Jesus is Better

In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13).

The Mosaic covenant is obsolete. It is finished. It is over and done with. The author of Hebrews spends a lot of time emphasizing that point. Or, to say it positively, Jesus is better. Jesus is better than the Mosaic covenant. Jesus is better than Moses. Jesus is better than the angels. Jesus is better than the earthly high priest and the rites and services of the temple. Jesus is better. This is the over-arching point of the book of Hebrews: Jesus is better, so don’t return to the things which He made obsolete; this brings us back to the Mosaic covenant, which the author addresses in chapter eight.

If God knew, since He is God, that the covenant He was making with Israel through Moses would become obsolete, why make it? It seems like a bunch of unnecessary maneuvering for nothing. It’s confusing. Let’s spend a couple thousand years paying extra attention to this law; let’s ingrain it into every aspect of our society, and then abandon it one day. That seems like it should be pretty easy, right? Then the words of Romans 9:20 put me in my proper place: But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

No, God does what He does for His own reasons, and it is not our place to criticize, or even to understand. In terms of the Mosaic covenant, it’s purpose was not to be a permanent solution to man’s problem of sin and death. The Mosaic covenant was intended to show man his sin, and his need to be rescued, and it was intended to set apart the children of Israel from the nations of the world. It was to mark them as holy and special, and to refine them, until out of them would come the only permanent solution to sin, death, and the devil, Jesus. God wanted to set apart the Israelites, so He gave them different laws, rules, and customs than all the other nations. Specific and unique rules for their clothing; Specific and unique rules for cutting their beards; Specific and unique rules for what they could eat; Specific and unique rules for how they were to worship Yahweh.

We run into two equal and opposite errors, concerning the Mosaic covenant. The first one goes like this: If God prescribed all these specific rules for how to act, dress, eat, and worship, we had better get to doing them. God means what He says, after all. From this, you get things like the Hebrew Roots Movement, and a bunch of people who say they are Christians trying to please God and justify themselves by how well they keep the Law of Moses. They are Pharisees. The second one hits closer to home with me: the Mosaic covenant s obsolete, you say? I’ve been set free from my slavery to sin by the atoning death of Christ, you say? Delightful! Now I can do whatever I want. No more stuffy and outmoded moral restraints for me. All things are lawful for me, because Christ has made the Law obsolete! Anyone who tells me differently is a Pharisee… This is called antinomianism. Both of these errors are deadly.

So what are we to make of the Mosaic covenant? We are to make of it what God tells us through scripture. We are to understand that in the Law, the Mosaic covenant, there are three types of laws: 1) the moral law, 2) the ceremonial law, and 3) the civil law. The moral law tells man his duty toward God. It is written on the human heart from creation. This is how Cain knew it was sinful for him to murder his brother Abel, even before the Law was formally written down. It is how we know, before anyone tells us, that we are idolators, murderers, liars, thieves, and adulterers. It is how we know that we, despite all the things we do to look righteous before men, or to try and justify ourselves before God, don’t measure up to God’s standard. We have sinned against Him by our thoughts, words, and deeds, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved God with our whole hearts; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. The ceremonial law told the Israelites how they were supposed to worship Yahweh, from how to construct the tabernacle and implement the elaborate system of animal sacrifices, down to the clothing and movements of the high priest and his attendants. The civil law regulated how the Israelites where to act toward each other, as well as toward other nations, in accordance with the moral law.

In good Lutheran fashion we ask, “What does this mean?” It means that all human beings, since man’s fall into sin, have a responsibility to keep the moral law, which God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai, engraved by the finger of God into tablets of stone, which we call the 10 Commandments. This moral law was written on man’s heart from the beginning, and codified by God on Mt. Sinai. The ceremonial law and the civil law, however were given specifically to the nation of Israel, and for a different and specific purpose. That purpose was to set them apart from all the pagan nations of the world, and to mark them as His chosen people, from whom mankind’s savior would arise. The ceremonial and civil laws were shadows of the things to come. They are the symbols, fulfilled in Christ. The tabernacle, and later the temple, and all the worship of the sacrificial system of the Mosaic covenant points to Christ. It is fulfilled in Christ. It is made obsolete in Christ. This is the reason we can eat shellfish, and trim our beards. It’s the reason that sins like homosexuality are still sinful (because we’re still responsible for the moral law), but we are able to disregard the punishment prescribed in the civil law of Israel (because we’re not responsible for the civil law) which commanded that homosexuals (and various other offenders against the law) be put to death.

That is the point of Hebrews. All the sacrifices that ever were performed were imperfect types and shadows of Christ’s perfect atoning sacrifices for sin on the cross; it was perfect, therefore there is no need to repeat it. We fail to keep the Law. Christ has kept it. He is righteous and gives us His righteousness. In fact, Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God by the grace of God through faith in Christ. He needs only to deliver this gift to us. He does that in the preaching of His word. He does that when, according to His promise, we bring people, old and young, infant and adult, to the baptismal font, and they are joined to Christ and His death and resurrection by water and the word; where they are saved through baptism and their sins are washed away. He delivers it to us in the Supper, the eating and drinking of Christ’s own body and blood, for the forgiveness of our sins, with the bread and wine. The Mosaic covenant is obsolete. We have something better which will never pass away; we have Jesus, and His death, and His resurrection. And, because He lives, we also shall live.

A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

Christ healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5:1-17).

Jesus visits the pool of Bethesda. There He meets a crippled man lying among the sick. The man is alone. He has no one to place him into the pool after the water is stirred by the angel so he can receive the miraculous healing. Jesus simply tells the man, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” Reaching out with the hand of faith, the man does as he is bidden. The Pharisees are not moved by the healing. They instead focus on the fact that this man, whom they recognize, is now carrying his bed on the Sabbath. He is sinning by doing work on the Sabbath day.[1] They may have been technically correct, according to the letter of the law. They were, however, turning a blind eye to the spirit of God’s law. They were so focused on earning God’s favor by their observance of God’s law, which they perverted by the imposition of their man-made regulations, they forgot that God desires mercy, and not sacrifice.[2] God gave the people of Israel the law through Moses to show them their sin. This was so they would repent of their sin, turn to Him and be healed.[3] God tells the prophet Hosea that, while He certainly wants to see his law obeyed, His commanded sacrifices were only pleasing to Him if they came from the heart, a heart of true repentance.

This is what Jesus tells the Pharisees. St. Matthew records Jesus’ Sabbath-day healing of a man with a withered hand.[4] On that occasion, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking God’s law by healing on the Sabbath. When they ask Him if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, Jesus turns the question back on them: What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.[5] Jesus, by his examples of “doing work” on the Sabbath, shows us that doing good takes priority over a legalistic interpretation of the Law.

Jesus later seeks out the man whom He had healed at the pool and talks with him.[6] Jesus calls the man to repentance. See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. He directs the man’s eyes away from his physical health to his spiritual health. Jesus is not implying here that it is possible for man to become perfect. While we are in this fallen and sinful world we will continually remain in a struggle with our sinful flesh.[7] Jesus is calling this man to live in repentance and faith; to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.[8] He calls us to do the same. If we walk according to the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that we do not do the things that we wish.[9] But, repenting of our sins and trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins, He heals our spiritual infirmities. Walking in the Spirit, we may do good works for our neighbors, and cause God’s mercy to extend to those around us.

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[1] Exodus 31: 12-18

[2] Hosea 6:6

[3] Romans 3:19-20; 7:7; James 2:10

[4] Matthew 12: 9-14

[5] Matthew 12: 11-12

[6] John 5:14

[7] Romans 7:13-25

[8] Romans 8:1

[9] Galatians 5:16-17

Woe to the Pharisees and Lawyers

And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.” Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.” And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him (Luke 11:37-54).

 

Jesus and His disciples go to dinner with unwashed hands. The Pharisees marveled, but not because they were disgusted at Jesus’ dirty fingernails; they marveled because Jesus and His disciples did not observe the Traditions of the Elders. The washing in question was a ceremonial one. It wasn’t meant to scrub the grime from their hands; it was meant to cleanse the gentile filth with which they may have been contaminated. These traditions, it was taught, were commands given by God, through Moses, to the Elders on Mt. Sinai, orally. They were not written down by Moses. The scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of the law taught that these traditions were God’s word, just like the written Scriptures (Torah[1]). By disregarding these traditions, Jesus shows His disciples, and us, that they are not.

