C, Midweek Lent 2 - John 1:45-49 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?"

What makes Nazareth such an important place; this sleepy little place was small, even for the locals of Galilee. If one was to compare it to a town today, we might think of places which are nothing more than a set of crossroads with a dusty truck-stop and a few locals. So what makes Nazareth such an important place?

In John 1:45-49, we hear… 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Nathanael asked a fair question. He opened his mouth and said what he thought; and probably what everyone else was thinking too. He was completely honest before the man from Nazareth — unknowingly in the presence of the Son of God.

In support of Nathanael’s claim that Nazareth was a “nowhere town” full of “nobodies”, we go in search of other reports of it in the bible. What we find is intriguing indeed!

In the first two midweek services we studied Bethlehem and Egypt. Both of these places are renowned for many reasons other than just one. But Nazareth stands apart from these places. In fact the name, Nazareth or Nazarene, is only mentioned in the four Gospels and Acts.

In the Old Testament it doesn’t appear at all, even though we hear in Matthew 2:22-23, 22b Having been warned in a dream, Joseph withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22b-23)

Scholars argue to what this verse refers. Some point to Isaiah 11:1, A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1) The little word “branch” in Hebrew sounds like Nazareth. Although Jesus is the shoot or branch from the stump of Jesse, it’s a bit of a stretch to link the name Nazareth with the Hebrew word which means branch!

Some highlight the plural of the word prophets, pointing to a theme perhaps shared or written down by the prophets to which we have lost access today. Also some seek to connect Nazareth and Nazarene with the order of the Nazirites, of which Samson was dedicated to at birth, after God enabled his barren mother to conceive and fall pregnant. However, these too are long bows to draw!

But the greatest detractor from these attempts to link Nazareth with the Old Testament is the fact that after the book of Acts, Nazareth or Nazarene, fail to appear again. So the name and place is only mentioned in the four Gospels and Acts. Here lies the clue. No wonder Nathanael asked, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

What we do know is Mary and Joseph were from Nazareth. In Luke chapter one archangel Gabriel visits Nazareth and announces the word of God to Mary that she was to give birth to the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel of Luke, after Jesus was born and presented at the temple and everything concerning the Jewish law had been done, they returned to Nazareth in Galilee. Matthew’s account of the Gospel doesn’t mention Nazareth until after Mary and Joseph return from Egypt, due to Joseph being warned in a dream not to return to Judea because Herod’s son, Archelaus, was in power.

Mary and Joseph travel to and from Judea and Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, after presenting him at the temple and losing him for a time, when Jesus was amazing all with his questions and understanding. As you could understand, his parents and family were beside themselves, after Jesus had been missing for three days.

When Jesus is about thirty, he leaves Nazareth and goes to the Jordan to be baptised by John, he is then taken out into the wilderness to be tempted before returning to Nazareth. After he was baptised into his public ministry he presented himself at the local synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah…

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21)

The local Nazarenes took exception to Jesus, the carpenter’s son, speaking like this and he finds himself being hauled to the top of a hill outside town, so they might throw him over the cliff, but Jesus walks through the crowd untouched and goes to live in Capernaum. Nazareth had rejected Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As Nathanael said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

After Jesus calls his disciples, including Nathanael, who enquires into the merit of the man from Nazareth, the gospels report Jesus’ return to his hometown a couple more times. At one time his mother and brothers, come to him as he speaks in the synagogue. But because the place was packed, they send a message to him and this is what Jesus said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)

Then at another time Jesus is overwhelmed by the Nazarenes’ lack of faith and has to leave after they took offence saying, “Where did this man get these things? What’s this wisdom that has been given him, which he even does miracles! 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.” (Mark 6:2b-4)

However, in the Gospels and Acts many refer to Jesus Christ as Jesus of Nazareth. In fact in John’s Gospel, Pilate places a sign of identity above Jesus on cross at his crucifixion. This is abbreviated to INRI and in Latin reads Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum — Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.

The name continues to be used in the book of Acts but disappears in the latter New Testament. The reason being is the latter New Testament are letters written to the already established church, which knows and believes who Jesus is, both God and Man, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and crucified and raised as Jesus of Nazareth.

But in the days immediately after Jesus’ resurrection, he has to be proclaimed as Jesus of Nazareth, the same Jesus crucified outside Jerusalem on the cross and raised to life by God Almighty. Peter’s testimony throughout Acts, especially while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, pointed to the crucified but risen man from Nazareth, as the Son of God, and led many to glorify and praise God. Paul also reports he was confronted by God the Son, who proclaims himself to be Jesus of Nazareth, on the road to Damascus. (Acts 22:8)

What makes Nazareth so great? Well nothing makes the town great at all! There is no cause to give any glory to the people from there, all except one! The man from Nazareth is God the Son, crucified, risen, ascended, and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

After his resurrection his family believed, and perhaps some others from Nazareth did too! But Jesus didn’t just die for his family, the Nazarenes, the Galileans, or the Jews.

Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Yes! Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary, the Son of God, the King of heaven and earth. And like Nathanael, he saw and knew all of us before we even recognised where Nazareth was. Or knew he died for all people on a tree, for you and for me. Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?

Our Lord and Saviour does! Amen.

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C, Lent 2 - Luke 13:32b-33 "Paradox"

Jesus says, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! (Luke 13:32b-33)

Makeup, criminals, and fitness — these three things all have something in common. What might it be? Some may think a criminal might wear makeup and be fit enough to outrun the law. But no, there is something else common with these three, although they have not much to do with each other at all.

Makeup is worn by many women, models, and movie stars. Have you ever marvelled over the natural beauty of a woman, or a star on the screen or in the magazine pages? This beauty attracts both men and women to gaze in wonder at their perfect features.

But then we see a tabloid magazine, or the television news, or we see face to face one of these beauties, caught off guard, or unawares. We are shocked, how plain and normal these people appear. The natural beauty was not natural at all! Rather it was extremely good makeup.

Isn’t it funny how this works? Makeup artists work harder and harder, so the person looks natural — like they are not wearing any makeup in fact. The makeup is applied not to present the makeup; rather the less one notices it the more natural a person might look. This is a seeming contradiction or absurdity, but it is an explainable truth.

Most criminals are not the brightest characters around! They usually do something stupid after committing a crime and get themselves caught. There are not many who remain uncaught for a lifetime. Guilt is probably a factor in most criminals’ stupidity and capture.

Take for instance someone who is on the run from police. Instead of walking normally and not drawing attention to themselves, they act nervous. Instead of blending in with the rest of the crowd; they run or push through the crowds, drawing attention to them, and get themselves caught.

What about the high speed police chases we’ve all seen on the news? Most of the time the crooks are spotted because of irrational behaviour. One would think if you didn’t want to get caught you would drive normally not drawing attention to yourself. But usually the more normal these people try to appear, the more suspicious they look! This is a seeming contradiction or absurdity, but it usually is an explainable truth!

Fitness is also a hard one to pin down. How fit is fit enough? It’s relative to the person’s goals and expectations. How many fit people have we met who still seeking to be fit? Or how many unfit people have you met who have said their fitness has improved? Fitness is a slippery character! What measure do you use for fitness?

Usually the fitter the person gets, they more they want to become fitter. It’s like the more agile a sportsperson becomes it’s just not quite enough to win the point they’ve just lost. “There’s always room for improvement”, some of us may have heard a mentor say at one time or another. Or alternatively, the more unfit one becomes the less fit they want to become. The quest for fitness is lost in the unfitness. These too, are a seeming contradiction or absurdity, but it is an explainable truth!

Our lives are full of contradictions and absurdities outside the boundaries of rationality, but which are explainable truths. This is even more so in the Christian Church; especially as the church deals with “the truth” and not just “truths” or “a truth”. Our lives are full of paradoxes; seeming contradictions or absurdities, outside the boundaries of rationality, but nevertheless are truths. Even more so, the faith planted in each of us is full of paradoxes; and so too is he who plants faith, hope, and love in us.

Jesus Christ is a paradox. This is the reason; many people refuse to believe he is God their Saviour. Many turn from him to other more rational gods; many live as enemies of the cross of Christ (Philippians 3:18).

The ecumenical creeds of the church concisely capture these paradoxes, the things which are irrational to many. St Paul says to the philosophical Greek gentiles and loyal Jews in Corinth, “…we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1 Corinthians 1:23) In fact, it is precisely in the paradoxes of Christ and the church gathered around him, that the true power of God is present! He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:28)

So what are the paradoxes of Christ? Jesus Christ is word, made flesh! In the creed we confess that he is “eternally begotten”, that is, he is forever being born of the Father. If we run a rational mind over this, we would say you’re either born or you’re eternal! Not both! But Jesus Christ is both. He is God the Son eternally begotten, and yet he is Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, born in Bethlehem in time. This is a paradox! This is the truth!

