Category: Lent

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, Your Word is truth. We give thanks to You that You have revealed to us Your Son, our Savior through Your Word. Guard and keep us from misbelief, and grant us a steadfast faith in Your gospel, that we may have life eternal in Your kingdom; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

⁴⁶ “Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

 ⁴⁷ “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

 ⁴⁸ Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

 ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

 ⁵⁰ “And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

 ⁵¹ “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

 ⁵² Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say,`If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’

 ⁵³ “Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?”

 ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.

 ⁵⁵ “Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say,`I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.

 ⁵⁶ “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

 ⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

 ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

 ⁵⁹ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.

Who’s the Liar Here?

Dear fellow redeemed,

What does Jesus know about God? What does He really know about God? We know that is a ridiculous question. Jesus says, “I know Him,” and we know that Jesus knows the Father, because Jesus is the Son of God, begotten from eternity, one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

And so it is a telling argument that is taking place in our gospel reading. The Pharisees who think they know God better than God who stands before them, show by their rejection of Jesus that they are deluded by the lies of the devil.

And they even take on the nature of the devil, whom Jesus calls their father.

Now let’s see what has been happening here. Jesus had forgiven the woman who was caught in idolatry. Then He speaks to the crowd that remained there saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). From Him the rays of salvation go out to all men, to save them from their darkness and sin and bring them into life with God.

The Pharisees were offended by this claim of Jesus. And now we see the evidence that they are not of God, but of the devil. They reject Jesus argument, not so much arguing Jesus’ against claim, but rejecting it on a technicality. Jesus is giving witness of Himself. The Old Testament requires two witnesses to determine the truth of the matter. And Jesus admits the validity of their argument which they have in their law, saying, “the testimony of two men is true,” which is some wisdom repeated several times throughout Scripture.

But Jesus doesn’t need another witness, because He is divine. He is God and does not lie. But nonetheless, Jesus responds to their technicality, saying, that He does not testify about Himself alone, but the Father also bears witness through Him. So it is both He and the Father that bear witness of Jesus, that He is from God, and that He is the world’s salvation.

But then we see them ramp up their intensity against Christ, showing again that they are of the devil. They accuse Jesus of sin. They think that Jesus blasphemes the name of God. So blinded they are to the truth of God and His Word that He speaks, that they think that Jesus’ words are lies and offenses to God.

They accuse Him not only of blasphemy, but accuse Him of being a Samaritan, who were considered heretics, and even of having a demon.

Jesus brilliantly shows that He is blameless in this entire conversation. He is not blaspheming the name of the Father. The fault is with the Pharisees. A demon cannot honor the Father. Jesus by His works and words honor the Father. But the Pharisees, by dishonoring the one who honors the Father, by implication dishonors the Father. It is a similar situation as when a person persecutes a Christian, such a person is also a persecutor of God.

Jesus doesn’t testify of Himself for His own sake for His own glory. He willingly receives the dishonor and abuse, because He has come to seek and to save the lost. But there is One, the Father, who seeks Jesus’ glory, and He is also the judge. So those who do not glorify Him will receive a dreadful judgment.

Then Jesus continues to testify about Himself out of love for them. For in their hatred they only think lies about Jesus, but Jesus wishes for them to know the truth about Him that they may be saved.

He tells them that His words give life eternal. He says that He was before Abraham, confessing that He is Yahweh, I AM, the eternal God.

And what does the truth about Jesus do? It drives the Pharisees mad. They had already accused Jesus of blasphemy, stated that He is a heretic and has a demon. And now they pick up stones to stone Him.

In the verses preceding our text today Jesus said the devil is the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning. And we see that these who belong to the devil take on the traits of their father. They hate the truth. They prefer lies. And they are murderers hating Jesus and seeking to kill Him.

But such is the natural state of our flesh. Paul says, “you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”

Our corrupted nature is to live according to the prince of the power of the air, namely the devil, and to be sons of disobedience. Our fallen nature is to exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. Our nature had taken on the characteristics of the devil, lying and murder.

We are no longer under the power of the devil, for by God’s grace we have been delivered from his bondage, and are newly created in the image of God.

But we still carry our sinful flesh. We do not revile against Christ, accusing Him of sin and calling Him a liar, but when we obey the will of our flesh rather than the will of the Creator, who are we calling lord? Is not Christ our Lord? Or when we question whether Christ can actually forgive a certain sin after hearing absolution, we call Him a liar. When we question a teaching of God’s Word, are we not saying that our Lord has lied? We say that Scripture is God’s true Word, but what are we saying when we neglect it, when it simply collects dust on the shelf? Furthermore, we may not pick up stones to kill Christ, but when hatred boils up from our hearts towards others, we are guilty of being murderers.

Who is the liar? Who is the murderer? Who convicts Jesus of sin? In truth, we are the sinners. But the Father has convicted Jesus of sin. And that is what the sacrificial Lamb is for. He takes your sins. Your lies, your murder, they were counted against Jesus. He took the guilt, the punishment. This Jesus who not only speaks the truth, but is the Truth, This Jesus who never murdered, never had one evil thought against His neighbor, but perfectly loved even those who were His enemies, who went berserk, with wild, satanic hatred against Him, this Jesus became guilty of all these sins, your sins, and with His blood and life, atoned for your sins. So where are your lies, where is your murder, where is your guilt? Drowned in Christ’s blood, washed away, taken from you as far as the east is from the west.

Jesus does not lie. He is I AM, the eternal God, whose blood and life are sufficient to remove from you all your sins. You are forgiven!

This is the salvation that you are joined to through baptism, and which is yours now through faith. You are delivered from such enmity against Christ, to now love Him, to delight in the truth, to see Him with faith as Abraham did and rejoice!

You belong to God. And so you hear the words of Christ. Here preached for you. You have this treasure in your homes, you get to read and hear and speak God’s Word there. And so also, we do not lie, but speak the truth. We proclaim Christ as the eternal Son of God our Savior. We do not murder, but we love God and love our neighbor and proclaim the life with God that Christ has won for all mankind with His redeeming work on the cross. And in so doing, we glorify Christ, and proclaim the good and saving news to our neighbor.

God’s Word is truth, and a wonderful, saving truth it is. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, by Your Son You fed five thousand men in the wilderness with five loaves and two fish: We beseech You graciously to abide also with us in the fullness of Your blessing. Preserve us from greed and the cares of this life, that we may seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and in all things perceive Your fatherly goodness; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. 

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

 ² Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.

 ³ And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

 ⁴ Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.

 ⁵ Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

 ⁶ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

 ⁷ Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

 ⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

 ⁹ “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

 ¹⁰ Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

 ¹¹ And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

 ¹² So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

 ¹³ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

 ¹⁴ Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

 ¹⁵ Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.

Jesus Is Bread that Gives Eternal Life

Dear fellow redeemed,

Jesus said to the believing thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Certainly, his body would go into the ground, but his soul will be the Lord in heaven. Jesus also quoted the Father’s words in the Old Testament, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then He argues, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had already died long before Jesus, but yet they are alive, their souls are with God in heaven. David, after his illegitimate son died, said, “I shall go to him, but He shall not return to me.” The child will not come to life again in the body and restored to David, but the child is somewhere, for David will go to him. Their souls are in heaven with the Lord. Then there’s also the Rich Man and Lazarus. They both died. Both their bodies returned to the ground, but their souls continue to live on, Lazarus’ soul at Abraham’s side in heaven, and the rich man’s soul in eternal torment in hell.

The soul is eternal. God creates man’s soul at conception, and each soul lives on for eternity, either with God or cast away from God. The soul either enjoys eternal life or suffers eternal death.

This is a bit more of a weighty matter than what we’re going to have for lunch today.

The Israelites at Mt. Sinai, became very well aware of the need for their eternal souls. God came down upon the mountain accompanied by His holy angels, and He proclaimed His law to them. His holiness was manifested upon the mountain by the smoke and fire, the thunder and the lightning. And the Israelites were deathly afraid of the voice of God and the vision of His presence. The sinfulness of their souls became so clear in contrast to the holiness of God and His law. Their soul will surely be damned. They will die! They requested that Moses speak to them for God, so that they would not die.

And God was pleased by this request. He said to Moses, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (Deut 18:15).

This Prophet will come from among the Israelites. And He will speak for God. He will preach, and they ought to hear Him. He will speak words so that their souls shall not die eternally. He will preach good news to them, the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand. “Life eternal in God’s kingdom is found in Me. In Me is forgiveness that your souls do not die forever, but that you may live eternally.”