 

Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites. They take great care to observe the Traditions of the Elders, but ignore God’s actual Law. Jesus says that they honor God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him.[2] They were teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. They didn’t believe they were sinful. They were keeping all the rules. They did not repent. They did not believe the Gospel. They did not have faith in God; they had faith in their own good works. Jesus calls them unmarked graves and whitewashed tombs because of this. An unmarked grave looks like normal, healthy ground, vibrant with life in the form of thick, green grass. Beneath the surface, however, lies a rotting corpse. The painted tomb looks pretty and neat but inside there are dead men’s bones. According to the Law, to touch a dead body would make a man ceremonially unclean. He would have to be excluded for a time from the community, and the temple, where forgiveness of sins was to be found.[3] Jesus is telling the Pharisees that, because of their rejection of God’s commands in favor of man-made laws they thought they could keep, they are unclean. They are cut off from God, like the ceremonially unclean person who cannot offer his sacrifice for sin in the temple. Though they may look holy by their outward acts of piety, they are actually dead inside.

 

The temple and the sacrifices prescribed by God to be offered there were type and shadow of what was to come: Jesus. The temple was where God dwelt with His people Israel. Jesus, true God and true man, is Immanuel - God, with us. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, God came into the world, though the world did not know Him, and His people did not receive Him.[4] Even now He is with us, according to both His divine and human natures, through Word and Sacrament, and the working of the Spirit, even until the end of the age.[5] The sacrifices showed the true cost of sin; only the shedding of blood could atone for it.[6] Animal sacrifice was insufficient. They had to be performed over and over again. Jesus is the one perfect sacrifice for sin.[7] He became sin for us so that the guilt of our sin would no longer be counted against us.[8] Jesus is our salvation. He is the one greater than the temple.[9] He is the payment for our sin - all of our sin - and the sin of the whole world.[10]

 

Since the temple was a shadow of the reality that was fulfilled in Christ, we need to participate in the real thing. The washing that counts is not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom God poured out abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.[11] This is baptism, which saves us.[12] It is how we take part in Christ’s death and resurrection.[13] It is not a work done by men as a mere ceremony; it is a means by which God delivers to us His Word and promise, the forgiveness of sins won by Christ on the cross, and works repentance and faith in our hearts by His Holy Spirit.

 

______

 

[1] The Torah is the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

[2] Matthew 15:7-9

[3] Number 19:11-13

[4] John 1:1-13

[5] Matthew 28:19-20; FC SD VIII 78.

[6] Hebrews 9:22

[7] Hebrews 9:22-28

[8] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[9] Matthew 12:6

[10] 1 John 2:2

[11] Titus 3:5-7

[12] 1 Peter 2:18-22

[13] Romans 6:4-5; Galatians 2:20

Judge not...

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye,” (Matthew 7:1-5).

In the wake of the same-sex marriage ruling by the Supreme Court, Facebook was deluged with memes celebrating the victory. Two of the most common memes I encountered were 1) of Stephen Colbert wanting to read what Jesus said about homosexuality in the Bible, but not being able to because he never said anything about it, and 2) some clever picture of Jesus reminding Christians to, “Judge not…” Christians may have allowed the secular society to legally redefine marriage, but we should not allow the secular, unbelieving world to misuse God’s word as a weapon against his Church. After all, when Our Lord was tempted in the wilderness, and Satan attempted to use Scripture to trap Jesus, Jesus answered right back with Scripture. So, in response to the “Judge not…” meme, here is some Scripture which I hope will put the opening of Matthew chapter seven into some context.

At first glance, this opening passage of Matthew chapter seven looks like it is telling Christians never, under any circumstances, to judge anyone else, or those same standards of judgment will be applied to them. In a way that is true. Because this passage is used to bludgeon Christians into remaining silent in the face of sin, however, one must look a little deeper into the context to find out whether or not this is what Jesus was really saying. After all, this is the same Jesus who called the Pharisees vipers and turned over the money-changer’s tables in the temple. Jesus clearly teaches his disciples to judge. The issue is that we must judge properly, using God’s Word as the standard for our judgment, rather than our own personal morality or behavior. 

Generally speaking, people are only familiar with the, “Judge not, that you be not judged,” part of this passage. What people often fail to recognize is that Jesus, in the same paragraph, called his disciples to “take the log out of your own eye,” so that they could see clearly to “take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Jesus did not forbid his followers from judging sin. He called them to judge the sin of others (the specks) in the light of their own sin (the logs), only after proper self-examination and repentance.

