August 6, 2025 

Today's Reading: Acts 28:16-31

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 20:1-23; Acts 28:16-31

“From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.” (Acts 28:23)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Martin Luther once said, “Anywhere you cut the pages of Scripture it bleeds the blood of Christ.” That means when we open up the Old Testament, we don’t have to search for Jesus like one of those “Where’s Waldo” books or strain our eyes to see him like looking at some kind of optical illusion. It’s not just that the Old Testament tells us about Jesus here and there, as if Jesus is a marmot or a prairie dog, poking his head up now and then. Jesus isn’t just in the Old Testament. Jesus is the Old Testament. Luther is simply echoing what Jesus says in Luke 24:44.

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

When the apostles teach and preach the gospel in the book of Acts, they turn to the Old Testament to show how the same Lord who appeared in many and various ways throughout the Torah of Moses and the prophets has now appeared in the flesh. This is Paul’s strategy as he catechizes the Jews in Rome as well. Being a good apologist, and knowing his audience, Paul goes to the Old Testament to argue, persuade, and convince his Jewish hearers that Jesus is the Christ. When Paul says, like he does in Romans, that Jesus is Lord, he’s saying that the Lord of the Old Testament is the same Lord who became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. The same Lord who met Abraham under the oaks of Mamre is the same Lord who was born under the Law to redeem us under the Law and to become the curse for us by dying on the tree. The same Lord who met Moses in the burning bush now meets us by becoming one with us, Immanuel, God with us. The same Lord who appeared and spoke to the prophets has now appeared as the Word made flesh. 

And this same Lord who is present in the books of Moses and the prophets is now the same Lord present for you in all the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. And the prophets, apostles, and evangelists continue to bear witness to Christ crucified and risen for you.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

If Christ had not been raised from death Our faith would be in vain, Our preaching but a waste of breath, Our sin and guilt remain. But now the Lord is ris’n indeed; He rules in earth and heav’n: His gospel meets a world of need– In Christ we are forgiv’n. (LSB 486:3)

Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz, pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

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

Step back in time to the late Reformation and learn about a divisive yet inspirational figure: Matthias Flacius Illyricus. His contributions to Lutheranism still echo in our teachings today, from the Magdeburg Confession to parts of the Lutheran Confessions. Learning about Flacius’s life will help you understand more intricacies of the Reformation than ever before.