“’Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here.” Those are more than just words in a hymn. Those are words which Peter speaks to Jesus but are words that are unfathomable to us. For most of us, we never have that “mountain-top experience.” For Peter, James, and John, they did have the true “mountain-top experience,” literally, with Jesus. These three disciples were His chosen witnesses when He had raised Jairus’ daughter, and they would be with Him in Gethsemane. In Jairus’ home, Jesus had revealed Himself as having the power of God over death, for He is the very Son of God. In the garden, He would address God as His Father. The transfiguration would reveal His divine nature in a visible way and also support the truthfulness of all He had told the disciples in predicting His passion, which they were not ready to accept.

What happened on the mountain was startling to say the least. These three men, Jesus’ chosen disciples, had experienced something which they could not understand, but they knew that something extraordinary was taking place. Mark records, “And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” In looking at the other Gospel writers accounts, we see similar descriptions: Matthew says “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” Luke reports, “The appearance of his face was changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” This was a spectacle to see if there was ever a spectacle. We see the human nature of Christ and even His clothing was completely immersed with the brilliance of the divine nature. For most of the 33 years Jesus lived visibly in our world, He emptied Himself of the use of that divine glory. He masked His divine nature behind His human nature. On this occasion the Father permitted His Son’s divine nature to shine through the human shell.

As Mark tells it, there had been little rest for the disciples. They’d been chasing Jesus from town to town all around Galilee and beyond, find the reality of faith in unlikely people and fury from His enemies. They knew that Jesus was someone special, but they didn’t fully understand how special He was.

Just six days prior to the transfiguration, Jesus and His disciples had been scrambling around Caesarea Philippi. They had talked about who the people thought Jesus was. Then, Jesus asked them the question point-blank: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Peter famously replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Just shortly after that, Peter pulled Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him because Jesus began to talk about His coming death and resurrection.

Now you have Jesus, James, Peter and John up to the mountain, probably to pray. They had probably done this time and time again; this was nothing new. It wasn’t unusual. It was ordinary. And for a while, it was.

Just like that, everything changed, in a twinkling of an eye. Things would forever be different for these three disciples. Looking up, they see Jesus transfigured, changed before their very eyes. What a sight that must have been to be in the full presence of the glory and majesty of God, to see the Shekinah, the very glory and dwelling of God.

But if that wasn’t enough of a “mountain-top experience,” we see standing and talking to Jesus both Elijah and Moses. What was interesting for the disciples is that they knew who Elijah and Moses were. These two men lived hundreds of years before the disciples and yet they recognized them. There was no Facebook fan page or Greats of the Old Testament trading cards which helped to identify them and yet they knew that standing before them were Elijah and Moses. Moses, the great representative of the Law, was God’s messenger for the Israelites. He led them to the Promised Land, though he himself was not permitted to enter. Moses died at Moab and was buried by the LORD Himself. Elijah, the great representative of prophecy, also appeared. Elijah was taken up to heaven bodily without experiencing death. Now they both stood before the three disciples talking with Jesus.

Look and see what is present on the mountain. You have the Bible. You have the Law represented in Moses, the Prophets represented in Elijah, and you have the Gospel represented in Jesus Christ. The Law was fulfilled in Christ. The Prophets pointed to Christ. Their presence and words assured the disciples that God’s purpose was being fulfilled in Christ, in exactly the way Christ had told them.

And now we return to Peter’s words: “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter wanted to keep this moment frozen in history forever. He wanted to put on hold the coming work of Christ and keep this moment as glorious as it was. And why wouldn’t Peter want to preserve this memory? If everything that Jesus had said regarding His upcoming passion was true, then those events would start to play out very soon. Seeing Moses and Elijah here was all the proof that Peter needed to confirm that what Jesus had said was true. This glimpse of Jesus’ glory was meant to remind the three disciples—and it reminds us—that Jesus was, is, and ever will be the eternal Son of God.

To put the cherry on top, so to speak, there is one more occurrence that makes this event truly one to remember. Mark says, “And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”” What a statement of bold proclamation, but what an earnest warning as well. This voice which can only be that of God identifies Jesus as His beloved Son but gives to them a message as well – to listen to Him. These were Jesus’ disciples. Of course they heard what Jesus said, what He had preached and taught the people. But God doesn’t tell them to hear, but to listen. There is a distinction to be made between the two. Yes, the disciples had heard Jesus, but were they truly listening to Jesus? All too often we hear Jesus and His Word, but do we listen to Jesus and His Word? Do we listen when He says that salvation only lies in Him and in no one or nothing else? Do we listen to the words Jesus speaks on the cross at His death, “It is finished,” indicating that by His death, He has defeated death on our behalf?

“’Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here,” to be here where God is, to receive His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Unlike on the mountain, we need not worry about the glory of the Lord leaving us, for we have Jesus’ very words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

When one reads through the accounts of Jesus, they will find numerous instances where we see Jesus teaching, either to the crowds or to the disciples. They will find several instances where Jesus is at a meal with a person or group of persons, again, often teaching. They will find numerous accounts of Jesus performing some sort of miracle. With most of His miracles comes some sort of teaching by Jesus, often through the miraculous act. As we read today’s account of Jesus and the leper, the theme is no different. We see Jesus perform a miracle and we also see teaching of Jesus.

Mark begins by telling us that a leper came to Jesus. You have to wonder how this leper made it this close to Jesus. By being a leper, he was ceremonially unclean and therefore banished from the city or town’s population until he became clean again. The Levitical law demanded that whenever they came near people, they had to cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” Should they ever experience healing, they were required to show themselves to the priests to determine whether they were actually healed or not.

The man who approached Jesus did not cry out, “Unclean,” and we can understand why. In his great distress, he did not want anyone to stop him from coming to the one he had recognized as being able to do what no one else could do, namely, heal him. Falling on his knees before Jesus, expressing his faith that Jesus had divine power and authority to heal and also expressing his own dire need, he cried out, “If you will, you can make me clean.” He acknowledged Christ’s power to heal but did not demand this gift from Him. Instead, he cast himself entirely on Christ’s mercy.

This leper is the complete opposite of us when it comes to Jesus. He leaves it up to Jesus to heal him. For us, we demand of God to provide for us. We look to God and Jesus as our personal dispenser of everything, granting to us whatever we want, whenever we want it. That is not how God works. Yes, “He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life,” as Luther says. But why does He do this? Luther continues, “All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.” What did Luther not say? He didn’t say that God does this because you up and demanded it from Him. He didn’t say that God does this because you asked in a nice tone of voice. Luther says that God does this apart from you, out of His “fatherly, divine goodness and mercy.” You don’t even enter into that equation. This is all about God.

For the leper going to Jesus, he doesn’t ask Jesus to cleanse him. He doesn’t demand that Jesus cleanse him. He doesn’t bank on his past and speak of all that he has done for God. He doesn’t make promises about the future, promising to devote his life to Jesus. He merely states that Jesus has the power and authority to do so and waited for the mercy of Christ to be shown.

Jesus has mercy on those who are outcast and considered unclean. Throughout the Scriptures, we see Jesus come to the aid of those rejected by others. Jesus feeds the multitudes the disciples would have sent away. Jesus sits with sinners and eats with them. Jesus takes little children into His arms and blesses them, though they are considered a bother. Jesus comes to the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector, one who is greatly despised because of who he is and what he does, and still chooses to dine with him.

Jesus is willing to defile Himself for the sake of those He came to save. Jesus looks with mercy on the man with leprosy and with indignation on those who are complacent and judgmental. Jesus reached out beyond the climate of the society and touched the man with leprosy, even though this would have made Jesus ceremonially unclean. Jesus was not concerned for His own well-being or what others would think of Him. He brought His Word and often times His healing to the people, regardless of the consequences. Mark tells us, “And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.” The cleansing process was not gradual. The disease fled as the words left Jesus’ lips.

In the same way that Jesus touches and heals the man with leprosy, Jesus touches and heals you immediately. You have been shown the mercy of Christ. Jesus touches us on the cross of Calvary, where He takes our sin and every disease upon Himself, where He defiles Himself for us, and where He becomes the outcast of God for our sake. Jesus touches you and shows you His mercy when God called you to be His own child in the waters of Holy Baptism. You were shown that mercy when you hear that your sins have been forgiven you. You were shown that mercy when our Lord gives to you His very body and blood for you to eat and drink which gives to you forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. You were shown that mercy when our Lord went to the cross in order to redeem you, “a lost and condemned person, purchased and won [you] from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil.”

