Populus Zion (Advent 2)

Populus Zion – December 7, 2025

Psalm 80; Malachi 4:1-6; Romans 15:4-13

St. Luke 21:25-36

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

The word “advent” means “coming.” Now the world treats this time as the “Christmas season,” by shopping for Christmas presents, holding Christmas parties, decorating houses, and making travel plans for the Christmas break from school and work. There is nothing wrong with participating in these things. We do live in the world even if we are not of the world. Yet the temptation is to become wrapped up in these activities of the world and to forget the purpose of the season of Advent.

Like the world, Christians use the time of Advent for preparation, but the way in which Christians prepare and the occasion Christians are preparing for are quite distinct from that of the world. During Advent, we reflect, contemplate, and prepare for the three ways in which Christ comes. First, He came in the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary. The eternal Son of God descended into the flesh of man, sharing in our humanity that we might receive His eternity. Second, He comes to us today, through the reading, preaching, and meditating on His Word. He also comes to us bodily in His Holy Sacrament. He comes in the mutual consolation of our Christian brothers and sisters, as they share with us His Holy Word. Finally, we look forward to His final coming, when Christ will reveal Himself to the nations, make His final judgment, and receive all who believe and are baptized into His loving arms for all eternity.

It is this final coming of Christ that Christ speaks of this morning in the Gospel and for which He bids us to prepare. While the world is preparing to celebrate family time at Christmas by buying presents, preparing meals, and making travel plans, the Church prepares to receive her King in the same way she has always prepared herself for God: by repentance.

When I speak of repentance, I don’t just mean reciting the words of the general confession once a week, “I, a poor miserable sinner…” though that is a good start. I mean taking a serious reflection of your heart, actions, mind, and soul. Consider your station in life according to the Ten Commandments, whether you are a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker; whether you have been disobedient, unfaithful, slothful; whether you have grieved any person by word or deed; whether you have stolen, neglected, or wasted anything, or done other injury.[1] Have you placed your fear, love, and trust in God above all things or have you feared the opinions of people or the economy more than trusting that God loves you and will provide?

Our age is filled both with security in material goods and anxiety over every aspect of life. On the one hand, we look to our stuff to feel secure and happy while constantly worrying about the opinions of others, how we measure up to their expectations. This security and anxiety are both misguided because they entirely remove God from the equation. Our security is in Him, who created and sustains all things in the universe. Our anxiety only runs skin deep, though we feel it deep in our soul. This anxiety forgets that the same God who created and sustains the universe also descended into our flesh for the very purpose of taking our cares, anxieties, and most importantly our sins, upon Himself and crucifying them. He bore your sins into death so that they would remain in the grave forever.

Both the security and anxiety of our age is also misguided because it fails to reach into the root of the problem: our sinful state. The problem is not that we don’t have enough to be secure or that we feel bad about ourselves. The problem is that these are sins against the Almighty God. They are the actions of sinners who have forgotten what the Lord has commanded. Only by a serious contemplation of the Word of God can sin be revealed. “I would not have known sin except through the law…The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.”[2]

And yet there is a second part of repentance. Repentance is first contrition, that is, sorrow over our sin which has been brought about by the contemplation of God’s holy, just, and good law. The second part is faith; faith which clings to the promise of God that Christ has died for your sin and rose for your justification. If it were not for faith clinging to God’s promise of forgiveness, it would be unthinkable to consider your sins. It would be so overwhelming because it is obvious to anyone that they are unworthy of God. A moment of reflection over the state of your soul would either cause you to turn immediately away from God and cling to your sin in pride or fall into such despair that you would beg for death.

And yet knowledge of the promise of forgiveness makes considering your sin bearable. It becomes bearable because the Word of God has revealed that His great love caused His incarnation. His great love caused the Father to accept the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son on your behalf. His great love washed you in the waters of Holy Baptism, not only cleansing you from sin but making you a child of the Heavenly Father. And just as a child desires nothing more than to make his father proud, so too such great love of God moves your soul to desire to make God proud. It causes you to desire to be free from sin and conform to God’s holy Law.

This is what makes the Christian’s Advent preparations different from that of the world’s. When the nations see signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, they tremble with fear because they are perplexed. A sense of foreboding dread sweeps over the nations for fear of what is coming upon the world. Yet the Church sees these signs and knows that her King is coming soon. We prepare (through repentance and faith) with great joy, straightening up and lifting our heads to see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. The distress of nations is for us a sign that the end is near and we know what will happen at the end. Christ will come and gather us to Himself.

Thus He bids us to watch ourselves so that we are not weighed down with despair, drunkenness, and the cares of this life. Rather, we stay vigilant and pray that we be kept in this true faith until either we die or Christ returns, whichever should come first.

I stand before you today for the first time, charged with bringing you the whole counsel of God. The Lord has seen fit to call this sinner to serve Him in this place and at this time. I have taken vows to be faithful to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions, which means that it is my sacred duty to stand in the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, delivering to you His Holy Word and Sacraments. When Christ returns on that final day, I will stand before Him and be held accountable for my ministry to your souls. If I profane the Word of God, if I cause one of you little ones to fall away from the faith because I pervert the things of God, then I will be judged guilty and spend eternity in hell.

