The Third Last Sunday in the Church Year

The Third Last Sunday in the Church Year – November 10, 2024

Psalm 31; Job 14:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

St. Matthew 24:15-28

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The first half of the book of Daniel is mostly a narrative. It tells the story of how Daniel came to Babylon and his rise to prominence. In these chapters, we hear how Daniel and the three Young Men are sustained by faith rather than eating food sacrificed to Babylonians idols,^[1] how Daniel interpreted the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar,^[2] the three young men being cast into the fiery furnace yet returning unharmed,^[3] the feast of Belshazzar and the writing on the wall interpreted by Daniel,^[4] and how Daniel was preserved by faith in the lions’ den.^[5]

It is not until the second half of the Book of Daniel that the prophet begins to receive visions. One gets the sense that Daniel does not understand much of what he sees. He says as much after some of the visions. Later, when the angel Gabriel comes to Daniel to interpret the visions, the prophet still seems a bit confused about what it could all mean. Such confusion is somewhat in the nature of prophecy. When a prophet is granted such a vision, he is seeing events and people from God’s perspective; a perspective not bounded by time and space. A day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day with God because He sees all time at once yet perfectly perceives each moment as distinct from every other moment with perfect clarity. This is beyond the ability of man. It is beyond our ability to comprehend with our minds and it is beyond the ability of our eyes to receive such sights.

And yet, the Prophets have been called by God to faithfully communicate on God’s behalf. They are to communicate what they have seen and what they have been told to the rest of God’s people. They are not alone in this endeavor. The Holy Spirit is with them and guides them to knowledge of the truth. The Prophet Daniel has given a faithful testimony of what he saw in these visions from God, even if the frailty of our minds cannot understand it.

With Daniel, we get a special insight into how the Prophet reacted to seeing such visions. Seeing such terrible things to come, knowing they were prophecies of destruction, what did Daniel do? He devoted himself more fervently to the things of God—that is, he repented and diligently set about offering the morning and evening sacrifices, devoted himself to the Word of God and prayer.

Prior to the visions, we know that Daniel was a very pious young man. He was already devoted to the Word of God and prayer, but the frightful visions of destruction led him to continued devotion and especially to repentance.

Next week, we will hear one of these visions the Prophet Daniel received, specifically the vision of the Ancient of Days and One like a Son of Man. This morning, we heard our Lord make a reference to Daniel’s vision of the “abomination of desolation.” To rightly understand this phrase and our Lord’s use of it, we must recognize that what we heard this morning rightfully treats two distinct topics and yet these topics have been boiled together into one soup. These two topics are the destruction of the kingdom of the Jews and the destruction of the kingdom of the world.

The concrete fulfillment of the prophecy of the abomination of desolation happened in the first century when an idol of a Roman eagle was placed in the Holy of Holies. The Jews of that time began to riot, leading to Roman soldiers descending upon Jerusalem and destroying the city and the temple.

The destruction of the temple in 70 AD was conducted according to the will of God. Forty years earlier, Jesus Christ prophesied that though they destroy the temple of His body, in three days, He would rise again.^[6] The temple curtain was torn in two at the crucifixion, signifying the end of any need for a temple built with hands or altars of sacrifice for bulls and goats. Yet the Pharisees and Sadducees hardened their hearts against God. They led many astray by preaching a false gospel, denying Jesus to be the Son of God and the rightful King of all mankind. God could not abide their idolatry.

The sign of the Roman eagle placed in the temple told the Christians it was time to flee. They left the city as quickly as possible. They did not know the day or the hour when the Romans would descend upon Jerusalem, but they knew it was coming. The destruction that followed was for the purpose of erasing the idol that the temple had become. It was now a monument to the false teachings of the Jews.

Those who had become Christians knew there was no significance left in the temple, so when they saw the abomination, they fled. The Jews could not abide the sight of the eagle. They clung more fervently to the idol they had made of something that once belonged to God. Just as their fathers demanded Aaron make an idol out of the very gold God commanded them to carry out of Egypt, so these Jews set up the temple as their new god.

Such is the destruction of the kingdom of the Jews. As for the destruction of the kingdom of the world, the abomination of desolation is spiritually fulfilled by an idol set up in the house of God, that is, an idol erected in your heart. It is abominable before God that you would seek comfort in being financially stable; that you would find pride in having your own way; that you would choose time with a sports team over the worship of Him. It is a desolation because such idolatry leaves your soul dry and hollow – a truly desolate place.

Such a spiritual fulfillment is found in the Office of the Papacy, the true Office of Antichrist, who seats himself within God’s church and calls himself the supreme authority on earth, capable of speaking on Christ’s behalf where no other men may understand. According to Unum Sanctum, a 14^th century papal bull or declaration, it is necessary for the salvation of man that he submit to the Pope above all others in spiritual and worldly matters.^[7] Thus the Pope has set himself up as an idol in the house of God, an idol in the house of the Church, a seat reserved for Christ alone.

Other spiritual fulfillments include the heresy of dispensationalism, the teaching that God saves different people in different ways, at different times. In other words, Adam and Eve were saved by divine fiat; Noah was saved by obedience; ethnic Jews are saved by their race, that is, being born in the right family; and it is only New Testament Gentiles who are in fact saved by grace on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Often associated with dispensationalism are various human actions being required to bring about the return of Christ and the end of days; whether it is the birth of a red heifer, the rebuilding of the Temple, the founding of a new nation-state of Israel, or the branding of all humanity with barcode tattoos.

These false teachings fail to understand the words of our Lord. The world is a wicked place. It is wicked because man is born in sin and conceived in iniquity. It is wicked because men make it wicked and the heart of man will always pervert the Word of God, placing himself and his own desires at the center.

But do not miss the greatest aspect of our Lord’s prophetic words today. These are words of tremendous comfort. Will the final days of this world be terrifying? Will there be suffering of Christians? Yes. But that suffering will be cut short for the sake of the elect. You have been warned of the wickedness of the world because of God loves you. All who believe and are baptized will be saved. There is no need to run back into your house to gather your treasures. There is no need to gather the laundry or put your tools back in the shed before fleeing before the destruction of the world.

There is no need because you have the greater portion. The Lord has called you out of this world of suffering. He has called you to life eternal with Him. He has called you to eternity in the bliss of heaven. His prophetic words even enumerate what is truly important – His people. He gives care and sympathy to those who are pregnant and nursing babies; to those enduring the cold of winter; and to those at prayer. The greatest gift you can give your children and grandchildren is the heritage of the Lord – His Word and Holy Sacraments. All other gifts of God in this world are to be used for a time and even to be enjoyed, but they will not last. The Word of the Lord endures forever and to those who have had that Word sealed on their foreheads in Holy Baptism, they too will endure forever.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Daniel 1.

[2] Daniel 2.

[3] Daniel 3.

[4] Daniel 5.

[5] Daniel 6.

[6] St. John 2:19.

[7] Unam Sanctum is a papal bull issued in 1302 by Pope Boniface VIII.

The Tenth Sunday after Trinity

The Tenth Sunday after Trinity – August 21, 2022

Psalm 55; Jeremiah 7:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

St. Luke 19:41-48

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to understand the seeming contradiction between God’s wrath and His mercy. God’s wrath is the enactment of His rightful justice against evil. God’s mercy is the withholding of His punishment against the same. It is true that the destruction of evil brings glory to God. It is also true that God desires all men to be saved. It is true that Christ died for the sins of every man ever born and that same Christ sentences the unrighteous to eternal torment in hell. God is Love and God is Just.

Thanks be to God that we do not have to reconcile these difficult attributes of God. We must, however, pay attention to them. We must realize the true meaning of God’s wrath so that we might understand the severity of our sins. Knowing the depth of our condition and the totality of God’s wrath against sin, we must cry out for help. We must plead that God would sustain us in the faith so that we would be counted among those who receive His mercy.

On Palm Sunday, as our Lord approaches Jerusalem, he weeps over the city. He weeps over Jerusalem because he loves her. He loves the people of Jerusalem, the people given to dwell with the Lord at his Temple, and yet they have rejected him. They have rejected Christ and perverted his Word. In so doing, they have invoked the wrath of God. As a parent weeps over the rebellious child who has disowned the family, Jesus weeps for Jerusalem.

These tears of our Lord signify four things.[1] First, they bring comfort by proving Christ to be True Man. He shares in the lament and pain that only man can know. Great sadness and frustration wells up within him. “The shedding of tears is a very human trait.”[2] There is no pain known to mankind that our Lord did not take upon himself. Even today, risen in glory, our Lord retains his complete humanity, exalted on high, such that we would know our unity with him.

Secondly, the tears offer satisfaction. They are obviously not the atoning sacrifice of the Cross, but Christ became poor that we would become rich, and he wept that we would have eternal joy. “Christ’s tears have paid [for all Christians] so that God can later wipe away all tears from [your] eyes.”[3]

Thirdly, they are tears of consolation. God desires not the death of the sinner and mourns the sins of man. God’s justice requires punishment for sin and it deeply grieves God to mete out such punishment and yet it is the hardness of man’s heart that rejects the love and mercy of God. Sinful man has chosen his own punishment and in God’s perfect justice, the unrepentant sinner is turned over to the lusts of his own heart. These tears flow from the deep well of Christ’s heart. “When one’s heart is wounded by sorrow, tears flow from one’s eyes just like blood flows from a bodily wound.”[4]

This is also why it is a dangerous error to believe that God has chosen some for condemnation. If God had made an eternal decree that certain individuals would go to hell, why should Christ mourn? Why mourn over that which God himself caused? No. God desires the salvation of all and mourns the loss of even one who would reject this salvation.

Finally, these are tears of exhortation. Christ weeps over sin to call us to repentance. If we have put on Christ in our Baptisms, should not we also weep over our sin? The life of the Christian is a daily battle against the world, the devil, and our own flesh. Daily we must return to the waters of our Holy Baptism, that we would mourn over our sins, and cling ever more tightly to Christ.

With the tears of Christ comes a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. The walls, the Temple, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were brutally slaughtered by the Romans in 70 AD. This was the first fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy, and yet it was not the Romans alone who enacted judgment against Jerusalem. The Lord delivered a prophecy to Isaiah saying, “I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siegeworks against you.”[5] God Himself was judging Jerusalem for her lack of faith; for turning to worship false gods; for crucifying Christ.

The earthly Jerusalem was to be the shining city on the hill; that place where God came to dwell with His people: first in the Temple and then enwrapped in the flesh of the Incarnation. The Jews who dwelt at Jerusalem were given the Word of God to be a light to all nations, being a blessing to all who blessed them.

But this was not the case. Already in the time of Jeremiah, the Jews were worshipping Baal in the morning and Yahweh in the evening. They offered their children on altars fire then sacrificed a bull to Yahweh without seeing the contradiction. By the time of our Lord’s Incarnation, the temples of Baal were gone but they had been replaced by banking and commerce in the Temple. Even worse, those most prepared to receive the Savior rejected Him as dangerous to their way of living.

You, dear Christians, are the most prepared to receive the Savior. You have the Word of God delivered to you in easily available bibles and preached from this pulpit. But much like the Pharisees, such familiarity easily breeds contempt. You confess that the Small Catechism is the right teaching of the Word of God but when was the last time you opened your copy? Or said the Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, and Lord’s Prayer more than once a week? Is reading the bible in the morning and evening a danger to your way of life? We are far more like the Pharisees than any of us wants to admit.

Thanks be to God we have their example. We have the example of those who reject the Savior, seeking to destroy Him with hellfire. We have the example of these wicked men, whose actions foreshadow our own, being slaughtered by the Romans; being judged by God for their lack of faith and infidelity with the gods of their own pleasures.

The example of the Pharisees and the prophecy of destruction are a warning to you. See it for what it is. Prepare yourself for the end of days, when the heavens and the earth with pass away. In that day, will you know the time of your visitation? Will you know that Christ comes not to destroy you but to bring you to Himself? Or will you hide from the Lord?

Do your actions today and every day speak of a preparation for the coming of the Lord in power and might? Do you cry out to God, “King of majesty tremendous, who dost free salvation send us, fount of pity, then befriend us! Think, good Jesus, my salvation caused Thy wondrous incarnation; leave me not to reprobation! Guilty, now I pour my moaning, all my shame with anguish owning: spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning! Worthless are my prayers and sighing; yet, good Lord, in grace complying, rescue me from fires undying. With Thy favored sheep, oh, place me! Nor among the goats abase me, but to Thy right hand upraise me.”[6]

You can be confident in your salvation because Jesus has died for you. You can be confident in your salvation because Jesus has washed you in His blood when you were baptized. You can be confident in your salvation because Jesus Holy Body and Precious Blood are here to strengthen and preserve your body and soul unto life everlasting.

Yet the sin which clings to your flesh can take such confidence and turn it to pride. This is the folly of the Pharisees. They were confident in their salvation because they had kept God’s Law, or as much of it as they thought necessary. They had no need for the teachings of Jesus, nor His forgiveness. Lest you, too, fall into this trap of pride, humble yourself before God and remember always to pray that He would have mercy on you.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This enumeration comes from Johann Gerhard, Postilla: An Explanation of the Sunday and Most Important Festival Gospels of the Whole Year, Volume 2, translated by O Marc Tangner (Malone, TX: Repristination Press, 2007), 109-119.

[2] Gerhard, Postilla, 111.

[3] Gerhard, Postilla, 112.

[4] Gerhard, Postilla, 113.

[5] Isaiah 29:3.

[6] Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning, stanzas 8-9, 12, 14-15.