TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

Jesus Is the Bread of Life from Heaven

3/24/2023

Laetare Sunday (Lent 4)
John 6:1-15
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
March 19, 2023

Jesus asks His disciple Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He asked this to test him. The goal of testing is to strengthen one’s faith. God does not tempt us into sin. God tests us, so that our faith will be stronger.

So, how is Jesus testing Philip, so that his faith will be stronger? And does Philip pass the test? There is a crowd of five thousand men. St. Matthew tells us that this did not include the women and children (Matthew 14:21). This means that this crowd could have been as large as twenty thousand people! Jesus asks Philip where they will buy bread, so that this humungous crowd could eat. Philip answers as anyone could expect, “Two hundred [days’ wages] would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” Yet, with these words, Philip failed the test.

Jesus is God. The Jews are already angry at Jesus for calling Himself the Son of God. Philip should have answered with the Psalmist, “The eyes of all look to You [O Lord], and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:15-16) And indeed, this is exactly what Jesus does. As the eyes of all look to the LORD, so Jesus’ eyes look at the needy and He cares for them. With just five loaves of bread and a couple fish, Jesus distributed the bread and fish to the crowd, as much as they wanted, so that they ate their fill. Jesus proved Himself to be God, who not only created the universe, but continues to preserve it. As God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness with mana from heaven, so Jesus feeds the children of Israel in Galilee.

Yet, Philip isn’t the only one who failed this test. All the disciples failed this test! The evangelists Matthew and Mark record how after Jesus fed the five thousand and then the four thousand, His disciples still squabbled over not having enough bread! (Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:16) And in fact, the great multitude, which ate their fill of the loaves and fish failed the test as well. They wanted to seize Jesus and make Him their king, so that He would continue to feed them bread and fish.

The crowd caught up to Jesus the next day and Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:26-27) Here Jesus teaches them and us that He has something much more important to give us, a Bread that isn’t eaten and expelled, but which grants eternal salvation. This Bread He is speaking of is Himself. Jesus says later, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

After Jesus had fed the multitude with bread and fish, so that they were not hungry for a day, they decided to seize Jesus and force Him to be their king. Jesus would not permit them to force Him to be a bread king, so He withdrew to the mountain by Himself. Yet, later the Jews would seize Jesus, and force Him to wear a purple robe and a crown of thorns, and they would lift Him up on a cross with an inscription, “King of the Jews,” where they would mock Him until He died. And Jesus let them do it! Jesus refused to be made a bread king here on earth to satisfy our carnal desires, so that He could reign from the cross and earn for us that Bread, which does not pass away.

Jesus again said to the crowd, “I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that comes down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

God took on our human flesh, so that He could fulfill God’s Law in our stead and suffer and die on the cross for our sins. We die because of our sins. Our sins merit us eternal damnation. Yet, Jesus died to take them away. That is why He is the Bread of Life, which grants eternal life to all who believe in Him. Jesus still gives us ordinary bread. But that isn’t really what’s important. All who eat ordinary bread will die. Jesus is the Bread from heaven, which gives eternal life to all who consume it. And we consume this Bread through faith.

All who fail the test keep missing the point that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Those who fail the test can’t get over the loaves of bread Jesus fed them in the wilderness. These loaves of bread represent everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, as when we pray for our daily bread. We’re distracted by our need for daily bread so much that we neglect our need for the Bread of Life!

Indeed, we need daily bread. We pray to God for daily bread. Jesus tells us to pray to God for daily bread. And God gladly gives us daily bread. Yet, we should not crave daily bread so much that we neglect the only Bread, which grants eternal life: Christ Jesus, who suffered and died for our sins!

Day after day, we strive and worry. Some are sick. Some are old. Some are in financial trouble. Some need a new job. Some are struggling in school. Others need to fix their house or car. And we think that if we just get this taken care of, then we’ll have peace. If I can just pay off this bill, if I can just get over this sickness, if I can just finish this project, if I can just get the kids through school. That is how we think, but our struggles never end. We get over one hump, and then must climb another, like a hamster running on its wheel, exhausting itself without ever getting anywhere. You’re never going to get caught up on this earth. There is always going to be something that you’re going to care about once you take care of the thing you’re currently caring for. This is why Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the rest will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) Don’t worry about tomorrow.

So, the question really isn’t whether Philip or the other apostles passed the test or even if the multitude passed the test. The question is whether you have passed the test. Are you hungry for the Bread of Life, which Jesus alone can give you, which grants eternal life to all who consume Him? Or have you hungered and labored rather for that bread which perishes? Has your pursuit of earthly bread prevented you from receiving the heavenly Bread? Have you been more concerned about giving your children financial advice or pushing them toward a more lucrative career than you have been to bring them to church to eat the Bread of Life from heaven, which alone can grant them eternal life? We know when we’re hungry for food. It captivates our whole mind. We know when we want or need something for our body, but are we aware of our need for our soul? If you could look in the mirror and instead of seeing your body, well-fed and healthy, you saw your soul, what would you see? If you have been neglecting Christ’s Word, then you would see a starved person, emaciated, malnourished, desperate for food. Yet, the food you need is not for the belly, but for your soul!

