Thou Shalt Catch Men: A Meditation on Luke 5, for the 5th Sunday in Epiphany

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him

to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

And saw two ships standing by the lake:

but the fishermen were gone out of them,

and were washing their nets.

 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's,

and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land.

And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

 

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon,

Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

And Simon answering said unto him,

Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing:

nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

And when they had this done, they enclosed

 a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship,

that they should come and help them. And they came,

and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

 

 When Simon Peter saw it,

he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying,

Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

 For he was astonished, and all that were with him,

at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee,

which were partners with Simon.

 

And Jesus said unto Simon,

Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

And when they had brought their ships to land,

they forsook all, and followed him.

 

There are few things that Christians both in our time and across the ages have struggled to do and understand, like Evangelism.  The desire for Evangelism has prompted both better and worse movements in different times and places throughout Church history, and the fear of Evangelism has often done the same.  Some in their zeal have harmed or coerced others into a superficial allegiance to the Church, while others in their fear have refused to share the Gospel with even those desperate for it.  Yet regardless of our collective human failures in Evangelism over the centuries, it is still a command which the Lord Jesus gave to His people, and at its best has brought the Gospel into nearly every dark corner of the world.  In the story recounted by St. Luke above, we have several key elements of Jesus’ witness and teaching which inform our understanding of Evangelism, and help us understand how to receive this command while avoiding the errors toward which our fallen humanity inclines.

 

For starters, notice that it is the Word of God which draws the people to Jesus.  This is, of course, a double truth, since Jesus is Himself the very Word of God made flesh, and He was speaking the Word of God in Law and Gospel to the people, calling everyone to Repentance and Faith.  Jesus didn’t need the machinations of marketing, slick sales pitches, or diverse programming.  In fact, so many people came to hear the Word of God that He was surrounded near the water’s edge, and asked Peter if He could use His boat to gain a little separation.  This is a key truth which the Church of our day, and every day, needs to remember:  what calls people to Jesus is His Word, and it is His Word through which the Holy Spirit works to both convict and convert the heart of those who hear it.  This means that Evangelism is not dependent on how savvy we are with social media, technology, or business principles, because the Church is not founded on Facebook, Google, or Amazon.  Rather, the Church of Jesus Christ is founded only upon Himself and His Word, with all those who believe in Him becoming the living stones built upon Him.  Modernity, like Antiquity, adds nothing to, and subtracts nothing from, Jesus.

 

Notice also that Peter, James, and John, are not made disciples of Jesus by their own powers or preparations, but by the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They were simple fishermen when the Lord arrived on their stretch of beach, and while there’s nothing to suggest they didn’t learn the fundamentals of the Scriptures as they were raised in faithful Hebrew households, observing the Law of Moses and the Prophets as best they understood them from the services in the synagogues and Temple, there’s also no indication that they went to any kind of advanced learning akin to what we might call today colleges and seminaries.  They would likely learn to read the Torah and thus have some literacy, but they were not scholars, lawyers, or members of any politically elite class.  What made them disciples of Jesus, was Jesus’ call to them by His Word.  They heard Him preach.  When He told them to push out into the deeper water, they obeyed Him.  When the miraculous catch of fish appeared, they marveled at the power and majesty of Jesus.  Jesus and His Word called His disciples, and would eventually make of them Apostles, sent to bear His Word to the nations.

 

Peter’s first response to Jesus and His Word is not unlike many who have encountered them.  He recognized his own sinfulness and unworthiness to be in the presence of Jesus, and begged Jesus to depart from him.  Yet Jesus persisted in His call to Peter, comforting him, and encouraging him in the grace that only Jesus could give.  Jesus knew that Peter was unworthy, just as He knows that all the world is unworthy.  The calling of Peter didn’t depend upon the worthiness of Peter, but on the Word and saving power of Jesus.  Jesus’ Word would strengthen Peter in his learning, recover him after his apostasy, and send him out as a rock among his fellow Apostles to Evangelize all who would hear the Word of the Lord and keep it.  It was Jesus who called His disciples, who made them Apostles, and made them Evangelists—bearers of His Word before the world.  And what the Lord has done through their witness, and the witness of Evangelists in every age after them, is the story of how this small group of peasants and fishermen in Galilee became what is today over two billion Christians of every tribe and tongue across the globe.

 

The response of Peter, James, and John, is one of faith.  They left their fishing boats behind, and became the fishers of men which Jesus called them to be.  While the Apostles were unique in their direct experience of Jesus during His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, but what is true of them is also true of us:  we live by every Word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth.  This Word is what sought us out on whatever mountain or plain or seashore it found us on, called us to faith and repentance, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, gave us a new birth from above.  This is the Word which gives us the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation from every dark enemy of the human race.  This is the Word of Life, the Light which pierces the darkness of a fallen world, and enlightens every heart and mind that will receive it.  This is the Word which seeks and saves, that raises us up to be bearers of His Word, and sends us out as Evangelists to be witnesses of that Word to everyone around us.  This is Jesus.  Hear Him, rise up in His Word, and tell the Good News He alone brings to every soul under heaven, just as He brought that Good News to us.  Amen.

 

Love that Abides Forever: A Meditation on 1st Corinthians 13, for the 4th Sunday of Epiphany

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,

I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

 And though I have the gift of prophecy,

and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge;

and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,

 and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

and though I give my body to be burned,

and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

 

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;

charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own,

is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things,

hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 

 Charity never faileth:

 but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;

whether there be tongues, they shall cease;

whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

 But when that which is perfect is come,

then that which is in part shall be done away.

 

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,

I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:

 now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three;

but the greatest of these is charity.

 

There is much in our readings for this Sunday worthy of deep meditation, perhaps all the more so for the confusion modern culture has created around the themes of these readings.  There is the opening chapter of Jeremiah where God reveals that He has known Jeremiah and marked him for his prophetic ministry from the womb to the nation of Israel preceding the Babylonian captivity; there is Christ casting out demons in Capernaum, healing the sick, and preaching the Gospel to the poor even after He himself was cast out of His own home town of Nazareth; there are St. Paul’s echoing words to the church at Corinth about the superiority of love over all other divine gifts, enduring forever with faith and hope.  While the Jeremiah text is often used to bolster the pro-life movement (which is a valid application), or to suggest that anyone and everyone is intended to have a ministry like Jeremiah’s (which is not a valid application), these are not the primary context of this passage.  Likewise, the miraculous works of Jesus as He preached throughout Galilee are not to focus on the itinerancy of His ministry nor attempt psychoanalysis of what a demoniac may have been understood as then versus today.  And St. Paul’s words on love are not primarily intended for wedding ceremonies, and certainly not as an excuse for modern people to bless or condone evil.  What all these texts do reveal, however, is the love of God for us—a love fulfilled in the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The kind of love that St. Paul refers to is not what most Western people think of as love.  In Greek, there are words for love that refer to friendship, to the love between family members, to the romantic love between couples, or perhaps the love of a well toasted bagel—but there is a kind of love that transcends all of these, which is divine love.  Sometimes transliterated into English as “agape,” it is a love which often feels alien to mankind, because mankind is fallen in their nature.  Paul uses this term for divine love when he is preaching to the church in Corinth, and he knows that he must elucidate the concept, because Corinth was full of all kinds of love that were anything but divine.  Fallen man often sees love as an economic exchange, of satisfying one’s own desires or ambitions or tastes, in exchange for doing the same for someone else.  When love is centered on satisfaction of the self, it becomes a dark and corrupted thing, no matter what flattery we adorn it with through prose or poetry or cinema.  Selfish love reflects a fundamental love of self, which again reflects our violation of the first commandment as we make ourselves—through out own appetites and pride—our own gods.  Regardless of what we might want to believe, selfish love is not what abides forever because it is not real love, anymore than a contract with a prostitute or loose agreements with serial paramours is authentic marriage.  Real love is selfless.

 

This should give us pause as we reflect on Paul’s inspired teaching about love, and look to see it as God moved through the raising up of the Old Testament Prophets, and ultimately displayed it in the person of His only begotten Son.  When we look at Jesus, we see a love that was long suffering, had no envy, and did not puff itself up in pride; it did not act in unseemly ways, nor was easily provoked, nor thought evil; it did not rejoice or condone lies, but abided joyously in the truth; it believed every Word of the Father, endured all things, and never failed, even through betrayal and death on a Roman cross.  Jesus is the love of God made manifest to us, so that we might know what selfless, authentic love really is.  This is the love which moved God to create the world, even as He knew it would fall by the hands of men and demons into sin and destruction; the love that would endure all the rising and falling of history to bring forth His Messiah for the redemption of the world, even as the world He came to save would crucify Him; the love that would descend to the dead, and rise again victorious over every enemy of mankind, though He Himself needed no salvation; the love that would give all the good gifts of heaven to man by grace through faith in Jesus alone, because man could gain salvation no other way; the love that promises to abide with us to the end of the age, to hold us even as we pass from death to eternal life; the love that has promised to raise us all up at the Last Day, to restore the Creation, and preserve all His people from ever again being tormented by evil.  This is the love we see in Jesus, and the love which He has poured out on us.

 

If we are looking for a fulfilment of the Law, this is the love which does it.  This sacrificial, selfless love is alone what rescues us from the sin which corrupts us from the inside out, from the twisted caricature of love with which we so often abuse ourselves and others.  This is the love which finally polishes the mirror of the Law into its perfect brightness, that we might see Jesus alone as both the perfection of the Law and the Savior of all those who turn from their evil and trust in Him.  And not only does God display this love for us to behold in our Savior, that we might understand what true love is—He pours it out lavashly into you and me, so that we begin to love as we are loved, and to grow into the fullness of His love as the Holy Spirit continues to conform us, day by day, into the image of Jesus.  This is the love of God which gives rise to faith and hope, and flowers into all the other gifts of God bestowed upon the world, be they prophesy, or teaching, or healing, or any other good thing among us.

 

Ah, what grace upon grace is the love of God to us!  A fountain which flows without ever being diminished, a foundation so firm that it will endure though heaven and earth pass away, and a summit so high that we might spend eternity exploring its verdant ascents.  This is the love from which all our blessings flow, all our gifts, all our vocations, all our hopes, and all our life.  This is the love which covers a multitude of sins, that offers forgiveness and salvation and life in exchange for our all our self-made faults and destruction and misery.  This is the love that calls us into community with the gracious King of the Universe, who is Himself the source and summit of all our faith, hope, and love.  Gory be to Him forever and ever, unto ages without end, for the love He has poured out upon us in Jesus Christ!  Amen.

 

Do Whatever He Tells You: A Meditation on John 2 for the 2nd Sunday of Epiphany

 

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee;

and the mother of Jesus was there:

 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

And when they wanted wine,

the mother of Jesus saith unto him,

They have no wine.

Jesus saith unto her,

Woman, what have I to do with thee?

 mine hour is not yet come.

His mother saith unto the servants,

Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

 

And there were set there six waterpots of stone,

after the manner of the purifying of the Jews,

 containing two or three firkins apiece.

 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water.

And they filled them up to the brim.

And he saith unto them,

Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.

And they bare it.

 

 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine,

and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;)

the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine;

and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse:

but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee,

and manifested forth his glory;

and his disciples believed on him.

 

There is much to be learned from this inaugural sign John records of Jesus at the wedding in Cana, but I think John helps us understand that the most important aspect of the story is the faith it generated in Jesus’ disciples.  Faith is a central intention of John’s whole Gospel, and the end of this passage points out again that even as this was the beginning of miracles Jesus performed in Galilee, the result was that it manifested forth His glory and His disciples believed on Him. What I think might be easily lost in quick readings or dramatizations of this passage, is the way faith is exhibited by both Mary and the servants at the beginning.  For one, Mary, Jesus, and the disciples are merely guests at this wedding feast, and the text does not infer why they were invited, nor that they were particularly honored guests (Jesus’ family is of humble means, and the setting is one with a big house and numerous servants.)  Secondly, when Jesus seems to dismiss the problem with the wine running out and the disgrace which might be faced by the wealthy family throwing the party, Mary’s response of do whatever He tells you does not infer that Jesus will fix the situation, but that He will do what is right.  Third might be the faith of the servants, who after doing all the labor of hauling water by hand to fill the large ceremonial pots (roughly 150 to 200 gallons worth) are called to follow Jesus’ word and take what they knew was previously only water and now appeared to be wine, to the wealthy lord of the manner.

 

Without faith, none of this would have been done.  Perhaps Mary, Jesus, and the disciples were there because someone in the wealthy family knew them, or maybe they were there because the wealthy family just let everyone in the area in to celebrate the wedding.  Regardless, it is the faith of Mary and her compassion for the wedding family that inspires her to approach Jesus with the wine problem, even though she most certainly knew that wine and revelry were not the reason her Son was born into the world.  And it was Mary’s faith in her Son which guided her response to Jesus’ mild correction (what have I to do with thee?, or perhaps otherwise rendered, what does this request have to do with my mission?) by accepting whatever Jesus would decide to do about the situation, then guiding everyone else to do the same.  It was Mary’s faith in Jesus which inspired the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do, which included a great deal of physical labor without any clarity of what would be the outcome.  Mary, as she so often is portrayed in the Scriptures and remembered down through the ages, is a model of faith working in love, trusting in Jesus her Savior, abiding in His Word, and encouraging others to do the same.  What the disciplines learned of Jesus’ majesty and glory which was building in them a living faith in the Messiah, was facilitated by the faith of the Blessed Virgin Mary as they learned also from her what it was to be a disciple of Jesus.

 

While Jesus is always the pivotal center and focus of the Scriptures, it worth taking a moment to reflect on the faith and love of Mary toward her Son.  In the modern world, faith is so often taken to be anything but what Mary showed it forth to be.  How often have Christians sought their own material benefit when approaching their Savior in prayer, rather than the benefit of others who may not even know Jesus?  How often have we demanded of God an answer to our prayers which fits our intended outcome, be it health, wealth, providence, protection, knowledge, or any host of other things, rather than being content with whatever answer the Lord might provide?  How often have we leaned on our own understanding and experience when counseling others in their problems, or silently wagged our heads at others in their self-imposed misery, rather than gently calling others to follow the path of humble faith in Jesus?  Mary, for all her blessings and honor as the Mother of God, is not the object of our faith, but like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, David, Elijah, John, Paul, Peter, and others in the biblical witness, her model of faith is worth considering.  And since Mary’s faith is one that grew in the presence of her Savior in a way unique to all other people in the history of the world, it is worth pondering the faith that Jesus gave her as we also reflect on the weakness and challenges of our own faith.

 

This I think is key to understanding the wedding feast at Cana.  Mary is not the author nor the object of her own faith.  Her faith is given to her by God, so that her life may abide in God her Savior, even as her Savior is born from her own body by the power of the Holy Spirit, and grew up under her motherly care into the fullness of wisdom, grace, and truth.  Mary’s faith is not of her own works nor made by her own powers, but given to her by grace so that she might live forever in the forgiveness, life, and salvation Jesus would win for us all by His Cross.  Mary’s gift of faith is one that works in love for her God and her neighbors, a compassion which flows from the unwarranted and unending love God first had for her.  Mary’s faith which lived humbly under the Word of the Lord came to her by that same Word, so that in her as in all others, faith would come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.  Mary is and remains a model of faith to all Christians, because what Jesus worked in her, He promises to work in us, as well, that all people might be saved by grace through faith in Him alone.

 

In this time of Epiphany, may the light of Jesus and His Word shine forth in us, and the faith He once formed in the heart of His Blessed Mother be the faith He forms in us, that we might also live and abide in Him forever.  Leave behind the selfishness and pride and fear that would cloud your gift of faith, that like Mary we might be a witness to everyone around us that Jesus Christ alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for all mankind.  Amen.

 

Baptized in the Holy Ghost: A Meditation on Luke 3 for the 1st Sunday in Epiphany

And as the people were in expectation,

and all men mused in their hearts of John,

whether he were the Christ, or not;

John answered, saying unto them all,

I indeed baptize you with water;

but one mightier than I cometh,

the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose:

he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Whose fan is in his hand,

and he will thoroughly purge his floor,

and will gather the wheat into his garner;

but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

 

There may be few things that make Lutherans more uncomfortable than a topic framed up as Baptism in the Holy Ghost, but since John the Baptist under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said it about Jesus, we should take some time to understand it.  And like all things regarding Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we should keep our considerations rooted in Scripture rather than our own speculations… pious as they may be.

 

In the context of this passage, St. Luke is reminding us of just who John the Baptist was:  a prophet and forerunner of the Messiah, but not the Messiah himself.  John was clear in his teaching that he was to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight, as prophesied by Isaiah almost 600 years earlier.  When people asked him if he was the Messiah, he flatly told them no, but pointed them to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  While Jesus would declare that no prophet born of women was greater than John the Baptist, John was clear that the One who should really be the focus of their attention was Jesus.  He was the One who was coming to fulfill all the prophecies, to save Israel and the whole world from their sins, and to baptize the world with the Holy Ghost and with fire.  Jesus’ fan is in His hand (a tool used to separate wheat from chaff on the threshing floor) so that the wheat might be preserved, and the chaff be burned with unquenchable fire.

 

So the first thing we might want to separate is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire.  While Pentecost is described by Luke later in the Book of Acts as the Holy Spirit descending like tongues of flame upon the Apostles who then spoke with varied tongues to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a multinational crowd, that is not the direct reference made here.  The baptism of the Holy Ghost would appear to correlate with the wheat which are preserved when the Lord returns in judgement, and the fire to correspond with the unquenchable flame which consumes the chaff.  While the first is an image of salvation in heaven and the resurrection to eternal life, the second is an image of condemnation in hell and the resurrection unto eternal perdition.  Jesus is at the center of that judgement as the One who both gives eternal life, and the One who says, depart from Me… I never knew you.  Thus the baptism of the Holy Ghost is to be baptized into Christ, just as He indicated at the end of Luke’s Gospel, and directly commanded at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.  Baptism in the Holy Ghost is the Baptism that Jesus instituted as He told His disciples to make more disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe everything Jesus had taught them, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and promising that He would abide with them unto the end of the age.  This would be water joined to the promise of Jesus’ Word which creates the faith that receives His grace so that, as John would record in His Gospel, Jesus’ disciples would be those who were born again—born from above—by water and Spirit.

 

Without having to wander into any peculiar theological speculations, we can see that Baptism in the Holy Ghost is Christian Baptism, the means established by Jesus for His disciples to be grafted into Him by grace through faith, and through which all His blessings, gifts, and empowerment to live in His grace are found.  It is not our action which does this, but the Holy Spirit working through the Word of Jesus accomplishes what it says, because the Word of the Lord always accomplishes what He sends it out to do.  And yet, not all who hear His Word accept, believe, or trust in it, and so the Word accomplishes its secondary mission, too:  it will harden the hearts of those who refuse to believe so that their judgement and condemnation are clear and just.  The Word of the Lord will always do its work of Law and Gospel as it calls all people to Faith and Repentance.  To those who believe repent, it is a Word of Gospel grace and everlasting life, but on those who reject Him, it is a Word of Law which burns with eternal fire.

 

The Season of Epiphany is a season of light and revelation, most especially the light and revelation of Jesus.  It is Jesus who came to us on that first Christmas morning so that He might come to us now in the fullness of His Word, giving to us life in never-ending abundance.  But neither should we be deceived into thinking that rejecting Him or His Word comes without consequence, for there is no other Name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, and no other Word by which we might be born again.  It is Jesus alone who calls to us that we might be Baptized into His Holy Spirit by grace through faith in Him alone, just as it is His Word which will judge the whole unbelieving world at the end of days.  Hear Him, repent, believe, and live, for:

 

He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Whose fan is in his hand,

and he will thoroughly purge his floor,

and will gather the wheat into his garner;

but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

 

Amen.

 

About My Father's Business: A Meditation on Luke 2 for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas

And the child grew,

and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom:

 and the grace of God was upon him.

 

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year

at the feast of the Passover.

And when he was twelve years old,

 they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned,

the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem;

and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

But they, supposing him to have been in the company,

went a day's journey; and they sought him

among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

And when they found him not,

they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

 

And it came to pass, that after three days

they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,

both hearing them, and asking them questions.

And all that heard him were astonished

at his understanding and answers.

And when they saw him, they were amazed:

and his mother said unto him,

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?

behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?

wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth,

 and was subject unto them:

but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

 

 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,

and in favour with God and man.

 

There are several enigmatic aspects to this story at the end of Luke’s second chapter, all of which are worthy of meditation.  For example, the declaration that Mary and Joseph were faithful in their keeping of the Law, particularly in their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem; that the timing of this particular visit coincided with Jesus being 12 years old, on the brink of being counted a man in the religious life of the synagogue; that Jesus tarried in Jerusalem after his parents and family departed, to have dialogue with the most respected teachers in the Temple; that his parents went from general unawareness to panic in their search for him; that Jesus humbly returned to Nazareth with his parents, after astounding the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Yet what strikes me for meditation this Christmas season is the opening and closing of this passage related to how Jesus grew in wisdom and strength with God’s grace and Spirit upon him, and his central response to his blessed mother that he must be about his father’s business.

 

Scripture does not record much of what transpired between Jesus’ birth and his 12^th year, but I think it is safe to assume that he was being raised as any other child.  Being fully human and fully divine, we know that even as he grew in his human nature, his divine nature was still the fullness of Almighty God—he was still without sin, and despite having laid aside the exercise of his divine attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, he did nothing that contradicted them.  He was likely apprenticed with his earthly father Joseph, learning to work as a carpenter, perhaps with his elder cousins in attendance.  We also hear nothing of Joseph after this trip to Jerusalem, leading many to surmise that not only was Joseph much older when he took Mary into his protection and adopted her divinely begotten Son, but that he most likely died before Jesus came to the fullness of his public ministry at about age 30.  This small vignette that Luke records, most likely from the reminiscence of Mary who kept all these things in her heart, does not indulge all our curiosities about the human maturation of Jesus between his birth and his baptism by John in the Jordan, but it does tell us something very important about him:  he was always about his Father’s business.

 

To my mind, that is a great comfort.  Jesus did not come to be frivolous, to indulge his own fantasies or to play the trickster in Jerusalem.  Instead, Jesus came with a purpose which he intended to fulfill, and there was nothing that was going to stop him.  As the very Logos or Word of the Father, his will was in perfect harmony with the Father and the Spirit to accomplish the promise of salvation made to Adam and Eve at the dawn of our fallen race; this is why he was born of the blessed Virgin Mary, why he took on a full human nature into his divine Person as the only begotten Son, why he taught in the Temple, the synagogues, and the streets, why he would eventually die and rise again, giving the grace of his victory over sin, death, hell, and the devil to all who would turn and trust in Him.  This is why he would ascend into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, why he sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to empower us, and why he is interceding for us all until the end of days, when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, in a Kingdom that has no end.  This mission was always in his mind and his heart, as in the eyes of all around him he grew in grace, in the power of the Spirit, in wisdom, and in stature.  He did most certainly grow to adulthood, submitted himself in his humanity to the rule of his parents in accordance with the Law of Moses, even as he kept all the Law perfectly… not just in the view of others through external works, but in a heart that was always in accord with the Word and Will of God, never succumbing to evil intentions, desires, or disordered passions.  While even his blessed mother wrestled with fear, confusion, and anxiety, Jesus never diverted from his path.

 

As I reflect on myself, the wanderings of my own mind and the weakness of my own heart, I know that what Jesus did, I could never do.  There was never a time of which I am conscious that sin and selfishness did not press upon my young or older mind, and of the times I am not in conscious memory, I’m sure my parents or others around me then would attest to my own failings—and even if there was no one else around to see my fallen works or corrupted thoughts, the Lord God Almighty is never deceived, his perfect knowledge bearing witness through His Law to my own imperfection.  I was certainly no more pure at the age of my birth than I was when I was 12 years old, nor across any of the decades of my life, for like David wrote by inspiration in the Psalms, I also was conceived in sin, born in sin, and lived as a slave of sin by my own fault, and by the fault of my whole human race.  I know that I, like all men who have come before me and all who will come after, could never hope to be what Jesus was, and is, and ever shall be:  the perfect god-man, the Lamb of God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

 

At this transition between the festival season of Christmas and the revelatory season of Epiphany, it is the grace, wisdom, Spirit, strength, love, and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ toward which our hearts and minds must turn, for only in Him is the mission of our salvation accomplished, and only to Him is all honor, glory, and praise rightly given.  We who sat in darkness have seen His great Light, which has reached out through His Gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation to heal every heart, to cleanse every mind, to quicken every soul who puts their trust in Him.  Thanks be to God for the gift of Jesus our Messiah, who has come to make all things new for all who would walk with Him by grace through faith.  Merry Christmas!  Amen.

 

 

Peace and Good Will Toward Men: A Christmas Meditation on Luke 2

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree

from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth,

into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;

(because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,

being great with child.

 

And so it was, that, while they were there,

the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son,

and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,

and laid him in a manger;

because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,

keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,

and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:

and they were sore afraid.

 

And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David

a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you;

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,

lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude

 of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men.

 

Merry Christmas! It is joyous phrase that to my mind, simply can’t be said enough this time of year.  It is an exuberance which proceeds forth from something far deeper than a mere holiday greeting, something that St. Luke records in the second chapter of his Gospel.  On that first Christmas night, when the blessed Virgin Mary, with her husband and protector St. Joseph at her side, gave birth to the Son of God.  Never in the history of the world had there ever been anything like it, and never again will there ever be:  the Lord God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen, the Rock of Ages who transcends all time and space and before Whom all things are fully known and present, entered our fallen world and took our humanity into Himself, that our relationship with Him might be restored forever.  It is the great miracle of the infinite, transcendent, impassible God who deigns to be in our present moment, that He might show forth His good will to all mankind by bringing them His peace.  It is a moment that reverberates across all of heaven and earth, as the Holy Angels fill the vaults of heaven with their magnificent song of proclamation—a moment that still rings today.

 

Theologians note this event as the Incarnation (technically begun with the Annunciation to Mary and her divine, miraculous conception of Jesus) where the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Eternal Word of the Father, is sent by the power of the Holy Spirit to become man.  In doing so, the person of the Son is forever established as two indivisible natures:  one fully divine, begotten of the Father before all ages, neither made nor created, and possessing all the divine attributes of the Holy Trinity; and one nature which is fully human, possessing all that is essential to humanity including a body, soul, and mind, all without sin, received from the nature of His mother, Mary.  How precisely God preserved this human nature received from the blessed Virgin Mary so that Jesus might be born of her without sin, has been debated for centuries, but the Scriptures are silent in this regard.  Whether you are of the pious opinion that Mary herself was miraculously prepared and preserved without sin (a kind of preventative grace looking ahead to the Cross) like a new ark for the carrying of the Eternal Word, or that the miracle was part of Jesus’ conception in the womb accomplished simply by the power of God’s Word and Spirit, the result is the same:  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is made flesh to dwell among us, full of grace and truth.  He was, and is to all eternity, fully God and fully man, reconciling in Himself the whole human race to the Father.

 

It is far too often an oddity of theologians to fixate on the esoteric, the mysterious, and the obscure, trying to use the clumsy tools of human reason in plumbing the infinite depths of divinity, while somehow missing the wonder of the gift right before them.  Regardless of how God accomplished the Incarnation, and irrespective of our individual ability to apprehend even the rudimentary nature of such a miracle, the truth remains:  God and man are reunited in Jesus, and that is something worth meditating upon, not only at Christmas, but every single day of eternity.  What was originally created good in us, but lost through our rebellion and pride, is restored by Jesus; the dignity our divine image we lost as a human race, is repaired by Jesus; the hopeless aspirations of every living soul struggling in a fallen world to be all that they were created to be, is remade in Jesus; the bodies, souls, and minds of all people, cursed by their own sin to an eternity of death and destruction, are forgiven and made whole again in Jesus.  All that we lost in our fallen humanity, Jesus Christ has brought back to us through His Incarnation, that He might walk our paths of death, despair, and judgement in our place, giving to us His victory over every evil which plagues us and our world.

 

Reformation Christians often focus heavily on the Cross, and for good reason—it is at the Cross where Jesus takes the sins of the world upon Himself in the Vicarious Atonement for all mankind, securing for us our salvation by grace through faith in Him alone.  But we would be remiss to forget that what is accomplished at the Cross is only possible because of the Incarnation.  The promise made to Adam and Eve in the Garden after their fall, that a Son of the woman would crush the head of the satanic serpent and restore the world they had just condemned into millennia of sin, slavery, and death, was fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Only God could take upon Himself the eternal condemnation due to every human soul through their own most grievous individual fault; and only a man could die for the sins of mankind.  There is no other solution to the fall of man, except the salvation accomplished by the God-Man, Jesus Christ.  Only as the Most Holy Trinity condescends to begin the New Creation through the Incarnation of the Son, is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus made efficacious for us, that as He has reconciled the world to the Father by His sacrifice, we, too, might be reconciled through Him to the Father, sealed by the Holy Spirit in Him forever.

 

This is the joy which shattered the heavens with angelic choirs nearly 2000 years ago, where heaven and nature sang forth a song of thanksgiving and glory to God for the accomplishment of His Word, which still echoes in undimmed beauty today.  Jesus Christ, eternally begotten Son of the Father, born of Mary in a particular time and place according to our nature, yet fully God according to His divine nature, is the love of God made manifest among us.  In Him is the hope of all ages, from the dawn of time to the end, for every tribe and tongue of man.  In Him alone is the narrow path of reconciliation with God, because in Him alone are all things made new.  In Him, the promise of God is made fresh to each and every soul who would hear His gracious Gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation, and turn to Him in faith.  In Him alone do the saints and angels sing their everlasting song of joy and rapture, into whose choirs we also press, lending our voices to the never-ending chorus:

 

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men!

 

Amen—Soli Deo Gloria, and Merry Christmas!