Pentecost 6 – 21 July 2019 – Year C

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

The text for this meditation is written in the 10^thChapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 38 – 41:

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus had set His face to go to Jerusalem where He had an appointment with the cross.  As He travelled, He spent time teaching and visiting with people along the way.  In the Gospel, we learn that He stopped at the house of some old friends.  We are told that it is the home of Mary and Martha.  We learn from other readings in the Gospel that they had a brother named Lazarus … the Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead.

^{(Luke 10:38)}“A woman named Martha welcomed him into her house”. It is not clear from the text if that meant Jesus only or whether that meant Jesus and His traveling companions.  The culture of the day suggests that it would be rude to welcome Jesus but not at least some of His traveling companions.  The most likely situation is that Jesus and his disciples are Martha’s honoured guests.

Once Jesus was settled in Martha’s home, He immediately began teaching.  Here is where things begin to deviate from the culture of that day.  Today’s Gospel informs us that Martha ^{(Luke 10:39)}”had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching”.

A woman might be well educated in that day if she was a member of the household of a rabbi.  She could not help but overhear as the head of the house taught the men of the community. The culture had no problem if a woman learned indirectly as she overheard the instruction given to the men in the community.  On the other hand, the idea that a rabbi would enter a woman’s home to specifically teach her was unheard of.  Mary was violating the custom of the day by taking up the role of student and Jesus was encouraging her to violate this role by teaching her.  

Jesus was breaking down the barriers of the culture.  Here is Mary learning from the master of all rabbis and, amazingly, He did not send her away.  In fact, He commended her for wanting to learn more about the Kingdom of God.  We can’t appreciate how revolutionary this was because we live in culture that encourages women to get all the education that they can get.  However, back in the culture of that day, Jesus was being very counter-cultural. This is one of many events that show us that culture had no influence over Jesus.  The fact that Jesus had female disciples indicates that His Word … His teaching … is for all people in all times and places.

Now, while Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, Martha was very busy being the hostess.  She wasfollowing the traditions of the day … the traditions that went clear back to the days of Abraham that we heard about in Genesis 18: 1 - 8.  When Abraham saw the three men approaching his tent, he immediately showed hospitality to them.  The first order of business was a meal.  Martha was simply following the example of Abraham.  She was preparing a meal.  There’s work to be done!  Food to be prepared.  Drink to be offered.  Comforts to be tended to.  As Abraham and Sarah laboured to be hospitable to the three men who came to their tent, so Martha with love and devotion diligently conducted her domestic duties. Everything must be the best! Everything must go right! Everything must be done with attention to detail.  Jesus has come to the house.  Anything less than faithful service would be a great offence to her guests … to Jesus.

So we have two women with two different ideas of hospitality.  Mary showed hospitality to Jesus by listening … by hearing the preaching of the kingdom.  Martha’s idea of hospitality was to feed Jesus.  Mary received the gift Jesus brought to her.  Martha was preparing a gift to give to Jesus.  Mary and Martha had two different and contradictory ideas about the proper way to show hospitality to Jesus.  This difference would soon cause conflict in the house.

Eventually, Martha reached the breaking point.  She has had it with Mary’s laziness, but notice, who did Martha choose to scold?  ^{(Luke 10:40)}“She went up to [Jesus] and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”Martha took out her frustration, not on Mary, but on Jesus Himself.  Martha’s priorities were mixed up and she wanted Jesus to validate those priorities.

Jesus gently corrected Martha’s attitude. ^{(Luke 10:41–42)}“The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴²but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” The point of Jesus’ correction is obvious.  Don’t become so busy with the good things of this life that you crowd out the one thing that is needful for eternal life.  The problem is not that Martha wanted Jesus to have a good meal, after all that was the good and traditional thing to do. The problem is one of priorities, Jesus has already broke with tradition by teaching Mary, He has come to show a new way.  Jesus must first serve us before wecan serve our neighbour.