Jesus again said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him… This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-56, 58). The language Jesus uses here sounds like the Lord’s Supper, which is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink. However, Jesus is not speaking here strictly of the Lord’s Supper, but of faith. To eat Jesus’ flesh and to drink His blood means to have faith in Jesus’ crucifixion for your sins, where He delivered up His body to death and shed His blood for us.

Yet, this spiritual eating of faith is necessary in order to properly receive the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is Christ’s body and blood, whether you believe it or not. Jesus’ words make it so. However, if you do not believe, then you eat the body and drink the blood to your own judgment, as St. Paul warns “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 of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). This is why the Lutheran Church along with the historical Christian Church practices closed Communion. We do not give the Lord’s Supper to people before they have been examined and absolved, nor do we give it to those who are living in open sin without repenting, or those who commune at altars, which teach false doctrine. Otherwise, those who would come up to eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord would do so to their own judgment and harm, and not for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith. It is out of love that we withhold the Sacrament of the Altar until people have been properly examined, just as a pharmacist does not give prescription drugs to a person without a prescription, lest he take it to his own harm.

Yet, Jesus did not institute the Sacrament of the Altar for people to stay away from it! Neither did He suffer and die on the cross for you to ignore the preaching of His crucifixion, which is the very feeding of the Bread of Life from Heaven! And the fact that Jesus bids us to come and eat and drink in faith, means that we need it! Jesus is our great physician. He knows that we are sick. He knows that we are starving. We can’t say to Him, “Oh, don’t worry, Jesus. I’m doing fine. I’m just busy. I’ll get around to you soon.” No. You aren’t fine. You’re starving! You need the Bread of Life, which alone gives eternal life. You need Jesus! You need to repent of your sins and believe in Christ Jesus, who died for your sins!

The disciples at first failed the test. Yet, later when everyone left Jesus because of His hard teaching, the twelve disciples refused to leave. St. Peter explained, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69) So, if you have failed the test, and have valued food which perishes over the Food which endures to eternal life, repent, but do not despair. Jesus still desires to feed you, so that you will live forever. Come, and feast on the Bread of Life. Amen.

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Wrestling God and Prevailing

3/8/2023

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Eugène_Delacroix, Jakob ringt mit dem Engel Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. Public Domain.

Reminiscere Sunday (Lent 2)
Genesis 32:22-32 (Matthew 15:21-28)
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church

The story of Jacob wrestling God and the Canaanite woman pleading with Jesus are parallel stories. They seem disturbing to us, because it’s hard to understand why God can be so mean! Yet, if you are a Christian, you are likely familiar with this side of God. God wrestles with His children. To the untrained eye, it seems cruel. But it is absolutely necessary. And if you are to get through this life with your faith intact, you need to learn how to wrestle with God!
You know the story of Jacob, how he cheated his older brother Esau out of his blessing, and how Esau vowed to kill him, so Jacob had to flee to his uncle Laban’s house. And God richly blessed Jacob. Jacob married Laban’s two daughters and God granted him (at this point) eleven sons by them. He gave Jacob flocks and herds and servants. Jacob left with nothing and he was returning a rich man! Even more, God sent angels to greet Jacob on his journey, reminding Jacob of the promise God gave to him at Bethel, when he promised to make his offspring like the dust of the earth and to grant them the land of Canaan as a possession, and to bless all families of the earth through his offspring, and how God said, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.” (Genesis 28:15) Indeed, Jacob had good reason to be confident in the Lord!
Yet, as quickly as dark clouds can block out a bright sunny day, so Jacob’s situation seemed to change. Messengers returned to Jacob and told him that his brother Esau was coming with four hundred men. Jacob was certain that Esau intended to kill him, his wives and his children, and plunder all his possessions. So, Jacob divided his family and possessions, in hopes that if one camp were attacked, the other would survive, and he sent convoys of livestock ahead of him as gifts to Esau in an attempt to appease his wrath. And Jacob bowed down to pray to God, appealing to His mercy and promise.
Yet, God answered Jacob’s prayer by appearing to him as a man and wrestling him throughout the night. It seems that God is being cruel to Jacob. Yet, remarkably, Jacob continues to wrestle. It’s a match that can’t be won! How can a man defeat God in a wrestling match! Yet, Jacob holds on, even more, he appears to be winning! So, God knocks Jacob’s hip out of joint! Yet, Jacob continues to hold on. So, God tells Jacob to let go. Jacob is certain that this man is sent by God, so he says, “I will not let go until you bless me.” So, God blesses him. He changes his name from Jacob to Israel, saying, “You have striven with God and with man, and have prevailed.”
There has been much arguing over the meaning of the name of Israel over the millennia. In the name Israel, you can find the Hebrew words for to see and God, so some say it means seeing God. However, you can also find the word for contend or persevere, so Israel might mean God will contend. Either way, it is clear that Jacob did see God face to face, and he did contend with him, and he did prevail. Although weeping tarried through the night, joy met him in the morning (Psalm 30:5). God blessed Jacob.
Moreover, when Esau met Jacob, he embraced him and kissed him. He had forgotten his anger and forgiven Jacob, a reminder to us that we should not fear to talk to those we are at odds with, but seek to be reconciled.
Yet, how did Jacob win against God? He clung to God’s word and promise. God promised Jacob that He would give him and his descendants the land, that He would make his descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth, that He would bless all nations through his offspring, and that He would not leave him until He had accomplished what He had promised him. This is what Jacob reminded God in his prayer that night. And this is the reason he held on and strove through the sweat and the dust and the blood, even through dislocated limb.
So, Jacob teaches us how to pray, persevere, and wrestle with God by clinging to God’s Word and not letting go. Next, the Canaanite woman does the same thing. She cries to Jesus for help, because her daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. Yet, Jesus ignores her, because she is a Canaanite woman. She is not a descendant of Israel. Jesus has only come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Furthermore, he calls her a dog, saying it would not be right to take the children’s bread, that is the blessings of the Israelites, and give it to the dogs, that is, this Canaanite woman.
But there the faithful lady finds her Word and she clings to it for dear life, just as Jacob held fast to God. She exclaims, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” And with these words, she proves herself to be a true daughter of Israel. For Israel was given that name, because of his faith. By faith he strove with God and won, clinging to His promise. And so, this woman is given a seat at the table of Israel. She is a true daughter through faith.
She could have been offended at the words Jesus spoke to her. When Jesus implied that she was a dog, she could have said, “Okay, fine, I’ll find another savior.” But rather, she humbled herself and clung to Jesus’ Word. And she found her salvation in Him. “You call me a dog? Then I’m a dog. Yet, even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
And so, it is with us. We confess at church that we are poor miserable sinners, who deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment. We do this, because holy Scripture clearly teaches that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Hearing this, we could get offended and say, “If that’s the way it is, I’ll find another god to worship who will be more polite to me.” But rather, we confess our sins and acknowledge that God is right. We are poor miserable sinners. But we have a word from Scripture. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners! (1 Timothy 1:15) So, we gladly confess that we are sinners, so that we may receive salvation as a gift.
And this is how you go through the trials in your life, when you don’t know what tomorrow brings, when you are anxious about the needs of your body or your family, when your conscience is stricken, when it seems that God is absent or when it seems that God is pressing you hard so that you cannot breathe, you have a word from God.
Are you anxious about food, clothing, health, or other things of the body? Jesus says, “Do not be anxious, your heavenly Father knows that you need these things.” (Matthew 6:32) God promises to care for you. “Ask, and it will be given to you,” he says. (Matthew 7:7)
Are you afraid of your sins? Of death? Of hell? Christ Jesus has granted you many words to comfort you. He has given you Baptism, to which he gives the promise of the forgiveness of sins, salvation, and the Holy Spirit. He promises you that when His minister declares that your sins are forgiven, it is as valid and certain even in heaven as if He spoke the words Himself. (Matthew 18:18; John 20:23) Christ has given you His body and blood with a pledge of forgiveness and Communion with Him to all who believe. When you are going through hell here on earth, Christ gives you words of promise to cling to, so that you can get out of hell.
Jacob’s hip was put out of joint when he wrestled with God, foreshadowing that his offspring Jesus Christ would have all his limbs pulled out of joint on the cross (Psalm 22:14), so that all families of the earth may be blessed through Him. And it is in Jesus that we see the most important wrestling match with God. Jesus is Himself true God, the only begotten Son of the Father from eternity. Yet, He became a man. And in human flesh, He wrestled with God. In the garden, as His soul was in anguish to the point of death and great drops of blood dropped from His pours like sweat, He prayed to His heavenly Father that this cup of woe and judgment be taken away from Him. Yet, He prayed not His will, but His Father’s will be done. Jesus wrestled with His Father. And although He did exactly what His Father directed Him to do, He did not lose His wrestling match. He won, because He clung to His Father’s will and promise, and so the Father raised Him from the dead. By winning His wrestling match, Jesus won for us eternal life by paying for our sins on the cross.
So, in Jesus’ wrestling match, we learn also to pray, “Thy will be done.” We don’t know exactly what God has planned for us in this life. But we do know that He willed for His Son to suffer and die for us, so that we could inherit eternal life as a gift. If God so loved us to offer His Son for our salvation, how much more will He graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) How much more should we believe that all things will work out together for good for those of us who love God and trust in His plan. (Romans 8:28)
We are not abused children when we trust in our Savior in this way. Rather, we are well trained and well reared children. Our natural sinful inclination is to flee from God and to seek our own pleasure. The world eggs us on in this desire. And the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour, that is, whose faith he will destroy. If God were to leave us to our own devises, we would be destroyed. He would be a negligent father. Yet, Scripture tells us, “The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” (Hebrews 12:6)
So, God wrestles with us to make us stronger in the faith, to make us let go of our fears and cast our anxieties on Him who cares, to bring us to true repentance of our sins and to make us confident in His Salvation and love for us.
In Jacob, the Canaanite woman, and Jesus we see that God wrestles with those whom He loves and intends to bless. So, when trials meet you, do not despair. Do not flee from God’s Word and preaching or neglect your prayers. Look to God’s promises to you in Christ Jesus. Cling to these promises. Receive them in faith. And pray fervently according to the promises which God gives you through Christ. And God will most certainly bless you. Amen.

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Jesus Is the Son of God

3/4/2023

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Temptation of Christ, St. Mark's Basilica, Venice. 12c. Public Domain.

Invocavit Sunday (Lent 1)
Matthew 4:1-11
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
February 26, 2023

When God commanded Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, He sent him to Pharoah saying, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.”’” (Exodus 4:22-23) And after ten destructive plagues upon Egypt, Israel did escape from Egypt, passing through the Red Sea, which St. Paul called being “baptized into Moses” (1 Corinthians 10:2). Israel, God’s son, then wandered in the wilderness for forty years. However, Israel did not live up to the title of God’s son. He was unfaithful. He did not live on God’s Word alone, but grumbled for food, saying it would have been better to be slaves in Egypt with food than to die in the wilderness. In other words, Israel would rather eat bread than be God’s son. Israel tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not” (Exodus 17:7), when they thirsted for water. And Israel did not worship the LORD God or serve Him only, but they ran after the Baal’s of the nations around them, even worshiping a golden calf! God was displeased with Israel and scattered him in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:5).

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God the Father, His only Son from eternity. He too was called out of Egypt after His family fled the murderous Herod (Matthew 2:15). Jesus too was baptized in water, at which time God the Father declared from heaven, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) And Jesus too was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tempted by Satan for forty days. Israel, God’s firstborn son failed to prove himself a son. Instead, he was only a type of the Son who was to come, Jesus Christ.

When Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days, Satan tempted Him in a similar manner to how he tempted Israel. He tried to get Jesus to care for the needs of His body instead of the care for His soul. Yet, Jesus answered Satan, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) This shows Jesus’ perfect faith. Faith comes by hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). For a son to be faithful, he must listen and pay attention to the word of his father. Jesus is perfectly faithful. He knows that it is by the Word of the LORD that we eat all our food, are clothed, and rest our heads. God sent Him into the wilderness to fast. Jesus does not need to prove that He is God’s Son. He trusts that God will feed Him at the proper time. This is a great lesson for us. How often do we ignore God’s Word, putting it aside to deal with the “more important” things of this life. But no. We’re wrong. Your job, food, clothing, spouse, children, everything you have is given to you by God. He answers your prayers. To forsake His Word in order to pursue these things is to deny that God gives us the things we need. That is an act of unbelief.

Next, Satan tries to prove to Jesus that he too knows God’s Word. He uses Psalm 91, which promises the aid of angels to God’s children, to get Jesus to test God by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple. Yet, that passage is not meant to get God’s children to live recklessly, but rather to trust that God will protect them with His angels as they live out their faith. Satan omits the important line, “to guard you in all your ways,” which makes clear that angels should not be taken advantage of so that we may test God. Yet, Jesus again responds with Holy Scripture, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deuteronomy 6:16)

It is God’s prerogative to test us. He tests our faith in order to strengthen our faith, so that we cling closer to Him and trust His promises. Yet, we must never test God. We test God in order to manipulate His Word and avoid accepting the truth. This is done by all false teachers, who manipulate the Word of God in order to fit their own opinions. Scripture has been abundantly clear from the beginning and Christians have always acknowledged its clear words regarding marriage and chastity, that Jesus is the only way to heaven, that Scripture cannot be broken.

Yet, Christians continue to follow after preachers and teachers who claim that Scripture does not really say what it has always said. And lo and behold, these discoveries always seem to fall in line with the current trends. It is exactly as St. Paul said, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) If you are following a new teaching about sexuality, marriage, salvation, or any other teaching contrary to the pure words of Scripture, then you are not following the voice of God, but your own passions. You should repent and not test the LORD God. You must not put your own words in God’s mouth.

