Pentecost 24 – 19 November 2017 – Year A

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

The text for this meditation is written in the 25^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 14 – 30:
¹⁴ “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Gospel readings for last week, today, and next week are all part of the private instruction that Jesus gave to His disciples on the Mount of Olives just a few days before He died on the cross.  Last week, we heard the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.  Next week, we will hear about the sheep and the goats.  Today, we hear the parable of the talents.  Jesus used each of these readings to help us learn what we need to know about the Last Day … the Day of Judgment … the day when each of us must appear before the Lord and give an account.

Today’s parable tells of a man who left on a long trip and returned at a later time.  While he was away, he entrusted his wealth to three servants.  When he returned, he called these servants before him to give an account of what they had done with his wealth.

The man in the parable represents Jesus who was about to leave on that long trip.  In a few days, He would be hanging from a cross and paying for the sins of all humanity.  After He paid for all our sins, He would rise from the dead and then ascend into heaven.  The parable in the Gospel illustrates our lives during this time of waiting for Him to return.  It also illustrates the judgment that will come to each of us at the end of our time on this earth.

Note that the man entrusts his wealth to servants.  He does not entrust his wealth to two servants and a stranger.  The fact that he entrusts his wealth to servants indicates that Jesus is talking about people who consider themselves members of Christ’s Church on earth; that includes us, members of a congregation.  Even as Judas was still a member of Jesus’ congregation, so also we need to understand that not all who claim membership are really members.  As Jesus said, ^{[Matthew 7:21]} “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”   Just as not all three servants were faithful, Jesus teaches that not all members are faithful.

Now … It would be very easy to get hung up on the amounts … the five, two, and one talent that the man gave to each of his servants.  Instead, when we understand that even one talent is a lot of money, we can realize that the man put each of his servants in charge of a fortune … even one talent is worth approximately $1.25 million dollars in today’s value.  The stewardship this man entrusted to his servants was huge.

The first part of this parable illustrates the incredible wealth God gives to us.  He has created us and the entire world.  The different amounts indicate that God gives a unique set of gifts to each person.  He gives these gifts so that each of us can care for himself and for others.  Most importantly, He has given Jesus who earned salvation with His suffering and death on the cross.  That salvation is not just for a few, but the salvation Jesus earned is for the entire world.  It is as Jesus said, ^{[Matthew 5:45b]} “[Our Father in Heaven] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  God’s gifts to us are beyond anything we could measure or even imagine and He gives those gifts to all people.

We need to understand that the wealth in the parable is symbolic.  There are many ways God’s gifts can be a blessing to us.  Just as God gives out different gifts, so also there are different returns when we invest those gifts.  On occasion, the Lord may bless with a financial return.  Most of the time, the return is more valuable than mere earthly wealth.

As the parable continued, two of the servants put their stewardship to work.  They invested and made a return.  The third servant dug a hole and buried the entire talent.  He hid his master’s money.

Jesus told this parable along with other parables to illustrate the final judgment on the Last Day.  On the Last Day, some will stand before the Lord and rejoice like the two faithful servants.  They will praise the Lord for the things they were able to do because of the Lord’s gifts.  Others will stand in terror.  Some of those who stand in terror will have their names on the rolls of the local congregation.

When we entered the world all of us were like the servant who stood before the master in terror.  It is as David says, ^{[Psalm 51:5]} “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  The Apostle Paul writes, ^{[Ephesians 2:1]} “You were dead in the trespasses and sins,” and again, ^{[Romans 8:7]} “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

By nature, we, like the unfaithful servant, imagine a master who is not generous, loving, and kind.  Our imagination prevents us from seeing the true master who pours out generous salvation and all the other gifts without calculation or measurement.  We imagine the master to be “a hard man, reaping where [he] did not sow, and gathering where [he] scattered no seed.”  This belief causes fear instead of joy.  It paralyses us so that the gifts of God terrify us and we despise them.

Fortunately, the Father of all mercy and grace has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sin of the whole world, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  God does NOT desire our terror.  Instead, He loves us with the Holy, precious blood of His Son poured out in innocent suffering and death on a cross.  Jesus brought into this world a love that was priceless, a love that would not balk at the cost of sin, a love that would suffer death and eternal damnation so that the debt of all humanity would be paid and every sin would be forgiven before God.  God offers this love to us with a generosity that Jesus described as ^{[Luke 6:38]} good measure, pressed down, shaken together, [and] running over.

