My Redeemer Lives - Part 1
Job 19:23-27
04/01/2024
23 Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were
inscribed in a book!
24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were
engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last
he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in
my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall
behold, and not another. My heart faints within
me! (ESV)
Yesterday, Easter Sunday, commemorates the event which has
defined the Christian Church. Jesus Christ, rising from the
dead, is the most important event in history. Even the way we
tell time and count the days are affected by the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus.
Long before the women discovered the empty tomb, those with
faith in the One True God confessed their belief in a physical
resurrection. Job, whose suffering is related in the book named
after him, expressed his hope in God's grace, trusting in the
resurrection of the body.
Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were
inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know
that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand
upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus
destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not
another. My heart faints within me!
From the depths of human misery, even when he thought that
he was dying, Job spoke of his faith in God. No human could take
his place, no human could cure his ills. The language Job uses
for ``Redeemer'' is the same sense we find in the book of Ruth,
where Boaz is called a ``kinsman redeemer.'' Through Boaz, the
property of Ruth's deceased husband is preserved. Through the
Almighty's intervention, Job has hope for the future.
This week, while studying Job's words, we will come to know
that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, our Deliverer from sin, death,
and the power of the devil.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Amen.Author: admin
The Journey Begins — Part 5: 03/29/2024
The Journey Begins - Part 5
Zechariah 9:9
03/29/2024
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud,
O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is
coming to you; righteous and having salvation is
he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey. (ESV)
The journey is ended. That which began on Sunday, as
foretold by Zechariah, has been completed.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to
you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and
mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The King came to Zion, but His people did not receive Him.
The King was in their midst, but the people did not know the day
of His visitation. The King came to release them from the bonds
of slavery to sin and death, but they rejected Him.
Pontius Pilate, who turned the innocent Jesus over to be
crucified as a way of keeping peace with the rebellious Jewish
leaders, placed an ironic sign over Jesus' head. ``Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'' What was meant as satire, what
was meant as a token of disrespect for the Jewish leaders, spoke
theological truth.
Thus the King died for His people. At the cry, ``My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?'' Jesus suffered the full
punishment of hell on our behalf. ``It is finished,'' He said.
The sacrifice is complete, once and for all time, once and for
all people.
Join us at Trinity Lutheran Church this evening at 7:00 p.m.
as we ponder God's love and sacrifice. Join us on Sunday at 7:00
a.m. and again at 9:00 a.m. as we hear of the victory of Jesus
over sin, death, and the power of the devil.
May our Lord bless you with faith in our Savior, Jesus
Christ. Amen.The Journey Begins — Part 4: 03/28/2024
The Journey Begins - Part 4
Zechariah 9:9
03/28/2024
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud,
O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is
coming to you; righteous and having salvation is
he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey. (ESV)
On Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of the
crowds, fulfilling the prophecy written a half millennium before.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to
you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and
mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This King of Righteousness, the One who brings salvation,
quickly journeyed from the gates of Jerusalem to His destiny of
the cross. On Thursday of Holy Week, we remember two events.
The first, Jesus gave His Church the Meal which brings to us the
fullness of His sacrifice, the complete forgiveness of our sins
as we partake of His very body and blood. The second, Jesus was
betrayed into the hands of sinners to suffer and die.
No kingly crown lies upon Jesus' head as He rides into
Jerusalem, but His brow will bear the marks of a crown of thorns.
Now Jesus, recognized as the Son of David, prepared for the
ultimate Passover sacrifice. The Lamb of God, the one who will
shed innocent blood, will die so that the angel of eternal death
will pass the homes of those who believe in Him. The Jews who
looked for a king with pomp and power missed seeing Jesus, the
true Son of God, who works through humble and gentle means. ``My
kingdom is not of this world,'' this King told Pontius Pilate.
For this, the King died.
May our Lord bless us with recognizing His love, grace, and
mercy both as we receive His holy Supper, and as we ponder His
innocent suffering and death. Amen.The Journey Begins — Part 3: 03/27/2024
The Journey Begins - Part 3
Zechariah 9:9
03/27/2024
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud,
O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is
coming to you; righteous and having salvation is
he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey. (ESV)
Five hundred and twenty years before the birth of Jesus, the
prophet Zechariah wrote:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to
you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and
mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Kings and priests were anointed with oil to show that they
were chosen for their exalted positions. Jesus was anointed with
the water of baptism to be both our eternal King and our eternal
high priest. As the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ, He
was indeed holy and righteous. He, and only He, can bring
salvation from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
Martin Luther commented:
Here there is no violence, no armor, no power, no
anger, no wrath. All these, you see, are proper for
kings of this world. Here there are only kindness,
justice, salvation, mercy, and every good thing.[2]
To call the king righteous is to say that He rules on behalf
of the righteous God, Himself. Not only does this King rule
according to God's holy will, He brings salvation from the
bondage of sin. This is unlike human rulers, even good rulers,
who are tainted in all things with the sin of Adam.
The Holy Week journey to the cross continued. As the shouts
of the crowds faded, Jesus taught His disciples about the end of
the world, about the last days of both Jerusalem and His return
to judge the living and the dead. The King of Righteousness
continued to prepare His people for their salvation.
May our Lord grant that we recognize this king. Amen.
____________________
2. Luther's Works, American Edition, vol 20, p. 94The Journey Begins — Part 2: 03/26/2024
The Journey Begins - Part 2
Zechariah 9:9
03/26/2024
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud,
O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is
coming to you; righteous and having salvation is
he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey. (ESV)
People in exile, people in the bondage of slavery, have two
questions about their God. First, does God have the power to
free us from our oppressors? Second, does He have the compassion
to free us from our bonds? During Holy Week we see the answer.
God created us in His own image, perfect, holy, and in
fellowship with Him and one another. In Eden's paradise, that
perfection was shattered when our first parents defied God,
seeking to overthrow Him. They, and their descendants, were
bound in the chains of sin and death.
The promised seed of the woman, the second Adam, would bear
the punishment of that sin. Truly God and truly man, He would
crush the serpent's head while suffering a bruised heel. God
told the serpent:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your offspring and her offspring; he shall
bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.[1]
Now the day has come. As foretold by Zechariah, Jesus
entered the city gates as the King, the God who has the power and
compassion to save all people from their bondage to sin and
death.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to
you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and
mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
May our Lord grant us faith to see both the power and love
of our Savior. Amen.
____________________
1. Genesis 3:15 (ESV)The Journey Begins — 03/25/2024
The Journey Begins - Part 1
Zechariah 9:9
03/25/2024
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud,
O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is
coming to you; righteous and having salvation is
he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey. (ESV)
This week commemorates the turning point in history, the
fulfilling of God's promises. Yesterday began Holy Week, the
week when the Church remembers the actions of Jesus on the days
leading to His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. This week
is the most important week in the Church Year, for this week
marks our redemption from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
The journey to the cross began, not in a Bethlehem stable,
but with a deceiving serpent. As Eve accepted the lie that
knowing good and evil would be a blessing, as Adam looked on, the
world was cursed.
For Jesus, the final stages of the journey began as He
entered Jerusalem as foretold by the prophet Zechariah over five
hundred years before.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to
you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and
mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
On the Sunday of Holy Week, the crowds began the journey
from Bethany to Jerusalem carrying palm branches, placing their
cloaks on the road, and paying homage to Jesus as the Son of
David. Their cry, ``Hosanna,'' was a prayer for God's salvation.
Their prayer would be answered, once and for all time and for all
people, within a few short days. Our journey to the cross begins
with the humble Jesus riding on a donkey. Behold, your king is
coming to you, a king who will reign forever.
May our Lord richly bless you this week with the sure and
certain knowledge that Jesus entered Jerusalem to bear your sins,
and to give to you everlasting life. Amen.The LORD Will Provide — Part 5: 03/22/2024
The LORD Will Provide - Part 5
Genesis 22:13-14
03/22/2024
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and
behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram
and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of
his son.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, ``The
LORD will provide;'' as it is said to this day,
``On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.''
(ESV)
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold,
behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns.
And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as
a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called
the name of that place, ``The LORD will provide;'' as
it is said to this day, ``On the mount of the LORD it
shall be provided.''
The ram was caught in the thorn bush as the branches
encircled his head. Jesus also wore a crown of thorns as He was
sacrificed near the site of Isaac's redemption from death.
During this coming week we will remember our Lord Jesus
Christ and His suffering on our behalf. This coming Sunday marks
the day when He rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of the crowds
and the waving palm branches. He rode in, fulfilling Old
Testament prophecy, to bear our sins upon the cross.
Every day this coming week Trinity Lutheran Church will be
holding a special service to commemorate our Lord's passion. On
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will meet at 9:15 a.m. to
listen to the passion accounts from the Gospel writers. Thursday
and Friday evening are services to commemorate Jesus' actions on
the night He was betrayed, and to ponder His crucifixion. These
are at 7:00 p.m.
Please join us for any or all of these services, and for the
service on Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
May our Lord comfort you with the assurance that your sins
are forgiven for the sake of the innocent suffering and death of
Jesus Christ. Amen.The LORD Will Provide — Part 4: 03/21/2024
The LORD Will Provide - Part 4
Genesis 22:9-12
03/21/2024
9 When they came to the place of which God had told
him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the
wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him
on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the
knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from
heaven and said, ``Abraham, Abraham!'' And he
said, ``Here am I.''
12 He said, ``Do not lay your hand on the boy or do
anything to him, for now I know that you fear God,
seeing you have not withheld your son, your only
son, from me.'' (ESV)
When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in
order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the
altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out
his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But
the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and
said, ``Abraham, Abraham!'' And he said, ``Here am I.''
He said, ``Do not lay your hand on the boy or do
anything to him, for now I know that you fear God,
seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son,
from me.''
Abraham trusted in God. The writer of Hebrews tells us:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was in the act of
offering up his only son, of whom it was said,
``Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.'' He
considered that God was able even to raise him from the
dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive
him back.[2]
Here the stories of Isaac and Jesus take different paths.
Isaac was spared, his life was preserved. Jesus died as the
ransom for sinners. The anguish of Abraham turned to joy. The
anguish of our heavenly Father caused darkness to cover the earth
as His Son bore the pain of the cross.
May our Lord open our hearts and minds to know of His love,
a love so deep as to give His only-begotten Son for our
redemption. Amen.
____________________
2. Hebrews 11:17-19 (ESV)The LORD Will Provide — Part 3: 03/20/2024
The LORD Will Provide - Part 3
Genesis 22:7-8
03/20/2024
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ``My
father!'' And he said, ``Here am I, my son.'' He
said, ``Behold, the fire and the wood, but where
is the lamb for a burnt offering?''
8 Abraham said, ``God will provide for himself the
lamb for a burnt offering, my son.'' So they went
both of them together. (ESV)
And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ``My father!''
And he said, ``Here am I, my son.'' He said, ``Behold,
the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a
burnt offering?'' Abraham said, ``God will provide for
himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.'' So
they went both of them together.
Abraham and Isaac slowly walked up Mount Moriah to the top
where the sacrifice was to take place. Everything was ready.
The sacrificial lamb carried the wood for the fire on his back.
Years later, Jesus climbed the same hill. His disciples
were unaware that again the Lamb of God was ascending the mount
to offer Himself as the ransom for all people. Although Jesus
had warned them that He would be crucified, the disciples did not
understand.
Although the sacrifices looked different, one was a burnt
offering, the other a crucifixion, the result was the same.
Innocent blood was shed. The sacrifice was complete.
Isaac's question, ``Where is the lamb?'' echoed Jesus'
prayer in Gethsemane, ``Not my will, but Yours be done.'' Isaac
was not aware of the identity of the lamb, Jesus knew that the
words of John the Baptizer were true, ``Behold the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world.''[1]
May our heavenly Father grant us the understanding of the
cost of giving His only-begotten Son for our salvation. Amen.The LORD Will Provide — Part 2: 03/19/2024
The LORD Will Provide - Part 2
Genesis 22:3-6
03/19/2024
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his
donkey, and took two of his young men with him,
and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the
burnt offering and arose and went to the place of
which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and
saw the place from afar.
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, ``Stay here
with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there
and worship and come again to you.''
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering
and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his
hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of
them together. (ESV)
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his
donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his
son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering
and arose and went to the place of which God had told
him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and
saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his
young men, ``Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy
will go over there and worship and come again to you.''
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and
laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the
fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
For three days, Abraham looked upon his son, Isaac, and
considered him already dead. This child of promise, the one
through whom the world would be blessed would soon be sacrificed
at the command of God. Imagine the anguish that Abraham felt as
he, his servants, and his son traveled the three days to Mount
Moriah, the place where, in the future, the Temple in Jerusalem
would be built.
Again we find several parallels between the sacrifice of
Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus. Abraham mourned the coming
death of his son for three days. Jesus lay three days in the
tomb, mourned by those who loved Him. Both the sacrifice of
Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus were in the area of Jerusalem,
the place where God established His holy altar. Both Isaac and
Jesus carried the wood used for their own sacrifice.
Without complaint, both Isaac and Jesus bore their burdens.
Both Isaac and Jesus were commended into the hand of God. May
our Lord show us His love and mercy as we watch the sacrifice of
His Son for our redemption. Amen.