The “Judge not…” passage comes at the climax of what theologians have come to call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:27). Most people, even if they aren’t church-goers, are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount. It begins with the Beatitudes:

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you,” (Matthew 5:2-12).

Throughout the secular world, not to mention American Evangelicalism, the Beatitudes are often understood as a quid pro quo. If you are poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is yours, so work really hard to be as poor in spirit as you can. If you do this, then you get that, or this thing will happen to you. Jesus, however, is not declaring here an ethical demand of his followers by laying out a law of behavior or attitude. The Beatitudes are not so much a mountain of law which one is to climb to be a better Christian, but rather it can be seen – particularly by your “old” man – as a mountain of law under which one is to be totally crushed.

Make no mistake, Jesus is certainly also assuring his disciples of God’s goodness, and the future blessings in store for them. The crushing weight of the law, however, must first bring us to see our sin and to repent of it. This repentance and forgiveness comes as the gracious gift of God through the Gospel. The Christian is simul justus et peccator – simultaneously justified and sinner. My new man hears in the Beatitudes assurance of God’s goodness and future blessing; my old man hears law and judgment. When we recognize our own spiritual poverty, when the Lord leads us to hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, when He makes us pure in heart so that we seek to worship only the true God, then we are blessed, now and forever (Engelbrecht 2009).

Jesus goes on from here and continues with this theme. He tells his disciples that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them[1]. In other words, man is still responsible for keeping the law. He tells them that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven[2]. At this point, I imagine the disciples would have been shocked. Who could be more righteous than the Pharisees? The Pharisees were the very definition of righteous. If, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, I must be more righteous than the Pharisees, I must be utterly lost. For whom is there any hope then? I may not be perfect, but surely I’m at least a little better than people who commit all kinds of terrible sins! With that bouncing around in their heads, Jesus goes on to talk about sin.

Anger, lust, divorce, you think you know what those things are? Feeling superior to the man imprisoned for murder? You’re a murderer to, Jesus says, because, “…everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment[3];” Feeling proud that you have never committed adultery like your scum-bag neighbor down the street? Think again. Jesus says, “…everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart[4].” Jesus continues on, truly defining sin as God sees it, building to the climax of this section where he says we should, contrary to our feelings, love our enemies. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust[5].” He concludes this section with these words: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect[6].” If there were left any doubt as to whether or not we are sinners, or whether or not we could keep the law and earn the kingdom of heaven, Jesus’ teachings here on sin should have put that doubt to bed. He has brought all of us to the same level – we are all poor, miserable sinners, condemned under the law.

In chapter six Jesus talks about good works and religious practice. He tells his disciples not to do good works as a show to earn praise from other men, but rather that good works should flow from them naturally[7]. He teaches them how to pray[8] and, not ostentatiously to be viewed and praised by others, but in secret, as an outgrowth of their faith[9]. And finally living outwardly as they have internal faith, he teaches them to entrust their daily lives to God’s care[10]. It is only after this foundation is laid that Jesus utters the phrase, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Far from forbidding his disciples to judge other people’s sinful acts, Jesus is telling his disciples to judge by the proper standard and not as hypocrites. Kretzmann writes that the word used by Jesus in Matthew 7:1, which we render as “judge,” in the Greek implies personal, unkind uncharitable, unauthorized, condemnatory judgment (Kretzmann 1921). Christians must practice self-examination, and use God’s standard, rather than their own to judge the words and deeds of others.

If you do not realize your own sins and faults, you cannot offer admonition to a fellow Christian. One who assumes the task of taking the speck out of his brother’s eye must do so with sincere love, deep humility, and the prayer “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors[11]” (Engelbrecht 2009).

Jesus judged plenty but, being God, he did it in the proper context. In fact, the entire Sermon on the Mount is a judgment of sin, and the practices of the Pharisees. This is what he calls us to do as well. Jesus says so in as many words in the Gospel of St. John:

About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well[12]? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment,” (John 7:14-24).

What is right judgment? What is our standard for judgment? It is God’s Word. St. Paul writes to Timothy the following, regarding the power and usefulness of Holy Scripture:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

To whom is this standard applied? Everyone. St. Paul, writing to the Romans has this to say regarding God’s righteous judgment, and how all men, standing on their own, would fare:

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man – you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself – that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:1-5).