But the Jews of Jesus day didn’t get it. Their concern was mainly their bodies. They were after Jesus for the healing of their bodies and the satisfaction in their bellies. And He did it. Jesus, in His grace, provided for their bodies. He healed them; He fed them.

“This must be the Prophet that God promised!” so they thought. They were right, but they had a different idea about what this Prophet would do. Their thoughts were only of their bodies. They had in mind that this Prophet would be able to provide for their bodies, after all He did miraculously feed them. With such ability and power, He ought to be their king and provide for them all their physical needs. And they tried to make Jesus king, but Jesus escaped their plans.

But isn’t this the way it is for us. We have the tendency to focus on the body and neglect the needs of our souls. This is not to say we shouldn’t take care of our bodies. No, we should. Our bodies are given us by God and we should take care of them, but we don’t do that to the neglect of the soul.

We adorn our bodies with clothing that we may be acceptable to the world, rather than adorn our souls with humility, for a broken and contrite heart, God will not despise? We look in the mirror each day so that we may look presentable to the world, rather than look at the mirror of God’s law so that we may know what the Lord expects of us His redeemed, and that we may see our sins and our need for the Prophet who speaks of the good news of forgiveness. Our prayer life intensifies when we are sick in our bodies, which is good, but we do not go to God in prayer about the sickness of our souls. We are preoccupied with and worry about what we shall eat and drink, and what we will wear, our lives motivated and revolving around these things, but the kingdom of God and His righteousness, which we ought to seek first, is only a peripheral part of life. And thus attending church, hearing God’s Word, and receiving the sacrament is viewed only as something we might fit into our lives, rather than having it as the center of our lives.

But Jesus comes not to fill your bellies. Surely, the loving Father provides for your daily bread. But Jesus comes to be the Prophet to stand between you and the Father that you may have salvation for your souls. Hear Him; receive Him; partake of Him. For He is the Bread of Life which comes down from heaven to feed your souls and give you life eternal.

This is our greatest need for we are sinful and God is holy, and on account of our sins, we are damned. But the sinless Jesus stands under the wrath of God and the judgment of His holy Law in our place, for our sins. He received the punishment in both body and soul. His soul became sorrowful even unto death, and suffered hell as He endured the wrath of His Father on the cross. His body suffered beatings, crucifixion and death. Jesus gave His body and soul in sacrifice that you may be saved eternally. He suffers hell that your soul may enjoy heaven. He suffers that you are forgiven all of your sins. He gives His life seeking you and your life in His kingdom, so that you are delivered from preoccupation with the concerns of the body, and that your soul may have the joys and peace of His kingdom.

He is the Prophet who stood between you and the wrath of God. And having done so, as a Prophet He speaks and gives Himself to you through His Word and Sacraments. Through them He, the Bread of Life, nourishes your soul with His forgiveness, feeds your faith, and gives you life eternal. And in joy you hear Him, and His words of love and everlasting life!

And surely not only our soul benefit from the saving work of Christ. For we are not just a soul, but we are soul and body. And Christ did not assume only a human soul to save the soul, but He became soul and body to save us both soul and body. Yes, when we die, our body goes to the ground, and for us believers, our souls go to be with the Lord. Yet, we are not complete. But we and all the saints in heaven look forward to the day of resurrection. For Christ bodily rose from the grave. On the Day of His return in judgment, so also our bodies shall rise perfect, and be joined again to our souls, we shall enjoy eternal life with the Lord in both body and soul.

We rightfully go to God in prayer for our needs of our body. But Jesus is more than a bread king. He is the King of Salvation, that saves us, body and soul, eternally. He is the Prophet proclaiming His salvation to you in Word and Sacrament, upon which we feast and are saved. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be; forevermore. Amen.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, You have sent Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, that He might overcome the devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks to You for Your merciful help, and we beseech You to attend us with Your grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Your Holy Spirit to keep us in Your Word in Your fear, that we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation; through the same, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

¹⁴ And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.

 ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

 ¹⁶ Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.

 ¹⁷ But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.

 ¹⁸ “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

 ¹⁹ “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

 ²⁰ “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

 ²¹ “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

 ²² “But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

 ²³ “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

 ²⁴ “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says,`I will return to my house from which I came.’

 ²⁵ “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.

 ²⁶ “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

 ²⁷ And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

 ²⁸ But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.

The Kingdom of God Has Come Upon You

Dear fellow redeemed,

Pharaoh despised God and His servant, Moses. Moses came to Pharaoh under the authority of God with the command of God to let the Israelites go free. Pharaoh denied Moses, rejecting Moses’ claim that God visited him. God gave Moses some signs to show that he comes with God’s authority. Moses tossed his staff on the ground, and it turned into a snake. But in order to discredit Moses, Pharaoh had His magicians perform the same sign, and they did. Now whether Pharaoh’s magicians simply performed tricks and sleight of hand or whether they actually performed these wonders though under the power of Satan, the fact is that they were attempting to discredit Moses’ authority.

The next two signs Moses performed, the changing of water to blood, and the plague of frogs, the magicians were able to reproduce.

But then when it came to the next sign, the plague of lice which Moses and Aaron brought forth, the magicians were not able to reproduce it. It was beyond what they were able to do. And so they couldn’t discredit Moses’ and his claim of being sent by God’s authority. They could only conclude these words, “This is the finger of God.”

But this did not cause Pharaoh to repent, to listen to Moses and believe in the God who sent him. Rather, Pharaoh’s heart hardened even more against God.

So, also another servant comes from God, this time not simply a man like Moses, but the God-man, the Son of God made flesh. And He performed signs to show that He is sent by the Father. He shows His power over the devil and the demons, by casting them out, such as this mute demon in our text. But do the people believe that He is sent by the Father? Do they trust in Him as the Son of God and hear the Word He preaches? Like Pharaoh, no. Yes some in amazement at His power. But then there are some that want a sign from heaven as proof of His divinity, showing that no amount of proofs will be sufficient to satisfy their reason.

And then others, primarily the Pharisees, were like Pharaoh, harden their hearts, dig their heels in against Christ, and claim that He is casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons, Beelzebub, or Satan.

This claim is ridiculous on a spiritual level, the spiritually dead at enmity with the Christ, but it is a ridiculous claim on a rational level. He makes arguments that even their fallen reason should be able to understand and make them blush about the foolishness of their claims. And to do this, He makes 3 statements, all beginning with “if”, or we might call them “if then” statements. If this is true, then this is true. If it rains, then it is true that the fields get wet.

So Jesus says, “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” Implying that if Satan’s was divided, then it would be true that his kingdom will fall. How silly it would be to claim that Satan would fight against himself and his own kingdom. Satan works feverishly to sustain his evil kingdom, desiring to hold man under captivity, and bring evil upon us body and soul. He wouldn’t do the opposite. He wouldn’t give Jesus the authority to unravel his power and his kingdom. This would be enough for these blasphemers to get red in the face, but Jesus makes His second statement: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?” Apparently, some of the Jews had relatives who were able to cast out demons by the power of God’s Word. And they were pleased by these exorcisms, but now Jesus who is showing signs that He has divine authority is casting out demons, the Jews are upset. Their relatives cast out demons by the power of God, but Jesus casts them out by the power of Satan? Ridiculous! Their own relatives will be their judges pointing out their hypocrisy.

So with these arguments Jesus makes clear that He is not casting out demons by Beelzebub. That would be utterly impossible, and it is foolish and hypocritical for them to make this claim. The truth is, is that He cast out demons with the finger of God. He drives them away with the power of the Holy Spirit. And if this is the case, then it is true that the kingdom of God has come upon them.

The kingdom of God in Christ as come to them.

Yet, did the Pharisees say, “well, that was a logical argument, how can we argue against that, I guess you are the Son of God, we believe you and your Word.”

No, the Pharisees still hated Christ, still remained under the power of the devil. And there we get a good look of captivity under Satan. In his kingdom of unbelievers, he mutes people that they may not confess Christ and declare His praises. He takes hold of their reason that they cannot see or understand Christ. He occupies their hearts that they hate Christ, and do not desire Him. The devil is the strong man, and we aren’t, an so that is why we say in the meaning to the third article of the Creed, “I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.” We by the capabilities of our fallen nature cannot understand the spiritual things of God.

We who have been delivered from Satan’s kingdom still know his works. Doesn’t he tempt you to keep your mouths shut when opportunities arise to share the good news of Jesus to others? And instead, he leads you to use your mouths for gossip, slander, for course jesting, and taking Jesus’ name in vain. Doesn’t he tempt you to use our reason to rationalize your sin, making it seem like your sins are okay, or to use our reason to stir doubt about God and His Word? Doesn’t he try to take hold of your heart so that you would rather trust in your heart rather than trust in God, that you desire worldly acceptance and goals, desire lusts and sinful desires, desire glory rather than desire Christ and bear our cross following Him.

With these Satan tries to bring you and me back under his captivity.

But thanks be to God, that His kingdom has come upon us. For Satan does not stand against his own kingdom, but God stands against Satan’s kingdom, and you know how that turns out. Christ has crushed the head of the serpent. The finger of God has delivered you from Egypt’s bondage, that is, from Satan’s grasp. Satan’s prison of unbelief, from which you couldn’t escape, Christ came and destroyed. Jesus is the stronger man. The finger of God in water and the Word rendered Satan powerless. Christ, through the Holy Spirit, has freed you, and brought you into His kingdom. The kingdom of God has come upon you. And because He has done this, you now believe in God, and trust in Jesus, whose life, death, and resurrection has destroyed the power of Satan, and gives you life in His kingdom. You, who in your former state, rejected Christ and His word, now receive Jesus, hear the word and keep it in true faith. And in Jesus’ kingdom, you have forgiveness of all of your sins, you have freedom from the clutches of the devil, you have safety from his evil wiles, you have God as your refuge. In His kingdom, you live in peace with your loving Creator, and with Him, death can have no victory over you.

Furthermore, because of Christ’s victory over the devil, both 2000 years ago, when He suffered, died, and rose again, and more recently, His victory over the devil in you, by bringing you from unbelief to belief, your mouths, minds and hearts are also no longer ruled by Satan. You are freed to proclaim the stronger man, our Lord Jesus, to confess Him in your homes and throughout the world. You are given mouths to speak what is good and loving to your neighbor. You are given minds to ponder the true words of Scripture, to learn God’s will, to see all things with a Christian worldview, viewing the world through the lens of Scripture, and to serve your neighbor. You rejoice to use your minds as God has instructed you through Paul, when he says, “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate upon these things” (Phil 4:8). And Christ has given you hearts to love Christ, to desire Him as your priceless treasure, and follow Him as your bear your cross.

This is what happens when the Kingdom of God has come upon you. The finger of God has delivered you from Satan, and you now live in the grace and forgiveness of God’s kingdom, there having life without end. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech You, by Your Holy Spirit, that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Your grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin, and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Your grace, and in every trial and temptation find You a present help and refuge; through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. 

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

²¹ Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

 ²² And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

 ²³ But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

 ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

 ²⁵ Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

 ²⁶ But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

 ²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

 ²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matt. 15:21-28 NKJ)

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by the truth. Your word is truth. Amen.

Christ, Our Help in Need

Dear fellow redeemed,

If Christ were merely a teacher, we could only expect advice from him in our troubles, but certainly He wouldn’t be the solution. If He were merely an example of love, though He didn’t appear loving in our text today, well what help would He be to us today in our great need. If He were simply a man, what could He do about our sins, death, and the devil’s captivity.

If Jesus were any of these, what a sad story this would be. Instead of seeing a woman with incredible faith, we would see a foolish woman, who is going to the wrong person. And instead of a Christ, who saves us from sin and hell and the devil, we would see a pitiful excuse for a Savior. She would be coming to him for help, and Jesus could only turn her to look to herself or some other earthly solution, which is fruitless.

But Christ is the one who is able to help and will help. He is our God and Savior. And like the woman in the text, we should go to Him for our help and salvation. For where else can we find our deliverance from sin, death, hell, the devil, and the brokenness of life? It is found in Him alone.

But for this we ought to first know our need. We are weak sinners. And though we are new creations in Christ, we don’t have as much control over our sinful nature as we would like. We have our sins, and the eternal damnation that those sins deserve. We don’t have as much control over our lives as we would like. We deal with trouble and difficulty and brokenness and death.

But it is not easy to humble ourselves and to admit our weaknesses, our utter need for a Savior to forgive us, to restore us, to pick us up and to lead to do what is right and holy.

This is especially true in regard to our sin. We easily say the words of general confession. We say it without thinking of the seriousness of our sins, the depravity of our nature, but imagine standing before the holy God who takes and account of your lives, and every sin known and hidden, every wicked thought, word and deed are plain and clear in His sight. If we make a true assessment of ourselves, we would drop our heads and eyes, and the only thing that we could say is, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

Another part of the problem that is keeping us from going to Christ for help is that we think that we can solve our problems ourselves. We use determination, hard work, and positive thinking, among other things to achieve earthly goals, but what are they in overcoming our sin, our captivity too the devil, and our brokenness and eventual death. Yet people think that we can overcome those things. Some will say that they need to clean up their lives and make themselves worthy before coming to church. But it is through the gospel of Christ crucified for sinners that a person’s life is cleansed and a soul is made worthy before God. Some will say that they have had a time of stress, trouble, or sorrow so they need to focus on healing and recovery within themselves, rather than finding it in Christ through the Word and Sacrament, but doesn’t Jesus say, “Come unto me you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”? Certainly, we have sought to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, rather than finding our heavenly aid in Christ Jesus. I can overcome sin, I can fix my brokenness, I can fend of Satan, I can exercise control over death.

It is our nature to look to ourselves or to anything but God for help in our need.

And so sometimes God shows us our need is beyond a solution that we can find in ourselves or anywhere on earth. God does this because He loves us and wants to strengthen our faith in Him, and lean more and more upon Him and the promises of His word. It doesn’t always seem loving. Jesus certainly didn’t appear loving to the Canaanite woman. Yet in love, He tested her, refining her faith, and caused her to cling to the Word about Him more and more firmly. And oh what an amazing faith resulted.

So also, when death comes, we are led to think more closely to our need, that our lives wither as grass. Or through experiences in life, in our hurt, or the hurt that we have caused, though God is not the cause of sin, He does use our sin and this hurt to lead us to see our sin and our unworthiness. Or sometimes through difficulty and disappointment in life, we see this world lose its charm, and God teaches us to look upward. When all our solutions to our troubles fail, when we find that we do not have the answer to our need within ourselves, when we cannot create for ourselves true and lasting peace and comfort, then our ears are opened to the invitation of God to find our help in Him.

And so we recognize our need, and know that Christ is not some weak teacher with no solution for us. He doesn’t simply teach us to love and then direct us into our own hearts to fix ourselves. Rather He is our Lord, true God made flesh, who is crucified and risen and ascended for us! He saves us from our sin. He cleanses us from our sin and gives peace to our consciences. He gives us true and lasting comfort in the midst of life. He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. He either removes our difficulties, or gives Himself to be our strength to deny ourselves and carry our cross through the difficulties of life. He is the victor over the devil, and has saved us from his captivity. Jesus has removed death’s sting and its victory, and has given us life eternal, and the certainty hope of the resurrection from the dead!

And so recognizing our need is not weakness. It is being honest with ourselves and recognizing the reality of sin and its effects. But what blessedness there is in seeing this need, for we may then see Christ truly as the one who is able and does satisfy all our needs.

Though, He seemed unloving for a time, yet in love He strengthened the faith of Canaanite woman. But then see how He loves to help! He is thrilled that she, in her need, so steadfastly looked to Him for her help! What a beautiful faith!

May the Lord grant us such a faith that we cling to Christ and His Word, even when He seems to be unloving. For He does love to help. For He is love. Simply look to the cross, and there see how He in His infinite love has helped. There is your forgiveness and peace for your conscience, there is your salvation, there is your deliverance from the devil, there is your eternal life, there is your strength and help in every need! And He is now Your risen and ascended Lord, who is near, who forgives, comforts, strengthens and helps you through His Word and Sacraments. So here in His Word is your forgiveness and healing. And see how He loves to help, see here, He gives you His true body and blood for you to eat and drink, for your forgiveness, for your victory over the devil and death. And helped by Him, fed by Him, well, we’re ready for another week in His grace. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.