Jesus Christ is finite, locatable in one place, but he is also infinite, as God truly is. Some argue the infinite cannot be contained in the finite — especially in bread and wine! But by the power of God’s word, the infinite was conceived in Mary and walked amongst us as a finite man for thirty three years. Now he’s at the right hand of God the Father but he is still Immanuel, God with us. And these paradoxes flow through into Holy Communion where the infinite is physically and spiritually present in the bread and wine of communion as Christ’s body and blood.

But all these paradoxes are not just a display of how wonderful God is before us. These paradoxes have a function, and that is to benefit us. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) In fact, we carry Christ in us bearing greater paradoxes than him, but only because of what he did for us on the cross.

In the gospel we hear Jesus say, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! (Luke 13:32b-33)

God’s word is full of paradoxes concerning Christ and us. The phrase “Christ crucified” is a paradox, for Christ means messiah or anointed one. So how is it, the one who was anointed by God to be our messiah, finds himself hanging on a cursed tree at Jerusalem? What good is God to us when he is nailed to a cross in one point in time two-thousand years ago? We know the answer because of faith!

This is what makes the horrors of Good Friday, so good for us who believe! Jesus drives the devil out of us today and tomorrow. He perfects people, eternally healing them today and tomorrow. He does this because he reached his goal and was perfected through his innocent suffering and sinless death in his resurrection.

So, to many, it seems we live lives of contradiction and absurdity. At baptism we speak of death; where at death we speak of life. In the cross and suffering, we receive peace and joy. We have been saved, we are being saved, yet one day we will be saved! We are a work of God in motion!

We are sinners but saints, sinfully weak but given strengthen to live as Christians by the Holy Spirit. Where others receive their glory in life now, we live with faith and hope, in that we will be glorified for Jesus sake in eternity. We live eternal lives now, but we suffer today and tomorrow, and we are still going to die.

Thanks be to God he sent his Son to be our strength in weakness, to be crucified a sinner, yet being without sin — to beat the devil, the world, and our sinful selves, when all thought the cross was the end. God who seems so loveless because he let his one and only Son die, is God Almighty who loves us so much he sent his one and only Son to the cross, and raised him in glory after three days. So although we expect pain, suffering, and scorn, we live in faith and hope trusting we will be raised in love to live with him forever in glory!

…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21)

Stand firm in the Lord, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.

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C, Midweek Lent 1 - Exodus 12:17-28 "Egypt Exodus"

17 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. (Exodus 12:17-28)

When we think of Egypt in a biblical sense we immediately associate it with the Old Testament, the fathers of Israel, and bondage. Rather, I encourage you to remember “God” and his mighty acts when you think of Egypt.

In the bible, Egypt is mentioned just over 600 times in 565 verses. In most of these verses God called the Israelites to remember what he did “when he brought them out of Egypt” and he kept his covenant with the Israelites, who often rebelled against him.

In recent times the country is known as Egypt, but it has uncertain origins, and in Greek was pronounced, Ah-ee-goop-tos (for Aiguptos). But in Old Testament times, the Israelites called Egypt, Mizraim (mits-rah-yim), meaning “two Egypts”, for the upper and lower reaches of the Nile River. However, Mizraim is formed from a Hebrew word which means, to hem in, or to cramp or confine, or to distress. To the Israelites Egypt was a place of boundaries and limits; a place of slavery and oppression. Egypt to an Israelite was big trouble.

The first mention of Egypt is in Genesis ten, in the genealogy of Ham. Ham brought Noah’s curse upon himself by looking at his father’s nakedness and not covering him when Noah was sleeping off the wine he had drunk.

Later on, Abram took his wife Sarai to Egypt during a drought, but left in disgrace after he told Pharaoh that his wife was his sister. Pharaoh took Sarai as his wife and soon found out she was, in fact, Abram’s wife when he became inflicted by diseases. (Gen 12:10-20)

And then there is the story of Joseph and his brothers, who sold him into slavery and ended up being Pharaoh’s right-hand man — the second in charge of all Egypt. After his father Jacob and the entire household move to Egypt, the bible falls quiet for four-hundred years after Joseph tells his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Genesis 50:24)

During these four hundred years, Pharaoh and Egypt’s favour turn to hatred and oppression over the descendants of Jacob and his sons. As Israelite numbers grew, Pharaoh ordered every Hebrew boy be thrown into the Nile. So God raised up Moses, the child of a Hebrew slave, hidden in a floating basket in the reeds of the Nile. He was rescued and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in the house of Pharaoh.

