Category: Lent 4

Children of the Free Woman

3/15/2021

"The Repudiation of Hagar," Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1719. Public Domain

Laetare (Lent 4) Sunday
Galatians 4:21-31
Pastor James Preus
March 14, 2021

“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?” St. Paul writes this to the Christians in Galatia, who had been persuaded by false teachers that they had to fulfill the works of the Law in order to be true Christians. By works of the Law they meant circumcision, the observances of sabbaths and festivals, and the distinction of meats. Of course, St. Paul pointed out to them that if they were obligated to keep part of the Law, they must keep the whole Law (Galatians 5:3). St. Paul also taught them that no one will be justified before God by works of the Law, because through the Law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:10). The Law reveals our sin, because all it can do is tell us what to do. But the Law cannot give us the power to do it. So, those who seek to be righteous before God by works of the Law instead find that they are worse and worse sinners!
To explain this lesson further, Paul uses an allegory from the book of Genesis. The Jews called the book of Genesis along with the other four books of Moses, the Law, which is why Paul asks, “Do you not listen to the law?” So, from the Law, Paul draws this allegory, that is, this story, which draws a picture to teach the difference between being under the Law and being under the Gospel. He compares it to the two sons of Abraham, one born of a slave woman and the other born of a free woman.
Now, you might remember that in the book of Genesis, God promised Abraham that he would give him a son, that he would make a great nation out of this son and give to him the land of Canaan, and that through this son all nations of the earth would be blessed. The problem was, Abraham was very old. And his wife Sarah was very old as well, and she had always been barren. So, Sarah, desiring the promise to be fulfilled, but not believing that it was possible to be fulfilled through her aged and barren womb, gave her servant Hagar to Abraham as a wife to bear him a son. Hagar indeed bore Abraham a son, but this son was born according to the flesh, not the promise.
God indeed fulfilled his promise. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, bore Isaac, the child of promise. According to flesh and blood, this was impossible. Sarah was too old. Sarah was barren. But according to God’s promise it was possible. Now in Abraham’s household there were two sons: one born according to the flesh and one born according to the promise. And the one born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the promise. So, Sarah ordered Abraham to cast the slave woman out with her son. And God told Abraham to obey her. The slave shall not inherit with the free born. Through Isaac shall Abraham’s offspring be named.
Now, how does this relate to us? Because all Christians are born both of a slave woman and of a free woman, that is, we are born both according to the flesh and according to the Spirit. Everyone born of the flesh, which is the entire human race, is born under sin and under the Law. That means we are all born into slavery. Yet, through Christ Jesus, we have access to a second birth not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, that is, according to the promise. Through the promise attached to Baptism and to the proclamation of the Gospel, we are born again. Faith alone receives this promise. So, through faith in the promise we are children of promise, Abraham’s heirs and children of the free woman.
According to our first birth of the flesh, we can never become righteous. This means we can never attain to eternal life. To be born of the flesh is to be born under sin and under the Law. It is impossible to reach eternal life through works of the Law, because the Law depends on our flesh doing it. But our flesh is sinful and weak. So, we fail. So, instead of the Law giving us eternal life, the Law condemns us to hell and kills us. This is why Jesus says that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). Our first birth according to the flesh binds us in sin and keeps us from inheriting eternal life.
Our second birth by the Spirit is a birth according to the promise, which is received through faith. This birth frees us from the Law, because Christ Jesus took the curse of the Law away from us himself. He did this by first, being born in our human flesh. Scripture declares, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5) Jesus became our flesh, so that he could do for us what we weakened by our own flesh could not do: fulfill the Law. St. Paul writes to the Romans, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” (8:2-3)
