Reflections

March 9, 2023 

Today's Reading: 

Daily Lectionary: Gen 24:1-31, Mark 7:24-37 

And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. (St. Mark 7:33–36) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Have you ever seen an old-time Bible movie about Jesus? They really bother me, because Jesus is always so clean and well groomed, wearing white and floating through the movie as if he was almost not even really there. 

We see a different Jesus in the gospels, especially today. This is the Jesus we really need to keep in our minds. This is the Jesus who lives among His people, bearing their burdens, sharing their pain, and healing their infirmities. This is the Jesus who laughs and cries, because He knows exactly what it is like to live on earth, with sin and evil around every corner; and with family and friends by your side. 

Jesus pulls the deaf man aside so he knows Jesus is focused on him and his needs. Sure, this isn’t very hygienic by today’s standards (what, no hand sanitizer?!?), but this is the Son of God we’re watching. Fingers in ears that don’t hear; fingers on a tongue that can’t speak. Looking to the heavens from which our help comes, and a deep sigh. 

All of these actions show the deaf man that Jesus is here for him. Specifically to help him and to show His might and power to those nearby. Touching, sighing, and speaking, Jesus restores what was broken. He heals what caused pain. 

You might not be deaf or mute, but you are afflicted by sin and death every single day. Jesus breaks into your world on a regular basis and restores you, ever so briefly in this world, but for all of eternity in the Divine Service. There, He puts his Word into your ears, and He touches your tongue with His Body and Blood to restore you. To forgive you. To grant you everlasting life and eternal salvation. 

You may not always understand what is happening, but Jesus sees you in your struggles, and He speaks directly to you, touches you, and assures you of His mercy, now and forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Almighty and most merciful God, in this earthly life we endure sufferings and death before we enter into eternal glory. Grant us grace at all times to subject ourselves to Your holy will and to continue steadfast in the true faith to the end of our lives that we may know the peace and joy of the blessed hope of the resurrection of the dead and of the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Times of Affliction and Distress) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 8, 2023 

Today's Reading: Luther’s Small Catechism - Table of Duties: To Everyone 

Daily Lectionary: Gen 22:1-19, Mark 7:1-23 

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:9) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Back at the beginning of catechism class, and maybe even well before then, most kids don’t love the Ten Commandments. In fact, it’s usually the opposite, isn’t it? Between memorizing them and their meanings, many catechumens develop a hostile relationship with the Ten Commandments. 

Rather than looking at the Commandments as a list to be wrestled into submission though, see them instead as a guide for loving your neighbor. I always ask my catechumens “who is your neighbor?” and they eventually learn the right answer: “anyone who isn’t me!” 

Realizing who your neighbor is and how your relationship with all of your neighbors is affected by how you live out your faith and life is essential. It’s pretty easy to say that you’ve never murdered anyone or robbed a bank. It isn’t so easy to say you haven’t wished someone harm or pocketed something that wasn’t yours to take. 

The key in all of this is remembering the First Table: Commandments 1-3, which deal with our relationship with God our Father. When we get that straight, when we love the Lord our God and gather together for worship and the study of his Word, that sets us on the path of loving our neighbor. It gets us in the right frame of mind. 

Then, knowing how to love our God informs our love for our neighbors. The Golden Rule (which isn’t in the Bible, by the way) does help: treat others the way you want to be treated. In theory, this makes the Christian life easy—all the rules are there. All the possible ways to treat everyone are laid out in the open. 

In reality, though, sin makes it a lot more difficult to love our neighbors as ourselves. Their sin against us, and our sin against them complicates things. Thanks be to God that our Lord Jesus has already kept these Commandments perfectly for us, that His Death and Resurrection forgives our failures, and His Holy Spirit guides us in the way to go. 

How do you love Jesus? By loving your neighbors. And when you fail to love them as you should, Jesus loves you through them; especially parents and pastors who remind you that we love because Jesus first loved us. Thanks be to God that His love never fails! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Almighty and ever-living God, You make us both to will and to do those things that are good and acceptable in Your sight. Let Your fatherly hand ever guide us and Your Holy Spirit ever be with us to direct us in the knowledge and obedience of Your Word that we may obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Collect For Divine Guidance) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 7, 2023 

Today's Reading: Romans 4:1-8, 13-17 

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 21:1-21, Mark 6:35-56 

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. (Romans 4:13) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Yesterday, we looked at how Abraham was blessed by God through a promise that he would father a great nation, that all the faithful would be able to trace their lineage back to him.

It is important to remember how that happened, and who was in charge. As I always like to ask, “Who’s running the verbs here?” Who was doing the blessing and promising? It was God the Father, of course, the Great I Am, who would later promise to Moses that He would guide God’s people back to the ancestral lands promised to Abraham. 

All of those things happened through the work of God on behalf of his people. Sure, along the way, He gave Moses the Law, the Ten Commandments, the moral and ceremonial rules for life as God’s people until the Messiah’s coming. But none of those promises came based on Abraham’s behavior or gumption. 

That is important to remember in our day, as well. God blesses His people. He makes promises to His children. And none of these things are based on us. God never says, “If you behave well enough, then I’ll save you.” No, He says instead: “This is my promise to you: Jesus is for you!” 

That’s the thing about the power of the creative and performative Word of God. It does what it says, even without your input! The living Word of God bounces off your eardrum and travels into your brain where the Holy Spirit creates faith in a mysterious way. 

God declares you righteous by the work of his Son, Jesus, speaks that righteousness upon you while wetting you with the water of Baptism, and when your pastor proclaims your absolution, and when that Word is tied to bread and wine made Body and Blood. 

In none of these things are you driving the narrative; it is all God, all the time. He declares you His child. He makes you righteous. He instills faith in you. All of it by His power and might, for you, so that you (like Abraham) would trust that He has you in His hands, safe for all eternity. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

All depends on our possessing God’s abundant grace and blessing, Though all earthly wealth depart. They who trust with faith unshaken By their God are not forsaken And will keep a dauntless heart…If my days on earth He lengthen, God my weary soul will strengthen; All my trust in Him I place. Earthly wealth is not abiding, like a stream away is gliding; Safe I anchor in His grace. (All Depends on Our Possessing, LSB 732:1-6) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 6, 2023 

Today's Reading: Gen. 12:1-9 

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 18:1-15, Mark 6:14-34 

Now the LORD said to Abram…“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God always blesses His children, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Abram messes up. A LOT. Yet God is faithful to His promise and watches over and guides him so that He may fulfill the promise He made. 

Abram leaves Ur and goes on this journey to what will become the Promised Land, within which the Messiah will eventually be born. Along the way, Abram’s journey takes him through trouble in Egypt, God renames him Abraham (because of the promise), he prays for his nephew Lot’s safety in Sodom, he is faced with the unbelievable decision to sacrifice Isaac, his only son… The challenges he faces are incredible. 

Yet, through all of them, and even in the times when Abraham and Sarah wrest the decisions away from their gracious God and go their own way (always into deeper trouble than if they’d followed God’s direction!). The Lord is faithful to His promise. 

Remember that, dear baptized child of God. Your Lord and God is the same God of Abraham, the same God who guided and directed His people down through the ages until the time had fully come, and His Son was born of woman, in the same flesh as Abraham, and lived for you, and for Abraham, and for all the faithful. 

One of Abraham’s blessings is that billions and billions of people on earth still know his name and hold him in esteem as a great hero of the faith. No, he wasn’t perfect, and I’m sure he’d be the first to call you out for making him more than he is, but he was faithful, and that is enough. 

Your life might not take the same number of twists, turns, surprises, or tragedies; but I’m sure this world will cause you enough grief to wonder some days if the Lord still remembers His promises to you. Be assured that He does; He remembers you and His promise because His one and only Son, your risen Lord Jesus, intercedes for you before the Father. He does it always, because you’ve been washed in His blood, marked with his holy cross, and named in his Book of Life, just like Abraham. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Gracious God, You send great blessings New each morning all our days. For Your mercies never ending, For Your love we offer praise. Lord, we pray that we, Your people Who Your gifts unnumbered claim, Through the sharing of Your blessings May bring glory to Your name. (Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings LSB 782:1) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 5, 2023 

Today's Reading: John 3:1-7 

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 16:1-9, 15:17-22, Mark 6:1-13 

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (St. John 3:1–2) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Remember the last time the power went out? Unless you had a flashlight or your cell phone handy, you likely stumbled around for a bit trying to find your way without tripping or banging your shins into the furniture. 

Being lost in the darkness can be a big deal, especially when you have no idea where you are going. Nicodemus was in the dark, both literally and metaphorically. St. John says he came to Jesus “by night,” which makes sense. After all, he doesn’t want the other Pharisees to find out he’s hanging out with this guy they’ve spent so much time trying to cancel. 

But Nicodemus is in the dark in another way. St. John uses darkness again and again in his gospel to show us how people come to understand who Jesus is by moving from darkness into light. From not believing that Jesus is God, to understanding and believing His divinity. From the darkness of sin and death into the light of Christ, the certainty that Jesus has come for you and your salvation. 

Nicodemus admits that both he and his fellow Pharisees know that Jesus is a teacher from God, but they just can’t connect the last of the dots, they can’t get the cord plugged in to turn the light on. Actually, they refuse to plug it in, because they prefer the darkness. And so they stumble, they trip, they bash their shins against the cornerstone, the “stumbling block,” the scandal, that is God in the flesh. 

Thankfully, it isn’t up to us to plug in the cord, or to come to an understanding about Jesus on our own. This is the power and the might of the Word of God. He does it all for us. He plugs in the light, turns it on, focuses its power and brightness upon us, warms us with its glow, and makes sure it never goes out again. 

Jesus is able to do these things not because God is with Him, but because He himself is God. God in the flesh, for you, working to do what you cannot to bring you to faith and salvation in His mighty works. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 4, 2023 

Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 2, Ps. 105:4-7; antiphon: Ps. 105:8 

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 15:1-21, Mark 5:21-43

He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations. (From the Introit for the Second Sunday in Lent) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God always remembers, even when we forget. That can seem terrifying, can’t it? God our Father will never forget. He will always remember. 

And if you’re stuck on thinking that he will always remember everything wrong you’ve done, every time you’ve messed up, every instance of back-talking and “massaging” the truth for your own purposes, you’ll be terrified of him. 

But here’s the thing. God forgets because he remembers. It seems to not make sense, but look at what He says in His own words. In Psalm 103 the Holy Spirit inspires King David to write, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” God remembers his covenant, and his covenant says that He forgives those who repent, and that repentance is made sure in the shed blood of Jesus. 

That sin that has been bugging you for weeks, maybe months? Have you confessed it to God? Then He’s forgiven it! He forgives and forgets it, because He remembers that Jesus bore that sin to His cross on Golgotha. 

You should treat your sins the same way. Once you’ve confessed them, forget them. If God can’t remember them, then why should you? Oh, I know. It was such a terrible sin. You hurt people so badly when you committed it. And for the longest time, you didn’t really care. Then it started to bother you, so you still carry it around now as some sort of reminder about how bad a person you are. 

But that is not how God remembers it, or you. When God looks at you, He has to look through Jesus to see you. And when He sees Jesus, he remembers that He has forgiven all of your sins, because Jesus took them all from you and died for them, left them in His grave, and rose without them. 

Jesus doesn’t carry those sins anymore, so God can’t remember them. What God does remember is His promise that He forgives you, He has made you His child, and life everlasting is yours, because He has washed you in Jesus’s blood and taken all that sin away to the point that not even God remembers them. 

God remembers that you are His child, washed white in the blood of the Lamb. He remembers that He’s made a place for you with Him forever. Thanks be to God that He remembers, even when we forget. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Almighty and everlasting God, direct, sanctify, and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of Your laws and in the works of Your commandments that through Your mighty protection we may ever be preserved in both body and soul; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Collect for Divine Guidance)

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 3, 2023 

Today's Reading: 

Daily Lectionary:Gen. 13:1-18, Mark 5:1-20 

As (Jesus) was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. (St. Mark 5:18–20) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Sometimes people think that the best way to serve Jesus is to go overseas on a mission trip. Certainly, foreign missions are an integral part of spreading the Gospel, but they aren’t for everyone. Our long-term missionaries make a tremendous commitment when they move to a foreign land to preach the Gospel. Thanks be to God for them! 

Jesus stays local today. He heals the man possessed with demons and tells him to stay home and tell his friends and neighbors what Jesus had done for him. Sometimes, that’s the hardest thing to do. You see these people all the time. They see you all the time. They know you inside and out. 

Maybe you think they won’t listen to what you have to say because they know your failures. Maybe you think they’ll stop being your friends because of what you say. Not all of us have such a spectacular story to tell as this man: he went from living in a cave and wailing and breaking chains and cutting himself to ribbons with rocks to being a gentle, mild-mannered citizen once again. 

He probably thought, much like we do, that the same thing would happen to him. That no one would listen, that no one would appreciate what Jesus had done for him, so it would be easier to run away to a far country with Jesus to where life had to be better. 

But that’s not what he was given to do. The strength of our faith is its mundane and plain nature. That so much of it is…normal and boring. The day-to-day experience of our faith doesn’t have all the flash and magnificence that we often think it needs, and that’s okay. 

Because what you do have is Jesus. And he has done marvelous things in your life, even if you can’t see them. You were rescued from sin, death, and demons in your Baptism. Jesus feeds you his very self in Holy Communion, even if it looks rather bland. He speaks salvation into your ears every week. 

These are all magnificent and wonderful works, done for you. And you’ve been placed in exactly the right place to share that good news with others as Jesus has gifted you to do. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Come, celebrate, your banners unfurling, Your songs and prayers against the darkness hurling. To all the world go out and tell the story Of Jesus’ glory. (Rise, Shine, You People, LSB 825:3)

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 2, 2023 

Today's Reading: 

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 11:27-12:20, Mark 4:1-20 

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path…Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil…Other seed fell among thorns…And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain…” (St. Mark 4:3-8) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This Gospel text tends to cause a lot of navel-gazing. It makes us look at ourselves too much; and sometimes, we use this text to judge others, too. We try too hard to figure out which kind of soil we (and the people around us) are. We look too much at ourselves and others and forget the whole point of what is happening here at the very heart of the text. So, let’s focus on the sower. 

Today’s farmers are very meticulous. Soil analysis, moisture content, drainage, nutrient levels—these all contribute to a successful harvest. The sower seems a bit foolish when you look at things that way. We are all about harvesting the most produce with the least amount of input. But the sower is just foolish. 

He throws the seed all over the place, flinging it all over the ground with not the least bit of care as to where it lands. Sure, he ultimately gets a good crop that produces thirty, sixty, and a hundred times more than he planted, but what about the wasted seed? 

What about it, indeed? Later, Jesus says this seed is the Word of God, and the types of soil reflect the types of people who hear it. Yes, it is imperative to be the soil in which the Word grows, but you didn’t make yourself that good soil, did you? The Sower has already plowed and prepared that soil to receive the Word. 

Isaiah proclaims that God’s Word never returns to him empty; it always accomplishes what He sets out to do. So also with you. God’s Word has been landing in the soil of your ears for years. The Holy Spirit has been at work, creating and sustaining your faith. Plowing and turning the ‘soil’ within you so that you might reflect that faith to those around you. 

The Word of God will continue to be scattered upon the earth, and there will be places and times when it lands on the road, between rocks, or among thorns. Thanks be to God that he, by the power of that same Word, can change even those hostile places into fertile ground to produce saving faith in the most unlikely places! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Collect for the Word) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 1, 2023 

Today's Reading: Luther’s Small Catechism - Table of Duties To: Widows

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 8:13-9:17, Mark 3:20-35 

She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. (1 Timothy 5:5-6) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. For the last few centuries, the human lifespan has grown longer and longer. Even so, women still tend to live longer than men, as has been the case for most of history. Whether it was because of war or other more dangerous occupations, wives have outlived their husbands, regardless of nationality. 

This leaves a pretty consistent group of widows in our world, many of whom need care and assistance as time passes and they age. St. Paul’s words to the young pastor Timothy might seem to be a bit harsh, especially if we think about how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

But these words are both words of love and warning from St. Paul. Sometimes, widows will remarry after the death of their husbands; often, they will not. Losing that life-partner, that one to whom they were tied in the bonds of marriage, can be a very difficult and unsettling experience. Sometimes they aren’t sure of their place in the world once the “other half” of their lives has died. 

How should we love these women, then? And how should they see their lives moving forward in this world? According to St. Paul, should these women find themselves all alone, with no one else to care for them, they should set their hope and focus on their Lord and God, who will sustain them. 

Should they forget that the Lord cares for them—even in their grief—and they go forth trying to live a life that fills a void that only their Loving Father can fill, this rejection of His mercy and grace is a terrible thing; rendering them dead inside, even though they may seem vibrant and alive. 

These are the times when we can extend a hand of love to them, being that one who loves them even when they might feel alone. Jesus’s Life, Death, and Resurrection was for them, just as it was for us, and they might need the reminder that their loving God has not forgotten them. 

As you can, be Jesus for those around you, even the widows of your church. They need to hear that Jesus loves them just as much as you do, and your love for them might be the perfect antidote in this season of penitence and remembrance that helps them rejoice that Jesus is for them, as he is for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Visit, O Lord, the homes in which Your people dwell, and keep all harm and danger far from them. Grant that we may dwell together in peace under the protection of Your holy angels, sharing eternally in Your blessings; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Home and Family) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

February 28, 2023 

Today's Reading: Romans 5:12-19 

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 7:11-8:12, Mark 3:20-35 

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18–19) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Yesterday we talked about the wrath of God falling upon Adam and Eve because of their sin of listening to the serpent instead of God in the Garden of Eden. And that God’s wrath falls upon us because of our own sin, too. 

But we also talked about how that wrath doesn’t end us. It doesn’t cast us away from our God and Father, our Savior and Redeemer. He doesn’t leave us alone to try and find our way back to Him in this world of darkness and despair on our own. Because there is no way we can manage that; we can’t claw our way back to Him by ourselves. The gap is too wide. 

One man (Adam) brought all of God’s wrath down upon creation, but one man (Jesus) also repaired what was destroyed. Actually, He didn’t repair it, he made it new, and He promised that newness to us, too. 

We won’t see it until the Last Day, but your Lord and God, made flesh in Jesus, took the rebellion and disobedience of every human being that ever lived (and ever will live) and soaked it up into himself to carry it to his cross on Golgotha. He wrestled that sin and death and disobedience and rebellion and back-talking and cheating into His grave and left it there when He rose again on Easter Sunday. 

Just one sin from one man set all of humanity on this path of death and destruction. And all it took was for Almighty God to look at one man’s perfect obedience to restore everything. And not just any man, but the God-Man; Jesus, the Christ. The Messiah, God made flesh. His only-begotten Son. 

In our everyday struggles and sins, it’s easy to forget the mercy and grace of God for you. But He always remembers. He always gives. He always blesses His children because of Jesus, who took all your sin from you, so that you could live forever with all the faithful. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

In Adam we have all been one, One huge rebellious man; We all have fled that evening voice That sought us as we ran. But Thy strong love, it sought us still And sent Thine only Son That we might hear His Shepherd’s voice And, hearing Him, be one. (In Adam We Have All Been One LSB 569:1, 3) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.