Behold the Champion of the World! (Mark 1:12-15)

February 26, 2012

  

Dear friends in Christ.

This summer the eyes of the world will turn to London as champions from every nation on earth gather to compete in the games of the 30th Olympiad.  Each athlete will come prepared and ready to give everything they have, to leave it all out on the field, in the hopes that they might have the opportunity to stand on the victor’s platform, have the gold medal placed around their necks, hear their national anthem played, and receive the title of “Champion of the World.”  Though I’m not certain that Champion of the World is an official title for the winner of the gold medal, if you think about it, the title is indeed fitting.  For the goal of each national champion who competes in the games is to come home with the gold as the champion who beat all the other champions; the champion who has become the champion of the world.  Well, in our lesson today, we see another champion step into the ring of competition, for we see Jesus as he is about to go head to head with satan for the title of “Champion of the World!”

Now, as we meet Jesus in our lesson this morning, he is willingly stepping into the boxing ring of the wilderness as it were, to go head to head with satan in a 40 day winner takes all battle.  This is the battle royal that took place immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and the Holy Spirit led him out into the wilderness to be tempted, as Mark tells us in our lesson today: 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”" (Mark 1:12–15, NIV84)

In some ways the bout that was about to take place could easily be described in the manner of two heavy weight champions approaching the ring to do battle knowing that the winner would be declared champion and take home the belt.  We’ve seen scenes like this countless time in movies, TV shows, and maybe some of you have seen it in person in an actual boxing ring.  We’ve all seen it, the procession of the fighters to the ring.  We’ve seen them in their warm up robs, surrounded by their entourage as well as security.  We’ve seen them walk into the ring, sometimes strut to the ring, with all those people following, often times being led to the ring by the coach.  We are all very familiar with how the announce will excite the crowd as he announces each fighter, which corners they are in, and which is the defending the title.  But today, as our Champion approached the ring of the wilderness, there were no security guards; there was no entourage.  There was only Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit.  Even the announcers were absent from the spectacular battle that was going to be waged here.  Though it is true that God the Father had announced Jesus as his Son whom he loved just minutes before the Holy Spirit led him out, none of the people who had witnessed Jesus’ baptism moments earlier had any clue of what was coming.

Yet this was the way Jesus wanted it.  For it was there, in the wilderness, that our Champion stepped into the ring and went head to head with satan, not just for 15 rounds, but for 40 days; for 960 hours of temptation.  But unlike boxing matches that start so civilly with the ringing of a bell, this fight began as soon as Jesus stepped into the ring.  From that moment on, satan began a barrage of temptations that did not let up or ease off until the very end of the 40 days.  Though we are very familiar with the temptations of turning rocks into bread, throwing oneself off the temple, and bowing down and worshiping satan, which the other Gospel writers include, Mark, by not listing any of the temptations, makes the point that satan continued with one temptation after another for the entire 40 days that Jesus was in the wilderness.  In the same way that a boxer who gains the advantage will continually pummel his opponent until he is knocked out, the ref stops him, or the bell rings, satan came at Jesus with everything he had hoping to knock Jesus out by tempting him to sin.  But our Champion never once gave into any one of the temptations that satan offered, and he won the battle for you and me.

As Jesus went head to head with our enemy the devil, our champion thoroughly and completely defeated satan in the wilderness.  Though Jesus had “weakened” himself, in satan’s opinion by taking on human flesh and blood, our Champion held his ground as a human being, perfectly following and keeping God’s holy law in our place!  Though Jesus had “weakened” himself, in satan’s opinion, by not making use of his divine powers and was tempted in every way, just as we are, he remained faithful to the Lord his God and remained our sinless Savior.  Though Jesus had weakened himself physically by fasting during the 40 days that he was out there, he proved that he was indeed the Champion of the World by sending satan running when the 40 days were over.  Though satan continually popped up during the remaining days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, our Champion never once fell prey to those temptations.  Our Champion won the victory!

Now, if there was ever a fighter who never let you forget that he was the best, that fighter would have to be Muhammad Ali.  For, from what I have come to know about him from TV and the Internet, he was one of the most vocal fighters when it came to the subject of his talent, his style, and his incredible record of wins.  Well, in many ways, this is what Jesus, our Champion, was all about after he defeated our enemy in the wilderness.  For after that battle was over, Jesus came out spreading the news of his victory.  Mark tells us in verse 14, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”" (Mark 1:14–15, NIV84)

Though Mark skips over almost an entire year of Jesus’ life with these verses, our Champion’s message of victory sums up what Jesus was up to during that time.  For before John was put into prison, Jesus went throughout Jerusalem and Judea preaching and teaching the same message.  He traveled from town to town and village preaching that same message of victory, “Repent and believe the good news!”  No matter where Jesus traveled, he proclaimed his victory to the people wherever he was so that they might put their faith in him and receive the blessings of victory that their Champion had won.

It is this same beautiful message of victory that Jesus, our Champion is proclaiming to us today.  For through these simple words, recorded by the Evangelist Mark, we are assured that Jesus has indeed won the victory over satan for us.  We are assured that though our enemy came at Jesus again and again in the wilderness, Jesus never once fell for the temptations.  We are assured that he won the victory by never sinning.  Though it would be about two more years until Jesus went to the cross, he could rightly tell the people that he had won the victory.  For it was Jesus our Champion who threw satan out of heaven when he rebelled.  It was Jesus, our Champion, who defeated satan in the wilderness.  It was Jesus, our Champion, who defeated satan’s every attempt to steer him off course, and it was Jesus, our Champion who completely won the victory over our enemy when he went to the cross. 

For it was there on that cross that our Champion stood his ground and died to win the full and final victory over satan, forever.  It was there on the cross that Jesus, the Son of God, was rejected by God himself!  It was there, on that cross, that Jesus endured the pain and suffering of eternal damnation as he who is God was cast out of God’s presence!  It was there, on that cross that our God who cannot die, gave his life for sinners, and died to pay the price of our sins!  It was there, on that cross, that Jesus our Champion won the victory over satan forever!  This entire message of victory, which we know so well was wrapped up in the message of victory that our Champion brought to the people of Israel, and this is the message of victory that we now take to the world!

Now that we have been reminded of the victory our Savior won for us, it is our mission to go out and spread that message of victory to the world.  It is our mission to climb up to the highest heights and announce to all the world that Jesus is truly the Champion of the World whose victory over the devil gives all people the forgiveness of sins.  It is our mission to take that message to every single person who does not know Jesus or the things he has done for them.  So let us do just that!  Make the effort this week to tell even just one person about Jesus Christ, the Savior and Champion of the World.  As you talk to your friends and co-workers this week, invite them to come and worship with us next week.  As you sit down to dinner with your families make sure you turn off the TV for even just one meal and talk to each other about what Jesus did for you.  Only don’t do nothing, letting this opportunity pass you buy, rather make it your personal goal that each time you talk to someone, that person will learn about the victory that Christ our Champion won for him and all the world.

Though Jesus didn’t win that title by competing in any type of Olympic games, we know that he is truly our Champion.  For he is the one who went head to head with our enemy the devil, he is the one who won the victory over satan, and he is the who has assured us of that victory so that we, like him, can spread the news to all the world.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Focus Your Faith on Christ (Matthew 14:22-33)

August 21, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

If you’ve ever taken a picture, then you know just how important focus is.  Whether you use a high-end camera with all the attachable lenses, a simple digital camera, or even a one-time use camera that can be purchased at just about any drug store, you know that if you do not pay attention to the subjects upon which you are focusing, your picture won’t come out clearly.  Instead it may turn out fuzzy, grainy, with streaks, or maybe even as something that resembles, but is not completely unlike, a Picasso painting.  Well the same is true for our faith.  When our faith is not focused on Jesus Christ our Savior, we find that our faith is fuzzy, grainy, and streaky, but when we are focused on Jesus, the object and provider of our faith, we easily find the courage to deal with all the distractions, hardships, and frustrations that life brings our way. In fact, as we focus our attention on the next window in our Stained Glass Window Series, we see a very familiar picture.  We see the miracle of Jesus walking on the water.  Yet, if we take a step back, so to speak, and examine the events that took place on either side of Jesus walking on the water, we see a number of other miracles that are designed to help us focus our attention and our faith on Christ. 

In fact, as we take a look at our lesson today, let me remind you of some of those events.  Just before the events of our lesson in Matthew 14, Jesus had feed about 5,000 men with two small fish, which were somewhere between the size of sardines and small perch, and five loaves of bread that were not much bigger than dinner rolls.  Jesus had taken the bread and the fish, given thanks for it and then began dividing it among the 5,000 + people who were there.  Though this miracle was designed to help the people focus their faith on Jesus as their Savior, their focus was blurry for they saw Jesus as some sort of bread king who would provide them with everything they ever wanted if they could just force him to be their king.  Thus, Matthew records for us in chapter 14 beginning with verse 22: “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”(Matthew 14:22–27, NIV84)

Rather than allow his disciples to catch the frenzy of the crowd and encourage Jesus to become a bread king for the people, Jesus instructed his disciples to get into the boat and head back across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  He did this because he knew that they would be safer on the lake, dealing with the storm, than they would with the crowd having their faith blurred by false ideas.  He also did this so that he could dismiss the crowd and send them away, so that he could spend time with his Father in prayer.  For the truth is, this temptation by the crowd to become a king without suffering was no different than satan’s temptation to Jesus to bow down and worship him to inherit the kingdoms without suffering.  Yet, Jesus defeated these temptations and went off by himself to be with his Father in prayer.  He went off to pray to his Father, possibly for strength for himself, very likely for the people whose focus was blurred so that through the Word their faith would be sharpened and they would learn to focus their faith on Jesus, and very likely for his disciples as they were out on the Sea of Galilee struggling against the wind and the waves of a storm that was buffeting their boat.

Now, if this were a TV show, this is where the commercial would be.  We would see a picture of the disciples struggling against the wind and the waves, the screen would fade to black, and the commercial would begin.  Well, this morning, our commercial focuses on the Sea of Galilee.  If you don’t know that much about the Sea of Galilee, I’m here to tell you a little bit about it.  The Sea of Galilee was actually a small lake, located in the northern part of Israel, which was actually about 700 feet below sea level.  It was roughly 13 miles long at the longest point and about 7 miles wide at the widest point.  It was a lake that was surrounded by high hills on either side, so when the wind started blowing over the hills, violent storms could come up without warning, which is what had happened to the disciples.  Though the water was undoubtedly calm when they started off, one of those very storms came up, and the disciples began struggling to keep the boat from capsizing.  Even though they were experienced fishermen who knew well those very waters, they found themselves struggling with the storm for hours.  Though they had left shore in the evening, probably while it was still light, by the time Jesus approached them, walking on the water, it was somewhere between 3 and 6 in the morning.  They had probably been on the water for something like 9 hours battling the wind and the waves, and they had only made it about 1/3 of the way across the lake.  They were tired from the stress of fighting the storm.  They were exhausted from battling the wind and the waves.  So when they saw Jesus, walking to them on the lake, their minds gave way to alarm, alarm gave way to superstition, and they cried out in fear.

Now, as we sit here this morning, it could be easy for us to think poorly of the disciples for letting their fears get the best of them, but how often doesn’t the same thing happen to us?  How often don’t we allow our fears to get the better of us and blur our focus on Jesus Christ our Savior?  If we are honest with ourselves, I think we’d all have to admit that it happens more often that we like?  In fact, how often hasn’t it happened that you’ve scarred yourself silly while walking down a dark hallway, in a dark room, or down a dark street?  How often haven’t you scarred yourself by almost superstitiously thinking that someone or something is going to jump out and get you?  How often haven’t we given way to fear and lost focus on our Savior, if just for an instant, when we see the darkening sky, the flashes of lightning, the peals of thunder, and hear the tornado sirens calling for us to take immediate shelter.  How often haven’t we lost our focus on Christ as we’ve been distracted by the waves of bills and other financial responsibilities crashing all around us?  How often don’t other fears take hold, strip us of our courage, and change the focus of our faith away from Christ our Savior?  How often don’t we find ourselves unable to relax as financial worries overtake us?  How often don’t we find it difficult to sleep as worries about job security, or worries about things we’ve said, our countless other fears take hold, bring fear to the forefront and move our focus from our Savior to ourselves?  How often doesn’t the guilt of things we’ve done or things we’ve left undone weigh heavy on our hearts until our eyes are no longer focused on our Savior, but are bowed down to the earth beneath?  How often don’t our fears even cause us to doubt the Lord’s forgiveness or even his gift of eternal life?

If we are honest with ourselves, then we must admit that too often our fears get the better of us.  Too often our fears cause us to lose focus on the source of our strength and our Salvation.  Too often our fears lead us to doubt, despair, and even depression over the state of our forgiveness.  But that is when our Lord Jesus calls to us and says, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  This is when we hear the voice of our Savior, calling to us, and helping us to refocus our faith in him.  We hear our Savior reassuring us that we are his and there is nothing that can snatch us out of his hand.  We hear him assuring us that all our sins have been completely washed away.  We hear him calling to us in the midst of our hardships and struggles and fears, helping us to readjust the focus of our faith so that it points to him, rather than all those other things.

This is exactly what Jesus’ words did for his disciples, for when he called out to them and told them, “Take courage! It is I.  Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, NIV84)  For as soon as Jesus spoke these words, Peter’s faith was refocused, as Matthew tells us in verse 28: “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”(Matthew 14:28–31, NIV84)

When Peter stepped out of that boat, he was focused on his Lord.  He had no fear and he had no doubts.  He knew the water would hold him up, because Jesus allowed him to walk to walk to him on the water.  While he focused on Christ, he was able to walk on the stormy seas and the waves didn’t crash over him or threaten to knock him off his feet.  But when he took his eyes off his Savior and focused on the waves, they threatened to wash over him and sink him, and he began doubting that Jesus would protect him.  When he allowed the distractions of the wind and the waves to become his focus and lost focus on his Savior.  That was when he started to sink.  His fears and his doubts got the better of him and he began to sing.  But in the very next moment his focus cleared, he was fixed on his Savior, and he immediately called for Jesus’ help.

Well, just like Peter began to sink when he lost focus on Christ, so also we begin to sink when we take our eyes off of our Savior.  When we take our eyes off our Savior and are distracted by the world around us, troubles and hardships loom over us like ten-foot high waves, which threaten to crash down upon us.  We are hit by wave after wave of trouble, hardship and grief, which spin us around and we too start to sink and must cry out with Peter, “Lord save me!”  That is when our Lord reaches out his hand and catches us.  He pulls us back to him, re-focuses our faith on him, and helps us to fight the distractions around us!  We are able to deal with troubles and hardships that come, because they are not able to wash over us or knock us off our feet.  We are able walk a straight path through life. 

So dear friends, my prayer for you today is that the focus of your faith has been made that much sharper today.  I pray that in the same way photographers will carefully dial the focus on their cameras to get the best pictures, so also through Jesus’ word and his miracles your faith has been made that much sharper as your faith and your trust reside in the your Savior who has freed you from your sins and given you the gift of eternal life.  Though the Lord has never promised that it everything would work out perfectly when we are focused on him, when our focus is on our Savior, our walk is a straight path through troubles and hardships.  Continue to focus your faith on Christ so that your faith life does not resemble something like one of Picasso’s paintings, but rather clearly resembles and reflects your Savior, Jesus.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN

Behold the Savior of the World! (Mark 1:4-11)

August 7, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

When you think of John the Baptist, how do you think of him?  Do you think of him as an impressive figure?  Or do you think of him as just a regular kind of guy?  Do you think of him as a rugged outdoors sort of fellow?  Or do you think of him as a man who’s been softened by city living?  Well, when I think of John the Baptist, I think of him as a man who would do well living out West in cattle country.  Though he never kept sheep or goats, though he never drove cattle, he was a hard man who had a hard life.  He was a hard man who lived out in the wilderness eating locust and wild honey.  He was a hard man who wore clothes made out of camel’s hair with a leather belt wrapped around his waist.  But even though John was a hard man, he was also a privileged man.  For he is the only man, besides Jesus, whose coming was prophesied in the pages of Scripture.  He was the man who was chosen by God to be the forerunner of his Son.  He was the one who was fortunate enough to proclaim the message:  Behold the Savior of the world! 

Behold the Savior of the world!  This was the very message that John proclaimed as he pointed the people to their Savior.  As the Bible tells us, “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:4–8, NIV84)

In essence, John’s mission was simply to point people to the Savior of the world, and this is what he did.  For there, in the desert on the other side of the Jordan River, John preached a message of harsh law.  He did not shy away from condemning sins, rather, he proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  He did not falter when people made excuses for the wrongs they had done, instead, he applied the full weight of God’s Holy Law and crushed that sinner to pieces.  Not even when the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day came to investigate him did he back down.  For he went head to head with them condemning their sinfulness and their failure to see it.  Because of this, John’s fame spread and people from all over the region of Judea and Jerusalem came out to hear him.  Confessing their sins, they were baptized in the Jordan, assured of the forgiveness of sins, and pointed to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

This is the same message we need to hear as well.  For even we Christians need to be reminded that our sins separate us from our God.  We need to be reminded that our sins are just like those round bails that we see on farm places throughout the countryside.  Though they may start out small as farmers begin to make their pass through the field, by the time that bail is ejected it has grown so enormous that no one could never hope to lift it.  It has grown so huge that if it rolled on top of you for any reason it would kill you.  The same is true for our sins.  Though they might start out as a few small sins of anger, jealousy, frustration, or even greed, they can grow larger and larger.  Before we know it, that small sin of anger has grown into a grudge you hold against another person.  That small sin of jealousy has lead to hatred.  That small sin of frustration has led to exasperation.  That small sin of greed has led to a desire for more and more, and before we know it, our sins have grown so huge and have wrapped so tightly around us that we are unable to move.  They have grown so enormous that we are crushed under their weight and can do nothing to be rid of them ourselves.

But that’s when John’s message of comfort comes to us as he points us to Jesus, the Savior of the world.  Take a look at what he has to tell us in verses 7 and 8, “7 And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7–8, NIV84). 

With these beautiful words, John points us to our Savior and the forgiveness he offers.  With these words we are reminded how Jesus was baptized by John on the day he began his public ministry so many years ago, which was the very reason that Jesus came to the earth!  He came to be the Savior of the world, just as had been proclaiming ever since he started preaching.   Mark tells us: “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9–11, NIV84)

Though it doesn’t tell us in this Gospel, we learn from Matthew that when Jesus came to John to be baptized, John didn’t understand why.  Rather, John tried to deter Jesus by telling him that he, John, needed to be baptized by Jesus.  But Jesus simply told him, “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”  For the thing was, by being baptized, Jesus was showing his connection to sinners.  Though he himself was sinless, he was identifying himself with sinners by giving himself to the work of bearing our sins.  As Luther points out: Jesus was here rightly beginning to be the Christ, the Anointed One, and “was inaugurated into his entire Messianic office as our Prophet, Priest, and King.”  For through the voice of the Father from heaven and the Holy Spirit lighting on Jesus in the form of a dove, all three persons of the Trinity were proclaiming that this Jesus was the Savior of the world. 

Thus, the one true God, the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit revealed that they were launching the culmination of the plan of salvation through Jesus our Savior.  The long period of expectation and preparation was now over.  The most momentous days the world would ever know, the three years of Jesus’ public ministry, culminating in his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension were now beginning.  Satan’s power and dominion were doomed, because the world’s redemption was at hand.  This, in a nutshell, not only was John calling on us to behold the Savior of the world, but the Holy Trinity was proclaiming the very same thing on the day that Jesus was baptized.  The Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were there calling on each and every onlooker as well as you and me to behold the fact that Jesus was the Promised Messiah, the Savior of the world.

What greater assurance could the Baptism of Jesus give us than the assurance that he is the Lord, our Savior!  For today, as we have heard the voice of the Father proclaiming that Jesus is indeed his Son whom he loves and with whom he is well pleased, we have been assured that Jesus truly is our Savior.  As we have witnessed the Holy Spirit descending upon him as a dove, we have witnessed the fulfillment of the promise that we would recognize the Christ by the decent of the Spirit upon him.  In short, as we have beheld the Lord Jesus, our Savior today, we have been assured that he is our only true Savior who has forgiven all our sins.

How incredible it is to know that as we behold our Savior today, we behold the very Son of God who freed us from the crushing weight of our sins.  Even though we were completely immobilized by the bails of our sins, Jesus came with the John Deer tractor of his grace and lifted those sins from us.  He loaded those sins onto the flat bed trailer of his forgiveness and hauled them away, never to be seen again.   Though we may have been trapped in the sins of anger and grudges, our Savior has freed us from them.  Though we may have been trapped by the sins of jealousy and hatred, our Savior has freed us from them.  Though we may have been trapped by the sins of frustration and exasperation, our Savior has freed us from them.  Though we may have been trapped in the sins of greed and an unholy desire for more and more stuff, our Savior has freed us from them.  Now since we have been freed from our own sins by our Savior Jesus Christ, how can we not follow his example and forgive our fellow Christians from the heart when they do us wrong?  How can we not remember that when we were baptized, each and every one of us was buried with Christ and rose again with him as new creations?  How can we not remember that when our Savior went to the cross, he went, carrying the weight of the sins of the world?  How can we not make the most of every opportunity to gather together as Christians in worship of the Lord our Savior?

Now that we have beheld the Lord our Savior, let us seek to live our lives in service to him.  Let us dedicate our lives to him so that we continue growing in his Word as we read and study the Bible both at home and in Bible Studies during the year.  Let us make the most of every opportunity we have been given to gather to worship the Lord our God and grow in our faith as we encourage our brothers and sisters in their faith.  Let us grow in our baptismal grace, fulfilling the promise that we all made on the day of our confirmation that we would face even death rather than forsake the Lord God our Savior.  Though we don’t know exactly what Jesus looked like while here on earth, today we have all beheld Jesus as the Lord our God and the Savior of the World.  We saw John point him out to us, we heard the Holy Trinity proclaim him, and we have been reminded of how he has freed us from our sins.  This is Jesus, our Savior, who was baptized at the beginning of his public ministry so that he might take on the all important work of redeeming us from our sins and winning us back to the Lord.  Behold him, he is your Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN