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The Greatest Power on Earth

4/19/2023

Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, circa 1600.

Quasimodo Geniti (Easter 2) Sunday
John 20:19-31
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
April 16, 2023

When Jesus appeared to His disciples that first Easter evening, He showed them His hands and His side. He did this to prove to them that He was indeed the same Jesus who had been crucified and buried. The doors were locked, yet Jesus appeared before them without anyone letting Him in. They assumed He was a ghost. But a ghost does not have flesh and bone as Jesus does. Moreover, by showing them His hands, He proved that He was the same Jesus who was nailed to the cross. And by showing them His side, He proved that He was the same Jesus who was pierced after He had died on the cross. St. John recorded, “But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.” (19:33-35) This is the very Jesus who was crucified, died, and buried. And now, in His exalted state, which cannot be restricted by the laws of physics, He stands before His disciples alive.
The teaching that Jesus was punished in the stead of mankind and suffered for the sins of the world has become very unpopular, even among many who claim to be Christian. They call the vicarious atonement of Christ barbaric and archaic, a remnant of primitive theology, which looks at God as an angry deity who must be appeased by sacrifice. They call the Father forsaking His Son on the cross “divine child abuse.” And so, many have rewritten the reason Jesus died and rose to simply be an expression of God’s love for us.
Yet, Jesus throws that theory in the trash when He meets with His disciples on the evening after He rose from the dead. Jesus shows them the marks of the nails in His hands and the mark of the spear in His side and says, “Peace be with you.” Why did Jesus suffer and die? It was to win peace for us with God. How was this peace obtained? Jesus won for us forgiveness of sins by paying for our sins by suffering and dying on the cross for us. He makes this clear by saying, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Jesus won the victory over sin, death, and hell for us by bearing our sins on the cross and dying for them. His blood makes propitiation for the sins of the whole world. The Father vindicated Jesus, accepting His sacrifice for our sins when He raised Jesus from the dead. When Jesus gave His disciples the authority to forgive and withhold forgiveness of sins, He gave to His Church what He had won for them on the cross. The evening before Jesus suffered on the cross, He told His disciples, “[The Spirit of Truth] will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14) And here, after Jesus has risen from the dead, He says to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” The Holy Spirit works in the Church by taking what Christ earned on the cross, that is, the forgiveness of sins, and giving it to sinners.
This is called the Office of the Keys, which the children learn is the special authority, which Christ has given to His Church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners and to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. The Office of the Keys exercises its power with words. A man tells a sinner that his sins are forgiven, and they are forgiven. The Church is able to exercise this immense power with words, because Jesus has already done the work to earn our forgiveness. The Church does not earn your forgiveness. The Church does not offer up propitiatory sacrifices to God to appease His wrath. The Church takes what Jesus gives Her, the authority to forgive sins, and she wields this power with words.
When Christ gave His Church the authority to forgive sins, He instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry. He did this so that His Church may call men to preach the Gospel, baptize, administer the Lord’s Supper, and yes, forgive sins. We call these men pastors, which means, shepherds. When a pastor forgives sins, he is not exercising his own authority, but the authority of Christ, which He has given to His Church on earth. St. Paul, who Himself was a pastor, wrote of pastors, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1) The job of a pastor is to manage the mysteries of God, which Christ has given to His Church on earth.
There are some, who claim that pastors cannot forgive sins, because men cannot forgive sins; only God can forgive sins. In fact, there are very few churches you could go to where the pastor will forgive your sins either publicly or privately. Yet, to deny that pastors have the authority to forgive sins is to deny that the Church has the authority to forgive sins. And to deny that the Church has the authority to forgive sins is to deny Jesus’ clear words, which say, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:23) and, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) To deny that the Church has the authority to forgive sins is to deny that Jesus truly won forgiveness of sins for everyone on the cross. When the Church forgives sins, she simply declares what Christ has done. She simply exercises the authority which Christ has given to her. Because Jesus has won our pardon, the Church has the right to declare that pardon to us.
Finally, to deny that the Church has the authority to forgive sins is to deny that the Church is the bride of Christ! A husband gives everything that He owns to His wife, even His own body. Christ did no less for His bride, the Church. And since Christ has won the power to forgive the sins of the world, the Church has this power, because everything her Husband has belongs to her. Furthermore, Christ Jesus, her Bridegroom, explicitly gave His Church the authority to forgive sins.