The secular world will always react to the judgment of its sin with hostility – just as we Christians often do when a brother rebukes us. We cannot expect the pagan world to live as though they were Christians. Moral criticism is necessary and religious teaching cannot be discarded, but it would be the height of folly to unload one’s religious beliefs and experiences, tender sentiments, and moral convictions on anyone that comes along, no matter in what condition he might be (Kretzmann 1921). We can, however, use God’s law to make men aware of their sin in all humbleness, knowing all the while that we are sinful human beings as well. We may not be guilty of some of the specific acts described by St. Paul in his build up to Romans chapter two, but we have all exchanged God’s truth for human foolishness (Engelbrecht 2009). When we see sin, whether it is the sin of another or our own, we should respond in penitent faith, confessing our sin, knowing that God is faithful and just, and that he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.

Works Cited

Engelbrecht, Rev. Edward A., ed. The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.

Kretzmann, Paul E. Popular Commentary of the Bible: New Testament. Vol. 1. 2 vols. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.

End Notes

[1] Matthew 5:17 

[2] Matthew 5:20 

[3] Matthew 5:22 

[4] Matthew 5:28 

[5] Matthew 5:45 

[6] Matthew 5:48 

[7] Matthew 6:1-4 

[8] Matthew 6:5-15 

[9] Matthew 6:16-24 

[10] Matthew 6:25-34 

[11] Matthew 6:12 

[12] Jesus is here referring to his healing of an invalid at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-17).

The Kingdom of God - Part 3

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot - they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all - so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17: 26-30).

As previously discussed, Jesus had told his hearers that the Kingdom of God was in their midst, referring to his rule as Messiah. Here Jesus explains how the physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God will come about at the end, on Judgment Day. On that day this present, corrupt world will pass away and Jesus will make everything new, bringing into existence a new heaven and a new earth[1]. The character of the kingdom's physical manifestation will not be gradual, and it will not involve rehabilitation of the kingdoms of this present world. Things are not going to get better, and better, and better in this world until, at some point, the Christian religion reigns over all the earth and we enter the golden age of the Millennium, as some Christian theologians teach[2]. The physical arrival of Christ and God's Kingdom will bring with it utter destruction as evidenced by the examples Jesus gives. The great flood at the time of Noah destroyed all life on earth, except that which was preserved by God in the Ark. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was absolute, with no trace of the cities or survivors remaining - again, with the exception of those whom God preserved out of his grace. God's kingdom will come quickly, but with plenty of warning, just as the flood came upon the world of Noah, just as the fire rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah in the time of Lot. Kretzmann writes about how the people during the time of Noah and Lot were stubborn and, despite being given plenty of time and warning about the impending judgment, refused to repent:

The distinguishing characteristic of the time just preceding the final advent of Christ, the Son of Man, will be an indifferent carelessness. The days of Noah are an example. The warning had gone out through the mouth of this preacher of righteousness that the people should repent of their foolish ways. But they gave so little heed to the warning that they continued in all the manner of complete abandon in the desires of the flesh up to the very hour of the cataclysm: they ate, they drank, they married, they were married; men and women, the entire generation, past all hope of redemption. And then, with the sudden frightfulness that has characterized the judgments of God in similar situations, came the day on which Noah entered into the ark; then came the Flood and destroyed them all. And the days of Lot are another example of the utter, blind heedlessness of the people. In Sodom and Gomorrah the inhabitants continued in the delights of the flesh as well as in all their lines of business, work, and endeavor: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, up to the very hour of the catastrophe that overwhelmed the cities, when it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. The people of the last times will not have learned their lesson from the previous calamities; when the Son of Man will be revealed before their astonished, horrified eyes on the last day, He will find them as unprepared for His coming, as deeply steeped in the foolishness of the Noachites and of the Sodomites as any generation ever was (Kretzmann, 1921).

On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Luke 17:31-37).

