Jesus Is Our Unchanging Savior! (Hebrews 13:8)

New Year's Eve 
December 31, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

If there is one thing that we can count on in this life, its change.  For the truth is, change is all around us.  We see it outside as we watch spring changing into summer, summer to fall, and fall to winter, winter back into spring once again.  We see it in the weather as sunny days change to cloudy days, warm days turn cold, and rain changes into snow.  We see it in our living rooms as we flip through the channels of our TV’s looking for something to watch.  We see it in our children and grandchildren as we watch them grow from infant to toddler, toddler to child, child to teenager, and teenager to adult.  And we see it in ourselves.  For each time we look in the mirror we see a reflection that has changed in some way since the last time we looked at it.  Even though the change may be so small that we don’t see it right away, given a few days, weeks, or even years, we can see just how our faces, our hair, and even our eyes have changed.  But even though change is something that we deal with in every aspect of our earthly lives, when it comes to our religious lives we know that Jesus is our unchanging Savior.  So tonight, as we celebrate the changing of the years, we will place our trust and confidence in Jesus our unchanging Savior. 

What a comfort it is for us to know that Jesus is our unchanging Savior!  What a comfort it is to know that no matter what changes in this life, Jesus will never change, for as the writer to the Hebrews tells us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).  This truth, that Jesus is our unchanging Savior has been our comfort and assurance throughout our lives.  He was our comfort twelve years ago as we faced the prospect of stepping from 1999 into the year 2000.  He was our comfort a little more than twelve days ago when people wondered if the Mayan Calendar would be right and we would see the end of the world in December.  He has been our comfort every time people have predicted the end of the world.  He has been our comfort through the past years as we’ve faced layoffs, closures, and even the searching for a new job.  He’s been our comfort as we’ve enjoyed health and prosperity, as we’ve endured sickness and injury, and even as we’ve faced fear and death.  But most incredibly, he has stood buy us even through our sins.  For even though we have been unfaithful to him on many occasions, even though we have turned our backs on him and run away, even though we have thrown ourselves head first into our sins, our Savior never left our side.  He stood by us even when we wanted nothing to do with him, and he led us from our sins so that we might fall at his feet in repentance.  Then, as we’ve laid at his feet with tears running down our cheeks, he extends his hand, lifts us up, and assures us of his forgiveness.  He reminds us that he used his own blood to wash way every scarlet stain of those sins, cleansing our hearts until they were whiter than the freshly fallen snow we normally see in the winter. 

Now, tonight, as we sit here in worship, Jesus is the one who is building us up.  He is the one assuring us that our sins have been forgiven.  He is reminding us that he is our unchangeable Savior who will never leave us nor forsake us.  Though the world might change around us, Jesus will never change.  Though our father and mother forsake us, though friends should turn their backs on us and hate us, Jesus will never leave us.  No matter what changes the New Year might hold for us, no matter what unforeseen triumphs or tragedies we might face, Jesus will be there with us.  So now, as we look forward to the beginning of a New Year we look forward with confidence.  We look forward with confidence because we know that our Savior goes with us, just as he has in the past.  For Jesus Christ is our unchanging Savior.  He is the same today as he was yesterday, and he will be the same tomorrow and forever! 

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

What is our God Like?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

December 30, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

It has been said that what you know about a person usually affects the way that you feel about a person, and in most cases that seems to be true.  Take, for example, Abraham Lincoln.  He was the 16th president of the United States.  He was the President in Office during the Civil War.  He was the one who was determined that the United States of America should remain together as a single nation.  He was the one who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were salves from their forced servitude, and putting into motion the events that led to the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, which finally Abolished Slavery in the United States.  He was the one who was assassinated at Ford’s Theater a mere 5 days after the Civil War came to an end.  Because of this knowledge, there are many who love Lincoln and hail him as one of the greatest Presidents our Nation has ever seen.  Though he was continually ridiculed and spoken against in his time, because of what we know about him from history, we are able to form our own opinion about him, and our own personal feelings about him have been affected in many ways by what we know.  Well the same thing is true about the Lord our God, our opinion of him is very much affected by what we know about him.  Thus, as we study the Scriptures before us today we will seek to learn about our God and answer the question, “What is our God like?”

