Jesus Calms a Storm

Jesus Calms the Storm - Rembrant 1633

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:35-41).

Jesus had been “teaching by the sea” all day[1]. Immediately prior to his teaching session by the sea, Jesus had argued with, and been rejected by, the Pharisees, whom he decried as the evil and adulterous generation[2]. Jesus had healed a demon-possessed man, and the common people began to wonder if Jesus might be the Messiah[3]. The Pharisees accused him of being possessed himself rather than acknowledging the messianic claims of his followers, and demanded from Jesus a sign proving that he was the Messiah. As a side note, this is ironic, as Jesus’ healing of the demon-possessed man was recognized by the common people and the Jewish religious establishment of the day as sign pointing to the Messiah (Fruchtenbaum). The rabbis of Jesus’ time taught that, when Messiah came, he would cast out mute demons from those people possessed by them.

There was one kind of demon against which [Judaism’s methodology] was powerless, and that was the kind of demon who caused the controlled person to be dumb or mute. And, because he could not speak, there was no way of establishing communication with this kind of demon; no way of finding out this demon’s name. So…it was impossible to cast out a dumb demon. The rabbis had taught, however that when the Messiah came, he would be able to cast out this type of demon. This was the second of the three messianic miracles: the casting out of a dumb or mute demon (Fruchtenbaum).

Jesus, however, told the Pharisees that there would be no further signs given to them, the evil and adulterous generation, except for the “sign of Jonah”, thereby alluding to his crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

Jesus and his disciples were in Galilee, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. They would be traveling to the region of the Gerasenes (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009). This region was part of the Decapolis[4] and was more Gentile in culture. Consequently, the Jewish people living there had probably adopted some Gentile customs in violation of the Law of Moses[5] (Mark 5:11). This is the region where Jesus will meet and exorcize “Legion” from a man and send him into a herd of pigs.

The "Jesus Boat" on display at the Yigal Allon Museum in Israel.

If they were in a typical Galilean fishing boat of the day, it would have been approximately 25½ feet long, 7½ feet wide, and just over 4 feet high. An excellent example of this type of fishing boat is on display at the Yigal Allon Museum in Israel. The “Jesus” or “Sea of Galilee” boat, as it is known, was discovered in 1986 on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Galilee Boat, 2012). The remains of the boat first appeared during a drought when the waters of the sea receded. The boat is made of 12 different types of wood and measures 25.5 ft. (8.2 m) long, 7.5 ft. wide, and 4.1 ft high. It would have had a crew of five (four rowers and a helmsman) and could carry about 15 additional persons (Jesus Boat Museum, 2012).

Unless a person has ever been in the position of similar life threatening danger, I don’t think they can really know just exactly what the disciples were feeling as they battled the storm. They would have been literally terrified to death. They had experienced that chilling moment when the idea of losing their lives had ceased to be an abstract idea, as it is to most people for much of the time, and become a looming possibility that had to be considered. As they struggled fruitlessly to keep their boat from sinking, it became apparent to them that something more than their efforts would be required if they were to make it through the situation. They would have to be rescued; their situation was hopeless. In exasperation they wake Jesus and ask him if he does not care about their fate. At this point they do not realize just who Jesus really was.

The disciples believed, or at least confessed, that Jesus was the Son of David, just as some of the people who saw him cast out the mute demon did. Probably, like most of the average people, though, they understood the Son of David – the Messiah – to be a political savior rather than a spiritual one. In fact, this view would not be totally eradicated from the minds of the disciples until after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Even the disciples to whom Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus talked to him about how they had hoped that the murdered Jesus might have been the one to “save Israel”, the implication being that he must not have been the one, since he was killed by the Romans at the urging of the Jews.

Jesus was indeed the savior of Israel, but certainly not in the way that the Jewish religious establishment, or the Disciples (at this point in their story) expected. Jesus also certainly cared for the disciples’ well-being, but he, unlike we sinful human beings, totally trusted that care into God the Father’s hands[6]. He also understood that man’s physical needs were secondary to man’s spiritual needs. That is why he can sleep on a cushion, on a boat, in the middle of a raging storm – this situation, like all others, is in the Father’s hands. In a sense, you could say that, no Jesus didn’t care that the Disciples were “perishing”, at least in the manner about which they were concerned. He didn’t have to care about that physical situation because it was already in the care of God the Father. No one in the history of human kind, however, cared more than Jesus about how the disciples were truly perishing – spiritually and for eternity. The spiritual situation of mankind is that of the disciples rowing and bailing their boat against the storm. Those efforts will prove fruitless, the proverbial boat of our soul will sink into the sea of sin and death, and our efforts to keep it from doing so are woefully insufficient. We need to be rescued from slipping into the abyss. Jesus cared so much about this that he came to earth a human being in order to atone for the disciples’ sin – and the sin of all mankind – to save them from eternal destruction. Jesus tells the disciples, in fact, that these are the things – those things which pertain to our eternal destiny – to which we should devote our time and attention[7].

Verses 38-39 illustrate for us the dual nature of Jesus. He is truly a human being as evidenced by his physical needs; he was exhausted after a long day of “teaching by the sea” and contending with the Pharisees, and he needed to sleep. He is also divine because, as the disciples point out, “…the wind and the sea obey him.” Jesus is, in addition to being a man, the King of Creation, the one through whom all things were made[8]. When he came to earth, Jesus did not cease to be God; Jesus became Immanuel, “God with us”. He emptied himself of his divine power and took on the form of a servant. He did this so that he could live the sinless life we were incapable of living, and then he paid the debt of guilt that we, mankind, owed to God because of sin[9] by dying on the cross, for, as St. Paul writes, the wages of sin is death[10]. Jesus is the Son, the God-man, second person of the Holy Trinity. Kretzmann observes:

The evangelist here pictures Jesus, the Lord of the universe, who commands the sea, and it gives Him unquestioning obedience. The man Jesus is the almighty God (Kretzmann, 1921).

If the disciples believed what Jesus was teaching about who he was, why he was on the earth, and what was really important (spiritual things rather than physical things), they wouldn’t have been afraid of the storm. They would trust in God in all situations, even the ones which potentially lead to death. Jesus knows, however that they do not yet understand the things he is teaching them properly. They will eventually, though, properly hail him as Messiah. They will also, much later, exhibit the same type of trust in God that Jesus exemplifies in the boat as he slept when they all are, with the exception of St. John, martyred for their faith.

Jesus’ miracle of calming the sea shows that Jesus possesses divine power and authority over creation. It confronts the disciples with the actual Word of God manifested in the flesh, through whom creation itself was brought into existence. Jesus is the Creator of Genesis, and the Designer who spoke to Job[11]. This miracle should also give us, who are also his disciples, comfort. We can look at Jesus the man, sleeping on a cushion in the boat amongst the raging tempest, and know that Jesus the Divine Son of God is aware, and in control of all things. Kretzmann explains:

From that little nutshell of a boat, even while He was asleep, He governed heaven and earth, land and sea. Only His divine majesty was covered by the form of a servant. And as He did then, so He does now: He uses His divine power, His omnipotence, in the interest, in the service of men, especially of His disciples, of His believers. That is the comfort of this story (Kretzmann, 1921).

Therefore, in the mist of tribulations, we know that all things work to the good of them who love Him, who are called according to his purpose[12]. We know that Jesus will calm the storm which threatens the passage of our spiritual ship, and he will pilot it safely into the peaceful rest of eternal life with him, where we will be once and for all free of the stain of sin, death, and the power of the devil.

Works Cited

Decapolis. (2012, June 28). Retrieved June 28, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis

Engelbrecht, E. A., Deterding, P. E., Ehlke, R. C., Joersz, J. C., Love, M. W., Mueller, S. P., et al. (Eds.). (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis, Missouri, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Fruchtenbaum, A. (n.d.). The Three Messianic Miracles. Retrieved June 28, 2012, from Ariel Ministries: www.arielministries.us/archive-files/mbs-masters/mbs/mbs035m.pdf

Jesus Boat Museum. (2012, December 28). Retrieved June 27, 2012, from Sacred Destinations: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jesus-boat

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

Sea of Galilee Boat. (2012, June 27). Retrieved June 27, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee_Boat

End Notes

[1] Matthew 13; Mark 4:1

[2] Matthew 12:38-42

[3] Matthew 12:22-23

[4] The Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Judea and Syria. The ten cities were not an official league or political unit, but they were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status. The Decapolis cities were centers of Greek and Roman culture in a region that was otherwise Semitic. With the exception of Damascus, the "Region of the Decapolis" was located in modern-day Jordan, one of them located west of the Jordan River in Israel. Each city had a certain degree of autonomy and self-rule (Decapolis, 2012).

[5] Leviticus 11:7-8; Mark 5:11

[6] Matthew 6:25-34

[7] Matthew 6:25-34; 13-44

[8] John 1:3

[9] Philippians 2:5-11

[10] Romans 6:23

[11] Job 38:1-11

[12] Romans 8:28

I Believed, And So I Spoke



The Resurrection of Christ - Cranach



Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1).

You have seen Christian men and Christian churches so dispirited and discouraged that you knew at once that they could not hope for success at that rate. What a pity to work so hard for years in the kingdom of God and then to give up, just because we do not seem to be making much headway – possibly none at all. Humanly speaking, what would have become of that little band of Saxon immigrants in 1839 when their leader went wrong if Dr. C.F.W. Walther and his colleagues had given up in despair (Burgess, 1988)?

Dr. Walther, along with approximately 800 other German Lutherans left Saxony when they came to realize that they were not free to practice their Christian faith according to the Lutheran Confessions. This group of Christians found themselves increasingly at odds with the Saxon government at the time, which vigorously promoted rationalism and unionism among the Lutheran (Evangelical) and Reformed (Calvinist) churches in Saxony (Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, 2012). Unwilling to compromise the Lutheran Confessions, this group set out to the United States in 1838. One of their ships was lost at sea; after an arduous voyage, the settlers landed in New Orleans, Louisiana. They made their way up the Mississippi River and settled in Perry County, Missouri. Soon after the immigrants were settled in the new homeland, their leader, Martin Stephan, was accused of financial and sexual misconduct and was expelled from the settlement (Concordia Historical Institute). This shook the community. The people were deeply disturbed. They were unsure whether or not they were a new church after having left the governing church authorities and church hierarchy in Germany, or if they were simply a branch of the old church in Germany. Dr. Walther eventually emerged as the leader of the community, and was able to persuade the people that they were indeed a new church body, separate from the church they left behind in the Old World (Concordia Historical Institute).

This letter was written to the church at Corinth; they seem to have been a congregation with plenty of their own troubles as well. Paul visited Corinth during his second missionary journey; he later wrote a letter to them, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9, which has been lost to the ages. Paul then sent them what we today call 1 Corinthians, to which some scholars believe Paul may have referred to as the “painful letter” in 2 Corinthians 2:4 (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009). 2 Corinthians was written in approximately AD 55. The purpose of the entire letter was to show the Corinthian Christians that Paul’s work among them was truly Christ’s work (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009). He writes about the very real human problems congregations, both ancient and modern, face such as divisions, false apostles/teachers, human frailty, poverty of sin, generosity, suffering, and self-examination. He wrote directly to the Corinthians; he is, by virtue of the universality of his message, speaking to all Christians of all times. Paul quotes Psalm 116:10:

I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted” (Psalm 116:10).

