The One raised from the tomb breathes on His disciples, “Peace be with you.” Next, He shows them the injuries He suffered in His crucifixion. Again, the words, “Peace be with you,” leave His mouth. An unbreakable bond must somehow exist between our Lord’s wounds and the peace He brings them. In His sacrificial death, […]
The “Lament” Psalms, Lesson 5: Psalm 51
October 20, 2016 by
Structure This psalm is a straightforward confession of rebellion against God with a plea for Him to restore David and the promise of a faithful life in the future. Intimacy with God reigns within this psalm: It is in direct address, with 45 appearances of either the pronoun “You” or an imperative verb directed to […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 7: Job’s Recognition, Repentance, and Restoration
March 19, 2016 by
Intro The Lord answered Job, pulling Job from an inward focus on his suffering to what is beyond: God. By stating who He is and what that means, God inductively taught Job: If I am all-powerful, then I am taking care of you in my way and time. I am even more powerful than the […]
Luke 13:1-9: Repent or you, too, will perish
February 28, 2016 by
How should you respond to tragedy or disaster? I ask you to consider this, not as an American citizen, but as a Christian. How should you react—as a Christian—to suffering, persecution, or mass murder? One way is to repent. In Old-Testament Hebrew, repent is “shuv”: turn back, turn around. “Metanoia,” rethink, come […]
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32: The Prodigal Son
June 21, 2015 by
The Pharisees were grousing against the outrageousness of God’s grace. “This man [Jesus] receives sinners and eats with them.” Now, that’s wonderful news for you and me—if we see ourselves as sinners. It also would’ve been splendid news for the Pharisees—if they would’ve be honest enough to admit that they were sinners, too. So, Jesus […]
Acts 2: It Had All Been For This
May 26, 2015 by
It had all been for this. Jesus ascended into heaven, taking His seat at the right hand of the Father, that position of authority and power, all to pour out the Holy Spirit from the Father. That Spirit, which Jesus had sent to His Church, was the same Spirit that had come to the Virgin […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 19: The Corinthians Bring Heresy into the Lord’s Supper
May 10, 2015 by
Paul now deals with a topic that he had earlier touched on in 1 Corinthians chapter 10: The Lord’s Supper. In this section, Paul was admonishing the Corinthians for straying from what he had “traditioned” to them. “In following the command [the mandate of the Lord’s Supper], I do not praise you… For I received […]
Your Future Reality Invades Your Darkness
December 10, 2014 by
Malachi 3:1-4, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6 The name Malachi means “my messenger.” And it’s a fitting name, since that prophet so powerfully spoke about God’s coming messenger. That messenger would be like a powerful soap to purify and cleanse the Levites, the chosen priesthood of Israel. God chose that tribe of Israel to be His […]
Augsburg Confession, Articles 10 (continued), 12
May 31, 2014 by
Review on the Lord’s Supper: Closed Communion Last week, we looked at what we believe about the Lord’s Supper (and confession and absolution). In today’s culture, we may have many who will visit our congregation and NOT believe that they are receiving Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. In Luther’s day, such […]
John 1:19-28: Repent!
December 23, 2012 by
So, there was John the Baptizer living up to his name and baptizing! And the Jewish leadership of his day was chafing in discomfort because of it. So, they confronted him: “Why are you baptizing?” We can also ask, “Yes, John, why are you baptizing?” For 2,000 years later, we’re clueless about those baptisms taking […]
