Baptism is the sacrament that initiates us into the covenant of grace.  We picture the water as  representing the reality of being handed over to death, made alive, and triumphing in Christ. It reminds us of the pouring out of Christ’s blood for redemption and the establishment of a community to live for Him. We think of the water as the washing away, the picture of the Spirit’s work in our deliverance.

Our catechism speaks of the baptism as a reminder of Christ’s death on the cross. Question 70 asks, “What is it to be washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?”  The catechism is challenging us not to limit the sacramental imagery.  The sacraments are visible signs of the gospel that are administered with the Word.  Christ endures hell on the cross, and emerges triumphant in his resurrection.  However, baptism still symbolizes this one time event.

We consider 1 Peter 1:2 where Peter mentions the sprinkling in Christ’s blood.  The text explores the concept of “blood baptism” with the language of being “sprinkled in his blood.”  It is strange for us to think of the cross as a baptism because Peter literally mentions a baptism in 1 Peter 3:21, examining its connection to baptism and the Noah’s flood. So, Peter draws a connection between water and baptism later in his letter.

So, what do we make of a blood baptism? Peter is using Christ’s sacrifice as the picture of being baptized in his blood.  The sprinkling of Christ’s blood should make us think back to Israel standing before Moses, the sacrificial system, and the different ways that things were cleansed to be made worthy to enter into the Lord’s presence.  Peter is emphasizing that in order for us to come into the Lord’s presence we need this once for all sprinkling in Christ’s blood.

Peter uses the sacramental language of blood to assure that we have been washed in Christ’s blood.  We are made worthy in that one time work.  We draw near to our God in confidence.   We should look to Christ, our definitive redeemer, and not look to the sign or the Gospel as our savior.  They are means of grace that point us to our savior.

Christ’s association with tax collectors and sinners, considered unclean by the Pharisees, posed a problem as it contradicted their understanding of holiness. They show their hand by being grumblers.  This recalls for us tragic times in Israel’s history when Israel lost sight of God’s purpose.

Christ does not directly interact with their complaint, but Christ speaks in two parables.  The first parable is about a shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to find the one lost, highlighting his passion and love for his one sheep. This parable, though challenging to the Pharisees due to their negative perception of shepherds, underscores Christ’s role as the good shepherd seeking out the lost.  Christ is the good shepherd promised in Ezekiel 34.

Christ’s second parable that he uses to address the pharisee’s concern is a parable about a lost coin. A woman loses her coin.  This is most likely a dowry that is set apart to give the widow some financial security in the event of widowhood or divorce.  She finds the coin, invites the villagers to celebrate, and that rejoicing is parallel to the shepherd who returns home to his village after finding the lost sheep.

These parables contrasts the Pharisees’ self-righteousness and lack of understanding of the need for repentance. The text emphasizes the importance of finding righteousness and redemption in Christ, rather than relying on one’s own standards, and encourages a mindset of celebrating the lost coming to faith.

The most shocking part is that the angels in heaven celebrate the lost being found and coming to place of repentance.  The angels in heaven are so holy they have every right to be self-righteous.  However, they celebrate a sinful coming turning one’s ways to align with the purpose of Christ and his kingdom.

Let us celebrate repentance, recognizing our continual need for God’s grace and call to conform to Christ out of gratitude. Let us desire to align with the heavenly choir, celebrating the kingdom’s priorities.

The means of grace, the preaching of the Gospel, and the sacraments are means that God uses to nourish Christians.  They are not the source of life, but the means to being nourished by life. Sacraments communicate the visible gospel.  While the sacraments are important, they should not be elevated above Christ or the preaching of the Gospel.  They are given to us because we are weak in our faith.  They nourish us in the same grace that the Gospel communicates.  Ultimately, we are nourished and living in Christ.