Without the forgiveness of sins, the Church is not the Church. We confess in the creed, “I believe in the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins.” The Holy Christian Church is the community of saints whose sins are forgiven. The Holy Christian Church is where sins are forgiven. And there is forgiveness of sins no where on earth except in the Christian Church, where the Gospel is proclaimed! If you separate yourself from the Christian Church, then you separate yourself from the forgiveness of sins and from Jesus who won forgiveness for you.
What troubles people more than the claim that the Church can forgive sins is the claim that the Church can withhold forgiveness. Yet, it is essential to believe that the Church has the authority to withhold forgiveness. The Church has the authority to withhold forgiveness, because a sinner can only be forgiven through faith. Jesus gave the Church the authority to forgive sins by speaking words. He did this, so that sinners could receive forgiveness freely, as a gift, through faith. Yet, if a sinner does not have faith, then he cannot be forgiven.
The reason the Church will refuse to forgive sins, is because a person publicly shows that he does not have faith. The goal of the Church is for everyone to believe the Gospel, receive the forgiveness of sins, and be saved. But those who continue in sin without repenting do not have faith. They may think they have faith, because they know some basic facts about the Christian religion. But that is not faith. Faith is trusting in God’s mercy for Jesus’ sake to forgive sins. But if you are not sorry for your sins, then you do not have faith.
For this reason, pastors should not only preach the Gospel that Jesus has won forgiveness for all people, but they should also preach the Law, that sinners deserve to go to hell and that they must repent. And for this reason, pastors should not only forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. They should do this for the sake of their faith, so that they may be saved.
Thomas is criticized, because he doubted Jesus’ resurrection. He wasn’t there when Jesus first appeared to His disciples, and He didn’t believe the disciples’ report. For this reason, Thomas is often called doubting Thomas. So, there are two things you need to know about Thomas and his doubting.
First, by doubting, Thomas did what every other disciple would have done and did do. All the Gospel accounts of the resurrection report that the disciples doubted Jesus’ resurrection when they first heard of it. Thomas did what they all did. Thomas’s nick-name was the Twin. St. John records Thomas speak four times in his Gospel. In each time, Thomas says what the other disciples were thinking, whether he is confessing his faith or doubt.
Second, Thomas’s doubt was a damnable sin. Thomas cannot defend himself that he simply did what all the other disciples did when he doubted Jesus’ resurrection. Thomas deserved to go to hell for his doubt and he would have gone to hell had Jesus not graciously revealed Himself to Thomas and opened the sceptic’s eyes to faith. Thomas doubted the report of Jesus’ apostles that He had risen from the dead. By doubting their report, he doubted Jesus Himself, who had multiple times predicted His own death and resurrection in Thomas’s hearing. And by doubting, he disbelieved the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
Jesus rebuked Thomas for his unbelief, telling him, do not be an unbeliever, but a believer. He then said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed.” Those words are meant for us. We have no less of a certain witness of Jesus’ death and resurrection than Thomas did. We have the writings of the holy Apostles, who witnessed Jesus’ death and resurrection, and recorded it by inspiration of the Holy Spirit Himself. St. John wrote, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) The purpose of Holy Scripture is so that you may believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life from Him, having your sins forgiven. The purpose of the Church is so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, who forgives your sins and grants you eternal life. The Church is built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.
So, we find Jesus in His Church. And we find His Church where the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. And we find the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins only where Holy Scripture is followed. Where the Church is built on Holy Scripture, we have certainty in her words. And these words speak forgiveness and salvation to all who will believe.
The story of Thomas’s doubt is a dire warning to us. Thomas wasn’t the only one who doubted. Don’t take comfort in that. That means that doubt can find you. Doubt damns. We learn from Thomas that we should not doubt, because Holy Scripture gives us certainty in our salvation by giving us certainty in Christ. And where the Church is founded on Scripture, we have certainty that the Church is founded on Christ. The Office of the Keys is the most powerful authority wielded on the entire earth; greater than the authority of Congress to declare war or of the president to launch a nuclear weapon. It is the authority to open the very gates of heaven. And Christ has given this authority to His Church on earth, so that you may not doubt, but firmly believe that your sins are forgiven before God in heaven. Amen.

