Reflections

Daily Lectionary: Job 4:1-21; John 2:1-12

 

And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?  My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The first miracle that Jesus performs is all about pointing us from the Law to the Gospel. We all know about the six stone jars that held water for the Jewish rites of purification. The water supplied for this miracle was anything but clean. It was hand-washing water! It definitely would not be the type of water anyone would voluntarily drink. The funny part? Christ commanded the waiters to give it to the headwaiter, their boss.

When the headwaiter tasted it, he proclaimed it as the best wine of the feast. John tells us that he did not know where it came from, although the servers who had drawn the water knew (John 2:9). One can almost wonder what the waiters were thinking as they handed the water to their boss. They were simply following Jesus’ command, a simple Word spoken over creation.

This points to Jesus’ authority in heaven and on earth as the author of all creation. He fulfills the Law in our place and leaves us with the gladness of the Gospel. As we live out our lives here and now, we are making our pilgrimage toward heaven, where we will partake of the Supper of the Lamb, which we will enjoy with Christ at the end of time.     But Jesus does not leave us empty-handed in the meantime. He comes to us with His Word and changes bread and wine into His Body and Blood at His command and for our benefit. The Eucharist brings to us the fulfillment of Jesus’ hour where He was crucified for us and for our salvation. The fruits of His Cross are placed into your mouth each time you come to the Lord’s Table. That wondrous feast shows you that the Law has been fulfilled, and the Gospel is given to you as you participate in the foretaste of that great marriage feast that is to come. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. -Rev. Kent Schaaf

 

Almighty and everlasting God, who governs all things in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the prayers of Your people and grant us Your peace through all our days; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Today’s Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Daily Lectionary: Job 3:11-26; John 1:35-51

 

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place. (2 Peter 1:19)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Peter, James, and John were there on the mountain top with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. They saw Jesus transfigured, and they were enveloped by the cloud and the glory of God. They saw all of this and did not die. They heard the voice proclaim Jesus as God’s own Son and heard that in Him the Father is pleased.

It often seems that Peter, James, and John might have had an advantage over us. Where do we see the glory of the Lord around us?  Why can’t we get a glimpse like they did?

Peter makes it very clear to us that we have Holy Scripture, which brings to us the blessings and work of God for us and our salvation. Peter saw and experienced it all. What he saw and heard would lead him to tell others and to write it all down. Throughout the history of the world, Peter’s message has been handed down and is now given to you.

You do not need a mountain or a cloud or Moses and Elijah to experience the presence and glory of the Lord. Each time you gather at the Divine Service you are given the fullness of God’s grace and glory. In your Baptism, the Father proclaimed that He is pleased with you and that you are His beloved child. In the Lord’s Supper you gather with Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John and all the company of heaven as Jesus feeds you with the Bread of heaven that will never perish. In the Word and Sacraments you are given the new creation, the sure and certain hope that you will never die, but will live in Him who was transfigured, crucified, and risen from the dead, all for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. -Rev. Kent Schaaf

 

This is God’s beloved Son! Law and prophets sing before Him, First and Last and only One. All creation shall adore him! Alleluia! (Jesus on the Mountain Peak, LSB 415:4)

Daily Lectionary: Job 2:1-3:10; John 1:19-34

 

We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed and each love and honor his spouse. (The Small Catechism: Sixth Commandment)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This commandment is often seen as awkward for Christians to bring up. Whether it’s upholding the biblical view of marriage between one man and one woman or the fact that the Bible calls divorce a sin, what are Christians to do in a day and age when our world champions the breaking of the Sixth Commandment?

God has called us to be faithful with the gift of marriage and human sexuality. With all the temptations around us and the popular views of marriage and sexuality, it is sometimes difficult to remain faithful to those given to us by God.

Jesus is the one who has come for you, His Bride, the Church, and you are a member of Her by Baptism and faith. He lived the perfect, chaste, and decent life, and promises that by His blood we have the forgiveness of all our sins, including those sins against the Sixth Commandment. Jesus Christ is faithful to you. He forgives and will strengthen you and keep you from temptation.

Your Baptism is a guarantee in all of this, for, “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for Her, that He might sanctify Her, having cleansed Her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that She might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. -Rev. Kent Schaaf

 

The voice that breathed o’er Eden, That earliest wedding-day, The primal marriage blessing,–It hath not passed away. Still in the pure espousal Of Christian man and maid The Triune God is with us, The threefold grace is said. (The Voice that Breathed o’er Eden, The Lutheran Hymnal 622:1)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

Daily Lectionary: Job 1:1-22; John 1:1-18

 

Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.  (Exodus 34:29)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Moses came down from the mountain with the Law, which he received in the presence of the eternal glory of God. We often think of this story as being just about the giving of the Law, but the very fact that Moses was in the presence of the Almighty, able to speak with Him, is purely Gospel.

When God sets things in order with His Law it is for our benefit, to draw us into repentance, that there might be the Gospel for us as well. The Gospel is given to you freely through Jesus, who fulfilled and credited to you the Law on the tablets of testimony.