To answer this question, we want to take a look at what the Bible has to say about God’s Characteristics and learn two basic ways that God’s nature is different than ours.  So, I invite you to grab your Bibles and turn to Matthew 28:19 which can be found on page 989.  As you are looking it up, let me give you the context of this passage.  It had been 40 days since Jesus rose from the dead, and Jesus and his disciples were standing on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus was giving them his final instructions and blessings before he would ascend into heaven.  While he was speaking to them he told them, (and we’ll read Matthew 28:19 together): “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, NIV)

Just as Jesus began his ministry with the Father’s blessing and the Holy Spirit’s descending upon him, so also Jesus returns to heaven instituting the Sacrament of Baptism, proclaiming that all of his disciples should baptize people in the name of the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Thus, Jesus reveals that our God is three distinct and separate persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Thus, when we look at our God we know that the Father is not the Son.  We know that the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and we know that the Holy Spirit is not the Father.  Yet, even as we worship our God in three separate and distinct persons, we know that we do not worship three separate Gods but we worship only one God, as Moses tells us in Deuteronomy 6:4.  Turn with me, if you would, to Deuteronomy 6:4, which can be found on page 178 of your Bibles, and we’ll read this passage together also.  Again, as you look up the passage, let me set the context.  The Israelites have completed their 40 years of wandering in the desert and they are preparing to cross the Jordan and take the land of Canaan.  As they prepare, Moses is reminding them of all that the Lord has done for them.  In Chapter 5 Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments and now, in verses 4 of Chapter 6, Moses speaks about the Lord whom we serve as we follow his commandments.  And we read together: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NIV)

With these words, the Lord God reveals a very specific distinction between his nature and our nature.  He is one!  Though, He is three separate and distinct persons these three separate and distinct persons make up one individual God.  How this can be, we do not know we simply believe it and accept it by faith, because God himself has told us that he is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons yet one God.  So, if we should ever take the Father out of the picture, would we still believe in the true God proclaimed by the Bible?  No, because we would only have the Son and the Holy Spirit and not all three.  What if we took the Son out of the picture and believed only in the Father and the Holy Spirit?  The same thing would be true.  We would not have the True God spoken of in the Bible.  What if we took the Holy Spirit out of the picture and only believed in the Father and the Son, would we still have the true God proclaimed by the Bible?  Again, the answer is no.  even though the Bible never uses the word Triune to describe our God, the Bible makes it clear that the God we worship is three persons (tri) yet one God (une), which gives us our Triune God 3 person in one God, just as Jesus tells us in the  Gospel of John: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. ” (John 16:13–15, NIV)

From all of these passages, we can clearly see the two basic ways that our God’s nature is different than our own.  Not only is the Lord our God Triune—Three Persons yet, One God—but also, as we have been taught since we were little Children, the Lord our God is spirit.  Because the Lord is Spirit, he does not have a physical body.  Even though Jesus came to the earth and took on our human flesh and blood, when he ascended into heaven, he returned to his spirit form.  Yet, the Lord our God is not some distant force sailing around the galaxy, he is a real personal being who hears our prayers and understands our needs.  He desires and even demands the most important place in our hearts and our lives.  He calls on us to worship him, praise him, and thank him for all that he has done for us.  He forgives us each and every time we fall in to temptation and sin against him, and he has chosen to reveal himself to us through the pages of the Scriptures so that we might gain a better understanding of who he is through the many characteristics that he reveals to us in his Word. 

So, let’s take another look at the Scriptures to see if we might discover all that the Lord our God wants us to learn about himself.  To do this, we will turn to Psalm 139 which can be found on page 618, and as you are looking up Psalm 139 on page 618, let me give you just a little bit of an introduction.  Psalm 139 is one of the many Psalms that King David wrote by the inspiration of the Lord.  It was given to the director of music for use as a song for worship in the temple.  It has even been called the Psalm of the All knowing and Ever Present God, and the reason for this will become clear as I read.  In fact, due to the length of the Psalm I invite you to follow along with me as I read:  “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ” (Psalm 139:1–24, NIV)

In such a beautiful way the Lord so clearly reveals that he is omniscient—all knowing—and omnipresent—present everywhere.  He reminds us that not only does he know everything that we say and do, he also knows us better than our friends, our family, even our own fathers and mothers.  He knows what we need when we need it, and he is always present with us, watching over us, protecting us, helping us, and ready to comfort us.  He is also the all-powerful God who created our inmost beings, who knit us together in our mothers’ wombs.  He is the God who can and will use his unlimited power to punish those who do not believe in him in the fires of eternal damnation, and he is the God who can and will use his unlimited power to bring those who believe in him to the halls of eternal life where we will live with him forever.