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Our Faith Is Not in Vain

4/9/2023

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Diogo de Congreiras, Ressureicao, 1540-45. Public Domain.

Easter Sunday
1 Corinthians 15:17
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
April 9, 2023

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

Faith still has a favorable view in the public opinion. Relatively few people will look down upon you if you say that your faith is important or that you live by faith. However, we need to make a distinction between the faith by which you believe and the faith in which you believe. When people talk about their faith they usually mean the former, the faith by which you believe, that is, how you believe. Yet, it is when you talk about the latter, the faith in which you believe, that is, what you believe that will cause you trouble. Most people are happy for you that you trust in something and by that act of trusting, your life is better. Yet, if you believe what they find offensive, then they are no longer pleased with your faith.
And so, almost unconsciously, when people talk about their faith, they rarely talk about what they believe and rather focus on how they believe. There is no controversy in that. And so, it has become popular to be spiritual and not religious. Following a creed is a faux pas, but following your own heart is the most honorable thing you can do. And that’s really what most people mean by, “I have faith” today. They mean that they follow their own heart.
Yet Holy Scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) And our Lord Jesus says that out of the heart come evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19). So, according to Scripture, your heart is the last thing you should follow. And it doesn’t matter how strong your faith is if what you believe in is false.
And this is the first thing that separates the Christian faith from every other faith in the world. St. Paul says, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” St. Paul hinges the entire Christian faith on the historical event of Jesus rising from the dead! If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then you shouldn’t believe in Christ! Christ’s preaching does you no good! You shouldn’t follow Him! Yet, since Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, you should most certainly believe in Him and nothing else.
The Law of Moses gave a standard for determining whether something is true, which has stood up against the ages as the most reliable standard for truth. “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” (Deuteronomy 19:15) Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses should you believe that something is true.
Yet, there were not two or three, but four evangelists who recorded the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They were eyewitnesses of these events and wrote down the testimony of many other eye witnesses of the events, and they did this all within the first century, a mere decades after Jesus rose. And in 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul gives a detailed account of the witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection: Cephas (that is Peter), then the Twelve (that is the eleven who remained of the Twelve), then to over five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom were still alive when Paul wrote this account, then to James the brother of Jesus, then to all the Apostles, which must include Barnabas, then finally the risen Christ appeared to St. Paul. And Paul does not even list the women, who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection, namely Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Plus, the accounts of these men were inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself.
In addition to the biblical records of Jesus’ resurrection, we also have the writings of Jewish historian, Josephus, who lived between 37 AD and 100 AD, who although not a Christian, wrote of Jesus’ crucifixion by Pontius Pilate and how His disciples did not abandon Him after His death, but confessed His resurrection on the third day. Also, there is the early second century Roman historian, Tacitus, who recorded Christ’s crucifixion by Pontius Pilate. Jesus’ crucifixion is a matter of historical record. Yet, no one has been able to disprove Jesus’ resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ is an historically verifiable event. It meets the greatest standard of truth. The high priests could have easily proven that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead by producing his dead body. So could the Roman authorities. Yet, they didn’t. Instead the apostles along with hundreds of other eye witnesses suffered the loss of their goods, freedom, friends, money, and many of them their lives, confessing Jesus’ death and resurrection to the end.
Now, if you lived around the year 30 AD when Jesus rose from the dead and you had a great, strong faith following your heart, and it worked for you, whether you were a Pharisee following the 613 commandments of the Torah, or a Sadducee observing the temple rituals, or a Roman pagan worshipping the cult of the gods, and then you found out that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, would you continue to follow the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees or of the Romans, who put Him to death? No! The fact that Christ is risen from the dead means that your faith must change, that is, what you believe in must change.
And so, it goes for us today. Faith does you no good if it is not in what is true! Even if it makes your heart happy, even if it is where you think you belong, if it is false, you shouldn’t follow it. Jesus’ resurrection changes everything. Jesus rose from the dead! You should forsake everything and follow Him!
Yet, it is not simply that Jesus rose from the dead that you must believe. The chief priests knew that Jesus rose from the dead, but they paid the guards of the tomb money to be quiet. The guards of Jesus’ tomb knew that Jesus rose from the dead, but they accepted money to keep quiet about it. And many people throughout the centuries and still today believe that Jesus rose from the dead, yet they do not trust in Jesus’ resurrection for their salvation, but continue to trust in their own works instead.
What does Jesus’ resurrection mean? It means that your sins are forgiven! Jesus died for the sins of the whole world! Friday night we heard from Isaiah 53, “Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (vss. 4-6)
The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. The wages of sin is death. Jesus, the Godman died. And His death was too much for the grave. He paid too much for the sins, so that when He died, the graves burst open and some of the saints came to life! It is impossible for our sins to be greater than Christ’s death, because Jesus is God.
And that is what Jesus’ resurrection proves. St. Paul writes in Romans chapter 4 that Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” He was raised for our justification, because He paid for our trespasses. The historical fact that Christ Jesus died and rose proves that your sins have been paid for and that God is reconciled to you. This leads us to the second thing that separates the Christian faith from every other faith in the world. According to the Christian faith, you are saved by grace, as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ alone apart from your works.
God reconciled Himself to the world by putting the sin of the whole world on Jesus and having Him die for it. God put the whole world’s debt on Jesus and made Him pay for it. God made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that you, who are a sinner, may be the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5). God has done it all. There is nothing left for you to do to earn your salvation. Christ has won it for you. “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:57) Christ gives us the victory as a gift. We receive this gift through faith.
That is what you should believe based on the historical facts. That is the faith in which you must trust in order to be saved. Yet, now we must ask how should you believe? Before you knew Christ and the power of His resurrection, you followed your own heart. How you followed it diligently and loyally. But now, you can no longer follow your deceitful heart. You know the truth. Christ is risen. So, how should you follow Him? How should you believe in Him?
We should follow Christ wholly. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Jesus is the only way to heaven. Only Jesus has paid for your sins and defeated death and hell for you. Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) There is no certainty of salvation apart from Jesus.
This means that you should not follow your own heart, while claiming that you are following Jesus, as if Jesus lives in your heart apart from the words, He spoke to you. Jesus said, “If you abide in My words, you are My disciples indeed, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31) and again, “If anyone would come after Me, let Him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24). And after Jesus rose from the dead, before He ascended into heaven, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold I am with you always to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
We are saved by grace apart from our works, but that does not mean we can continue in sin. St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) As followers of Christ, we must daily cleanse out the old leaven in us by repenting of our sins and trusting in Christ for forgiveness. Remembering our Baptism, we must die with Christ everyday and rise to live before Him in righteousness each day. If we continue in sin without repenting, then we are rejecting the sacrifice Christ made for us (Hebrews 10:26).
Christ’s resurrection changes everything. It means that our sins are forgiven before God in heaven. It means that we are saved through faith apart from our works. It means that we should believe in Christ Jesus wholly, abiding in His Word and teaching, repenting of our sins, and finding comfort in His promise of forgiveness and salvation in His Gospel and Sacraments. Christ’s resurrection means that our faith in Him is not in vain and we are no longer in our sins.
Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

