Seeing Salvation

 

"For my eyes have seen Your Salvation." -Luke 2:30

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, and from the saints at Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church, South Bend, who share your joy as they participate with you and the whole Christian Church on earth in His life and benefits; who share with you in His cross and suffering; who share with you a life of faith and repentance as we together await the Last Day when He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

 

By this time a good many gifts of Christmas – the material gifts we exchange as tokens of the gift of a Savior - have been opened, spread out on the living room floor and dining room table, put to use, and perhaps by now even put away. It is one of those things that makes the Christmas Season distinct, at least in our place on this planet, for at what time is there such a lavish display of material exchange? For many people the gifts exchanged at Christmas exceed in number and in quality those received on a birthday.

 

To be sure, there are complaints about all this material exchange. “Christmas is too commercialized,” we hear. “Christmas is about Christ. It is not about all this material stuff.” True enough, the world’s approach to Christmas glosses over those things which are not seen. What are those things? They are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; they are all that accompany the Gift of Christ Jesus as imparted to you by the Holy Spirit.

 

Come to think of it, you tend to gloss over those things, too. “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: I’ve heard all that stuff. Where is that going to get me? I’d rather have stuff.”

 

But the Word Made Flesh, in the fullness of time has taken upon Himself the stuff of this world. All of it, including flesh and bone, just like yours, in order that, as your Substitute in every way He might be Your Righteousness.

 

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

 

It is not for His own sake, but for yours, that He takes up these things – the material and stuff of this world along with flesh and blood - is born into them and then is crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, buried, and risen again as proof that His righteousness avails before the Father, so that on your behalf He lives and rules; so that you may ask for anything in His precious Name and He will grant it.

 

Your LORD Jesus Christ has sanctified all things for you, even all those gifts you give and receive at Christmas in all their material glory, even though that glory is a fading glory. Can you think of any material thing that does not wear out? There are some antique tools out there that seem never to fade, but they are fading. All things in this creation will fade as the new creation come into being. In the mystery of the Word made Flesh, your Father in heaven has given you a new revelation of His glory that, seeing Him in the person of His Son, you may know and love those things that are not seen.

 

Well. Now that we got that out of the way, shall we talk about Justin Bieber, who recently announced retirement? How about Peyton Manning, whose skills as an NFL quarterback appear to be unparalleled? Or some other well-known public figure who is not present to speak for himself?

 

You know better than that. Although you may at times not know better than to talk about other people behind their back, you do know better than to hear them discussed in this place, here and now. Although you are aware of famous public figures and appreciate their accomplishments in this way or that, you do not make it your life’s aim to be like them, and even be reminded to be content with who you are and what you have received according to the measure of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

 

This is but a small demonstration of the patience and self control your Father in heaven has worked in you by the Holy Spirit, Christ be praised, that you are given to listen intently to His Word as given from Above, take it to heart, and ponder it, as do Mary and Joseph in the Temple when they hear from Simeon and Anna.

 

While your flesh, like mine, is inclined to talk about others behind their backs, this faithful, elderly pair, Simeon and Anna, speaks in the presence of the younger Mary and Joseph concerning their Child, which Child belongs to all of creation as its Savior, carefully prepared and revealed in the fullness of time.

 

Through Simeon and Anna the Holy Spirit testifies once again, as He has from the beginning, of the Babe's long-awaited redemption and consolation of Israel. You behold the same with your eyeballs as you partake of His supper, prepared in the presence of our enemies. You sing often and in awe of this Light to the Gentiles and the Glory of His people, Israel.

 

Simeon and Anna have someone to talk to, and Someone to talk about. They talk to Mary and Joseph. They talk about Mary and Joseph’s newborn Son, Whose name is Jesus; Who is now presented in the temple as the beginning of the final fulfillment of the law, for this Jesus is now the temple in which you also are found by virtue of His atoning death, and His resurrection from the dead.

 

Simeon and Anna are like grandparents speaking to a strange young couple and all the people standing about in the temple, about this newborn Child. Yet there is something happening here that exceeds the typical conversation we have with one another from day to day. Your Father in heaven this day shows you how His people of old received the newborn Christ with joy and wonder because, in this Child, all of heaven and earth has redemption.

 

For the nations that walk in darkness, not knowing where they came from or where they are going, this Christ will reveal through patient, steadfast teaching, and through His innocent suffering and death, that God is above all Love. The things nations and peoples know faintly to be good and right and virtuous, The Christ will teach more clearly and plainly than has ever been taught.

 

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

 

It isn’t enough for Simeon to stand at a distance. He is compelled to take the Child into His arms. For this Christ Child Who was born for you and for me is not a ghost or a stuffed animal, or a mere concept, but real, precious flesh and blood.

 

It is not much different than when your father and mother took you into their arms as a newborn child. It is not unlike your Father in heaven, who tenderly takes you up to Himself in love because in this Holy Son of His He is pleased with you; because you are sons; because God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your heart, crying, “Abba! Father!”

 

In this case with Simeon and Anna, however, the fullness of time has arrived. The Holy Spirit, of infinite love and wisdom, revealed to Simeon in some detail that this particular Child was special. People of every station in life have this One Name in which to hope for salvation, whether they be rich and famous like Justin Bieber and Peyton Manning, or whether they be of lowlier estate, like a shepherd keeping watch over his flock, or a welder assembling airline baggage carts,  a janitor sweeping the floor, a school teacher, a real-estate agent, a waitress, a cook, a gas station attendant, a lawyer, or a pastor.

 

It is tempting to wish we could be Simeon, or Anna; to wish we could have been there when this Child of Christmas was taken into the arms and blessed with words from the Holy Spirit declaring Who this Child is and what He is to do for the whole world.

 

The fact of the matter, dear saints in Christ Jesus, is that you no less hold this Christ than does Simeon, for this Christ Jesus into Whom you are baptized holds you and preserves you from every evil as you live a life of faith accompanied by much trouble, anxiety, and yes, even sin that occurs daily and much.

 

The same Holy Spirit Who revealed to Simeon he would not die before He saw the Christ is the same Holy spirit Who has called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified you, kept you in the true Faith unto life everlasting, for the Holy Spirit is He Who testifies of Christ and His benefits so that He may apprehend you, take you up in mercy, bless you, and sustain you despite all sin and weakness that attends to your poor flesh. He has made you an heir of Christ’s perfect obedience and feeds you His flesh in the Sacrament.

 

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” “LORD, now let your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word.”  I’ve heard all that stuff, many times. So says your flesh. So says mine. But . . .

 

the Spirit of the Lord,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord . . .

 

These rest upon you, because they rest upon Christ Jesus, and you are baptized into Christ Jesus, and you see you see with your own eyeballs, Sabbath after Sabbath, the Salvation your Father in heaven has prepared before the face of all peoples.

 

For when you and I and the saints at Emmaus South Bend, and the saints scattered about throughout the world, celebrate and receive the Sacrament of the Altar, it is not done under a rug. It is not done in the closet.  It not hidden. No. It is public, this body and blood of Christ Jesus; the same body and blood taken up into Simeons’ arms and spoken of by both Simeon and Anna.

 

Your eyes are seeing salvation here. You participate with Simeon and Anna here. And you are given to tell these things from one generation to the next in this place and out and about in the world.

 

See what patience and love the Father has toward you that He took a people of old for Himself, the people of Israel, and for your learning showed them great wonders from His hand and tested them in the wilderness; how He gave them teachers and prophets continually to remind them that they were not their own, but were the redeemed of the Lord.

 

Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Anna spoke to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. This consolation and redemption is prepared from the foundation of the world, from the time sin first entered into the world, and now – with the birth of the Word made Flesh and His presentation in the temple - it is just the right time and just the right place for just the right flesh and blood to become manifest to all the world in the person and work of Christ Jesus.

 

All that is written of Him has been fulfilled. All of His benefits are here and present with you this day; not only the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, but also . . .

 

the Spirit of the Lord,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

 

So that each and every day you live as Children under the gracious hand of Almighty God, Who by His Holy Spirit brings forth in you the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This fruit is no less real, no less tangible than the flesh of Christ Himself. The true Gift of Christmas this very day for you sanctifies all things through His body, given into death, and risen from the dead.

The Word is Given

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. -John 1:14a

I was going to tell you something but I forgot what it was.
I was going to tell you something, but I was afraid you would be offended.
I was going to tell you something, but I didn’t have time.
I was going to tell you something, but I could not find the words.