By birth we share a common moral uncleanness. We were helpless to avoid the sin that separated us from the saved people of God. Daily we rebel against our Maker. Our sins are as real as the shiny white spots on the leper’s skin. We must cry out to God and the world that we are unclean, as did the lepers of old. The gracious mystery of the Christ is that He did not come to condemn us. Instead, He touched us. And with His Word and His Sacraments, He healed us and brought us back into communion with the Father and God’s people.

In stark contrast to a society and culture that separates itself from those they judge to be “unclean,” Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, steps out of heaven and into the lives of those in need and who are shunned by others. Jesus looks on those He came to save with mercy and compassion. He reaches out beyond the social norms, even at His own risk. Jesus dirties Himself – He defiles Himself – and He touches you. He heals you. He takes away your sin and blemish, presenting you to His Father and declaring you “clean.” In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Freedom is such a wonderful gift of God that we have. We are free to choose what clothes we wear. We are free to eat what we want. We are free to have children or not have children. We are free to come and go whenever we want, within reason, of course. In short, we are a very free people with the ability to do what we want. What we must realize is that this freedom that we enjoy comes from God, our loving Father.

St. Paul emphasizes that he is free. He says, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.” At first glance, it appears that Paul is very confused at what he is saying. He is free, yet he is a servant. The question needs to be asked: can you be free and still be bound?

That is what is at the heart of Paul’s message. He is indeed free. He is not free in the sense that we might think. Paul is free, not on account of his status as a Roman citizen. He is not free on account of his skin color. He is not free on account of anything of his own doing. Paul is free on account of what Jesus Christ has done for him. He is free because Jesus has granted him the freedom from sin and death by His life, death, and resurrection.

While Paul is free, he claims that he has made himself “a servant to all.” He has done this for one reason and one reason only: to preach the Gospel. He is under orders to go and preach the Gospel. God had told Ananias before he baptized Paul, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.” Paul had no choice but to be an apostle, but it was something he did willingly and gladly because of what the prize was: Jesus Christ.

While Paul was free and a servant at the same time, he was not under obligation to any person except Christ. He did not need to impress anyone. He was not bound to serve anyone except Christ. He had no allegiance to anyone except Christ. He was free yet he was a slave to Christ. Everything that Paul did was for Christ and His kingdom and His Gospel. He was charged with taking the Gospel to people and that is exactly what He did. Paul and his colleagues saw themselves as the Corinthians’ slaves for Christ. Theirs was a ministry of service, and by this humble approach, Paul sought to win as many as possible for the Gospel.

It is for that reason that Paul became “all things to all people.” When Paul became a Christian, he became a free man in Christ, free from all the laws and regulations that bound God’s people in the Old Testament. However, that did not stop him from practicing those Old Testament laws and regulations. To win the Jews, he lived like the Jews under the law, even though he was no longer obligated to do so because of Christ. He kept the Sabbath laws and observed the festival days; he followed the Old Testament regulations regarding the eating of foods; he observed the rite of circumcision all in order to win the Jews to Christ and the Gospel.

For the Gentiles, those outside the law, Paul became as one outside of the law. The Gentiles did not follow any of the ceremonial laws like the Jews did. Instead, they followed the natural law or moral law. His concern for the Gentiles was to convey to them that they did not have to feel that they should become Jewish in order to become Christians. That was different than what some were teaching. There were those within the Church that taught that if you wanted to become Christian, you must become a Jew or accept all the Jewish practices. That meant you had to become circumcised. You had to abstain from the eating of certain foods. You had to observe certain Jewish festivals, all in the name of being a Christian. What was ignored was the fact that a person was free to be circumcised or not circumcised; a person was free to eat or not eat certain foods because they had been set free by Christ.

Both Jewish and Gentile Christians were under the law of Christ. Both had the mind of Christ and sought to live upright, God-pleasing lives. Both Jewish and Gentile Christians live in Christ; their will is in accord with Christ’s will. Both want to do the will of God as expressed in the Ten Commandments, but both had different ways in coming to Christ.