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Forsaken by God

4/8/2023

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Cristo Crucificado, Francisco de Goya, 1780. Public Domain.

Good Friday 2023
Matthew 27:46
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
April 7, 2023

King David writes in Psalm 37, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” This statement is only comforting if you are righteous. Well, are you righteous? Have you followed God from your very heart? Have you feared, loved, and trusted in Him, forsaking all sinful pleasures for Him? Your conscience tells you no. So does Holy Scripture. “None is righteous, no not one,” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1; Romans 3:10) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) So, your own righteousness can give you no comfort that God will not forsake you, abandon you, close His ears to your prayers and cast you into hell.
Yet, here we see and hear a strange thing. Jesus on the cross cries out in dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Indeed, why? Jesus is righteous! He is the only righteous man ever to live. He has done no wrong. Even the pagan Pilate and his wife can see that! The chief priests know it too, otherwise they wouldn’t have had to gather false witnesses to condemn him. Guilty men don’t need false witnesses. Yet, not only men have declared Jesus’ innocence, but God Himself. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” declared God the Father both at Jesus’ Baptism and at His transfiguration (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). David tells us that the righteous are not forsaken, yet this righteous man is forsaken by God!
Our beautiful Savior is so marred beyond human semblance that there is no beauty found in Him (Isaiah 52:14; 53:2). He whom Scripture calls the most handsome of the sons of men (Psalm 45:2) here calls Himself a worm and not a man (Psalm 22:6). We see God’s righteous servant forsaken by God. He who alone is righteous cries to His Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”
Of course, we know these words Jesus cries to God are the first verse of Psalm 22, by which David predicted the passion of our Lord. The bystanders should recognize this, but in their ignorance, they mock Him, even as they circle around Him with his pierced hands and feet, gloating over His bones and divide His clothing. They think He is crying out to Elijah, because “My God” in Hebrew sounds like the name Elijah, so they mock him. And Christ and His passion endure similar mockery today. The darkness of that night still veils the eyes of scoffers today, who do not understand what Jesus has done for them.
God forsaking Jesus is incomprehensible to us. He’s righteous. The righteous are not forsaken! Jesus is God. How can God forsake God? Yet, God the Father forsakes His beloved Son in human flesh. What is the cause of this strange and impossible sight? Love. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). St. Peter writes, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the Righteous One in exchange for the unrighteous ones, so that He might bring you to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)
Paul Gerhardt responds to this spectacle in his hymn, A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth, “O wondrous Love, what have you done! The Father offers up His Son, desiring our salvation. O Love, how strong You are to save! You lay the One into the grave Who built the earth’s foundation.”
The Righteous One died for sinners. The Shepherd died for sheep who love to wonder. God forsook God. All this, so that God could save sinners. Jesus, God’s own Son in human flesh, suffered for our sins. The physical pain he suffered was only part of His passion. Upon His soul was laid the guilt of all people. Isaiah prophesied of Him, “Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—ever one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)
We shudder in horror to think what could cause the Son of God to be forsaken by God! What torment was going through His soul? It was the torment brought on by the guilt of our sins. We have put Him to grief with our sins. Our sins have wounded Him. Our sins have done this. Jesus never abandoned His God. Have you abandoned Him? Jesus never forsook God’s Word. Have you forsaken God’s teaching?
The sinner cries, “Do not forsake me, O my God!” (Psalm 38:21) The sinner cries this, because he knows he deserves to be forsaken by God. Yet, God does not forsake the sinner. David wrote Psalm 22, but he did not write it for himself. David’s hands and feet were not pierced. David’s bones were not out of joint as he hanged to the cross. No, these are Jesus’ words. They were written for Jesus. Only Jesus can say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” Because only Jesus was forsaken by God.
Why was Jesus forsaken? Why did God forsake His Son? So that He would not have to forsake you. Your sins are the cause of God’s wrath. God placed your sins on Jesus. He placed His wrath on Jesus. He forsook Jesus, so that He would not forsake you! Jesus was wounded, so that you could be healed. He thirsted, so that He could give you living water to drink. He became a sinner, so that you might be righteous. He died, so that you might live.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Yet, when Jesus, the Godman died, the wages for all sins were paid in full. In fact, the wages of sin were so overpaid that when Jesus died death was thrown into confusion and the dead raised from the tombs. Jesus’ death was too much for the graves! So, the graves rejected the dead!
Jesus’ death is too much for your sins. His suffering is more than enough punishment for your guilt. St. Paul writes, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Grace abounds over sin, because Christ, the Godman died for all sins. The prophet Micah says, “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19) This of course is figurative language. God will not literally cast our sins into the depths of the sea. Rather, He drowns our sins in the blood of Christ. That is much better, because the sea has a bottom. But Christ Jesus is God. So, His holy blood has infinite depth to hide our sins forever.
The scoffers mocked Jesus for saying these words. And scoffers today continue to mock us for finding comfort in them. Yet, these scoffers are in darkness. They offer no solution to our guilt. They cannot take away our sins. Yet, when your conscience bites, when you are ashamed of your sins, when you are afraid that God might forsake you, listen to the words Jesus cried in your stead, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And take comfort. Jesus said them, so that you would not. Jesus has paid for your sins. To doubt that God forgives you is to blaspheme Christ and say that His death is not enough to pay for your sins. But the fact that Christ was raised from the dead on the third day shows that Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins was accepted by God. The fact that Christ is no longer forsaken by God proves that everyone who holds to Jesus in faith will never be forsaken. Amen.

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The Lord's Supper

4/8/2023

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Last Supper, Peter Paul Rubens, 1631-2. Public Domain.

Maundy Thursday
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
April 6, 2023

