Reflections

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 11:1-26; 2 Corinthians 6:1-18

But deliver us from evil. What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, gives us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to himself in heaven. (Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer, Seventh Petition)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, it’s not that we’re just asking for a bunch of stuff from God. We’re learning to trust that before we even ask, He already plans to gives us these many blessings. And finally, we learn to believe the promise that He will keep us in His Word and faith until we die.

Nobody wants to think about dying. It could come in the next instant through tragedy to anyone at any age. It may wait until well into old age. Either way, as Christians, we face death with this petition on our lips, even when we’re not thinking about it.

And the petition is this: Deliver us from evil. That is, ultimately, sin and death. The evil one brought evil to mankind with his lying words and his lying words led to disobedience and sin and death. So the answer to this prayer to be delivered from all these evils is Jesus: Jesus who overcomes Satan; Jesus who overcomes sin; Jesus whose Word gives us forgiveness, life and salvation.

By His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus has dealt with, answered, counteracted, taken care of, and done away with evil. He’s eradicated the sting of sin, death, and the devil. He’s rescued us from all of that. He has delivered you from every evil.

Therefore, when you pray this petition, you are in essence saying, “Lord, you have baptized me and fed me with Christ’s Body and Blood; you have filled my ears with the Good News of what Jesus’ death and resurrection does for me. Therefore let me fear nothing, and when it’s time to die, then take me to be with you forever like you promised.” The Lord promises to deliver you from evil. And He does and always will in Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

From evil, Lord, deliver us; The times and days are perilous. Redeem us from eternal death, And, when we yield our dying breath, Console us, grant us calm release, And take our souls to You in peace. (Our Father, Who From Heaven Above, LSB 766:8)

Today’s Reading: Romans 9:30-10:4

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 9:1-9; 10:1-13; 2 Corinthians 5:1-21

Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There is no Law in Christ Jesus. Jesus the telos, the ending, the finishing, the completion of the Law. Christ has accomplished all the Law’s demands in your place. There’s nothing more that can be done. Christ has done it all. He Himself has said so. “Tetelestai. It is finished,” was what Jesus said on the cross. He has said that the Law is finished—accomplished in Him. Paul and Jesus say the same thing. Telos and tetelestai are from the same word. “Christ is the end (telos) of the Law” because in His death and resurrection He has finished it all as He said, “It is finished (Tetelestai).” Jesus is the “it is finished” of the Law.

Yet, we want to put everything back under the Law. We compare ourselves to others all the time. Oh sure, we’ll admit that we aren’t perfect, that we’ve sinned, but at least we’re not as bad as the next guy. We create our own categories, label people, put them in the “hell” box because they’ve murdered, stolen, gotten an abortion, a divorce, because we know what they did at that party, and we would never do anything like that. Repent. We are using the Law for righteousness, but “you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?” (Galatians 4:21). There are only two categories when it comes to the Law: righteous and sinner. There isn’t better sinner or worse sinner. Repent.

Thanks be to God that in spite of our own laws—our law-ing other people—He saves us. “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” He has already died and risen, fulfilling the Law completely for you. There’s no reason to try anything else, to jockey for position, to climb the mountain a little bit higher. Christ already ascended the mountain. He’s given you the best place: He has made you God’s child in Baptism and seated you at the foretaste of the heavenly banquet when you receive His Body and Blood. What more is there to be done for righteousness’ sake? Nothing. Jesus has done it all. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit; Our works and conduct have no worth. God in His love sent our Redeemer, Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth; His death did for our sin atone, And we are saved by grace alone. (By Grace I’m Saved, LSB 566:2)

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 8:4-12

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 8:22-30,46-63; 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

“Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 8:7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God says in the Third Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” We know that this means that “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” The problem is we don’t. So often we don’t care about the Lord’s Word. We don’t really listen to it. We begrudgingly go to church to receive. We don’t even read it on our own! We sing so often, “Alleluia! Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia!” But do we really take them to heart and believe them, and if we believe them, do we live them?

The wild animals listen to His Word. They follow the seasons He controls. They migrate. They are fruitful and multiply according to His Word and will. The animals listen more to what He says than we do. We’re worse off than the beasts of the field or the birds of the air. As David says, “I was foolish and ignorant; I was a beast of burden before You” (Psalm 73:22).

This is exactly why Christ Jesus had to come. He always heard and did God’s Word. He listened and so He bore our sins against His Word, He was crucified for them, shed His blood for them, died for them, and rose on the Third Day so that you would be perfect, holy, and righteous—justified—before God, your heavenly Father.

Now that we’re in Him we joyfully hear His Word. We receive it with joy and gladness. We can’t get enough of it. It’s been washed over our foreheads, placed into our ears and hearts, and placed in our mouths. The Word is powerful and we receive it through font, Keys, pulpit, and altar. There’s always more Word for you. We receive it, we believe it, we live it, in Christ Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God’s Word is our great heritage And shall be ours forever; To spread its light from age to age Shall be our chief endeavor. Through life it guides our way, In death it is our stay. Lord, grant, while worlds endure, We keep its teachings pure throughout all generations. (God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage, LSB 581)

Today’s Reading: Luke 19:41-48

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 7:51-8:21; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!” (Luke 19:41-42)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s all about Jesus, dying and rising for you. It’s all about hearing Jesus’ Word that delivers His death and resurrection over your forehead, into your ears, and into your mouth. These are all the things that make for our peace. These are all the signs and works that God does to show that He earnestly desires to save, not just you but the whole world. This isn’t just true now, but it was also how it was when Jesus walked, talked, and taught during His earthly life.

The religious leaders had rejected Him. They wanted to have earthly power and control. His people would be stirred up and would reject Him, having Him crucified by their Roman overlords. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). Because of this Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace” (Luke 19:42). Swift judgment falls on those outside of Christ, who reject Him with their words and actions. Those who try and buy and sell their salvation and merit before God are cast out, those who try to bargain with God through their prayers and those who don’t always gladly hear Christ’s Word fall under judgment.

But we shouldn’t lose heart. Christ’s Word makes us glad: “the things that make for your peace.” He makes our peace. He bears our bargaining, our not holding His Word sacred, our not gladly hearing and learning it. It’s all about what He has done for you. He’s died and risen for all of that. The judgment doesn’t stand against you. You are surrounded not by judgment or enemies, but by Christ and His salvation. You are filled with the Spirit and reconciled to the Father. “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, as You declare Your almighty power above all in showing mercy and pity, mercifully grant unto us such a measure of Your grace that we may obtain Your gracious promises and be made partakers of Your heavenly treasures; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Trinity 10)

Today’s Reading: Luke 22:24-30

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 5:1-16; 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:17

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. (Luke 22:24)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus’ apostles often got into this argument about who was greatest. From what we read in the Scriptures, guys like Peter, James, and John seem like Jesus’ favorites or the greatest of the apostles. But Bartholomew? Most of us can’t even spell his name without looking! What did Bartholomew ever do? What was he ever known for? Answer: He was sent by Jesus into the world to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ Name.

The greatest, of course, is Jesus, but not for the reasons we usually think. Jesus isn’t great because He’s powerful and can create the universe and because He knows everything. He’s great because He is the least. He is the lightning rod of sin. He is the crucified Savior who did not come to show everyone how mighty He is, but to be mighty by being made as nothing, a criminal, a sinner, nailed to a tree. That’s greatness the apostles don’t know, until the Lord sends them to lay down their lives for Him in the preaching of His Word to a hostile world that kills them.

Your pastor may not seem like a great guy. But He is if He preaches Jesus. Your pastor has been called, just as St. Bartholomew was, to deliver Jesus to you. He may never have 10,000 people in a stadium church, or write a “Christian” bestselling book. But He baptized you or reminds you of your Baptism. He calls you to repentance and faith in Jesus by the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. He feeds you with the Body and Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. You can’t be a greater guy than that, even though the world thinks your pastor is nothing and doesn’t understand what he’s about.

St. Bartholomew, Peter, James, and John, and the men Jesus calls to be pastors aren’t great in and of themselves. But what they have is great, for they deliver Jesus by the Word and Sacraments. And by those gifts, He who is least, Jesus, makes you into the greatest in His kingdom. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

[Of Bartholomew, also called Nathanael]All praise for for him whose candor Through all his doubt You saw When Philip at the fig tree Disclosed you in the law. Discern, beneath our surface, O Lord, what we can be, That by Your truth made guileless, Your glory we may see. (LSB 518:23)

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 3:1-15; 2 Corinthians 1:1-22

…who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus died and rose to conquer sin and death. One of the greatest gifts we have as Christians is that this promise and certain forgiveness is not just for us but for others as well. Let’s face it: You are surrounded with friends and family who are troubled by this world, and the hurt that they see and the death that they experience. What a joy that we can speak and tell them that Jesus has answered for that! As one pastor put it when asked, “How’s it going?” said, “Well, Jesus is risen from the dead so I guess everything’s going to work out fine.”

The Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection really is meant to be a comfort. The world will make fun of you, of course, for that “pie-in-the-sky” self-help religious nonsense. But that’s only because the world is deep down truly afraid of death.

Think of the apostles. These men were terrified when Jesus died. They thought they had lost everything. They huddled together behind locked doors. When they had seen Jesus alive, they then went out and preached the Good News of repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ Name, even when it meant being tortured and killed for doing so. They knew this comfort. It’s a comfort that declares that since Jesus died and rose, suffering and death just aren’t that big of a deal.

Of course, we make suffering and death out to be the most horrible things ever. Repent! As if Jesus didn’t take care of all that. We live as if Jesus didn’t actually conquer and overcome those things. But He did. And the comfort He has for you, and you have for others, comes and is strengthened as you remember your Baptism and live in the forgiveness delivered in His Word and Supper. And in those gifts you have not only the promise for you that it will all work out, you have the promise to tell others that it will be okay because of Jesus for them, too. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

From God’s joy can nothing sever, For I am His dear lamb, He, my Shepherd ever. I am His because He gave me His own blood For my good, By His death to save me. (Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me, LSB 756:4)

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 22:22-23:12; John 18:15-40

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not from this world.” (John 18:36)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “For God loved the world this way: He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The Triune God will save you. The Father did it in giving His Son into death. The Son did it by giving His life. The Spirit did it in giving you faith to believe it. In today’s reading from John 18, we see that all getting worked out.

Jesus was born for this moment. He comes not to be an earthly King. He doesn’t come to set up a Christian empire or nation or kingdom. He didn’t stand before Pilate to unseat him. He stopped His disciples from taking up the sword. Peter tried; Jesus stopped him. Jesus even healed the high priest’s servant’s ear.

Sometimes Christians want there to be those sorts of things—a Christian nation or whatever else. But that’s not why Jesus came. He is King—King of kings and Lord of lords, in fact. He is almighty, powerful—omnipotent, in fact. He uses His power and mighty to set up a different sort of Kingdom.

He sets up a Kingdom of mercy, love, and forgiveness. That’s the “truth” of who He is, the “truth” of what He says. Pilate balks at it, and says, “What is truth?” But Jesus is. He’s the Truth, the Life, the Way. He leads us to the Father. He’s died and risen for the world. The Father sent Him to do that. The Spirit creates faith in Jesus, drawing you into Jesus’ Kingdom, the Holy Christian Church.

You’re in the Kingdom of God, Jesus’ not-earthly Kingdom. It’s for everyone, for all people, for all nations. You’re baptized into it. “Unless you’re born of water and the Spirit you will not enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5). You are born from above, you’ve been baptized “into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus is now your King. He showed it by dying and rising for you, and He made Himself your King and you His citizen at the font. You’re in that Kingdom now and forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

All who believe and are baptized Shall see the Lord’s salvation; Baptized into the death of Christ, They are a new creation. Through Christ’s redemption they shall stand Among the glorious, heav’nly band Of ev’ry tribe and nation. (All Who Believe and Are Baptized, LSB 601:1)

Today’s Reading: John 3:1-17

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 16:1-24; John 16:1-16

“God loved the world this way: He gave His only Son.” (John 3:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but only one God” (Athanasian Creed). Neither the Father nor Spirit died, though, “but the Son is both true God and true man. He died for me and shed His blood for me” (Christian Questions with Their Answers).

Without this God you would die, you would perish, you would be damned in hell, apart from Him forever. Your sinfulness and the sins that grow from it “daily and much” do it. “Whatever is born from flesh is flesh,” Jesus says (John 3:6), and “flesh” will not inherit the Kingdom of God, won’t even see it! That’s how far your sins keep you from God.

You know what you’ve done. So does God. When you don’t think anyone else sees or hears or knows, He does. In fact, He knows all of them—your sinfulness, too—from your conception to your last breath. Now, this isn’t to scare you into getting your act together. You should do that and should want to do that because you love God who’s saved you.

All this is to remind you of how the Father loves you. He doesn’t love by damning you or other sinners or even the entire world! No, His love, mercy, kindness, His almighty power and Kingdom are all put on display for you in the death of His eternal Son, Jesus, to save you from your sins and sinfulness. His love is tying you into that Kingdom in Holy Baptism—the washing, new birth of water, Word, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit creates faith in Jesus within you. He holies you. He will resurrect your flesh holy on the Last Day to inherit the Kingdom of God.

Holy Trinity Sunday isn’t a test on what facts you know about God. It’s about God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who saves you in the death of the Son, and makes you a part of that by baptizing you into the Triune Name of God. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and eternal God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, You have shown Your rich grace and mercy to us. Eternal Father, You created us at the beginning. Eternal Son of God, for us You became fully human, and for our sins You bore the cross. Eternal Spirit, You proceed from the Father and the Son from eternity, and through Your holy Gospel You give us faith and holiness. O one, eternal and almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, keep us in Your grace until our life’s end in the eternal blessedness in the life to come. Amen. (Veit Dietrich, Collect for Trinity Sunday)

Today’s Reading: John 16:5-15

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 20:1-16, 22-27; Luke 11:37-54

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” (John 16:13)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Why do we believe the Bible? We believe the Bible because we believe in Jesus.

If you believe in Jesus, you will believe His Word. Jesus promised His apostles on many occasions that He would give them the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit would give to them the truth, and that the Spirit would speak through them. Jesus promised that the word of His apostles would be His words.

Likewise, Jesus affirmed the authority of the Old Testament. For example, in Mark 12 Jesus quoted Psalm 110, and He introduced this quotation by saying, “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared…,” (Mark 12:36).

If you believe Jesus, then you believe what He said about the prophets and the apostles. Our view of the Bible is deeply rooted in our Christology—our theology about Christ.

But why do we believe in Jesus? We believe in Jesus because God raised Him from the dead.

Remember, Jesus wasn’t some ordinary rabbi. He made radical claims about Himself that scandalized the Jewish leaders. The Sanhedrin accused Jesus of blasphemy. They thought He was either lying or demon-possessed. Having condemned Jesus, they crucified Him.

There is a Judge greater than the Jewish Sanhedrin or Pilate: God. God raised Jesus from the dead because Jesus was righteous. By raising Jesus, the Father vindicated His radical claims. If Easter isn’t true, Jesus is a liar or a lunatic. If Easter is true, then Jesus is Lord.

I encourage you to research the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Be prepared to give an answer to those who ask about your hope. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Our merciful Father, the God who alone make minds of the faithful to be of one will, cause Your people to love what You command and to desire what You promise, that among the manifold changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reign with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 9:9-18, 26-37; Luke 11:14-36

Sing to the Lord a new song, Alleluia, for he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Alleluia. (Psalm 98:1, from the Introit for Easter 5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Sing to the Lord, because He has revealed His righteousness. What is the Lord’s righteousness?

Righteousness is conformity to a standard. A person is considered righteous, or “in the right,” by his neighbor when he meets that person’s expectations or fulfills his obligations. Marriage, for example, is governed by certain obligations and standards. When I meet my wife’s expectations and conform to those standards, I am righteous in her eyes. When I don’t, I am an unrighteous husband, and she rightly condemns me.

God is righteous. He conforms to a standard. What standard? The standard set by the Lord Himself. Nobody can require God to conform to man-made standards. God is sovereign and ruled by none. Still, He is free to make promises and oaths to us. He is free to commit Himself.

For example, the Lord revealed that He is just and that He will punish the wicked. Thus, sometimes when the Bible talks about God’s righteousness, it speaks of how He hates sin and judges the wicked. I think that’s what we normally think about whenever we consider the righteousness of God.

The Lord revealed that He is merciful and faithful, too. He made promises to His people: He will send a human being to defeat the serpent (Genesis 3:15); He will not destroy His creation again by a flood (Genesis 8:21); He will bless the nations through Abraham’s offspring (Genesis 22:18); a descendant of David will rule forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Since the Lord is righteous, He will conform Himself to these promises! Thus, the prophets and the psalter often associate God’s righteousness with God’s faithfulness, God’s mercy, and God’s salvation!

So rejoice! Your God is righteous! That means He will be merciful and faithful! That means He will save you through Jesus! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Praise Him, for His grace and favor To His people in distress; Praise Him still the same as ever, Slow to chide and swift to bless: Alleluia, alleluia! Glorious in His faithfulness. (Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, LSB 793:2)