Moses killed an Egyptian and fled after Pharaoh sought to kill him. While he was in the wilderness God appeared to him in a burning bush and commanded weak unconfident Moses to go back to Pharaoh and demand Pharaoh let God’s chosen people go.

Pharaoh was no match for the God of the Hebrews, even though in Egyptian thought he was the son of “Re” the Egyptian sun-god. So while Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the Israelites go because he thought he was god, God commanded Moses to pronounce plagues on Egypt.

Pharaoh was finally broken on the night of the Passover, when God sent the destroyer to kill the firstborn of Egypt. Pharaoh’s son, who was also seen as a god, was killed with all the Egyptian firstborn by God Almighty.

Out of slavery came freedom — freedom through the spilling of a lamb’s blood, on the cross members and sides of the doorframes to each house. God’s word was no match even for Pharaoh as God saved his people and called them to remember the night when they received their freedom. In the years after they celebrated what God did in Egypt, through the festival of unleavened bread, and the retelling and teaching of the “Lord’s Passover”.

God had promised this freedom to Abram over four-hundred years earlier, and God delivered on his word. He promised to Abram and Israel, if they keep all his statutes and laws they would live in the land of milk and honey — a sample of paradise on earth, where God would be their God, and they would be his people.

However, even as the prophets constantly reminded Israel of the bondage and oppression in Egypt, and God’s saving work, they struggled to keep the law and teach their children, and often turned against God throughout the lifetime of the Old Testament. Then God and his word fell quiet for four-hundred years, yet again.

Although Egypt is mentioned over six-hundred times in the Bible, in the New Testament, Egypt is spoken of only twenty-seven times on nine occasions. At the coming of Christ, after the four-hundred year silence something had changed. Egypt is rarely mentioned and the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey, isn’t mentioned at all in the New Testament. Why?

It’s no accident that Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt with the infant Jesus in Matthew’s gospel account, written to teach Jews, Jesus of Nazareth was their King and Son of God. Only in Matthew chapter two is Egypt mentioned anywhere in the gospels.

When Jesus came to the cross it was the Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread. It is not just a coincidence that Jesus broke bread and gave the cup of wine to the disciples and said, “This is my body, this is my blood.” And that his blood was spilt on the cross and flowed down his sides.

It was not by chance the preparation for the Passover meal occurred at the same time as the disciples prepared for what is known today as the Last Supper. It is no fluke in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke that Jesus eats the Last Supper on the night when Jews ate the Lord’s Passover meal and remembered God giving them freedom from Egypt. It’s no human apparition in Holy Communion we to remember what God did for us on the cross, and receive the promise of Jesus in bread and wine!

And in seeming contradiction in the gospel of John, it’s no mistake that John has the preparation for the Passover on Friday afternoon, when at about 3 pm the lambs were being slaughtered for the Passover meal, rather than Thursday afternoon as in the other gospels. Did not the Lamb of God die on Friday afternoon so the destroyer passes over us? This is God’s new covenant give and shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins?

All of us have now crossed over from Egypt; cleansed of the devil’s oppression under sin through the waters of the Red Sea; through the waters of baptism. Now God lives with us in the wilderness, leading us like he did with those he led out of Egypt, towards the land of milk and honey.

But even greater than the promise of the covenant, in the Old Testament, is that we get a foretaste of paradise as God gives himself to us in the new covenant. We receive “manna from heaven” in the body and blood of Jesus Christ in bread and wine.

So when you think of Egypt think of the bondage God has freed you from, and walk with him in the wilderness, in the hope of eternal life in the land of milk and honey, our heavenly home, face to face in the presence of God. Amen.

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C, Lent 1 - Romans 10:8b-9 "Jesus is Lord"

If there is one sin, which single-handedly is destroying the church and our society, it is a sin where people deliberately seek to compete with each other.

This sin is one which every person loathes, both inside and outside the church, because this sin brings us into direct conflict with each other. In fact the more we loath this sin in others, the more we’re usually unconscious of it in ourselves. The more this sin is engrained in our being, the more we detest it in everyone else.

What is the sin? What is this ultimate sin that threatens your relationships with each other and with God? What is the number one complete anti-God state of being? Let’s ponder that for a moment and come back to it in a while!