It is characteristic of your fallen flesh that you forget what you were going to say; that you fear the feelings and opinions that might result from your speech; that you are subject to spans of time that never seem to be enough to get things done, whether it is Christmas shopping, saying “thank you,” or even saying “goodbye;” that even when the thought is there, the words just cannot be found to express them.

The thoughts and the words come and go. They appear and disappear as randomly and quickly as waves of water that land on the beach or crash on rocks. Though they may be remembered after they are spoken, they cannot be retrieved and put in their proper place.

Where do thoughts come from anyway? Do words come from thoughts, or do thoughts come from words? Which comes first?

Not so for the Word become Flesh. Not so for Him Who was in the beginning, by Whom all things were made, Who was in the beginning with God. Not so for Him Through Whom all things came into being, apart from Whom nothing came into being that has come into being.

I was going to tell you something but I forgot what it was.

Your Father in heaven does not forget, but He remembers and He speaks in mercy, for it is written:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES,
And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;

To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

All of this is fulfilled in the Word mad Flesh, the Christ. Whose birth, begotten from eternity, we celebrate this day.

Your Father in heaven does not want this gift for you to go unnoticed. So he sent His prophets from ages past. He sent His holy angels to the Shepherds, just doing their jobs. He sent John the Baptist to point the finger in the wilderness and cry out: “Behold! The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” He sent his Holy Evangelist, St. John, to write down so plainly yet so profoundly that which has sounded into your ears yet again this morn: how He who has no genealogy to speak of took upon Himself your genealogy of sin and death in exchange for His life.

He has it all written down and promised even from before the moment Adam and Eve traded their glory for a life of sorrow, labor, fear, and anxiety.

He sends His Pastors, so that the same Word may sound out into your ears; so that the same repentance and faith, life and salvation, be joined to you to raise you up at the Last Day.

I was going to tell you something, but I was afraid you would be offended.

Your Father in heaven is not afraid of offending by way of his words, for every word of His is aimed at saving poor sinners. He does not withhold the full, straight, sharp shock of His Law, which declares unequivocally; without regard to wealth, age, social status, or dreams – For there is no partiality with God, Who will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

“You shall have no other gods before me,” He says. That includes the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, because eternal damnation is not just a matter of shooting your eye out, kid; because The guillotine, Hanging, The chair, The rack, and The Chinese water torture are mere child's play compared to what surely awaits those who cherish this world without consideration for the world to come.

He says: "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

He says: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

He says: “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

And He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

Your Father in heaven, through the Word become flesh, lays these things out plainly for you. He exposes your false allegiances. He lays bare your iniquity. He does not mince words in declaring Who He is and what He does, both in regard to the Law as given through Moses; and the grace and truth realized through Jesus Christ.

I was going to tell you something, but I didn’t have time. Your Father in heaven, however, does not run out of time when it comes to dealing with you in love. This is He Who was in the beginning; whose grace extends from before the first Christmas until the last Christmas is celebrated as the old creation passes away and the new creation assumes the fullness intended for it from the beginning. What has been in the heart of God from the very beginning now sees its fullest expression in this Babe in a manger, so humble and weak and small; the very face of God now shown before they eyes of men, so that they might behold His glory. Glory sent not to put on a display of might and power, but to be crucified, dead, and buried, and risen from the dead after making atonement for the sin of the world. 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? As God the Father Almighty enters into time through the flesh of His Son, He has taken time to deal with all of creation, so that your time, your days, and all that you are is sanctified, made holy in this Christ Jesus. While you may feel as if you run from one short time span to the next, with barely the time to think back on an entire life of rising and setting suns, Your Father in heaven has worked out your salvation and set before you a path of righteousness for His Names’ sake, in which you are made to walk by faith; not by sight.

I was going to tell you something, but I could not find the words. Your Father in heaven has not only found the words to deal with you in love, but as THE WORD, He became bone of your bond and flesh of your flesh to share in your weakness and take you to Himself. All the words necessary to make Himself known, and to tell you His good and gracious will for you and for all people, He has proclaimed by His Holy Spirit, testifying, as does St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, of this One who is given as a light to the world. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

After all the preparation and anticipation; after all the shopping and wrapping of gifts; after all the crazy, premature celebration sputtered forth for weeks by a world that does not receive patience, and know nothing of Advent let alone repentance, it all comes down to this: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

This is True God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also True Man, born of the Virgin Mary, delivered into your lap, placed before your eyes, sounded into your ears, and yes - even given into your body which will be raised again; with tender loving care for you to receive and rejoice over.

