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Lectionary Meditations

My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?

By Rev. Eric Brown

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”

Why?  It’s a simple enough question to ask.  Why is Christ forsaken upon the Cross?  So that He doesn’t forsake you.  As much as we might try to deny it or pretend it isn’t real, sin has consequences.  The wages of sin is death.  Where there is sin, there must be death.  And as you and I are poor, miserable sinners, we are consigned to death.

God would not have you simply die, though.  He loves you.  He created you to be with Him for eternity, and so therefore something has to be done, because He wants you with Him for all eternity. And so, Jesus comes, and He lives perfectly, without sin – yet He takes up your sin, and taking up that sin He takes up death, He is forsaken.  He dies so that you will live.

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, IL.

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

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Lectionary Meditations

The World Doesn’t Get It – A Meditation on Psalm 22

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.

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Catechesis

Being Instructed by the Ten Commandments – The Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

By Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier

Children. Children tend to abuse and misuse names. They call each other names. They make fun of each other’s names. They desire to change the identity of another person with a different name. Such behavior is childish. It is the way of the world.

God. God gives to us the gift of His name. He desires to change our identity with His name. For example, the name of Yahweh was placed upon the people of God when the High Priest spoke the Word of God in benediction. The High Priest would say, “Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

Notice that name of Yahweh is spoken three times testifying to three persons of the Blessed Holy Trinity. In the New Testament, we are given the gift of the name of the Lord our God in a unique way. In Holy Baptism, we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We are adopted sons of God by grace. We are clothed with Christ the only-begotten Son of God. Because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts enabling us to cry out “Abba, Father!” The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Adoption who qualifies us to pray with Jesus saying, “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name.”

As our Father is holy, we are to be holy in our conduct. We do not generate our own holiness. We receive our holiness from Jesus who alone is the Holy One. Jesus is the true High Priest. He mercifully makes atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. As our High Priest, He continues to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us, making us His holy people, a holy nation, a holy priesthood, and a holy temple. (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

Thus, we are called to offer spiritual sacrifices of prayers, praise, and thanksgiving. The baptized are consecrated as priests of God. Priests pray. We are learning to pray that God’s Kingdom would come to us and others. God answers our prayer “when He gives His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here on earth.” (Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer, Second Petition) As those who name the name of the Lord, we are learning to depart from iniquity.

In the First Commandment, the people of God are warned about the temptation of the ancient serpent who seduces us into false worship. Now in the Second Commandment, the baptized are warned about the plan and purpose of the devil who desires to deceive us into misusing the name of the Lord our God. The evil one does not want God’s name to be kept holy in our lives. Thus, he tricks us into living lives contrary to God’s Word. Even worse, he joins his efforts by employing the world and our own sinful flesh to fight against us. He is the spirit who is at work in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2) who act like the corrupted culture. The will of the demonic foe is to entice us, trap us, and capture us in vice and other great shame. He wants to destroy our faith leaving us in doubt and despair. He does not want God’s Kingdom to come to us. He wishes that we would stay under the condemnation of the law because of our sin.

Therefore, we are taught to put on the whole armor of God to stand against the schemes of Satan. (Ephesians 6:11) We are outfitted with the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith. (Ephesians 6:16-17) There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) In Christ, we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and we are beginning to learn to walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) We live according to the Spirit and set our minds on the things of the Spirit which lead to life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6) We are armed with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:17) Yet, we fight this spiritual battle by prayer and supplication in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:18) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Supplication. (Zechariah 12:10) We do not know what we ought to say when we pray; yet, the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. (Romans 8:27)

Likewise, the Holy Spirit instructs us in the will of God as it is revealed in the Ten Commandments. Through God’s revealed will, we are taught to “call upon His name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” (Small Catechism: Second Commandment) Thus, to properly use God’s name is to petition God as our heavenly Father. As the children of God, we are called to lead holy lives according to the Word of God. “Anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us.” (Small Catechism: First Petition) Thus, we pray that He would forgive us, renew us, and lead us through His Word and Spirit. We petition our heavenly Father asking “that our hearts may be set to obey His commandments” (Matins: Collect for the Morning) and that we would put away the childish ways of the world.