Paul emphasizes the centrality of the gospel message in salvation, highlighting the preaching of the Gospel as a means of the Lord’s power to unite believers with Christ and receive Christ’s blessings. Paul appeals to Abraham to show that the sacrament is not a sign of Abraham’s faith, but a seal of the promise declared in the Gospel. Abraham receives the sign because he doubts the Lord’s gospel promise.  The Lord gives him the sign and seal of circumcision because Abraham doubts that the Lord really can bring life from death.  Abraham doubts that the Lord will continue his victorious line through a barren couple.   

Sacraments are given to us because we fail to heed the Lord’s word or see His power.  The Lord continues to work in us through His means, even if we don’t understand how.  The preaching of the gospel is the priority because it is the preaching of the gospel that proclaims the Lord’s gospel promise.  The sacraments merely communicate the same message, but visibly before our eyes.  Let us never doubt the life-give power that is ours in the Spirit who preserved God’s people throughout the ages, and raised Christ from the dead.

Normally we think of God being a God of love.  John, the beloved apostle repeats that God is love two times in his first letter. Christ does not communicate that God is love, but that we are called to hate our family and our own lives.  This seems to contradict Moses's calling us to honor our parents.  There are certainly other places we can appeal to Moses to see an apparent contradiction.

We might think that there is a contradiction, but we need to be active listeners of Christ.  Christ’s call to hate family and self challenges the notion of a loving, comfortable kingdom that we so often associate with Christ.  He emphasizes the cross-bearing disciple, who finds identity in Christ and prioritizes heavenly values over worldly ambitions.  Ultimately, Christ’s message is for all, regardless of social status, to evaluate their ambitions in light of the cross and seek God’s will.

The temptation is for people to think that this is a kingdom of earthly glory.  Christ warns against a superficial understanding of discipleship, emphasizing the need to count the cost and understand the potential sacrifices involved.  True discipleship requires a conscious commitment to follow Christ, even if it means losing family, social status, or even our life.  This commitment involves actively seeking to live out the gospel, not for personal gain, but to glorify Christ and find identity in Him alone.  In this sense, we lose our own life because we reprioritize our values in light of the cross while seeking to live as living sacrifices before God.

Christians should conform to Christ’s image, not the other way around. This requires listening to Christ’s words with the wisdom of the Spirit, discerning His ways, and living out His priorities with grace and the Spirit.  Hearing Christ’s words is not just evaluating whether they are Christ’s words, but evaluating one’s life in light of Christ’s wisdom as we walk in the Spirit by faith.

Banquets are normally attended by people who are worthy to attend the banquet.  If there is a prestigious banquet, it is for those who share prestige.  The seating arrangements typically reflect the social significance of the guests.  This is true for Rome, and this is true even in our day.  In many cases, these gatherings can also be transactional, but in Rome, they were almost always transactional. You would invite people who could elevate your social status as they were required to return the invitation. Jesus presents a banquet that is radically different from these types of transactional banquets.

In Luke 14, Jesus is invited to dine with the Pharisees on the Sabbath, likely after Jesus taught in the synagogue. The Pharisees are grappling for position.  They claim to be pure, but we know that they observe Jesus with the intent to discredit him or, even worse, destroy him.  They closely watch Jesus, hoping to catch Him breaking Sabbath laws. A man suffering from dropsy (edema) was present, and it was likely invited as a setup to test Jesus. Dropsy, characterized by excessive thirst and swelling, was often used metaphorically in ancient times to represent insatiable greed or desire.  The irony is that as this man is at the banquet to expose Christ’s sabbath breaking, the man exposes the state of the Pharisees’ own spiritual condition. Without hesitation, Jesus healed the man, exposing the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. They remained silent when Jesus asked them for permission to heal, and they remained silent when Jesus pointed out that they, too, exercised compassion on the Sabbath by delivering their son or animal from a well.