In this passage some see evidence of the rapture, the spiriting away to heaven of all Christians from the earth either before, during, or after a period known to millennialist Christians as the Tribulation. Images of the Left Behind book series by Tim LeHaye are called to mind; images of driverless cars abandoned in the roadway and pilotless airplanes auguring into mountainsides, their Christian drivers and pilots gone on to heavenly glory without any hint or warning. This is not, however, the thing to which Jesus is referring. Dispensationalism and the doctrine of the rapture are not borne out by scripture. It is of relatively new invention, in fact, being only developed over the last 200 years or so[3]. Instead, Jesus is describing the suddenness of his coming on the Day of Judgment, and the futility of all things temporal when it comes to redemption. Just as it was too late for anyone in Noah's time to escape God's judgment by the waters of the flood after he had shut Noah, his family, and the animals inside the ark, so too will it be too late to repent when Christ appears. Likewise, Lot's wife is turned to a pillar of salt when she hesitates to trust in God's redemption and turns back to see the fate of her former home (Engelbrecht, 2009). Regarding this passage, Kretzmann writes the following:

The suddenness of the breaking of Judgment Day will take every person where he just happens to be at that time. A man will be up on the flat roof of the house. He will neither have, nor should he attempt to take, time to go down and get any instruments or possessions. A man will be out in the field. He also should not turn back behind him for anything of this world's goods that he may have valued. As when an army of the enemy makes a sudden successful assault and only precipitate flight will save the inhabitants, he that turns back for money, clothes, or other goods is lost, so the person whose mind is still attached to the things of this world on the last day is beyond hope of salvation. The example of Lot's wife should be before the minds of the believers at all times. Had she not turned behind her to satisfy her curiosity, she might have saved her soul with the rest. Her hesitation proved her destruction. Cp. Matt. 16, 25; Mark 8, 35; Luke 9, 24. He that in the last emergency will have nothing in mind but the saving of this earthly life and the goods that are necessary for its preservation, will lose forever the true life in and with God; but he whose desires are free from all love for this world and what it has to offer, that has denied himself and all that this life might have given him, he will save his life, the life in God, his soul and its eternal salvation (Kretzmann, 1921).

The Disciples, needless to say, are stunned at Jesus' teaching. As discussed earlier, they still seem to expect the same type of political Messiah as the Pharisees. They ask the question, "Where, Lord?" Jesus, as he was wont to do, answers them in enigmatic fashion. His answer is unmistakably ominous: "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." This may seem like a sarcastic non-answer to the disciples' question but it does give us an idea what the world will be like by the time of the end - worthless and unclean, like a dead and rotting corpse. Kretzmann explains Jesus' words this way:

In awe and fear, they [the disciples] barely breathe the question: Where, Lord? Where will all this happen? And He told them: Where the dead body is, there will the eagles gather themselves together. The world, especially in the last days, will be, and to-day is, like a decaying carcass, whose stench rises up into the heavens. And judgment and destruction will come upon the entire spiritually dead and morally rotten human race. It is a strong, but fitting figure, revealing the world as it is, in its true condition, without a redeeming feature to recommend it in the sight of God (Kretzmann, 1921).

God is purposely ambiguous when describing for us the signs of Christ's second coming and the signs of the end of this present age. He leaves no doubt, however, that Christ will come a second time to establish the eternal kingdom. If we human beings could calculate the time of Christ's return, we would live as reprobates until the last possible moment before repenting of our sin, such is the depravity of our sinful human nature (Engelbrecht, 2009). St. Paul, in fact, warns us against living in such a way. He tells us that we should put on the new self and live as the new creation of Christ that we are, not in order to earn God’s favor, but as a response to receiving God’s undeserved mercy through Christ Jesus. St. Paul writes:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect…If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth (Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:1-8).

To delay repentance, to turn away from God and live according to the desires of our sinful flesh, to disregard the law's revelation of our sinful state and the call of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel is to run the risk of ending up as those who ignored God in the days of Noah and Lot.

The message of Christ's teaching here is unmistakable: today is the day of salvation and repentance must not be delayed[4]. Through the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, sin, death, and Satan have been defeated (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation, 1986). Christ died as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world[5]; those who repent of their sin and trust in Christ have the forgiveness and eternal life he won for mankind by Christ on the cross. Furthermore, we who trust in Christ must not live as if his return is far off and we are secure among our earthly possessions, because we are not. Our wealth, possessions, our status among men and our good works will be of no avail to us when Christ returns on the Day of the Lord to judge mankind and establish his kingdom physically. The only way we can hope to stand before God on that Day of Judgment is if we have been clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness won for us by his death and resurrection, given to us freely, by his grace[6].

Works Cited

Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. (1989). The "End Times" - A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism. St. Louis: The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

Engelbrecht, R. E. (Ed.). (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Kretzmann, P. E. (1921). Popular Commentary of the Bible: New Testament (Vol. 1). St. Louis, MO, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. (1986). Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House.

End Notes

[1] Revelation 21:1-8

[2] While there are numerous variations in millennialist teaching today, a fourfold categorization has been widely accepted: 1) dispensational premillennialism; (2) historic premillennialism; (3) postmillennialism, and (4) amillennialism. Of the first three categories, all of which hold to a millennium or utopian age on this earth, the most commonly held view is dispensational premillennialism…The less common postmillennial view places Christ’s second advent after (post) the millennium. Only then will the rapture, the general resurrection, the general judgment , and the eternal states occur. The millennium is not understood to involve a visible reign of Christ in the form of an earthly monarchy, nor is the millennial period to be taken literally as necessarily 1000 years long. In these respects postmillennialism corresponds closely to the amillennialist position (Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, 1989).

[3] Dispensational premillennialism, or simply dispensationalism, is a theological system having its origin among the Plymouth Brethren in Ireland and England in the early 19th century. This system’s originator was John Nelson Darby (1800-82), one of the chief founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement. Dispensationalism arose as a reaction against the Church of England and the widely held view of postmillennialism (Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, 1989).

[4] 2 Corinthians 6:2

[5] 2 Corinthians 5:15; 5:19; 5:21; Hebrews 2:17.

[6] Isaiah 61:9-11; Revelation 21:1-2

The Kingdom of God - Part 2

Luther Preaches Christ

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (Luke 17:22-25).

Jesus, having answered the Pharisee’s question regarding the coming of God’s kingdom in a most remarkable way, he turns to his disciples. Jesus seems to be telling his disciples that one day soon they are going to want to hear the wonderful and enigmatic things he teaches them face to face as he is now doing, but this will not be possible because he will be gone. Right now he is in the midst of them, but soon he will be seated at the right hand of God the Father. He will go from the midst of them, to the cross, to the tomb, to the resurrection, to his position of power and glory at the Father's side. And, from his position at the Father’s side, he will one day return to judge the living and the dead. There is much that must happen, however, between that day and the one during which Jesus teaches his disciples. 

Jesus makes this point to the scribes and Pharisees when they ask him why his disciples did not fast, as those of John the Baptist did. "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them" Jesus asked in reply[1]? When Jesus, the bridegroom, goes away, the disciples, who are the guests in his metaphor, will most certainly fast (Engelbrecht, 2009). Jesus explains to the disciples elsewhere, however, that he is not simply planning to abandon them when he rises from the grave and ascends to heaven. He promises to send the Comforter - the Holy Spirit - to be with them, and to clothe them with power, and to recall to their minds all that he has taught them[2]. This is so that they can, in turn, record it in the pages of what we today call the New Testament scriptures.

Jesus, in the previous verses, had been addressing the Pharisees, who were questioning him about the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees' questioning of Jesus does not seem to be legitimate, but designed to get Jesus to say something that they could use to get him in trouble, as on other occasions[3]. In keeping with his method, he spoke somewhat enigmatically to the masses, and explained those sayings and parables to his disciples[4]. The 'they' to whom Jesus seems to be referring is, in the narrow context of this conversation, the Pharisees and, more broadly, all false teachers who reject the Christ. 

What is Jesus warning the disciples about when he tells them not to go out or follow the people who say, “Look, there!” and “Look, here!”? Jesus is warning them not to abandon their faith, which he has built in them by his word. Lenski writes: 

They [false teachers] will imagine that they see plain indications and signs of Christ’s immediate coming. They will pose as prophets, even as manifestations and incarnations of Christ, and call the true disciples to flock to their standards “here” or “there”. Jesus warns, “Do not go away or pursue after,” leave not your faith in the words which Jesus has spoken, do not chase after these false leaders and the promises they make. This warning has often been disregarded, will often be so, but should not be so by us (Lenski, 1946).

For as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day (v. 24).