In Romans ten, we hear, ‘“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ (Romans 10:8-9)

Jesus is Lord! Let’s all confess it together… Jesus is Lord!

What does it mean to confess Jesus is Lord and to believe in one’s heart that God raised him? What does saying it and believing it do?

None of us can say these words in a vacuum; without something already having happened in us. Before we can believe “Jesus is Lord” in our hearts — something must act on us from outside ourselves and our sinful human condition — someone from outside our anti-God state of being must come.

In fact it takes a sacrifice to say “Jesus is Lord” and to believe in our hearts he truly has been raised from the dead. When we say Jesus is LORD, what are we actually saying?

This sacrifice in saying and believing Jesus is Lord, is explained a little further by the words at the end of Romans 10:9, which tell us if you confess and believe, you will be saved.

In our human condition we once protested against this statement, saying in our anti-God state of being, “There is nothing wrong with me, I don’t need to be saved — I’m doing just fine!” And every time the old Adam is revived in us, up rises this old anti-God attitude.

But we need saving, because we don’t do fine by ourselves, there is something wrong with everyone born under Adam, and if left untreated all of us would be on the highway to hell. If we are to believe Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the grave, we have to believe these horrible things about ourselves and humanity too.

So if Jesus is Lord over us, and we believe God has raised him, what is he as our Lord? What is a lord?

The upper house of parliament in London is called the House of Lords. If you were under a king you would have to address him as “my lord”. In other religions they refer to their gods as lords. If we rent a house or property we have a landlord. Our cities have lord mayors. And all of us can lord it over someone else. So what are we saying, when we say, “Jesus is Lord”?

Lords are above us! They are masters over us. Is Jesus our master? What does a master require? To be under a master demands we are completely obedient to his rule and laws, or else! So when we say “Jesus is Lord”, are we saying he is our master and we are obedient?

If Jesus is our master, why do we struggle to be obedient? In fact, when we admit to being sinners, we admit to being disobedient.

So over what is Jesus master? He became master in his perfect obedience and in his innocent death. When we say Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts, God raised him from the grave, we believe Jesus is master over sin and death.

If in saying Jesus is Lord, and we think of him as our master, under whom we are to be obedient, then doesn’t our continual sinning show this confession of Lord to be a lie?

Therefore, this still leaves the question, how is Jesus our Lord? In summarising the second article of the creed in the Large Catechism Luther says this: the little word “Lord” very simply means the same as Rescuer. That is, he is the one who has led us back from the devil to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness — and keeps us there. (LC, 2^nd Art, 31)

He is the one who has mastered sin and death for us. Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He placed himself under God and his word and in his death and resurrection brought all glory to God and saved us. So Jesus is Lord because Jesus is our Rescuer and saves us from our disobedience leading to death and destruction.

Now back to the sin, which separates us from each other and God. In his humility Jesus resisted the devil’s temptations in the wilderness for forty days. If it was you or me, with all the power and authority of God, we would have competed with the devil, and tried to conquer him. But Jesus doesn’t do this here.

He could have done what the devil had said. In fact, he could have completely throttled him! But if he did, why would he have done it? Instead he went the way of humility; which led him to the cross and to death. He went in full obedience to the Father, and God raised him from death and made him master over sin, death, and the devil.

When we face the temptations of our old Adam, the world, and the devil, the worst sin takes over, and we fall into the temptation that we can do it ourselves. This sin is the opposite of humility. Our sin is pride.

In humility Christ put pride aside and suffered in obedience to God. When we are moved by pride we fall straight back under the masters of sin and death. Pride made the devil fall from God’s grace. Unlike Christ, Adam’s pride led him and Eve to listen to the devil and eat, and then turn away from the word of God. It is pride making us think …we are ok …we are better than others …we can do enough to be masters of our own destiny …and to even say, “Lord, Lord, look what I’ve done!”

But the Rescuer comes to us and saves us. He places the Spirit in us to make us holy and shine on Christ who is in us rescuing us. He continually wills us to sacrifice pride, all the other sins, and the sinful nature that guts our humanity and separates us from God. When we confess Jesus is Lord, we humbly hang our sin on Jesus’ death and believe in our hearts he will raise us from the grave too.

In humility the Holy Spirit gives you the words, Lord Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, have mercy on me. God hears the Son in you, he sees the master over sin and death in you; God sees the cross and forgives you all your sins for Jesus’ sake. Jesus is Lord! Amen.

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