Text: Deut. 32:36-39
Facebook live: Christ lays down His life for you willingly!
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. Deut.32:36-39
On this Psalm Sunday / Passion Sunday weekend we rejoice in the truth that we have a savior where we can truly place our trust. And that the very Son of God will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, being just and possessing the requirement of our freedom from sin, death and the devil by bearing and carrying our salvation with Him which the Lord had planned.
This humble servant who came down from heaven was not in the form of your everyday earthly King.
This King and Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord, would rise through lowliness and suffering to the strength and glory which was hidden in Him in the state of His humiliation, and which now is leading, in one short week, to His trial and crucifixion at the cross.
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge,
when he sees that their power is gone
and there is none remaining, bond or free.
The ways of the world and its Kingdoms are built by the power of the sword.
The reach of man’s conquests is stretched into territories of his choosing.
The rulers of the world come down on the unsuspecting to the glory of the one wielding power.
Power in might is brought to bear over people places and things by the gods, Kings and rulers of our earthly Kingdoms…
In our day and age, we too see the power of the sword wielded upon others.
Most recently the war in Ukraine comes to mind. Those who seek power to control and those who seek to remain free and live in freedom and self-determination. We to religious liberty on trial as people faith and life have come under attack and in a real sense the Christian church at home and around the world. The Lutheran Church of Finland was most recently targeted for quoting the Bible and was on trial as hate speech. Thankfully the Justices found the bishop and a politician not guilty. But what about the next time or the next place. In all of its denominational or non-denominational forms the church is a target.
Real persecution comes to the Christian church daily around the world but with many of us it is simple inactivity, non-involvement, and quietly keeping our Christian worldview to ourselves.
To profess and publicly acknowledge God - is fine and encouraged - as long as - He doesn't have a name; and that name better not be Jesus – or you’ll be branded intolerant and hateful!
Once the name of Jesus is mentioned you are politically incorrect because you proclaim with all Christians from all time:
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:10
But we who worship the true God Jesus Christ know that:
39 “‘See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand
This humble King, Jesus Christ, by his very death and resurrection will bring peace.
He kills sin and makes us alive through Baptism.
He wounds and heals and though we are dead he gives us life and the peace that passes all human understanding to the very ends on the Earth.
The reaction to this message of peace for many is the catalyst for anger and an erosion of religious distinctions.
Recently Philosophy Professor Rev. Dr. Gregory Schultz was put on probation for an article he wrote entitled “Woke Dysphoria at Concordia.” There is much to say when our Lutheran University’s are falling victim to the culture. There are many reasons for this but we pray that the Lord will restore a right understanding and Christian teaching and focus at our Lutheran colleges. So that the truth of who Christ is will continue to be proclaimed. There is no place for competing truths.
Jesus said:
6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Peace only comes by the way of truth and Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life.
C.S. Lewis has said:
If you look for truth, you may find comfort; if you look for comfort you will find neither, and in the end, you will only find despair.
C. S. Lewis
It’s not that Christianity and our beliefs have changed but our culture’s tolerance and understanding of them certainly has.
The Gospel of John in Chapter 20 reminds us:
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
God has set you free from the power of sin, the flesh and the devil.
As our triumphant King Jesus Christ rides today into Jerusalem. His path to the cross from His baptism, where He was marked as the chief of sinners for you, also points to His ride today as a triumphant ride that is unique and different from every other faith tradition because in a short while Jesus Christ will accomplish the true freedom at the cross for you and for all sinners of all time.
You are set free from your sin because Jesus came for sinners! He came to set you free. He came for you! He gave His life at the cross to pay the price God demands to satisfy His justice and you are free. You are truly free!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
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