When the Holy Spirit creates faith in us, He brings this generous love and forgiveness to us.  The terror is gone.  Instead, we become like the two faithful servants who rejoiced in the presence of their master.  Like the two faithful servants, we will rejoice in the presence of the master as we celebrate the return we will have made with the wealth the master gives to us.  We will hear those wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

The terrified servant heard different words, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

This parable shows that there are two judgments on the Last Day … the joy of the master and the outer darkness.  The other readings for this day also inform us of the terror of the Day of the Lord.  The Old Testament reading ^{(Judges 4)} speaks of wailing, punishment, plundering, waste, bitterness, ruin, devastation, darkness and gloom.  The epistle ^{(1 Thessalonians 5)} speaks of destruction and the labour pains of childbirth.  These readings make it very clear that there will be a very real day of judgment, and that day will terrify many.  It will even terrify some who claim membership in a local congregation.

At the same time, there are some who look forward to that day with joy.  These are the ones whom God has brought into His household of salvation.  By God’s grace they celebrate and confess the gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation that God has given to them.

God’s love for us delights in the different gifts He gives to each of us.  He rejoices in the various ways he has created us for service. As Paul writes to the saints in Corinth, ^{[1 Corinthians 12:17]} “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?” 

Our service to God does not earn us a place in his kingdom.  God has freely given us that in Christ.  Instead, God gives us a variety of gifts at the same time that He gives us our place in God’s kingdom.  Those who rejoice in the coming Day of the Lord will readily use these gifts to confess their faith to their friends and acquaintances.  Who knows but that the Holy Spirit may use your confession to bring salvation to another so that they too will one day hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”  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 23 – 12 November 2017 – Year A

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 25^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verse 1 – 13:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹ Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

During these last few Sundays of the church year, the Gospel readings call our attention to Jesus teachings about the last days.  As Jesus teaches these last things His public preaching ministry is also coming to its last days.  He has finished a day of teaching in the Temple and He and the disciples are now camped out on the Mount of Olives looking over the valley toward Jerusalem.  In a few days, the authorities will arrest Him and then He will suffer and die on the cross. 

Jesus taught His disciples many things during His teaching ministry – things about the Kingdom of heaven – things about His suffering, death, and resurrection – things about the future.  Then, as He approached the cross, He taught about the final Day of Judgment.

As often happened during His ministry, the disciples didn’t understand this teaching at first.  It was not until after the resurrection that they really began to understand.  Although they did not always understand, Jesus continued to teach them.  He knew that the day would come when the Holy Spirit would make the teaching clear.  Then they would remember what He said.

The teaching about the Last Day in today’s parable may be summed up in the words, “Expect the unexpected.”  Jesus Himself explained this when He said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  Watch – be ready – be like a boy scout and be prepared.  Why, because the last day will be a surprise for everyone.

Jesus used the setting of a wedding celebration to make His point.  Even today, we can point to marriage as metaphor for the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church.  In the first century Middle East, marriage traditions were an even clearer metaphor for that relationship.

The key difference for today’s parable is that couples in the first century Middle East did not live together immediately after the wedding.  There was a period of betrothal.  The bride would return to her parents’ home after the wedding and wait for the groom to provide a place for them to live.  Once the groom had a home for his bride, he would go to her parents’ home in grand procession with his family and friends and they would then escort the bride, her family, and friends to the couple’s new home.

The ten virgins in today’s parable were waiting for just such a procession.  They were to escort the bride and the groom to their new home with a procession of light.  Each of the virgins would light the way with her lamp and accompany the bride and groom as they entered the city, processed to their new home and celebrated the beginning of their new life together.

Of course, back in the days when Jesus told this parable, there were no mobile phones, no texting, no e-mail – there was no way to let anyone know anything about the bridegroom’s progress.  You knew he had left to get his bride and you knew he would return sometime in the next few days, but exact schedules were impossible.  No one knew the travel conditions.  No one knew how long it would take the bride to gather her family and friends together.  The groom might escort the bride into the village this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow sometime, or maybe even the next day.  You just didn’t know when the groom would show up with his new bride until you saw them coming.

This image of the groom going away to prepare a place for the bride and then returning to take her home exactly matches the words of Jesus Christ to His disciple in the upper room.  ^{[John 14:2]} In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Just as the virgins had no idea when the bridegroom might return, so we also have no idea when we might leave this world.  Are we to leave this world when Jesus returns?  He might come before I finish this sermon or he might come thousands of years from now.  Jesus Himself said,  ^{[Matthew 24:36]} “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” 

On the other hand, if the Lord lingers on, we will leave this world through the gate of physical death.  Again, we have no idea if we will live through the day or go on living through the century.  Again Jesus said, ^{[Matthew 6:27]} “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”  

So, whether we leave this world when the Lord returns or whether we leave through the gates of physical death, it is very likely to be a surprise – an event that has little or no warning – an event that can be a disaster if we are not ready.

However what does it mean to be ready?  The parable symbolises readiness with oil.  The prudent virgins had containers of oil with them and were ready to light the way for the happy couple.  The foolish virgins had lamps, but no oil.  They were not ready.  When the watchman on the wall announced the appearance of the bridal party, the foolish virgins had to leave and get oil.  By the time they returned, they missed out.

The parable in today’s Gospel focuses on the return of the bridegroom for His bride, the Church.  In order to understand what it means to be ready, we must ask a question.  How is it that the Holy Christian Church became betrothed to the Son of God?

Tradition called for a groom to pay a bride price for his future wife.  The price would be things of commercial value – livestock, crops, currency, and so forth.  With the bride-price, the groom made the bride his own.

Jesus Christ paid a much greater bride-price for the Holy Christian Church.  The Holy Spirit inspired Peter to tell us, ^{[1 Peter 1:18-19]} “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”  These words teach us that Jesus paid the bride price for the church not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.  With His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus makes us His own.  It was at the cross that Jesus created the Holy Christian Church and made her into His holy bride.  All those who are members of the Holy Christian Church are ready for His return.

We become members of the Holy Christian Church when the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to create faith in us.  We remain in the Holy Christian Church as the Holy Spirit maintains our faith through that same Word.  That Word of God comes to us as we read and hear it.  It also comes to us as we receive it with the waters of Holy Baptism and with the bread and wine of the Lord’s Table.  With these Means of Grace the Holy Spirit maintains our readiness for our Last Day on this earth.  With these Means of Grace, we will be ready even though our Last Day is a surprise.

The five foolish virgins in today’s parable represent all those who are not ready because they have neglected the Means of Grace.  They have rejected the Word of God and so starved their faith.  The foolish virgins heard the most terrible words that their Lord could utter, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”  From these words we learn that those who have starved their faith to death will experience an eternity with no sense of God’s presence.  They will finally acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, but it will be too late.  The door will be shut and no one will open it. They will suffer an eternity without the joy of God’s presence.

On the other hand, the five prudent virgins represent all those who cherish the Means of Grace.  They abide in the word.  Their faith is well nourished.  The Holy Spirit will work through Word and Sacrament to nourish and maintain their faith in Jesus Christ and His work.  In today’s parable, the prudent entered the wedding feast.  These are the ones who are ready.  They will rise from the dead to experience the eternal joy of God’s presence.

They will rise from the dead because they will be following the one who opened the door with His own resurrection.  Today, that door is still open, but the day is coming when it will close.  Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ loves us more than we could ever comprehend, so he loving counsels us ‘Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour’.  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 20 – 22 October 2017 – Year A

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

The text for this meditation is written in the 22^nd Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 15 – 33:

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. ¹⁶ And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard it, they marvelled. And they left him and went away.

²³ The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ So too the second and third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ After them all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” 

²⁹ But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³ And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

I can still hear the words of a very learned Doctor of Theology and Seminary lecturer.  ‘Anytime you are doing any form of communication, three things are very important; context, context, and context.  This is true when you are listening to a speech.  This is true when you are reading a book.  This is especially true when you are working with the Bible’.

In order to understand how bizarre the situation is in today’s Gospel, we need to look at the cultural context of the Gospel.  The Gospel we just heard tells us that some disciples of the Pharisees and some Herodians came to Jesus.  Since it is most unlikely than any of us have ever met any Herodians or Pharisees, we probably do not understand how strange this is.

One of the many things that you can say about the Pharisees is that they were extremely nationalistic.  They believed that Jerusalem should be ruled by Jews and not by gentiles.  After all, the law of Moses states, ^{[Deuteronomy 17:15]} “One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.”  Therefore they hated the Roman occupation.  They were realistic enough to understand that Rome had a lot of power.  So, they weren’t stupid enough to be terrorists against Rome.  On the other hand, if someone presented a reasonable plan to get Rome out of Israel, they would help wherever they could.

The Herodians were just the opposite.  As you might guess by their name, they supported Herod.  Herod was a puppet king of the Roman Empire.  The Romans had put his father in power and they kept him in power after his father died.  The Herod family was NOT Jewish.  So, if you were a Herodian, you were a fan of Herod, and, since Herod was a puppet of Rome, you were a fan of the Roman occupation.

Ordinarily, the Pharisees and the Herodians would be at each other’s throats … if not literally, at least figuratively.  The fact that these two groups worked together to attack Jesus tells you something about how much they hated Jesus.

They had a plan.  The idea was to put Jesus between a rock and a hard place.  They asked Jesus a question that was designed to get Him into trouble: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”  If he answered yes, then the people who hated the Roman occupation would hate Him too.  If He answered no, then the Herodians would report Him to the Romans and get Him arrested.  If He did not answer, then the crowd would label Him as a coward.  The Herodians and the Pharisees thought they had Jesus in a no win situation.

