Category: Lectionary Meditations

By Rev. Eric Brown

The world doesn’t understand the Cross.  The world sees the cross and simply mocks – He saved others, He could not save Himself.  The cross is seen as just a bitter, ironic end.  The Man who feed thousands hangs haggard on a cross, the Man who healed countless numbers is displayed with wounds too dread to consider, the Man who raised the dead is condemned to death.  Irony, that’s all the world can see.  Even when our Lord speaks it forth – the world doesn’t get it.

Eli, Eli, Lama sabachtani?  My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken me?  The beginning to Psalm 22.  Christ, even in His agony, even in the midst of His passion, still shows such love profound, even to the very crowd that mocks Him and seeks His death.  Turn to the Word, you people!  Turn to the Word which you have learned and then you will understand.  This isn’t just irony, this isn’t just a strange twist to the story – this is the salvation of God, this is Your salvation at hand.  Hear the Word and see.  King David spoke of what would happen to His Son – what the coming of your salvation, what the coming of David’s salvation would be.

And they don’t get it.  Oh, He’s calling to Elijah.  That’s ironic – because Elijah would have understood – Elijah had spoken with Him not too long before on the Mount of the Transfiguration about this precise moment, about this precise wonder.  But the world beholds Christ the crucified and merely shrugs – maybe pauses, not to ponder the mystery of it all, but to fling a few insults.  The same continues today.  Eh, oh look, a dead Jew, what a wonderful reason to have a religion.  And nothing is seen, nothing is understood.

My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?  Jesus teaches from the cross, so let us who are the students of Christ pause and ponder our Master’s question.  Why is God forsaking Christ?  Why would the Father let, indeed, why would the Father instruct His Son to go to the Cross, to bear this shame, to be humiliated in this way?  So that He doesn’t forsake you.  In your sins, you had forsaken God.  This is what God taught through the pen and mouth of His servant David. In his sins, David had forsaken God – and he knew it.  David describes the utter weight of His sin – he is mocked, he is taunted, the lions roar, his bones are pulled out of joint, even his heart melts like wax, and pours out of him like blood and water.  David is given a moment of understanding of the weight of his sin, and he cries out for deliverance.

And God does do so.  Yes David, I see that you have forsaken me, and you are paying the cost of your sin – I see it’s agony, I see it’s toil upon you.  I won’t have it – I will not have My servant David suffer, like this.  And then the words that Luther would have us sing happen.

God said to His beloved Son;
“It’s time to have compassion.
Then go, bright jewel of my crown,
And bring to all salvation.
From sin and sorrow set them free;
Slay bitter death for them that they
May live with Me forever.” 

And so our Lord Jesus took on Human Flesh, was born David’s Son to take David’s place – to step into the breech of sin that David was in, to take His place.  Our Lord cries, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  And the answer is – “So that I do not have to forsake My son David, so that I do not have to forsake these, My Baptized children.”  When it boils down to it, God chooses not His own Son, but He chooses you.  And this is His choice, this is His wondrous and awesome will, made from all eternity.  That God would have you be with Him – and nothing will stop God from being your God, from having you be with Him for eternity.  Not sin, not death, not the power of Hell.  Christ will go and pay that, so that you will truly be His brother for eternity.  This is the wonder, this is God’s mind-boggling love.  The death of Jesus is the death that was yours on account of sin – He is forsaken in your place, so that He might give you His life, life which never fades.  All thanks be to God for His great love to us.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois and the co-host of the HT Gospeled Boldly Podcast.

By Rev. Eric Brown

“Your Father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.  He saw it and was glad.”

Abraham was on his way to worship the Lord, on his way to church as it were.  But it was not necessarily a happy trip.  No, the Lord had required the life of Abraham’s son, Isaac.  And Abraham goes, ready to sacrifice his son.  He’s old, and frankly, he’s got no grounds to argue against God.  For 99 years Abraham had tried to get a son on his own and nothing good was the result.  Then God gave Isaac.  If God wanted Isaac back, well, even though it was long before Paul said it, Abraham knew that the wages of sin was death.

Yet there, at that church, in the middle of that worship service, just as the highlight approached, Abraham saw the day of the Lord.  The Angel of the Lord, Jesus before His birth, called out and told Abraham to put down the knife, that Isaac would live.  There would be a substitute.  Today, a ram in the thicket, but come one day Jesus Himself, the very Lamb of God would come and die and take away the sins of the entire world.