Have you ever received unclear directions? Would you feel confident that you would find your destination on time if you weren’t sure what the nice stranger meant by, “Go down the road a ways and take a turn at the second or third stop and drive a bit farther until you see a big oak or fir tree and then turn again and drive a ways until you think you’ve driven too far and then drive a bit farther before doing a U-turn.”? You’d probably look for directions from someone else. And clarity is important for faith. How can we believe if we are unsure what is being offered? So, it is important for us to know that the Words of Institution are clear words. The New Testament provides four accounts of Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper, and while they do differ slightly, all four of them clearly state that what you are given in the Lord’s Supper is Christ’s body and blood. He never says that the bread and wine represent His body and blood or are a symbol of His body and blood. In every account, Scripture records Jesus say, “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” You may say that you do not believe these words, but you cannot claim that they are unclear. Jesus intends for us to believe that He is giving us His very body and blood.
Now, it is certainly clear that Jesus is telling us that the bread and the wine He feeds us are His body and blood, but why should we believe that? Our eyes, nose, and tongue tell us that it is only bread and wine. Well, because it is not just anyone telling us this is his body and blood. It is Jesus Christ, true God and man who tells us this is His body and blood. The Apostle Paul writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.” The Lord Jesus Himself told Paul what the words of institution are and when He first said them, on the night in which He was betrayed. Jesus is God. He proved Himself to be God when after being crucified and killed and laid in a tomb, He rose again from the dead three days later. Jesus teaches us that nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:36). If Jesus is able to be both God and man, then He certainly can give His body and blood to us to eat and drink. It is a miracle, yet we expect miracles from Jesus.
So, to deny that the Lord’s Supper is Jesus’ true body and blood means to reject what Jesus, the Godman clearly says. Yet, it is not sufficient to know what the Lord’s Supper is. We must also know what benefit it gives us who eat it.
The chief benefit of eating the body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament is the forgiveness of sins. Jesus clearly says that the body He gives us to eat is “for you.” What does He mean by “for you”? He means that this is His body, which was given into death on the cross for you (Luke 22:19). Jesus lay down His body in death to pay for our sins. St. Luke records that Jesus’ blood is “poured out for you.” Saints Matthew and Mark record Jesus saying, “poured out for many,” and Matthew adds, “for the forgiveness of sins.” This body and blood, which is fed to Christians by Jesus Himself is the same body and blood, which were nailed and shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, Christians eat this body and blood in the Sacrament primarily to receive the forgiveness of sins Christ won for us on the cross. This means that the Sacrament of the Altar is a medicine of immortality, which promises life and salvation to all who believe it.
The Words of Institution are also Jesus’ last will and testament, which gives us certainty that Christ is with us, personally and bodily. Therefore, the Sacrament increases our faith in Christ. Also, Jesus’ body and blood cannot be divided. Each communicant receives the same body and blood of Christ. This means that the Communion in the Sacrament is not just between you and God, but between you and every other communicant. This is why we pray after communing that God would by this Sacrament increase our faith toward Him and our fervent love toward one another. This Sacrament promises to increase our faith toward God and our love toward one another.
So, on this holy night in which our Lord Jesus was betrayed, we remember that in Christ’s last will and testament He gave us the medicine of immortality, which forgives our sins, strengthens our faith, increases our love for one another, and unites us to Christ even as we live here on earth. Therefore, we should highly prize this Sacrament and receive it often for our eternal benefit.
Yet, St. Paul adds a warning to this medicine of immortality. As with other medicines that can harm a person instead of heal him if it is taken improperly, so also can the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood be taken improperly to the communicant’s harm. St. Paul adds, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
So, with this solemn warning, we ask ourselves, “How does one examine himself?” Examination involves you asking three things of yourself.