Many gifts throughout the ages have been purchased, prepared, and delivered between one person and the next, but this gift was most carefully prepared and delivered to you. This gift is one life in exchange for yours.

O how marvelous it is that you are now His, that He has given you all things in His Son, that He has placed you into His kingdom to serve gladly despite all that meets your eyes and ears otherwise.

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "and I know exactly what it is:" I have come down from heaven to bear your sin and iniquity. In this Christ Jesus you have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. I am going to tell you something, says your Father in heaven, even if it is difficult for you to bear:

Behold my Law, from which you cannot save yourself.

Behold My Son, Whose righteousness, and true body and blood are given for you.

I am going to tell you something, says your Father in heaven, because I have more than time for you. I have eternity for you.

I am going to tell you something, says your Father in heaven, and I have no difficulty in finding the words. In my Son I am the Word made flesh, Who came to save you from your sins. His righteousness is your righteousness. His obedience is your obedience. His conception is your conception. His birth is your birth. His cross is your Cross. His resurrection is your resurrection.

All of these are yours, because in Him you have all things, even life everlasting.

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The Word for You (Sermon for Christmas Day)

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

-------
I was going to tell you something but I forgot what it was.

I was going to tell you something, but I was afraid you would be offended.

I was going to tell you something, but I didn’t have time.

I was going to tell you something, but I could not find the words.
-------

It is characteristic of your fallen flesh that you forget what you were going to say; that you fear the feelings and opinions that might result from your speech; that you are subject to spans of time that never seem to be enough to get things done, whether it is Christmas shopping, saying “thank you,” or even saying “goodbye;” that even when the thought is there, the words just cannot be found to express them.

Thoughts and words come and go. They appear and disappear as randomly and quickly as waves of water that land on the beach, crash on the rocks and fade into oblivion. Though they may be remembered after they are spoken, they cannot be retrieved and put in their proper place.

Where do thoughts come from anyway? Do words come from thoughts, or do thoughts come from words? Which comes first?

The Word become Flesh does not ask these questions. Not so for Him Who was in the beginning, by Whom all things were made, Who was in the beginning with God. Not so for Him Through Whom all things came into being, apart from Whom nothing came into being that has come into being.

-------
"I was going to tell you something but I forgot what it was."

Your Father in heaven does not forget, but He remembers and He speaks in mercy, for it is written:

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant—
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;
To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

All of this is fulfilled in the Word mad Flesh, the Christ. Whose birth, begotten from eternity, we celebrate this day.

Your Father in heaven does not want this gift for you to go unnoticed. So he sent His prophets from ages past. He sent His holy angels to the Shepherds, just doing their jobs.

He sent John the Baptist to point the finger in the wilderness and cry out: “Behold! The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” He sent his Holy Evangelist, St. John, to write down so plainly yet so profoundly that which has sounded into your ears yet again this morn: how He who has no genealogy to speak of took upon Himself your genealogy of sin and death in exchange for His life.

He has it all written down and promised even from before the moment Adam and Eve traded their glory for a life of sorrow, labor, fear, and anxiety.

He sends His Pastors, so that the same Word may sound out into your ears; so that the same repentance and faith, life and salvation, be joined to you to raise you up at the Last Day.

-------
"I was going to tell you something, but I was afraid you would be offended."

Your Father in heaven is not afraid of offending by way of his words, for every word of His is aimed at saving poor sinners. He does not withhold the full, straight, sharp shock of His Law, which declares unequivocally; without regard to wealth, age, social status, or dreams – For there is no partiality with God, Who will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

“You shall have no other gods before Me,” He says. That includes the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, because eternal damnation is not just a matter of shooting your eye out, kid; because The guillotine, Hanging, The chair, The rack, and The Chinese water torture are mere child's play compared to what surely awaits those who cherish this world without consideration for the world to come.

