Author: Rev. Eric Brown

“The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.”

Jesus spends a lot of time towards the end of the Gospels talking about the end times, the stuff between the resurrection and the second coming. And a lot of it is terrifying. And, it is true, there have been plenty of terrifying times for the Church, and there are places in the world where it is terrifying right now to be a Christian.

But there is another possibility that Jesus addresses about the End Times. It’s one we don’t address that much. The End Times might just be sort of boring where you are at. Not much excitement. No real threats of martyrdom or persecution. Let’s face it, compared to places where Christians are killed, our complaints of “they made fun of us on social media” are sort of lame.

So, what if the End Times, what if our lives are… boring? What if we never get to be the next Martin Luther, what if they never write about us in the ages to come? What if we don’t even get to see any wild and crazy miracles? What if our lives are just the same old same old of Church, of preaching and the Supper for the rest of our lives?

The temptation (and a deadly one) will be for you to just write that off. To get bored with Church, to be bored of the Gospel. To look elsewhere, to look for some sort of God-ish fervor anywhere and everywhere… except where God has promised to be. In His Word. In His Baptism. In His Supper. For you.

Salvation isn’t an action film with explosions or full of special effects done by Industrial Light and Magic. It’s not even our own heroic story. It is a gift given to you by Christ Jesus. It’s what He has done and given to you so you can have a peaceful, restful life, simply enjoying what He has done. Beware of boredom, that would try to steal that from you. Instead, rejoice, because Christ Jesus still comes to you and for you, week in and week out, whether things are simple or terrifying. He remains the same and constant for you.

“Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus heals two women, two daughters in this lesson – and they are quite different. One is a young girl, the other an adult. One lives in a loving house, the other has been isolated and cut off from everyone because of her illness. One is dead and can’t do anything, the other sneaks on up to Jesus while trying not to bother Him.

Jesus loves and cares for them both. Both are healed. The girl lives, the woman’s flow of blood is stopped. Both these daughters are given life and restored by Jesus. And it’s important to note that Jesus is the One who does this.

We can mishear what Jesus says when He says, “your faith has made you well.” We hear the word “faith” and think it’s a description of us – how strongly or firmly we believe. Jesus is not saying, “because you really, really, really believed.” Rather, Jesus is pointing out that He Himself, the One she had faith IN has saved her.

Both these daughters are healed. And as different as they are, they both have Jesus in common. The girl is dead, she hadn’t been doing anything strongly at all when Jesus healed her. And the woman was shy and timid – wouldn’t even be bold enough to speak to Jesus. She just snuck up on Him. It’s not about how great either of these daughters are – it is how great Jesus is.

Likewise, the question isn’t how “strong” your faith is, or how bold you are, or anything else about “you”. You’re a sinful human being; when you look at yourself you’ll find sin. But Christ Jesus has died for you, He has risen for you, and He has declared that you are forgiven and will rise to everlasting life. He has saved you as well. It’s all about Him.

We forget how utterly insane the Beatitudes are. We have nerfed them into pious platitudes about how things might be nice some day. That’s not what’s going on. Consider to whom Jesus is speaking that day. The crowds Jesus saw in Matthew chapter 5 were desperate. They were a conquered people, oppressed by the Romans, facing terrible poverty. But when Jesus looks over this crowd, He does something that is utterly strange.

Jesus doesn’t tell them how to fix things. He doesn’t Dave Ramsey them into better economic advice. Jesus doesn’t start a community organization project or blame the 1 percent or the Colonizing powers of Rome. Jesus doesn’t tell them how to fix anything.

Instead, Jesus says something utterly profound. You are blessed. 9 times. Blessed are the fill in the blank. Do you realize how utterly insane that sounds to the desperate world? Blessed are the poor in spirit – think on that, if you are beat down and crushed by life in this world, if you are downtrodden and spit upon and at the end of your rope – Jesus says that you are blessed. Why? Not because he’s got the three easy steps to turn things around, not because the bad people are going to be punished, not because the new rulers will finally be the right rulers. No – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Is. Right now. Right now the Kingdom of heaven is yours… and it’s still yours if next year goes better or if it goes worse. It is yours if there is sickness or health, richer or poorer, all those variations. None of them change the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is yours. You belong to Christ Jesus, and He has given you the Kingdom of Heaven – He has baptized you. You are an heir of heaven, it is yours – and there’s not a thing in this world that can take that away from you. Christ Jesus has given Himself to you, He has shed His blood for you to rescue you from sin and from death and the devil, and His Kingdom is yours. You actually are blessed.