He does so to explain his motivation for proclaiming the Gospel in the midst of suffering (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009). The psalmist writes that, even though he was greatly afflicted with terrible trials, he nevertheless believed and trusted in the Lord. St. Paul also seeks to encourage the reader to remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of trials, looking forward to the Lord’s redemption. This would be significant to the Corinthians, as they were a congregation in turmoil, and Paul has been shepherding them through their tumultuous times. They are also, as Paul writes earlier in chapter four, “jars of clay,” in which God has placed his treasure[1]. Paul wants the Corinthians, though frail, afflicted, persecuted, perplexed, and struck down, to continue speaking to the Gospel to everyone. As they continue to do so, God’s saving grace would naturally extend to more people. Such is the nature of evangelism[2]. As God’s kingdom grows, thanksgiving among his subjects would grow as well, and God would be glorified all the more among mankind.

…knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence (2 Corinthians 4:14).

St. Paul gives the Corinthians the thing upon which they must always remain focused in verse 14 – the resurrection of Jesus. The “he” in that verse is clearly God the Father, as we are told elsewhere in the New Testament that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead[3]. This is not to be taken as some sort of evidence that Jesus is inferior to God the Father, or that he is not divine in his nature. Scripture also tells us that Jesus raised himself from the dead[4], and that Jesus was raised by the Spirit[5]. Jesus, Scripture teaches, has two natures – one human, and one divine. With respect to his human nature, Jesus was certainly subordinate to God the Father and, while he was on the earth, he had to rely on God the Father for everything. This is called Jesus being in the “state of humiliation” (Luther, 1991). The reason for this is not because Jesus was essentially less than divine. It is because he voluntarily emptied himself of his divine power and set it aside to take on human nature, in fulfillment of God the Father’s will[6]. When St. Paul speaks of the resurrection, he means the literal, bodily raising of Jesus, or another, from the dead. Paul uses lots of imagery in 2 Corinthians 4, but not where the resurrection is concerned. To Paul the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus is the most important aspect of the Christian faith[7].

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

The Outer self is the physical person; the inner self is the spiritual person. The outer self experiences all of the wasting away that St. Paul describes in Chapter four because of the Fall and sin. When sin entered creation, God’s creation became totally corrupted. Sin entered God’s creation through one man, and death through sin[8]. Because the corruption of sin reaches the very nature of mankind, all people are subject to physical death. Our inner, or spiritual, self is revived by the power of God’s Holy Spirit working through his means – Word and Sacrament – as God has promised us (Luther, 1991). The Holy Spirit works a renewal of a believer’s whole life – in spirit, will, attitude, and desires[9]. This spiritual renewal manifests itself in a believer’s life as what Paul calls the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control[10].

What does St. Paul mean by the “light momentary affliction”, and how does that affliction prepare St. Paul’s readers for, “…an eternal weight of glory…”? He is writing about life. After sin entered the world and corrupted God’s creation, life got difficult. Man had to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow, woman had to endure pain in childbirth, our corrupt nature turned away from God and turned in toward ourselves. We became subject to sorrow, pain, and death. Paul tells us, however that this light, momentary affliction is not all that there is. Because we have been spiritually united with Christ in his resurrection through baptism, we will also be physically resurrected to eternal life, just as he was[11]. And, just as an athlete endures the pain of training so that he may bear the weight of the sport in which he competes, so we endure the affliction of a corrupt and sinful world, in anticipation of the weight of eternal glory with Christ.

Paul continues with his comparison of temporal and eternal things in verse 18. “The things that are seen” is the physical world; “the things that are unseen” is the spiritual world. The physical world is in a state of decay; the spiritual world is eternal. Paul is not a Christian Scientist; he is not saying that that humanity and the universe are spiritual rather than material (Christian Science, 2012). He does not deny that the physical world is real, as the Gnostics of his day did, and claim that it is evil, and only a projection, or shadow, of the true spiritual reality. The physical world is merely in a state of “passing away”. Even if St. Paul believed that the physical world was not real, and only the spiritual world was reality, he was reminded of the truth constantly. He could not simply project, or believe his way out of beatings, stoning, imprisonment, and ultimately, death.

For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 4:18 – 5:1).

Paul moves from talking about the general physical world to our individual physical bodies. Our corrupted physical body will eventually be destroyed by death. Paul refers to it as a tent, which is a temporary structure. When this happens, though, we know that, through faith in Christ, we have a building from God – a permanent structure – which will last forever. This building from God is the resurrected body promised to us by Christ, redeemed for eternity, restored and transformed by God himself (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009).

This is what we, as Christians, must focus on when times become tough for us. We may not be facing the same sort of obstacles that St. Paul and the Corinthian church faced in their everyday lives, such as violence and persecution. We do, however, face life as believing Christians in an increasingly secular world that is more hostile to the message of Christ crucified and risen every day. We may not be dealing with the trials of establishing and holding together a religious colony in a new country, trying to overcome all the obstacles that go along with such an undertaking. We are, however, a church made up of human beings, complete with sinful human natures; our human failings prove this to us, and those around us, daily. St. Paul instructs Christians to look beyond the momentary affliction to the eternal glory of salvation in Jesus (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009). We must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. And, because we believe, we must also speak. We must speak to those around us who do not know the good news of what Jesus accomplished on the cross at Calvary. The goal of St. Paul’s ministry among the Corinthians was to reach more people with the Gospel. Our goal is the same. Our human failings, our afflictions, all those things that Satan uses to trouble and harass us, become temporary nuisances that will surely give way to the glory of life eternal with our Savior (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009).