This domestic dispute between Mary and Martha actually demonstrates one of the major techniques that our old, sinful nature uses to drive a wedge between us and God’s Word.  We all have very important work to do … work that is very good to do … work that is helpful to our neighbour.  This is good in and of itself, but the Old Adam in us will try to convince us that we must get this work done before we can listen to the Lord.  No doubt, Martha wanted to listen, but there was work that needed to be done first.  The same thing happens to us.  There’s always more work to be done, always someone to help, always jobs to do, dishes to wash, children to feed, homework to accomplish.  Modern employment contracts include mandatory overtime.  There are places we need to go, people we need to visit, shopping that needs to be done, time to spend with family, time spent doing something for someone somewhere.  Like Martha, we become pulled in many and various directions, always pulled somewhere other than to the feet of Jesus.  The result is that we don’t actually rest, we don’t have time to rest.  We get tired, worn out, weary from our serving and then we begin to resent those around us.  Our “work first rest later” attitude gets the best of our heart.  We turn against our neighbour, even calling on Jesus to justify our mixed-up priorities.

Jesus gently, but firmly tells us what’s really going on.  We have become anxious about less needful things.  One thing is needful – that is to sit at the feet of Jesus and to listen.  Martha needed to stop doing and start listening to Jesus.  Jesus did not come to her home to be served but to serve as he Himself said, ^{(Mark 10:45)}“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”The centre of our interaction with Jesus is not for us to serve Him, but for Him to serve us.  We worship Him best when we rest in His service to us.

His service to us always centres on the goal of His journey … His appointment with the cross in Jerusalem.  It is on that cross that He serves us with His very life.  It is there that He serves us with the forgiveness that provides us with eternal life with Him.  His service to us provides us with the salvation that energises our life in him. We cannot even begin to serve our neighbour until after He has served us with His eternal salvation.

His death on the cross was not the end.  After three days in the grave, Jesus came back to life.  He rose from the dead, and He now continues to serve us. The words … the teaching … that He shared with Mary have been written down.  Jesus continues to give His life to us through the preaching of His Word.  His Word connects His heart to our heart.  His Word shares His life, gives His life, communicates His life to ours and thus gives us rest.

The word of God does the work of God.  The work of God establishes and maintains faith as Jesus said, ^{(John 6:29)}“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”Through the Word, the Holy Spirit works in us so that we believe that Jesus is the one whom the Father has sent.  Jesus His only-begotten Son, has done the work needful for our salvation.  The death and resurrection of Jesus has atoned for our sin and now sets us at peace with our Father in heaven.  Jesus has adorned us with His righteousness … a righteousness that endures for eternity.

There is a theological term that applies to today’s Gospel.  That term is“Gospel Imperative.”  A “Gospel Imperative” has the grammatical form of a command.  However, instead of being a command, it is a gracious invitation.  For example: Imagine that you are really, really hungry when suddenly you hear the cook shout out, “Come and get it!”  Grammatically speaking, “Come and get it,” is a command. In reality, if you are really hungry, those words are a gracious invitation from the cook to come and satisfy your hunger.

When Jesus tells us to listen to Him, it is a Gospel Imperative.  God’s Word is Jesus serving us with forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.  As we listen to Him the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith and we receive His good gifts.  His gifts come by His Word, Baptism, Confession and Absolution, and His very body and blood.

Our spirits are hungry.  God feeds us through His word.  It is the means by which Jesus reveals Himself to us and showers us with His gifts. We passively receive His blessings as He serves us.  This is especially true of the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Jesus earned for us on the cross.  Jesus wants us to have these gifts.  That is the reason He taught that His Word is the one thing that is necessary.

The Son of God has prepared the meal.  He has said, “Come and get it!”  Hungry souls come and get forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Pentecost 5 – 14 July 2019 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; Amen.

The text for this meditation is written in the 10^thChapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 25–37:

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered,  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man wasgoing down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priestwas going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise aLevite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and boundup his wounds, pouring on oiland wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two denariiand gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Today’s reading from the Gospel account is the very familiar story of the Good Samaritan.  A man gets bashed and robbed on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.  The assailants leave him to die.  Two representatives of high moral society … a priest and a Levite … notice the poor victim and pass him by.  Next, a representative of the scum of the earth comes by in the form of a Samaritan, and this scum has compassion and saves the victim’s life.

This parable is so powerful that the Samaritan has become the icon for people who come to the aid of strangers.  We even have “Good Samaritan” laws that prevent helpful strangers from law suits in the event that the rescue is not entirely successful.

To really get the full impact of this story, however, we need to understand the context of the conversation that Jesus had with the lawyer before He told the parable of the Good Samaritan.  This is very important context for this story.