It is my sacred duty to pray for you and with you. It is my duty to love you as Christ loves this church. It is my duty to weep over your sins, even as I call you to account for them. Know that it is not my sacred duty to be nice. Certainly to extend Christian love and fellowship, bearing with you in all things, but there is no obligation to be “nice” simply to please men. This is a hard teaching, but it is true. I am obligated to hold you accountable to the Word of God just as you must hold me accountable to it.

Scripture calls all Christians to pray for their leaders, including their pastors. God expects you to pray for me and to pray for my family. It is also expected that you will bear with me in all things, honor the office to which I’ve been called, uphold my reputation - not hearing any accusation from others in idle gossip, and listening intently to the Word of God. You have also promised to aid me as I care for my family and to be diligent to “put the best construction on everything,” recognizing that “love covers a multitude of sins.” I expect you to hold me accountable to the Word of God and if I should sin against you, I expect you to call me to repentance.

Our Lord has promised that though heaven and earth will pass away, His Word will never pass away.[3] The time is already growing late. It has been 2,000 years since our Lord spoke these words. Though it is cold outside and the calendar shows it is winter, in the broad view of time, the trees are coming out in leaf and the end of time draws near. Together, we hope and pray that the Lord will grant a bountiful harvest in this congregation, that He will bless us with new children to baptize, adults to instruct, and families to bring into our fold. Yet it is the Lord who gives growth. It is also at the Lord’s discretion that congregations shrink. We do not measure the success of the Church in man’s terms. We measure the success of the Church in faithfulness to the Scriptures, trusting that God knows better than we do how to manage His own household.

So together, we must stay awake at all times, praying that we may have strength to escape the temptations of the world and to stand before the Son of Man in humility and faith. Together, we must devote ourselves to the things of God, to His Word and Holy Sacraments. Together, we must show ourselves to bear the Light of Christ into the world, that not by our efforts, but by the very Word of God, the world would be brought to Christ. You and I bear the priceless treasure of Jesus Christ. Let us not bear it in vain, but in boldness of faith. Let us prepare for the return of Christ in humble repentance, never forgetting that He came in our flesh to die for our sins and still comes to us today, wrapped in water, bread, wine, and His Holy Word.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Small Catechism, Confession VI.

[2] Romans 7:7; 12.

[3] St. Luke 21:33.

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

 The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – August 31, 2025

Psalm 68; Genesis 4:1-15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

St. Luke 18:9-14

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

After being cast out of the garden, Adam knew his wife, Eve. She conceived and bore a son named Cain. She then bore another son named Abel. Cain was a worker of the fields, like his father, while Abel tended the flocks. One day, these two sons went to sacrifice to God but only the sacrifice of Abel was accepted by the Lord. On account of this, Cain’s face fell and he grew angry.

Our first question of the text should be, ‘why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted by God but not Cain’s?’ The Letter to the Hebrews gives us the definitive answer.[1] Abel offered his sacrifice in faith while Cain did not. This is the bottom line, the fundamental truth of the differences in their sacrifices.

At the same time, Scripture presents us with a few more details. Cain offered the fruit of the fields, likely a grain offering, while Abel offered a sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock. Both types of sacrifice, gain and the blood of animals, will later be instituted through Moses, but the greater of these sacrifices is the sacrifice of an animal. Again, the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.[2] By this we know that the sacrifice of blood, the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, is the greater sacrifice. Even Adam and Eve would’ve had this knowledge. When the Lord gave them the promise of a Savior, the Son of a virgin who would destroy death and the devil, He then sacrificed an animal and covered them with clothes of skin. By the shedding of blood, their nakedness was covered, their sins forgiven.

Our second question of this text should be, ‘why was Cain angry?’ If the difference was in the orientation of Cain’s heart, his lack of faith in the sacrifice, by what right is he angry with God? Even though we know that the sacrifice of blood is greater in the eyes of the Lord than the sacrifice of grain, both are acceptable sacrifices in the eyes of God. Therefore, Cain’s anger arises from his perception of an injustice committed by God. In Cain’s eyes, God is being unfair.

In this, we can sympathize with Cain. Our thoughts are not the Lord’s thoughts, and our ways are not His ways,[3] and all too often they seem unfair. We experience this in life when the wicked prosper but Christians suffer. We experience this in the words of Holy Scripture when the Lord rewards Abraham for pretending Sarah is his sister, or when He declares, “Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated.”[4]

We know from the Scriptures that God cannot be unjust. Any injustice that man perceives in God is the result of a lack of understanding on man’s part, not a lack in God. He is the very definition of justice, righteousness, goodness, and love.[5]

Returning to Cain, the conflict arises not because Cain perceives an injustice in God but because he blames God for the injustice. Rather than seeking the Lord and His righteousness, Cain becomes embittered toward God. He begins to resent his Creator. Yet even in this state, we see the mercy of God. He comes to Cain and asks, “Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”[6]

The Lord is calling Cain to repentance and guiding him into the way of truth. It is as though God was saying, “Cain, what reason do you have to be angry? No, I did not accept your sacrifice today because it wasn’t offered in faith. Learn from this moment. Learn not to trust in the quality of your sacrifice, nor in your rank as firstborn, nor in the strength of your arm. Place your trust in Me, the One who is truly Good and from Whom all good things come. If your trust is in me and not your sacrifice, then your sacrifices will gladly be accepted. But if not, then satan is waiting to consume you. Your anger will overcome you, and it will be too late to stay your hand.”

