February 13, 2024

Today's Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Daily Lectionary: Job 9:1-35; John 4:46-54

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Freedom is a nice word. As Americans we love it. Freedom from oppression, freedom to speak your mind without fear, freedom to … —you fill in the blank.

But we have to know that Paul is speaking of something else. Something more profound, more meaningful. For this freedom comes from the Holy Spirit, our Lord. For Paul, it is freedom from what? From the veil. The veil is removed and the Christian is free, you are free!

The veil is removed and we see our Lord for who He is, the Suffering Servant who is serving us with all His gifts. The veil is removed and we see that in the death of Jesus, we have died our death to the Law. For Jesus accounts His death to us, so that in Baptism, we are united to the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus (see Paul’s extolling of Baptism in Romans 6). 

The veil is removed and our eyes of faith see that we are no longer slaves to sin, death, and the devil, but our Lord has freed us to live as His own, daily standing up in the gift of repentance, that is, standing up to live in righteousness and purity by faith. This is the work of our Lord, the Holy Spirit, who daily keeps us in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. 

The Holy Spirit knows your temptations and weaknesses, He knows your doubts and failings. And He wants you troubled or enslaved by none of it! So He brings you to the gifts of Christ. When you hear the words, “I forgive you all your sins,” you may know that the Holy Spirit is there, in those words, by those words, freeing you from the guilt of your sin. When you remember the promise of your Baptism, the promise that you bear the Holy Name and that in the promise of Baptism Jesus is with you, even until the end of the age, the Holy Spirit is there, in that promise, daily cleansing you and making you His own. When you hear Jesus say (through the mouth of the pastor), “Take and eat, my body; Take and drink, my blood for the forgiveness of your sin,” the Holy Spirit is there, by those words delivering the holy body and blood once shed upon the cross to your mouth now—all to forgive you, to give you life, to make you free. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Holy Spirit, my Lord, remove the veil which enslaves me to the Law. Free me from my doubts, from my despair, from the lies of the devil. Let me hear the Words of my Savior, Christ Jesus. Keep me steadfast in his Word. Amen. 

-Pastor Warren Graff is retired from Grace Lutheran Church, Albuquerque.

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

The Lutheran Reader’s Bible helps you develop a habit of devotion and Bible reading so you can slowly but intentionally understand and grow in God’s Word. Through introductions to the sixty-six books of the Bible, guided reading plans, and more, this Bible builds your confidence to study Scripture on your own.