Finally, Satan tempts Jesus with the kingdoms and glory of the world, promising that he would give them all to Jesus if he would only fall down and worship him. At first thought, this seems like such an easy temptation to overcome. Who on earth would worship Satan? And why would someone think that Satan could give you anything? Yet, people fall away from the only saving Christian faith for this very temptation every day. Young people acquire new wisdom when they go off to college, assuming that they’ve figured out in a short time what most people can’t learn in a lifetime. So, they forsake God’s Word. They stop going to church. Although they’ve discovered new types of sins, they neglect going to receive the forgiveness of sins or strengthening their faith in Christ with His Sacrament. Young and old Christians chase after money, careers, sex, doing exactly what Satan tells them to do, although they do not recognize it as such. They bow down to Satan spiritually as they chase the glories of this dying world at the expense of God’s sweet forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ His Son.

Yet, Jesus once again proves Himself to be the Good Son. He quotes Scripture, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” (Deuteronomy 6:13) This gets to the heart of faith. Why live by God’s Word alone? Why not test God? Why not worship and serve anything or one else but God? Because He is your God, your Creator, your Provider, your Protecter, Redeemer, and Savior. He alone gives you life. He alone forgives your sins. He alone can rescue you from death and hell. Satan lies, promising to give you a little of what God has already promised to give you in full: Joy and eternal life.

So, Israel is a bad son. He doesn’t live up to his title. And what’s worse for us, we learn from Jesus’ example that we’re not good sons either! It is not a hypothetical whether we would withstand Satan’s temptation in the wilderness. We fall to Satan’s lies every day in this valley of the shadow of death! God’s Word is often not on our mind. When we decide to do something, we ask ourselves whether we want to or can do it. We don’t ask if it is God’s will! We test God by listening to liars, and like teenagers driving a car on empty, we see how long we can go in the faith without hearing and meditating on God’s Word. Although we hate to admit it, we serve the gods of this world, who offer us glory instead of devoting ourselves to God and serving Him.

So, what good is it to us that Jesus is the Good Son? How can we bad sons rejoice in the victory of the Good Son? Why does it matter that Jesus overcame the temptation of Satan? Because He is our Champion! Jesus was not tempted for His own sake, but for our sake, so that we might become sons of God.

Jesus is not God’s Son simply as an honorary title. Jesus is God’s Son from eternity. He shares in the same substance and nature of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are one God, distinct persons, yet indivisible in essence. When Jesus prayed His high priestly prayer before His betrayal by Judas Iscariot, He prayed to His Father, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:5)

Before the universe was created out of nothing, before God made human flesh out of dust, before God endowed man with an immortal soul, Christ was the Son of God. He does not need to strive with Satan to prove His divinity. He didn’t need to earn His Sonship. Yet, the Son of God took on our human flesh and in human flesh, He strove with Satan and won. He did what Adam and Eve failed to do. He did what Israel failed to do. He did what each and every one of us has failed to do. He remained sinless in human flesh while being tempted by Satan himself.

And Jesus conquered Satan in human flesh, so that He might give us the victory over Satan and declare us to be sons of God. St. Paul writes to the Galatians in chapter 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Jesus did what we could not do, so that He could make us what we could not make ourselves. Jesus in human flesh conquered Satan and kept God’s Law. And He did not fail the test, even as Satan’s minions tested Him, crying, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” (Matthew 27:40) God’s Son remained on that cross in human flesh until every one of our sins was paid for. Jesus is our champion. Jesus gives us the victory. (1 Corinthians 15:17) And we receive this victory through faith, when we believe in what Jesus has done for us, as St. Paul writes, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:26)

The title devil means slanderer. The devil slanders us, questioning whether we are God’s children. We point to our Baptism into Christ and the victory Christ won for us over Satan in the wilderness and say, “Christ is righteous, and therefore, so am I.” Satan means adversary. When Satan opposes us, we can say to him, “Christ Jesus defeated you, and I am clothed in Christ. Begone Satan!”

Through faith, Jesus’ victory over Satan is our victory over Satan. Jesus’ death on the cross is our death on the cross. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is our resurrection from the dead. And so, through faith in Christ, we are God’s children, heirs of His Kingdom Amen.

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Working in the Vineyard by Grace

2/6/2023

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Johann Christian Brand, "Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard," 1769. Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.