Many years later, sons of Abraham confronted Christ.  He had literally saved their lives, their existence many years ago by sparing their father Isaac – yet they still griped and complained and fought – even wanted to kill Him.  They refused to see who He was.  They didn’t want a savior, they just wanted to jockey for social position and power.  And yet, even for them, Jesus would die, would still be the Lamb of God who takes away even their sin.  He hides Himself until it is time to die upon the Cross.

If you think you’ve got it all together, or maybe just need a bit of brushing up, Christ Jesus isn’t much to look at.  He’s better than you, and that will just annoy you.  But when you have seen sin and death and dying, when you know you own lack and weakness and are too tired to make excuses, then you see the day of the Lord and like Abraham you will rejoice.  The Lord’s Day means that you will live.  Christ Jesus has died in your place, and because He has risen from the dead you will rise too.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois and the co-host of the HT Gospeled Boldly Podcast.

By Rev. Eric Brown

“Perceiving that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.”

Now this was the sort of Messiah the people wanted!  It was great.  Think of all that could happen if you have a King who could just hand out free food whenever you wanted.  The luxury, the ease that we could have!  And so, the crowd basically started planning to kidnap Jesus and cage Him on a throne like He was the goose that laid the golden egg.

They missed the point.  They didn’t understand what sort of King Jesus would be.  He’s not a king of ease and leisure; He’s the King who takes up a cross to battle Satan and sin and death.  And just as He had provided manna in the wilderness for 40 years so the children of Israel could endure their struggles, Jesus had provided the 5000 bread so that they could endure their struggles.  But that wasn’t what the crowd wanted – no more struggles, Jesus!  We want a luxury king, far removed from struggle!  But Jesus will not be forced to play by the crowd’s whims – instead He will go to the cross and win salvation.

We can be tempted to think like the crowd today as well.  We can put more focus on getting more and more stuff and focus less and less upon the Cross.  While it is true that Jesus provides earthly blessings for us, Jesus has a bigger goal than just that.  He provides us bread, it’s not for a life time of ease. Rather, He gives daily bread so that strengthened by Him we may face our vocations and tasks (which He gives as well), so that we may serve even in the face of our troubles.  But that’s not the main point; the Lord’s Prayer doesn’t stop at the fourth petition (“give us this day our daily bread”).  No, the wants of our flesh don’t distract Christ – instead He continues on and gives us the forgiveness He won for us upon the Cross, He leads us away from temptation by His Word, and He delivers us from Satan and Sin and every evil.  And that is what we truly need.

 All thanks be to our Lord Christ Jesus, who gives us what is truly good for us, not merely what we would want!

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois and the co-host of the HT Gospeled Boldly Podcast.

By Rev. Eric Brown

But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.(Luke 11:15-16)

They just wanted to ignore Jesus. That was all. They didn’t want to have to listen to what He was preaching. So, they came up with an excuse. When Jesus cast out a demon, they claimed he cast out that demon by Beelzebul. And then Jesus proceeds to explain to them in great detail why that excuse is an utterly foolish excuse.

Here’s where I could point at these folks and mock them for their foolishness, but the simple truth is I’ve heard worse excuses. I’ve heard ones less logical, more nonsensical. And not from others. I’m talking about the excuses my own sinful heart throws out in front of me over and over again. And I’m sure you know the excuses your heart likes to toss out.

You know how foolish and stupid “He casts out demons by Beelzebul” is? Well, our excuses, especially the ones we cherish and cling to, are far, far more foolish. The ability we have to rationalize our sin or self-justify our wretched behavior, all while ignoring the Word of God is astonishing.

And yet, what does Jesus do for these foolish excuse makers in the text? He doesn’t write them off. He doesn’t mock them (as I’d be tempted to do). He still goes to them and speaks to them again. He shows them their sin, but then proclaims their Savior. The Finger of God that gives life and salvation has come upon you, even you who come up with foolish excuses to avoid this.

This is why, over and over, Jesus brings His Word to you. This is why over and over He has His servants preach to you and give you His Body and Blood in the Supper. Your folly doesn’t make Him despise you; rather He comes to you again, for you are His blessed brother or sister, joined to Him in the waters of Baptism. He brings you the Word of God again and again. Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word!

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois and the co-host of the HT Gospeled Boldly Podcast.

By Rev. Eric Brown

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Matthew 15:21-28)

This Canaanite woman seems to be having a bad day.  To start, her daughter is demon oppressed.  Severely.  That’s a rough start to any day.  Moreover, when Jesus comes by, and she cries out to Him for mercy, He is silent.  Then the disciples want Him to send her away.

And then, when Jesus finally answers her, after she kneels in front of Him, all He says is, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  And yes, in the ancient world, calling a woman a dog is just as much of an insult as it is today.

And we’d expect that woman to be insulted.  We wouldn’t be surprised if she left in a huff, told all her friends, “Can you believe what Jesus said about me!”  But she’s not insulted.  She sees an opening.  Yes – Yes I am a dog, but good masters make sure that their dogs get fed and the crumbs – the scraps that you provide – would be more than enough for me!

This is what Jesus declares to be a great faith.

Often the Scriptures say things about us that we don’t like.  They say that we are sinners, that all our good works are as filthy rags.  That we are basically dogs.  Many get offended by this.  Rail against it.  But here is the glorious truth – though you are sinful and lowly, you belong to Christ, and He treats you far better than you could ever deserve. He pours out His love and mercy upon you and gives you life everlasting – not because of how great you are, but because of how great He is, because you are His by virtue of your Baptism.

Yes, Lord – I am a sinner and worthy of nothing, but You are gracious and give me everything!

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois and the co-host of the HT Gospeled Boldly Podcast.

By Rev. Eric Brown

“If You are the Son of God…”

Satan knows perfectly well who Jesus is. He’s not approaching Jesus trying to figure out who or what He is. Satan is operating with a flawed view of what it means to be God. You’re God; why would You be hungry and suffer when You don’t have to? You’re God; why wouldn’t You just have the awesome earthly glory You are entitled to? You’re God, You can do what You want – how about we sign a treaty and You can have all these sinners without a fight.

Satan knows that Jesus is God, but Satan doesn’t understand God. He never did. Satan thought being God meant power, might, glory – all the things Satan and the world still tell us to strive after. Satan thought being God meant doing whatever you wanted for yourself. 

John tells us in his epistle that God is love. That’s what Satan can’t get. God loves. Period. God serves. God always acts not in His own interests, but for the good of His creation, the people He loves. God always acts for your good. And as Jesus is true God, that is what He does even when tempted.

Because Jesus is the Son of God, He will see that you live by the Word of God who wins you life and salvation by His own death and resurrection.

Because Jesus is the Son of God, He will not put God to the test. His foot won’t hit a stone – but His heel will be bruised when He grinds Satan under His heel on the cross.

Because Jesus is the Son of God, He will serve the Father by going to the Cross to win you salvation. 

Christ doesn’t tangle with sin and temptation just to mess with Satan; He does so because He loves you and will see that you are forgiven and with Him for all eternity. That is who He is, and whom He makes you to be in your Baptism.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

By Rev. Eric Brown

“But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what He said.”

Jesus Christ is not your fairy godmother. He’s not a genie in a bottle or a falling star to wish upon. He’s not in the business of wish fulfillment. His job, His task is to win forgiveness with His death upon the Cross. His job is to bring about the restoration of Creation with resurrection on Easter. And this is what we see Jesus doing all the time in the Gospel – forgiving people and fixing little bits of the fall, undoing little consequences of sin. His redemptive work which we see in full in the last day bubbles out early.

In Luke 18, the disciples still don’t see this. They don’t want a Jesus who dies and rises. Even when Jesus tells them flat out that this is what He will do, it makes no sense to them. It isn’t what they want. They want a glorious revolution, a new earthly kingdom, power and respect from friends and crushed enemies at their feet. The thing is, those sort of wishes are the sort of thing Lucifer would offer to fulfill (check back next week). But that’s not what Jesus does. He’s not interested in earthly glory or giving the disciples everything their sinful hearts desire. He is focused upon the Cross.

The temptation still remains for us today to try to treat Jesus as though His job is to give us what we want. We can even pout when we don’t get our way, when our vain dreams of glory or stuff or popularity or wealth don’t play out the way we want them to. But while we often get distracted by foolish things, Jesus has a single minded focus upon the Cross – and He has this focus for you, for your good. Jesus is determined to be your Lord and Savior, and so He goes to the cross and wins you salvation. And that is more joyous than anything else we could have thought to wish for.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

By Rev. Eric Brown

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

Farmers must cringe when they hear what we normally call the Parable of the Sower.  Seed is rather expensive (at least if you buy good seed), and in this parable so much seed gets seemingly wasted. The farmers I’ve known wouldn’t plant soil without meticulously preparing it.  They would have weeded it, plowed it, and they certainly wouldn’t have just thrown seed all over the highway. Seed is too expensive to use that way.

Jesus tells us that the parable, the main thrust of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.  And the Word of God is to be spoken and proclaimed to everyone—the great and good news that Christ Jesus has died for their sins. 

Now sometimes, proclaiming the Word of God doesn’t seem to do much good.  And at those times we can be tempted to start being scanty with the Word.  For example, we might decide to not tell “that sort of person” about God’s love.  But in the parable, the Word just keeps going out and out—everywhere and to every type of soil. 

Because the simple fact is, we don’t know how God will use His Word upon a person.  I don’t get to spiritually till and fertilize my neighbor first to figure out if he’s “good soil” or not.  And that’s okay, because that’s not my job.  The sower sows the seed all over; we proclaim Christ and Him crucified to all—again and again and again.  And we do so, giving thanks that God’s Word of life is spoken to US again and again, even when our sin would make us seem a bit thorny or rocky or even flat-out stubborn and hard.  Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word!

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

Rev. Eric Brown

God gives what He promises, and He gives generously. That's the major theme of the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. The owner of the vineyard keeps his generous promises. When he finds the day workers, he doesn't low-ball them. Instead it's come and I'll pay you a denarius—a good and solid wage. In fact, that's what he gives everyone who works, even those who only work an hour. He's generous. You could have a decent life earning a denarius a day. The only problem in the whole story is when people think that the master owes them more than he has promised. Then they pout and grouse and, as a result, even their good wage turns sour.

This is the danger for us. We know the promises of God. He's promised life and salvation in Christ. He's said that He will give us our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. The problem comes when we think we deserve more or when we think God owes us more. Daily bread isn't enough—I want better and more bread. I want neighbors who are less annoying so I don't have to forgive them as often. I shouldn't have struggles and trials at all in this world. And why? Because I'm a good little Christian. See all my good deeds?

Whenever we focus on what our sinful flesh tells us we deserve, we miss the point. We forget that everything is a generous gift from God—one that we do not deserve. He gives us our daily bread, even though we are sinners and the proper wages for sin is death. Instead of death, He gives the forgiveness that Christ has won and makes our lives to be ones of forgiveness as well. These are mind-blowing gifts of body and soul. They are Christ's own victory over temptation and evil, and they are richly given to you by Christ over and over in His Word.

Your sinful flesh will try to tell you that all its wants are things that you really deserve, but your flesh is foolish, and it doesn't call the shots. Rather, remember all that Christ Jesus gives you freely by grace, and delight in them because He really is generous to you, and He keeps His Word.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

Rev. Eric Brown

“And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only” (Matthew 17:18)

How do you see the world? How do you view your life, your job, your friends and neighbors? There’s a lot of different ways we can view all these things. We can look at them in terms of how useful they are to us, or perhaps how they make us feel. We can look at things in terms of what we do or how we get validated from them. We can look at things in terms of what we fear, what we hate, what we despise.

There was a lot to see at the Transfiguration. There was glory and might. There were heroes from Israel’s history: Moses and Elijah. There was Peter’s attempt to keep busy and build some booths. There was even fear when they were overshadowed by the cloud. (There’s some more Old Testament history for you, Peter!) And yet, when it was all done, the disciples saw no one, but Jesus only.

Jesus makes us to see everything through Him. When you look at your life, you see the vocations that Jesus has given to you. When you see your neighbors, you see the people Jesus has placed into your life for you to serve. When you see your neighbor and their sin, you see someone for whom Christ Jesus died, and you see sins He was crucified and put to death for on the cross. When you see yourself, whether it is good or bad, you see Christ Jesus. You see the sin that He took up, and you see the love that He graciously works in and through you. Whatever you see, as a Christian, you see Christ Jesus. You see His love and forgiveness for you.

And Christ Jesus and His love for you is with you always, even to the end of the age.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.