Works Cited

Burgess, D. F. (1988). Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations. St. Louis, MO, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Christian Science. (2012, June 12). Retrieved June 12, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science

Concordia Historical Institute. (n.d.). Concordia Historical Institute. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from C. F. W. Walther: http://www.lutheranhistory.org/collections/fa/m-0004.htm

Engelbrecht, E. A., Deterding, P. E., Ehlke, R. C., Joersz, J. C., Love, M. W., Mueller, S. P., et al. (Eds.). (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis, Missouri, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Luther, M. (1991). Kleine Katechismus, English. (C. P. House, Trans.) Saint Louis, Missouri, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. (2012, June 12). Retrieved June 12, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_Church%E2%80%93Missouri_Synod

End Notes

[1] 2 Corinthians 4:7

[2] Isaiah 55:11

[3] Romans 10:9

[4] John 2:19-21; 10:17-18

[5] Romans 8:11

[6] Philippians 2:5-11

[7] See 1 Corinthians 15. The resurrection of Christ is the subject for the entire 15th chapter of this book. St. Paul writes, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain…And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in you sins…If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied,” (1 Cor. 15:14, 17, 19).

[8] Romans 5:12-21

[9] Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 5:17

[10] Galatians 5:22-23

[11] Romans 6:3-4

Citizens of Heaven

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a savior 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).

What does it mean to be a citizen? This topic has been in the news and part of the American political debate for many years now. The question itself, however, is not a new one. Societies throughout history have struggled with defining what citizenship means, what rights and privileges are associated with it, to whom it is conferred, and how.

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance (Roman Citizenship, 2012). A male Roman citizen enjoyed a wide range of privileges and protections defined in detail by the Roman state. A citizen could, only under certain exceptional and extreme circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship.

Slaves, in contrast to citizens, were considered property and had only very limited rights. During the Roman Republic, a master could dispose of his slaves as he did any other property, and while excessive cruelty toward slaves was considered a sign of bad character, killing one's own slave was not a crime (Roman Citizenship, 2012). Most slaves were subjected to lives of extreme hardship. The life of a slave working in the fields, or as laborers in mines, could be brutish and short. A significant number of slaves, however, were highly skilled, and educated; these slaves were often treated as part of the extended family. These educated slaves were often given a degree of independence to work for themselves and could keep some of their own earnings, sometimes accumulating enough to buy their freedom. Until they did so, however, they were not Roman citizens, and enjoyed none of the rights of a citizen.

Some slaves were freed by their masters for services rendered, like indentured servants, or through a provision in their master’s will when he died. Once free, former slaves faced few barriers, beyond normal social snobbery, to participating in Roman society. The principle that a person could become a citizen by law rather than birth was important in Rome’s development as a society. These Freedmen, slaves who had gained their freedom, were granted a limited form of Roman citizenship (Roman Citizenship, 2012). Freedmen could later attain full Roman citizenship; their former status as a slave was not taken into account.

Roman citizenship was coveted by those barbarians living outside the empire, as well as those provincials who lived in territory controlled by Rome. Citizens had commercial (trade) rights, and were subject to the protections of the Roman legal system (Bible History Online). Roman citizenship was seen by these groups as the key to prosperity in a difficult world. In the most generic sense, Roman officials could legally punish noncitizens without proper legal proceedings as Roman law did not apply to noncitizens (Engelbrecht, et al., 2009). But, besides making one safe from the death penalty, a Roman citizen enjoyed, among other things, the right to vote, the right to make contracts, and the right to contract a legal marriage (Jahnige, 2002).

The Apostle Paul himself was a Roman citizen, as we read in the book of Acts. In one instance, after preaching to the crowd after his arrest at the temple, St. Paul is subdued by his Roman guards and stretched out in preparation to be “interrogated” by flogging[1]. As the soldiers are preparing to whip St. Paul he says to the centurion, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” The centurion, knowing full well that it was not lawful to do such a thing under Roman law, becomes frightened:

So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune was also afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him (Acts 22:27-29).

Citizenship was a powerful and precious thing for a person in First Century Rome to have. In some cases citizenship could mean the difference between freedom or slavery, life or death, as it did for St. Paul in this instance.

On at least two occasions, which are recorded in Scripture, St. Paul invokes his Roman citizenship. St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians however, emphasizes that our citizenship, as Christians, is in heaven. We are aliens in this world[2]. Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has made us into a new creation – something completely different than we were before[3]. Although we live in this world and are fully involved in it, we are not “of” it. In his prayer before he is arrested and lead away to face death for our transgression, Jesus says this about his disciples:

“…but I [Jesus] say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world” (John 17: 14-15).

The disciples, and all believers, are not “of” the world. Since we are a new creation we do not think according to the pattern of this world. This world is hostile to God.

For although they [mankind] knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans 1: 21-23).

Believers, however, have been born of the Spirit, and are now children of God. Our citizenship, like St. Paul’s Roman citizenship, came with a price, and it, to, rescues those who hold it from death. Our citizenship in heaven was purchased for us, not with gold or silver as Roman citizenship would have been purchased by a Roman slave, but with the holy, precious blood of Jesus, and with his innocent suffering and death (Luther, 1991).

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1: 12-13).

Because Jesus came to earth, took on human nature, kept the law perfectly and died on the cross as a substitute for us, we can have the gift of eternal life and a restored relationship with Him. This gift is ours by faith in Jesus Christ, as St. Luke writes, “…believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – you and your household” (Acts 16:31).