Septuagesima
Matthew 20:1-16
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
February 5, 2023

Jesus’ parable for this Sunday teaches us of the first conflict in the Christian Church. As you know, God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Israel out of all the people in the world to make for Himself a special nation, which would be called by His name. God made a covenant with Abraham and gave him and his descendants after him the sign of circumcision. God called Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai, where He gave them His Law. God sent Israel into His vineyard, so to speak, with Sabbaths and Festivals to observe, plus 613 commandments. Israel labored hard in God’s vineyard, bearing a heavy load and at times scorching heat. Many of them were killed for transgressing God’s Law. Their temple was destroyed. Their people were taken exile. God accused them of producing wild grapes, when He had given them the choicest vines (Isaiah 5)!

Yet, Israel kept laboring. She bore the history of her exile with pride. The more the nations hated her, the more proudly she labored under the sun in the vineyard. When her sons were hated for their mark of circumcision, they became even prouder of it. When the nations stuck up their noses at their sacrifices and mocked their restricted diet, she became more zealous in offering up sacrifices to the Lord and abstaining from unclean meats. And all this Israel did, waiting for the Messiah to come and give to her her wages.

Yet, when the Messiah came, He invited those of the nations to join them in the vineyard in the last hour! The people of the nations, who sat idle in the market place all day, refusing hire and mocking and ridiculing Israel as she labored in the hot sun, came in the last moment. What is worse, they were paid the same wage as Israel, who labored in the hot sun!

This is the first conflict in the Christian Church. Christ made the Gentile Christians, who came at the last hour, equal with the Jewish Christians, who had borne the burden of God’s Law. So, Judaizing Christians begrudged Christ’s generosity. They insisted that Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised, and to abstain from eating unclean meat, and to observe the Sabbath and the festivals, and the entire book of Moses. In short, they wanted the Gentiles to labor as hard as they did before they could be paid the same wage.

But that’s not the way Christ pays His laborers. The fact of the matter is, Christ does not pay His laborers according to their works, but according to His own mercy; that is to say, Christ deals with us by grace. Grace is God’s undeserved love for us. Grace is a free gift. St. Paul, a former Pharisee, wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For there is no distinction (that is, there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile): for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22b-24)

This grace is received through faith alone. St. Paul further writes in Romans 4, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
Therefore, when the Judaizing Christians tried to force the Gentile Christians to submit to the Law of Moses, St. Peter responded, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and He made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7-11) This again is why St. Paul says in Romans 10, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all.” (Romans 10:12) and “There is neither Jew nor Greek, … for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)

Yet, the importance of this lesson goes beyond the relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This concerns all Christians, everywhere. We are not saved by our works. In fact, our works in and of themselves are always riddled with sin. So, what do we deserve according to our sins? Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death! But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). So, we do not earn eternal life by working in the vineyard, rather we are place in the vineyard, because Christ has earned that eternal life for us.

And we should not ever grumble about others in the vineyard. Jesus tells us that we should simply answer, “We are but unprofitable servants, we have only done what was our duty.” (Luke 17:10) We should simply be grateful that we are permitted to labor in the vineyard.

St. Paul warns the Gentile Christians that if the Jews, who were the natural branches, were cut off to make room for them, the wild branches, so too the wild branches could be cut off! (Romans 11:20-21) He who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12) It is by grace that we enter the vineyard. It is by grace that we receive a reward. If others prove unfaithful, we should not boast in ourselves, because it is only by the grace of God that we remain faithful. And if others should join the work in the vineyard at the last hour, we should not begrudge the grace God shows to them, but rejoice in the generosity of our Master.

The reason salvation is by grace as a free gift is for two reasons. First, you are incapable of earning your salvation. Scripture says, “Those who are of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8). Yet, you are born according to the flesh! (John 3:6; Ephesians 2:3) A sinner can do nothing of himself to please God. To put it bluntly, a sinner can only sin. So, if all your works are stained with sin, how can you please God with your sin? It is like a child trying to wipe the mud off his mother’s clean Sunday dress with hands covered in mud. He can only make the muddy mess worse! So, we cannot remove our sins by sinning more.

Second, only Jesus can take our sins away. Only Jesus is true God and true man, anointed by God to make satisfaction for all sins. Only the blood of Jesus can wash our sins away. This is why everyone in the vineyard gets paid the same. They all receive the same Christ. My Jesus cannot be greater or lesser than your Jesus. So, my Baptism cannot be greater or lesser than your Baptism, nor can the body of Christ I eat in the Supper be holier or mightier or closer to God’s right hand than the body of Christ you eat in the Supper, nor can the blood I drink cleanse less sins than the blood you drink. We all receive the one and the same Jesus. There is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father over all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:5-6)

This is why God makes all the workers in the vineyard equal, because they are not getting paid according to their own works, but according to the work of Christ, who is one and the same for everyone.

Yet, if Jesus has done all the work necessary to save us, so that our works do not earn for us salvation, then why work at all? Why not do as we please and enjoy life? Because one who lives such a way is a slave of sin and will not receive a reward from the Good Master. As clearly as Scripture teaches that our works do not save us, so clearly does Scripture teach us that our work is still necessary. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

If you have faith in Christ, you will do good works. If you have faith in Christ, you will labor in the vineyard. But if you remain outside the vineyard, you will not receive the wage Christ earned for you..

As Christians, we should be happy laborers. The paradise we will inherit was prefigured by the paradise once lost in the fall of Adam and Eve. Before the fall, what did Adam do? God put him in the garden to work (Genesis 2:15). Work, before sin or death or suffering entered the world. Adam worked in paradise. Work does not equal pain and suffering. This is why St. John tells us that God’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). God’s commandments are that we believe in Christ Jesus His Son and that we love one another (1 John 3:23). Our faith in Christ is a gift from God. And the love we show to one another is a fruit produced by that faith.

Our works serve our neighbor and supply the proof that faith is living. And God then uses the good works he harvests from us to strengthen our faith, because the love we have for our neighbors combats the temptation of the devil and our sinful flesh. And the love we have for God draws us to continue to receive His grace by hearing His Word and receiving Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. And through faith our good works are pleasing to God. For one thing, they are produced by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. And, God looks over our faults and sins for the sake of Christ’s shed blood for us.

Scripture uses those who fell before us as examples to us. We should not desire evil as some of them did, nor grumble, nor commit sexual immorality. They were destroyed by God for their apostasy, that is, for their falling away, but this was recorded in Scripture to teach us! Why did they fall? Because they did not have faith (Romans 9:32). They did not trust in God to provide for them and instead trusted in their own works and ideas. Above all, this is what we must guard against. Without faith, even the grace God gives us becomes labor, as we see with so many who find it too much of a chore to come to church to receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Yet, when faith is strong, even the labor in the vineyard is like Adam working in Eden in the cool of the day.

So, when the work in the Lord’s vineyard does become burdensome, turn your eyes to Jesus who labored for you on His cross. See the grace God shows you for Christ’s sake. This alone will give you the strength to labor joyfully. This alone grants you an eternal reward. Amen.

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Transfiguration Sunday

1/29/2023

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"The Transfiguration of Christ," Carl Bloch, 1800s, Public Domain.

Matthew 17:1-9
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
January 29, 2023

When we consider the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, that magnificent moment when His divine nature was not hidden and His three closest disciples witnessed Him in all His splendor as He spoke with Moses and Elijah, and God the Father declared Him to be His beloved Son, we can learn three main lessons.

The first lesson is taught by St. Peter, one of the eye witnesses of the transfiguration. St. Peter teaches us that the Bible is the very Word of God. He says, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention to as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19) This should remind you of Psalm 119:105, where David says to God, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The Holy Scriptures are the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God. It doesn’t simply contain the Word of God. It is not some men’s opinion about God’s Word. St. Peter tells us that the Holy Scriptures are God’s Word. What the Bible says is what God says.

Yet, how does St. Peter conclude that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God from the Transfiguration of Christ? When Jesus was transfigured, Moses and Elijah spoke to Him. Moses is the author of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, also known as the Torah or Pentateuch. Elijah represents the other prophets, who wrote the rest of the Old Testament. Peter, James, and John are the three Apostles, who witnessed the transfiguration. They represent the authors of the New Testament. These two and three witnesses from the Old and New Testaments represent the entire Bible, which bears witness of Christ. This is why St. Paul writes in Ephesians 2 that the household of God is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, because the prophetic and apostolic books of the Bible are God’s Word.

The Holy Scriptures are not God’s Word simply because they were written by Prophets and Apostles. No human being can make his own writing God’s Word. The Holy Scriptures are God’s Word, because God caused them to be written. St. Peter continues, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Moses spoke God’s Word. So did Elijah. And so did the Apostles. Their writings are not their own; they are the words of our God!

God the Father commanded Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus. That command is directed at us as well. Yet, we can’t listen to Jesus’ voice as these Apostles did as they walked down the mountain. So, we listen to Jesus by paying attention to Holy Scripture like a light shining in our path, until Christ appears in His glory. Jesus Himself says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” (John 5:39)

This means that pastors are not at liberty to preach whatever they want, but are bound to proclaim what Scripture teaches. And Christians are not at liberty to ignore God’s Word and pick and choose what they want to believe from it. Your opinions about God do not make the truth. God’s Word is truth. Holy Scripture tells us who our God is and what He says. Therefore, we should pay attention to it.

The second lesson we learn from the transfiguration is that Jesus is true God and true man. The description of Jesus’ transfiguration certainly sounds divine! His face shone like the sun! His clothes became white as light! Yet, if anyone is still left in doubt, we have the authoritative voice of God the Father declare, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind. Jesus is God, the eternal Son of God the Father.