He says: “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

He says: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

He says: “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

And He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

Your Father in heaven, through the Word become flesh, lays these things out plainly for you. He exposes your false allegiances. He lays bare your iniquity. He does not mince words in declaring Who He is and what He does, both in regard to the Law as given through Moses; and the grace and truth realized through Jesus Christ.

-------
"I was going to tell you something, but I didn’t have time."

Your Father in heaven does not run out of time when it comes to dealing with you in love. This is He Who was in the beginning; whose grace extends from before the first Christmas until the last Christmas is celebrated as the old creation passes away and the new creation assumes the fullness intended for it from the beginning.

What has been in the heart of God from the very beginning now sees its fullest expression in this Babe in a manger, so humble and weak and small; the very face of God now shown before they eyes of men, so that they might behold His glory. Glory sent not to put on a display of might and power, but to be crucified, dead, and buried, and risen from the dead after making atonement for the sin of the world.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

As God the Father Almighty enters into time through the flesh of His Son, He has taken time to deal with all of creation, so that your time, your days, and all that you are is sanctified, made holy in this Christ Jesus.

While you may feel as if you run from one short time span to the next, with barely the time to think back on an entire life of rising and setting suns, Your Father in heaven has worked out your salvation and set before you a path of righteousness for His Names’ sake, in which you are made to walk by faith; not by sight.

-------
"I was going to tell you something, but I could not find the words."

Your Father in heaven has not only found the words to deal with you in love, but as THE WORD, He became bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh to share in your weakness and take you to Himself. All the words necessary to make Himself known, and to tell you His good and gracious will for you and for all people, He has proclaimed by His Holy Spirit, testifying, as does St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, of this One who is given as a light to the world.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

After all the preparation and anticipation; after all the shopping and wrapping of gifts; after all the crazy, premature celebration sputtered forth for weeks by a world that does not receive patience, and know nothing of Advent let alone repentance, it all comes down to this: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

This is True God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also True Man, born of the Virgin Mary, delivered into your lap, placed before your eyes, sounded into your ears, and yes - even given into your body which will be raised again; with tender loving care for you to receive and rejoice over.

Many gifts throughout the ages have been purchased, prepared, and delivered between one person and the next, but this gift was most carefully prepared and delivered to you. This gift is one life in exchange for yours. O how marvelous it is that your are now His, and that He has given you all things in His Son, and placed you into His kingdom to serve gladly despite all that meets your eyes and ears otherwise.

-------
"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "and I know exactly what it is: I have come down from heaven to bear your sin and iniquity. In this Christ Jesus you have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life."

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "even if it is difficult for you to bear: Behold my Law, from which you cannot save yourself. Behold My Son, Whose righteousness, and true body and blood are given for you."

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "because I have more than time for you. I have eternity for you."

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "and I have no difficulty in finding the words. In my Son, I Am the Word made flesh, Who came to save you from your sins. His righteousness is your righteousness. His obedience is your obedience. His conception is yours. His birth is yours. His cross is yours. His resurrection is yours. All of these are yours, and in Him you have all things, even life everlasting."
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Tender King

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. -Zecharaiah 9:9

This Man on a donkey is just and endowed with salvation, because the flesh of Christ is The Light that encompasses all of creation as it was made in, through, and for Him, out of purest Love for you.

He has taken you up, dear Christian, and has brought you tenderly into His body, the Church, which also is a body of flesh, yet flesh that is raised from the dead and seated in the highest places. This He did in your baptism, this He does for you in His Supper, and this is how He keeps you in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

Yes, cast off the works of darkness. Walk in the Light. Flee immorality by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Run the race. You are free. Where you are weak, He bears your weakness and deals with you in tender mercy, for He is the Creator Who makes all things new.

This is not some new, special, mystical knowledge that makes you greater than others, dear reader. You sin. He, taking your place, does not. You die. He, taking your place, does not.

You who are baptized into Christ Jesus have His body and are joined to Him. You who believe on His name are greater than he who is in the world, who goads ceaselessly with a pomp and glory that may glitter like gold, but rots like the manure of death.

Yes, even you who come late to the feast with a whole life full of sin and death, for you He has conquered in His body and life.

O LORD Jesus, bless Your pastors and hearers as they abide in Your mercy. O LORD, have mercy upon us. Amen.
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