For Paul, becoming all things to all people was what was necessary to win them to Christ. He did this without ever compromising Christ. Paul’s example of love and service is there for all who want to win others for Christ. He showed that each and every person, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, was important to Christ. He showed that he would do whatever was necessary to bring to them the Gospel of Christ which they so desperately needed. Paul knew just exactly how much the people needed Christ because he experienced firsthand how much he needed Christ. When Christ appeared to Paul, it was a life-changing experience like no other. He realized what he was doing to Christ and His Church. He realized that he lay outside of the Church and outside of Christ and His forgiveness. When the scales fell from his eyes, Paul was literally a changed man. He saw the mercy and love of Christ firsthand and his charge as an apostle was to spread the Gospel to all people. He would do what is God’s will to reach another person for Christ. In Christ, Paul became so free that he could give up his freedom to help someone else know God’s love and forgiveness.

His message to the Corinthians was one they needed to hear, as it is a message that all Christians are to hear. There is a prize to be won. The prize is nothing short than the forgiveness of sins won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross. This prize is not like any other prize in this world. The prizes of this world pass away for they are perishable. They are here today, but gone tomorrow. The prize that Christ gives to you is the unfading glory of heaven and eternal salvation. The prize that Christ gives is forgiveness. The prize that Christ gives is Himself, for you.

This wonderful prize that Christ has to offer to you is yours for the mere price of your sins. Jesus gives to you this forgiveness in exchange for your sins. Your sins, washed away in the waters of Holy Baptism, just as was done for Olivia earlier. Your sins, forgiven you when you feast at the Lord’s Table.

It is because of Christ that you have been set free: set free from all sin and bondage to Satan. It is because of Christ that you are bound to Him: bound to Him through His life, death, and resurrection. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Why is it that I am the only one who preaches here on a regular basis? Why is that the congregation not take turns to preach? It all comes down to who has authority to preach and who doesn’t. As we look at our Gospel reading, we see Jesus entering the synagogue and begin teaching. But there is one problem with this picture: Jesus does not have the authority to teach in the synagogue because He is not one of the teachers of the Law. As far as authority goes, he has as much authority as the next Jewish male to begin teaching, which is none. As Mark records for us, “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” What Jesus’ specific message was on this particular Sabbath, Mark does not tell us; he does tell us about the impression His preaching made on the worshipers. They were amazed, for Jesus did not teach as the teachers of the Law. They always appealed to the interpretations of past rabbis and were particularly adept at breaking down God’s Word into any number of legalistic regulations. Jesus instead always proclaimed the Gospel of God. He quoted no experts but proclaimed the good news on His own authority.

What did that say about the teaching of the scribes? What was at the heart of their teaching if it wasn’t the Gospel? Imagine the scribes when they heard Jesus teaching. What a humbling experience that must have been, or rather, should have been. Remember what was at the heart of their teaching: adherence to the Law in order to bring about salvation. Again, without knowing what Jesus said or taught, you can only imagine that it was not, “If you keep this law and that law, then you will be saved.” Rather, I imagine that the message of Jesus was all about the forgiveness that comes through the gracious mercy of God.

It is solely the authority of God that brings about salvation. It is not the authority of man. It surely was not the authority of the scribes and their strict adherence of the Law, or at least strict adherence in their own eyes. They were the ones who were trained to know what the Scriptures said. However, merely knowing what the Scriptures say and teaching what they say are two different things. One has the authority of man attached to it and the other has the authority of God.

It is no wonder that Jesus taught as one who had authority because He WAS the authority. As the very Son of God, everything that the Scriptures spoke of concerning the Messiah were fulfilled in Him. Every prophecy, every mention of salvation was the result of Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah.

Not only had the people gathered realized that Jesus had authority, so did a particular man with an unclean spirit. He called Jesus out on the spot, telling everyone who He was: “I know who you are – the Holy One of God.” For Jesus, the cat was out of the bag. His identity had been revealed to everyone who was there, whether He wanted it known or not. Jesus was just beginning His ministry. He had just begun to call His disciples as we remember from last week’s Gospel reading. Even there we see Jesus exercising His authority when all He has to say is “Come, follow me” and Simon, Andrew, James, and John immediately leave their boats and what they were doing to follow Jesus.