First, do you believe that the Lord’s Supper is the true body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Most people who reject the ancient teaching of closed Communion also reject the teaching that the Sacrament of the Altar is Jesus’ true body and blood. Yet, St. Paul does not say that if a person eats or drinks unworthily that He is guilty concerning the bread and wine, but rather, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” Denying that the Sacrament is Jesus’ body and blood does not save you from guilt any more than denying the potency of medicine will save you from misusing it. The Lord’s Supper is Jesus’ true body and blood whether you believe it or not, because Jesus says it is. Yet, only through faith do you receive the benefits of Christ’s body and blood. If you do not recognize that you are eating the body and blood of Christ, then you are eating and drinking judgment on yourself. St. Paul tells us to discern the body. For this reason, no one who doubts that the Sacrament is Jesus’ true body and blood should take the Sacrament.
Second, do you repent of all your sins and desire to receive this Sacrament for the forgiveness of your sins? Jesus gives us His body and blood, which were given and shed on the cross, for the primary purpose of forgiving our sins. This means that if you do not desire forgiveness or if you refuse to repent of your sins, then you would receive Christ’s body and blood to your own judgment. Again, only faith receives the benefits of the Sacrament. But if you refuse to repent of your sins, then you do not truly desire forgiveness. And if you do not desire forgiveness, then you are not prepared to receive the Sacrament.
Notice that a particular sin doesn’t make you unworthy of receiving the Sacrament, but rather impenitence does. If a murderer or an adulterer repented and desired to receive the Sacrament for the forgiveness of sins, he could receive it for his eternal salvation. Yet, if a person continues in his sin without repenting or doubts that the forgiveness of sins is given in the Sacrament, then that person will not receive forgiveness, but judgment. So, if you recognize your sins, you should not avoid the sacrament, but flee to it for comfort and forgiveness, but if you cling to your sins, then you should not receive it until you repent.
Finally, do you confess what is taught at the church where you are communing? St. Paul teaches us, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” This means that when you commune at a church, you are confessing what that church proclaims about Christ. Obviously, you should not commune at a church, which denies that the Lord’s body and blood are present in the Supper. Then you would be making a contrary confession about the Supper than what Christ makes. Yet, that is not the only false teaching you should be aware of. There are churches, which deny that the Scriptures are the true Word of God, which claim that babies should not be baptized or that you need to do good works to be saved. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) calls itself Lutheran, yet they publicly deny that Jesus is the way, truth, and life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. So, you should also not commune at a church, even if it claims to be Lutheran, if it teaches such false doctrine. All false teaching comes from Satan. So, you should not confess any false doctrine by communing at a church, which teaches false doctrine. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”
This does not mean that everyone who worships at a non-Lutheran church is an unbeliever or worships demons, but rather that it is wrong to confess false doctrine. And when you commune at an orthodox church and then at an unorthodox church, you are making contradictory statements in God’s name, which is breaking the Second Commandment.
Every Christian who desires to receive Communion is obligated to examine himself every time before communing on the penalty of eating and drinking to his own judgment. Pastors are also required to withhold the Sacrament from those who are knowingly unprepared to receive the sacrament. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards       of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” And our Lutheran Confessions quotes fourth century Church father, John Chrysostom, “the priest stands daily at the altar, inviting some to the Communion and keeping back others.” (AC XXIV) Therefore, pastors should not give Christ’s body and blood to those who publicly deny the real presence, are living in open sin, or commune at heterodox church bodies.
St Paul gives these warnings against unworthily receiving Christ’s body and blood, so that we will examine ourselves and receive the Sacrament in faith. The point is not for people to avoid the Sacrament all together or for people to be banned forever! Rather, the point is for you to receive the Sacrament to your full benefit, so that you are certain that God forgives your sins for Christ’s sake, that Jesus is with you even now, so that your faith in Christ will increase and your love toward your fellow Christians would be warmed. On the night when He was betrayed, Jesus replaced the Passover feast of the Old Testament with a meal of the true Passover Lamb, so that we might always be in Communion with Christ. Amen.