First of all, this lawyer stood up and asked a question: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”This is a law question. A question whose answer comes from the Law that God handed down to all humans in the first five books of the Bible. Our most familiar reference to the Law is written in the Ten Commandments.  So, Jesus question requires an answer from the Holy Scriptures. Jesus asked the lawyer to consider the law: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  This is sort of like Jesus asking this lawyer to remember what he learned in catechism class … to recite the basics of the law.

The lawyer quickly recited the words from memory.  He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”  This is the right answer and so Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Now here is where the lawyer made a blunder that we all make.  Deep down inside, the lawyer knew that he didn’t have the ability to love his neighbour as he should.  He should have confessed that He did not love God or his neighbour.  Instead, he asked Jesus to provide a loop hole.  He said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”  The lawyer was hoping that Jesus would put some kind of limitation on the word neighbour. Then loving the neighbour would be a lot easier.  That is when Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.

How often do we try to weaken the law in order to make it doable?  How often, if we are serious in our response, do we justify ourselves with a “yes but that doesn’t really apply in this case”; or, “that was a law for a different place and time”?

The Bible says, ^{[1 John 3:15]}“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Can we honestly say we have never hated anyone?  Jesus said, ^{[Matthew 5:27–28]}“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  Is our thought life absolutely pure?  What about stealing?  Have we ever taken a longer break than allowed?  Have we made personal copies on the company photocopier without paying for them?  What about the copyright laws concerning the material that we copied?

An honest examination of God’s law shows that we are murderers, adulterers, thieves, liars, the whole ‘box and dice’of law breakers.  No wonder we want to weaken the law.  We want to weaken the law so that we don’t feel so bad about ourselves. After all, the most important thing for us is to be happy, right?  If we weaken the law so that we can be happier, that’s a good thing, right?

Jesus puts an end to that kind of thinking by choosing a Samaritan as the hero of His parable. The Jews hated the Samaritans. They were mortal enemies.  If it weren’t for the Roman occupation, the Jews and the Samaritans would be at war.  As far as the Jews were concerned, the only good Samaritan was a dead Samaritan, and the Samaritans more or less thought the same way about the Jews.

So when Jesus chose a Samaritan to be the hero of His parable, He was strengthening the law. He was telling this lawyer that the Samaritan was his neighbour.  Jesus was saying that there is no limit on who is our neighbour.  Everyone we meet as we go about our life is our neighbour, and we are to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

Now, our response to this should be, “I try, but I can’t do that.  There are some people that I will never love no matter how hard I try.” and that would be right.  No one can love with the kind of love that God calls for in His commandments.  We do not love God with all our heart, soul, and strength.  We do not love our neighbour as ourselves.  Jesus calls us to be the Samaritan in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but we can’t do it.

We are supposed to be the Samaritan, most of us probably want to be, but we end up being the victim.  The devil, the world, and even our own sinful flesh have ambushed us with our own sin. Spiritually speaking, we are not just near death.  We are, in fact, literally dead in our own trespasses and sin. [Ephesians 2:1] 

There is no help for us in the law.  The law passes by us and is disgusted with our condition just as the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side.  The law asks us to help ourselves, but we are dead in sin and can’t help ourselves.

Jesus Christ alone is able to keep the law of love.  He is able to fill the role of the Good Samaritan for us.  He lived a life of perfection.  He loved his neighbour enough to sacrifice Himself.  He generously applies the oil of His righteous life and the wine of His own blood.^{[Isaiah 53:5]}“He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed”. He gave us His righteousness and took our sins onto Himself as He suffered and died on the cross.

Jesus then took us to the inn of the church.  There he gave instructions to His pastors to care for us. He has given the pastors something way better than a card with a billion-dollar credit limit or a blank check.  He has left His Word, Holy Baptism, Confession and Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper with the inn of the church.  He has given His pastors instructions to use these Means of Grace to tend to the well-being of all those who have been beaten up by sin. With these Means of Grace, the pastors tends to the victims of sin, death, and the devil.

If we, on the other hand, want to live by the law, then we must live up to the example of love in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The example given to us by Jesus Christ Himself. We cannot do that.  Sinrobs us and leaves us at the side of the road to die. In fact we arespiritually dead.