The time had not come and it was not right that the true identity of Jesus be revealed, and so He commands the demon, “Be silent, and come out of him.” As Mark records for us, the demon obeyed and left the man. Why did the demon leave the man so quickly? Why didn’t he try to put up a fight and retain his hold on this man? The answer was because Jesus had the authority and the demon did not. Jesus has all authority as He says in Matthew, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The words which Jesus spoke were words that commanded authority. They commanded authority because they were not His own words, but they were the words of God. They were the words of promise; they were the words of forgiveness.

Those who were gathered recognized that there was something new to the teaching of Jesus. His teaching was not the same as that of the scribes and rabbis. They recognized that what He taught had authority behind it. It wasn’t made up of fluff, of things that didn’t matter. Those people had heard the Word of God and now here they were confronted with the Word of God made flesh for them. They were amazed at the authority of His words and His work. It was teaching that was focused on the Word of God, with the authority of God behind it. Why did it have the authority of God behind it? Because Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh.

This authority that Jesus Christ asserts over the demon, the authority that He uses to teach in the synagogue, the authority that He uses in performing miracles; in short, the authority that He asserts throughout His life and ministry is the authority as the very Son of God.

As Jesus speaks, we see His authority in action. As Jesus speaks, something happens. Jesus speaks to the blind and they receive sight. Jesus speaks and the lepers are cleansed. Jesus speaks and the lame walk. Jesus speaks and the thief on the cross enters paradise. Jesus speaks, “It is finished,” and your sins are forgiven. It is that blessed Word of God that has such great power and authority.

Even today, we see that authority of God’s Word at work as Gary/Jude came to the waters of Holy Baptism and was made a child of God. What was it that made this possible and earned him that forgiveness? As Luther says, “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word, the water is plain water and no Baptism.” It is God’s Word that gives it authority.

God’s Word is the final authority. In our case, God’s Word does not cause evil spirits to come out of us. Instead, they are words with the authority to restore. Three words, “I forgive you,” from the mouth of God, dispel all gloom and sadness and bring on joy and gladness. It is joy and gladness in knowing that we have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, that all of our sins have been forgiven, and that we have been given life eternal with Jesus Christ. There lies true authority: authority of Jesus Christ to forgive and to make holy. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here ends our text.

Don, Donna, Gail, family and friends, it is no mystery why we are gathered here today. Today, we lay to rest our beloved sister in Christ, Elsie. For us all, death really isn’t much of a mystery. Because of our sinful nature, we live and we die. Man’s mortality rate is 100%. As much as we would like to see happen otherwise, death is inevitable. Elsie was not immune to death. She too suffered death, but only a physical death.

Paul speaks in our text of a mystery. This is the mystery: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” That statement was one that some in the early Church had a problem grasping. They too knew that death was inevitable and that one day, they would succumb to it. Unfortunately for some, they truly believed that death was the end. What a tragedy that was for them! These were Christians, those who confessed Christ and still didn’t believe in the resurrection. Praise be to God, Elsie was not like some in the early Church. She was a sinner, and not just any sinner. She was a sinner who was damned because of her sin, and she knew it! She knew that she deserved death and hell. Yet she also knew that on account of Christ and His life, death, and resurrection, He declared her to be not guilty and gave to her the forgiveness of her sins. Not only that, she knew that when she died, she would rise again to everlasting life because of Jesus. This was her hope, a victory made possible through Jesus Christ, God’s own Son.

Christ lived a sinless and perfect life in order that man would be saved and have everlasting life through Him. That means that Christ lived a sinless and perfect life in order that you would be saved and have everlasting life through Him. Elsie knew that because of Christ, she would be saved and have everlasting life. All those years ago at the font, when the pastor spoke those Gospel words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Elsie’s life was forever changed. There, she died a spiritual death in the waters of Holy Baptism and all sin that she would ever commit was forgiven.

This was accomplished for you and for Elsie solely on account of Jesus. He lived, He died, and He rose again to provide this victory. It is not accomplished by a person’s life or accomplishments. It’s not accomplished by virtue of whether or not you were a good person. This salvation that Elsie received was granted apart from her. The salvation that Jesus grants to you is given to you apart from you. The reason why it does not and cannot depend on you is because you are dead. St. Paul says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ….”