But these words did not penetrate Cain’s stony heart. He had hardened himself against the Lord. He had set his mind on killing Abel. Now, generally, Cain’s plan to kill Abel is described as an act of envy. Cain was angry at Abel because Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God. There is truth in this observation. Cain was almost certainly envious of the attention his brother received from God. But a closer read of the text reveals something even darker. If Cain’s anger is the result of a perceived injustice in God, then who is the primary object of his anger? Is it not God? It would follow that Cain’s murderous plan was not directed at Abel but at God. He wanted to destroy the object of God’s affection, hurting God for hurting him.

When God comes to Cain and asks where Abel is (another plea and opportunity for Cain to repent of what he has done), Cain says, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”[7] In effect, he is saying, “God, don’t you know where Abel is? Isn’t he your beloved son? Since you accepted his sacrifice, aren’t You supposed to be watching out for him?” Rather than repenting, Cain is doubling down on blaming God for the current situation. To Cain, it is God’s injustice that killed Abel.

Now, horrified as we are with Cain’s actions, and you should be, consider the times in your own life when you’ve acted as Cain and not as God. Both God and Cain think themselves justified in their actions but only One of them is right. God comes to Cain seeking the latter’s repentance and a restoration of their relationship. Cain doesn’t even respond to God in the first conversation and proceeds to hurt God by attacking the object of God’s affection. When the Lord again offers the opportunity for repentance, Cain does nothing but passive-aggressively attack the Lord. He shifts all blame onto God. For this, Cain is condemned and cast out of the presence of the Lord.

It is here we also see the connection to our Gospel text. The Pharisee loudly extols all of his righteous deeds to God and expects the Lord to reward him. The tax collector humbly begs for God’s mercy for he knows that he is a poor, miserable sinner. Both believe themselves righteous but only one returns to his home justified. One finds his justification in his righteous deeds. The other finds his justification in the mercy and atonement of the Lord. One believes his righteousness is a work of his own hands. The other finds righteousness in the shedding of the innocent blood of the Lamb of God.

According to our thoughts and our ways, the Pharisee is clearly the one who goes home justified. He has done all of the righteous things. He prays loudly so that all can hear and see his righteousness. According to our thoughts and our ways, it would be a great injustice for the Pharisee to be condemned.

Now the tax collector is a wicked man. He makes a living by cheating and stealing from his neighbors. Worse yet, from cheating and stealing from his kindred, from his fellow Judahites, to support the pagan government of Rome. Yet he comes into the Temple to humbly beg for the mercy of God, that God would make atonement for his grave sins and save him from eternal damnation.

The comparison to Cain and Abel is not to think of Cain as the Pharisee and Abel as the tax collector. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector are Cain. They are the two roads laid before Cain. The Pharisee is the sin lying at the door waiting to consume him. The tax collector is the repentance to which the Lord repeatedly calls Cain – both before and after the murder of Abel. “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.”^[8]

Since the fall of our first parents, sin has been crouching at the door for every one of you. It is waiting for the opportune time to pounce upon your soul and drag you into the depths. But the Lord is patient. The Lord is kind. He has descended into the depths of your flesh to raise you from destruction. There is no depth of sin at which point Christ cannot reach you, no crevasse of the earth into which the blood of Christ, which speaks better things than that of Abel, is not able to cover your sin.

This does require humility. It requires humility not to trust in yourself or your own evaluation of your sins. Original sin has corrupted even your conscience. Alone, our conscience cannot be trusted to rightly discern between sin and righteousness. Our conscience must ever be formed by and checked against the Word of God. The renewal of your mind which comes with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, will never be complete on this side of glory. It requires humility to submit yourself to the Word of God for His ways are not your ways and His thoughts are not your thoughts. It requires humility to trust that God is good, and He will provide for you the escape from your sins. In fact, He has provided the escape from your sins when He humbly submitted to the death of a criminal. In His goodness, He provides for the needy. He bears us up and is our salvation. Blessed be the Lord.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Hebrews 11:4.

[2] Hebrews 9:22.

[3] Isaiah 55:8.

[4] Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:13.

[5] Psalm 92:15; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 3:4.

[6] Genesis 4:6-7.

[7] Genesis 4:9.

[8] The Apostolic Fathers, “Didache 1:1,” 3^rd edition, translated and edited by Michael W. Holmes (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 345. 

Quasimodo Geniti (Easter 1)

 Quasimodo Geniti (Easter 1) – April 27, 2025

Psalm 8; Ezekiel 37:1-14; 1 John 5:4-10

St. John 20:19-31

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

On Easter evening, the 10 apostles were assembled behind a locked door for fear of the Jews. The 10 apostles are the 12 minus Judas, who killed himself, and Thomas, who is conspicuously absent. Christ our Lord has already appeared to Mary and the other women, to Cleopas and the other disciple on the road to Emmaus. Peter and John have seen the burial clothes folded and laid in the tomb and yet the apostles gathered in fear. They did not fully comprehend the resurrection of Christ.

Then Christ appears in their midst and judges their sin. He judges their sin to be atoned for. He proclaims peace to the apostles. The judgment is innocence – innocence won in the crucified hands and pierced side of Jesus. There is a theme throughout St. John’s gospel – seeing is believing. St. John wants to emphasize the physicality of Christ and His presence with His people.

We sometimes mistake John as being the “spiritual” or “other-worldly” gospel and yet right from the beginning, “and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld” we saw, “His glory.”^[1] “No one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”^[2] It is in the presence of the flesh of Jesus that God the Father is made known. In the presence of the crucified flesh of Jesus our salvation is made known.

There is a doctrinal point in this account which we must address. Jesus Christ came to stand in the midst of the apostles according to both His human and divine natures. In the resurrection, the attributes of the divine nature are fully communicated to the human nature. This means that He makes full use of His divine attributes in and with His human nature. He is all knowing, all present, and all powerful according to both natures, now that He is exalted. During the time of His humiliation, Christ denied Himself the full use of His divine attributes. Now that He is exalted, He makes full use of them.

Why is this important? John Calvin, the father of the reformed churches, and many other modern evangelical teachers, will deny that Christ communicates His divine attributes to His human nature. They will claim that Jesus climbed through a window because it would be impossible for His human nature to pass through a locked door. At the same time, do not think that Jesus passed through the door as a ghost in a Hollywood movie. The text says He appeared in their midst. Christ is present in all places, at all times, in His human flesh. Thus, He revealed Himself to be in their midst even as He is already in all places at all times.

Christ’s ability to be present with the apostles according to His human nature, despite the locked door, is directly related to the ability of Christ’s flesh to be present on altars all over the world. His humanity is not chained up in heaven, awaiting a divinely appointed appearance. He is physically present with His people, even if He has not revealed Himself in His full glory to us. He is reserving the revelation of His fullness for the last day, when He will return just as He departed at the ascension.

It is precisely because our Lord knows He must ascend to the right hand of the Father that He desires to institute the Office of the Holy Ministry. No one can forgive his own sins. He must hear the words of absolution from outside himself. Thus, in the crucified flesh which won our salvation, Jesus breathes on the apostles, gives the Holy Spirit to the church, and sends them to preach this word of forgiveness to the church. As He was sent into the flesh to atone for our sins, now pastors are sent to deliver this forgiveness to the world.

Which brings us to Thomas. Thomas is portrayed in St. John’s Gospel as being zealous for the Lord. He demonstrates his faith in encouraging the disciples to follow Christ, even when he went into Jerusalem to die. In John 11, Thomas boldly proclaims “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”^[3] Why then was this bold disciple not with the other ten?

Scripture is not clear on this point, but the words of Jesus tell us that Thomas was unbelieving. What did he not believe? The evidence of St. John tells us that Thomas was zealous for the Lord and believed in His word. It could be that Thomas was ashamed of his actions on Good Friday and so he also had hidden himself. This seems like a poor choice, since he soon rejoins the apostles but refuses to believe their words about the resurrected Christ.

In fact, his confession that unless he touches the wounds in Christ’s hands and puts his hand into Christ’s side, he would never believe is quite profound. He is confessing that only in the wounds of Christ will he find salvation. He has taken the words of Jesus seriously and insists on seeing the wounds by which his salvation is won.

His denial to believe without visual proof is consistent with St. John’s Gospel. His absolute denial to believe is blasphemy. “I will NEVER believe unless I see the wounds.”[4] This is where Thomas begins to get into trouble. He is obstinate. He refuses to believe the words of those sent by Jesus to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. He refuses to believe his brother pastors.

Putting this evidence together, we can see that Thomas believed he could do it himself. He was not gathered with the others because he knew better than them. Thomas is the man who can recite the catechism from heart, so he doesn’t think he needs to come to church. He is the man who daily reads the portals of prayer so that he doesn’t need to read the bible. Thomas is the man who doesn’t like the personality of the pastor, so he chooses to disagree with his teaching, avoid Bible Study, and nod off during the sermon. Thomas willingly stays away from the church because he thinks he knows better than those who gather.

Christ promised the apostles, “Where two or three are gathered, there I am in their midst.”[5] The apostles had gathered, albeit in fear, but they had gathered. They did not neglect the coming together of the saints, even if they did so with imperfect motives. Thomas refused. He believed he could make it on his own without the support of the brethren.

Eight days after Easter, the following Sunday, the apostles made sure Thomas was with them. Why eight days? Because it was the following Sunday. They were gathered to pray, read Scripture, sing hymns, worship Christ, and even to commune with Him. They knew Jesus would come back because He promised to be where His people are gathered to hear His word and receive His gifts. This is the definition of the church – the gathering of the saints to hears God’s word and receive His gifts. And the apostles made sure Thomas wouldn’t miss it this time.