Our only hope is for Jesus to take on the role of the Good Samaritan.  Only He can rescue us and bring us healing.  Jesus is the one who set His face to go to Jerusalem so that He could die for us on the cross.  He is also the one who rose from the dead to give us the promise of eternal life with Him.  He offers us forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Why mess up this gift of salvation by trying to do our part to save ourselves?  We can’t help ourselves.  Jesus has already written us into His will, and He has died.  Jesus Christ has taken up the role of the Good Samaritan in our place. Jesus Christ has already earned our forgiveness.  The inheritance of eternal life is already ours.

The Holy Spirit administers Jesus’ estate by transmitting forgiveness to us by the Means of Grace … Word and Sacrament.  The Holy Spirit establishes the faith that receives that forgiveness as it trusts in Jesus.  There is nothing left to do.  When it comes to our salvation, God does all the work.  We have already inherited eternal life.  It is ours.  Amen

The peace and love of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Pentecost 4 – 7 July 2019 – Year C

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

The text for meditation is written in the 10^thChapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses1 – 20:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ² And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, thatthe kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.¹⁶“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword.  Jesus stopped Peter and said to him, ^{(Matthew 26:52–53)}“Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” 

Twelve legions of angels are somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 angels.  That’s a lot of angels.  When the Assyrians attacked Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, ^{(2 Kings 19:35)}“the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians”.If that is what one angel can do, think what twelve legions of angels could do.

Today’s Gospel caused me to wonder what twelve legions of angels could do if Jesus sent themout to proclaim that the reign of God has come near.  As one who has been ordained to the ministry, I sometimes wonder why Jesus sent out mere mortal sinners to proclaim His gospel when He has legions of angels at His disposal.  When I examine my own life in light of the Ten Commandments, I see an unworthy sinner. It is a mystery to me as to why God would use a sinner like me to proclaim His good news from the pulpit.  Regardless of my doubts, today’s Gospel informs us that Jesus sent out seventy-two sinners to proclaim the coming of the reign of God.

Jesus sent out the seventy-two to prepare the way for Him as He made His way to Jerusalem to keep His appointment with the cross.  You might remember from last week’s Gospel that Jesus is the one who ^{(Luke 9:51)}“set his face to go to Jerusalem”.The Lord Jesus wanted everyone to be ready for Him when He came by on His pilgrimage that would take Him to the cross in Jerusalem.  Therefore,^{(Luke 10:1)}“the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go”.Jesus used seventy-two sinners to prepare people for His coming.  That’s right!  Jesus sent sinners to proclaim His Good News to the people! That defies human logic. But the fact is that we regular church-goers just accept that sinners proclaim the Word of God to the point where we don’t even think about how strange an idea that is. Jesus put His most precious Good News into the mouths of unworthydishonourable sinners. 

Now before you start wondering if maybe I am over-stating the case here, ask yourself who Jesus sent out.  Jesus sent out James and John.  Remember that just last week, we heard that James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven on an unsuspecting Samaritan village just because they didn’t want Jesus to pass through their town.  Jesus sent out Peter … you know the one to whom He had to say, “Get behind me, Satan!”  Then there was good old doubting Thomas.

Then, of course, let’s not forget Judas.  Judas … the one who would betray Jesus … the one who would hang himself in despair … that Judas!  He also was one of the disciples that Jesus sent out to prepare the way for His arrival. Each and every one of these disciples had failed Jesus multiple times.  Each and every one of these disciples would fail Jesus many times again after the events in today’s Gospel.  These are not the men that I would choose to get out the word if I were God. But then, I am not God.

In spite of the fact that all of these men were sinners … in spite of the fact that we know that at least one of them, Judas, was even a traitor, Jesus still entrusted His message to them.  He even said, ^{(Luke 10:16)}“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”Jesus promised that even though they were sinners, His message would remain intact in their mouths.  Think about it.  Jesus promised His disciples that when they proclaimed the words that He gave to them, their hearers were hearing Jesus Himself speak through their mouths. People were to pay no attention to the sins of the messengers.  Instead, they were to pay attention to the truth of the message.

What is this precious, holy message?  In today’s Gospel, Jesus said,^{(Luke 10:5)}“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’”This is no ordinary peace.  This is the peace of God that passes all human understanding. This is the peace that Jesus would soon earn when He finished His journey to Jerusalem and kept His appointment with the cross.