Even though we are dead in our trespasses and sins, we have new life in Christ. It is granted to us without our doing anything or working for it. As Martin Luther writes, “All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.” It is because Christ lives, we too shall live. It is because Christ lives, Elsie lives too.

This victory over sin and death is all according to God’s plan. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God began His plan for redeeming man. That plan involved one thing and only one thing: Jesus. It involved Jesus for Elsie. It involved Jesus for you. When Christ rose from the dead, God’s plan was completed. The reason why all this was done is because of the love that God has for His creation, for you. This victory that Christ has won is meant for God’s people. It is God’s will that all men come to faith and be saved. He does not want to see any perish, but have everlasting life.

That is why Christ was sent into this world, in order to save this world. The world wasn’t saved because it was good, because it was far from it. All one needs to do is read through the Scriptures to see just how corrupt mankind truly is. God punished Adam and Eve by kicking them out of the Garden of Eden. God flooded the earth because it was so sinful. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because they were so sinful. Mankind is inherently sinful and there is nothing redeemable about us, yet God chose to send His Son to live and to die to redeem us.

Out of love for His creation, God sent Jesus. It surely wasn’t because of anything on the part of man. It wasn’t on account of anything that Elsie did in her life. She knew that about herself. She knew that she was a condemned and damned sinner who deserved hell, but on account of Jesus, she knew that she was forgiven. She knew that she was forgiven because Jesus died for her sins. She knew that she would never be able to achieve salvation on her own and she solely relied upon Jesus to grant to her the forgiveness of sins which she so desperately needed, something which you and I so desperately need.

For those of us who remain, there will indeed be sorrow today, for an important part of our lives has been taken away from us: a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother, and a friend. For as much sorrow as we might express, we should express an equal amount of joy in knowing that our Lord has called Elsie to be with Him. Our joy lies in knowing that one day, we too shall gaze upon the face of Jesus when we enter that heavenly paradise which Christ has prepared for us with His own blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Our joy lies in knowing that one day, we shall gaze upon the face of our sainted sister Elsie, who has received that glorified and perfect body. While we mourn today, we look to that joy that we have forever because of Christ, a joy in knowing that we will be with those who have died in the faith, but more importantly, a joy where we will be with Him. Don, Donna, Gail, look to Jesus, for He alone can give victory, a victory that He has granted to Elsie and a victory that He grants to you as well. Amen.

The clock and calendar dictate much of our behavior. It’s time to eat; time for the news; time for school; time to go to work; time to start working on taxes. The new year has already lost its magic glow as our new year resolutions have already been broken. Time is the eternal taskmaster and everything must take place at the appointed time or else everything falls apart.

Jesus too follows time and follows it to the letter. Everything He does happens at exactly the right time, not a moment before or a moment after. What occurs in our text is no different. Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Did you catch the first command Jesus gives in Mark’s Gospel? First, He says the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. The time has come; not a moment too early and not a moment too late. Then comes Jesus’ command: repent. Repent is the first thing Jesus tells people to do. That word becomes the key word whenever He meets someone. It’s kind of a summary of what He taught, what He preached, what He wanted His miracles to bring about in people’s lives.

When Jesus uses the word repent, He is calling people to turn away from anything that leads away from Him and to turn instead toward Him. What difficult thing repentance is, to turn away from what is contrary to the Word of God. Just what exactly is contrary to the Word of God? In short, the world. What the world teaches and preaches often runs contrary to God’s Word. The world says it’s okay to do any number of things that the Word of God condemns. It’s is so difficult for us to abide by God’s Word when we are told by the world that what we’re doing is okay. But regardless of what the world says, God’s Word is the ultimate authority and Jesus says to repent. That’s not the only command Jesus issues. His second command is believe. Believe not just anything, but believe in Jesus. Trust Him. Turn toward Him. Hold on to Him.

Repent and believe is the heart of Jesus’ message when He speaks or does something. He says and does much more, but this is the gist, the summary, the heart of His ministry: repent and believe. Repent of sin. Believe, for He has come to remove it. And He will!