The Law cannot give us eternal life, because our sinful flesh is incapable of accomplishing what the Law requires. That is why it says that the Law was weakened by the flesh. So, God’s Son took on our human flesh for us. Yet, despite the fact that he fulfilled the requirements of the Law for us, he suffered the punishment our sinful flesh deserved! St. Paul explained this very thing to the Galatians, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ … Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—as it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” (Galatians 3:10, 13) And so, we receive Christ’s obedience and righteousness through faith, because Christ has both fulfilled the Law for us and has been punished for our transgressions against the Law in our place. Since Christ has done all that is required for our eternal salvation, no works are required of us. Rather, we become God’s children and heirs through faith alone.
Yet, St. Paul says, “Just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.’” Yet, how does the child born according to the flesh persecute the child born according to the Spirit? The child born according to the flesh is your old sinful nature, also known as your old Adam. Although you are born again of the Spirit through faith in the promise, that old sinful Adam born of the flesh still hangs around and persecutes your new self. How does he persecute you?
First, by leading you into sin. Scripture is clear, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do… Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warned you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16, 18-21)
Despite what we may be accused of, we do not believe that the Spirit has set us free to indulge in the sins of the flesh. Rather, whatever you present yourself to in obedience, you become a slave to that thing. If you obey the passions of the flesh, then you become its slave and cease to be a child of freedom! To be born of the Spirit means that we also walk by the Spirit, not under the compulsion of the Law, but willingly doing as our Father in heaven pleases. But our sinful flesh persecutes our new self by drawing us into these same sins of which we are ashamed, of which we would like to be free of once and for all!
The second way the old Adam born of flesh persecutes the new self, born of the Spirit is by trying to enslave you under the Law. He does this by getting you to try to establish your own righteousness by works of the Law. Yet, this just pushes you deeper into slavery. Your flesh cannot accomplish the works of the Law. So, instead of escaping your sins, you are pulled away from the righteousness of God given to you by promise and into either despair or false confidence in your works of the flesh. St. Paul addresses this to the Galatians in chapter two, “Let me ask you only this,” he writes, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
Yet, this is exactly what your sinful flesh tries to convince you of and what many people believe. They think that after the Spirit sets them free through faith, they must complete what the Spirit began through their own works. So, they trust in their works as if the Spirit is of no value to them anymore!
And so, in these two ways: by the sinful passions of the flesh and by attempting to earn God’s favor through works of the Law, the old self persecutes your new self; the child born of slavery persecutes the child born of promise. And of course, both of these ways of persecution are rooted in unbelief, because the natural person simply cannot believe in the Gospel. That which is born of flesh is flesh; that which is born of Spirit is spirit.
So, what is the solution? How can you be liberated from the persecution of the flesh? Scripture answers us, “Cast out the slave woman and her son.” How do you cast out the slave woman and her son? By repenting of your sins and believing in the promise of Christ. You must cast out the slave woman and her son every day, because your flesh will try to enslave you to your sinful passions every day. You must cast out the slave woman and her son every day, because your flesh will try to enslave you to the Law every day, as if you can earn your salvation by your own works. Only by repenting of your sins and believing that God considers you righteous for Christ’s sake can you be free from the curse of the Law and your sins.
Your flesh is loud and obnoxious. It wants its needs to be heard above anything else. Just look at Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand. Before the crowd stands the living Bread from Heaven, who gives eternal salvation to all who believe his words, but these men want to make him a bread-king to feed their bellies. It’s like this curious creature, the cowbird. It’s notorious for laying its eggs in other birds’ nests, so that these unsuspecting birds feed the large, loud, and demanding cowbird chick while their own chicks starve. The mother bird is smart when it realizes that that is not her egg and pushes the cowbird’s egg out of her nest, so that her own chicks do not starve. That’s what we need to do. We are not children of the slave. We’re children of the free woman. We need to cast the slave out, so that he does not starve out the free child. This can only be done by repenting of our sins and in faith clinging to Christ, who makes us free born children of God. Amen.

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Laetare (Lent 4): Jesus Teaches Us What Kind of God to Seek

4/1/2019

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John 6:1-15
March 31, 2019

What kind of god do you want? That might sound like a ridiculous question, but it is exactly what people are thinking when they decide which church to go to or when they ponder what they believe about God. “What kind of god do I want?” This is how we choose which political candidate to support or which house to buy or what movie to watch, so why not ask this question about what type of god you want to worship? This is what the crowd did to Jesus. They wanted to make him their king, because he stuffed their bellies with bread and fish. They wanted a king to feed them, heal their illnesses, and basically make their lives comfortable. And that is basically what people look for in a god. And with the rise of biblical criticism, which is a way of studying the bible with the assumption that the bible contains many errors and contradictions, people can claim to be Christians and to worship the one true God while eliminating anything that Scripture says about God which makes them uncomfortable. So, religious people end up doing exactly what the scoffing atheists accuse them of: they create a god in their own image.
But it is important not to seek the god that you want, but rather to seek the God, who is. Jesus shows us the God who actually exists. Jesus himself is God, the Second Person in the Holy Trinity, apart from whom neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit work anything. By feeding the great multitude, Jesus demonstrates to us what we first learn about God in the Small Catechism:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean?
I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.
He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. ...
The God who is, is the God who created the universe and who still causes it to function in order to sustain life. God provides for every living creature. He controls the weather and climate. He causes seeds to grow, animals to reproduce. Every heartbeat in your chest and every hair that grows on your body is controlled by God. With this miracle in our Gospel lesson, Jesus is teaching his disciples to trust in God, who is always in control.
To teach this lesson, Jesus does what God often does to strengthen our faith: he tests them. It was Jesus, who chose this desolate place where there was no food to gather or buy. The large crowd followed Jesus up this mountain. And then Jesus asks Philip, a native of this region, “Where can we buy bread for all these people to eat.” Jesus knew the answer to this question. Jesus led a crowd of 5,000 men, not including women and children, which means that this crowd was likely much greater than 10,000 hungry individuals, to a desolate place where there was no food to buy even if someone could muster the money to buy it. Jesus sets up an impossible situation in order to show his disciples that God accomplishes the impossible every day.
Toward the end of the 18th century an economist named Thomas Malthus proposed a theory that the human population would grow at a faster rate than the supply of food could, meaning, unless the human population were put in check there would be mass starvation throughout the world, especially among the poor. Many countries even adopted methods to limit population growth in humans; methods, which caused great suffering to millions of people. However, Malthus was wrong. Around the time of his death in 1834 the world human population was around 1 billion. Now there are well more than 7 billion people in the world and although there is still and always has been hunger in the world, we produce more than enough food to feed the world. And in America we throw away an astonishing percentage of the food we buy.
Jesus fed well more than 10,000 individuals in the wilderness at a moment’s notice using only five loaves of bread and a couple fish. This was a miracle. Yet, God feeds billions of people every day. Despite major flooding in some areas, farmers are beginning to prepare their fields for planting. In just a few months tremendous amounts of food will come out of the ground, much more than was planted into the ground. God will create food quite literally out of thin air along with using water and sunlight. Farming is a lot of work, but no one can deny that it is God who causes the growth.
God cursed man in the garden when he said:
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
And you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall bring forth bread,
Till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:17b-19)
Yet when God cursed man, he did not take away his blessing. God still feeds us. He just makes us work for it. But that does not mean that our labor is the reason why we eat. God is the source of every physical blessing.
Because we are forced to work for our food, we convince ourselves that what we labor for is most important. But what does Jesus say? “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 6:27) We are a very short-sighted people. We can’t think beyond our current problems. These people labored for bread. Here comes a man, who gives them bread without labor. So, they want him to be their god, so that they no longer need to labor. But Jesus doesn’t feed them, so that they will no longer need to labor for bread. Jesus feeds them to teach them where their bread comes from. It comes from God. Rather, they should seek a much greater gift from God, one, which leads to eternal life.
Everyone who ate the bread in the wilderness with Moses died. Every one. Everyone who ate the bread from Jesus on the mountain died. Every one. Everyone who eats by the sweat of his face returns to the dust. This is the curse of sin. But Jesus offers a bread that if you eat it you will live forever.
Jesus himself is this bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never hunger and whoever believes in him will never thirst. Jesus teaches us that we must feed on him spiritually, that is, we must believe that he gives us eternal life through his death for our sins. Jesus says to some of the same people, who ate the bread on the mountain, “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.” (John 6:53-54)
Here Jesus teaches us that he is the fulfillment of the sacrifices of the Old Testament. In the sacrifices of the Old Testament, the blood was separated from the flesh of the animal. The priests would then eat the flesh of the animal and God would accept them. Jesus teaches that he is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices and that his blood would be poured out of his body for our sins. Jesus also teaches that he will rise from the dead. God forbids in the Old Testament anyone to eat blood. The blood of sacrifices had to be used to make atonement on the altar. But Jesus’ blood, after making atonement for the sins of the whole world is made to live again. Jesus is alive. And he invites us to drink his living blood, so that we can receive life from him.
We eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood in two ways. The first is spiritually. The second is orally. Spiritually you feast on Christ through faith. That is when you believe that Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins makes you whole, forgives your sins, and gives you eternal life. When Jesus speaks of eating his flesh and blood, he is speaking primarily about having faith in him. He wants you to desire his words as more important for you than the food you eat.
The second way to eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood is orally, that is, with your mouth, physically. This is done in the Lord’s Supper where Christ feeds us his body and blood under the bread and wine. Only those, who feast on Christ Spiritually should eat the Lord’s Supper, otherwise they will eat and drink to their own judgment. But, if one truly believes the words of Christ and repents of his sins, then the Lord’s Supper is a wonderful meal that forgives sins, strengthens faith, and increases your love for your fellow Christian.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. If you can truly believe these words, then you truly know the God, who is. God feeds you. He clothes you. He gives you shelter. He does everything you need for your body and life, millions of things you haven’t ever thought of, but God takes care of them. And God wants you to trust in his word more than the food you sweat for. God wants you to hunger for his words more than food. God will take care of your body. And he desires to save your soul as well.
But material goods continue to block our ears from God’s word. We strive after things that lead to the grave instead of that which leads to heaven. God makes some rich and they in turn trust in their riches and ignore God’s word. God makes others poor and they in turn lust after other people’s money and keep their eyes on what God has not given them instead on what God willingly offers, Christ Jesus, the bread of life. But, this true hunger for that which gives eternal life can only be had as a gift of the Holy Spirit. We hunger for something greater than bread or gold when we see the cost of our sins. When God’s word reveals to you that you indeed deserve to die and go to hell, your hunger turns from food to something spiritual. And when the Holy Spirit reveals to you that Jesus is the only one, who takes your sins away, then you hunger for the true bread of heaven. And God will not stop feeding you until you are satisfied.
Jesus told his disciples to gather up the fragments so that nothing may be lost. This has both a physical and a spiritual meaning. God does not want us to waste the goods he gives us. He gives us more than enough food to feed the world, but we throw food away while others hunger. God indeed feeds and clothes the poor, but he may very well use you to do so. St. Paul in encouraging the Corinthians to give generously to the needy in Jerusalem tells them that God is willing and able to supply whatever they lose by their generosity. This applies also to giving to the church. All your goods come from God. You won’t lose anything by giving to support the ministry of the word. God will make sure that you are fully supplied.
Spiritually, Jesus does not want us to waste the living bread either. Jesus pours himself out generously to us. He doesn’t want us letting it go to waste. He wants you to hear his word, consume his bread with your heart continually throughout your life. And share it. Share the heavenly bread he gives you, which gives eternal life to whoever eats it.
The life-giving bread from heaven does not run out. Even as Jesus was able to feed 5,000 men plus women and children and still have more left over, so does Jesus feed the souls of millions and millions through his body nailed to the cross and his blood poured out for our forgiveness. His body will never run out. Neither will his blood. Jesus’ forgiveness and life, which he gives to his church will never stop flowing and satisfying sinners until the end of the world. And Jesus bids us not to put it to waste, but come and take generously. Have your sins forgiven. Hear and believe his comforting words. Receive eternal life. Here is true food, which if one eats of it, will never die, given to you the God who actually exists. Amen.

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Laetare (Lent 4) Sunday: Jesus our King

3/12/2018

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John 6:1-15
March 11, 2018

"When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, 'This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!' Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself."

The crowds gathered in such great mass around Jesus, because he was healing the sick, who were brought to him and teaching great things. When they realized what he had done, fed 5,000 men not including women and children (Matthew 14:21), they were certain that they knew who Jesus was.

They called him the Prophet. The Prophet is a designation given to the promised Messiah found in Deuteronomy 18, where God says to Moses, "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." The crowd was right that Jesus is the Prophet promised by God through Moses! The crowd was also correct that Jesus is a king. Scripture promises that the Messiah will be a great king when God spoke to King David in 2 Samuel chapter 7, "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." That is why when people (or angels) called Jesus the Son of David, they were calling him the promised Messiah and King of Israel.

And we will hear in two weeks on Palm Sunday, from John chapter 12 as Jesus processes into Jerusalem upon a donkey, the crowds shout to Jesus' approval, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus himself calls himself the king of the Jews when questioned by Pontius Pilate (John 18:37).

So, the crowds were correct when they recognized that Jesus is the Prophet and the King promised by holy Scripture. Yet, the crowds were very wrong about Jesus. The next day the crowds finally found Jesus again, yet he answers 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 6:26-27a)

Jesus tells us why the crowds were wrong. They wanted to make Jesus a bread-king here on earth. They saw the signs, but they didn't recognize their true significance. The signs pointed to Christ's work of salvation. Yet, the people were concerned more with their bellies.

You can see why the crowds thought this way though. They had seen Jesus heal every ailment brought to him. Perhaps they had even seen him raise the dead, which we know he did do on multiple occasions. St. Matthew tells us the 5,000 he fed did not include women and children, which means that Jesus with just 5 loaves and 2 small fish fed in surplus of 10,000 individuals without any preparation! And not just did he feed them, but they "had eaten their fill," "as much as they wanted!" What a fantastic king he'd be! Could you imagine a nation with zero hunger? Where everyone had free healthcare, and not just free, but you actually got healed of whatever sickness you had? Who wouldn't gladly fight in his army? Certainly, this is the king of Israel, who will throw the yoke of Rome off their nation!

And this is a problem with many religious today. People want to make Jesus their Lord and Savior, but on their terms. "Do you want a happier life? Do you want more purpose in your life? Do you want to get out of your financial difficulties? Do you want to be stress free? Do you want to be healed of your diseases? Then claim Jesus as the Lord of your life and all these things will be yours!" And so, even today people try to force Jesus to be their king, but not the king Jesus has come to be.

The crowds missed the lesson from the healings and the multiplying of bread and fish. Jesus certainly showed in a remarkable way that he is God with all of God's powers. Yet, Jesus really didn't do anything different than what God does every day. Jesus healed many sick people. Don't people recover from illness today? God heals millions of people from countless ailments every day. Yes, he uses medicines and medical procedures, but that is still God working. And even miracles are known to happen from time to time, when doctors give up hope, yet through the power of prayer God baffles the medical experts and spares the life of someone at death's door. Jesus fed 5,000 in our lesson, yet how many billions does God feed every day? Jesus multiplied bread and fish, yet God is constantly multiplying grain in the fields, fish in the sea, cattle, pigs, fruits and vegetables, and all that we need to support our bodies.

So, it was quite silly that these people wanted to make Jesus a bread-king. They showed how short sighted they were. Yet, everyone who eats the food, which God graciously provides each day, dies. Jesus wants to feed them with that, which will give eternal life. Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 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 came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." (John 6:47-51)

Jesus is the living bread that comes down from heaven. He has freely given his flesh and blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. The priests ate of the sacrifices offered in the temple and all Jews ate of the annual Passover lambs and unleavened bread.  Yet, if anyone will have life that will last for forever, he must eat of this sacrifice, as Jesus says, "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." (John 6:53-54)

But how do you eat of Jesus' flesh and drink his blood? Jesus tells you. "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." You feast on Jesus, the bread of life from heaven, through faith in him. Jesus is teaching the crowd and you to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you, and "Man shall not live by bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Faith subordinates your physical needs to your spiritual needs. Jesus fed the crowds, so that they would learn that everything they receive they receive from God by his grace and so they would focus on the words of eternal life, which Jesus was feeding them. The most valuable food Jesus gave them on that mountain was the words of eternal life he spoke to them. But they got distracted by the bread. And they wanted to force Jesus to be their bread-king. And people today still try to force Jesus to be their king.

Jesus must be your king, but you cannot force him to be your king. Jesus must be your king, but he must become your king on his terms. So, how does Jesus become your king? First, you need a change of heart. Jesus tells us that no one can come to him unless the Father draws him. Your heart is naturally of the flesh, meaning, you are focused on things that will pass away, like bread and fish, cars and homes, sports and entertainment. God must change your heart. He does this through his Word, particularly in Baptism, where he gives you a new birth by the Holy Spirit. And having your heart changed by God, you must eat and drink the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. That is, you must have faith in Christ's work of salvation for you. You must repent of your sins, despair of your works, cast out the slave woman and her son, and cling to Christ for true nourishment.

To guard this true faith, you must destroy your false gods. This includes especially the false god of the love of money. God provides you with all that you have and need, so that you will trust in him and come and eat the bread of life, not so that you will worship the lesser gifts he gives you. St. Paul warns, "But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." (1 Timothy 6:8-10)

Jesus fed well over 5,000 people with just five barley loaves and a couple fish. And had there been 5,000 times 5,000 Jesus would have easily been able to feed those as well. And God feeds many, many more than that every day. Likewise, Jesus, the bread of life, offered himself up for the whole world on the cross. His blood ran down to drown our sins. And all sins have been drowned. And even as people continue to increase and as sins continue to multiply in horrifying numbers and ways, the tides of Jesus' blood continue to wash these sins away. Jesus' death upon the cross produces forgiveness that multiplies over and over and over again. You should have no fear that what you've done or some sin that bothers your conscience will somehow rise above the drowning flood of Christ's blood or overpower the healing flesh of Christ.

Jesus provides forgiveness for countless sinners, even as he daily feeds countless hungry mouths. And we experience this sign every Sunday when we receive Holy Communion. Although Jesus is one man, with one body like any man, his body and blood are able to feed countless millions. The bread and wine are given to hungry Christians thirsting for the forgiveness of sins week after week. And Christ's body and blood have yet to run out. He continues to feed us until we are satisfied. And we will be fully satisfied, when we rise to new life in our King's kingdom. Amen.

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Laetare Sunday (Lent 4): Jesus Feeds Us With Heavenly Bread

3/26/2017

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John 6:1-15

"Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." (John 6:15) They were going to force Jesus to be their king! Well, can you blame them? They followed Jesus into the wilderness, because he healed the sick, no matter their ailment. Then after they found themselves out in the desert without anything to eat, Jesus feeds them (five thousand men, not including women and children) from only five loaves of bread and a couple small fish! Not only did they get fed, they were stuffed. They had eaten their fill. So naturally the crowd wanted this man, who healed them and fed them to provide for them everyday.

Isn't that the way it is today? Everyone wants a bread king. Every election cycle, what is the biggest issue? The economy! Who's going to create more jobs? Who's going to make us wealthier? Nevermind that our nation is experiencing a moral and spiritual collapse. Nevermind that little children are being killed in their mother's wombs and more and more children are born without fathers in their homes. No, the big issue is: Who's going to get me bread. (Of course by bread I mean everything we use and consume in this life, healthcare, cars, homes, clothing, shoes, food, etc).

We're no different than that crowd. And if a man appeared, who could heal all your diseases and provide all you need to eat, you'd vote for him too! But of course Jesus didn't come to earth to be an earthly king. We will all hear Jesus tell Pilate this on Good Friday when he says, "My kingdom is not of this world."

Jesus did not come to be an earthly king and yet he provides for the people's physical needs in a way no king could ever dream, not even Moses. But this makes sense. Jesus is God. That is how he is able to create so much food. That is why he provides for them. God provides for all people, both believers and unbelievers, both righteous and unrighteous, both those who work and those who are lazy. God provides not based on our worthiness, but according to his divine fatherly goodness and mercy. Just as he provides for the birds of air and the plants of the field.

This alone is a wonderful message! We have a compassionate heavenly father, who is willing and able to provide us with all that we need in this life. This prompts our Lord to bid us, "Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. … Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:25a, 26) And surely this should be a great comfort to each of you. Do you have money problems? Are you concerned how you will make ends meet? Well the same Jesus, who had compassion on the crowd in the wilderness and fed them is the same God in heaven, who will certainly provide you with all you need.

While it is a comfort to know that God will graciously provide you with all you need it is difficult to believe. Work becomes our god. We believe that we achieve everything, because of what we do. But the farmer couldn't cause a single grain to sprout nor could the builder, engineer, or entrepreneur produce anything good unless God caused the growth. God opens his hand and provides for the needs of every living thing.

And so we should pray with confidence. Pray that God will give you your daily bread. Pray that he will feed you and clothe you. Pray that he will fix your broken back, your broken heart, your broken relationships. Pray for the impossible. Your heavenly Father loves to hear your prayers and gladly gives you what you need. And also remember to give thanks, as Jesus did, recognizing that all you have comes from God's fatherly mercy.

Although God wants you to rely on him for all you need in this life, he doesn't want you to make him a bread king either. Jesus is not simply your bread king. He provides you with something much greater than food for the belly. When the crowd finally caught up with Jesus later on in this chapter, Jesus says 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." (6:26-27)

Jesus doesn't want them to strive after things that will pass away. He is happy to feed them bread, but that is not what he has come to do. He's come to give them heavenly bread that gives eternal life. But the people don't seem interested in that. And people aren't too interested in that today either.

I'd imagine that we would get a lot more people to come to church if we provided a free meal instead a church service. Or maybe some people have enough food, but they'd come if we fed one of their other desires, a nice concert in whatever genre of music they like, coffee, beer, or financial advice. If you could get rid of back pain by coming to church, why, there'd be a line going out to the parking lot. But the fact that we offer here every Saturday night and Sunday morning the words of eternal life completely disinterests the majority of people.

Eternal life is more important than anything this earth has to offer. This is obvious. God freely gives all you need to fill your belly and richly showers you with gifts that will be gone tomorrow and he also provides you with eternal life with Jesus. Most are happy to take the temporal gifts that will pass away, but unwittingly pass up the greater gift of eternal life.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and, and all these things will be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) God freely provides you with all you need in this life, so that you do not need to be anxious about this not-so-important stuff and focus on what really matters. Sadly, many worship the stuff, worry about how they'll get more stuff, become slaves of the stuff, instead of enjoying the freedom from need God gives.

I've learned recently that three year old girls "need" a lot of things. "Can I have this?", she says pointing to a book of stickers on the shelf at the store. "Why do you want that?" "Because I need it!" She needs a sticker book. Of course she doesn't need a sticker book. She wants it. Aren't we all a bunch of three year olds. "I need this. I need a new phone, new gun, new saw, new shoes. No, what you really need, what we all really need is Jesus."

Jesus said to the crowd, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35) Jesus himself is the bread from heaven. You must eat and drink him. He is the food and drink that satisfies for eternity. Jesus continues on, "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." (John 6:49-50)

Every millionaire has the same thing in common. They all die. Every successful farmer or business man, basketball or hockey player, hunter or fisherman, nurse, chef, whathaveyou. They all have the same thing in common. They die. There is no food you can buy in the supermarket or job you can do so well that you won't die. But everyone who eats of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, will live forever.

After the crowd finally left Jesus, he said to his disciples, "Do you want to go away as well?" Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Peter recognized that Jesus offered something much greater than the bread he'd eaten. Word's of eternal life. Peter had faith.

Jesus himself is the bread of life. He gave himself to the whole world by dying on the cross. On the cross Jesus had clinging to him all your sins. Everything that burdens your conscience and brings death to you was hanging on Jesus. And all that filth was purged away in Jesus' blood. Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice to God for the sake of the whole world. And he offers himself to you as true food.

The way you eat of this heavenly food is through faith. Faith is that spiritual eating that receives Jesus. If you do not receive Jesus by faith, you will die in your sins. You eat this true bread of life by hearing the Gospel and believing it. This is the food Jesus wants to feed you. This is the food that will forgive your sins. This is the food that will give you eternal life.

Jesus is generous. He willingly died for the sins of all people and he freely offers this gospel, this food to be eaten in faith. Even more, to help our weak faith he gives us his true body and blood to eat and to drink in the Sacrament of the Altar. All who feast on the Lord in faith receive this Sacrament worthily and with it forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

Jesus is the priceless treasure we can never go without. You can go without most of the stuff you might even call necessities. You may worry about what you'll eat or wear, but worrying never got these things for you in the past. It's already provided for you by God. But the true bread we must all desire is Jesus. Jesus comes to you through his Word and Sacraments. When you hear the Gospel and believe it, you feast on Jesus. When you receive the Sacrament and believe that you truly eat and drink the bread of life from heaven, you receive all its benefits. Whoever eats this bread will not die but will live forever. Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, give us this bread always. Amen.

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

Children of the Free Woman

Laetare (Lent 4): Jesus Teaches Us What Kind of God to Seek

Laetare (Lent 4) Sunday: Jesus our King

Laetare Sunday (Lent 4): Jesus Feeds Us With Heavenly Bread

Rev. James Preus

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