Because of Jesus’ work on the Cross the temple curtain is torn in two. No veil is needed anymore to shield us from God’s presence or His glory. The veil is lifted for you, and now each time you gather in the Divine Service, your sins are forgiven and you are able to speak with God. You receive His glory in the preaching and in the Lord’s Supper, where we see Jesus. In these means you are given the words of eternal life and the foretaste of the eternal glory which Christ has prepared for you.

This is all for you with the guarantee that as you are in Christ, His face shines on you. Together we can all truly say, “We have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. -Rev. Kent Schaaf

 

Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face; here would I touch and handle things unseen, here grasp with firmer hand th’eternal grace, and all my weariness upon thee lean. (Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face, LSB 631:1)

Today’s Reading: Luke 2:22-32

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 14:1-21; Titus 2:7-3:15

 

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”). (Luke 2:22-23)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus obeyed the Law perfectly, even though He had no need to abide by the Law. He Himself wrote the Law, that same Law that is inscribed in the hearts of mankind. None are without excuse. We cannot abide by the Law, nor do we desire to fulfill it. We have made ourselves unclean and unredeemable through our thoughts, words, and deeds that are diseased by sin.

Because of this, Jesus must obey and abide by the Law perfectly for you. As He was presented in the temple, you were presented in the Temple, so that you might have the fullness of His redemption paid for you. In His life, He keeps the commandments perfectly, and you receive all the credit. Ultimately, He would be presented in Jerusalem at the end of His life and be counted as sinful, unclean, and guilty, so that you would be set free.

He suffers the judgment and curse of the Law, dying the death you deserved. He lived your life and died your death. In doing so He showed His love for both God and for you as His neighbor. Because of this you are now presented in that heavenly Jerusalem before God, and you are declared pure and redeemed by Him who continues to bless you each day with His grace. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. -Rev. Kent Schaaf

 

Jesus, by Your presentation, When they blessed You, weak and poor, Make us see Your great salvation, Seal us with Your promise sure; And present us in Your glory To Your Father, cleansed and pure. (In His Temple Now Behold Him, LSB 519:3)

Today’s Reading: Matthew 17:1-9

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 12:1-13:9; Titus 1:1-2:6

“This is my beloved Son…listen to Him.” (Matthew 17:5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Listening is hard, really hard,

especially when you aren’t the one doing the talking. It’s hard enough for

us to listen to others today, let alone to what our Lord would tell us by His

Word. The Transfiguration of Jesus shows us the immense importance

He places on the Word of God. Forget the radiance and the glory, forget

Moses and Elijah, alive and speaking with Jesus, forget the cloud and

the man-made plans Peter had to keep the experience going. “Listen,”

says the Father, “listen to Him.”

Listen to Him as He says to Peter, James, and John, “rise and

have no fear” (Matthew 17:9). Have no fear because the Lord of Life has

come for you. He descends the mountain in order to ascend Calvary

where His time for glory would be revealed for the life of the world.

On the Cross Jesus continues speaking the words of eternal life

to you and the whole world. Not even a parched and stricken mouth can

stop Him from telling you those blessed words. “Forgive them for they

know not what they do…” “It is finished…”

Risen and victorious from the grave, He speaks to us today,

“Peace to you.” This peace reminds us that whether we live or die, we

are with the Lord, who on the last day will say, “Come, you who are

blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

-Rev. Kent Schaaf

O God, Who in the glorious transfiguration of Your only-begotten Son

confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers and

Who, in the voice that came from the bright cloud, did in a wonderful

manner foreshow the adoption of sons, mercifully make us co-heirs with

the King of His glory and bring us to the enjoyment of our inheritance in

heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns

with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect

for The Transfiguration of Our Lord)

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 11:4-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-18

 

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (From the Introit for The Transfiguration of Our Lord)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. As soon as we see how scary the world is we start looking for a safe place. Kids hide under covers. Peter sets up tabernacles on mountains: one for Moses, one for Elijah. one for Jesus. Let me stay, too! It’s safe up here. Until it isn’t. The lightnings lighted up the world, and even the safe mountain trembled and shook.

We spend so much time looking for what must be the house of God, the safe place, that we lose sight of the miracle of the Transfiguration. It was there all along. If all the world is God’s creation, His dwelling place is wherever He dwells. Jesus dwells with sinners. With you. It isn’t measured by how safe it looks or feels, but by His promise. This is my Body. This is my Blood. This is for you for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. My soul faints for the courts of the Lord, where He sustains me and shields me, feeds me and gives me His favor. My soul longs for church, where Christ has promised to be not just with me, but for me.