Our Father desires to protect us from the evil one. God’s will is done in our lives “when He breaks and hinders the plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature.” (Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer, Third Petition) God’s kingdom comes “when He 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.” (Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer, 2nd Petition) God’s name is kept holy in our lives when we hear His Word in its truth and purity and begin to live holy lives according to it. (Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer, First Petition) As His adopted sons by grace, we are maturing into our new identity in Christ. We are being formed into the image of His only-begotten Son. We should fear and love God so that we properly use His name. We are learning to continuously ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may be able to resist temptation and to live a godly life following the example of Jesus.

Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier serves as pastor at Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, Los Alamos, NM

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Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 21

Johan Tetzel
Tetzel, Karlstadt, and other theologians respond to Luther

by Rev. Donavon Riley

After his Heidelberg Theses, Luther, more than ever, was under scrutiny from friends and opponents. Colleagues, like Andreas Karlstadt who was a colleague of Luther’s, wrote his own theses arguing for the authority of Scripture in matters of faith over all human opinions, even the Early Church Fathers.

On the other hand, John Tetzel, Luther’s sworn enemy since the indulgence controversy, preached a sermon entitled: “Sermon on Indulgences and Grace,” which was a direct attack on Luther’s teaching about indulgences. When he received word about this Martin said that Tetzel’s sermon treated the Bible “like a sow pushes about a sack of grain.” But, for Luther’s adversaries Tetzel’s argument had traction they could use. Tetzel asserted that the Pope had complete and ultimate authority in all matters in heaven and on earth. That meant that anyone who challenged the Pope’s word was a heretic because the Pope’s decisions, since he was the vicar of Christ, were to be heard as God’s own word.

Eck also took aim at Luther again after Heidelberg. But unlike Tetzel, Eck was a theologian of the church and his criticism held substantially more weight for Luther as a consequence. Even though he decided to say nothing, and “swallow this dose of hell” as Martin put it, colleagues pushed him to write a response to Eck. But Luther said he would not do it. He felt it would not be of any help to Christians to witness such an angry and provocative debate between theologians happening in public.

If the controversy Luther had stirred up remained amongst theologians and academics, and stayed locked behind the closed doors of the monastery and academia, perhaps Luther would have become a footnote in church history. A charismatic, if not controversial figure, on the same level as John Wycliffe or Jan Hus. However, once politically powerful, influential men jumped into the fray the stakes shifted for Luther and everyone else. Now, Luther could not protect himself simply by not responding to the criticism of theologians. Now he would have to find a benefactor to defend him from being arrested and executed.

And yet, as he wrote to a friend at the time, “The more they threaten me, the more confident I become… I know that whoever wants to bring the Word of Christ into the world must, like the apostles, leave behind and renounce everything, and expect death at any moment. If any other situation prevailed, it would not be the Word of Christ.”

Next week we will examine what was happening in Rome at this time and how the papacy decided to deal with Luther once and for all.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

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Catechesis

Reverence

By Rev. Michael Keith

I remember it clearly. I was in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario. I was in the Grand Hall where they keep the Stanley Cup – the trophy for the Champions of the National Hockey League. It has the look and feel of a cathedral. You could go up to the Stanley Cup and look at it, but you couldn’t touch it. You could stand beside it and get your picture taken. There was a sense of respect and reverence in the room. This is the trophy that I have watched presented on TV to the champions every year since I have memory. This is the trophy that all the greatest hockey players of all time like Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux, gave all they had to give to win. This is the trophy they triumphantly held over their head in victory as they skated around the rink. It is abundantly clear when you are in that room that the Stanley Cup is something special.

I often do not see that sort of reverence and respect when people are coming into church on Sunday. The reason, as far as I can tell, is not to be intentionally irreverent or disrespectful. I think it is that people don’t know that in the Divine Service there is something special. More than that – that there is something holy. Better yet – Someone holy.

When we gather for Divine Service around the Word and the Sacraments heaven meets earth. Jesus is present. He is there to give out His gifts through His Word proclaimed and preached, through the watery word of Holy Baptism, through His Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Jesus is present with His gifts in a way that He is not present anywhere else. Indeed, there is Someone – very special in the room.

Our behavior reflects what we believe. When I go to a movie theatre I get popcorn and a drink and I sit down to be entertained. That’s why I am there. That’s what I expect. I paid my money and I bought the overpriced popcorn and coke – entertain me! Some people might approach going to Divine Service in the same way. I walk in with my Starbucks coffee and grab a seat, sit back – and wait to be entertained. If we believe that is what going to church is about then that is how we will behave.

But, if we believe that going to church is about receiving gifts from Jesus who is actually, truly, there for us… well, our behaviour ought to reflect this belief, no? For my American friends – if the President came for a visit to your house would you stay seated on the couch and greet him “Hey – what’s up Pres?” I don’t think so – unless you were intentionally meaning to disrespect both the man and the office he holds. The office of President is held in high regard among Americans and the behaviours around the President reflect this belief.

That’s why the Church in her wisdom has taught us certain behaviours to observe in Divine Service that reflect what we believe. When we come into a church we usually speak in hushed tones because we recognize we are in a holy place set apart for God’s use. We sit in the pew before Service preparing ourselves to be in the presence of God and to be thoughtfully engaged with the Liturgy. We quietly pray. We don’t let our kids run around in the sanctuary screaming their heads off. They can do that outside – have fun! – but not in the place and time where we come in contact with the Holy. No, here we are reverent, respectful, and humble. We confess our sinfulness. We receive cleansing in the Absolution. When we come forward we bow to the altar – reverence the altar – because our Lord’s Body and Blood are there. Jesus is there.

Our behavior reflects what we believe. There are many ways our behavior might reflect this belief. We don’t need to get legalistic about it and prescribe certain behaviours that “must” be observed. We don’t need to judge those who may have behaviours different than our own. However, we can learn from those who have gone before us and how they behaved in the presence of Jesus. We can become thoughtful about why we are in the church for Divine Service. Jesus is there. For you.

Our behavior reflects what we believe.

Rev. Michael Keith serves as pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church and SML Christian Academy in Stony Plain, AB Canada.

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Lectionary Meditations

Your Father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day – A Meditation on John 8:56

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.

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Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 20

by Rev. Donavon Riley

After Heidelberg, and the explosion it caused amongst his listeners, Luther moved to tie his teaching to the daily life of Christians. Eck’s response to the 95 Theses, and other papal critics who pushed back against what Luther had said at Heidelberg, motivated the monk to translate his theology into language the common man could appreciate. And so, in May 1518, Luther published “Resolutions Concerning The 95 Theses.”

Luther began by addressing how the papal teaching regarding confession had no basis in Scripture. God demanded a change of heart and mind, not outward works. “Doing what was in one” had nothing to do with salvation. And buying an indulgence accomplished nothing for a Christian, because repentance and penance were two different things altogether.

Martin attacked the papal teaching about confession, penance, and outward works, but his most pointed criticism was focused on absolution. He wrote, “Christ did not intend [by the power of the keys] to put the salvation of people into the hands or at the discretion of an individual.” Everything depends, Luther asserted, on “believing only in the truth of Christ’s promise.”

This meant that for a Christian that indulgences were unnecessary. However, Luther also knew, as one Luther historian wrote, “that he was including [within his critique of indulgences] pilgrimages, special masses for the dead, shrines, religious images, relics, special spiritual exercises, and much of what was central to the practice of medieval religion.”

Luther also made sure to lay out for his readers that the Roman Church didn’t possess a treasury of merits that were available to Christians for the right price. Christians couldn’t buy their way into heaven. Only Jesus Christ and his bloody suffering and death received in faith by a Christian granted him access to the kingdom of heaven. And this was offered freely to all people apart from works, merits, or a special indulgence from the Pope.

At Heidelberg one listener said to Luther, “If the peasants heard you say that [even good deeds can be sins], they would stone you.” However, in the ‘Resolutions’ Luther went further than he had at Heidelberg on this topic. “The Church needs a Reformation,” he wrote, “but it is not the affair of one man, namely the pope, or of many men, namely the cardinals, both of which have been demonstrated by the most recent council. On the contrary, it is the business of the entire Christian world, yes, the business of God alone.”

Luther signed off by dedicating the Resolutions to Pope Leo X. The monk stated simply that if anything he’d written could be disproven by the clear words of Scripture he would recant. Martin concluded by writing, “I put myself at the feet of Your Holiness with everything that I am and have. I will regard your voice as the voice of Christ, who speaks through you.”

Next time we will examine the response of Luther’s colleagues and critics to the publication of his Resolutions and other works.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

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Lectionary Meditations

What Kind of Messiah Do We Want – A Meditation on John 6

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.

Categories
Catechesis

Being Instructed by the Ten Commandments – The First Commandment: You shall have no other gods.

By Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier

As the baptized people of God, we have access to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Thus, at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy we gather before the face of God remembering our baptism in which we daily die to sin and rise again to walk in newness of life. Therefore, we are taught to go before God’s face in humility. We humbly confess to Him with fellow believers that we have sinned against the True God in thought, word, and deed. Then we petition Him asking that He would forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in His will and walk in His way. For the sake of Christ, we are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

We gather together at the place of grace, that is, where Christ Himself is in our midst as the High Priest granting us remission of sins and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Through the message of the cross, the Holy Spirit is working in us to bring about new thoughts, new words, and new deeds. We have a new desire to be instructed by God. The Word of God is efficacious, that is, it effects a change in those who hear it. The Spirit of God enlightens us and guides us to walk in the Light. Our entire life of faith is depicted as walking with God through the wilderness of this fallen creation.

Without God’s Word as a Lamp unto our feet and a Light unto our path, we are left alone on an unfamiliar trail amid darkness. If you have ever walked around in the night without a light, you know about stubbing toes, banging shins, and even stumbling to the ground. If you have ever hiked on a trail when the sun goes down in the middle of the wildness where there are poisonous snakes, you know the importance of having a flashlight. However, if the batteries die and you wonder off the trail, then you risk being lost and even bitten by a snake.

When the Triune God originally gave the Ten Commandments to His people at Mount Saini, He was preparing them for the journey ahead through the wilderness into the Promised Land. He would guide them and lead them to safety. In fact, the Pre-incarnate Christ would tabernacle in their midst. He promised to be present with them in a pillar of cloud by day to show them the way and a pillar of fire by night to give them the light.

Yet, before they set out on their pilgrimage, God instructed them about the obstacles that would be found along their way. Thus, He gave to them the Ten Words. Notice that this instruction began with the proper identity of God and His people. The Triune God spoke and said, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:1). The people of Israel did not make themselves God’s people by their thoughts, words, or deeds. In fact, they were slaves in Egypt and could not free themselves from their own captivity. They needed a Deliverer who would deliver them from the oppression of Pharaoh. God had freed them and liberated them from the house of slavery. To confess God as Yahweh, is to confess God as the One who redeemed them. Yahweh is their only Savior. They have been freed from slavery to Pharaoh and made servants of the One True God. They had been baptized in the waters of the Red Sea.

Thus, God began to instruct them by saying, “You shall have no other gods before me.” There is no need to have a different god who did not save them. There is no need to bring another god alongside the True God. There is no need to look for an alternative face for God. There is no need to try and win God’s favor with one’s own thoughts, words, or deeds. There is no need to worship God in the way of the contemporary corrupted culture.

Israel is taught that as soon as they begin to walk in God’s way, temptation will come trying to lead them astray. The land of Canaan will be filled with creative ways to worship God. The Ancient Serpent will be waiting for them along the path. The Deceiver deceives people into making gods in their own fallen images. The Tempter tempts people to form gods from the imagination of their own corrupted hearts. Such gods are false. They cannot save or redeem. Thus, the True God warns His people about false worship which is done without God’s Word and without faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Out of love for His people, God instructs them in what is pleasing to Him. The people of God do not need any other gods. Instead, they are to learn to fear, love, and trust in Yahweh above all things. The people of God already have the True God who redeems and saves them. The first commandment instructs us in true worship.  

Now that Christ is incarnate, we confess Jesus as Lord, that is, Yahweh who redeems us. Jesus is our only Savior. There is no other name by which we are to be saved. We belong to Him. He is our God and we are His people who live under Him in His Kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness

Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier serves as pastor at Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, Los Alamos, NM

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Lectionary Meditations

Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word – A Meditation on Luke 11:14-28

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.