Multiple citizenship, sometimes referred to as “dual citizenship”, is when a person is regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one country. This situation can exist because different countries have different citizenship laws. People generally refer to someone in this situation as a person who “holds” dual citizenship, but this can be misleading. Technically each nation of which the person is a citizen is making a claim that this person is its own citizen. For example, a person may have American citizenship and German citizenship. Each country sees the person as their own citizen fully, without any regard to that person’s status in any other country. There are some countries, however, that forbid holding multiple citizenships (Dual Citizenship). When you become a citizen of Country B, your citizenship in Country A is dissolved.

God’s country is like this. We are either citizens of heaven, or citizens of this world, and God is not willing to share us with the world[4]. It is through Baptism that the Holy Spirit works faith and creates in us new spiritual life with the power to overcome sin. This is the naturalization process by which we become citizens of heaven. When this happens, our citizenship in this world is dissolved and we are made citizens of heaven with Christ. The world is no longer our home, though we must live in it for a time. We must also stop living according to the customs of our “old” country, and begin acting like citizens of our new, heavenly country[5].

Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying (Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3: 5-8).

We are no longer, as believers in Christ, under the dominion of evil, though sin surely affects us constantly. It is easy to lose sight of this comforting truth and become bogged down with the cares and trials of our life in this world. However, no matter what our circumstance, we are under the benevolent rule of God’s Son.

For he [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1: 13-14).

Travelers to a foreign country, when they need assistance, information, or are in danger, can seek out their own country’s embassy. Popular culture claims these embassies to be sovereign soil of the country they represent. While this isn’t true, an embassy can be looked at as part of the home country abroad. Even though a traveler may be on the other side of the world, their country’s embassy is a place where their interests, as well as the interests of their home country, are represented in a foreign land. Christians are aliens here on earth.  Our citizenship is in heaven, and we look forward to the day when Jesus will return visibly to judge the world and we will be with him forever.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. As so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18).

Until that day comes, however, we can take comfort in the fact that we can visit the embassy of our home country – the church. While we are here in our earthly exile, we can still be connected with our spiritual home country. By gathering together with our fellow Christians, we can offer each other strength and encouragement in our exile. By participating in the liturgy, the roots of which can be traced back to the early church, we leave behind our secular worldly culture, and participate for a brief time in the “heavenly culture” of worship. And, when we hear the Word preached and receive the Sacraments, we participate in the body of Christ, and we are nourished by him who is our head.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray the petition “Thy Kingdom come.” In this petition, Jesus teaches us to pray for His Holy Spirit so that we believe his Word and lead godly lives in this world – and for the hastened coming of his kingdom of glory (Luther, 1991). By the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we say with St. John, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” In the mean time, we must remember to act like the citizens of heaven that we are.

Works Cited

Bible History Online. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2012, from Roman Citizenship: http://www.bible-history.com/rome/RomeRoman_Citizenship.htm

Dual Citizenship. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2012, from immihelp.com: http://www.immihelp.com/citizenship/dual-citizenship-recognize-countries.html

Engelbrecht, E. A., Deterding, P. E., Ehlke, R. C., Joersz, J. C., Love, M. W., Mueller, S. P., et al. (Eds.). (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis, Missouri, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Jahnige, J. (2002, May). Roman Law And Government: Roman Citizenship. Retrieved June 7, 2012, from Kentucky Educational Television Distance Learning (Latin I): http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/mores/law/citizenship.htm

Luther, M. (1991). Kleine Katechismus, English. (C. P. House, Trans.) Saint Louis, Missouri, USA: Concordia Publishing House.

Roman Citizenship. (2012, June 6). Retrieved June 7, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_citizenship

End Notes

[1] Acts 22

[2] Hebrews 13:14

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:17

[4] Romans 12:2, Galatians 5:16-25

[5] Ephesians 4:17-24

Summer Vacation

And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).

Everyone loves a vacation. It is a time to suspend reality, if only for a brief period. All year long we go about our hum-drum lives, doing the same tedious work, dealing with the same frustrating people and issues. Each day seems to melt into the next, as we mechanically repeat the habitual litany of meaningless acts that, summed up, total our working life. We get up. We bathe. We eat. We go off to work. We eat. We come home from work. We eat. We watch television. We go to sleep. Repeat ad infinitum, ad nauseum. We endure this hellish cycle for what seems to be an eternity until – Ah! The weather turns hot, the days become long, and the vacation season is upon us. For two weeks or more, depending on how much seniority you have at your job, this depressing existence will fade into the background and you will take a vacation.

Of course, if you have children, or have ever interacted with children, you know that they become just as excited about the prospect of vacation as adults. Ask most any school aged child what their favorite part of school is, and they will invariably answer, “summer vacation”. American children may not realize it – or, indeed, even care – but they have the British to thank for the concept of summer break. In Great Britain, the word “vacation” once specifically referred to the long summer break taken by the law courts and universities. This custom of what has morphed into the “summer vacation” was introduced by William the Conqueror from Normandy. William decided that everyone should take some time off from learning, and law, and get down to the important business of the grape harvest. To this day in England, and in most of the rest of Europe as well, they take the summer vacation pretty seriously. In the not-too-distant past, many upper-class English families would move to a summer home for part of the year, leaving their usual family home vacant.

Unfortunately, our spiritual life seems to play the yin to our secular life’s yang. By that I mean, all the while we are slaving away at our boring secular jobs, waiting for summer to get here, church life is busy and exciting. Beginning with Advent and running through Pentecost – the festival season, as it is called – gives worshipers something different and exciting to look forward to nearly every Sunday. First there is Advent, with the anticipation of the coming Christ. Advent is followed by Christmas, where we celebrate Immanuel – God with us, born in human flesh. Next come Epiphany and Transfiguration This is the “Time of Christmas”.

After the time of Christmas we enter into the “Time of Easter”. This begins with the solemn preparation for the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday. Lent, though with muted color and focused on repentance, has special music and, in many congregations, midweek worship services, complete with soup supper. Holy Week brings Lent to an intense close, focusing on the suffering and death of the Savior. We finish strongly with celebrating the Risen Christ with Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Holy Trinity.

Then, however, begins the long, dark, tea time of the church year’s soul. We enter the time after Pentecost. In the Roman Catholic tradition, this portion of the church year is known as “ordinary time”, and after a couple of Sundays you can tell why. The festivals are gone until November. The colors on the altar stay the same green for the duration of the summer. The church settles into routine, and it is difficult for even the most energetic of pastors and church musicians to focus on “ordinary time” with the same zeal that they brought to bear on the festival season.

Oh, sure, a congregation might try to spice up “ordinary time” by observing some of the lesser festivals on the church calendar. Let’s face it, though; It doesn’t matter how interesting the life of Polycarp of Smyrna was, singing a hymn verse about his life and crafting a collect around him just doesn’t compare to the Christmas Eve candlelight service; or to All Saints Day; or to the depression of Good Friday; or to the exultation of Easter. It just isn’t the same. Couple this perceived increase in monotony in the regular Sunday worship service with the fact that the beginning of “ordinary time” coincides with “vacation time” and maybe you can see the seeds of conflict.

In the summer, vacations are the order of the day, and vacations all too often separate the Christian, for a time, from his home, and home church. What’s the problem with this, you might ask? Surely it isn’t sinful to take a vacation! Certainly not. However, couple the “vacation” with the “weekend getaway”, the “Sunday drive” and the “mental health day”, and a disturbing pattern begins to emerge. Nearly every Sunday, the highways beckon the Christian to sacrifice the quiet hour with God for some new sights, some new pleasures, some new friends. This is much more than a harmless vacation. These days turn into an excuse to assuage the guilt that we feel at indulging our sinful human nature, by neglecting our spiritual health, growth, and welfare.

As a result of this subtle neglect, many a Christian’s life in Christ and with Christ lacks spiritual vigor and strength. Left to fester for enough time, this situation will result in our spiritual malnourishment. We all know of fellow Christians whose spiritual lives have sunk to the point of suspended animation. If you think hard enough, you may even call to mind someone – a friend, perhaps – whose ship of faith was eventually dashed apart on the rocky crags of neglect and worldly indulgence. In each and every case of such spiritual malaise, or spiritual death, that you can think of, the first step down that road was, most assuredly, taking an extended vacation from their Christian faith.

What are we to do, stop taking vacations? Are we to use every spare moment of our waking lives in attending worship services? May we never go out of town? Shall we only take trips that can be concluded between Monday and Saturday, so as not to miss church at our home congregation? Though we should seek to plan our lives around our Christian fellowship, and not vice versa, that isn’t exactly the point. Let us look to Holy Scripture, to the Christians at the church in Jerusalem for our example:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

The issue here is not so much the physical act of being in church, but more so the mindset of the Christians of whom St. Luke writes in the concluding verses of Acts, chapter two. St. Luke says that they “devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship…” The word “devote”, according to Merriam-Webster, means, “To commit by a solemn act; to give over or direct (as time, money, or effort) to a cause, enterprise or activity.”

So, what St. Luke is telling us here is that these early Christians were committed to Christ by a solemn act (Holy Baptism). As a consequence of this commitment, they were giving over and directing their time, money, and efforts, to their endeavor, which he describes as the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers – in other words, worship and Christian fellowship.

It could have been so easy for these Christians to fall back into the routine of their daily lives. At the time of which the words of our text speak, the exciting events of the Day of Pentecost were past. The rush of the mighty wind, that sound that had gotten the people’s attention, and focused them on the Apostles, was now silent. The flaming tongues of fire which had manifested, divided, and rested so dramatically on the heads of the Apostles – the symbols of their God-given power and authority to preach the Gospel of Christ – were no longer seen upon them. The words of St. Peter who had preached to the crowd that Pentecost day were no longer ringing in the people’s ears. Many of those who had heard St. Peter’s sermon and who were “cut to the heart”, as the Scriptures describe the scene, had most certainly departed Jerusalem after the feast was over. The streets of the city had returned to their “ordinary” hustle and bustle.

With all the eventful, exciting things seemingly at an end, it must have been a powerful, albeit subtle, temptation for these new believers to lose the enthusiasm they had at Pentecost, at their conversion and baptism. In the absence of such visible wonders, it would have been comfortable to lapse into their former ways, their former habits, their former associations which had filled their past lives. It would have been easy to drift away from “the fellowship” and to forsake their fellow Christians for the friends, companions, and diversions they had in former days; Easier still, in the face of the persecution they were beginning to feel at the hands of the Pharisees, and later, the Romans.

None of that happened. What is documented by St. Luke is not a church with an attendance problem. He doesn’t write, “many of the people have left the fellowship, but the fellowship is still surviving with good attendance numbers since it began contemporary worship services on Saturday nights at the local forum.” On the contrary, he says, “…the Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved.” God, through his means of Grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit, builds and nurtures His Church.

The faith created in these Christians, just like the faith God created in each one of us at our conversion, by His means of Grace, was alive. How could it be otherwise? That faith was created by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ – the Word of God – which is described by the author of Hebrews in dynamic terms:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

These Christians had, from the mouth of St. Peter, heard preached the living and active Word of God, and it pierced their hearts. Never again would they be the same. They knew and acknowledged the evil of sin, and their own sinfulness. They also knew the remedy for sin – the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They knew Jesus as their Savior. They believed that Christ’s blood, shed on the cross, cleansed them from all sin, and they ached to be fed with the life-giving, faith-nurturing food of God’s means of grace – his Holy Word and Sacraments.

We are no different from these Christians at the church in Jerusalem after Pentecost. More accurately, we began our Christian journey no differently from them. We sinners, dead in our transgressions, came to faith in Christ by the same means of grace as they. We received the same living faith, by the power of the same Holy Spirit. We run the risk of stagnation, however, if we take a vacation from our faith. A living faith, just like any other living thing, must be fed and cared for, in order for it to grow and mature. If it is neglected it will weaken, wither, and die.

It is evident from St. Luke’s description of the congregation of believers in Jerusalem after Pentecost that they were no part-time Christians. They were Christians every day of their lives, at all seasons of the year. Their faith took no vacation. They fought the “old Adam” living in them – their sinful human nature – when it called them to neglect the fellowship of believers, and thus weaken their faith, to Satan’s delight. Their confidence in the Gospel led them to partake of the holy Sacrament frequently for the strengthening of their faith. And, the joint prayer with their brothers imposed upon them the welcome necessity to join with them regularly in public service.

Our faith, our steadfastness, our perseverance must never be made dependent upon days, festivals, and seasons. Let us be sure to be Christians all the time, every day of our lives, during all seasons of the year, and in every place where we happen to find ourselves. It is vitally important for our spiritual wellbeing that we gather around Word and Sacrament, and nourish our faith at every opportunity we are able. If we do not partake of the rich spiritual banquet Christ has provided us, that faith in us will become weak, emaciated, and it will ultimately die. St. Paul writes in Galatians:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law (Galatians 5:16-18).

Let us then, on the basis of the early Christians – those first generation believers of the church at Jerusalem – under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit, remind ourselves that, while the Christian may, from time to time, go out of town, the Christian’s faith takes no vacation.

The Circumcision of Christ

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of you flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:11-14).

A rite of passage is generally defined as a ritual marking a person’s coming-of-age in a culture, or marking one’s passage from one phase of life or status into another. There are many rites of passage in our modern society. When you’re five years old, you get to go to Kindergarten and begin your formal education. Many parents become misty-eyed when they take their child for his or her first haircut. I don’t know a mother who does not choke up just a little bit when they talk about when their baby lost that first tooth. Some of them even still have that memento secreted away in a memory box somewhere as a reminder of when their baby was a “baby”. In the United States age 16 is marked by many teenagers’ most important coming-of-age ritual – the driver’s license. At 18 years we take a couple more important steps down the road to adulthood when we become eligible to vote and boys are required to register for the draft (though that particular rite of passage is significant only with previous generations of Americans). In America, however, the magic age is 21. That is when our society finally views people as an adult. At 21 a person can drink alcohol, they can drive a car (preferably not at the same time, or in close proximity with one another), and they can enjoy most all the privileges of a full-fledged adult in our society. At 21 you are an adult, though there may still be quite a bit of maturing to be done.

There are many religious rites of passage as well. In Judaism, boys (at age 13) and girls (at age 12) reach bar/bat mitzvah. Prior to bar/bat mitzvah, a child’s parents are considered responsible for their child’s actions. After this age, children bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics and are able to participate in all areas of Jewish community life (Bar and Bat Mitzvah, 2012). Some Christian denominations equate Christian baptism with bar/bat mitzvah. Many denominations believe that baptism should only be administered to those individuals who have reached what is generally termed as an age of accountability, when the child has matured to the point that they have become morally responsible and are able to profess their faith in Jesus. Consequently, a child who has not reached the age of accountability is not capable of sinning, and thus not guilty of sin. Only after a child has become morally accountable is a child able to commit actual sins; that is when they become guilty of sin. Dr. Steve Lemke, Provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, wrote the following:

It is believer’s baptism, however, that provides the most significant reason to affirm the “age of accountability.” Believer’s baptism is a core belief of Baptists (there’s a reason that we are called Baptists!). The early Baptists were called “Anabaptists” because they believed that the infant baptism they had received was unscriptural, and they were baptized again upon their profession of faith in Christ. The denial of infant baptism has been a defining issue for Baptists throughout their history… Baptist confessions tend not to use the term “original sin” (it is in none of the versions of the Baptist Faith and Message), and two early Baptist confessions explicitly deny it. Baptists do believe that we children of Adam “inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin,” but it is not until we become “transgressors” ourselves that we come under guilt and condemnation (Baptist Faith and Message, Article 3). So while we believe in an inherited sin nature, we do not believe in inherited guilt. It is the belief in inherited guilt that leads those in the Reformed tradition toward the necessity for infant baptism (Lemke, 2010).

Baptism is thus likened to a rite of passage into moral accountability for denominations who believe similarly, not unlike the Jewish practice of bar/bat mitzvah. Scripture does compare baptism to an ancient practice of Judaism. Baptism is not, however, compared to bar/bat mitzvah in the Bible; it is likened to the practice of circumcision. St. Paul, in the passage from Colossians quoted above, calls baptism, “the circumcision of Christ.” In good Lutheran fashion I ask, “What does this mean?” To understand what St. Paul means by his comparison, we have to know a little bit about circumcision as it is presented in the Old Testament.

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant (Genesis 17:9-14).

Today in the United States circumcision is performed routinely in hospitals when a male child is born. The practice has little to do with religious faith, and is heavily debated between those who support the practice for medical and hygienic reasons, and those who decry the practice as mutilation and an infringement on individual liberty. The purpose of circumcision as instituted by God in the book of Genesis, however, was to be a mark of his covenant with Abraham. God had promised to send a savior to redeem mankind after the Fall, and he promised that savior would be the seed of Abraham. By the removal of the foreskin, males received a visible sign of this promise that God would send a Savior, born of a woman. No Hebrew male could live a day without being reminded of the promise God had made long before, and every conjugal act between a husband and wife would illustrate the hope that God was working to restore creation and redeem all people (Engelbrecht, 2009). As a pledge, or sign, of the covenant, circumcision pointed to something greater than merely the act itself. The Word – the promise of God – not the mere removal of flesh from the body, was the chief thing in circumcision (Engelbrecht, 2009).