Today is called “Quasimodo Geniti” after the antiphon of the introit, “As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word.”[6] It is eight days after Easter. The apostles recognize not only are all people as newborn babes, but Thomas especially is a newborn babe. He doesn’t know what is best for him. For all we know, Thomas was dragged kicking and screaming into the room that day. But because the other apostles love him, they do what is good for him. They are being good pastors by not giving him what he wants (solitude) but giving him what he needs – the pure spiritual milk, the pure doctrine of the of the Word.

Thanks be to God the apostles loved Thomas enough to do what was good for him. They brought him to church, where Jesus would be found. Then Jesus commands Thomas to touch His wounds and Thomas cries out, “My Lord and my God!”[7] He is convicted by the word of Christ and his heart is converted. He repented of his sins against the First and Third commandments and his sins against his brothers.

It is in this context that Jesus proclaims a divine blessing upon all who have not seen and yet believe. He is speaking of you and me. Thomas blasphemed Christ by denying to believe anything without seeing. You are blessed for believing without sight. This marks the transition in St. John’s Gospel between Jesus’ earthly ministry, when He could be seen walking through the door, and His exalted ministry, when He is present without sight on every altar throughout the world.

Do not follow Thomas’s example of unbelief. Do not cut yourself off from the physical presence of Christ and the church. The other apostles knew to gather together, and Christ would be present. Thomas sought Jesus in his own heart and faith rather than in holy mother church.

Do follow Thomas’s example in zeal and confession. Repent of your sins and boldly cry out, “My Lord and my God!” Seek the Lord in His flesh, given for you. Seek Him in His blood, shed for you. Seek Him in the public proclamation of God’s word. Finally, seek Him in the words breathed out by His apostles: pastors. To them He has given the authority to preach and teach you concerning the Word of God. You may not always like what you hear, even as Thomas thought he knew better, but it is the duty of the Pastor, as a loving father, to guide you as a newborn babe to that which is good for you.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. John 1:14

[2] St. John 1:18

[3] St. John 11:16

[4] St. John 20:25.

[5] St. Matthew 18:20.

[6] St. Luke 24:5-6.

[7] St. John 20:28.

Palmarum (Palm Sunday)

 Palmarum (Palm Sunday) – April 13, 2025

Psalm 22; Philippians 2:5-11

St. Matthew 26-27

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.[1]

Christ our Lord rode into Jerusalem to die for the sins of the whole world. Like the wood carried by the donkey up the mountain when Abraham intended to sacrifice Isaac, Jesus is being carried to the altar of the cross on a mountain called Calvary. Our Lord willingly submits to the mockery, torture, and execution of sinful men to redeem even those wicked Pharisees and Sadducees.

Despite dying for the sins of the whole world, the whole world is not saved. There are those blatant pagans, who scoff at the Name of Jesus. They have never believed in Christ and so condemn themselves. What is more difficult for many of us are those who have known the Name of Christ, been baptized and taught from His Word, but through laziness, discontent, or the influence of the world, have abandoned their Lord.

St. Peter and Judas Iscariot are two such people. Judas has been embezzling money from the disciples for some time. It seems the anointing of Christ at Bethany was the last straw for Judas. Sometime after the woman poured the costly perfume on Jesus’ head, Judas ran to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver [Jesus] to you?”[2] They handed over 30 pieces of silver and left Judas alone to begin plotting.

St. Peter believes himself to be zealous for the Lord. While he is sorrowful at first, recognizing that he is capable of betraying his Lord, Peter later decides that he will never abandon, let alone betray, Jesus. When the crowd appears, Peter jumps into action, drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of the chief priest’s servant.

In his zeal, Peter has forgotten that the Christ rode into Jerusalem to die. He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and the likeness of men so that he could be obedient unto death.[3] This death would seal the new covenant in His blood, atoning for the sins of the world. Peter thinks he will defend Jesus from the crowd, not allowing them to take Him away.

When such a power play doesn’t work, Peter follows behind the crowd to the courtyard of the Sanhedrin. I’m sure he was working hard to develop a plan to spring Jesus out of the chief priests’ custody. It is here, in a garden, he denies three times to know Jesus at all. By the time the rooster crowed, Peter realizes his sin. Zealous Peter, who was willing to die with Jesus rather than abandon Him, had denied his Lord three times. The gruesome parts of that Friday, the torture and crucifixion hadn’t even begun, and Peter had already fled like a startled lamb. He ran into the early morning light weeping bitterly.

About the same time, Judas is also having second thoughts. The Sanhedrin condemned Jesus and were now taking Him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor. Judas knew the only reason to take Jesus to Pilate was for a death sentence. He suddenly realizes that his actions have sentenced Jesus to death. His reaction to the situation tells us that he didn’t fully understand the implications of betraying Jesus until he had already set them into motion.

Peter ran away crying.

Judas ran back to the chief priests

Judas confessed his sin before them and gave back the thirty pieces of silver, but the chief priests would not have it. They did not forgive Judas but left him to contemplate his own sin. Then Judas went and hanged himself.

St. Peter disappears for a while. We do not hear about him again until the day of the Resurrection. He hides himself for shame. The former spokesman of the disciples, the recipient of miracles, St. Peter is reduced to a child hiding in his closet after hitting his brother.

The sins of Peter and Judas weighed heavily on their souls. Peter overestimated his righteousness. He overestimated his ability to withstand temptation. Thus, when he fell, he fell hard. It seems a slight sin to have denied knowing Christ, but it is indeed blasphemy. He was denying the very God who took on flesh to die for him.

Whenever you are silent in the face of sin, you too deny knowing Jesus. When you see homosexuality portrayed on television or in the movies and are not disgusted by it, you deny knowing Jesus. For that matter, whenever you watch something, read something, or even visit certain restaurants and think to yourself, “Oh, I can handle watching this. The nudity, language, violence, tight clothing, or other blatant sins won’t affect me;” you may as well proclaim, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble!” This overestimation of your own righteousness and underestimation of your sinfulness is the sin of Peter in your flesh.

Judas was greedy. His betrayal began with the question, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?”[4] Every time you have chosen the respect of the world over the commandments of God, you have bargained for far less than 30 pieces of silver. Submitting to the government because “they said so” or preferring the word of “Science” to the Word of God is appealing to the chief priests. Being annoyed by a long sermon or bible study but being able to sit through a 2-hour movie unperturbed is a sin. At least Judas made 30 pieces of silver. Today, we are happy to betray Christ for 7 minutes of pleasure.

All of you will be made to stumble because of Jesus, for the ancient flesh which clings to you desires nothing more than to scatter the flock of Christ. All of you will betray Christ in word and deed. What then is our hope?

Judas had no hope. He was sorrowful for his sin. He expressed contrition, the first part of repentance. Yet he was without faith. He did not trust that Christ could and would forgive him. He ran to the priests to make atonement for his own sin. He gave back the silver, trying to buy a clean conscience, yet even these wicked men would have none of it. Judas ran outside the city and hanged himself.

Suicide does not automatically condemn you to hell. It is entirely possible for a Christian, possessing faith in Christ for his salvation, to be overcome by a moment of emotion and make a stupid decision. The shadow of depression can pass over anyone and if the shadow is dark enough, it can make us think there is no light, at least for the moment. Such a suicide certainly can be saved.

But we should not take that to mean that everyone who commits suicide is not responsible for his actions, nor that the act of suicide is not inherently sinful. It is. And there are some who commit suicide because they have despaired of Christ. They believe He cannot or will not forgive them. Judas is one of these. Our Lord said of Judas, “woe to that may by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”[5]

Since the fall, man has confused good and evil. Since the enlightenment, we’ve fooled ourselves into believing the world is never black and white, only shades of gray. And since at least the 1980’s, we have come to celebrate the so-called “anti-hero” in the United States. We cheer for the dark, brooding guy bad guy who is full of wickedness but rises above it, at least for a while, to save the day. Every hero must be flawed so deeply that he constantly questions what is good and what is evil.

What’s more is that we’ve become obsessed with the idea that every villain must have a reason for his evil. He must have an origin story. Someone committed evil against him so he has a reason, a right, to perpetrate his evil acts. Evil is no longer evil. It is the understandable, if inadvisable or regrettable, consequence of a difficult life. Christians must reject this thinking because we know the devil is a liar and the father of lies. He is the source of evil. The sin clinging to our flesh is the source of evil. Evil is never something to sympathize with nor something to be played with.

This tendency in our modern minds has turned Judas into a sympathetic character. Many Christians choose to believe that Judas is in heaven. Jesus says differently. It would’ve been better had he not been born. This is a statement of condemnation. Judas dies in his sin because he dies without faith. He despairs of the forgiveness of God and hangs himself because he thinks he cannot live with what he has done. For the rest of eternity, he will endure not the love of God, but His divine wrath.

There is a note of hope for us in the story of Judas, however. Each time our Lord predicts His betrayal, Jesus is calling Judas to repentance. By the foreknowledge of His divinity, Jesus knows that Judas will ultimately reject this call to repent, but that doesn’t stop Jesus from calling. The worst thing to happen to men on this side of glory is to hear the silence of the Lord. Notice how often Christ is silent before Caiaphas and His other accusers. When God stops speaking to you in His Word and Sacraments, it means He has left you to the passions of your own heart. He did not shut His lips toward Judas. Judas shut his ears to the Word of God. Judas chose the approval of man over the love of God, and seeing that he had lost the approval of man, Judas hanged himself.

This is a note of hope for us because it demonstrates how far Christ will go to keep His sheep in His flock. Being called to repent, being confronted by your own sins does not feel good. It hurts when someone points out your sin. It hurts because the wound inflicted on your soul by sin is being reopened. The call to repentance opens the wound so that the wound may be cleaned out by the confession of your sin. The wound is then healed by the salve of Christ’s Word of forgiveness. The whole life of the Christian is one of repentance because repentance has two parts: sorrow over your sin and faith that God will forgive that sin.

St. Peter is the narrative foil to Judas. He denied Christ and ran away weeping. Wherever he went that Friday morning, we know that he returned to the company of the disciples by Sunday. He is again with the disciples in time to hear Mary Magdalene proclaim the resurrection to him.

Peter was ashamed of his sin, but he did not try to purchase forgiveness. He came back to the place where Christ promised to be. “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in the midst of them.”[6] Peter returned to the place where he expected Jesus to be, even if he didn’t fully understand Jesus’ prophecies regarding the Resurrection.

For his threefold denial, Christ our Lord gives St. Peter a threefold absolution.[7] Peter demonstrates both sorrow over sin and faith that Christ has overcome even his sin.

Preachers often find themselves trying to help you recognize sins in your daily life. I am quick to point out that utter devotion to a local sports team is akin to offering sacrifice to Yahweh in the morning and Baal in the evening. But sometimes, we all need to remember the severity of grosser sins. Peter denied knowing Jesus. He said, “I do not know Him.” This is like saying, “I am not a Christian!” Judas betrayed Jesus to a murderous mob, resulting in the Crucifixion.

These were not sins of momentary passions. They were wicked, manifest sins. Yet the death of Jesus atones for them. No matter what you have done—from giving more time and attention to the sportsball than to reading Scripture, to sleeping with another man’s wife, murdering a man in the flesh, or denying the Name of Christ for the sake of a job, money, or reputation—the Blood of Jesus has atoned for you.

If a guilty conscience ever seizes you, certainly remember your baptism, but also come to your pastor. Remember your baptism because it was the sure and certain moment in which you were washed in the waters of regeneration and born again of water and the Holy Spirit. You were made a new creation in Christ and an heir of heaven.

But also come to your pastor for absolution. You need to hear that Jesus has forgiven your sin in this very moment. With the hands of the pastor on your head, hear that Christ died for you, for this sin that plagues your conscience, for all the sins you have committed. Do not think you can handle sin on your own, like Peter did. Do not think you can relieve yourself of sin, like Judas did. Confess your sins and trust that Christ forgives them. Meet with Jesus in the place He has promised to be and hear the Word of absolution again and again for your sins.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] The following sermon is a modified version of the sermon preached in 2022.

[2] St. Matthew 26:15.

[3] Philippians 2:7.

[4] St. Matthew 26:15.

[5] St. Matthew 26:24.

[6] St. Matthew 18:20.

[7] St. John 21:15-19.

Reminiscere (Lent 2)

 Reminiscere (Lent 2) – March 16, 2025

Psalm 25; Genesis 32:22-32; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7

St. Matthew 15:21-28

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

The woman who pleads with our Lord this morning is explicitly called a Canaanite. By blood, she is not of Israel. She was raised in a household that worshiped false gods. She spent the majority of her life worshiping the false gods of Canaan. Or perhaps she spent her life ignoring the divine, focusing only on the cares and pleasures of the flesh. Whatever the case, she was raised and spent her life contrary to the Word of God, outside of the faith. When she looks back over her life, she has nothing but sin to remember.

And we might spend a moment in pious speculation about the father of the demon possessed girl. Where is he? Why isn’t he the one to petition the Christ on the child’s behalf? He could be home, praying to false gods that their daughter would be healed. He could be promoting his daughter as a new oracle of one of these false gods, perhaps even seeking to turn her into a temple prostitute as a means of financial gain. Of course, those options assume the father is still in the picture. Perhaps this poor girl doesn’t have a father at home. Perhaps her origin is another of the sins her mother has committed.

Whatever the case, we have a woman approach Jesus who, in one sense, has no right to petition the Lord’s Christ. She is coming from the outside and making a commotion that even the disciples are bothered by. They want Jesus to send her away. Maybe they want Him to quickly answer her prayer so she will go away. They have no time for an outsider. They have no time for someone to join their ranks. They can’t be bothered to make room for someone unfamiliar in the Church. Maybe they want Christ to curse her to get rid of her. What we know for certain is they want nothing to do with this outsider.

At first, it seems Christ is of one mind with His disciples. He doesn’t even respond to the woman’s first cry. He seems to ignore her. He only answers the demand of the disciples, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”[1] At the same time, He doesn’t rush away from the woman. He doesn’t pass through her midst unseen. He allows her to catch up, to remain with the group. He doesn’t respond to her, but He continues to listen.

So the woman falls on her knees before Christ in an act of worship and begs for His help. This time, He responds to her but again seems to dismiss her request. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” Christ is absolutely correct. It is not good to take food away from your children to feed dogs. It is not good to take away that which rightfully belongs to someone and give it to others because your emotions tell you the dogs need it.

The Canaanite woman will not let Him go, just like Jacob refusing to let go of Christ as they wrestled through the night.[2] “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” The woman is also, absolutely correct. She acknowledges what Christ has said is true. She does not desire to take what rightfully belongs to others. She does not want to appropriate that which has been given to the house of Israel. What she wants is to receive what is rightfully hers according to her station in life. She wants only the crumbs from the master’s table. She does not ask for the children’s food, not even their crumbs. She wants the crumbs of her Lord and Master. The smallest portion of food will suffice to fulfill her need.

For this, Christ greatly praises her faith and grants her request. He does not set her up in a palace nor give her the wisdom of the ancients. He grants her the life of her daughter and blesses her faith in the Word of God.

So what is really going on here? Much could be said but we will focus on two aspects: 1) the person of the Canaanite woman; and 2) the struggle of her prayer.

As I said before, the woman has a history of unbelief and sin. What is remarkable about her is that she doesn’t deny it. In no way does she try to justify her past nor assert her rights as a human being before Christ. She doesn’t claim to be a good person. She doesn’t claim the suffering of her daughter to be unjust, unfair, or greater than the suffering of anyone else. She doesn’t even put her own needs before Christ. Remember, she is begging the Lord to help her by healing her daughter.

In the Canaanite woman, we see a beautiful picture of a faithful and repentant person. She is willing to be called a dog because she knows that before the Lord Almighty, she doesn’t even deserve to be called that. She is a worm and not a woman, a reproach of men and despised by people.[3] Neither she nor her daughter has a right to be healed. They both deserve to suffer. This is why she appeals to the mercy of Christ, the Son of David. She begs that the Lord would withhold that which she truly deserves.

This is faith. Repentance consists of two parts – that we acknowledge our sins (contrition) and that we believe the Lord forgives them (faith). She does not come into the conversation with Christ with a specific promise that He will forgive her daughter, yet she trusts that whatever Christ does will be for her good.

At some point prior to our reading, this woman has heard the Word of God, maybe even heard Christ preach or seen Him perform miracles. At some point, she has been confronted by her sins and the effects of those sins on her beloved daughter. At some point, faith, the Holy Spirit, has entered into her heart and led her not only to repent but to seek the love of Christ. She sought the Lord and begs Him not just to be God, but to be God for her; to hear her prayers and answer them.

This woman is a beautiful example for all Christians to follow, for all mankind to follow. The sin that clings to our flesh is strong. We all have a history of sin, a rap sheet against the Law of God. You can try to hide it, but the Lord sees all and knows all. Your sin cannot be hidden from God. So like the Canaanite woman, you shouldn’t try to hide your sin. You should acknowledge before the Lord your God that you are a sinner, little more than the dogs fighting over scraps. You are right to be ashamed of your sin. It is a filthy thing. But it is for this filth that the Son of God became man. It is for this filth that He died and rose again. He wants to feed the dogs with the scraps from His table. He is good and His steadfast love endures forever![4]

When speaking of the person of the Canaanite woman, we must also address our Lord’s words to His disciples, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Christ is not speaking of the blood descendants of Abraham. He is not saying that He was sent only to save the repentant sinners who were circumcised and traced their heritage through Israel. The Shepherd of the entire world is Christ. His lost sheep are those lost in their sins. The house of Israel is the house of God, the Church. The lost sheep of the house of Israel are all those sinners who believe in Christ. He is saying that He has been sent only to the repentant faithful, who look to Christ for salvation. In a sense, He is telling His disciples to be patient because He was sent for this Canaanite woman, too.

The promise of salvation was never limited to the blood descendants of Abraham. The promise of bearing the seed of the woman, of the descendant who would die for the sins of the world, that promise was limited to the offspring of Abraham. The promise of salvation was always for all who would believe, be they Hebrew, Arabic, Indian, or European, descendants of Shem, Japheth, or even Ham. For evidence of this, look to Ruth, Balaam, Job, or Namaan. That means the promise of salvation is for you, too, not because you happened to be born after the resurrection of Christ but because the Holy Spirit has kindled the flame of faith in you by the Word of God.

We must also consider the struggle of this woman’s prayer. At first, the Lord seems to ignore her. Then He seems to dismiss her. Yet she persists in prayer. God will often seem to ignore your prayers. He will allow you to suffer the consequences of sin – both your own and simply the consequences of a sinful world. Does that make Him unjust, unrighteous, or unfair? Of course not. While it seems He is ignoring your prayer, He is actually listening very intently. He allows for the suffering of the faithful that our faith would be strengthened.

And don’t hear that as though God delights in testing your faith as though you need to believe harder. He puts your faith to the test that you would trust in Him. Jacob is not stronger than the Angel of the Lord. Christ could have broken every bone in Jacob’s body if what He wanted was to be rid of Jacob. But that is not the case. God delights in being “caught.” He delights in being caught in His own words and promises. He will test your faith to the point where you have nothing left but to say, “I may lose everything I have, my children, my wife, and even my life, but I will not let You go, Lord of my salvation.”

While many of our prayers focus on the needs of this body and life, we shouldn’t forget to pray that the Lord would keep us in the true faith. You cannot by reason or strength come to faith nor keep yourself in the faith. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to sustain your faith. It is good to pray that the Holy Spirit would restrain your sinful thoughts and deeds from ever driving you away from the faith.

“When in the hour of deepest need, we know not where to look for aid…Then is our comfort this alone, that we may meet before Your throne; To You, O faithful God, we cry for rescue in our misery. O from our sins, Lord, turn Your face; absolve us through Your boundless grace. Be with us in our anguish still; Free us at last from ev’ry ill. So we with all our hearts each day to You our glad thanksgiving pay, then walk obedient to Your Word, and now and ever praise You, Lord.”[5]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 15:24.

[2] Genesis 32:26.

[3] Psalm 22:6.

[4] Psalm 106:1.

[5] When in the Hour of Deepest Need, LSB 615, sts 1, 2, 5, 6.