When Jesus talks about the day of the Son of Man he is talking about his second coming to judge the world[5]. Lightning is a useful comparison, as Our Lord has repeatedly instructed us that his coming will be swift and sudden[6]. This is the contrast Jesus makes with the physical, political kingdom for which the Pharisees longed, and even the disciples expected the Messiah to establish. There will be no ambiguity when Christ returns. As lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. Kretzmann describes the second coming of Jesus in this way: 

In one moment He will shine, with all the glory of His splendor, from this quarter under heaven unto that; He will be visible to all people of the earth. But before this glorious consummation there will be a long time of waiting and watching for the believers, with a sore trial for their patience. First of all the great obligation rests upon the Lord to suffer in the great Passion, to be rejected by the present generation. Christ must bear His cross first, and His Church, the members of His kingdom, will become partakers of this suffering, before the great day of glory dawns (Kretzmann, 1921).

Lenski also writes: 

The Pharisees needed to be told that the kingdom is within, is spiritual; to this the Lord adds for the sake of his disciples that, after the spiritual work of this kingdom is done, it will come suddenly, like lightning, in judgment on the world…The visible glorious consummation of the kingdom must wait in toto until the spiritual work has been completed…his coming and the consummation of the kingdom will occur in such a manner that we need go nowhere – it will be instantaneously visible over the whole earth just as a lightning flash lightnings [sic] out of one part of heaven and shines to the other part and lights up the entire sky (Lenski, 1946).

But why did Jesus have to suffer and be rejected? This question must certainly have been going through the minds of the disciples who, at this point, still had a more Pharisaic understanding of God’s kingdom, and the work of the Messiah. 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Jesus endured poverty, contempt, and persecution in his earthly life[7]. He was born in poverty[8]. The tyrant Herod tried to murder him in his infancy[9]. All throughout his earthly ministry people derided him, rejected him, tried to throw him from cliffs, and stone him[10]. Ultimately he suffered the greatest agony of body and soul under Pontius Pilate, dying on the cross[11] (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation, 1986). 

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:14-17).

Jesus endured suffering, humiliation, and death voluntarily for one purpose – to redeem mankind. Luther, in his explanation of the second article of the Apostle’s Creed, sums up Jesus’ purpose, and man’s relationship to him, beautifully and succinctly: 

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation, 1986).

Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world[12], laid down his life voluntarily[13], in obedience to God the Father’s will[14], so that man and God could be reconciled[15]. St. Paul writes that it was through the obedience of the one man, Christ, so that the many – mankind – were made righteous[16]. In fact, scripture tells us that Christ, the sinless one, became sin for us, so that we sinners might become the righteousness of God[17]. Christ was our substitute. He took our place under God’s judgment against sin. By paying the penalty of our guilt, Christ…made satisfaction, for our sins (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation, 1986). 

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).

This is the message all mankind needs to hear, and upon which the Christian church must remain focused in this time between Christ's first and second coming. Many have gone off crying, “Look, there!” as Jesus predicted, seeking mystical experiences, secret truths, or special revelations. Jesus, the Word made flesh, directs the disciples and believers today, to the place where his promises are found – his word. Christians need to hear this word – Law and Gospel – regularly, and gather around those pledges of the forgiveness Christ has won for us – Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It is by Word and Sacrament that he works to grant us repentance[18], create faith in us, is among us, and to deliver to us the forgiveness he won for us by his death and resurrection[19].

Bibliography

Engelbrecht, R. E. (Ed.). (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Kretzmann, P. E. (1921). Popular Commentary of the Bible (Vol. 1). St. Louis, MO, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Lenski, R. C. (1946). The Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel. Columbus, Ohio: The Wartburg Press.

Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. (1986). Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House.

End Notes

[1] Luke 5:33-35

[2] John 16:4-15

[3] Mark 8:11-13

[4] Matthew 13:34-36

[5] Matthew 25:31-32; 2 Corinthians 5:10

[6] Matthew 24:27; Acts 1:11; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 1:7

[7] 2 Cor. 8:9; Matthew 8:20; Isaiah 53:3; John 8:40

[8] Luke 2:7

[9] Matthew 2:13

[10] Luke 4:29; John 8:59

[11] John 19:16-18; Mark 15:21-41

[12] John 1:29

[13] John 10:17-18

[14] Luke 22:42; John 5:19

[15] Genesis 3:15; 1 John 3:8

[16] Romans 5:19

[17] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[18] 2 Timothy 2:5

[19] John 15:5; Romans 6:3-5; Titus 3:5-7; 1 Peter 3:21