The Transfiguration is awesome because of the display of power, but it isn’t safe. There’s no promise. There’s no mercy. There’s no “for you.” At the end, what’s left standing was there all along, but more. Jesus only, but Jesus for you. He has all the same power and divinity. He bears human likeness not to be more approachable, but to die on the Cross to save you. It’s scary down here, so Jesus descends from heaven to save us by dying our death and rising from the grave. He sets up His courts wherever His Word is preached and His Sacraments are administered. We find shelter in His presence even as He gives us His gifts. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman

 

Glimpsed and gone the revelation, They shall gain and keep its truth, Not by building on the mountain Any shrine or sacred booth, But by following the Savior Through the valley to the cross And by testing faith’s resilience Through betrayal, pain, and loss. (Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory, LSB 416:2)

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 10:1-11:3; 2 Timothy 3:1-17

 

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. (2 Timothy 3:14)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The prediction of dark and latter days is more than a “Don’t say I didn’t warn you” from on high. It isn’t even a recognition that evil will always oppose the truth, coupled with a challenge to be ready. It’s more fundamental. The truth will always stand against evil. The truth was there first. The evil didn’t come until later. In the beginning was the way, the truth, the life. In the beginning was God. All the evil, in contrast to the power of God, is folly. Christ brought the evil to nothing on the Cross. Sin is forgiven. The devil, defeated. Death, destroyed. Don’t be afraid.

This isn’t a revelation of who the bad men are. It’s about who we are. Christianity is about Jesus’ saving sinners through a cross. We take shelter under the Cross. Crosses hurt. To be close to the Cross is to…hurt. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t working. It means that it is.

We live in dark and latter days. The world has gone insane. It points to us and yells that we’re the crazy ones. “You are not like us.”  It’s so constant and so loud. Our faith, our cross, our resurrection, our law, our Gospel, our Sacraments: It all honestly starts to sound crazy sometimes.

So Paul tells Timothy to hold on to sanity by remembering who he learned it from. Remember Jesus. The world has gone crazy. They yell with one voice. But they can’t yell your Savior into the tomb again. The Scriptures attest to Jesus. Remember Jesus so that you know righteousness. Know that you already have it. Know that crazy can rise from the dead. Jesus is Lord. Then lean into it. The Scriptures are profitable to rebuke and teach and correct crazy. They teach a Law that makes us seem insane, and even more, a resurrection that names us sane. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman

 

Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous; Bright with Thine own holiness, Glorious now, we press toward glory, And our lives our hopes confess. Alleluia, alleluia! Praise to Thee who light dost send! Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia without end! (Thy Strong Word, LSB 578:3)

Today’s Reading: Titus 1:1-9

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 9:1-17; 2 Timothy 2:1-26

 

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior. (Titus 1:1–3)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This text shows us what makes a pastor. It’s actually in that rambling introduction though, not in a pastor’s behavior. We love rushing to the reproach part, but who would be left standing? I’m not saying your pastor should lean into sin. I’m saying Christ bore our reproaches upon the cross, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

The makeup of a pastor starts with God’s will and truth, not with the behavior of men. For the sake of the faith of the elect, the God who never lies would see His Gospel preached. The Lord insists the elect have hope and truth. He’s even preached the Gospel through Caiaphas and Pilate both.

Start with the Gospel. Let the clergy not take an iota or a dot from it. Not with false teaching, and not by their actions, either. The reason Paul calls the clergy to the standard he does is because sin is by nature selfish.

The list of sins he lays out to Titus point to self, not Christ. He clarifies as he closes, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”  Give Jesus to sinners, don’t take Him from them. God promised them eternal life before the ages began. Don’t settle for those who would turn a gift into extortion. Your pastor gives Jesus to sinners. To you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman

 

Though with a scornful wonder The world sees her oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, By heresies distressed, Yet saints their watch are keeping; Their cry goes up, “How long?” And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song. (The Church’s One Foundation, LSB 644:3)

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 8:1-23; 2 Timothy 1:1-18

 

You shall not murder. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. (The Small Catechism: Fifth Commandment)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The naked commandment is always easier than its meaning. Jesus leans on it. Hatred is sin. Not helping your enemy is sin. I prefer a commandment that only has to do with stabbing or shooting. I can hopefully, maybe, sort of, manage that. Kind of.

The real issue goes deeper than my sinful heart. The true problem is that I disagree with God on a fundamental level with the idea that some people should be allowed to prosper. I would see them suffer in my heart. He would rather suffer Himself to save them.

The Fifth Commandment starts with a truth: God would die that your enemy would live. To break this commandment cuts to the heart of the Gospel. There should be people trapped in the wages of sin. Death. The free gift of God is life everlasting. He calls us to start there.

These are sinners that Jesus died for. These are sinners who have been given an undeserved gift. They don’t deserve to live, but God wills them alive so firmly that He’d die to make it so. That even applies to you, who harbor hatred and venom within you. Jesus died for murderers, because even when we’d rather die by the sword, He’d see us live by the Cross. Your sins are forgiven you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman

 

“You shall not murder, hurt, nor hate; Your anger dare not dominate. Be kind and patient; help, defend, And treat your foe as your friend.” Have mercy, Lord!  (These Are the Holy Ten Commands, LSB 581:6)