St. Paul is correct in correlating baptism with Old Testament circumcision. As a covenant sign, circumcision physically established the covenant and pointed to what God was doing in order to redeem us to himself. In Christ, however, the purpose of the covenant with Abraham (i.e. to be a blessing to all the families of the earth) was fulfilled. The new covenant is established with a different kind of circumcision – baptism (Engelbrecht, 2009).

As the Bible sees it, baptism is not primarily a sign of repentance and faith on the part of the baptized. It is not a sign of anything that we do at all. It is a covenant sign (like circumcision, but without blood-shedding), and therefore a sign of the work of God on our behalf which precedes and makes possible our own responsive movement (Harrison, Bromiley, & Henry, 1999).

Certainly, based on what the Bible tells us about the nature of circumcision, and St. Paul’s correlation of circumcision with baptism, one is certainly justified in concluding that there is a Biblical basis for baptizing infants. This rite was performed on infants eight days old. It would be odd to refer to Baptism as the “circumcision of Christ” if Baptism of infants was to be forbidden while circumcision was given almost exclusively to infants. However, this is by no means the only reasoning for infant baptism. Babies, even before they are born as evidenced in the case of John the Baptist, are capable of faith by the working of the Holy Spirit. The work of God’s Holy Spirit is not limited by age, or anything else. The Holy Spirit works when and where he wills.

For he [John the Baptist] will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb…When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy'" (Luke 1: 15, 41-44).

Children clearly have a part in God’s kingdom, and are not merely some sort of amoral being until they reach a nebulous “age of accountability”. Being born in the flesh, children have a sinful human nature. Along with that corrupt nature comes the inclination and desire to flee from God, and they therefore need the forgiveness that Christ offers in baptism, just as an unregenerate adult does. Scripture tells us that all people are sinful from the time of their birth[1]. St. Paul tells us in Romans 3: 23-24 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Christ distributes this grace to us in the sacrament of baptism, by the working of the Holy Spirit, and makes it possible for us to respond to him, though feebly[2]. In this way baptism is not unlike the defibrillator used by paramedics on a person whose heart has stopped beating; such a person is technically dead, and is powerless to make themselves alive again. Someone – a paramedic – must do something to them without their help to get their heart beating again. St. Paul tells us that we are dead in our transgressions[3]. Through baptism, God takes us who were dead in our transgressions, and makes us alive in Christ.

Additionally, there are several reports in scripture where people bring their children to Christ to have him touch and bless them. Jesus warns against the danger of offending against little ones that believe in him, and in the same context says that to be Christians we have not to become adults but to become as children (Harrison, Bromiley, & Henry, 1999). One such passage is in the Gospel of St. Mark:

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them (Mark 10: 13-16).

St. Luke also writes:

People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them (Luke 18:15).

On the contrary, there is a long tradition in the church of baptizing children, derived from Scripture, dating back to apostolic times. Infant Baptism was common practice in the early church. Scripture lends support to this when it reports that the Apostles baptized entire families – some of which, at least, would normally include children[4]. When entire families, and all indeed who belonged to them were baptized, it is probable that if there were a number of children in these families, the Apostles did not exclude them. More importantly, the Apostles could refer Jesus’ command to “let the little children come to me,” to the rite of circumcision from the Old Testament. The fathers of the early church certainly debated the subject of infant baptism. However, the volume of writings in favor of infant baptism far outweighs those in opposition to the practice, from the second century to the time of the Apostolic Constitutions:

He came to save all persons by means of Himself – all, I say, who through Him are born again to God – infants, children, boys, youth, and old men[5]…Even to the greatest sinners and to those who have sinned much against God, when they subsequently believe, remission of sins is granted. Nobody is hindered from baptism and from grace. How much more should we shrink from hindering an infant. For he, being lately born, has not sinned – other than, in being born after the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth. For this reason, he more easily approaches the reception of the forgiveness of sins. For to him are remitted – not his own sins – but the sins of another. Therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council that no one should be hindered by us from baptism and from the grace of God[6]…Baptize your infants also and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God. For He says, “Allow the little children to come unto me and do not forbid them[7],” (Bercot, 1998).

Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word (Luther, 1986). Through baptism, God receives people into fellowship with himself. Babies are to be baptized because they are included in the Savior’s command to baptize all nations[8]. And, like all of mankind, a baby is, by nature, an object of wrath, prior to regeneration through faith in Christ[9]. Thanks be to God that he has provided for mankind this means of grace by which he works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare[10].

Works Cited

Bar and Bat Mitzvah. (2012, April 27). Retrieved April 27, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_Bat_Mitzvah

Bercot, D. W. (Ed.). (1998). A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody, Massachusetts, USA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Harrison, E. F., Bromiley, G. W., & Henry, C. F. (Eds.). (1999). Wycliffe Dictionary of Theology. Peabody, Massachusetts, USA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

Lemke, D. S. (2010, July 26). Age of Accountability. Retrieved April 26, 2012, from Southern Baptist in NC: http://rebekah1.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/age-of-accountability/

Luther, D. M. (1986). Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

End Notes

[1] Psalm 51:5

[2] 1 Corinthians 6:11

[3] Ephesians 2:5

[4] Acts 16:15, 33

[5] Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.391

[6] Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.354

[7] Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.457

[8] Matthew 28:19

[9] Ephesians 2:3

[10] Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 6:3, 5; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 1:13-14; Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Titus 3:5