Emmanuel Lutheran Church

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood (1 John 5:7). These three point to Christ and flow from Christ.

Jesus shows His disciples His hands side, from which blood and water flowed, saying "Peace be with you." He presents the wounds which turn our fear to gladness and which restore us to the Father. Jesus breathes on His disciples and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John

20:23). His breath, His words are Spirit and life. They raise up our dry, dead bones and give us new and everlasting life (Ezek. 37:1-14)

"Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed' (1 Cor. 5:7). By the shed blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, eternal death has passed over us. Now we pass with Christ through death into life everlasting. For Christ the crucified One is risen! The stone has been rolled away from the tomb, revealing that the tomb could not hold Him (Mark 16:1-8). Now our Redeemer lives eternally to save us from sin and Satan and the grave, and we can live in the sure hope of our own bodily resurrection with Christ.

"After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God' (Job 19:26). Feasting on the living Christ, who is our meat and drink indeed, we boldly say: "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?... But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. 15:54-55, 57).

"Behold, your King is coming to you ... humble and mounted on a donkey" (Zech. 9:9-12; Mt. 21:1-9). Our Lord rides in this humble fashion because He is entering Jerusalem to humble Himself even to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-11). His kingly crown will not be made of gold but of thorns, the sign of sin's curse. For His royal reign is displayed in bearing this curse for His people, saving us from our enemies by sacrificing His own life. The sinless One takes the place of the sinner so that the sinner can be freed and bear the name "Barabbas," "son of the Father" (Matthew 26 and 27). It is at the name of this exalted Savior, Jesus, that we bow in humble faith. With the centurion who declared,

"Truly this was the Son of God! (Mt. 27:54), we are also given to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11).

In the temple Jesus said, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death" (John 8:51). For Jesus came to taste death for us— to drink the cup of suffering to the dregs in order that we might be released from its power.

Clinging to His life-giving words, we are delivered from death's sting and its eternal judgment. Christ is our High Priest, who entered the Most Holy Place and with His own blood obtained everlasting redemption for His people (Heb. 9:11-15). He is the One who was before Abraham was, and yet is his descendant. He is the promised Son who carries the wood up the mountain for the sacrifice, who is bound and laid upon the altar of the cross. He is the ram who is offered in our place, who is willingly caught in the thicket of our sin, and who wears the crown of thorns upon His head (Gen. 22:1-14). Though Jesus is dishonored by the sons of the devil, He is vindicated by the Father through the cross.

Jeremiah was charged with speaking evil when he spoke the Word of the Lord (Jer. 26:1-15). So also, Jesus is accused of doing evil when in fact He is doing good. He casts out a demon from a mute man so that he is able to speak (Luke 11:14-28). But some said Jesus did this by the power of Beelzebub, Satan. Like Pharaoh of old, their hearts were hard (Ex. 8:16-24). They did not recognize the finger of God, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in and through Jesus. Jesus is the Stronger Man who overcomes the strong man. He takes the devil's armor of sin and death and destroys it from the inside out by the holy cross. He exorcizes and frees us by water and the Word. We were once darkness, but now we are light in Christ the Lord (Eph. 5:1-9). As children of light, our tongues are loosed to give thanks to Him who saved us.

Jacob wrestled with God; he would not let Him go until he received a blessing from Him (Gen. 32:22-32). So it was with the Canaanite woman.

Though Jesus seemed to ignore and reject her, she continued to call upon His name and look to Him for help (Mt. 15:21-28). Even when the Lord called her a little dog, she held on to Him in faith and would not let Him wriggle out of His words: "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." This Gentile woman shows herself to be a true Israelite, who struggles with God and man in Christ and prevails.

"O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire" (Mt.

15:27-28). This is the sanctifying will of God (1 Thess. 4:1-7)—to test your faith in order that it may be refined and strengthened. For tribulation produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope. And hope in Christ does not disappoint (Rom. 5:1-5).

In the Garden, man exalts himself to be a god in place of God (Gen. 3:1-

21). He succumbs to the temptation of the devil, and eating of the forbidden fruit, he receives death. But in the sin-cursed wilderness, God humbles Himself to become man in place of man (Mt. 4:1-11). He does not eat but fasts and bears the onslaughts of the devil for us that we may be restored to life. Jesus stands as David in our place to do battle against the Goliath, Satan (1 Samuel 17:40-51). Though outwardly Jesus appears weak, yet He comes in the name of the Lord of hosts. He draws from the five smooth stones of the books of Moses and slings the Word of God.

The stone sinks into the forehead, and the enemy falls. In Christ we are victorious over the devil. Let us therefore not receive the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. 6:1-10), but seeing that we have a great High Priest, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain help in time of need (Heb 4:14-16).

The seeing are blind, while the one who is blind can see (Luke 18:31-43).

Jesus tells the twelve that He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer and die and rise again, but they cannot understand or grasp what He is saying.

The meaning of His words is hidden from their sight. However, as Jesus makes His way up to Jerusalem, a blind man calls out to Him for mercy.

This blind man sees that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, for he calls Him

"Son of David." Indeed, Jesus is the Lord's anointed, the keeper of sheep

(1 Sam. 16:1-13) who goes to lay down His life for the sheep. He is the incarnate love of the Father who suffers long and is kind, who is not puffed up, who never fails us (1 Cor. 13:1-13). Jesus opens the eyes of the blind (Is. 35:3-7) to see Him not according to outward appearances of lowliness, but according to His heart of mercy and compassion. Those who behold Him thus by faith follow Him to the cross through death into life.

The Sower sows the seed of His Word (Luke 8:4-15). This Word is living and powerful (Heb. 4:9-13) to conceive new life in those who hear it. But the planting of Christ is attacked by the devil, the world, and the flesh.

Satan snatches the Word away from hard hearts. The riches and pleasures of this life choke off faith. Shallow and emotional belief withers in time of temptation and trouble. But see how Christ bears this attack for us!

Christ's cross was planted in the hard and rocky soil of Golgotha. A crown of thorns was placed upon His head. Satan and His demons hellishly hounded and devoured Him. Yet, through His dying and rising again, He destroyed these enemies of ours. Jesus is Himself the Seed which fell to the ground and died in order that it might sprout forth to new life and produce much grain. In Him, the weak are strong (2 Cor. 11:19-12:9). He is the Word of the Father which does not return void (Is. 55:10-13) but yields a harvest hundredfold.

The people of Israel contended with the Lord in the wilderness (Ex.

17:1-7). They were dissatisfied with His provision. In the same way, the first laborers in the vineyard complained against the landowner for the wage he provided them (Matt. 20:1-16). They charged him with being unfair, but in reality he was being generous. For the Lord does not wish to deal with us on the basis of what we deserve but on the basis of His abounding grace in Christ. The first—those who rely on their own merits-will be last. "For they were overthrown in the wilderness" (1 Cor. 10:5). But the last, those who rely on Christ, will be first. For Christ is the Rock (1 Cor. 9:24-10:5). He is the One who was struck and from whose side blood and water flowed that we may be cleansed of our sin.