What more beautiful and comforting words could the Lord give to us as he reveals himself to us through his Word!  Yet, there are so many more passages we could chose today to teach us more about the Characteristics of our God.  The problem is, we are running out of time this morning, that is, if we feel we must keep our service as close to an hour as possible.  However, since that is our custom, perhaps just one final passage.  Turn with me to Exodus 34:5-7 on page 88.  Again, let me give you the background for these verses: Moses had been with the Lord on the Mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, during which time the people persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship.  When Moses came down and saw what they were doing, he broke the tablets, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, sprinkled it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.  Now, he had returned to the mountain with two new tablets of stone for the Lord’s commands where he had also asked the Lord to show him his glory, which is where we pick up as we read together: “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming,

“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5–7, NIV)

In such a beautiful way, the Lord our God reveals to us some of his most incredible characteristics.  We know of his compassion for us in his sending Jesus to be our Savior.  We know of his Graciousness that he does not treat us as our sins deserve, but he shows his love and his patience for us by giving us this time of grace in which to come to faith.  He shows his love and his faithfulness by continually protecting us from all harm and danger, and forgiving all our sins for Jesus’ sake.  Though the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished, through faith in him, we live in his love and faithfulness.  We see the Lord our God as the loving, caring, and gracious God he is. 

Thus, today, in the same way we have learned about Abraham Lincoln from history, we have learned what the Lord our God is like.  For from the pages of Scripture, we have come to know that our all powerful Triune God is a Spirit who reveals himself to us in the Scriptures.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Persevere in Your Faith! (Hebrews 10:1-39)

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

Fourth Sunday in Advent

December 23, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Three weeks ago, we began a series of Catechatical sermons—sermons which are based on the lessons that our Confirmation students study in their Confirmation classes.  These are lessons that most of you learned a number of years ago as you sat at the feet of the particular pastor who taught you to delve deeply into the truths of the Bible.  Today, we are using this series of sermons to help us “Grow together in God’s Grace,” so that we might be built up as his children and so that we might continue to persevere in the faith which the Lord has established in our hearts.

So far in this series, we’ve learned how the Lord has revealed himself to us through his creation, through our conscience and especially through his Word; the Bible.  We learned that the Bible is such an important book to us, because it is the only source through which we can become wise for salvation.  We learned that it is through the Bible that we learn the difference between God’s Law and God’s Gospel—that the only thing that the Law can ever do for us is to show us our sins and our need for a Savior.  Yet, it is in the Gospel that we learn about God’s plan for our salvation—how he sent Jesus to be our Savior.  Now, moved through the Gospel we seek to live according to God’s word and follow his Law, out of love for our God who loved us so much that he saved us even though we could never save ourselves.  Now, as we continue to Grow together in God’s Grace, we will hear the writer to the Hebrews applying to our lives all that we’ve learned so far.  We will hear him speak to us of the purpose of God’s Law.  We will hear him reveal the great Gospel message of God’s salvation, and we will hear him warn us with the Law and encourage us with the Gospel as he call on us to Persevere in Our Faith!

So, with that introduction, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 10, found on page 1190, and we will dive in, together, and see how the writer to the Hebrews calls on us to persevere in our faith.  Now, as you are turning to Hebrews 10, let me remind you of the purpose of the Book of Hebrews.  Even though we don’t know who wrote the book, we do know that when it was written Christianity was being persecuted.  Jewish Christians, especially, were feeling the pressure to give up Christianity and go back to their former way of life in Judaism.  In this way, they would once again fit in with all those around them and they would be able to avoid persecution. It was because of this that the writer wrote in Chapter 10 beginning with verse 1: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:1–10, NIV84)

As he wrote, he called on them to persevere in their faith, because if they went back to their former way of life in Judaism they would miss out on the one who came to do the will of the Lord.  They would miss out on their salvation all together, because they would be binding themselves to a set of rules and regulations that no longer served its former purpose because the reality had been found in Christ.  This is the very point the writer makes as he continues on in the next verses: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin." (Hebrews 10:11–18, NIV84)

In essence the writer to the Hebrews was calling on each and every person to persevere in faith, because the faith which had been created in their hearts, faith that trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, this was the only source of salvation they had.  If they went back to observing the law, they would be lost, because they could not keep the law perfectly as God demands.  If they went back to the law they would be lost because they would be looking forward to the salvation that was coming, and by looking forward to the coming Savior, they would be ignoring the actual Savior, and they would be living outside of God’s Kingdom, because they had set aside their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the World.  Even though they were facing persecution, the writer to the Hebrews was calling on them to persevere in their faith because Jesus was and is their High Priest who had made his sacrifice for sins once for all.  Then, after he had made his sacrifice, he had gone and sat down at the right hand of God the Father.  Jesus had forgiven their sins by his sacrifice and thus, done away with the need for any other sacrifice.  Jesus had given them the assurance that through faith in him, he would be with them even in the face of trouble.  He would be with them and deliver them in life, and finally he would deliver them to his side in heaven.