The time had been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus. Since Jesus arrived on the scene, the prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled in Him. All of history now hinges on what Jesus would do. And what exactly would Jesus do? He would come to live a perfect life for you because you live an imperfect life. He would come to die a sinner’s death even though He was sinless. He would rise again to eternal life in order to give you eternal life. This is what Jesus would come and do and this is what Jesus did for you. He did it, the action is already done. There is nothing to be done on your part because Christ has already done it. The only thing Jesus requires of you is to repent and believe.

Jesus calls for us to repent. He says to take responsibility for what you have done wrong. We call that confession, coming before Him with repentant hearts seeking His forgiveness. That is why we confess our sins each week, turning away from the sin in our lives and turning toward the forgiveness that Jesus gives. But we don’t just confess our sins on Sunday, as if we have only sinned that morning. We need to confess our sins daily for we sin daily. We need to turn away from our sinful lives and turn to Jesus and His forgiveness daily.

Jesus issues a third command in our text, one that He issues to Simon, Andrew, James and John: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” There, Jesus calls them to become His disciples. That same command Jesus gave to them He gives to you as well. In your Baptism, He calls you and says, “Follow me.” We follow Jesus, not out of compulsion or a sense of righteousness on our part, but we follow Christ because of the mercy that He has shown us. We follow Christ; we become His disciples because of what Jesus has done for us. We follow Him to the cross where we see Him take our sin upon Himself, giving to us His righteousness. We follow Christ as He proclaims eternal victory over sin, death, and the devil on account of His life, death, and resurrection. We follow Christ to our heavenly Father, who sent His only begotten Son to restore His creation to what it was meant to be: holy and perfect.

This command of Jesus to follow Him is not a command that is to be taken lightly. To follow Jesus means first of all to subordinate everything to the Lord. Give yourself, your heart, mind, and soul to Jesus.

To follow the Lord also means that one will strive to simulate the Savior in all His ways, to be holy! St. Peter writes, “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ; that is, we should love and forgive unconditionally, just as St. Paul writes, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Finally, to follow Christ means to share the work of Christ. This point receives a mighty emphasis in Jesus’ statement, “I will make you become fishers of men.” The preaching of the Gospel was Jesus’ highest priority. His Gospel was more important than eating and drinking, than healing and miracles, than any personal comfort. The Gospel is this: Believe in Jesus, who suffered your hell in your place, and you will be saved. Jesus was determined to fulfill that Gospel and to proclaim that Gospel to sinners. His followers will share that commitment throughout their lives.

Today, our Lord calls to you. He calls you to “repent and believe in the gospel.” He calls you to repentance out of the love that God the Father has for you, His beloved creation. He calls you to repentance out of the love that He showed for you on the cross when He took upon Himself all of your sins. He calls you to believe with the faith granted to you in your Baptism through the work of the Holy Spirit. He calls you to believe in the promises that He has made to you and for you, promises such as, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also,” and “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Our Lord calls you to follow Him. As baptized believers, we follow Him from death to everlasting life. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Our primary calling as theologians is to interpret reality for ourselves and for our people. In our day, we behold the tragic paradox of secular man seeking something more solid than the phony, penultimate, pleasure trips, of either the gross or more refined variety, that are constantly held before us as the only route worth traveling…and, in their seeking, find no one to speak to them of that which is solid and real. The saints whom you serve will at times overwhelm you with their support and love. The sinners whom you serve will at times send you scampering to the throne of grace for more patience and wisdom than your flesh can muster. And yet, on this latter point, I can forthrightly say that for all their frailties you will find your flock a joy to serve. I was simply not prepared for all that closeness which is forged between Pastor and people as they seek to live a real life in the midst of a phony world. Frankly, it’s great! And if these tasks do not plant the seeds of joy and happiness in our service, then we have ourselves drifted from that which is real.

Concordia Theological Quarterly 75, p. 367-368

Christmas is over. With it, we saw the coming of our Lord. He came to us in the form of a babe, lying in a manger. The Christ Child was brought to the temple to be presented. There, Simeon spoke the words of the Nunc Dimittis to Mary and Joseph. Simeon had seen the salvation of the Lord, which has prepared in the sight of all people. We have heard what John has said: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

All of that brings us to today. Today we meet John again. Here we find him in the desert preaching about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. While he was doing this, he had a message: “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

So what does all of that mean? Why should I care? Well, you have John. He came as the fulfillment of the Old Testament passages concerning the second Elijah, the immediate forerunner of the Christ. John preaches a simple message: Jesus as the promised Messiah. He focuses on the necessity of repentance for receiving Christ aright, on the person of Christ as both God and Savior, and on Baptism for those who sincerely repented and believed in the Messiah. John also alludes to the Baptism with the Spirit and with fire that Christ will give to His people to carry out His saving mission in the world. John’s Baptism, too, worked forgiveness of sins, delivered from death and the devil, and gave eternal salvation to all who believed.

So we come to the focus of John’s Baptism: repentance. Are you truly repentant for your sins? Are you sad that your sins caused a Baby to be born, so that 30-some years later, He would die on the cross for you? It’s a hard question to ask. True repentance means not only sorrow over sin and dread of God’s punishment, but a turning of mind and heart away from sin that expresses itself in outward ways wherever possible. True repentance will not allow the penitent soul to continue to live in sin.

You see, John came and he went. He went to the desert region and baptized people. Why did he do that? No one told him to do it. He did it because he knew that the people were repentant of their sins and that by being baptized, the Old Adam would die and when you emerged from the waters, you were a new person.

The early Church had an interesting way of baptizing. They had a huge baptismal font. You would descend the stairs to the font. That symbolized your dying to sin. Once at the bottom, your clothes were removed and you were baptized. You then ascended the stairs as a new person. Who you were before died in the waters of Holy Baptism. That is the same thing that John did in the desert. John knew that there was One coming more powerful than he was. He knew that he was only a preview of the joy that would come.

John eventually moved to the River Jordan. There, he met Jesus and an interesting turn of events took place: Jesus comes to be baptized by John. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; He had no sins to confess! Why did Jesus need to be baptized for the remission of His sins that didn’t exist? Matthew records for us Jesus’ simple reply to John when John questions the Baptism: “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”Then John baptized Jesus.

Can you imagine Jesus coming up to you and saying, “Bob, it’s time for you to baptize me now?” How would you react? What would you say or do? We see in our text just how easy it was for John to question and do what he did. And when Jesus came out of the water, heaven was torn open and the Holy Spirit came to Him and dwelt with Him. Did Jesus have to be baptized? Was it mandatory for that to happen? No. In allowing Himself to be baptized, Jesus was showing His solidarity with sinners. Though Himself sinless, He was identifying Himself with sinners by giving Himself to the work of bearing their sins then and our sins now.

We need to make sure we fully understand what took place in the Baptism of Jesus by John. The view that by being baptized by John, Jesus only showed His willing obedience and that Jesus, though not needing baptism and yet submitted to it, makes the baptism nothing but a formality and misconstrues what John’s Baptism really was. It was not law, but gospel, not a demand to obey but a gift of grace to accept and to retain as such. Jesus was baptized by John because He regarded this as the right way in which to enter upon His great office. He, the Sinless One, the very Son of God, chose to put Himself by the side of all the sinful ones, for whom this sacrament of John’s was ordained. He signifies that He is now ready to take upon Himself the load of all these sinners, that is, to assume His redemptive office. As Luther points out, Jesus was here rightly beginning to be Christ, the Anointed One, and “was thus inaugurated into His entire Messianic office as our Prophet, High Priest, and King.”

Every time we celebrate a Baptism, the one being Baptized is made a child of God by the waters of Holy Baptism, and every sin that they will ever commit will be washed away by those waters, just as it was earlier with Averyanna. That person receives sonship in the kingdom of God. Their sins are forgiven. How is this done? It is done by a man named Jesus, sent from God to be our sacrificial Lamb, baptized in the waters of the Jordan River, forever joining Himself to sinful man in order to redeem us. It is accomplished for us by His death on the cross for us sinners. It is accomplished for us only by Jesus who has atoned for all our sins. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

I’m definitely glad to have all of my family home and my boy on the mend. Hopefully we won’t be making any more trips to the walk-in clinic, ER, and/or the ICU any time soon.