Of course, it is not so easy to trap Jesus in His words.  Jesus saw the fallacy in their plan.  There weren’t just two possible answers to their question.  There was a third answer: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The Gospels record many interactions like this between Jesus and His opponents.  The opponents come up with some sort of plan to trip Jesus up in His words.  They hope to embarrass Jesus in some way and diminish his influence among the people.  Then Jesus very neatly finds the flaw in their plan and embarrasses them.  Plans to trap Jesus in words always backfired.

We are tempted to believe that Jesus won all these debates because He was such an excellent debater.  We are tempted to believe that it was His superior skill and knowledge that won all these debates.  While Jesus was the perfect human being and was flawless in his thinking, that was not His main advantage.  His main advantage was that He knew the truth and He never wavered from it.  Making a case based on truth gives anyone a tremendous advantage over those who depend on lies.

The opponents in today’s Gospel engaged in a logical fallacy called the false dilemma.  This is a logical fallacy that falsely offers only two possible alternatives even though a broad range of possible alternatives are really available.  The opponents offered two possibilities: either you pay your taxes or you don’t.  Jesus simply exposed their faulty reasoning by showing that there actually were other answers.  We can pay our taxes, give our offerings, and care for our families.  God is gracious enough to give us the resources to do all three and maybe even have a little left over for recreation.  The opponents tried to trap Jesus using a dilemma that did not exist.

The enemy often presents us with false dilemmas.  One that involves our very salvation is the dilemma between self-righteousness and despair.  It goes something like this.  By the way, please remember that this is a fallacy.

As we read the Bible, we see that God gives us a lot to do.  Do we do what God says and go to heaven, OR are we failing and on the road to hell?  This false dilemma often becomes a reality for us weak and sinful human beings.  We become blind to the fact that there is another way.  Good people go to heaven.  Bad people go to hell.  Are we good or bad?  How good do we have to be in order to be good enough?  This is the false dilemma of the law.

I can deny the truth of my sin and insist that I am one of the good people that go to heaven.  This is self-righteousness and directly contradicts John’s epistle: ^{[1 John 1:8, 10]} “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us … If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.”  To even say that I hope I am good enough to go to heaven is the most arrogant of all pride and a sin in itself.  If I go this way, I am lying to myself and calling God a liar.

My other choice according to this false dilemma is the utter honesty of recognising my sin and believing I have no hope.  This is despair.  Here too, there is a strange sort of pride … the belief that my sin is more powerful than God.  My sin is so terrible that there is nothing that God or anyone else can do.  In the case of Judas, the pride of his despair was so great that he took justice into his own hands and murdered himself.

What a comfort and relief it is to learn that the two choices offered by the law are a false dilemma.  Just as Jesus provided a third answer to the Pharisees and Herodians, He provides a third answer to the false dilemma of the delusion of the law.  In the middle of John’s condemnation of our sin, we hear, ^{[1 John 1:9]} “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Here is the way that God forgives our sin and cleanses our unrighteousness.  God has given us a third answer in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the one who did the work that makes this third answer possible.  Jesus actually did what God gave Him to do.  He kept God’s law perfectly.  Then He went to the cross and endured the punishment we deserve for failing to do what God commands.  In this way, He provided the third answer … the third answer that avoids both self-righteousness and despair.  We are no longer responsible for our own salvation.  Jesus has taken that responsibility for us.  He is the one who earned forgiveness for us.  He is the one who offers to cleanse us of all your sin.

Jesus demonstrated the benefits of His third answer by rising from the dead and ascending to the Father.  Those who trust Jesus will also receive this blessing.  God will raise them to immortality on the Last Day and join body and soul once again.  On that day there will be a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and earth will have passed away.  Then our Lord ^{[Revelation 21:4]} will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

The Pharisees and the Herodians in today’s Gospel tried to make Jesus irrelevant by asking a trick question.  When that didn’t work, they gave up on subtlety.  They decided that the only way to remove Jesus from the scene was to remove Him from this life – to kill Him.  During the next few days they carried out their plan and arranged to have Jesus crucified.  When Jesus was dead, the powers of sin, death, and the devil thought they had won.  They didn’t understand that the death and resurrection of Jesus is His greatest victory.

It is by this victory that we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.  It is by this victory that even though we die, we shall rise again.  His resurrection is the assurance that the work He did on the cross is the ultimate victory … the assurance that self-righteousness and despair are a false dilemma.  In Jesus Christ there is another way … a way that leads to life everlasting.  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