Just as the writer to the Hebrews called on them to persevere in their faith, so also the writer to the Hebrews is calling on each and every one of us to persevere in our faith.  He is calling on us to persevere in our faith, because the truth is, we face the very same temptations that the Jewish Christians did.  Though we may not be facing an all out active persecution as they faced, how often haven’t we felt the sting of persecution in our lives?  How often haven’t we felt the pressure to hide our faith or to simply keep our faith quiet so that we can fit in and be part of the group either at work or at school?  How often haven’t we received the question, “Why do you belong to that Church?  They don’t allow this…  They don’t allow that…  Why do you belong to that church when it is clear that they don’t really fit in or understand the ways of the world?  Why do you belong to a church that is backwards in its thinking?  Why do you belong to a church that sponsored hate by posting vote yes signs? 

Though there are times when even we begin to wonder why we believe what we believe, and though there are times that even we feel like throwing in the towel and giving up what we believe, as the writer to the Hebrews continues, he calls on us all the more fervently to persevere in our faith.  Take a look at vss. 19 and following, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:19–31, NIV84)

What greater encouragement could there be for us to persevere in our faith, than the encouragement that comes from knowing that we now have access to the Lord our God in the Most Holy place through the Blood of Jesus!  For you see, in the Temple, it was only the High Priest who was able to enter the Most Holy Place and minister before the Lord.  But, he was only allowed to enter once each year, on the Day of Atonement.  However, he could not enter the presence of the Lord behind the curtain without the blood of the sacrifice.  If he entered on the wrong day or entered without blood, then his life would be forfeit!  Yet, as we know, when Jesus died his blood was the atoning sacrifice for all our sins.  When Jesus died the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, thus, assuring us that the sins that separated us from our God have been forgiven.  They have been completely removed, and now we are free to approach our God with confidence because through faith in Jesus our Savior, we are children of our heavenly Father.  Now, moved by the forgiveness that Jesus won for us, the writer calls on us to persevere on our faith so that we do not become lazy in this life and miss out on the salvation that is ours!  For if we should become lazy in our faith, if we should grow weary of meeting together to grow in God’s grace, if we should give into persecution and try to fit in as one of the gang rather than live out our faith, if we should grow comfortable with any one of our sins and begin to live in our sins rather than live in the Lord’s forgiveness, then there will be nothing left for us but God’s wrath and punishment.  This is the point that the writer makes in verse 26 and 27, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26–27, NIV84)

These are difficult words to hear, but they are true, nonetheless!  If we deliberately keep on sinning by hiding our faith, by keeping ourselves away from the word of God, by appeasing our conscience with the thoughts that our pet sin is not nearly as bad as another’s pet sin, or even by living our lives in any manner that is contrary to what the Lord has to say; if we deliberately keep on sinning then all we are doing is spitting in the face of God’s forgiveness.  All we are doing is trampling under our feet the salvation that God has given us.  All we are doing is throwing away our confidence in Jesus Christ, our Savior, which is the exact opposite of what he calls on us to do in verse 35 and following: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:35–39, NIV84)

Persevere in your faith!  Continue to grow in your faith through worship here and your own personal Bible reading.  Remember all that Jesus did for you and how he freed you from all your sins by his death and resurrection.  Be assured that the Lord Jesus lives in your heart and helps you in every situation in your life. Continue to live your life out of love for the Lord Jesus turning to the Lord in repentance, receiving his forgiveness, and seeking to live according to his will.  As the writer to the Hebrews tells us in verses 22-25: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:22–25, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

How Do We Know You Are the Christ? (Matthew 11:2-11)

Third Wednesday in Advent

December 19, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

How many of you have ever wondered to yourself, “Did I really do the right thing?”  How many of you have ever wished that you could take back something you’ve said, or go back in time and fix something you did?  How many of you have ever seized one of those perfect opportunities that come your way only once every few years, and then doubted the choice you made?  Has it ever happened that as you sat alone, playing and replaying the event in your mind, you still wondered if you had made the right choice—even when all the evidence shows that you made the right decision.  Has it ever happened to you that you still doubted your actions, even after talking with friends who assured you that it was the right thing to do? 

