October 25, 2024

Today's Reading: Matthew 17:14-27

Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 27:1-26; Matthew 17:14-27

What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. (Matthew 17:25-26)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It sounds too good to be true, but that does not mean that it’s not true. That’s just the nature of the gospel. It defies all human reason and thought because the gospel is for those who cannot pay for it, not for those who can. It’s for the unrighteous, not the righteous. The gospel is for you.

The gospel is for you because Jesus places no burden or tax on you being in His Father’s kingdom. His death lifted every burden and paid every tax for you. Beware of anyone, then, who would want to turn faith into the only burden or tax demanded of you. Faith will quickly become just another burden or tax you cannot fully pay. Jesus says, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to here,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20-21). Like the apostles, then, all we can confess is, “No wonder I am always crashing into mountains.” “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Like the apostles, we have an imperfect faith. But also, like the apostles, we have a perfect Savior. Jesus’ death on the cross declares us fully righteous in God’s sight and completely holy in His judgment. Jesus’ death on the cross is why God does not keep score but sets all our sins aside and declares us heirs in His eternal kingdom. Baptized into Jesus, pardoned by His Word, fed His Body and Blood, God has moved mountains Himself and set us free from the greatest mountain of all, ourselves. 

“O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17)  Hear in that cry the call of the One Who moves mountains for you, for there is no burden now, no tax at all. God requires nothing from you for you to be or to remain in His kingdom. Jesus’ death lifted every burden and paid every tax for you. That is the promise of the gospel. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

God’s own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ! He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price. Do I need earth’s treasures many? I have one worth more than any That brought me salvation free Lasting to eternity! (LSB 594:1)

-Rev. Bradley Drew, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.