Jesus then told a parable addressing the deeper issue of pride and self-exaltation. He described a wedding feast where guests sought the seats of honor, only to be humbled when someone more important arrived. Jesus's point was clear: those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. The Pharisees were obsessed with status and recognition, failing to see their spiritual poverty. Jesus calls for a different posture — one of humility and dependence on God. True honor comes not from self-promotion but from recognizing one’s need for a savior.  One must see their spiritual problem and only Jesus as the solution.

Jesus further emphasized the nature of God's kingdom by encouraging people to invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind because such people comprise the kingdom of God. In a very literal sense, they cannot advance oneself in society.  This countercultural teaching revealed God's heart for the marginalized and the unworthy. The Pharisees, in their self-righteousness, missed the point. They were spiritually sick, much like the man with dropsy, yet they refused to acknowledge their need for healing. Jesus' invitation to the kingdom is for those who recognize their deep need of redemption and rely entirely on their Redeemer, Jesus Christ.   The Christian call is not to seek status or significance in this world but to find identity, contentment, and life in Christ alone. The true banquet is one where the humble are exalted, and those who recognize their spiritual poverty receive the fullness of God’s kingdom.  When we bow our knee before our savior, this is the true Shalom (wholeness) of humanity that we taste, but we will have in the fullness at Christ’s appearing.

Christ’s blessing is not based on personal righteousness, faith’s worthiness, or even outward covenant membership.  Only receive Christ’s blessings through faith and the Spirit. The catechism clarifies that faith is the instrument by which we receive Christ’s blessings, secured by his righteousness, not our own. We only receive this by faith.  This assurance means believers are not just citizens of God’s kingdom but heirs, enjoying a deep, familial relationship with God, moving from a courtroom setting to the warmth of the family room, as we borrow John Murray’s analogy.

Acts 16 illustrates this truth through the story of the Philippian jailer. Seeing Paul and Silas’s unwavering faith amid suffering and their care for his well-being despite their pain,  the jailer asks what he must do to be saved. His question reflects human nature—assuming salvation depends on personal effort. Paul responds that salvation comes through believing in the Lord Jesus, acknowledging him as the true King who has conquered sin and death. This faith is not about personal merit but trusting Christ alone.

The sermon also highlights the broader implications of faith. The contrast between the enslaved servant girl and the jailer shows that true freedom is found in Christ, not in worldly control or spiritual bondage. Paul’s deliverance of the girl from demonic oppression demonstrates Christ’s authority, yet it results in persecution—mirroring the world's rejection of true salvation. Despite suffering, Paul and Silas rejoice, illustrating that faith in Christ brings unshakable joy. The jailer’s conversion and the baptism of his household affirm that God works through families in the context of the covenant, as seen in the Old and New Testaments. The call is for us to see that as we believe in Christ, we are saved, receiving the distinct redemptive blessings in Christ.

The city of man will always try and triumph over the city of God.  This is seen in the interaction between Christ and Herod.   The Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill him, but their motives are uncertain.  They might be a faction that legitimately cares, or they might be with the rest of the Pharisees who want to silence Jesus.  Herod himself represents the worldly pursuit of power, maintaining peace through intimidation by control and violence.  John the Baptist is a clear victim of the tyranny demonstrated in the Herodian family.

Christ seeks to confirm and establish the Lord’s heavenly city.  Christ seeks to bring the true vision of peace from heaven. This is not a kingdom that is established through fear and threat.  No, it is a kingdom where one experiences the ideal of the shalom of God.  A kingdom where one takes on the yoke of Christ, is in fellowship with God, and is restored rather than exploited.   

So, Christ, being confident about the true vision of peace (Jerusalem), does not cower before Herod.  In fact, he makes his opinion known regarding Herod.  He does not even address Herod, but instead calls him a "fox," exposing his weakness, smallness, and cunning ability to stand on the coattails of giants.  Christ remains resolute in his mission, showing that true peace is not found in earthly empires but in the kingdom of God and entrance through the narrow door.

Christ does not seek safety but willingly moves toward Jerusalem, knowing that Herod is not the threat but the earthly Jerusalem.  His ministry of healing and casting out demons demonstrates his authority, yet Jerusalem rejects him because he does not fit their mold of a messianic king. The irony is that while people try to warn and protect Jesus, they fail to recognize that he is the one who has come to protect them, confirming the promise that God is a shield and defender. The ultimate rejection of Christ is not just by political rulers like Herod or Rome but by Jerusalem itself—the very city that should have embraced him as the fulfillment of God's promises. We are so deeply sinful, and it is so deep-rooted that we reject the prophet.

Finally, we are challenged to reflect on the human tendency to resist God’s work, much like Paul before his conversion, who "kicked against the goads." Despite Israel’s rejection, Christ still offers the gospel and calls all humanity to repent. He weeps over Jerusalem, using imagery from the Exodus of the mother hen being like the eagle protecting its young.  Christ knows that in order for Psalm 118 to be confirmed, he must be rejected by the builders only to be raised up as the cornerstone.

The call to enter through the narrow door remains open right now.  We are called to bow our necks under Christ’s domain, discern what is pleasing to the Lord, and seek to live out his will. Let us mourn how the city of Jerusalem embraced Christ, let us celebrate God’s sovereign will that He overcomes, and let us ultimately long for the vision of peace that comes from heaven.  Praise be to God that even in this life, we have a taste of it.  Let us walk as living sacrifices to our redeemer, knowing that our lives are hidden and secured in Him.

Many times as Christians we can be influenced by Greek thought.  We can fall into a mindset that the body is merely a temporary shell for the soul. However, Scripture teaches that God redeems his people as whole people.  He redeems us body and soul. The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, makes it clear that we are not merely escaping fleshly tombs in our resurrection, but we will be raised in glorified bodies.  Our current flesh was made for this world.  Adam is from the dirt.  He was created good in body and soul.  Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 15 is that we would need a glorified flesh that is fit for heaven even before the fall.  Therefore, rather than seeing our bodies as unimportant or disposable, we should recognize that God created us body and soul.  He created us good.  This backdrop is important to understand Philippians 3:21.

We know that right now our bodies are subject to the death of the common curse, but God has not forgotten what he created good.   God created us as whole beings—body and soul—and intends to glorify body and soul in his redemption. The Bible provides numerous examples of life after death, showing that believers consciously dwell with Christ while awaiting the physical resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus affirms that our future bodies will be physical, but a physical spiritual flesh that is fit for heaven glorified. As temples of the Holy Spirit, our bodies are not just vehicles for the soul but are meant to be cared for and honored. Instead of viewing our flesh as inherently sinful or something to be escaped, we should understand it as a good creation, personally made by God’s hand, and it will one day be perfected because we taste Christ’s blessings now in the Holy Spirit.

In Philippians 3:21 Paul reminds us of our ultimate hope: the full realization of our redemption in glory. The work of the Holy Spirit in us now is a foretaste of the eternal joy we will experience. While we struggle with the effects of sin and the limitations of this age, we are being transformed by God’s energy, which will ultimately bring us to our full glory. Our heavenly citizenship calls us to live with a mindset fixed on Christ’s glorious return. The same divine energy that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us.  It is not a mere manifestation of God, but the power of God that orients us and moves us through this age.

Jesus reminds us that we often ask the wrong questions, which leads us away from the truth. Instead of asking, “Have I done enough?” we should be asking if we are truly striving to enter through the narrow door on Christ’s terms. Many assume they are in good standing with God, much like thinking they are a luxury car with minor flaws. However, the reality is far worse—we are broken beyond repair, and without Christ’s redemption, we have no hope. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem highlights this truth, as he heads toward suffering and rejection, his followers think he will seize glory and sit on Jerusalem’s throne.  Truly then the city will live up to its name: the vision of peace.  However, Christ is not traveling to sit on an earthly throne, but the heavenly one that he must attain through the cross and resurrection after living a perfect life.

Along the way, someone asks how many will be saved, but Jesus does not answer directly. Instead, he calls for striving, which is an active pursuit of the narrow way. Salvation is not a matter of national identity or religious association but of genuine commitment to Christ.

Jesus warns that the narrow door will not always remain open. Many will assume they are part of his kingdom because they have dined at his table, listened to his teaching, worshipped him, and were part of the right gene pool. But when the door closes, they will find themselves outside, rejected as evildoers. This is not about blatant immorality—it is about those who thought they knew Christ but were never truly known by him. The frightening reality is that many who expect to be inside will be cast out, while others from the ends of the earth—unexpected outsiders—will be welcomed into the kingdom. This dramatic reversal echoes Isaiah’s prophecy of a great feast in Isaiah 25, where those who trust in the Lord will rejoice while others suffer separation from him. The warning is clear: entering through the narrow door requires striving, humility, and submission to Christ, not mere outward association with him.

Ultimately, the real question is not about numbers or who gets in but whether we are truly hearing and submitting to Christ. The last will be first, and the first will be last—not because of human effort but because God’s kingdom operates by his grace, not our merit. It is not about checking religious boxes or assuming we are safe; it is about seeking Christ wholeheartedly, being transformed by him, and knowing that only enters through the narrow door in Christ This is not easy, nor is it natural—it requires humility, dependence, and a willingness to be shaped by God’s will rather than our own desires. The danger is not in failing to do enough good works but in failing to recognize our deep need for Christ and his redeeming grace. Therefore, the call is clear: strive, listen to Christ’s word, and pursue Christ, for the door will not always remain open.  The heavenly feast is only for those who bow their necks under Christ’s yoke. Let us follow our redeemer savior, who graciously pursues.

Jesus continually overturns people’s expectations.  Christ does not fail to disappoint when we continue in Luke 13 when He heals a woman on the Sabbath. This woman had been suffering for 18 years—bent over, unable to stand up straight.  Christ heals this woman, but the leaders are outraged.  Why such a reaction? Because their rigid view of the Sabbath had blinded them to the true intention of Sabbath rest that God ordained. They saw rules, but Jesus saw a broken and burdened person needing rest.  Jesus is not just addressing an outward issue, but an internal issue.  The leaders missed the Lord’s Sabbath intention. They were so focused on controlling religion that they completely missed the manifestation of Religion.  Christ the Messiah is the embodiment of what the prophets promised.

Jesus then turns the tables on them with a simple but devastating argument: If you’d untie your ox or donkey to give it water on the Sabbath, how much more should this woman—a daughter of Abraham—be freed from her suffering? He is saying “You show compassion for your animals, but you could care less about a daughter of Abraham.” Jesus is exposing the Lord’s intention for his kingdom. The kingdom of God is not about outward rule-keeping but inward renewal. And this is unsettling, because it means that even deeply religious people can be far from God. It’s not just bad people who are lost, but the Lord’s covenant people can also miss the substance of God’s grace even as they profess to walk in it.

Then Jesus gives two mini-parables about the kingdom: the mustard seed and the leaven. Both seem small, insignificant—just like Jesus’ movement at the time—but they grow into something unstoppable. That’s how God works. His kingdom doesn’t come through power and dominance but through quiet, transformation. Our challenge is to wait upon the Lord, it is wanting the Lord to transform us from the inside out.  The gospel is not about avoiding or managing sin, but it’s about pursuing our God.  And until we see that pursuing and loving our God above all things, we’ll either be self-deceived by thinking we keep our legalism or crushed by the unbearable weight when we realize we cannot heal ourselves. But as we pursue our Lord we recognize that he progressively heals us, and as we grow in our union with him we see that our sin is less satisfying in comparison to our basking in his glory.  May we have a humble spirit, may we be a people who tremble at his word, and may we pursue our Lord because by his grace he has secured and pursued us.