Author: Rev. Eric Brown

“My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it?”

We are told that Christ Jesus took on the form of a servant. There was a servant once, a little girl who had been ripped and torn away from her family and home by Syrian raiders. And she sees the man who had abducted and enslaved her suffering from leprosy, and what does she do? She points him to the prophet Elisha.

And her master Naaman goes, seeking healing. He has a mighty large bribe, wants to get kings involved, all sorts of power and might. But that’s not how God works. His means are simple and quiet. Elisha tells him by messenger to dip seven times in the Jordan and be healed. And Naaman is incensed, leaves angrily – couldn’t Elisha have come to me and dealt with me directly in a hand-waving sort of way?

More of his servants come – perhaps ones with stories of woe even greater than that little girl – and they say to Naaman gently – “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you.” You will be healed, Naaman – go wash. Don’t grouse – do it, receive this healing. And Elisha does it and is clean.

Christ Jesus took on the form of a servant for you. He suffered and took up burdens for you. And why? To speak gently to you words of forgiveness and life, words that cleanse you from all unrighteousness and open up to you the way of everlasting life. Words tied to water in Holy Baptism, words tied to the messengers He sends to His pulpits, words that even we little children speak to each other. Rejoice, for Christ Jesus is gentle with you, and He still points you to forgiveness even when you are tempted towards being haughty and arrogant.

In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen…

Picture it. There’s an old, ramshackle building. Back in its day it must have been something grand, built with beauty and skill far above the cookie cutter blandness that our buildings tend to favor. Quality was put in, rather than quick and cheap construction. But that old building, as lovely as it was, has fallen in – it’s vacant, run down, and lost.

The house of David, the Kings of Israel and Judah weren’t what they used to be. The empire had long crumbled. The army was no longer feared, kings no longer came to pay homage – they came demanding tribute. And the new things were just not as good as the old things. That’s the setting when Amos speaks this promise.

The Messiah would come, and the line of David, his House would be restored – oh, but not just to the piddly glory that the folks in Amos’ day might have hoped for. Not even the mere political power that the zealots in Jesus’ day wanted. You see, Jesus knew the rot and decay went deeper. It wasn’t just one kingdom that had fallen – the whole of human race, the whole of creation was falling further and faster into decay.

And so Christ Jesus came into the world – the Word became flesh and dwelt, tabernacled, set up His booth among us. And He set about the most wondrous restoration project. It wouldn’t be a quick turn around flip-this-house special. No, things would have to be torn down and rebuilt. And so, upon the Cross He Himself died and rose. With His death he pulled out every last bit of sin and rot, and with His resurrection He showed and demonstrated the new plan – you will be raised, and you will be like Him, for you will see Him as He is. He has claimed you as His own – you are a little booth belonging to the Lord. And yes, there are times you see how terribly fallen you are. Fear not – the Lord will raise you up, even as He Himself is raised.

“And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.”

The highlight of the building and dedication of Solomon’s temple was the glory of the LORD filling the house. The glory cloud was the visible sign and manifestation of God’s presence with His people. From the exodus onward to the tabernacle, and then to the temple, the cloud of glory was the evidence that the LORD was there for His people.

That goes away with the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. Ezekiel speaks of this in chapter 8 of his book. And even when the temple was rebuilt after the exile and rededicated, the glory of the LORD did not return as it had at the tabernacle or Solomon’s temple. Even when Herod expands the temple and really gussies it up, still the glory of the LORD is not there.

Until the day when Christ Jesus arrives in the temple. Whether that’s the presentation where we get Simeon singing, or the boy Jesus in the temple teaching, or all the other events – then the glory of the LORD is there in the temple. And when He comes to the temple the last time during Holy Week, Christ Jesus is glorified upon the Cross, and with His death the priests are put out of work. No more will they need to minister or perform the sacrifices, for the true Glory of the LORD has come – the Word has become flesh and dwelt, tabernacled, tented with His people, and He Himself has work atonement and forgiveness and mercy with His own death and resurrection.