Jesus also told them to heal and preach. ^{(Luke 10:8–9)} “⁸Whenever you enter a town and they receive you … Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” It is important to understandthat the Kingdom of Godis different from earthly kingdoms.  Here on this earth, we say that someone is a king because he rules a kingdom … the king depends on the kingdom.  When it comes to the Kingdom of God, things are the other way around. The kingdom is the kingdom because Christ the king rules it … the kingdom depends on the king.  When we say that the kingdom of God has come near to you,we are saying that the king has come near to you.  That king is Jesus Christ Himself.

So far, everything about this mission sounds pretty good, but there is also a dark side to this mission.  It begins in the instructions.  Jesus began with a warning, ^{(Luke 10:3)}“Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”As wonderful as God’s peace and His kingdom are, there will be some people who will attack you for it.  There will always be people who rejectGod’s peace and His kingdom.  There will always be those who hateGod’s message and His messengers.

Jesus also gave His disciples words and actions of judgment. ^{(Luke 10:10–12)} “Whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹²I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town”.What sad and terrifying words.

The most terrifying thing about this judgment is the thing that is missing. There are two words in the blessed proclamation of the Gospel that are missing in the judgment.  When a town received the disciples, Jesus gave them a proclamation that ended with these words: The kingdom of God has come near to you.  When a town rejected the disciples, Jesus gave them a proclamation that ended with these words: The kingdom of God has come near … period!  The words “to you” are missing from the judgment. The words “to you” make an eternal difference.

You see, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire world.  When Jesus Christ hung from the cross and shouted, “It is finished,” He meant it is finished for everybody.  Jesus Christ has earned the forgiveness of sins for every man, woman, and child who ever has or ever will live.  Jesus purchased the forgiveness of sins for all people in all places in all times.

This means that you can walk up to anyone in any place and tell them that you know for a fact that Jesus Christ has earned forgiveness of sins for them. Think of the worst human beings who ever lived.  Jesus earned forgiveness of sins for them.  Nero burned Rome and blamed it on the Christians, but Jesus earned forgiveness for his sins.  Genghis Khan, Jesus earned forgiveness for him.  The people who carried out the Spanish inquisition, Jesus earned forgiveness for them.  Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Osama Bin Laden, whoever you can name, Jesus earned forgiveness for them.  Even Judas Iscariot, Jesus earned forgiveness for him.

Even though Jesus earned forgiveness for these horrible villains, the odds that they are or will be with the Lord are extremely low.  The problem lies in those two little words “to you.” Jesus earned forgiveness for everyone, but some people rejectthat forgiveness.  It is not the Lord’s fault that anyone suffers forever.  He has brought His kingdom near.  He has earned forgiveness of sins for everyone. The Holy Spirit offers that forgiveness through the Gospel to everyone.  The only thing the Holy Spirit does not do is jam the Gospel down people’s throats.  Some people resist the Holy Spirit and reject the Gospel.  The Kingdom of God has come near them, but not to them. Reject the Kingdom means rejecting the gift of salvation.

The eminent theologian Dr. Martin Luther’s explanation of the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer; “Thy kingdom come”,  is this “The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself. But we pray in this petition that it may come to usalso.  How is this done?  When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and there in eternity.  We pray in this petition that it may come to us”.

The crucifixion and the empty tomb are objective facts.  The historical record outside of the Bible can teach us all kinds of things about Jesus. We can know that most of His ministry was in Galilee.  We can know that He tangled with the temple authorities in Jerusalem.  We can research ancient documents and learn how those temple authorities coerced Pontius Pilate to crucify Him.  We can uncover the mystery of an empty tomb. All of these things are objective facts. The Apostle James tells us that ^{[James 2:19]}“even the demons believe the objective facts and shudder”.  We need more than objective facts.

Two little words take the Gospel from objective fact to personal reality. Those two words become the truthwhen our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word.  The Holy Spirit’s gift of faith makes the difference.  Without that faith, the life of Jesus is just a collection of the objective facts.  With that faith, the life of Jesus Christ is the way of salvation for me … and you.

Two little words can make such a difference.  Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins can add two words to the objective facts.  Listen to the difference this makes.  Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.  Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary for me.  Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate.  Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate for me.  Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus died on the cross for me.  Jesus rose from the dead.  Jesus rose from the dead for me.  Jesus ascended into heaven.  Jesus ascended into heaven for me.  From there He will come.  From there He will come for me.  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen