April 15, 2024

Today's Reading: Acts 3:11-21

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 33:1-23, Luke 7:1-17

And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus’s healing miracles can sometimes make us feel less than. They can make us feel left out or unimportant. Why does this person get to be healed, and here I am, still suffering from the thing I’ve prayed over and over again for God to heal or take away? Why doesn’t He do for me what He does for these people in the Bible, like the disabled man Peter healed? 

That’s a complicated answer beyond this brief page. But this fact remains: that man may have been healed, but he did eventually die. And that’s the thing about us all; we will all die unless Jesus returns first.

But that is where the comfort of this text comes in. We will all surely die, but we will also all be surely raised on the Last Day. And the faith that we have in Jesus now will lead to perfect health in the life of the world to come, and that life never ends.

That life is one that lasts forever. That perfect health will last forever. That newly-resurrected body will never give you the problems it does now. 

Your Baptism created within you the faith that gives perfect health. Your Baptism gave you life everlasting. It is something you have right now. You may not see or feel it, but that is Jesus’s promise to you: by virtue of your Baptism, you now have eternal life and you now live forever.

You can’t see the fullness of that just yet, none of us can, but it is yours. Oh, sure, your sinful flesh will want to deny that every single day. “There’s no way I can have eternal life, just look at me!” 

No! Jesus has said to you in your Baptism that you indeed are recreated to live forever. The promise of His Word, given through Holy Scripture backs that up. He has declared it, and you trust His Word, given into your ears.

That’s what faith is; trust created in you by Jesus to hear and believe His promises for you. Perfect healing is yours. Life forever is yours. Everlasting comfort is yours. Because of Jesus, because He loves you and wants you with Him forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Ev’ry wound that pains or grieves me By Your wounds, Lord, is made whole; When I’m faint, Your cross revives me, Granting new life to my soul. Yes, Your comfort renders sweet Ev’ry bitter cup I meet; For Your all-atoning passion Has procured my soul’s salvation. (LSB 421:4)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

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

A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.