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Humble Like Christ

4/3/2023

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Albrecht Dürer, Christ as the Man of Sorrows, Circa 1493. Public Domain.

Palm Sunday
Philippians 2:5-11
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
April 2, 2023

What does it mean that Christ Jesus was in the form of God and did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped? It means that before Christ Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, He was already equal with God and possessed the majesty of God. Before He was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and made a man, Jesus was God. Jesus did not become God after He was crucified and risen. He did not receive His divinity at His Baptism or at His transfiguration. Christ Jesus is God from eternity. On the night on which He was betrayed, Jesus prayed to His Father, “And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.” (John 17:5)
This Jesus, who was in the form of God from eternity, who is God from eternity, who did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, because He had been and always will be equal to God, this Jesus emptied Himself and took on the form of a slave, becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross. This is called the Humiliation of Christ. In the Humiliation of Christ, Jesus hides His divine glory. He does not cease to be God. Even as he grows in His mother’s womb and when He is born a weak infant and laid in a manger, He remains God. He is God as He hungers and thirsts, as He is scourged and spit upon, as He wears the crown of thorns, as He is nailed to the cross and dies. While Christ’s humiliation corresponds in time with His incarnation, Jesus did not need to humiliate Himself to become a man. Jesus today is still a man in His exalted state, sitting at the right hand of the Father with His enemies under His feet. Jesus can be a human being without being humiliated. But He chose not only to be a human being, but to become a servant for our sake.
Jesus Christ did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for all people (Matthew 20:28). Although He had the right to demand the praise of all men and angels and to order them to serve Him, He put aside His kingly rights, so that He could reign from the cross. Words cannot express this humiliation. Christ was infinitely exalted, equal with God the Father and Holy Spirit in glory and majesty from before the foundation of the world, and He lowered Himself down to a slave. Although He Himself is the author of the Law, who gave the Law to Moses, He was born of a woman, under the Law (Galatians 4:4-5). He did this to redeem us who were under the Law. Jesus in human flesh was obedient to God. He loved Him wholly and perfectly. He not only understood the Law better than the Scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests, but He lived it perfectly. Jesus was the only man ever to live to earn His way to heaven. Yet, He did not take His prize. Instead, He took upon Himself the guilt of all people and died worse than a slave’s death. He was obedient to God’s wrath against our sins, even to death on the cross, being crucified between two criminals.
This is the Humiliation of Christ. He was infinitely high, and He brought Himself infinitely low for our sake, to pay for our offense. He is literally God in the flesh, yet He did not boast or exalt Himself above others. Why then is it so difficult for us to humble ourselves before others?
St. Paul says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” Jesus is God, yet He humbled Himself to the point beyond human semblance (Isaiah 52:14). That is the mind of Christ we should imitate. St. Paul wrote immediately before this epistle lesson, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit (that is from selfishness or vainglory), but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3) It’s a healthy thing to remind yourself that you are not God. If God could humble Himself for the sake of mankind, you certainly can humble yourself.
But this disease of sin makes us foolish and prideful. We want to think we’re the smartest in the room, or the most sensible, or the best looking, or the most righteous, or the hardest worker. We laugh at the disciples for arguing which one of them was the greatest, yet we don’t argue because we think it is a forgone conclusion! By exhorting us to be humble, St. Paul simply continues the work our Lord Jesus did. This Thursday we’ll hear Jesus tell His disciples, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14) Another time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:27-28)
Brother puts down sister, sister puts down brother. We think our way is best. Yet, our pride is a delusion. Like Yertle the Turtle, it will only make us king of the mud. Everything we have has been given to us from above, so don’t act as if you have made yourself great! (1 Corinthians 4:7) And if God has made you great, then you should use your greatness to serve others.
A common theme throughout Scripture, which Jesus repeats several times is, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) This is a lesson we must continue to learn our entire lives. When we stop learning this lesson, we lose our salvation.
It is important for us to humble ourselves, because being humble is honest. We are sinners. We should not claim to be better than others. Also, being humble guards us from wicked sins caused by pride. How often have Christians refused correction by a faithful pastor or other fellow Christians because of their pride? Yet, none of us is above correction.
By being humble we also follow the path of Christ, which is the only path to salvation. Jesus humbled Himself by submitting to the Law, we were under and by bearing the guilt for our sins. So, we should repent of our sins for which Jesus died and follow Him to receive His grace. By being humble, we receive our salvation by grace, as a gift.
The Humiliation of Christ is when Jesus hides His divine glory and power. This took place when He became a servant, suffered, and died for our sins. As Jesus was humiliated, so also was He exalted. The Exaltation of Christ is when He exercises His full divine glory and power. This happened when He finished His suffering on the cross, proclaimed His victory in hell, rose from the dead, and is now ascended to the right hand of God the Father.
When we follow Jesus in His humiliation, we then also follow Him in His exaltation. St. Paul quotes Psalm 68 in his letter to the Ephesians, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives.” We were those captives. Jesus does not ascend alone. He ascended leading us in His train, who humbled ourselves with Him.
God has highly exalted Christ and given Him the name which is above every name. That means that Jesus is God. We know no God but Jesus. Therefore, at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Every knee shall bow. Every knee. Those in heaven, those on earth, and those in hell. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. Every tongue in heaven, on earth, and in hell. Yet, not all will confess willingly. They will not all confess with joy. Many will confess with gnashing teeth, cursing under their breath that they rejected Christ and tried to exalt themselves above God in this life.
Yet, those who have humbled themselves in this life, who have confessed their sins to God and have repented of them, and who have accepted God’s grace as a free gift, they will bow willingly. They will confess joyfully. And they will be lifted up to live with Christ in His heavenly Kingdom.
On Palm Sunday, we sing hymns of praises to our King Jesus, remembering how He road into Jerusalem triumphantly on a donkey, with the praise of the people and children with palm branches waving. Yet, He is a strange champion. He carries no weapon. He conquers no physical enemy. He refuses to protect Himself. He lays down His life and dies. Yet, He is our champion. He is our God, who paid for our sins by His suffering and death, putting to shame Satan and hell and opening the gates of Heaven for us.
And so, we learn to humble ourselves before God. Because, as God the Father exalted Christ when He humbled Himself, so God will also exalt us for Christ’s sake when we humble ourselves before Him. And we learn to follow Jesus’ example and humble ourselves before men. What do you have to prove? What do you have to lose by being humble before others? Nothing. If you lose anything by it, God will restore you a hundredfold in the life to come. Yet, by exalting yourself, you lose everything.
This Holy Week, we will watch our Lord Jesus descend into the mire of sin, shame, guilt, death, and condemnation. Yet, He descends into this muck to retrieve us out of it and bring us to heaven. If we try to meet Christ in heaven, we will be cast down. But if we humble ourselves before Him, He will bend down to bring us up.
Just as Jesus did not cease to be God when He humbled Himself for our sake, so also He did not stopped being a man when He was exalted. He continues to intercede for us before the Father’s Throne as the representative of the human race (Romans 8:34). Our human nature has been exalted to the Father’s right hand in heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have no fear of being left behind if we trust in Jesus. We cannot ascend to Him. But He most certainly will take us to where He is, if we humble ourselves in faith. Amen.

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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

The Greatest Power on Earth

Our Faith Is Not in Vain

Forsaken by God

The Lord's Supper

Humble Like Christ

Rev. James Preus

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