Yet, both before and after the transfiguration, Jesus speaks to His disciples about His humiliating suffering, death, and resurrection. Now, this is strange. On the mountain we see Jesus’ shining gloriously with divine light. His divinity is proclaimed by God the Father Himself. Yet, when Jesus speaks to His disciples, He tells them of His suffering and death.

And here is an important lesson for us all. Jesus did not change when He went up on that mountain. He didn’t become God’s Son on that mountain, nor did He begin to please God there or cease to be God or to please His Father when He left. Rather, on that mountain Jesus revealed to His disciples what had been hidden in His humiliation.

This means that when Jesus is spit upon by scoffers, blindfolded, punched, and blasphemed; when He is scourged until the skin rips off His back; when the crown of thorns is pressed into His scalp, so that the blood runs into His eyes; when the nails pierce through His hands and feet, and He hangs dying on the cross; when He fulfills what His disciples recoiled at, Jesus remained the same Son of God as He was on that holy mountain. Everything Jesus does from the womb to the tomb and up to the Father’s right hand, He does as both God and man!

What’s more, the words the Father declared about Jesus remained true. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” How is it that God is well pleased with Jesus, yet Jesus suffers such an ignoble death? If God is well please with His Son, why does His Son suffer and die? He doesn’t suffer and die for His own sake! He doesn’t suffer and die for His own sins! He suffers and dies for the sins of another. “Although He had done no violence and there was no deceit in His mouth, it was the will of the LORD to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:9-10) “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

This gives us great confidence in our salvation for several reasons. First, someone else has been punished in our place for our sins, and God has accepted this payment to our credit. Jesus did not die for His own sins. The Father is pleased with Him. Yet, He carries the sins of the whole world and dies for them. Second, this Someone who is punished in our place is God! This means that His death is a sufficient price to pay for the sins of the whole world.

For this reason, our Lutheran Confessions write in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, article IV, “In the first place, it is certain that we receive remission of sins, neither through our love nor for the sake of our love, but for Christ’s sake, by faith alone. Faith alone, which looks upon the promise, and knows that for this reason it must be regarded as certain that God forgives, because Christ has not died in vain, etc., overcome the terrors of sin and death. If anyone doubts whether sins are remitted him, he dishonors Christ, since he judges that his sin is greater or more efficacious than the death and promise of Christ; although Paul says in Rom. 5:20: Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

That is to say that Christ’s mercy is more powerful, richer, and stronger than our sin! To claim that Christ’s death has not taken away your sins or that you must earn God’s grace, is to say that your sin is greater than God Himself, which is blasphemy. Jesus is God. Everything He does, He does as God and man. He is God on the cross as He pays for your sins. To doubt the forgiveness Jesus declares to you is to blaspheme Christ and deny that He is God.

Finally, we learn from Jesus’ transfiguration that we cannot see God’s glory without the cross. Peter blabbered to Jesus about building tents. Peter didn’t even know what he was saying. All we can tell is that he wanted to hold onto the moment. But that wasn’t the point of this vision. Jesus must leave the mountain of transfiguration and go Mount Calvary to die His humiliating death for our sins. Jesus knows the effect this will have on His disciples. Jesus also said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) Peter and the other apostles would follow in Jesus’ bloody train. They needed encouragement. They needed a boost. And so do we.

Jesus is transfigured to show us who He really is as He suffers on the cross and His form becomes so marred beyond human semblance (Isaiah 52:14). Yet, we cannot reach that glory unless Jesus goes to the cross. If Jesus does not go to the cross to die for our sins, then we are forever like the children of Israel, hiding from Moses’ shining face. But since Jesus has gone to the cross, we have certainty of our salvation.

Yet, we don’t look at Jesus’ suffering in ignorance. We don’t even look at our own suffering in ignorance. It is as St. Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” In Christ’s transfiguration, we see the truth that is hidden by the outer shell of this world. As Jesus bore the form of our sinful flesh, while remaining sinless Himself, yet shed that form forever and now lives in His transfigured form forever, so we have the hope that we will share in His glory. As Jesus took on our sin and died for it, so He gives us His glory, that we may live in it forever!

We’re approaching the Lenten season, as we focus on the suffering and death of Christ and the mortification of our own flesh, that is, as we focus on repentance. Transfiguration gives us a view of reality. Christ’s suffering is over. He has done away with our sins. And our journey’s end is not in the grave, but with Christ in splendor. This is the true message of Holy Scripture, which is God’s very Word. And God does not lie. Amen.

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

Jesus Is the Bread of Life from Heaven

Wrestling God and Prevailing

Jesus Is the Son of God

Working in the Vineyard by Grace

Transfiguration Sunday

Rev. James Preus

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