June 23, 2025 

Today's Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 27:1-24; Proverbs 28:1-29:27; John 20:1-18

“I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.” (Isaiah 65:9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Israel’s children had no idea how good they had it, and they had it all. They thought it would last forever. After all, they have everything going for them that the world did not. They had Abraham as their father; they had the temple, and, oh yeah, God had already prevented Assyria from overtaking them (Isaiah 37).

They took the presence of God and the blessing of being the people who bear His Name for granted. It was a band-aid over the gash of their idolatry. God says no more. Assyria will come and take Israel away; the sins of the fathers and the children will be accounted for.

It's easy to belittle the children of Israel. To measure them against God’s law, as God Himself does. We see the specks of sin in everybody, yet we don’t see the log in our own eyes. Maybe life hasn’t been easy lately, and you're mad at God about that. Perhaps you think that you deserve more and that God would want you to be happy. We can be rebellious people and take God for granted, too. In fact, we can fall into the sins of our fathers and tell ourselves our own sins are fine because God will make it all okay anyway.

And yet God does not abandon His people, even when they are unfaithful or when they take Him for granted. Israel is hauled away by Assyria. Judah, to Babylon. Sin has consequences. The band-aid is ripped off so that the wound might be cared for properly.

God sends an offspring from Jacob’s son Judah—His own Son to be the one who bears the crushing weight of the Law and its punishment for our unfaithfulness. He does this so that we might repent from our idolatry and believe that God is faithful even when we are not. We cling to His Son Jesus. We endure the consequences of our actions, the effects of living in a fallen sinful world. Do not think that because of this, your God has forgotten you.

In Jesus, you have it all. Not in a worldly reflection of wealth and happiness but in a way that the suffering and sadness of this life cannot overcome. In the waters of Baptism, we are washed and given the garments of salvation—a new identity, united to Jesus’ death and resurrection, bringing us back to our Father, whole and content. We receive our daily bread from our Father’s hand, living in this world strengthened by the God who gives us everything without any merit or worthiness in me.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Chief of sinners though I be, Christ is all in all to me; All my wants to Him are known, All my sorrows are His own. He sustains the hidden life Safe with Him from earthly strife. (LSB 611:4)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.