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

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

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

Are you the One who was to come? (Matthew 11:2-11)

December 12, 2010

Dear friends in Christ.

It has been said that God sometimes baffles us and disappoints us in order to make us succeed. In many ways, that is exactly what the Lord did to Philips Brooks. Born in 1835, Philips Brooks is best remembered today as the author of O Little Town of Bethlehem. However, former generations accounted him as the greatest American Preacher of the 19th Century. Yet, if Philips Brooks would have succeeded in his position as a school master, he never would have stood in the pulpit to move men with his mighty ministry. This is also what the Lord did to an English Man named Frederick Robertson. Born in 1816, Frederick Robertson long dreamed of being a military officer, like his Father, and his dream was to serve the Empire in India. Yet, at the wish of his Father, just two weeks before he would have received his military commission, Frederick left school and went on to become an amazing preacher. You see, if Frederick had succeeded in his goal and received his military commission in the British Army, never would have written the sermons which still throb with his great and yearning spirit; sermons which are still read and studied today! For these two men, if God had not disappointed them they may never have received the great blessings that he longed to pour into their lives.

In many ways, the very same thing could be said for the life of John the Baptist. Turn with me, if you would, to our lesson for this morning from Matthew 11 and we’ll take a look at the disappointment and the perplexity that John was facing. Now, as you are turning to Matthew 11, let tell you about some of the events leading up to our lesson today. Though John had served well as the forerunner to the Messiah, preaching in the spirit of Elijah of old, calling Israel to repentance and pointing them to place their faith in Jesus as their Savior, John had come upon some disappointing and troubling times, as he was now locked away in Herod’s prison. He was locked away in Herod’s prison because he had forcefully preached that it was wrong for Herod to have married his brother Philip’s wife. When John was put in prison, Jesus left the region of Judah and Jerusalem and headed up to Galilee where he preached the gospel of salvation, he healed the sick, he restored sight to the blind, he cleansed lepers, he even raised the dead, but he did not bring any kind of judgment upon the people as John had said that he would. It was because of this that John was confused and perplexed; he may even been a little disappointed. That is why Matthew writes as he does in Chapter 11 beginning with verse 2: “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, NIV)

Are you the one who was to come, or should we be expecting someone else? This was John’s question, born out of his disappointment and his frustration at being locked away in prison for preaching the truth of God’s Word. Though it is sometimes difficult for us to conceive of any type of doubt ever crossing the lips of such a great Prophet as John the Baptist, as we study the Scriptures, there are many examples of God’s prophets facing disappointment, frustration, perplexity, and even doubt. Take for example the Prophet Elijah. Immediately after his great victory for the Lord over the 950 false prophets on Mt. Carmel, we see Elijah fearing for his life. We see him running away to the Mountain of God, doubting his effectiveness, and even despairing of his life. We see Jeremiah weeping and complaining to the Lord because all the people of Israel were against him and no one seemed to listen to the message that the Lord gave him to preach. We see Jonah running away from the Lord so that he wouldn’t have to go to Nineveh, doubting that his message would be affective, and then growing angry and sullen when it caused the people to return to the Lord. Even Moses doubted that he would be able to lead the people Israel, when the Lord called him to be his prophet.

Yet, in the same way that the Lord answered each one of his prophet’s concerns, removing their doubts and fears and building them up in his Word, so also the Lord Jesus does the same thing for John today. For as Jesus replies, he doesn’t simply say, “Go back and tell John, ‘Yes, I am the one who was to come! You don’t need to look forward to anyone else!’” Rather, Jesus basically tells John, “Judge for yourself, based on what you have heard and seen.” “Judge for yourself, based on the things I am doing, 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!” Take a look with me again at Chapter 11 beginning with verse 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, NIV)

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 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. 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 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 one who was to come to be the Savior of the world! He is the one who was to come not simply because he said so, but because he was the one who accomplished what the Scriptures said he would. He was the one who was to come not simply because he said so, but because John, the forerunner whom the Scriptures foretold, prepared the way before him and pointed him out to the people.

Though the Lord had, in some ways, disappointed John and even frustrated him by locking him away in prison, John’s ministry was that much more successful because through his imprisonment, even more people came to place their faith in Jesus as their Savior. Even we, because of the ministry of John, have been blessed by the Lord our God, because we too have come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah who has freed us from our sins. In fact, we too, can take the same comfort that John, his disciples, and the crowd of people took that day as Jesus revealed that he was the one who came as the Messiah! In fact, today, as we look forward to the celebration of our Savior’s birth, we can be certain that he is the one who came into the world to save us from our sins. He is the one who came into this 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 would be carried to the people of every nation, tribe, and language. 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!

Though there may be times that the Lord does baffle us and even disappoint us, we know that he is doing it to make us successful in him. Just as he made John the Baptist successful in his ministry of preparing the way for the Savior, so also he will make us successful in our faith. What a comfort it is to have our Savior’s assurance that we don’t need to look for anyone else! He is the one who was to come into the world! Jesus was the one who was to come into the world to free us from our sins. Amen.


Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Prepare the Way of the Lord (Luke 3:1-6)

December 5, 2010

Dear friends in Christ.

Before the days of Interstate Highways, US Highways, even before paved country roads; back even before the days of the prophets, there was custom practiced by the Kings of the Orient. Whenever a king wished to make a journey he would first send out his officials to prepare the area through which he intended to travel. The officials would go to the people living in the region and order them, in the name of the King, to prepare the highway for their lord. The people would then have the task of making sure the roadway was ready for their king. They would clear away any brush or dead branches, they would fill in any ruts or potholes, and they would even level the surface so that everything would be ready for their king; so that he would have the smoothest journey on the flattest road possible. This is the very picture that Luke is painting for us through the ministry of John the Baptist. In essence, the Lord is pictured as coming through the vast and impassable Arabian desert which lay between Babylon and the land of Judea. Thus, the preaching voice of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Savior and the official of the Lord, came to the Judean wilderness. He came summoning the people to clear the way of all obstacles so that Israel’s Lord and Savior could have a smooth road to their hearts as he came to set his people free from their sins.

This mission, to prepare the way for the Lord, was the very mission that John had been given even before he had been born. For when the Angel Gabriel visited Zechariah in the temple as Zechariah was burning incense, Gabriel told Zechariah that the child that would be born would be great in the sight of the Lord. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from birth. By his preaching he would bring many in Israel back to the Lord their God, and in the spirit of the Prophet Elijah he would make ready a people prepared for the Lord, which is exactly what John was doing when we meet him in our lesson today. Luke writes: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ ”(Luke 3:1–6, NIV)

Though John may had gone out to live in the dessert at an early age, he did not begin his ministry until the Lord came to him and authorized it. But when that day finally came, he began with a fury. He went around the area of the Jordan preparing the way of the Lord by calling the people to repentance through the Law of God. He baptized the repentant in the waters of the Jordan, assuring them of the forgiveness of sins, and he pointed people ever forward, to look for the Lamb of God, the Messiah who would soon be coming into the world. In fact, he did this so effectively that people began to flock to him from Jerusalem, the region surrounding Judea, and even from places as far away as Capernaum in Galilee. Many people who would never have considered going to the dusty desolate region of the Jordan where John was now left their comfortable homes just so they could come out and hear what he had to say.

Well, in the same way that John prepared the way of the Lord in his day, he is doing the same thing for you and me today! Though we don’t have him standing in front of us preaching against our sins, through Luke’s account we have the next best thing. For as we look back at the account of John’s preaching, we hear just how forceful of a speaker he must have been. We hear him preparing the Messiah’s Highway into the hearts of his people by calling them to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We hear him going up against the Pharisees and other religious leader telling them flat out that their self-righteous ways will get them nowhere near their eternal goal. And we hear him, as he turns to us and condemns us for our sins. For we too have been right there with the Pharisees, thinking that we can get into heaven with our good looks and good works. We too have been right there with the tax collectors taking more than our fair share. We too have been right there with the soldiers accusing people falsely and slandering their names to our friends. We too have let the fire of our anger rise against those who have wronged us and sworn that we would get even with them. We too have let our tongues run wild, gossiping about anyone and anything in any place at any time of day. We too have let the rage of our jealousy cloud our minds so that we have resented even our closest friends.

In truth, we are no different than the Israelites who came out to hear John in the wilderness. We, too, need John to prepare the way for our Lord, because the road to our hearts is also covered with many obstacles of sin, and doubt, and disbelief. But when we hear John speaking to us with the full measure of God’s Law we find ourselves looking directly into the mirror of that Law. We see our reflections covered with the debris of our sins. We feel the weight of our sins pressing down upon our shoulders. We see the shame and the guilt of those sins reflected in our eyes, and before we know it, we are down on our knees in sorrow over our sins, repenting, and praying to the Lord our Savior for forgiveness. It is in this way that our hearts are prepared for the coming of the Lord and the way to our hearts made smooth and ready for him! For it is the crushing blow of the hammer of God’s Law that leads us to repentance, and it is through that repentance that the way is prepared for Jesus to enter into our hearts and lives.

When Jesus enters into our hearts and lives, he enters in with the soothing Gospel, filling in those trenches of heartache and despair. Though the Law shows our reflections covered with sins, Jesus uses his gospel to remove each and every spot and satin of our sins. He uses the gospel to cover over every one of our iniquities so that all that is reflected is the Salvation of our God. He shows us that the true and only way to our homes in heaven is through faith in him. He assures us that though we may have taken more than our fair share, let our anger rise and worked to get even, let our tongues run wild, and even let rage and jealousy cloud our minds, these things have all been forgiven. But not only have they been forgiven, by the way that was prepared in our hearts through the law, our Savior now brings the healing of the gospel which not only assures us that we have been completely forgiven, but it also moves us to live our lives according to God’s will out of love for our Savior.

This is why John’s work as forerunner to the Messiah was such important work. For as forerunner, it was his mission to prepare the way of the Lord. Though John may not have gone out and commanded the people of the region to prepare the roads so that their king could travel on them, he did prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of their Savior. Through his use of Law and Gospel, John was able to prepare the way of the Lord, so that the nations would be ready for the coming of their Savior. Thus we can be sure that John came in fulfillment of the prophecy that Isaiah had uttered so many years before, for through his proclamation of Law and Gospel John has prepared the way for the Lord for countless generations of believers who have come to faith through the work that he did.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Wield the weapon of God’s Word (Luke 4:1-13)

Dear friends in Christ.

In 2008, DreamWorks Entertainment released the computer animated movie, Kung Fu Panda. Now, if you have kids at home, or Grandkids that like to spend time with you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen this movie on at least one occasion. But if you haven’t seen it, permit me, if you will, to tell you a little bit about it. Kung Fu Panda is a movie about a lazy, irreverent, slacker panda named, Po, whose greatest desire is to become a kung fu master and fight alongside his heroes—the Furious Five—even though his destiny, if you will, is to follow in his father’s footsteps and one day take over his noodle shop. Yet Po continues to hope that his dreams might come true. A few days later, on the day when the entire village gathers to see who will be chosen as the Dragon Warrior, Po is unexpectedly chosen as that warrior. From that point on, Po goes into strict training to learn how to wield the weapons of a kung fu master. At first things don’t go so well for Po, but as the movie progresses, we see how Po grows in his knowledge and his ability to wield the weapons of a kung fu master.

Now some of you might be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Some of you might be wondering why on earth I’m spending so much time talking about a cartoon panda and his struggles to learn how to wield the weapons of a Kung Fu Master. Well, the reason is simple. For in the same way that Po was taught by his master in the movie, so also, our Master, Jesus is taking time to teach us how to wield the weapon of God’s Word against our enemy, the devil, and the temptations that he continually brings against the fortress of our hearts. Thus, as our text begins this morning, we have Jesus teaching us his first lesson of wielding the weapon of God’s Word when satan seeks to make us doubt God’s promises. Luke writes: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” (Luke 4:1–5, NIV)

Now, to fully understand what’s going on, we have to go back a few weeks to the First Sunday after the Epiphany, when we heard about how Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. We have to go back to that day when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove and God the Father spoke from heaven giving his approval and saying, “This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased.” We have to go back to that point, because it was immediately after Jesus was baptized that the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to do battle against the devil. It wasn’t that Jesus decided to go head to head with satan on the spur of the moment, rather, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness according to the will of his heavenly Father so that during those 40 days Jesus might be tempted in every way, just as we are. Though the gospels of Matthew and Luke list only three temptations that Jesus faced, the three temptations serve as a summary of all the other temptations going on during that forty day period. For as the battle began, satan came to Jesus with the very same temptation that worked so well on Eve; the temptation of doubt. Satan sought from the beginning to cause Jesus to doubt who he was and to make him wonder why he, the Son of God, must face such mind numbing hunger from fasting for 40 days and nights. Thus, Satan sought to make Jesus doubt his father’s will for him and tried to move Jesus to act with a demonstration of his power, turning the stones around him into bread. Yet, even as satan attempted this with one single question, Jesus wielded the weapon of God’s Word and said, “Man does not live on bread alone.” Though Jesus could have defeated satan with a single, divine command, he fought against satan according to his human nature, using the weapon of God’s Word, thereby beginning our lesson on how to wield that same weapon when satan seeks to make us doubt God’s promises.

This is truly an important lesson for each of us to learn, because in the sparring match that is our life, doubt is one of the most powerful weapons that satan has in his arsenal. Although we are Christians who have every reason to be confident in the Lord and in his promises, how often doesn’t it happen that a single drop of doubt begins to permeate our hearts and minds in the same way that a single drop of food coloring will begin to permeate the water into which it was dropped? How often doesn’t it happen that our enemy creeps into the garden of our hearts and plants a simple seed of doubt which can quickly grow into a giant tree before we know it? In fact, I don’t want you to raise your hands or anything like that, but how many of you were dealing with doubts when you walked in that door this morning—doubts of whether or not God really loves you, or has forgiven you for the things you have done. How many of you walked in with doubts about God’s care because your health has taken a turn for the worse, or someone you know and love is sick, or suffering, or even dying? How many of you are facing worries and doubts this morning because your expenses have far exceeded your income or your investment portfolio is no longer what it used to be? How many of you are afraid because your position at work has already been eliminated, or may soon be eliminated? How many of you have found that one of the questions echoing in your mind more regularly is, “If God really loves me, why is this happening to me?”

Yet it is against onslaughts such as these that our Savior shows us how to wield the weapon of his Word to defeat our enemy. For when doubts arise in our lives, our Savior simply leads us back to his Word where we are reminded again and again that we are dearly loved children of God. Just as Paul reminded us in our first lesson this morning when he wrote, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:8–13, NIV)

When we wield the weapon of God’s Word against our enemy, it works every time. His attack is met, his advance is slowed, and he immediately finds himself in a battle not with us, but with God himself who fights for us, who encourages us, and who helps us in every situation in life. When we wield the weapon of God’s Word, our enemy is then forced to make a choice either to retreat, or to change tack and press the attack harder, as he did against our Savior. Though Jesus had completely resisted satan’s attack and used God’s word to parry temptation, satan quickly changed his approach from that of doubt to that of making Jesus his slave. Luke tells us, “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (Luke 4:5–8, NIV)

Satan knew why Jesus had come. He knew the glory that Jesus had set aside when he took on human flesh and blood. He knew that just a few weeks earlier, God the Father had declared Jesus to be the Messiah who had come to crush satan’s head. He knew all this and he also knew how terrifying the idea of suffering and dying at the hands of a righteous God would have been to Jesus human nature; so he tries to tempt Jesus to take the easy way out. Rather than go through all that suffering satan offers Jesus another option. He offers Jesus the opportunity to bow down and worship him so that he might give to Jesus all the authority and honor that Jesus would have earned a couple of years sooner. All satan was asking Jesus to do was pay a small price on the front end which would have resulted in exorbitant fees on the back end, because Jesus would have failed his Father and become the slave of his enemy. Yet even as satan hoped and almost prayed that Jesus would fall into his trap, Jesus again withstood the temptation as he wielded the weapon of God’s Word, saying, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Thus Jesus delivers to us his second lesson on wielding the weapon of the Word when satan tries to make us his slaves.

How often doesn’t satan do that same thing to us? How often doesn’t he display before our eyes the “glories” of our own sinful desires and addictions? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price for good grades when it would be so easy to sneak the answers into class? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price to teach our children about their Savior when it would be so much easier to drop them off for an hour and let the Church teach them once a week? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price to make certain that everything is correct when we turn in our 1040 form when it would be so easy to invent a few key deductions that would help save some money. How often doesn’t he ask us why we seek to spend so much time with your husband or your wife and your children, especially when you know that there are so many other interesting and captivating people to be found online? How often doesn’t he ask you why you wake us so early on Sunday morning just to come to church and hear Pastor Shilling drone on and on when you could have stayed home, slept in and read the Bible for yourself?

These are but a few of the blows that satan seeks to land even before we are able to wield God’s Word against him. These are but a few of the ways he hope to counter our defenses so that he can make us his slaves and lead us captive into the dungeons of everlasting damnation. Yet, as we wield that weapon of God’s Word, we are assured that our God is also fighting for us. Though there are times when satan’s blows land on our flesh and we are deeply cut by his temptations and infected by our sins, it is our Savior who heals us with the salve of the Gospel. For in the same way that the Lord led his people out of slavery he also leads us from the slavery to our sins, into the freedom of his Gospel. He drives back our enemy and even knocks him to the ground for us, the only problem is, that in the same way that a prize fighter refuses to lay down on the mats, but gets back up to continue the battle with his opponent, so also our enemy, continues to get up and advance against us again and again. But even as he continues to advance, we continue to wield God’s Word, just as our Savior did when satan came back at him with one last strategy. Luke tells us, “The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. ” (Luke 4:9–13, NIV)

Since none of his other tactics were working against Jesus, satan sought to use Jesus’ own weapon against him. He took Jesus to the highest point of the temple and then dared him to jump off quoting the Psalmist who said that God would protect him even if he acted so rashly and so foolishly. But, of course, our Savior immediately saw through satan’s misuse of God’s word, setting one Scripture against another, in an attempt to deceive him into the rash action of testing the Lord his God. So, once again Jesus wields the weapon of God’s Word saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” and in doing so, he bestows upon us his final lesson of wielding his word to combat against satan’s continual desire to elicit rash disobedience by his constant misuse of Scripture.

For the truth is, satan’s misuse of the Scriptures is probably the most effective weapon that he has at his disposal. Just think about how our enemy has made each and every Christian afraid to judge anyone or anything by continually pulling out of context the simple passage in Matthew: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, NIV) Though this passage speaks about judging, from the context it tells us not to judge rashly or without all evidence while other passages of the Bible tell us that it is our Christian Duty to judge sin and sinners according to God’s law. Or think about how many people believe that money is the root of all evil, rather than sinful human nature, when the Bible clearly tells us, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10, NIV) Or how many people have bought into the idea that we can do whatever we want with our body and our life even though the Bible tells us, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. ” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NIV)

But the biggest misuse of Scripture that leads even the most faithful Christians into rash actions and sinful lives is the misuse of the passage, “God is love.” (1 John 4:8 NIV) The misuse of this passage is the whole basis for the acceptance of living together before marriage, experimenting with sexuality, and engaging in same sex unions, and countless other ideas and perversions. It is the whole basis because by leading people to focus on the fact that God is love, then it logically follows that God loves us for who we are and what we are as long as we continue acting in love. Thus, it naturally follows that if we are acting in love, then no matter what we do, we must be acceptable in the sight of God because by that logic, love becomes our god. This, is by far the worst misuse of Scripture by our adversary, because it is a misuse that is leading countless millions away from the truth and down the path that leads to destruction. Thus, it becomes all the more necessary for us to wield the weapon of God’s Word boldly against these false ideas spawned from satan’s misuse of the Scriptures. For when we wield that weapon, we know our God is fighting for us and beside us. When we wield that weapon we are able to see through the misuses our enemy brings and even avoid the traps into which they lead. When we wiled the weapon of God’s Word and immerse ourselves in his word, we are ready to resist satan’s logic when he places one Scripture against another, or even one Scripture against the rest of the Word.

These are the lessons that our Master is teaching us today. These are the lessons that Jesus teaches in his battle against our enemy, the devil. Though we may sometimes face difficult times as Po did, even as he sought to become a kung fu master, with the training we have received win God’s Weaponry today, we are ready to wield them against our enemy. We are ready because we know that even as we wield them, our God fights alongside us so that through his Word, we might be victorious in Christ Jesus our Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN