancy has occurred in the first church. Oh, not that there aren’t any pastors around! In fact, there are eleven of them: Peter, James, John, Andrew; Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew; another James, Simon, and Jude. Jesus himself had selected and trained these men as his disciples. He had designated them to be apostles, “sent ones,” commissioned to go and preach in his name. And so these eleven are there to serve in that capacity.

But the thing is, there should have been twelve! One of the twelve, Judas Iscariot, had fallen out along the way. More than that, he had betrayed the Master. For a sack of silver, Judas handed Jesus over to the authorities, who hated him and crucified him. Judas betrayed the trust that the Lord had placed in him. He forfeited his office, even as he took his own life. So now the number of apostles is down to eleven.

Which raises the question: Why not leave it there? What difference does it make whether there are eleven apostles or twelve? After all, soon there would be other pastors coming along to help spread the gospel. They wouldn’t be apostles, but they still would be pastors. What’s the big deal about having twelve apostles rather than eleven? In our text, Peter says that there “must” be someone to take Judas’s place. But why was it necessary? Why not just leave the position vacant and go with eleven?

Well, this is where we see what our Lord has in mind by filling this office. He had picked twelve in the first place. Now he is going to have his twelve, after all. Eleven would be incomplete. That’s because of what the Lord is doing. He’s having himself a people, that’s what he’s doing! He’s forming a people for himself, and that will take twelve, not eleven, to lead the way.

Think back to the Old Testament people of God. When God decided to set aside a people for himself, he did it through a twelve–the twelve sons of Jacob–literally, the children of Israel. These twelve patriarchs–Judah, Reuben, Simeon, and so on–these men established the twelve tribes that would bear their names. They were the foundation of the Old Testament people of God, the people from whom would come the Messiah, the people who thus would be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.

So now, when the Lord is about to form a new people, the church of the New Testament, once again he is going to have himself a twelve. He arranges for a twelfth man to be chosen to fill out that number. The company of believers pray: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship.” And Matthias is the one chosen. So now we’re back to twelve. The number of the apostles signals what the Lord is doing, what he’s about. Eleven just won’t do. There’s got to be a twelve. Because the Lord is having himself a people.

Brothers and sisters, you and I are part of that people, the church. We are the church, the “one holy Christian and apostolic church,” built on the foundation of the apostles, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. We are the church, the people of God formed by his grace. We are the people called to declare that grace, the good news of salvation in Christ, and thus be a blessing to the world around us. For the Lord will have himself a people in this world, a people belonging to him, a people who will carry out his mission in the world. And you and I are privileged to belong to his people, the church.

Not only does our text tell us of our Lord’s intent to have a people, it also tells us about what our Lord Jesus did to save us. Peter says: “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us–one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

Notice the qualifications for the replacement apostle. They don’t have so much to do with the man himself as with his simply having been around while Jesus was doing his ministry! The new apostle would be one who had been with Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension. He would be one who had seen Jesus resurrected from the dead. The new apostle then would bear witness to what he had seen and heard. He would testify to what he knew about Jesus. These qualifications have more to do with Jesus than with the man himself. Because an apostle does not preach himself, he preaches Jesus Christ as Lord.

The Lord Jesus, baptized by John in the Jordan, taking his place alongside sinners, setting out on his journey to the cross. The Lord Jesus, betrayed, arrested, and crucified, taking the place of us sinners, dying the death we deserve by our sins. The Lord Jesus, risen from the dead, showing forth his victory over sin and death and hell for us. The Lord Jesus, taken up into heaven at his ascension, there to pour out his Spirit on his people, there to guide and govern his church until the day he returns to take us home to be with him forever.

This same Lord Jesus is the one to whom the apostles continue to bear witness to this day. By the witness of their lives, by the testimony of their teachings, recorded in the pages of the New Testament, the apostles still point us to the one who is our life, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our text today tells us not so much about Peter or Matthias or any of the others, as it tells us of Christ, our wonderful Savior, our risen and ascended Lord.

The apostolic office bears witness to Christ. And the Lord will not have that holy office left vacant. He filled it. Now the office of apostle of Christ was a unique and unrepeatable position, limited to those men personally selected by Christ for the foundation of the church. But the apostolic ministry has its successor today in the pastoral office. And Christ continues to fill that office also, with men who likewise bear witness to him.

Christ selects and sends men today to be pastors in his church. He puts men into that holy office. Out of his great love and care for you, he has chosen a pastor for this congregation. He has filled the office here. And what is the office that pastors carry out? It is the Office of the Holy Ministry. Your pastor preaches the gospel to you. He tells you the good news of your Savior. Pastors administer the sacraments, according to Christ’s institution. Your pastor baptizes new children of God. Your pastor places in your mouth the body and blood of Christ for your forgiveness. By virtue of his office, the pastor absolves you of your sins, in the stead and by the command of his Lord Jesus Christ. Your pastor is your shepherd–that’s what the word “pastor” means, “shepherd.” His task is to guide the flock to where there is good food to eat. He guards the sheep from danger to their souls. Your pastor is an undershepherd of Christ, the Chief Shepherd.

The fact that Christ sends you a pastor shows how much he cares for you. The same love he showed when he laid down his life for the sheep, Christ now shows by sending pastors in his name. The Lord is having himself a people, and he fills the office he has established, so that the people of God will be fed and strengthened and protected in their faith.

What’s more, the God who made sure that the apostolic office would be filled, the God who makes sure that the pastoral office is filled–this same God will make sure to help you in whatever office or vocation you serve: husband, wife, father, mother, employer, citizen, church member, you name it. His word will supply you with the wisdom, perseverance, and love you need to do the job. His forgiveness will more than cover the failings that you and I will surely have as we stumble along the way.

Today we have seen how the Lord filled the office of apostle–all twelve spots filled, none left vacant. We have seen how the Lord fills the office of pastor, the successor to the apostolic ministry, also for the good of his church. And God will help you to fill your office, your particular calling in life, whatever that may be. For the Lord is having himself a people, and he will see that the job is done right. Just look at the one who is doing it: Jesus Christ, who perfectly fills his office as Lord of the church and Savior of sinners!

The Ascension of Our Lord
Thursday, May 13, 2021

“When Our Lord Ascends, He Also Sends” (Luke 24:44-53)

Today we’re celebrating the Ascension of Our Lord. Forty days after his resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, and so it is on this day–forty days after Easter, always on a Thursday–when we have this festival. And what I want to focus on today for our Ascension theme is this: “When Our Lord Ascends, He Also Sends.”

When our Lord ascends, he also sends. What do I mean by that? I mean that when our Lord Jesus Christ ascends into heaven, at the same time he also sends out his apostles. He sends them out as witnesses, to deliver a particular message. In Luke 24, he tells them, “You are witnesses of these things.” And in Acts 1, likewise: “You will be my witnesses.” Sending out the apostles as his witnesses–that’s what Jesus is doing here when he ascends into heaven.

Jesus sends out his apostles as witnesses. But as witnesses of what? What is to be the content of their message? In Luke 24, we heard Jesus tell the apostles, “You are witnesses of these things.” But what are the “these things” he’s referring to? Well, he had just told them what “these things” are. He said: “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” This is what Jesus means by “You are witnesses of these things.”

Jesus himself tells us what the church’s witness, our public testimony, will be. In fact, this is Jesus’ summary of what the whole Bible is about. The heart and core of the Bible’s message–and thus the center of the church’s witness–zeroes in on these things: 1) “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,” and 2) “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” That’s it. That’s the Bible in a nutshell, according to Jesus. This then is the content of the church’s witness: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and repentance and forgiveness proclaimed in his name.

Have you ever thought about why the Apostles’ Creed includes the items it includes? I mean, when you look at it, it seems a little out of balance. There’s a lot more in the Second Article, about Christ, than there is in the First or Third Article, about the Father or the Spirit. And even in the Second Article, look at what’s mentioned and what is skipped over. It starts out: “And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” OK, so far, so good. We’ve established who Jesus is, that he is both true God and true man. So we have gotten as far as Christ’s birth.

But then, where does the Creed go next? Look, it zooms forward, fast forward, all the way to the end of the story, if you will: “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried,” etc. In other words, it skips over a lot of material that could have been mentioned–all the miracles, all the teachings of Jesus, and so forth. The Creed zooms right past all that and hurries on to the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ.

But then, when you look at the four gospels, that’s just where the emphasis lies there, too. In each gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, out of all the years of Jesus’ life and ministry, a disproportionate amount of space is devoted to just eight days, really–Holy Week, Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday, plus Easter Day.

But isn’t this what Jesus is saying here in our text? He himself says that this is where the emphasis should lie: “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.” Why put the emphasis there? Because this is why Christ came. This is how he won our salvation. You and I needed a Savior, someone to rescue us from our sin and the death that results from our sin. We could not free ourselves. Only God could do that. And so God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to be that Savior. God in the flesh, come down from heaven. Jesus kept the Law in our place, kept it as a man. He fulfilled what we have failed to do. Jesus kept the Commandments that we have broken. Yet even though he was innocent, sinless, righteous in God’s sight, Jesus willingly went to the cross. There he died a sinner’s death as the one representative man for all sinners. He bore the judgment, the punishment that the Law requires. The righteous for the unrighteous, Christ crucified shed his holy blood for the sins of the world. That’s what Jesus is talking about here when he says “that the Christ should suffer.” This fact is essential to the church’s witness. There is no salvation without a suffering, dying Christ.

That the Christ should suffer “and on the third day rise from the dead.” This too is essential to the church’s witness–the Resurrection of Our Lord. Christ rose from the dead on the third day. On Good Friday he died; then came Holy Saturday; and then on Easter Day, the third day, he rose from the dead on that glorious Sunday. Christ demonstrated the victory over death that his death on the cross accomplished. Death could not hold him, true, for he is the almighty Son of God. But Christ’s resurrection also demonstrates what is in store for us: that death has no hold on those who belong to Christ. We share in his resurrection. We have eternal life, victory over death and the grave, because of what our Lord Jesus has done for us.

Do you see now why Jesus zeroes in on his suffering, death, and resurrection as the central content of the church’s witness? Because this is where our righteousness lies. This is where our eternal life is located. This is the focus, the pivot point, of God’s love in action, in all of human history. This is the most important thing that God wants all people everywhere to know and to believe.

So the work of Christ is then delivered in the proclamation of Christ. It is delivered and applied to each person through repentance and faith. This is the other essential part of the church’s witness, where Jesus goes on to say: “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name.” You see, it’s one thing to say, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, suffered and died and rose again.” OK, fine, ho-hum. I mean, it’s amazing, it’s good for Jesus, but really, ho-hum. What does that have to do with me? This is why Jesus adds, “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name.” The proclamation brings it home. This is the preaching that calls sinners to repent of their sins, to turn from relying on themselves, and to turn instead to Christ, in faith, for the forgiveness of their sins. And this is God’s word to each one of us here today.

Yes, what about you? Do you have sins to repent of? How have you sinned against God? How have you tuned him out? Where have you failed your spouse, your children, your parents, your neighbor? How have you made yourself your own god? Have you made your own decisions about what is right and wrong, rather than obeying what God says about these things? That is sin. Put a name on it. Confess it. Grieve over your sinful condition, that you can’t just shake this stuff off. That is what it means to repent.

But then receive the forgiveness of sins. Jesus Christ died for those sins of yours, for your general sinful condition and for all the specific ways that your sinfulness manifests itself. The good news of forgiveness is being proclaimed to you again this day. Jesus suffered and died and rose from the dead for you. Forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed right now in his name to you. And the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood is here to deliver and assure you of that forgiveness.

When our Lord ascends, he also sends. When Christ ascended into heaven, he made sure to send out witnesses with a very specific message. And so the church’s witness has made it all the way to here on this Ascension Day. Christ has sent out his forgiving, life-giving gospel to people who need it. Christ our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord is still sending out this joyful witness to people just like you and me.