Well, if anything like this has ever happened to you, then you are not alone, because this is the very thing that happened to John, the forerunner of the Christ!  As he sat in prison, locked away because he had boldly confronted Herod, the ruler of those lands, accusing Herod of sin because he had enticed his sister-in-law away from his brother Philip and she had become Herod’s wife; as John sat in prison, he had plenty of time to wonder if he had done the right thing.  He had plenty of time to wonder if he had backed the right horse so to speak, which is why he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one who was to come or if they should be looking for someone else.  Essentially John was asking Jesus, “How do we know that you are the Christ?”

As Matthew tells us: “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” 7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:2–11, NIV84)

How do we know that you are the Christ?  This was a question that was weighing heavily on John’s mind as he sat in prison.  This was a doubt that satan most likely introduced into his mind as he had all the time in the world to review his ministry, his preaching, and all his activity in the name of the Christ of whom he was the forerunner.  This was a doubt that marked John as who he truly was, a child of God who needed the Lord’s strength and encouragement; just as Elijah did when he ran away from Jezebel and traveled to Mt. Sinai where he received strength and encouragement from the Lord; just we need strength and encouragement in our lives when doubts come creeping in and cause us to wonder about what we’ve been taught.

How do we know that you are the Christ?  When John’s disciples asked this question of Jesus, Jesus knew the encouragement that John needed.  For Jesus simply answers, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Matthew 11:4-6, NIV84)  Essentially what Jesus is saying is, “Judge for yourself, based on what you have heard and seen.” “Judge for yourself, based on the things I am doing; the very things which Isaiah said I would do.”  “Judge for yourself and you will see that there is no doubt that I am the one who was to come!  You do not need to be looking forward to someone else!  This is how you can be certain that I am the Christ.”

What a comfort these words must have been to John as he sat in prison!  What a great assurance for him to hear his cousin and his Savior assure him not only that he, Jesus, was, indeed, the Christ, the one who was to come into the world as the Messiah, but that he, John, the forerunner, had done his job of preparing the way for the Lord, extremely well.  This, in fact was the very thing Jesus was telling the crowd, as John’s disciples were departing to go back to John with Jesus’ answer.  Matthew tells us, “As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:7–11, NIV84)

As Jesus stood before the crowd of people there, he told them, in no uncertain terms, that even though John was currently sitting in prison, he had done his job to prepare the way for the Savior!  John was the messenger whom the Lord God had revealed ahead of the Savior to prepare his way.  John was the one who pointed Jesus out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word.  John was the one who had so eloquently proclaimed the Law of God, cutting the people to the heart, moving them to repentances, and thus preparing them to receive Jesus as their Savior.  Thus, in pointing to his actions as the Messiah, and pointing to John’s actions as the forerunner to the Messiah, Jesus reveals two witnesses that proclaim him as the Christ who was to come to be the Savior of the world!  He is the Christ not simply because he said so, but because he was the one who accomplished what the Scriptures said the Christ would do.  He was the Christ not simply because he said so, but because John, the forerunner whom the Scriptures foretold, prepared the way before him and proclaimed him to be the Christ, the one who was to come to be the Savior of the world.

Today we can have the same confidence that the Lord bestowed upon John while he sat in prison.  For today, as we look forward to the celebration of our Savior’s birth, we can be absolutely certain that he is indeed the Christ.  We can be absolutely certain that he came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He is the one who came into the world to live a perfect life under the requirements of his own law; a perfect life that he has lovingly applied to you and me through faith.  He is the one who came into this world to give his life as the Lamb of Atonement, so that his payment for our sins might wipe God’s slate clean.  He is the one who came into this world to preach the Gospel so that his Word might be carried to every nation, tribe, people, and language; that they might believe in him.  He is the one who came into the world so that you and I might be made his own and live under him in his kingdom. 

What a comfort it is to have our Savior’s assurance that we don’t need to look for anyone else!  By his words, by his actions, by his fulfillment of all the prophecies, we know that he is the Christ, the one who was to come into the world!  What a comfort it is to know that this great assurance is there, written down for us so that we can look at it again and again.  Though we may still face decisions in our lives that cause us to wonder if we did the right thing, when it comes to our Savior, we never need to wonder.  Though we will face times when we will doubt our actions, or wish we could go back and do them over, when it comes to our salvation, we can always be confident, because we know: Jesus is the Christ who came into the world to free us from our sins so that we could be his own and live under him in his kingdom.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN