Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Luke 20:1-18

20 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him ² and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

³ But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: ⁴ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”

⁵ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

⁹ Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. ¹⁰ Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”

And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”

¹⁷ Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

¹⁸ Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

The chief priests, scribes, and elders in this scene are truly skilled politicians. In trying to assess how to answer Jesus’ question about John’s baptism, they found themselves faced with a no-win situation. If they agreed that John’s baptism was from God, they would stand accused of not believing him. If they agreed that John’s baptism was from men, they would face the wrath of the people, for they were persuaded, rightly so, that John was a prophet. So, in order to save face by not admitting the truth about John’s baptism, they said they knew not where it was from. They wanted none of the consequences of their convictions; they became fence-sitters and mugwumps.

How many times in your own life have you shied away from the truth about a certain situation for fear either of embarrassment or some sort of retribution?  And have any of those times been when you were too scared to confess the one true faith about Christ?

If so, then repent, confess your sins, and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness freely offered to you through Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. According to Ps 103:10-12, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” By faith alone receive Christ’s forgiveness and be strengthened by Word and Sacrament to confess Christ boldly to all who might hear.

Let us pray: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now  and forever. Amen.

Luke 19:11-27

¹¹ Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. ¹² Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵ “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. ¹⁶ Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ ¹⁹ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

²⁰ “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. ²¹ For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. ²³ Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

²⁴ “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ ²⁵ (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) ²⁶ ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”

In this text, the faithless servant who did nothing with his master’s mina allotted to him did not trust his master.  The servant suspiciously presumed that his master would return his distrust and therefore give him only something of little or no value. At the very least this is a violation of the Eighth Commandment by not putting the best construction on everything and assuming the worst instead of the best.  More unfortunately, the servant, by his callous attitude, lost whatever good he might have gained if he had only known what benefits his master’s gifts could deliver.

It was simple unbelief on the part of the servant that caused him to lose the good he had coming to him.  All he had to do was not turn down the gift and responsibility from his master, and he would have received all the benefit.

It is simple unbelief on our part also that causes us to lose the good we have coming to us, the spiritual and eternal blessings and benefits that God Himself delivers through His Word and sacraments. If we do not trust the Giver of these gifts, we cannot appreciate what God does for us through Word and Sacrament. Ultimately it is our sin which turns us against God.

But when the Holy Spirit brings us to repentance, then we turn to Christ who has not turned His back on us.  Indeed, He is the one who “gave His back to the smiters” (Is 50:6) in His cruel suffering and death which He willingly and perfectly endured for us and in our place.

Thanks and praise be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who has called us to the one true faith and keeps us in it.

Let us pray: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now  and forever. Amen.

Luke 18:15-30

¹⁵ Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁷ Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

¹⁸ Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”

²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

²² So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²³ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

²⁴ And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷ But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

²⁸ Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You.”

²⁹ So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

In the first part of today’s reading Jesus teaches us that it is those who ultimately have a child-like faith who are part of His kingdom and reign – not that you have to be or become a child, but simply to believe by faith in Christ’s work of atonement on the cross for you and all mankind.

The certain young ruler did not have child-like faith. He asked the wrong question of Jesus: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He did not understand what it meant to inherit something. An heir is someone who, only by virtue of someone else’s favor or family connection, receives what the other person wishes to give. The inheritance doesn’t depend on anything the heir does; it depends strictly on the giver.

The rich young ruler trusted in his many possessions and his good behavior. He boasted that he had kept the commandments from his youth.  But when Jesus challenged him to give up his possessions in which he had trusted, he “became very sorrowful.” He was unable to let go of his idols of good works and self-sufficiency. Sadly, he couldn’t understand his own desperate need for what Christ offered.

The devil, the world, and our own sinful nature always try to get us to focus on ourselves. These things turn us inward, and then we become navel-gazers: “Look at me!  Look what I can do!  I have life all figured out!”

But Christ bids us to look away from ourselves and onto Him and His work which has paid for our sins. We must never hold up our good works or our possessions as our ticket to heaven and eternal life.  By God-given faith we look to Christ who has done the work of suffering, dying, and rising – all for us and in our place. By His grace alone we are received into His family and have full rights as heirs of His kingdom.

Let us pray: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now  and forever. Amen.

Revelation 21:6-8

⁶ And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. ⁷ He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. ⁸ But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

St. John describes heaven as the New Jerusalem where all tears will be wiped away and there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain. Those in this life who believe by God-given faith in Christ’s atoning work of paying for their sins will inherit heaven. There our bodies, according to St. Paul (1 Corinthians 15), will be incorruptible, honorable, glorified, and spiritual; our bodies will no longer be ravaged and affected by or with sin. As John writes in Rev 21:4, the “former things” (the sinful nature and existence) “will pass away.” What a glorious existence to look forward to!  We will be forever with Christ in all His glory never again be affected by sin. We will be in the eternal presence not only of our Triune God, but also all those who have gone before us in the one true faith. Prior to this, our human and sinful bodies must die and will be changed by God into acceptable bodies in order to inhabit heaven.

On the contrary, this is what is in store for all those who do not believe in Christ’s work for them: the “unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  What an utterly horrible eternal verdict! Lord, have mercy on all those who choose to deny Christ’s offer of full forgiveness and pardon.

Dear Christian, by faith in Christ and His promises to you, you need not fear that second and eternal death, for Christ has put his name on you in Holy Baptism and enters into you with His very body and blood in His Supper to give you forgiveness of sins and strengthen your faith.  These things will bolster and uphold you throughout this earthly life until He calls you to that glorious and sinless life of the world to come.

Let us pray: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now  and forever. Amen.