This same Christ Jesus comes to His Church throughout the world, to buildings around the globe, where He has gathered His people together. There in the House of the LORD, Jesus comes to us all in the preaching of His Word and in His Supper. This is His glory – not a glory the world would recognize or understand, but the true glory of God – to be with and redeem His people, to be with and redeem you.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” – Isaiah 60:1

The wise men followed the star that shone so brightly, and they brought their gifts of gold and frankincense as Isaiah had predicted (but wait, there’s myrrh!), and they went to where one would expect glory to be – Jerusalem. The Capital. The place with the palace and the temple and the splendor. But that wasn’t where the glory was.

The star arose, and they were led to Bethlehem, where the Light of Light Himself had come, where the Glory of the LORD and His presence with His people was made manifest. Glory was there in Bethlehem, and the wise men rightly worshiped and offered their gifts, but what sort of glory was it?

An infant. A kid. Kids might be cute or cuddly (at least until they make a mess of things), but they aren’t seemingly “glorious”. And certainly not just some kid in some backwater town in the boonies. Yet, right there was glory. There was God present for His people to redeem them.

God’s glory is not shown or demonstrated in outward acts of might. It’s not a “my dad can beat up your dad” sort of glory. Oh, to be sure, God could act that way, but as we were born trapped in sin and bound in Satan’s kingdom, that beat down would have ended up beating us. Instead, God shows His glory in coming to earth in humility to be our brother, to win us the adoption of sons, to make the Father our Father once again. And this is done not through might or strength, but through weakness and humility. It is done through God becoming man – a weak and frail man who would suffer and die, and who would rise again. Rejoice, for the Glory of the LORD has come to you, and He has died and risen for you.

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to Him you shall listen

We forget how utterly terrifying God is to sinful man. We can look back on things that happened during the Exodus and think how wonderful it would have been to see all those things, like the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire. We forget something very important. Everyone who saw it was terrified. Not just awkwardly nervous – frightened out of their minds.

Sinful human beings can’t handle being in front of God Almighty in His power. That’s because God is holy and righteous and all that laundry list of stuff, and we know that we aren’t, and that by rights we ought to be smited into little bitty sinnery cindery bits. And so, God in His wisdom chose to come to His people in alternative means. For a time, there would be prophets – where only one poor sap would deal with the LORD directly and everyone else would get to hear things second hand.

But God did not create you and me to remain at a distance from us. Your Creator loves you and wishes to be with you, and so He decided to come to you Himself in a way that you can actually handle. He would come to you as one of your brothers – He would become man. God and man, one in the same, Jesus Christ – God there with you but as a man in a way that you can handle without terror. God there who can understand the trials the troubles you face in your life completely well and from experience.

With the coming of Christmas, we see God’s patience and wisdom, the lengths to which He will go to be with you. He takes up human flesh and is born of the Virgin Mary, because He is the God who wishes to be with you, to be your God, now and forever.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins

Comfort? What an outdated word. We don’t want comfort today. You have to have people outraged if you want to them act and bring about change. You need push and prod to keep people on their toes. And so the world doesn’t do comfort today. And we are run ragged in battle after battle, our sanity sacrificed on the altar of someone else’s idea of progress. And in the world it never ends – there will just be something new to be outraged or fight against next year.

Yet, our LORD cries out “Comfort.” And through the prophet Isaiah, He actually tells us what drives all this hectic chaos in the world. Sin drives us. We wish to justify ourselves, we wish to vilify others to make ourselves feel better. Sometimes this is just mere virtue signaling; sometimes actual fights and wars break out. And it’s all sin driving warfare and hatred and fear. It’s sin that we cannot stop or break.

But Christ Jesus has done so. Upon the Cross, the warfare wrought by sin is ended. It is finished. The strife is o’er, the battle done. And your iniquity is pardonned. And should some huckster try to manipulate you or browbeat you with fear, know that Christ Jesus there upon the Cross took up all the weight and burden of your sins. Double it. Twice over. There is nothing left for you to fix with God – He has fixed it for you.

So, comfort. Hear the Word of the Lord proclaiming your forgiveness. Receive the Holy Spirit who comforts you (there’s a reason He’s called the Comfortor) with the Gospel of Christ Jesus, and rest securely in Him.

“You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”

The topic of the end of the world is normally met with either fear or a nervous-denial induced disdain. Talk of the end can make us a bit shifty and worried, or perhaps we kick up our bravado a touch. The world does love its posturing, after all. However, to be frank, a lot of what gets said about the end is scary. When Malachi says, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven…” that’s not playing around. When God decides to end the world, He is going to end it.

But you really ought to read beyond just the bit about the oven. The wicked are going to be burned up root and branch, reduced to stubble. Justice will be done. And don’t over look the promise – those who fear the LORD will go out like a bunch of calves leaping from the stall when finally let loose (which, if you have never seen it, is a joyous and hilarious thing). The end is nothing to fear for the Christian.

Yet, sometimes there can be that nagging fear or worry. We know our own sin, we know the things that make us ashamed, the things we ourselves want avoid with bluster and show. Well, the key to remember, O Christian, that this is talking about the day that the LORD Jesus acts, not you. It’s not about your actions, but Christ’s action for you.

On that great day, that Friday far beyond all others, Jesus acted for your good. He took up your sin, and He destroyed it utterly upon the Cross. Root, branch, stubble – all taken by Christ and done away with. You are forgiven. And when the end comes, whether you are around to see it or whether Christ’s call for you to rise bursts open your casket, you will leap forth with joy and freedom nigh unimaginable.

Because God is the One who acts. He has acted for you upon the Cross, He has acted for you when He washed you in Holy Baptism and bound Himself to you, He acts for you whenever He gives you His Spirit through His Word, and come the Last Day, you will see His action for you in full, forever and ever.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Justice and Righteousness are two different things. To be just is to rule fairly, to see that the law gets enforced. Even today our justice system generally deals with punishing crooks. To be righteous means to do that right and good things, the things that just need to be done.

Judah had been having kings that were neither righteous nor just. Wickedness was going unpunished, and the kings weren’t even positively helping folks out. The Lord’s promise of a righteous King, a solid and steadfast branch off of the enfeebled and ever increasingly wicked line of David seemed too good to be true.

And in the short term, it was. Judah is conquered and the line of kings is cut off. Never again would Judah have an earthly king. However, the promise here is for the coming of Christ Jesus, and Jeremiah rightly notes that He will execute justice and righteousness.

We often speak of Christ being righteous – of doing the right things. Healing, feeding, teaching – those are all righteous things. But what of justice? What of punishing the evil doer? You cheer for justice when you are innocent… but what if you are guilty? What if you know your own sin and you that justly deserve temporal and eternal punishment?

In that case, you look to Christ Jesus, who in executes justice in the most righteous way possible – He takes up your sin upon Himself. He punishes the sinner upon the Cross. The Cross is where justice is shown; the fact that it is Christ upon the cross and not us shows Jesus’ righteousness. He will both punish sin and do good to you.

When Jesus comes to execute justice and righteousness, it’s not with military might or a swat team. He comes just with Himself, true God and true man, the lamb of God bearing the sins of the world to the cross to do away with them. Your King is determined to do good for you and to you, and so He redeems you from your sin.

“Five of them were foolish…”

The parable of the wise and foolish virgins is often prone to preachers presenting a lot of allegory. There can be all sorts of possibilities put forth for what the oil is, why the lamps, what’s going on at the feast, why at midnight – on and on and on. Some of that is quite good, but it misses the main contrast that is made between wise and foolish. So, what made the foolish gals foolish?

The wedding banquet was long expected. It was highly anticipated. Everyone knew that it was coming, and these ten young women even knew their role and place at the wedding. And yet, five acted foolishly. They acted as if they weren’t really expecting the groom to show up… ever. It was as though he was utterly unexpected.

Christ Jesus has told us all about how His kingdom comes. Oh, it will come again on the Last Day when He returns, but it comes before that. The Kingdom of God comes whenever “our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” The Kingdom comes through the Word, be it the Word preached, or attached to water in Baptism, or in the Supper. The Kingdom comes now.

Many foolish people disdain these means by which the Holy Spirit is given, the ways in which we are brought into the Kingdom even now. It is as though they don’t expect Jesus to be where He has promised to be. But you have been given ears to hear, and by the working of the Holy Spirit you know that Christ is present in His Word for you, to forgive you your sins and declare you godly for all time. Thus, whenever the Last Day should come, you will be ready. You’re already in the feast, for you are in His Kingdom now by the power of the Word and Spirit.