And the rest of the beatitudes run the exact same way. It is wondrous to behold.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you… If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”

It’s easy for Christians to get into fights in this world. Of course it is – the world loves a good fight. It’s easy to pick a group or tribe or team and know precisely who the the people are that you are supposed to hate. And even we Christians are tempted to jump into the worldly fray, all full of anger and us versus them thinking.

But that’s not what Jesus is talking about when He warns that the world will hate you. Hating people, grousing and complaining, biting and devouring them – that has nothing to do with Christ. That has nothing to do with the Spirit and His fruit. Now, loving folks. Being kind and gracious and forgiving, even and especially to the people who don’t deserve it (as if any of us deserve it), that’s Christ’s goal. That’s what He has done for you and us – for while we were yet sinners Christ Jesus died for us.

We are called to love. Think on the 10 commandments in the Small Catechism, all the good things we are to do for our neighbors. Those are things we are to do even for (dare I say especially for) people who aren’t for our “tribe” or opinion. We’re called to love the neighbor.

And you won’t get thanked for it. You won’t be praised for it. And people will take advantage of your kindness and laugh at you for being a sucker and a rube. That should be no surprise. They did the exact same thing to Jesus. But you are a new creation in Christ, forgiven and redeemed. You have life in His name, life that is lived for the good of your neighbor, even the neighbor who doesn’t appreciate it. It will just happen, because in Christ you will bear fruit. You are no longer part of the world’s games of hate and factionalism and disdain, for Christ Jesus has claimed you and redeemed you, and if the world doesn’t like that, so be it. Thanks be to God, you belong to Him.

“Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe/Go; your son will live.”

Jesus seems a bit put out or maybe a bit miffed at first in this lesson. I mean, the dad asks for something quite reasonable – the healing of a sick child isn’t something bizarre to ask for, after all. Yet Jesus gives this stark response: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” That’s a rather harsh and blunt statement. Dismissive. But then, Jesus looks at the man and says, “Go; your son will live.” And there is of course, much rejoicing.

Don’t let the “miracle” distract you. John calls this a sign for a reason – a sign points to who Jesus is. And the fact is this. The reason Jesus came wasn’t just to heal that boy back on that day or to answer any specific prayer we might have about the health of our loved ones today. He came to die and rise, to win forgiveness and salvation and eternal life – not just a few better years in this world here.

Doesn’t mean that we don’t pray for health for our family and friends, for ourselves. My Grandmother was sick last month, and I prayed for her. And she died. And she was baptized. Go, your grandma will live, because Christ Jesus has died and risen for her. That’s the point, that’s what we are to believe – the miracles and signs are all just spelling out who Jesus is so that we see His death and resurrection for what it is – the victory over sin and death for all eternity for us.

And this is the promise Christ Jesus has made to you in your baptism. Go, you will live. You will rise with Christ. It doesn’t matter what this world throws at you, the hardships and struggles you see. They will be real and big, but Christ Jesus, the LORD of Life, is with you and for you, and you will live eternally. Nothing you face can change that fact.

“The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.” – Matthew 22:8

The King just wanted them to have a good time. That was why He had invited them to the wedding feast. It was going to be a fantastic shindig, a wonderful feast. But when invited, they would not come. When invited again, they become rude, dismissive, or even violent and murderous. It is so bad that the King ends up sending troops to wipe out the rebellious district (Kings didn’t mess around with rebellion).

The summation, the description of these lout is interesting. They were not “worthy”. This seems odd to us because they didn’t do anything to prove their worth – it wasn’t that you got an invite after you went on a quest or donated so much to the King’s fundraiser. After all, the servants turn around and invite people off the street, both good and bad. What is up with that description?

The Small Catechism actually gives the answer. “Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’” The simple fact is that the folks in the parable had no faith in their king to throw a decent feast. Later on, the fellow who refused to put on the wedding garment didn’t trust the King either.

Christ Jesus your Lord wants to give you precisely what you need with His preaching and with His Supper. He wants to give you forgiveness, life, and salvation. And we get told that this isn’t worth all that much – it isn’t what the world wants or often what our flesh wants. But it is vital, it is wonderful, and He sends forth the call week in and week out to come to His feast in His Church. And to be prepared for it isn’t a matter of how wonderful you are – rather, it is there because of how good He is to you. You can certainly trust Him on that.

“nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions.”

What are you hoping to see? When the read the bible, when you open up God’s Word, what are you hoping to see? The Pharisees thought of the bible as a law book, a rule book – “basic instructions before leaving earth.” And everything was filtered through that lens. You quote the Scriptures, in fact, in order to test people. Who can give the best and wittiest and most solid legal opinion – the Scriptures are the battle ground to prove yourself the best.

That was why they had asked Jesus about the great commandment. To test Him and to elevate themselves and their wisdom over Him – and the law, the rules were going to be the way they did that. But Jesus doesn’t want to play that game. He gives them an answer much bigger and profound, that our service to God is our service to our neighbor and vice versa… but that’s just a Law question. That’s not the point. The point is the Gospel.

Jesus asks a question that points to the Messiah, that the Messiah would be true God and true Man. Why? Because the bible isn’t merely a book of instructions, but it is first and foremost the story of God saving His people from their sin. It is the story of God becoming man to redeem us. It isn’t the story of the law; it is the story of Jesus for you.  The Pharisees didn’t want to see that, so they stopped asking Jesus questions.  He would just keep revealing Himself to them.

So what are you hoping to see when you read the Scriptures? There is indeed wonderful law in there, law that we need. When you need to know the law, there’s no better place to go. But the point, the main goal and purpose of the Scriptures must always be this: They show you and proclaim to you Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. God grant us His Spirit that we ever more see Christ for us!

“… so that when he comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’”

The amount of work that people do trying to impress God and other people is staggering. The amount of fear that we carry worrying about what other people think about us is staggering. We will try to act just so – not because being “just so” is good or serves our neighbor, but because what would “they” say if we didn’t. And we jump onto a never ending hamster wheel of trying to win approval and placate people – and the pressure and anxiety grows and grows, and we become miserable.

Jesus had been at a Sabbath dinner – a giant feast. It should have been a party, but it wasn’t. Tension was high. First, everyone was eyeballing Jesus to see if He’d heal on the Sabbath. After He does, they all start jockeying for position and honor. In other words, Jesus is there at a miserable, anxiety and fear laden party. Instead of enjoying stuff, it’s all fear and worry and getting ready to smack people down.

That’s often how the world works. That’s often how our relationships with others can work. Things can become toxic pretty quickly. However, this is not how God deals with you. God’s attitude towards you is not established by the silly social games sinful human like to play. His attitude towards you is this: Friend, move up higher.

Even knowing your sin (better that you), Christ Jesus came down from heaven and went to the Cross, not so that He would have the authority to nitpick you, but so that with His death and resurrection He would forgive your sin and raise you to ever lasting life. And over and against the folly of the world, He constantly calls you to be with Him. That’s what your baptism is, it’s what the preaching of the Gospel is, it is what His Supper is. It’s all Christ Jesus coming to you to forgive you and be with you, now and forever. And none of this is based upon what you do for Him – it is all His gift to you. He has called you His friend, and so you are.

“And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her….”

There was a lot to see when folks saw that funeral procession slowly working it’s way from Nain to the local graveyard. There was a young man dead way too soon, a mother left alone in the world, all the fellow mourners. And who knows what the folks there saw; they may have seen various bits of personal history and the like. We know nothing about how this man and his mother fit in the town; they might have been beloved or hated. Perhaps both. A funeral is an emotionally complicated place.

Then then Jesus comes, true God and true Man. And there are plenty of things folks might have expected God to see looking at this funeral. Maybe this was vengeance for some sin, or maybe it was a stern warning to the town. Maybe this was a senseless tragedy that made folks wonder where God was. There’s lots of expectations that might have been placed upon God.

But then the Way, the Truth, and the Life is reveled. What is Jesus’ reaction? Compassion. His guts are wrenched (that’s literally the Greek – Jesus was “gutted”). Jesus feels compassion, He suffers (passio) with (con) this mother. Whatever the way, whatever the specific path that cause and effect took, sin has wrought death and ruin and decay on another portion of Jesus’ creation, and He is gutted.

So He stops it. He walks up and touches the funeral bier and gives life. That’s what He came to do. To put an end to sin and death. But it’s not going to happen by Him just running up to every casket in creation – Jesus will stop dead by His own death. He’ll empty all the tombs of the world by resting in His own for three days. Because, plain and simple, Jesus’ reaction to seeing the ravages of sin is compassion. And out of His compassion, He has had you baptized, joined you to His death so that you too will rise with Him for all eternity.